By Dave Holcomb
SouthernPigskin.com

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Dave Holcomb previews Wake Forest and Boston College.

Its not often that a non-blue blood college football program gets a second chance at a conference championship. And usually, if they lose to the perennial contender, theres no chance of winning the title.

Thats not the case for Wake Forest in the chaotic ACC this season. Despite a loss to Clemson last week (and counting the loss to North Carolina as a non-conference game), the Demon Deacons can still wrap up the ACC Atlantic division with a victory this Saturday.

All Wake Forest has to do is beat Boston College. But thats hardly a guarantee.

While the Eagles are tied for last place in the Atlantic, they will be going bowling thanks in part to a victory against Missouri in September. Boston College is also 2-1 since the return of quarterback Phil Jurkovec.

The Eagles are 4-1 when Jurkovec plays as opposed to 2-4 when he doesnt this season.

Theres no backing into the division title for Wake Forest. The Demon Deacons will have to earn it on the road after losing their last two away from home.

As much as that is a potential storyline heading into Saturday, the much bigger one is the play of Wake Forest quarterback Sam Hartman. The sophomore was terrific through the first eight games this season, but hes entered a slump at the worst time of the year. In his last three games, Hartman has barely completed 50 percent of his passes for an average of a little more than 7.0 yards per attempt.

In the first seven games of the year, Hartman had a 65.2 completion percentage and a 9.9 yards per pass average.

Hartman has also been a bit of a turnover machine lately. Seven of his nine interceptions this season have come in the last three weeks — two of which were losses.

He only threw one interception last week against Clemson, but Hartman and the Wake Forest offense was out of sync all afternoon, finishing with a season-low 27 points.

Although the Tigers defense was a tough matchup, things wont get all that much easier for Hartman at Boston College. The Eagles are first in the ACC in passing yards allowed per game. Although thats partly due to the fact teams dont throw very often against Boston College, the Eagles are also third in the conference in yards allowed per pass (6.7).

Clemson is just ahead of Boston College in that category at second with 6.3 yards allowed per pass. NC State, who Hartman struggled against two weeks ago, is first with 6.1 yards allowed per pass in the ACC.

Not only is the Atlantic division on the line, Hartman and Wake Forest seemingly have to prove that the offenses early-season success wasnt just due to playing soft defenses in the first two months.

But even if Wake Forests offense finds its rhythm again, Boston College has the ability to stay in the game. While the Eagles dont shine statistically on offense, its a different unit with Jurkovec. His ability to stretch the field impacts not only the passing attack but also the running game.

When Jurkovec starts, Boston College has averaged 4.6 yards per carry as opposed to 3.4 yards per rush when he doesnt. Additionally, the Eagles possess a 205.4 rushing yards per game average in Jurkovecs starts versus 130.2 rushing yards per contest when he doesnt play.

Wake Forest is second-to-last in the ACC in rushing yards allowed per game. The Demon Deacons are also in the ACCs bottom three in rushing touchdowns allowed and yards yielded per carry.

Last week, Wake Forest allowed 333 rushing yards and more than 6.0 yards per carry against Clemson. If Travis Etienne was still in the Tigers backfield, that might be understandable, but Clemson is ranked just 10th in the ACC in rushing yards.

Even with its low running game averages in games without Jurkovec, the Eagles have more rushing yards than Clemson this season.

Wake Forest has to be chomping at the bit at a second chance to win the Atlantic. But Clemson designed the blueprint for upsetting the Demon Deacons, and Boston College has the tools to follow it to a T.

Prediction: Boston College 34, Wake Forest 31