Kickoff: Friday, 7:00 p.m. ET
Line: Pittsburgh -4, Total: 49

The Pittsburgh Panthers head to Boston College on Friday night to open up their ACC season against the Eagles after both teams reeled off easy victories in the opening week.

Pittsburgh and Boston College each had very underwhelming 2013 seasons as they sat in the middle of their respective divisions within the ACC. The Panthers looked confident in their season opener against Delaware as they shut down the FCS program by a score of 62-0. They scored early and often, bringing a 42-0 score into the locker room at halftime as HB James Connor rushed for 153 yards and four touchdowns over the first two quarters. The 62 points scored was the most any Panthers’ team had scored since putting up 66 back in 1995. The Eagles opened up their 2014 season with a lopsided victory as well, defeating Massachusetts 30-7. The contest was close, as Boston College had a 6-0 lead at halftime, but opened it up to start the second half as they scored on two long drives; both capped off by a 1-yard TD run. The ground game for the Eagles is what put them over the top, as they outrushed their opponent 338-55 behind the legs of dual-threat QB Tyler Murphy (118 rush yds). These former Big East schools will be meeting for the first time since 2004 and the Eagles were 7-5 SU (6-5 ATS) in the matchup from 1993 to 2004. Bettors should take notice that Boston College is just 1-5 ATS in the past three seasons after allowing 100 or fewer rushing yards, but it is also 8-0 ATS in home games when playing with six or fewer days rest over this same timeframe. The big injury to watch in this game is that of Pittsburgh’s number top receiver, Tyler Boyd, who is considered questionable after suffering a dislocated finger in the season opener, but Boyd is planning to play.

Which team will open its ACC season with a victory? For the answer, connect to College Football Best Bets for all the StatFox Experts picks throughout the 2014 regular season and bowl season. During the 2013 season, StatFox Dave led the experts with a 55% ATS mark (38-31-2), while Gary and Brian both finished with another winning season (51% ATS). StatFox Scott saved his best for last with a 5-2 ATS mark (71%) in college football bowl Best Bets.

The Panthers had their starting QB (Tom Savage) and second-best WR (Devin Street) drafted in 2014 despite their team ranking 98th in total offense (362.2 YPG) while scoring a mere 26.3 PPG (80th in FBS). Looking to turn around the program offensively will be sophomore QB Chad Voytik who threw just 11 pass attempts last year as the backup. When facing Delaware, Voytik was an accurate 10-for-13 with 84 passing yards (6.7 YPA) and threw two touchdowns. Voytik is considered more of an athlete than a polished pass-thrower, so it should be interesting how he does against a better defense in this game. The running attack is set with HBs James Connor (799 yards, 8 TD in 2013), Isaac Bennett (797 yards, 7 TD in 2013) leading the way with youngsters Rachid Ibrahim and Chris James expected to get plenty of touches as well. These four backs combined for 353 yards (7.4 YPC) and seven scores in the season opener with Connor leading the way (153 yards, 4 TD). Look no further than WR Tyler Boyd (1,174 yards, 7 TD) if you want to see one of the most exciting young receivers in college football. His two catches (18 yards), including a touchdown grab, occurred before he dislocated his finger in the second quarter against Delaware. If he is unable to go in this game, expect WR Manasseh Garner (391 yards, 3 TD in 2013) to take over as the top option. This is an average defense that ranked 70th in scoring defense last season (27.2 PPG), but it also ranked 34th in total defense (368 YPG). LBs Todd Thomas (72 tackles in 2013) and Anthony Gonzalez (79 tackles in 2013) are the clear-cut leaders on this side of the ball and will both need to be locked in at all times for this team to compete in the ACC.

Boston College put together a fairly solid season in 2013, but will need to recoup the losses of all but four offensive starters from last season when it ranked 20th in FBS in rushing yards (212.5 YPG), but threw for a woeful 154.8 YPG (114th in FBS). The school brought in Florida transfer QB Tyler Murphy (1,216 yards, 6 TD, 5 INT in 2013) to improve on the latter number and he performed well in his first game with the Eagles, going 17-of-24 for 173 yards (7.2 YPA) while throwing 1 TD and 1 INT. His production did not stop there, as he led all rushers with 118 yards on 13 attempts (9.1 YPC) and added another touchdown with his legs. The loss of HB Andre Williams to graduation cannot be replaced by just one back, but HBs Tyler Rouse (87 yards) and Myles Willis (57 yards, 1 TD) hope they can make it not hurt quite so much. It is no secret that the team’s plan is to pound the ball with multiple runners on the ground, but when it comes to receivers, it looks as if WR Josh Bordner (81 yards, 1 TD) and Dan Crimmins (52 yards) are Murphy’s top targets after they caught 11 of his 17 completions against UMass. The B.C. defense was nothing special in 2013, allowing 429.0 YPG (93rd in FBS), but has some hope as the entire secondary makes its way back to the team. DB Dominique Williams (65 tackles, 1 INT in 2013) will be the leader of that group, while LB Steven Daniels (88 tackles, 3 sacks, 1 INT in 2013) leads the front seven.