• Preview
• Recap
• Bleachers

After tough loss, Boston College hosts winless Duke

Nov 7, 2006 - 10:06 PM Duke (0-9) at No. 22 Boston College (7-2), 7:00 pm EST

CHESTNUT HILL, Massachusetts (Ticker) - Boston College coach Tom O'Brien is afraid his team might overlook Duke this weekend. If if the Eagles did, they still would be likely to win.

Coming off a difficult defeat, the 22nd-ranked Eagles host the winless Blue Devils on Saturday in an Atlantic Coast Conference matchup.

Boston College (7-2, 3-2 ACC Atlantic) slipped a game behind Wake Forest and Maryland in the division with a 21-14 road loss to the Demon Deacons last Saturday.

Eagles signal-caller Matt Ryan completed 40-of-57 passes for 402 yards - all career highs - and a touchdown but twice was picked off in the end zone, including once in the final minute. He also ran for a score.

Duke (0-9, 0-5 Coastal), meanwhile, saw its national-worst losing streak stretch to 17 games with a 38-13 loss at Navy last weekend.

The Blue Devils allowed 435 rushing yards and did not force the Midshipmen to punt once the entire game.

Still, O'Brien has expressed concern that his team may look past the Blue Devils, who are desperate for a win.

"We will be aware of that," he said. "We know that they are very capable. They took both Alabama and Miami to the end so it seems the bigger the opponent, the better they play, so if we qualify as a big opponent, we will get their best game and we have to be ready to play."