The Daily Orange

As Boston College has made its run up the rankings all the way to No. 2 in both The Associated Press pool and Bowl Championship Series standings this season, much of the focus has been on the Golden Eagles' offense and its Heisman Trophy candidate, senior quarterback Matt Ryan. In all this hype, it may be lost on some that the Eagles have excelled on both sides of the ball.

While its Atlantic Coast Conference-leading passing attack deserves credit, BC's run-stopping defense stands out on the national stage. Currently ranked first in the nation in run defense, the Eagles only allow 46.4 rushing yards per game. This number stands out even more when compared with the second-ranked run defense, Ohio State, which allows 62.4 rushing yards per game.

The task of preparing to play against this stifling defensive unit has been placed on Virginia Tech head coach Frank Beamer's shoulders this week. He knows the great challenge that his team will face this week on both ends of the ball.

"They're the best team to ever come into Lane Stadium," Beamer said in a press conference Tuesday.

Beamer has experienced this Boston College defense before, when his Hokies were limited to only three points against the Eagles in a defeat last season. He sees similarities this year and will be hard pressed to succeed against them tonight.

"They're extremely well-coached, they fly around, attack," Beamer said. "They got after us last year, and that's the way they've always done it. Then in the secondary, they've got a couple guys there, (Jamie) Silva and (DeJuan) Tribble. I've been impressed with their athletic skills; I think they're just a good and well-coached football team."

The defensive pressure starts with the defensive line and sophomore defensive end Alex Albright, who has seven tackles for a loss and leads the team with six sacks. Like Beamer, Albright attributes the improvement to the coaching staff, starting with defensive line coach Jeff Comissiong.

"He pretty much demands perfection," Albright said in an interview with bceagles.com's Geoffrey Kehlmann. "We get position grades based on how well we did in the previous (year), and you see a big difference between his grading scale and the grading scale of the previous coach, (defensive line) Coach (Keith) Willis. He's a lot heavier grader, like stepping the wrong way will get you a minus on a play."

Much of the BC coaching staff was overhauled this season, with the hiring of new head coach Jeff Jagodzinski. But defensive coordinator Frank Spaziani stayed on, keeping much of the defensive system similar to what it was in previous years.

With perhaps their most challenging game of the season coming up at Virginia Tech tonight, the Eagles' defense will need to step up in a hostile atmosphere. Many teams in the past have fallen under the lights in Lane Stadium to the Hokies, but Jagodzinski does not see the problem with playing in that atmosphere.

"They have lights there, right? We should be OK if we're playing at night," Jagodzinski said. "Everyone keeps bringing up the Lane Stadium at night; I was just wondering if they had lights over at Virginia Tech so we could play."

The BC defense will be showcased to the nation this week, as its game will be nationally televised on ESPN. It is a chance for Jagodzinski to show the nation what he has on defense.

"Our defense has played pretty well, they're No. 1 in the country in rush defense and in the top 20 in scoring defense," Jagodzinski said. "Our defense has been very opportunistic with 18 or 19 interceptions, so I've got a good defense here at BC, and they're excited to play this ball game, too."

The defensive line is not the only aspect of the Eagles' defense that stands out. Senior free safety Silva currently ranks first in the ACC and is tied for third in the nation with five interceptions.

Jagodzinski believes it takes all these parts working together on both offense and defense to allow the Eagles to get off their 7-0 start. They will need all those to work as they enter Lane Stadium as the underdogs tonight.

"It takes all 11 guys to have that type of defense," Jagodzinski said. "The best thing about our football team is our team; they play well together and each have a job to do and a role to fulfill. That's what they do - we don't ask them to do anything more and anything less, and they've done a nice job of that so far this season."

San Diego State to Postpone

San Diego State has rescheduled its game with Brigham Young due to the wildfires in the area. The game, which was scheduled for Saturday night at Qualcomm Stadium, will be played on Dec. 1. Qualcomm Stadium is currently being used as an evacuation center for those displaced from their homes in Southern California.

The air quality, fan safety and transportation concerns were at the top of SDSU's priority list when the postponement decision was made.

All other SDSU athletic events will be postponed or moved to alternate venues. Included in that is the Mountain West conference's men's and women's cross country championships, which will be moved to Albuquerque, N.M., just as they were in 2003 because of wildfires.

Game to Watch:

No. 9 Southern California at No. 5 Oregon
Saturday, 3 p.m.

With both these teams looking to stay in the national championship picture, the Trojans will look to build on their big rivalry win at Notre Dame last weekend. The win in South Bend, Ind., followed two disappointing games, one of which was a loss to Stanford, 24-23. With its quarterback situation still up in the air, USC will head into Eugene, Ore., to face an Oregon team that has only one blemish on its record - a close loss against California.

The Ducks could climb up the Bowl Championship Series ladder with a win over the Trojans. With Arizona State, ranked No. 4 in the BCS, still remaining on the schedule, both teams could set themselves up for movement to the top of the BCS standings with a win Saturday.

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