It's ACC time from this point on.

BC has a tough task on the road with UVA on Saturday. The Cavs are 3-1 and no pushover. To get to know them a little better, I spoke with the Editor in Chief of the UVA Rivals site Cavs Corner, Justin Ferber.

As usual, I sent him a few questions I thought were important to get to know the feeling around the program and its fan base heading into this one. They didn't need anything from me they said, but if that changes I'll post those as well once I send them

EA: Who are some key players for UVA on the offensive side of the ball?

"For Virginia’s offense, it all starts at quarterback. Sophomore Anthony Colandrea won the job in camp and while he’s had a few bumps here and there, he’s played pretty well thus far. Colandrea has completed 68.3% of his passes, throwing for just over 250 yards per game with 7 passing touchdowns to 4 picks. Colandrea started six games last year as a true freshman, and has a lot of upside, with a good arm and an ability to extend plays and scramble.

"He’ll be helped out offensively by a solid group of playmakers around him. Senior wideout Malachi Fields is a tough cover given his physicality, and has been UVa’s top receiver thus far, with 24 receptions, 349 yards and a pair of touchdowns. Kent State transfer Trell Harris missed UVa’s most-recent game at Coastal Carolina, but should be good to go this weekend. Harris has been UVa’s big-play threat, with 13 catches for 201 yards and a pair of touchdown grabs.

"UVA has been more pass heavy than a ground-and-pound team of late, but they ran the ball quite well at Coastal Carolina. Look out for sophomore back Xavier Brown, who is UVA’s change-of-pace back that seems to be more involved in the gameplan. Brown now leads the Hoos in ground yards with 293, including a 171-yard day at Coastal on just nine carries."

EA: Who are some key players for UVA on the defensive side of the ball?

"UVA has talent on all three levels of the defense, but will need to be better as the schedule gets more difficult. The strength of the defense is the safety group, led by veterans Jonas Sanker and Antonio Clary. Sanker, who committed to BC before flipping to nearby UVa out of high school, was a preseason All-ACC pick, and has 32 tackles this year. Clary is returning from an injury that kept him out all last season, and leads the team in tackles with 41, and has the team’s only interception.

"Linebacker Kam Robinson is probably UVa’s most-talented defender, and started a bunch of games last year as a true freshman. Robinson missed UVa’s loss to Maryland but returned against Coastal and played well.

"UVA has a pair of veteran edge rushers in Kam Butler and Chico Bennett who have shown flashes, but haven’t quite put it all together this season. Both players have had big years in the past, and have played a lot of football."

EA: What’s UVA’s biggest strength & weakness on each side?

"On offense, Colandrea and the passing game is the biggest strength. They haven’t been perfect, but the passing game diced up Wake Forest’s defense and didn’t really have to do much in the win at Coastal. The biggest weakness has been all of the details of offense that can cost a team games: turnovers, red zone and third down performance. UVa’s offense has still been quite productive, but they have some work to do in key situations.

"Defensively, the strength is the safety group, and the middle of the defense. Virginia’s defensive tackle rotation has done a nice job, and their two linebackers (4-2-5 alignment) have played well. And the safeties are arguably the two best players on the defense right now. The edges of the defense can use some work, though. UVa’s corners gave up 400+ passing yards to Wake, and Coastal’s only life on offense came on big passing plays. BC has quality receivers, so Saturday’s matchup between them and Virginia’s corners should be pivotal."

EA: With the ACC seemingly wide open, does UVA feel like it has the team to make the ACC title game?

"Probably not, honestly. Make no mistake, UVa fans should be happy with their 3-1 start and the fact that they’ve grabbed two road wins already this season, and avoided a couple potential losses. The Maryland game got away from the Hoos in the second half, but wasn’t as bad as the score looks. Virginia’s focus is more likely focused on getting back to a bowl game rather than getting to the top of the ACC, but they could sneak up on some teams this year and win more games than folks imagined in August. But I don’t think they have the depth and consistency needed to win 9 or 10 games, especially with a bunch of tough games (Louisville, Clemson, Pitt, SMU, etc) on the horizon after BC."

EA: What’s the perception of BC from the fan base? Is this considered a big game or a cakewalk?

"I think UVa fans respect this BC team and program. There won’t be the same hype as when Clemson or FSU comes to town, but results against Boston College have not been great, so there should be no misconceptions around how this could go. I’m pretty sure UVa has only beaten the Eagles once in ACC play, and that was in the 2020 COVID season with empty stadiums (and BC had to start Dennis Grosel, who broke a bunch of passing records even in the loss).

"UVA fans should be expecting a tough game here, and Bill O’Brien is a quality coach that should be able to build on a solid foundation laid by his predecessor. Given their reason run of form, I doubt UVa fans are expecting any games the rest of the way to be easy, but I think there’s some confidence about how this UVA team has played."

EA: Final score prediction?

"It’s a cop out, but not knowing the status of Thomas Castellanos (at least at the time of writing), makes a huge difference. If Castellanos plays, I might take the Eagles in a close one, 27-24 or so. I could just see the Eagles run game, with the QB included in that, being tough for the defense to deal with, in a coin flip type game. If he can’t go, I like UVA by multiple scores, given what I saw from BC against Western Kentucky, something like 31-20 Hoos."