NC State football is back in action and beginning a stretch of four out of five ACC games on the road, starting with Boston College Saturday at 7:30 p.m., on the ACC Network.

NC State is ranked No. 22 in the Associated Press poll with a 4-1 overall record and 1-0 mark in the ACC. Boston College is also 4-1, but 0-1 in the conference. Both teams opened their league slate with games against Clemson.

Here is a full scouting report on Boston College:

Junior receiver Zay Flowers (No. 4)

NC State head coach Dave Doeren noted this week that NC State offered Flowers for either side of the football when he was a senior at University School in Ft. Lauderdale, Fla.

Flowers has proven to have been worthy of a scholarship not only from the Wolfpack and BC but probably any program. Through five games this year he has 23 catches for 345 yards and two touchdowns.

This came after Flowers earned first-team All-ACC honors a season ago (just the second wideout in Boston College history) after making 56 receptions for 892 yards and nine TDs.

Redshirt sophomore running back Pat Garwo III (No. 24)

Garwo has enjoyed breakout games in 2021. In the overtime win over Missouri, he ran 25 times for 175 yards and two touchdowns. In a week two victory at Massachusetts, Garwo had 15 carries for 160 yards.

Last time out, versus Clemson, Garwo ran 12 times for 57 yards and a score, although his longest run of 27 yards skewed his average-per-carry number.

There have been four games against Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) competition. In the two games Garwo was held in check (Clemson and at Temple), BC scored a total of 41 points. In the two times Garwo ran wild, the offense scored at least 41 points both times and combined to have 96.

Redshirt senior Isaiah Graham-Mobley (No. 19)

Graham-Mobley is one of many seniors across the country taking advantage of an extra year of eligibility. After four seasons of productive linebacker play at Temple, Graham-Mobley transferred in the spring to Boston College and has made an immediate impact.

Through five games, Graham-Mobley has 36 tackles, 13 more than anyone else on the Eagles' defense. That includes 23 solo hits, nine more than the nearest BC defender, and 1.5 tackles for loss.

Fifth-year senior quarterback Dennis Grosel (No. 6)

Grosel's very first career start came against NC State in 2019, but he did not need to do much other than hand the ball off that afternoon. He completed just 6 of 15 passes for 103 yards, but BC had two running backs with nearly 200 yards rushing while approaching 500 yards on the ground as a team.

It's more likely that Grosel will have to do more this time around. In three starts since assuming the full-time starting quarterback duties in place of an injured Phil Jurkovec, Grosel is 48-of-84 passing (57.1 percent) for 545 yards and three touchdowns with four interceptions. He did, however, throw for 311 yards in the loss at Clemson.

The 6-1, 221-pounder also has the ability to run for tough yards.

Senior offensive guard Zion Johnson (No. 77)

The 6-3, 316-pounder transferred to Boston College in 2019 after two seasons at Davidson, and he is taking advantage of a "super senior" season allowed by the NCAA freezing eligibility last fall.

In his debut season at BC, Johnson was named second-team All-ACC. Last year, he earned third-team honors. He seems like a safe bet to land on the first team in 2021. ESPN recently named Johnson to its midseason All-American team.

Johnson is a headliner on arguably the best offensive line in the ACC. The unit has allowed a conference-low seven sacks and is blocking the way for an average of 185.6 yards per game, fifth in the league. According to Pro Football Focus (PFF), BC's starting five offensive linemen represent the five highest-graded players on offense available. The injured Jurkovec still has the top score overall.

1. A physical brand of football: Boston College is using its strength, an older and talented offensive line. Thus it is fourth in the ACC in average rushes per game at 40.2. The Eagles enjoyed massive success on the ground the first four weeks of the year, averaging 220.5 yards per contest while going undefeated. In those four games, they averaged 23.0 pass attempts.

However, against Clemson's strong defense, the ground game was held in check: 34 carries for 46 yards.

2. A team that wins in crucial spots: Generally, the mark of a successful team includes being good on third downs on both sides of the football and in the red zone.

Offensively, Boston College is 10th nationally in third-down offense, converting 51.6 percent of the time. That is also tops in the ACC.

Opponents meanwhile only are converting on 27.6 percent of third downs against them, tied for seventh nationally and third in the league. One of the teams ahead of BC is NC State, who is tied for second at the FBS level with holding offenses to converting 23.9 percent of third downs.

BC also does a good job of scoring touchdowns when getting into the red zone. It has 16 TDs in 23 trips, a touchdown rate of 69.6 percent that is tied for 34th nationally with NC State, among others. When adding field goals, the Eagles have come up empty only twice in the red zone, a success rate of 91.3 percent that is tied for 25th in the country.

3. A statistically good but perhaps untested defense: Boston College ranks 29th nationally in yards per game allowed at 318.4. One spot ahead of them is Mississippi State, a defense that NC State faced on the road earlier this year and struggled against during a 24-10 loss.

There is a caveat to those numbers, however. In its five games, BC has faced a Football Championship Subdivision (FCS) opponent plus three FBS offenses that rank 108th or worse out of 130 teams in total yards per game. The only productive attack it has defended is Missouri, who ranks 22nd.

Missouri had 391 yards of offense, below its season average of 467, but also scored 34 points in regulation in what turned out to be a 41-34 overtime victory for the Eagles. And both Massachusetts and Clemson exceeded their season averages for yards per game when playing BC, with the Tigers totaling 438 yards on Boston College.

Prior to playing the Eagles, Clemson had not had more than 284 yards of offense in three FBS games.

1. Stop the run: Boston College was in an enviable position of having a veteran backup quarterback with starting experience waiting in the wings when Jurkovec, a legitimate All-ACC contender, went down with a wrist/hand injury.

That said, the one game BC struggled offensively, it is no secret what happened: Clemson stopped the run. That forced Grosel to have to throw 40 times, which is more than Boston College would probably prefer.

2. Start strong: Boston College has a strong offensive line, and as long as the game is tight, it can lean on them in the running attack even if there is limited success. Eventually, any defense will start to wear down against that.

One of the few times NC State's defense has shown vulnerability this year was late against Louisiana Tech when it was fatigued.

Thus if NC State can get points early while conversely stopping Boston College, it puts the Eagles in a position where they have to use that front to pass protect more than run block.

This key won't be easy. Boston College has outscored opponents 45-21 in the first quarter of games this year.

3. Win the battle of discipline: Boston College has not had a night game in a long time (since 2018), and there is expected to be a good crowd on hand. There is also quite a bit on the line in this game in terms of ACC Atlantic Division implications.

The team that can control its emotions and make fewer unforced mistakes will have an advantage.

3-7 NC State's record in Chestnut Hill.

2-0 NC State's record when playing against Boston College while the Pack has been ranked, including 1-0 on the road.

85-30 Boston College's scoring margin during the first half in the first four games combined.

——

• Talk about it inside The Wolves' Den

• Subscribe to our podcast on iTunes

• Learn more about our print and digital publication, The Wolfpacker

• Follow us on Twitter: @TheWolfpacker

• Like us on Facebook