Eagles would like one label to stick
Call today’s Atlantic Coast Conference meeting with Wake Forest at Alumni Stadium a crossroads game, perhaps the first of many for coach Frank Spaziani’s Boston College Eagles. But it can be called many other things:
■ A gut-check game.
■ A coming-of-age game for the three-headed quarterback system Spaziani has been forced to use because nobody has demonstrated the ability to run the offense.
■ Redemption game, in an effort to forget a 25-7 loss at Clemson last Saturday.
Oh, yes, one more label:
■ A farewell game against Wake Forest’s fifth-year senior quarterback Riley Skinner, who will be facing the Eagles for the fourth time.
“It seems like he has been at Wake forever doesn’t it,’’ joked Spaziani, whose defenses have done a remarkable job containing Skinner over the years.
The Eagles need to win because they face elite ACC teams in Florida State and Virginia Tech the next two games.
Spaziani has maintained the Eagles are a work in progress and the team’s character won’t be evident for weeks. He hopes last Saturday’s offensive embarrassment - the Eagles managed only 54 yards of total offense - won’t be repeated.
Wake Forest (2-1) isn’t as defensively overpowering as Clemson, but Skinner has produced 7,221 passing yards in his career and has engineered seven fourth-quarter comebacks, the latest a 24-17 win against Stanford two weeks ago.
Veteran coach Jim Grobe will bring his quirky, misdirection-type offense to The Heights with a few new twists, which has drawn the attention of Spaziani and defensive coordinator Bill McGovern.
Grobe acknowledges the problems the Demon Deacons have had against BC - Wake Forest is 1-3 against the Eagles since BC joined the ACC in 2005.
“Boston College has been a really tough place for us to play in the past,’’ said Grobe. “We’ve lost our last couple of games up there. We had one basically in the bag and Matt Ryan took them down for a couple of scores. A couple of years ago we went up there and really turned the ball over too many times and we didn’t play well and they got us again.’’
Spaziani said facing any Grobe-coached team “is always a challenge. His offense is basic, but he’s always fiddling with it. He’s one of the best coaches in the country.’’
Spaziani’s other challenge is in his locker room as he tries to solve a quarterback puzzle of Justin Tuggle, Dave Shinskie, and Mike Marscovetra, an inexperienced group of freshmen (one a redshirt, the other two true freshmen).
Spaziani said finding a starter is like trying to solve Rubik’s Cube. He wants one to become the face of the offense but he hasn’t found that coverboy yet.
Tuggle started against Clemson and Shinskie was the backup, but neither could move the offense. Spaziani will probably start Shinskie and use Tuggle as the backup today, and said all three quarterbacks might play.
Shinskie will likely get his chance to emerge as the No. 1 QB today.
“A key to this game is being able to pound it down their throats to open up the passing game,’’ Shinskie said. “We’ll pass when we need to pass, but the key to our offense is running the ball.’’
Spaziani said the game plan is simple regarding the quarterback situation - and the team.
“You’ve got to win the game,’’ he said. “I’m not of the mind-set to see who we’ll play [at quarterback] and see if that works. We’ll put in a tailback back there. We’ll do whatever it takes to win the game and put the best 11 guys on the field.’’
BC vs. Wake Forest
When: Today, 2 p.m.
Where: Alumni Field
TV/Radio: Ch. 38, WRKO (680)
Mark Blaudschun can be reached at blaudschun@globe.com. 
