Notre Dame vs. Boston College Complete Game Preview
SOUTH BEND, Ind. — The Notre Dame football seniors closed out their careers at their home stadium Saturday with a 28-7 win over Wake Forest on Senior Day.
But the No. 4 Irish, sitting at 9-1, do get one more home game Saturday with the annual Shamrock Series matchup. Notre Dame and Boston College are set to square off at Fenway Park on Saturday night, and the Irish are the home team.
“We love these Shamrock Series games,” Irish head coach Brian Kelly said. “We play great venues throughout the country, and this will be another great one in an iconic venue in Fenway Park. And the guys were really excited about playing in a stadium that has such great tradition.”
Boston College checks in at 3-7 overall. The Eagles have claimed wins over lowly Maine and Howard, plus a late-September victory over Northern Illinois. Since then, Boston College has suffered six consecutive losses, most recently a 24-8 setback against NC State on Nov. 7.
“We’ve got to keep grinding, keep building,” Eagles head coach Steve Addazio told reporters after the loss to the Wolfpack. “That’s what we’re working on right now. We’ve got a young football team right now out there. We play like a young football team.”
Date: Saturday, Nov. 21
Time: 7:30 p.m. ET
Place: Fenway Park in Boston
TV: NBCSN
Radio: IMG College Sports, SiriusXM Channel 129
Spread: Notre Dame by 16, according to Odds Shark
Notre Dame Keys to Victory
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Establish the Run
Notre Dame’s strong rushing attack goes up against the nation’s top-ranked rushing defense Saturday.
The Irish rank 24th in the country, averaging 215.6 rushing yards per game. Against the Demon Deacons, Notre Dame pounded out 171 rushing yards on 30 attempts, the majority coming on freshman running back Josh Adams’ 98-yard sprint. Aside from that burst, the Irish averaged just 2.52 yards per attempt.
Especially if running back C.J. Prosise is able to play against the Eagles, Notre Dame will have a good opportunity to rev up the rushing game before the regular-season finale against Stanford, which also claims a strong rush defense (29th in the country).
Protect the Football
Boston College’s anemic offense shouldn’t give Notre Dame much trouble. But turnovers, of course, can change the complexion of the game quickly.
The Irish have lost six fumbles and tossed six interceptions this season. Those 12 turnovers are tied for the 20th fewest in the country. Boston College is middle of the pack nationally with 17 turnovers forced.
Boston College Keys to Victory
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Control the Clock
Wake Forest outgained Notre Dame in total offense, 340-282, Saturday, as the Demon Deacons had the ball for more than 11 minutes more than the Irish.
“I thought Wake Forest played pretty good,” Irish head coach Brian Kelly said. “I think what the real issue was was that Wake Forest controlled the football.”
Boston College could follow a similar blueprint Saturday to (somewhat) ground Notre Dame’s offense. Against Wake Forest, the Irish only ran 49 offensive plays, below their season average (entering the game) of 70.3 plays per game, per TeamRankings.com.
For reference, the Eagles rank 56th in the country in time of possession, averaging 30 minutes and 27 seconds with the football each game.
Finish Third Downs
Entering their last matchup against NC State, the Eagles ranked eighth in the country, averaging 5.44 three-and-outs per game. At the time, Boston College was tied for third in the nation in forcing three-and-outs on 44.1 percent of its opponent’s drives.
Against Wake Forest, Notre Dame didn’t have any three-and-outs offensively. Kelly, quarterback DeShone Kizer and left tackle Ronnie Stanley spoke after the game about the different looks the Demon Deacons flashed and the challenge that presented the Irish offense.
“They played their front totally different than they had all year,” Kelly said of the Wake Forest defense. “So clearly, they game-planned a lot of the stuff for us, specifically with that [bye] week off.”
Can Boston College—also coming off a bye week—find a similar recipe and succeed on third downs?
Notre Dame Players to Watch
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C.J. Prosise
Irish head coach Brian Kelly said senior running back C.J. Prosise likely could’ve played if necessary Saturday against Wake Forest. But Notre Dame held out its top rusher after Prosise spent the week going through the concussion protocol.
“We were going to be prudent all the way through this,” Kelly said. “We weren’t going to give out too much information. We were going to obviously try to give you as much as we could, but we weren’t going to really push him in a position that we didn’t think we needed to.”
Prosise worked out before the game and felt “really good,” per Kelly. On Sunday, the head coach said Prosise is “probable” for Saturday’s matchup with the Eagles.
The converted wide receiver has piled up 975 rushing yards and 11 touchdowns, averaging 6.6 yards per carry. It will have been more than a month, though, since Prosise notched a strong and complete performance out of the backfield. After running for 143 yards and two scores on 19 carries against USC, Prosise and the Irish enjoyed a bye week. Temple then limited Prosise to 25 yards on 14 carries, and Prosise left in the first quarter of the Pitt win after just five rushes.
Boston College boasts the nation’s top-ranked rushing defense. The Eagles are allowing just 71.7 rushing yards per game and 2.12 yards per opponent carry, the top two marks in the nation.
Romeo Okwara
While linebacker Jaylon Smith and defensive tackle Sheldon Day deservedly draw the defensive headlines, senior defensive end Romeo Okwara is quietly—perhaps no longer so—posting a productive season.
Okwara is second on the team with 12.5 tackles for loss, and his nine sacks lead the team by a healthy margin (Day is second with three). Okwara has generated eight of those sacks over the last five games, including three against Wake Forest and two versus Pitt.
“I’ve just been working on things, especially transitioning from the defensive line to outside linebacker and then back to defensive line,” Okwara told reporters of his career progression after Saturday’s win. “I’ve just been working on my game wherever they put me, and I try the best I can wherever they have me.”
Kelly described Okwara, who moved to the United States from Nigeria as a sixth-grader, as a “raw” player when he arrived on campus as a 17-year-old freshman.
“We’re just seeing that maturation process kind of come together,” Kelly said. “Long, athletic, starting to really understand the game of football, and I think that’s what we’re seeing in front of us.”
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Boston College Players to Watch
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Steven Daniels
Eagles senior linebacker Steven Daniels has been the top producer on one of the nation’s top defenses. The Cincinnati native leads the team with 70 tackles and 15 tackles for loss and ranks second with six sacks.
Now a third-year starter, Daniels has helped key a Boston College defense that ranks third in scoring defense (14.4 points per game), first in rushing defense (71.7 yards per game), fifth in passing defense (164.8 yards per game) and first in total defense (236.5 yards per game).
Quarterbacks
If Notre Dame fans think there’s been turnover at the quarterback position since the spring, reassess and consider Boston College’s situation.
After the departure of fifth-year graduate transfer and prolific running quarterback Tyler Murphy, the Eagles have played four different quarterbacks this season, with three logging starts.
Sophomore Darius Wade had been the starter before he suffered a season-ending broken ankle against Florida State in mid-September. Redshirt freshman Troy Flutie and true freshman Jeff Smith both played following Wade’s injury before Smith suffered an injury against Louisville last month. So Flutie started against Virginia Tech on Halloween, but freshman walk-on John Fadule came on in the first quarter.
Regardless of who’s been under center for the Eagles, Boston College has struggled mightily as an offense. The Eagles rank 121st (of 128 teams) in scoring offense (17.3 points per game), 124th in passing offense (123.4 yards per game) and dead last in total offense (276.6 yards per game).
What They're Saying
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“It was better. We needed to be a little bit tighter on a couple third-down situations in the red zone late in the game, but secondary play was improved.” — Irish head coach Brian Kelly when asked about his team’s safety play
“Obviously, growing up in the area, being a big Red Sox fan, it certainly will be fun.” — Kelly, a Massachusetts native, who threw out a first pitch (a split-finger fastball) at Fenway Park this summer
“The position requires poise and confidence and the ability to bounce right back. He had all those things, and we knew we were gong to have to play him as a true freshman, and we had a good football, so he was going to be very, very important in terms of plugging him in.” — Kelly on freshman kicker Justin Yoon, who attended boarding school in Milton, Massachusetts
“Onwualu will be out.” — Kelly on junior linebacker James Onwualu, who will not play Saturday after suffering a second-degree MCL sprain (that will not require surgery) against Wake Forest
“It’s an advantage, clearly. I’ll be honest, when you get a week off this late in the season, just like BC will, we have to do a really good job of looking at our own self-scouting and analyzing what we do because they really were totally different in the way they defended our run game and things in the back end of their defense.” — Kelly on teams like Wake Forest and Boston College playing Notre Dame following their bye weeks
“We’re into our fourth quarterback. It’s not good when you’re into your second quarterback. But the good news is that we’re playing these young guys and they’re getting unbelievable, valuable game experience you can evaluate and they can grow from, which normally you never have a chance to do.” — Boston College head coach Steve Addazio to reporters after the NC State game
“Everybody, the whole thing is [young]. All these things are going down at all of these positions, but it will come back. This will all come back in a very positive fashion, but you have to be patient. You have to be steadying the boat. You’ve got to make good decisions. You’ve got to develop guys. And that’s our mindset.” — Addazio to reporters after the NC State game
Prediction
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Boston College has the blueprint for facing Notre Dame from last weekend, when Wake Forest slowed the game and limited the opportunities for the Irish offense.
The Eagles, though, will have to be more efficient in the red zone and convert on fourth down if Steve Addazio elects to be as aggressive as the Demon Deacons.
Boston College’s youth, though, doesn’t inspire much confidence that the offense can be efficient enough to keep pace with Notre Dame, even as the Irish face a stout Eagles defense.
Expect Notre Dame to take care of business and move on to Stanford.
Prediction: Notre Dame 31, Boston College 13
All quotes were obtained firsthand and all stats courtesy of CFBStats.com unless otherwise noted.
Mike Monaco is the lead Notre Dame writer for Bleacher Report. Follow @MikeMonaco_ on Twitter.
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