Boston College-Notre Dame: Eagles Victory Over Irish More Probable Than Expected

The Boston College Eagles and Notre Dame Fighting Irish both find themselves at a crossroads of the season this Saturday night.

The Eagles enter the game with an inflated 2-1 record due to easy victories over Kent State and Weber State, followed by a humiliating display of ineptitude against Virginia Tech last Saturday.

The Fighting Irish enter with a much more desperate 1-3 mark and on a three-game losing streak since their opening week victory over Purdue.

The Eagles have a team that should be competitive and was picked by most analysts to finish near the top of the ACC's Atlantic Division. They possess one of the ACC's top defenses, highlighted by Mark Herzlich, 2008's ACC defensive player of the year and cancer survivor, and Luke Kuechly, who led the ACC in tackles as a freshman in 2009.

Through three games the Eagles defense has looked absolutely solid, allowing an average of 17.3 points per game and holding Tyrod Taylor and the Hokies to only 19 points.

Most of the Eagles' problems are on the offensive side of the ball, specifically at quarterback and wide receiver. At running back the Eagles have their most explosive and only consistent offensive weapon in Montel Harris, who accumulated 132 total yards last Saturday in the shutout loss to Virginia Tech.

Harris' quickness and ability to evade tacklers led to his breakout season last year, and he will look to wreak havoc on an Irish defense that is giving up an average of 189.8 rushing yards per game.

With a back like Harris, it would not take much of a leap of faith to believe that the Eagles' passing game has been opened up by defenses loading defenders into the box for run defense. Even with the attention directed at Harris this season, the passing game has struggled so badly that former starting quarterback Dave Shinskie has been pulled multiple times and finally demoted.

The problem is that so far this season nobody has looked good under center for the Eagles.

The situation is compounded by the loss of the Eagles' top two receivers from last season due to graduation and injury. The inexperience in the passing game played a huge role in the loss to Virginia Tech last Saturday, and if the Eagles want to compete this season, they will need to fix these issues.

This Saturday, however, is not just a normal game. To Boston College the annual showdown with Notre Dame is a rivalry game that every "Superfan" circles the minute the football schedule is announced. The game is being played in Chestnut Hill, at night, and on national television.

The fact is that this game does and always has mattered more to Boston College than it does to Notre Dame and recent history has only helped prove that fact. Boston College had won six straight "Holy Wars" before last season's loss and will look to resume their winning ways in this year's matchup.

Notre Dame has looked good but not great this year, as they have been experiencing some growing pains in the switch to Brian Kelly's offense. If the Irish come out flat for this game, the Eagles will jump all over them simply due to the weight of the game in Boston College circles.

The game will either be won or lost by Montel Harris. Look for him to have a monster day against the Fighting Irish's porous run defense, carrying the Eagles to victory. Also look for Mark Herzlich to feed off the energy associated with a rivalry game, played at night on national television, and make at least one major defensive play.

If the Eagles' passing game is just good enough to prevent Notre Dame from putting 10 men in the box, then the Eagles might just have the Irish right where they want them.