Prepping For the Holy War: Notre Dame's Matchup Against Boston College
- Liam Farrell
- Oct 31
- 3 min read
No. 12 Notre Dame (5-2) travels to Chestnut Hill to face off against Boston College (1-7) in the Holy War.
Photo by Notre Dame Athletics
Notre Dame opens their second half of the season on the road against the Boston College Eagles. Coming off their second bye week, the Irish have five straight games, four of five are against ACC opponents, to try and cap off their season on a ten-game win streak.
The Irish's first test is against a battered and bruised up Boston College team. The Eagles are entering the matchup against the Irish on a seven-game losing streak after opening the season with a win against Fordham. During that time, Boston College has made a few changes, specifically on offense, turning to FIU transfer Grayson James to take over at quarterback.
Let's take a look at three keys to this matchup against the Eagles.
Pressuring the Quarterback
Boston College's offensive line has moved around a bit and for good reason. The Eagles are 108th in the country in sacks allowed this season, giving up an average of almost three sacks per game.
In this one, look for the improved Notre Dame defensive line to play with some extra hunger and aggressiveness coming out of the bye. Al Washington, who played at Boston College, supposedly interviewed for the BC head coaching vacancy when the University elected to go with Bill O'Brien. Expect Washington's unit to play extra hard for their coach, especially in a game that means so much to them.
Another added motivation factor is for the Irish's best pass rusher, Boubacar Traore. Traore is a native of Boston, was a former commit to the Eagles before switching his allegiance to Notre Dame. The rangy 6-foot-4-inch athlete will certainly want to show out against the program he once committed to in his hometown.
Start Fast
In games where the margin of talent is so broad, it is imperative to put the game out of reach within the first quarter. If the Notre Dame offense can score on their first two drives of the game and deflate any hope Boston College had coming into the game, then this one should be a sizeable win for the Irish.
After his worst performance of the year, and an extra week to sit on it, expect offensive coordinator Mike Denbrock to look to regain confidence in his redshirt-freshman CJ Carr. Denbrock will almost certainly lean on his offensive line against a rather weak front seven from Boston College, but if the Irish get up to a two-possession lead early, I'd expect Carr to be slinging it across the field.
This is another opportunity for Jeremiyah Love to rack up an abnormal number of yards against a defense that is giving up 5.1 yards per carry. For reference, that ranks 116th in the country.
Keep Building Momentum
At this point in the season, Notre Dame must keep stacking performances. Their game against USC was arguably one of the most complete of the season, but the Irish still have plenty of room for improvement.
During this home stretch, the Irish have to look like a complete team. Their record won't do them any favors nor their strength-of-schedule; however, if Notre Dame can pass the eye-test in November and play five straight games of elite level football, it would give the College Football Playoff committee an extremely difficult decision to make.
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