Notre Dame needs to handle business against Boston College

admin November 10, 2012 0

By DOUG GRIFFITHS
ISL Correspondent

After such a close call against unranked Pitt, you would think 2-7 Boston College has Notre Dame’s undivided attention.

There’s no questioning that the fourth-ranked Irish (9-0 overall) weren’t as sharp in a 29-26 triple overtime win over the Panthers last Saturday as they were in winning in convincing fashion against nationally-ranked Oklahoma a week earlier.

Now comes another test against an unranked, heavy underdog opponent on the road.

Boston College’s 1-5 record in the ACC certainly won’t wow anyone, but Notre Dame has to believe it will get the Eagles best shot and will face a program that is more than capable of pulling off a stunning upset.

After all, this is a rivalry they call the Holy War or the Vatican Series that pits the only two Catholic schools still playing major college football.

BC has stunned the Irish before and would like nothing better than to see history repeat itself.

Notre Dame players were too young to remember 1993, but it’s a safe bet Irish fans remember it well.

That season Notre Dame was unbeaten and No. 1 in the nation, but Boston College hit a 41-yard field goal as time expired, giving it a 41-39 victory and ending the Irish’s hopes for a national championship.

Then in 2002, the fourth-ranked Irish, decked out in green jerseys, lost to the Eagles 14-7, spoiling another potential perfect season and possible national title.

Notre Dame coach Brian Kelly has spent part of this week warning his team about how the Irish are going to get Boston College’s A game.

I told the football team that they had the heart of a champion in the way they battled through triple overtime, Kelly said. But now that we understand that we will fight to the end of a battle, we’ve got to have the head of a champion, too. The head of a champion to understand that each and every week you’re going to get the opposition’s very best.

Boston College is a team that has played us very, very well. This past year obviously at home we had to make some big stops late to win the football game (against the Eagles).

Kelly continued saying what impresses him most about BC is Eagles coach Frank Spaziani.

Extremely well coached, especially on the defensive side of the ball, said Kelly about Boston College. They play hard; they play physical.

This is a team that, again, our players understand that if they don’t play their best they can get beat.

With that said, this is a BC team that has lost six of its last seven games, including a 28-14 decision at Wake Forest last Saturday.

The Eagles’ only two games this season against nationally ranked teams resulted in a 51-7 loss to Florida State and a 45-31 defeat to Clemson.

Offensively, Boston College throws the football much better than it runs it.

Junior quarterback Chase Rettig is completing 56.4 percent of his passes and has thrown for 2,556 yards with 16 touchdowns with eight interceptions.

He is averaging 284.6 yards passing per game, the third-best mark in the ACC and 18th nationally.

The problem for Rettig is he hasn’t been afforded the luxury of much time to throw the ball as he’s been sacked 22 times this season.

When he does get the time to throw, Rettig will look for junior receiver Alex Amidon. He has 63 catches for 1,073 yards this season. Amidon ranks second on the school’s single-season receiving yards list just 76 yards away from the record.

Amidon leads the ACC and ranks fifth in the country in receiving yards per game (119.2) and ranks 10th among all collegiate receivers with an average of 7.44 receptions per game. He has six 100-yard receiving games this fall.

Junior receiver Johnathan Coleman is a threat, too. He has 29 receptions for 434 yards with four touchdowns on the year.

BC’s rushing attack is one of the worst in the FBS, averaging a mere 74.7 yards per game.

Junior Andre Williams is the Eagle’s best running back (599 yards and four touchdowns), however, he’s not listed on the depth chart for the Notre Dame game. He suffered an abdominal injury against Wake Forest in the second quarter and never returned.

Without Williams, look for true freshman David Dudeck, a converted wide receiver, to get a bulk of the carries. He became BC’s third-down back when Tahj Kimble suffered a season-ending leg injury in the second game of the season.

Defensively, the Eagles struggle.

They rank 11th in the ACC in total defense, allowing 479.7 yards per game. BC really struggles stopping the run as it is permitting 234.4 yards rushing per outing.

Linebacker Nick Clancy has a team-high 107 tackles, while strong safety Spenser Rositano has a team-best three interceptions.

As far as special teams go, the Irish must beware of the Eagles knack for generating long punt returns. Of the nine punts they’ve returned this season, one has resulted in a touchdown and they are averaging an ACC-best 25 yards per runback.

Spiffy Evans is the one to watch on punt returns. He averages 31.6 yards per return and has an 82-yard run back for a score.

BC also boasts the second-best punting unit in its conference, with a net average of 37.7 yards per boot.

Gerald Levano averages 42.2 yards per punt and has a long of 66 and 10 that have traveled 50 yards or more.

Nate Freese is a very dependable place-kicker, having hit 12-of-14 tries this season, including going 12-for-12 from inside 40 yards. It’s worth noting that he’s missed his two longest kicks of the year – from 52 and 43 yards.

My Take
For whatever reason the Irish seem to be a much better team away from Notre Dame Stadium as they’ve won all their games away from home by 17 points or more.

Look for that trend to continue as Notre Dame faces a Boston College team that struggles to score and has a hard time keeping teams from scoring.

Considering the Eagles allow 234 yards rushing (11th in the 12-team ACC), Theo Riddick, George Atkinson, Everett Golson and Cierre Wood could have huge evenings running the football.

I know the Pitt game was close, too close in fact for any Irish fan. But look for Notre Dame to take care of business and do so like you would expect the No. 4 team in the nation to.

Notre Dame 44, Boston College 10

(I’m 8-1 this season predicting Irish games with the loss being last week’s Oklahoma game)

ND Nuggets
– The Irish are a 19-point favorite.

– Calling the action on ABC will be Brent Musburger (play-by-play), Kirk Herbstreit (analyst) and Heather Cox (sideline).

– According to The Weather Channel’s website, Saturday evening’s forecast in Chestnut Hill, Mass. calls for cloudy skies with lows around 41 degrees with a 20 percent chance of rain. Winds will be out of the north south, southeast at 5 miles per hour.

– Notre Dame leads the all-time series with Boston College, 12-9, but is just 3-4 in Chestnut Hill.

– The winner of this game earns the Frank Leahy Memorial Bowl. Leahy coached at both schools.

– Irish kicker Kyle Brindza ranks sixth in the nation with 17 made field goals.

– Notre Dame’s offense is currently averaging 200.3 rushing yards per game and 204.1 passing yards per game. Only two Irish offenses have averaged at least 200 rushing and 200 passing yards in the same season – the 1970 and 1977 teams.