Scott Rickenbach
TITLE: 9-2 SEASON! #1 SAT. TOP PLAY
REASON FOR PICK: Game #163 – 2* (Top Play) Notre Dame Fighting Irish (+) @ Boston College @ 8 PM ET – The Eagles are struggling badly and their swoon is quite likely to continue here. Boston College has lost their game each of the last two weeks and is now just 2-3 in ACC action. Also, with a 5-3 record on the season, there suddenly is real concern in Chestnut Hill about the Eagles even getting their sixth win to be bowl eligible. Remaining games, after hosting Notre Dame, include two ranked teams and two road games for Boston College. The Eagles have road games at Florida State and Wake Forest and then host Maryland in their season finale. As you can see there is tremendous pressure on the Eagles to get that sixth win this week and pressure is the last thing that QB Chris Crane needs! The Boston College quarterback is struggling badly. They tried to go with a more conservative attack against Clemson last week but that back-fired as they looked very poor offensively against the Tigers. However, if they open up the playbook again Crane is likely to struggle with turnovers. Notre Dame has proven to be a very opportunistic team this season and Crane has 12 interceptions and only 8 touchdowns. More concerning than the overall stats is that Crane threw three interceptions in back to back weeks before the Eagles “limited the playbook” last week. He didn’t throw any picks last week but the Boston College QB averaged just 3 yards per pass attempt and the Eagles weakness at QB is a major concern this week.
Unlike the Eagles, Notre Dame is getting improved play from the quarterback start as the season has gone on. QB Jimmy Clausen has 18 touchdowns against 9 interceptions on the season but what has been especially impressive is that he’s got 12 touchdowns against just 3 interceptions in the last five weeks. The Fighting Irish are coming off of a tough overtime loss versus Pittsburgh as it was a game that Notre Dame never trailed in during regulation. However, there is no concern about an inability to bounce back here because the Irish certainly won’t be flat for this game. The Eagles and the Irish are the only two big Catholic schools playing college football as a major program. As a result, this series carries extra meaning and the Irish are determined to win at Chestnut Hill for the first time since 1998. The series actually ends after next season’s game and that game will be at Notre Dame so the Fighting Irish know that it’s now or “who knows when” in terms of coming up with another win at Chestnut Hill. The Irish would love nothing more than to take down the Eagles in their own stadium and they will do just that.
Not only does Notre Dame have a big edge at quarterback, we also feel that Boston College’s indefinite suspension of their kicker Billy Bennett is very significant because the punter will be handling kickoff duties this week and, also, the Eagles missed two field goals in last week’s game versus Clemson. Taking a look at the game, Boston College got down big 17-0 and only got back in the game because of a blocked punt and thanks to some interceptions. In other words, that had a chance to be a home blowout loss and it shows you just how susceptible the Eagles are right now. No longer having Matt Ryan at quarterback is a huge difference and after dominating the Irish in South Bend last season, it will be payback for Notre Dame this time around. This Eagles team is simply not what anywhere close to the team that the Irish played last season and Boston College’s defense was supposed to be it’s strength this season but they’ve allowed 31.5 points per game the last four weeks. Don’t be fooled by their full season stats as that included some very weak offenses. The Eagles defense is struggling and they’re very shaky at quarterback. The Irish will take advantage and win this “statement” game on national TV as they are in much better position, unlike Boston College, to secure their sixth win for bowl eligibility. Play Notre Dame plus the points as a Top Play selection.
