Greg Hadley, Editor-in-Chief
You know it’s not a thrilling matchup when the venue is more exciting than the game, and that’s exactly the case this weekend.
Boston College may have a pretty stingy defense, but their offense is without doubt the worst Notre Dame has faced this season. The Eagles are just terrible with the ball in their hands. Sheldon Day, Romeo Okwara and company will wreak havoc at Fenway Park. And with C.J. Prosise back, ND should put up more than enough points.
The College Football Playoff committee showed this past week that it’s willing to keep Notre Dame steady at No. 4 as long as it posts solid wins. The Irish don’t need a blowout like they had against Massachusetts, but they’ll get one anyway.
FINAL SCORE: Notre Dame 35, Boston College 3
Mary Green, Assistant Managing Editor
The bad news for Notre Dame: Boston College brings the nation’s top defense to Saturday’s game, averaging a stingy 71.7 rushing yards per game.
The good news: Brian Kelly said C.J. Prosise (concussion) will return to the backfield this weekend.
The better news: The Irish offense certainly isn’t powered by its legs alone.
Notre Dame won’t put up its standard 36.2 points per game, but it won’t be held to the Eagles’ average of 14.4 either. It’s difficult to imagine the combination of DeShonze Kizer, Will Fuller, Josh Adams and Prosise scoring just two touchdowns.
BC’s defense is will challenge the Irish, but as a whole, the Eagles won’t have enough to pull the upset.
FINAL SCORE: Notre Dame 24, Boston College 7
Zach Klonsinski, Sports Editor
Just like last week, Notre Dame is a clear favorite in Saturday’s matchup, and with the buzz building around Oklahoma and Oklahoma State, anything less than a convincing win will just make the questions around Notre Dame’s position inside the top four of the College Football Playoff grow louder.
Good thing Boston College usually just rolls over for its archrival.
Still, the Irish shouldn’t have too much problem Saturday at Fenway Park. The Eagles resemble Wake Forest in a number of ways, and I don’t expect the game to be much different.
Notre Dame will struggle on offense again, but it will score enough to prevent this game from being anything more than a tune-up for Stanford.
FINAL SCORE: Notre Dame 27, Boston College 6
Alex Carson, Associate Sports Editor
Above all else, Boston College revels in one thing: beating Notre Dame. Meet an Eagles fan, and they won’t hesitate to talk about their 1993 or 2002 Holy War wins, both of which halted Irish dreams of a national championship.
On one front, the situation seems similar. Notre Dame enters with title aspirations and, like it did in 2002, the Irish will be suiting up in green jerseys against the Eagles this time around.
But on the other, it doesn’t. The 1993 Eagles team was a top-15 squad and the 2002 team went 9-4 — a far cry from this year’s version of the Eagles, one that has just one win against FBS opposition.
Irish fans shouldn’t have to worry about a nightmare loss to the Eagles this year.
FINAL SCORE: Notre Dame 23, Boston College 10
Brian Plamondon, Sports Writer
Notre Dame should win this football game hands down. Having said that, the score and the margin of victory is anyone’s guess.
Take out the Eagles’ two FCS wins, and Boston College is averaging 9.12 points per game. That’s pretty awful.
Having said that, the Eagles have a stout defense that limits them from getting blown out. Florida State struggled to put them away until late, while Boston College’s largest loss of the season was by only 17 points to Clemson. Not bad for a 3-7 team.
Notre Dame should roll, but it won’t look pretty, much like last Saturday’s game against Wake Forest.
I’ll take Notre Dame by the same score as the last time they came into Boston in November ranked No. 4.
FINAL SCORE: Notre Dame 21, Boston College 6
