The Notre Dame have moved up to #2 in the nation after their double-overtime win over previously top-ranked Clemson on Saturday night. Next up for the Fighting Irish is a trip east to face the Boston College Eagles in the “Holy War” — the rivalry between the only two Catholic universities that have FBS football teams. Clemson actually led Notre Dame 33-26 with just over a minute remaining, but the Fighting Irish were able to march 91 yards down the field and score a touchdown. The defense created three fumbles and posted two sacks in the overtime. Boston College had an 18-point lead on Clemson down in South Carolina but could not hold on. They bounced back last week with a 16-13 win over Syracuse. BC comes in at 5-3, but three of their wins have been by three points or fewer, while two of their three losses have been by no more than six points. Notre Dame leads the overall series 16-9. The last time BC won was in 2008, when they shut out the Irish, 17-0. Notre Dame has won the last two meetings by a combined 62 points, including a 40-7 shellacking a year ago.
Check out our college football betting thoughts on this Saturday matchup.
NCAAF: Notre Dame at Boston College (Saturday, November 14)
When: Saturday, November 7, 2020, 3:30 pm ET
Where: Alumni Stadium, Chestnut Hill, MD
TV: ABC
Radio: Notre Dame Radio Network / BC Sports Properties Radio Network
Live Stream: Hulu
NCAAF Odds: Notre Dame -13.5
Why should you bet on the Eagles?
BC permits just 24.6 points per game, ranking in the top 40 nationally in scoring defense. Only three teams have broken the 30-point barrier against the Eagles in 2020. The real strength of the BC defense is in generating turnovers. In 2020, the Eagles have 14 takeaways — seven fumble recoveries and seven picks. If they can get a couple of early turnovers and turn those into a lead, they could have Notre Dame right where they want them, down big early in a trap game.
Quarterback Phil Jurkovec went 20 of 29 for 200 yards and a touchdown for the Eagles against Syracuse. He is sixth among FBS quarterbacks with 2,083 yards through the air, and he completes 21.5 passes per game, just one behind Trevor Lawrence, who leads the ACC. He spreads the ball around; seven different players caught passes from Jurkovec. The running game has struggled this season, in the bottom 20 of the nation, but against the Orange, David Bailey ran for 125 yards, and Travis Levy chipped in 73 more. I don’t see the running game doin much against the Irish, though.
Why should you put your money on the Fighting Irish?
Quarterback Ian Book took a huge step on Saturday, running for 64 yards and throwing for 310. He got out of pressure time and time again, going down just twice to sacks, both in the first half. His 53-yard rope to Avery Davis in the last drive of regulation was what took the wind out of the Clemson sails. Tailback Kyren Williams ran the ball 23 times for 140 yards, including a 65-yard touchdown on the first offensive play of the game.
Notre Dame’s defense had a difficult time with the Clemson offense. Freshman quarterback D.J. Uiagalelei threw for 439 yards and two scores, setting a record for passing yards by a Notre Dame opponent. However, Clemson only ran for 34 yards and limited Travis Etienne, the top rusher all time in the ACC, to 28 yards and a score on 18 attempts. If the Irish defense can stack up BC similarly, this game could get out of hand in a hurry.
Final Score and Prediction
Could this turn into a trap game? Absolutely. However, I’m not sure that BC has the offensive firepower to make a trap game stick down the stretch. I predict that Notre Dame will take a half to wake up but will still win and cover, 30-13.
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