Midweek Musings: Notre Dame vs BC Edition - Defense
Thoughts on Notre Dame football as it gets ready for another big matchup against Boston College. We already talked about the offense, now it’s time to focus on the defense.
MUST SEE MATCHUP
Kurt Hinish vs. Alec Lindstrom — When defenses have had success throwing BC quarterback Phil Jurkovec off his game it is due mainly to getting pressure right up the middle. Boston College also likes to run a very straight ahead, vertical oriented run game. In both areas, senior nose guard Kurt Hinish could have a big impact, and he’ll be matched up against talented redshirt sophomore center Alec Lindstrom.
If Hinish dominates this matchup it will go a long way towards shutting down the inconsistent Boston College ground game, and will also make it harder for Jurkovec to step into the pocket. The same could be said about the other interior matchups, and big games from players like Myron Tagovailoa-Amosa are also needed, but the battle right over the center should be the biggest.
BIGGEST CONCERN
I wrote about this already (read it HERE), but the biggest concern is simple, don’t let Jurkovec beat you. When Jurkovec is running around making plays the BC offense can be really, really dangerous. When teams are able to keep Jurkovec in the pocket, keep him throwing the short game and prevent him from stepping into downfield throws they can completely overwhelm the Boston College offense.
Jurkovec accounts for 74% of the Boston College total yards on offense and 78% of the offensive touchdowns (72% of total touchdowns). Compare that to Notre Dame quarterback Ian Book, who accounts for 57.8% of the Irish yards and just 40.6% of the Irish touchdowns. This is not a stat that shows Jurkovec is better than Book, it is simply to provide context on just how much BC relies on Jurkovec to make plays.
Clemson struggled to contain Jurkovec in the first half of their matchup against BC, and that played a big role in why they trailed 28-13 at the half. In the second half, the Tigers were able to hammer Jurkovec, they prevented him from going through his progressions and they never let him get comfortable, and they completely shut BC down.
If Notre Dame can do the same the Eagles won’t have a chance, but if they can’t rattle Jurkovec this game will be closer than it should.
STATS THAT MATTER
Creating inefficiency in the BC is a must. The two stats that I’ll be focusing on as this game drags out is Boston College’s yards per rush and Jurkovec’s yards per attempt. Keeping the run game to under 4.0 yards per attempt and the pass game to 7.0 yards or less is crucial to defensive success.
The reality is Notre Dame actually wants Jurkovec to throw a lot passes. The more he throws the less effective the run game is, and the more he throws the more plays BC must run to get points. Much like we saw last week with Clemson quarterback D.J. Uiagalelei, the more plays you make BC run, and the more throws Jurkovec has to make means more opportunities to force him into mistakes, and the more opportunities the defense has to make stops.
The worst case scenario for Notre Dame is that BC rips off big plays, especially big scoring plays. Big plays kept Clemson in the game last week, and Notre Dame cannot allow that to happen against the Eagles.
STEP UP TIME
Junior cornerback TaRiq Bracy had a brutally bad performance against Clemson, and he was ultimately replaced by freshman Clarence Lewis. When you look at Notre Dame’s remaining schedule (UNC, Wake Forest, likely Clemson), there are some really good passing teams left. Bracy is Notre Dame’s best cover corner when he is on his game, and Notre Dame needs to get him back on track.
Bracy needs to bounce back from his struggles against Clemson, have a strong week of practice and lock down the BC wide receivers. His matchup against Zay Flowers should be especially intriguing to watch and was one I considered for the first category.
TWEET OF THE WEEK
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