Stacking Up: How The Notre Dame Offense Matches Up vs. Boston College
Notre Dame will take its 8-0 record and No. 2 ranking in the polls to Massachusetts this weekend to face the 5-3 Boston College Eagles. It is the latest installment of the "Holy War," and it's a must-win for the Irish.
Let's continue our coverage of the Notre Dame vs. Boston College matchup with a look at how the Irish offense stacks up on paper against the Eagle defense.
Notre Dame Scoring Offense vs. BC Scoring Defense
Advantage: Notre Dame
This is an intriguing matchup of two solid but unspectacular units, but both are coming off arguably their best performance of the season.
Notre Dame has been steady on offense this season, but with the exception of the Florida State game it hasn't been overly explosive or dynamic, and even in that game it was more for just one half. We saw flashes of that against Clemson, but once again the struggles of the red zone offense kept the points down relative to the yard production.
Notre Dame is one of the nation's best third-down offenses, and it has made at least 10 third-down conversions in three straight games, something that had never happened in the first ten years of the Brian Kelly tenure. Notre Dame's potent ground attack, veteran quarterback and third-down offense should be resulting in more points.
The good news for Notre Dame is Boston College ranks just 58th nationally in red zone touchdown defense.
Overall, Boston College has been a quality unit, relying more on good coaching, toughness and grit to thrive than it does athleticism, length or talent. There just aren't many NFL players on this roster, but the sum thus far has been greater than the parts.
The Eagles battled in the first half against Clemson, but the lack of speed and playmaking ability compared to the Tigers ultimately did Boston College in. Notre Dame has a much, much better offensive line than Clemson, or anyone else that Boston College has faced this season, and that should be the difference in this game.
One stat to keep an eye on is turnovers.
Notre Dame is much better at limiting turnovers than its 40th national ranking. If you look just at teams that have played more than two games the Irish actually rank 14th, and if you look at teams that have played more than three games the Irish are tied for third. Boston College has forced 14 turnovers in eight games, which ranks fifth in the country.
Notre Dame Rush Offense vs. BC Rush Defense
Advantage: Notre Dame
Notre Dame's on paper advantage over Boston College is both statistical and size.
Notre Dame is one of the nation's best running teams, ranking in the Top 30 in both rushing yards per game, yards per attempt and touchdowns. If you look at teams that have played at least three games, Notre Dame ranks 14th in yards per game and 19th in yards per attempt.
Notre Dame has rushed for at least 208 yards in five of its seven games and at least 5.2 yards per rush in four of seven games. Sophomore running back Kyren Williams ranks eighth nationally in rushing yards (740) and fifth in touchdowns. Williams (9th) and freshman Chris Tyree (7th) both rank in the Top 10 of the ACC in yards per attempt.
The Irish also hold a massive size advantage over the Eagle front seven. Notre Dame averages 308.8 pounds along the offensive line, while Boston College's line averages just 272 pounds, and has just one player in the rotation that weighs more than 290 pounds. It is also a short front that lacks ideal length, something that could give it problems against the Irish. BC's linebackers average just 228 pounds.
Boston College has played two Top 25 rushing offenses so far this season. It held its own against North Carolina (176 yards, 4.5 YPC), but Virginia Tech ran all over the Eagles (350 yards, 8.5 YPC). In the three games that followed its loss to the Hokies, Boston College has allowed just 88 rushing yards per game and just 3.1 yards per rush.
Notre Dame Pass Offense vs. BC Pass Defense
Advantage: Even
The statistical matchup between the Notre Dame pass offense and the Boston College pass defense is a close one. The numbers in my view are a bit skewed by Boston College playing a pair of offenses (Virginia Tech, Syracuse) that rank among the nation' worst pass offenses.
Clemson quarterback D.J. Uiagalelei picked Boston College apart in his first career start, passing for 342 yards while completing 30 of his 43 pass attempts. The Eagles did, however, do a good job keeping North Carolina quarterback Sam Howell relatively in check. Howell passed for just 225 yards and completed just 53.8% of his passes in the 26-22 win over Boston College.
Notre Dame's pass offense has been inconsistent this season, having thrown for under 200 yards more times than it has passed for over 300 yards. Notre Dame's pass offense has also generated just eight touchdowns in seven games, and the inability to make scoring plays in the red zone with its pass offense is a big factor in Notre Dame's poor red zone defense.
Quarterback Ian Book is coming off arguably the best game of his career, as the veteran threw for 310 yards and a score in the win over Clemson. His 53-yard post throw to Avery Davis on the final drive of the game was one of multiple vertical shots he took agains the Tigers. If that continues against Boston College the Irish pass offense should have a big day.
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