Notre Dame vs. Boston College Football Preview

Notre Dame vs. Boston College Football Preview

What: College Football, Notre Dame vs. Boston College
Where: Fenway Park, Boston, MA
When: Saturday, November 21, 2015 at 7:30PM
Broadcasters: Play-by-Play: Ryan Poor, Color: Kevin Fritz and Aaron Potts
Listen live on 90.3 WZBC using the link on the right side of our homepage

A longstanding college football rivalry will add another chapter on Saturday when the Boston College Eagles meet the Notre Dame Fighting Irish at Fenway Park. Known as the Holy War, because of the religious affiliations of both schools, this will be the 23rd meeting between these two historic programs and the first since November 10, 2012 when Notre Dame beat BC 21-6 in Chestnut Hill, MA. This will be the first football game played at Fenway since December 1, 1968 when the Boston Patriots played host to the Cincinnati Bengals.
So far this season, these two teams have been moving in opposite directions. BC comes into the game 3-7; they are ineligible for a bowl game this season, and have lost the last six games. The offense has struggled throughout the season, having used four quarterbacks with none of them performing exceptionally well. Sophomore Darius Wade started the year at QB, but broke his left ankle in a loss to Florida State in Week 3, knocking him out for the year. A platoon between two freshmen, Troy Flutie and Jeff Smith followed, but when neither of them had success, coach Steve Addazio has now switched to walk-on freshman John Fadule to lead the offense. On top of that, BC’s running game has struggled this year and not experienced the success it has in the past few years, adding more pressure to a depleted quarterback set.
The defense for the Eagles has kept them in games throughout the year. Led by seniors Justin Simmons, Connor Wujciak, Steven Daniels, and Mehdi Abdesmad, they allow only 236.5 yards per game, and have the top ranked defense in all of college football. The Eagles’ defense has been the one saving grace for a team that has struggled mightily on the offensive side.
On the other hand, Notre Dame has had success throughout the year, coming into this Saturday’s matchup at 9-1 and are currently the fourth ranked team in the country according to the College Football Playoff Committee, meaning that if the season ended today they would play Clemson in the a semifinal game to get to the National Championship. Notre Dame is led by sophomore quarterback DeShone Kizer after taking over for Everett Golson who transferred to Florida State. His number one target is junior Will Fuller who has 12 receiving touchdowns this year. Kizer is joined in the backfield by senior running back C.J. Prosise who has rushed for 975 yards and 11 touchdowns this season. Notre Dame has the 44th ranked defense in the country, and while they are nowhere near as strong as BC, they do a good job get off the field and allow Kizer and the offense to score.
Despite the fact that these two teams are trending in opposite directions, this is still a high-energy game. BC wants to do everything they can to knock Notre Dame from the college football playoffs, while Notre Dame wants to run over their rival in order to stay in favor with the committee as the season draws towards a close. BC has struggled, but they are coming off of a bye and have had a lot of time to prepare for the task at hand. However, despite the fact that the game is in Boston, Notre Dame will be the home team and is expected to have the support of the crowd behind them. Be sure to tune in to WZBC for the call of this historic matchup’s latest chapter.
Prediction: Notre Dame 24 vs. Boston College 13