Five Questions Boston College Has to Answer to Defeat Notre Dame
On Saturday, Notre Dame travels to Chestnut Hill to take on the Boston College Eagles. The Fighting Irish are fresh off a program altering win against #1 Clemson on Saturday night, and will need to be ready for a game that has all the markings of a trap game. For Boston College they are trying to treat this just like any other game. What do the Eagles need to do to win on Saturday? Here are our five keys.
1. Can the Eagles limit careless mistakes. BC head coach Jeff Hafley stressed in his Wednesday press conference that the Eagles are going to need to be clean football and really work to improve their execution, something that marred them against Clemson. The first area has to be "dumb" penalties. The Eagles can not avoid to give free yards to a team like Notre Dame, eliminating the pre-snap infractions, and careless penalties will be huge. Penalties has been such a dominant theme for Hafley's squad all year, but it will need to stop on Saturday.
2. Can Phil Jurkovec keep his emotions in check? The theme all week in BC press conference has been treating ND like any other opponent. The coaching staff has been stressing to the players that they have to just go about their business, and execute, while not getting caught up in the aura of the Fighting Irish. Easier said than done, but it will be even more challenging for Jurkovec. The ND transfer will be facing off against his old team, and that has to up the emotional factor in this game for him. Jurkovec has seemed exceptionally relaxed all week, but when he hits the field that could all change. Can he stay in his lane, and play his usual game without letting emotions interfere?
3. Can the Eagles stop Kyren Williams? Boston College's rushing defense has come a long way the past two weeks. They kept Clemson superstar Travis Etienne pretty much in check (on the ground) and Syracuse was able to do almost nothing, averaging 2.5 yards a carry. Williams will be yet another challenge for BC, as he has rushed for over 700 yards and 10 touchdowns this season. Can BC continue to play well against the rush, or will he find success?
4. How do you stop Ian Book? The offensive MVP against Clemson, Book is one of the quarterbacks that can make things happen even when plays are breaking down in front of him. The key may be what Jeff Hafley talked about last week, which is BC's ability to keep a QB in the pocket. Hafley praised BC's ability to keep quarterbacks in the box, which seems like the best way to attack Ian Book. He clearly has a solid arm, but limiting his out of the pocket artistry could be a way of containing him.
5. What tricks does Hafley pull out to catch the Irish off guard? It doesn't even need to be a trick play per say, but the teams willingness to be uber aggressive when needed. We saw it against Clemson, when Hafley had John Tessitore line up under center on a fake field goal, and Dennis Grosel passed it after Jurkovec went down. This team needs to do all the little things, but being aggressive and taking a chance will help as well.
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