Boston College-Notre Dame Preview & Giblin's Gambles
The wait is over. BC football is back. Are you excited? Kind of? Not really? Okay, well let's talk Notre Dame.
Who: #16 Notre Dame. The Fighting Irish are 8-2 this year under Head Coach Brian Kelly in his 10th year. The Irish best wins are probably against fellow ACC members Virginia and Virginia Tech along with a win over rival Southern Cal. Their two hiccups were at Georgia and home against Michigan. While they won't be a factor for the College Football Playoff they still can achieve a 10-win season and possibly sneak into a New Year's Six Bowl.
Where: Notre Dame Stadium in South Bend, Indiana.
Weather: 30s to 40s with a chance of showers.
When: 2:30PM/ET, 12:30PM/Mountain Time.
What Channel: NBC
Where I'll Be Watching: The Long Island Game Watch.
What's the Spread: BC are currently 20.5-point underdogs
What Else? I'll be curious what AJ put's in terms of his excitement level for this one in his preview. It's BC-Notre Dame after all... The Holy War! But for me...I'm pretty apathetic. I just can't get super jacked for this game with the current situation with the team and program.
First, the team just doesn't have that same feeling I've had with past BC teams that went into Notre Dame Stadium as underdogs - that we had a chance to win! Just don't see it happening with the defense we have this year. Just gives us a next to nil chance to win.
Second, we're at the stage where the future of BC football needs to move on from Steve Addazio. To move on from Steve Addazio, we need him to fail satisfying the status quo - make a bowl game. It's a weird achievement that most BC fans believe is the unofficial bar that Daz needs to clear to keep his job. So if BC goes 0-2 down the stretch, we won't make a bowl and we might fire Daz. So... yea. I'm not gonna be upset if we lose. It might help us get rid of our head coach.
I'm not gonna be upset if we lose. That's really sad to type.
Most Important Dude(s)
Bill Sheridan
BC's defensive coordinator has had a horrendous year. He needs to have the gameplan of the century (and maybe seven or eight last minute transfers) to give BC a shot at slowing Notre Dame down.
3 Keys to #SOAR'N
1) The Luck of The Eagles – If we don't win the turnover battle by at least two, we don't have a shot. We gotta force some turnovers. Notre Dame's QB Ian Book has done a pretty decent job protecting the ball so this will be a tough task.
2) Control The Clock– It's still funny to me that we run our silly heavyset tempo offense. With our defense this season, Addazio should have realized that with our defense, limiting possessions in the game is of utmost importance.
3) Go For It In ND Territory – Once we cross the ND side of the field in this game, we should be in four down territory. Kicking field goals this year has been a disaster and punting on that side of the field will be too conservative to pull off a massive upset like this. Go for it.
Final Prediction
Notre Dame 44
Boston College 14
I'm sure this has been a depressing read. That's how I feel about BC football right now. Think this will be a tough watch. Irish win big.
Giblin's Gambles
This Will Be Where I Make A Few CFB Picks Each Week - Use At Your Own Risk My Season Goal: Over 57%
2019 Record: 54-41-1, 56.8%
Okay - this won't be as depressing - how about that 7-2 week last week! That's what I'm talking about! Big time bounce back for the Giblin Gambles. Let's keep it rolling.
1) Notre Dame -20.5 vs Boston College - Maybe BC comes out and is a new team vs the Irish. Probably not.
2) Minnesota - 13.5 at Northwestern - Northwestern might have scored vs UMass but they ain't gonna score much vs Minnesota.
3) Penn State at Ohio State UNDER 57.5 – This feels like one where I think Penn State can slow Ohio State down a hair but won't score much themselves. 38-17 is a winner and I don't know if Penn State can score 17 without KJ Hamler who is questionable.
4) Air Force -22.5 – Air Force is going to put 50+ on New Mexico and the Lobos have like one healthy RB on roster. Falcons BIG.
5) Nebraska -5 at Maryland – The Huskers put up some points on a good Wisconsin defense last week. They'll put up a whole lot more vs a bad Maryland defense this week.
6) TCU +18 at Oklahoma – With the Sooners defense, you have to love taking over 2 TDs worth of points. Backdoors best friend.