Stacking Up: Notre Dame Defense vs. Boston College Offense
No. 15 Notre Dame (8-2) has been fueled all season by its defense, which has continued being one of the best nation's in the unit despite key personnel losses in the offseason.
The unit will be tested by a Boston College (5-5) offense that will bring one of the nation's top backs and top rushing attacks into South Bend this weekend. Our next breakdown of this matchup takes a look at how the Notre Dame defense stacks up on paper against the Boston College offense.
Notre Dame Scoring Defense vs. Boston College Scoring Offense
Advantage: Notre Dame
Despite heavy personnel losses from its 2018 starting lineup, the 2019 Notre Dame defense has been the driving force behind the team’s 8-2 record. While the offense has sputtered for much of the season, the defense has been outstanding in all but a two-game stretch against USC and Michigan.
Notre Dame ranks 18th in the nation in scoring defense, 28th in yards allowed and 16th in yards per play. The Irish also rank 16th in third-down defense, a major jump from its 2018 defense that ranked No. 65.
Just three of Notre Dame’s opponents have topped 20 points this season, and all but two opponents (USC, Michigan) topped 383 yards of offense. Notre Dame also held seven of its ten opponents to under 37-percent on third-down.
The low point of the season came in Notre Dame’s 45-14 loss to Michigan, and the defense played a role in that embarrassing defeat. Since that time the defense has been dominant. Notre Dame held its last three opponents to just 13.3 offensive points, 264.0 yards per game and only 3.9 yards per play. Those three opponents converted just 25-percent of their third-down chances.
Last season, Notre Dame ranked 11th in red zone defense and 27th in red zone touchdown percentage. This season the Irish have had a hard time keeping teams off the scoreboard once they get into the red zone. Notre Dame ranks 129th out of 130 teams in red zone defense, and ranks 57th in red zone touchdown defense.
While the Notre Dame offense is facing an abysmal Boston College offense, the Irish defense will be tested by the Eagles.
In four of Boston College’s five losses the Eagle offense still scored at least 24 points, and it scored 39 points and 31 points in two of those losses. Boston College has registered at least 432 yards of offense and 5.01 yards per play in all but one game this season. The only team to hold them below those two numbers is Clemson.
The Eagles have racked up at least 508 yards of offense in six games this season. In its two most recent contests - against Syracuse and Florida State - Boston College racked up an average of 599.5 yards and 7.1 yards per play.
Boston College has averaged 39.4 points and 565.4 yards per game in its last five games against opponents not named Clemson.
Notre Dame Rush Defense vs. Boston College Rush Offense
Advantage: Boston College
Notre Dame’s ground defense has been the most inconsistent part of the unit all season. At times the Irish have been outstanding against the run, and in other instances the defense has struggled. Notre Dame has allowed its non-option opponents to rush for 155.6 yards per game and 3.9 yards per rush.
The Irish allowed 561 yards in the first two games of the season, but over the next three contests the defense gave up just 91.3 yards per game. In a win over USC and a loss to Michigan, the defense allowed 237 yards per game, including 303 yards to Michigan. That was followed by the defense holding Virginia Tech and Duke to just 96 and 95 rushing yards, respectively.
That's the inconsistency I was just writing about.
It sounds weird, but holding Navy to 281 yards rushing this past weekend was a strong performance. The Irish held Navy to 77 yards below its previous season average and it was the second lowest yards total and second lowest yards per rush average of the season for Navy.
Notre Dame has been quite effective at creating negatives in the run game. The Irish rank 15th nationally in tackles for loss, and is on pace for 66 run game tackles for loss after registering 44 run game tackles for loss a season ago.
In fact, if Notre Dame stays on its current pace for tackles for loss it will be the highest total of the Brian Kelly era. The previous high was 60, which was accomplished back in 2015. The next highest total was 55 (2017), but no other season had more than 47.
Boston College rushed for 157 yards and averaged only 3.3 yards per attempt in the season-opening victory over Virginia Tech. In an Oct. 26 loss to Clemson, the Eagles rushed for just 97 yards and 2.2 yards per carry.
Outside of those two games the Eagles have been an elite rushing offense. Boston College current ranks fifth nationally in rushing offense and ranks No. 2 in rushing yards per game for non-option offenses.
In its last eight games against opponents not named Clemson, the Eagle offense has racked up an average of 321 rushing yards per game and 5.9 yards per rush.
Junior running back AJ Dillon has been one of the nation’s best backs this season, ranking third in the country with 1,451 yards on the ground, and his 13 touchdowns ranks tenth. Dillon has topped 150 yards in six of the team’s ten games this season.
Dillon is not a one-man show, with backup David Bailey adding 765 yards and seven touchdowns. Bailey is averaging 6.4 yards per rush, and he’s racked up 181 yards against NC State and 172 yards against Syracuse over the last month.
Notre Dame Pass Defense vs. Boston College Pass Offense
Advantage: Notre Dame
Despite the loss of 2018 All-American cornerback Julian Love, the Irish pass defense has been extremely good this season. While it has struggled at times with back shoulder throws, those have been limited from a volume standpoint, and the defense has been top-notch at slowing down the opposition pass attack.
Notre Dame ranks fifth in fewest passing yards allowed, 12th in pass efficiency defense, 15th in opponent completion rate, 18th in fewest touchdowns allowed and 19th in yards allowed per completion. The improvement in completion percentage has been the biggest jump this season, with the Irish ranking 45th in that area a season ago.
Only two Notre Dame opponents (Virginia, USC) have topped 190 passing yards in a game against the Irish, and only three times (Virginia, USC, Michigan) has Notre Dame allowed more than one touchdown pass in a game. The Irish defense held four opponents to less than 50-percent completions on the season.
Notre Dame hasn’t been as good this season when it comes to getting after the quarterback, and now the Irish must go without its top pass rusher, Julian Okwara, who is out for the season.
The overall numbers for the Boston College pass offense are impressive. Despite ranking 96th in passing yards per game, the Eagles rank 11th in yards per completion, 19th in fewest interceptions, 32nd in yards per pass attempt and 43rd in both touchdown passes and pass efficiency. The Eagles also rank second in the nation in fewest sacks allowed (6).
Its success in recent games hasn't as impressive due to the loss of QB Anthony Brown, who went down in the sixth game of the season. Boston College averaged 235 yards per game and threw 14 touchdown passes in the first six games with Brown. In the four games without Brown, Boston College has averaged just 151.3 passing yards per game and has just five touchdown passes.
Boston College is still averaging an impressive 15.1 yards per completion and 8.4 yards per attempt, but the pass is almost to the BC offense what it is to option offenses. It’s not used that much, and when it is used the goal is to generate big plays.
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