Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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www.BLUEANDGOLD.com NOV. 23, 2019 31 makes a case for a New Year 's Six Bowl? Not so fast. After a comfortable 45-13 win over Richmond, a Football Championship Subdivision foe, the Eagles were blown out 48-24 at home by a Kansas Jayhawks team that had won a total of six games over the previous four seasons. "It's been a frustrating season for people because it seems like every time they're about to turn the corner and put something together, they re- gress," said Justin Rowland, a staff writer for the Boston College Rivals site Eagle Action. "Nobody expected them to lose to Kansas. That was one of the biggest surprises and upsets of the 2019 season, given their last decade." It's reached the point that followers of the Eagles football program (5-5 overall, 3-4 ACC) are unsure of what to expect, which is also how Fighting Irish fans should view Notre Dame's matchup with Boston College Nov. 23. OFFENSE Heading into the final three weeks of the regular season, Boston Col- lege junior running back AJ Dillon was second in the nation with 1,451 rushing yards. For perspective, it's unlikely a single Notre Dame player will reach the 1,000-yard threshold this season. Dillon is a bruising 6-0, 250-pound back with breakaway speed. He can pound the ball in short-yardage sit- uations and make big plays in the open field. The Eagles coaching staff is also willing to ride him when nec- essary and won't hesitate to have him carry the ball 35 times in a game. "He's the kind of guy who gets bet- ter as the game goes on, and if they're giving him 35 carries, chances are he's being pretty successful," Row- land said. "He's comfortable doing that." The Eagles also have a very pro- ductive second option at running back in sophomore David Bailey. He lack's Dillon's explosiveness, but is comparable in size at 6-1, 240 pounds. The running game is assisted by strong offensive line play. "Addazio is an offensive line coach at heart," Rowland said. "This is one of their better offensive lines." The line is led by redshirt freshman left tackle Tyler Vrabel and fifth-year senior right guard John Phillips. Both have consistently rated among the team's highest-graded players by Pro Football Focus each week. A struggle for the team so far has been the quarterback play. Junior An- thony Brown was the starting signal- caller for the Eagles throughout most of 2018 and was off to a solid start in 2019 before going down with a season-ending knee injury. Brown's replacement is redshirt sophomore Dennis Grosel. He has a strong touchdown-to-interception ratio, tossing eight scores and only two picks, but has struggled with his accuracy, completing just 49.5 percent of his passes. "That leads to more three-and-outs. It leads to shorter drives," Rowland said. "The offense has been a little erratic. They'll put together two or three good drives and then they'll go two or three drives where they don't really do much. "So the big plays are still there. The points are still there, but the consis- tency from the offense has definitely taken a hit." The Eagles also have several big- play pass catchers in redshirt junior wide receiver Kobay White, fresh- man wideout Zay Flowers and red- shirt sophomore tight end Hunter Long. All three have at least 19 recep- tions on the year and are averaging better than 16 yards per catch. DEFENSE Through 10 games, Boston College has been extremely inconsistent on de- fense. The Eagles are tied for No. 17 nationally in tackles for loss per game with 7.5, but they're No. 124 in team sacks per game with 1.1. Rowland said this eye-opening sta- tistical discrepancy has more to do with Boston College's personnel than its scheme. "Last year, they had Wyatt Ray and Zach Allen on the defensive line, and both of those guys are gone," Row- land said. "They combined for like 15.5 sacks on one defensive line last year. There's nobody that you have to game plan for. If you're a Notre Dame, it's normal to have a good offense and a good defense. "But when you're Boston College, a lot of times you've got the experience and the veterans on one side while you're retooling on the other side, and they're definitely retooling on de- fense." This year, redshirt junior end Bran- don Barlow leads the line in sacks with 2.5, while fifth-year senior tackle Tanner Karafa paces the unit in total tackles (44), but has yet to sack an op- posing quarterback. The bright spot on the Eagle de- fense so far this season has been 6-0, GAME PREVIEW: BOSTON COLLEGE Facts & Figures BOSTON COLLEGE AT NOTRE DAME Game Info Date: Nov. 23, 2019 Site: Notre Dame Stadium (77,622) Kickoff: 2:30 p.m. ET Television: NBC Radio: This broadcast can be heard live on SIRIUS Satellite Radio (channel 129) and on Notre Dame's IMG affiliates. Series Facts: This will be the 24th meeting between Boston College and Notre Dame. The Irish have a record of 14-9 record in the series and are currently on a six-game win streak. Head Coaches: Boston College — Steve Addazio (43-43, seventh season); Notre Dame — Brian Kelly (89-37, 10th season) Noting Boston College: With an all-time record of 675-495-37, Boston College is 35th all time in total wins … The Eagles' .575 all-time winning percentage is 42nd in college football history … They have one school-recognized national championship in 1940, going 11-0 under head coach Frank Leahy, who was in his second and final season with the Eagles before to coming to Notre Dame … The program dates back to 1893 and was independent of a conference until 1990 … Boston College is in the ACC and has one conference championship from the now-defunct Big East in 2004 … The Eagles are 14-12 (.538 winning percentage) in bowl games, which ranks 30th all time in terms of winning percentage … Quarterback Doug Flutie is the lone Boston College player to ever win the Heisman Trophy … Flutie is now the color commentator for NBC during Notre Dame home games … The Eagles have spent a total of one week at No. 1 in the Associated Press poll … Twenty former Boston College players have gone on to be first- round NFL Draft picks and 209 Eagles have been drafted in total.