Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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www.BLUEANDGOLD.com NOV. 23, 2019 35 Duke and his seven-yard game-winning touchdown scamper a week earlier against Virginia Tech. The Irish run game — which ranked 50th in the country at 175.0 yards per game through Nov. 9 — has had its moments. Jones enjoyed three consecu- tive 100-yard rushing games before being slowed by a rib injury. Even with solid work by redshirt junior linebacker Max Richardson, Boston College has struggled stop- ping the run this season, allowing 184.6 yards per game, which placed the Eagles near the bottom of the NCAA in ground control. Richardson enters this game with 95 total tackles, including 11.5 for loss. Through 11 weeks, he was seventh nationally in solo tackles (6.3 per game), 11th in tackles for loss (1.5 per game) and 22nd in total stops (9.5 per game). Boston College is especially vulnerable here when protecting its goal line, ranking only 116th in red-zone defense (35 scores allowed in 39 trips for an 89.7 percent mark). Advantage: Notre Dame NOTRE DAME PASSING GAME VS. BOSTON COLLEGE PASS DEFENSE An up-and-down season from Book also makes this category difficult to evaluate; that's the bad news. The good news is that these are the kinds of matchups — home games against lesser defenses — that Book has thrived in this year and during his career as the Irish starter. With 21 touchdown passes and six intercep- tions, Book entered the game against Navy Nov. 16 ranked No. 58 nationally in passing efficiency (138.5 rating). Book's top targets have been senior wide receiver Chase Claypool and junior tight end Cole Kmet. Through nine contests, Claypool led the team with 42 receptions for 651 yards and five touchdowns. Kmet wasn't far behind — despite missing the first two games of the season — with 27 catches for 327 yards and five scores. Boston College has been ineffective at stopping the pass. Through games played Nov. 9, the Eagles ranked 126th out of 130 Football Bowl Subdivision teams in pass yards allowed per game at 302.3 — one of only six teams in the country yielding more than 300 passing yards per outing — though it does have a respectable nine interceptions. Advantage: Notre Dame SPECIAL TEAMS Neither Boston College nor Notre Dame had scored or given up a special teams touchdown heading into last weekend. Both teams feature solid punters and placekickers, but hadn't enjoyed many game-break- ing plays from these specialty units so far this season. The Irish finally got one at Duke Nov. 9, when fifth- year senior wide receiver Chris Finke ripped off a 46- yard return to set up Notre Dame's last touchdown of the game. Following that contest, he ranked 15th in the country with an average of 10.4 yards per punt return. The Fighting Irish coverage units have been solid, ranking 24th in punt returns (4.33 yards allowed per return) and 30th in kick returns (18.52). The Eagles have done a decent job in punt coverage (28th na- tionally with 4.76 yards allowed per return), but were just 96th in kickoff coverage (22.42 yards allowed per return). Advantage: Even COACHING Addazio is the lone football coach in Boston College history to lead the Eagles to five bowl games in his first six years. Coming into this season, he had guided the Eagles to seven wins in five of those six seasons. Addazio has a 43-43 overall record at BC, yet it remains to be determined if he can lift this program to the next level, or whether he'll be given the chance to do so after this fall. Irish head coach Brian Kelly deserves plenty of credit for keeping his troops together through myriad injuries and a demoralizing 45-14 loss at Michigan that spoiled any College Football Playoff hopes and could have sent this season into a nosedive. Kelly has been almost unbeatable at home since 2017. Advantage: Notre Dame INTANGIBLES Boston College will be the seventh and final team — and the fourth straight — Notre Dame plays in 2019 that is coming off a bye week. After starting 3-1, the Eagles (5-5) have lost four of their last six games and need a win over either Notre Dame or at Pittsburgh the following weekend to secure bowl eligibility for the sixth time in the last seven years. With a top-15 ranking in turnover margin at plus- 0.78 per game, BC has been opportunistic this sea- son. During the 5-5 start it forced 18 turnovers, which also puts it as one of the best takeaway teams in the country. Kelly is 5-0 against BC, his last win coming in a 49- 20 road rout of the Eagles in 2017. These two teams haven't played at Notre Dame Stadium since 2011. Advantage: Notre Dame GAME PREVIEW: BOSTON COLLEGE Offense Pos. No. Name Ht. Wt. Yr. LT 78 Tyler Vrabel 6-5 310 R-Fr. 71 Nate Emer 6-5 300 R-So. LG 66 Anthony Palazzolo 6-5 305 Gr. or 77 Zion Johnson 6-3 310 Jr. C 72 Alec Lindstrom 6-4 290 R-So. 55 Dwayne Scott 6-2 300 Gr. RG 70 John Phillips 6-6 305 Gr. 56 Adam Korutz 6-2 290 R-Jr. RT 64 Ben Petrula 6-5 310 Jr. 62 Hayden Mahoney 6-5 305 Gr. X 9 Kobay White 6-1 200 R-Jr. 23 Travis Levy 5-11 205 Jr. or 82 Ethon Williams 6-0 200 Fr. TE 85 Korab Idrizi 6-3 250 Sr. or 80 Hunter Long 6-5 255 R-So. TE 84 Jake Burt 6-3 260 Gr. or 80 Hunter Long 6-5 255 R-So. RB 2 AJ Dillon 6-0 250 Jr. 26 David Bailey 6-1 240 So. QB 6 Dennis Grosel 6-1 220 R-So. 7 Matt Valecce 6-5 225 R-Fr. Z 19 Ben Glines 6-2 220 Gr. 4 Zay Flowers 5-11 170 Fr. or 1 Elijah Robinson 6-2 200 Gr. Defense Pos. No. Name Ht. Wt. Yr. DE 2 Richard Yeargin 6-4 280 Gr. 90 Bryce Morais 6-4 275 R-Jr. or 92 Izaiah Henderson 6-5 295 Fr. DT 48 Tanner Karafa 6-3 285 Gr. 98 Kyiev Bennermon 6-3 300 R-Fr. or 94 Ryan Betro 6-4 395 R-Fr. NT 99 TJ Rayam 6-1 300 Jr. 96 Ireland Burke 6-3 310 Fr. DE 97 Marcus Valdez 6-1 265 R-So. or 44 Brandon Barlow 6-3 250 R-Jr. SLB 34 Joe Sparacio 5-11 225 R-Fr. 8 Jahmin Muse 6-2 220 R-So. or 55 Isaiah McDuffie 6-2 220 Jr. MLB 28 John Lamot 6-0 240 R-Jr. 42 Vinny DePalma 6-1 230 R-Fr. WLB 14 Max Richardson 6-0 230 R-Jr. 36 Paul Theobald 6-2 235 R-So. or 51 Hugh Davis 6-0 230 R-Fr. LC 10 Brandon Sebastian 6-1 190 R-So. 7 Tate Haynes 6-1 190 R-So. or 20 Elijah Jones 6-3 190 R-Fr. SS 25 Medhi El Attrach 6-0 205 Gr. or 5 Nolan Borgersen 6-2 205 Gr. FS 18 Mike Palmer 6-1 200 R-Jr. or 8 Jahmin Muse 6-2 220 R-So. RC 3 Jason Maitre 5-10 185 R-Fr. 27 Josh DeBerry 6-0 175 Fr. BOSTON COLLEGE DEPTH CHART Pos. No. Name Ht. Wt. Yr. KO 37 Danny Longman 6-2 180 So. 95 Grant Carlson 6-0 190 R-Jr. FG 41 Aaron Boumerhi 6-0 200 Gr. 37 Danny Longman 6-2 180 So. or 98 John Tessitore 6-1 190 R-Fr. P 95 Grant Carlson 6-0 190 R-Jr. 37 Danny Longman 6-2 180 So. Pos. No. Name Ht. Wt. Yr. LS 46 Aidan Livingston 5-11 215 Fr. 54 Evan Stewart 6-2 225 R-Fr. H 6 Dennis Grosel 6-1 220 R-So. 7 Matt Valecce 6-5 225 R-Fr. KR 23 Travis Levy 5-11 205 Jr. 19 Ben Glines 6-2 220 Gr. PR 23 Travis Levy 5-11 205 Jr. 39 Andrew Strader 5-7 175 R-Jr. Special Teams