Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/601719
GAME PREVIEW: BOSTON COLLEGE shoulder and try to run over the line- backer. He brings a lot of grit, and the team seems to respond to him because of his toughness and desire to win. It's still been pretty bad, but it's been slightly better with him." As poor as the offense has been, the defensive unit has played outstand- ing, keeping Boston College in a lot of games they'd otherwise have little chance in. FootballOutsiders.com tracks a stat called Havoc, which evaluates how many disruptive plays a defense forces in a game — designed to evaluate those coaches who utilize an aggres- sive philosophy. Havoc combines forced fumbles, passes broken up and tackles for loss into one number, and compares it to how many plays a defense faces. Boston College ranks No. 1 nationally in forcing those interruptions, causing Havoc on 22.9 percent of its plays — or one every four to five plays. "Their front seven, if it's not the best in the ACC, it's in the top two or three," Hoffses said. "Their defensive line down the board is everything you'd ask for; the two guys on the inside are your typi- cal, strong defensive tackles you can't run on and can apply a bit of pass-rush pressure. "Sophomore Harold Landry is a speed rusher off the edge, and on the other side is junior Kevin Kavalec, your classic lunch-pail defensive end who isn't incredibly athletic but brings it ev- ery single play and finds a way to get it done. "Linebackers senior Steven Daniels and junior Matt Milano, the defen- sive coordinator Don Brown will blitz these guys all game. It's easy to tell, but they're effective at it — they're both top five in the ACC in sacks, Milano with 6.5 and Daniels with six." If there is a weakness on the defense, it lies in the secondary. The safety and cornerback play was able to get by in Boston College's first few games, thanks to the play of the front seven, but then 2015 BOSTON COLLEGE SCHEDULE Date Opponent (TV) Result/Time (ET) Sept. 5 Maine W, 24-3 Sept. 12 Howard W, 76-0 Sept. 18 Florida State L, 14-0 Sept. 26 Northern Illinois W, 17-14 Oct. 3 Duke L, 9-7 Oct. 10 Wake Forest L, 3-0 Oct. 17 Clemson L, 34-17 Oct. 24 Louisville L, 17-14 Oct. 31 Virginia Tech L, 26-10 Nov. 7 North Carolina State L, 24-8 Nov. 21 vs. Notre Dame* (NBCSN) 7:30 p.m. Nov. 28 Syracuse TBA * Shamrock Series at Fenway Park in Boston 2015 NOTRE DAME FOOTBALL SCHEDULE Date Opponent (TV) Result/Time (ET) Sept. 5 Texas W, 38-3 Sept. 12 at Virginia W, 34-27 Sept. 19 Georgia Tech W, 30-22 Sept. 26 Massachusetts W, 62-27 Oct. 3 at Clemson L, 24-22 Oct. 10 Navy W, 41-24 Oct. 17 USC W, 41-31 Oct. 31 at Temple W, 24-20 Nov. 7 at Pittsburgh W, 42-30 Nov. 14 Wake Forest W, 28-7 Nov. 21 vs. Boston College* (NBCSN) 7:30 p.m. Nov. 28 at Stanford TBA * Shamrock Series at Fenway Park in Boston