Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/871976
40 SEPT. 18, 2017 BLUE & GOLD ILLUSTRATED BY LOU SOMOGYI ON THE DEFENSIVE The scores from the 12 Notre Dame-Boston College meetings since the turn of the 21st century reveal a consistent pattern of defense taking center stage, while the offenses are in a grind mode. In those dozen contests, the Fight- ing Irish have outscored the Eagles 221-211, which averages out to 18.4 points per game for Notre Dame to Boston College's 17.6. The most recent meeting between the two — 2015 at Boston's venerable Fenway Park — was pretty much on the mark with a 19-16 Irish victory. The lack of "style points" against a 3-9 Eagles outfit dropped 10-1 Notre Dame to No. 6 in the College Football Playoff committee's view, and sel- dom has the series been about "look- ing pretty." Only once in those 12 aforemen- tioned encounters did either team reach the 30-point mark, a 31-13 vic- tory by Notre Dame in head coach Brian Kelly's debut season in 2010. One year later in the home finale, it was back to the mean when the Irish eked out a 16-14 slugfest. Even en route to the BCS National Champi- onship Game in January 2013, Notre Dame had to grind its way through a 21-6 victory that November in Chest- nut Hill against an Eagles team that finished 2-10. Former Irish head coach Charlie Weis was renowned for his acumen on offense, but his three meetings against Boston College resulted in scoring seven points in 2007 (the other Notre Dame TD in the 27-14 loss came on an interception return), a 17-0 shutout loss in 2008 and — even with junior quarterback Jimmy Clausen breaking a single-season pass efficiency mark that had stood for 60 years — Notre Dame mucking its way to a 20-16 win in 2009. The identity under fifth-year Boston College head coach Steve Addazio has been blue-collar physi- cality and stout defense. However, the offense has had tre- mendous problems scoring, averag- ing only 12.0 points in eight ACC games last year and an anemic 9.1 the year prior, thus resulting in a 2-14 record in 2015-16 league play. Which leads to … OFFENSIVE NUMBERS Since the start of his college coach- ing career at Syracuse in 1995, Boston College head coach Steve Addazio has remained strictly on offense, in- cluding his three-year stint under Notre Dame head coach Bob Davie as the tackles/tight end and special teams coach from 1999-2001. During that time, Addazio also be- came acquainted with Fighting Irish receivers coach Urban Meyer — who would hire him on his staff at Flor- ida in 2005, where he became part of national titles in 2006 and 2008, the latter as assistant head coach and offensive line coach, before later also becoming the coordinator. Thus, it's been somewhat of a sur- prise that with such an extensive and impressive background on that side of the ball that Addazio's albatross has been the offense the past couple of seasons at Boston College. During 7-6 campaigns his first two years in 2013-14 (including 4-4 both times in the ACC), the Eagles offense was respectable, averaging 27.0 points per game in league play his first season and then 23.0 his sec- ond, not including a 31-30 bowl loss to Penn State. His third season in 2015 resulted in the 0-8 league ledger and a 9.1 scor- ing average. Last year, the Eagles bounced back to post their third 7-6 mark in his four seasons at Chestnut Hill, Mass., highlighted by a 36-30 win over Maryland in the Quick Lane Bowl Dec. 26. BC's best wins came at North Caro- lina State (21-14) and versus Wake Forest (17-14) to finish 2-6 in the ACC. However, against the top com- petition in the league it was badly GAME PREVIEW: BOSTON COLLEGE Top STorylineS Head coach Steve Addazio, now in his fifth season in Chestnut Hill, Mass., has established an identity built around blue-collar physicality and stout defense at Boston College. PHOTO COURTESY BOSTON COLLEGE ATHLETICS