The Holy War: Irish Head to Boston College Hoping to Avoid Repeating History
#2 Notre Dame 7-0 (6-0 ACC) heads to Boston Saturday to take on Boston College 5-3 (4-3 ACC). If you know anything about Irish history, this game should give you nightmares. In both 1993 and 2002, the Irish came off big wins vs Florida State only to lose to Boston College the following week. The bigger of the two was in ’93 when the Irish knocked off #1 Florida State and then lost on a last-second field goal to the Eagles the week after. Now fast forward to this year where the Irish take on the Eagles just a week after beating #1 Clemson…so to say this is a trap game would be a large understatement. Here are my 4 Notre Dame players to watch Saturday:
- Kyren Williams, Running Back – The sophomore running back was huge last week vs Clemson, scoring 3 touchdowns. He will be counted on again this week to make big plays. The Eagles are giving up an average of 143 rush yards a game, and the Irish will need to capitalize on that if they want to win.
- Isaiah Foskey, Defensive Line – Look for the sophomore defensive lineman to have a big game. Boston College will focus on Daelin Hayes or Jeremiah Owsus-Kormoah while they are on the field, which could lead to Foskey open to get to the quarterback. In a limited role, Foksey has 3 sacks as well as a blocked put for a touchdown this season and played very well vs Clemson last week. I would not be surprised to see Foskey make some big plays Saturday afternoon.
- Ben Skoronek, Wide Receiver – The grad transfer from Northwestern had a big game vs Pitt a few weeks back. Javon McKinley will be playing, but not at a 100% due to a concussion last week. It will be up to Skoronek to step up and make the big plays that Ian Book and the Irish passing game need.
- Kyle Hamilton, Safety – It will be up to the play-making Safety to control the former Irish backup quarterback Phil Jurkovec, who is now the starting QB at Boston College. Jurkovec leads the ACC in passing yards currently and will test Hamilton and the Irish secondary Saturday. I am expecting Hamilton to have a huge game stoping Jurkovec and the Eagles from the upset bid.
It will take a team effort to stop the upset, but these 4 need to step up and make the plays they have been making all year. The Eagles will be ready, with a week off and Jurkovec playing against his old team. It is also Boston College’s Red Bandana game, where Eagles remember Welles Crowder, a BC grad who lost his life on 9/11 saving lives in the World Trade Centers. Notre Dame is the much better college football team and favored by more than 10, but talent alone won’t beat the Eagles; it will be talent and “who wants it more” on Saturday. It will be closer than the experts are predicting, but I feel that Brian Kelly will have his team ready and avoid the upset.