Boston College (4-5) at No. 5 Notre Dame (8-1)
Notre Dame Stadium |3:30 PM ET | NBC | Line: Notre Dame -29.5| Total: 51.5
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Boston College Scouting Report
Players To Watch
Notre Dame RB Nolan James Jr.
James was a Boston College commit before he flipped to Notre Dame and it's worked out great for the Irish. He's emerged as Notre Dame's RB1 and he could be in line for another 100-yard day against a run defense that is 100th in rushing success rate and just gave up 206 yards rushing to Florida State on the ground last week.
Boston College QB Mason McKenzie
The best part of BC's offense is their running game and it's led by McKenzie. He's on his way to a 1,000-yard season and is sixth in the country in runs of 10+ yards. No quarterback has scrambled more times than him this season and Notre Dame will have to contain him in those situations. He's been substandard as a passer, though. BC will be in trouble if they have to rely on McKenzie's arm.
Notre Dame LB Jaylen Sneed
Expect to see Sneed used frequently to spy McKenzie. Sneed is playing the best overall football of his career as of late and there's no better time than now with Drayk Bowen out of the lineup. Look for Sneed to continue making an impact against BC.
Boston College LB Anthony Palano
Fans will be more familar with Notre Dame transfer Bodie Kahoun, but it's been Palano who has emerged as a breakout star at linebacker for BC. He leads their team in tackles and has 10.5 havoc plays this fall. On a defense that lacks playmakers in the front six, BC will need him to be at his best against Notre Dame.
Notre Dame WR Jordan Faison
BC's defense uses scheme to take away big plays down the field, forcing teams to be efficient in the passing game against them. That suits Faison just fine and he'll get opportunities to make plays after the catch and be a big factor for the Irish offense.
Quotes of the Week
Notre Dame head coach Marcus Freeman:
“It's a rivalry game. We talked about the Holy War and some of the history of this game and the opportunity to play in it and the opportunity to play this game of football that we did on Saturday and so our guys will be looking forward to it and be ready to roll.”
Notre Dame LB coach Brian Jean-Mary:
“As a whole unit, our guys really saw as we were game planning during the week that was going to be a big part of the game plan. As it started to work, we kept feeding the guys the different looks and the different blitzes that we were doing, and they were excited. I mean, our guys saw an opportunity to get after a really, really good football player, and obviously we blitzed a little bit more than we had in the past, but it was because our guys had really taken that responsibility to go out there and go play at a high level and execute. Miami gave us a couple different looks that they hadn't seen before, and our guys were able to handle it.”
Notre Dame RB Nolan James Jr.:
“It's really about what we do and how we execute. Whether there are 100,000 people in the stands or no people in the stands, we gotta go out there and do our job. It's nice to have that many people in the stands, but we've got to go out there and execute.”
Notre Dame DL Tionne Gray:
“We didn't get to the final stage yet, nor did we pass the final stage yet. We have to keep attacking like we haven't done anything yet.”
For Your Nerves
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