Boston College at Notre Dame: ND Offense vs. BC Defense

Say what you will about the Eagles’ performance this year, but don’t say that they’ve quit.

The Boston College defense has proven that it has not, and they demonstrated it again last Saturday by holding NC State to 10 points in a victory. As has been the script for the last several years, BC got out to a lead and then elected to sit on it for the rest of the game, making the defense do all the heavy lifting. Fortunately for Eagles fans, they did.

The defense was the only reason (and I mean only reason) the Eagles won seven games last year. BC’s offense would plateau at about 23 points, and the defense would have to save the day. This year, their maximum limit is even lower, as the defense’s teammates are averaging only about 15 points per game against FBS competition, and barely score at all in the second half of games. There’s no question that they have had a much tougher assignment this year. With that said, however, they haven’t been what they were in 2010.

BC’s defense this year is just 69th in the nation (10th in the ACC) in total defense, and 56th in the nation (8th in the ACC) in scoring defense. Furthermore, while they were 1st in FBS last season in rush defense, this year, they are 62nd. Compared to the rest of the country, the defense has been average, but compared to the rest of the conference, it has been below. Unfortunately, when a team is faced with years of unceasing offensive torpidity, “average” is not going to cut it. I do not, however, hold the defense to blame for the majority of what BC fans have witnessed this season.

I understand that there has been some turnover in the defense — we really could have used Okoroha and LeGrande for some depth back here — but there have been freshmen playing well and standing out. CB Manny Asprilla has been a pleasant surprise so far and there have also been contributions from guys like LB Sean Duggan and DL Dominic Appiah. Of course, the Eagles also have what is arguably one of the best linebacking corps in the nation, led by future NFL bigshot multi-millionaire Luke Kuechly. Still, as a defense, they’re average overall, despite having played better and actually having schemed better last week.

Speaking of tough assignments, the Eagles will face a Notre Dame offense that has been very prolific in 2011. This has been the Irish’s point scoring distribution through ten games:

• 0-9 points scored: 0 games
• 10-19 points scored: 2 games
• 20-29 points scored: 2 games
• 30-39 points scored: 3 games
• 40+ points scored: 3 games

Notre Dame, who average 33.6 points per game, have scored at least 30 in a majority of their games so far this season. Their best performance of the year was in hanging 59 on Air Force (59 points is about four games worth of points for BC). They average over 436 yards of offense per game as well. Notre Dame’s yardage distribution is as follows:

• 200-299 yards: 2 games
• 300-399 yards: 2 games
• 400-499 yards: 1 game
• 500-599 yards: 5 games

If, as a BC fan, that doesn’t scare you, I’m not sure what will. The Eagles cannot — underline that word a couple times — CANNOT let this game turn into a slugfest. We have not gotten any indication from BC that they can keep up with a team better than Maryland, therefore if Notre Dame “rocket ships outta there,” forget it.

Quarterback Tommy Rees has done an alright job, completing about two-thirds of his passes and throwing 19 touchdowns. The problem appears to be interceptions, of which he has thrown a few too many at 10. In fact, the Irish turn it over too much in general, coming in even lower than BC at -11 (the Eagles are -8). Expect to see each team commit at least one turnover in the game when they’re on offense; it will be up to the BC defense to make them count.

If our defense was as sharp as it was last year, I would suspect BC would be able to limit them. They’re more average, though, so I’m not so sure. The problem is that for BC to have a realistic shot at winning, they’re going to have to hold Notre Dame well under 20 points. This is going to be a tough challenge for the Eagles defense.