Notre Dame heads into Saturday with the kind of momentum that changes the whole conversation around a season. The Fighting Irish just knocked off the No. 1 team in the country, beating Miami 31-24, and that win has them sitting in the driver’s seat for a College Football Playoff berth with a chance to land a first-round BYE.
Boston College is the next stop, and on paper this looks like a mismatch. Notre Dame is expected to move to 9-1 against a 4-5 Eagles team, but the real question is whether the Irish can do more than simply win. Can they cover a massive spread?
A lot of the attention starts with C.J. Carr.
With Julian Sayin’s injury knocking Jeremiah Smith’s Heisman Trophy push off course, Carr has moved into the betting favorite spot for the award. He’s been sharp all season, completing 67.6% of his passes for 2,168 yards, 21 touchdowns and only one interception.
That kind of ball security has been a huge part of Notre Dame’s 8-1 start.
Still, Boston College has enough going for it to make this interesting against the number. The Eagles aren’t a strong team overall, but they do rank inside the top 80 in most metrics.
Their best path is on the ground, where they sit 37th in EPA per rush and ninth in rush success rate. If they can lean on the run, string together first downs and chew clock, they’ve got a real shot to keep things closer than the spread suggests.
Boston College also brings a secondary that can hold up. The Eagles rank 37th nationally in opponent EPA per pass, which gives them at least a fighting chance to slow Carr and the Notre Dame passing game. If they can do that, they should be in position to stay inside the number.
Odds refresh periodically and are subject to change.
In Other News...
Luke Murrays First BC Class Sends An Early Message To Eagles Fans
Boston Colleges first signing class under Luke Murray arrived with some real attention attached to it, as Tre Keith and Elijah Paez both put pen to paper on National Letters of Intent. Keith, a 6-foot-2 combo guard from Atlanta, and Paez, a 6-5 wing from Iowa, each come in as four-star recruits according to major services, giving the Eagles an early look at the kind of talent Murray is trying to stockpile as he begins shaping the program in his own image.
For a fan base eager to see what this new era can become, the pair offers an encouraging starting point. Murray has already talked about both players and what they can bring, and the broader message is hard to miss: Boston College is not waiting around to make its pitch on the recruiting trail. The bigger question now is how this class develops from here, and whether the Eagles can keep building on the momentum these two signings create. [Read more 🡒]
Boston College Women Are Headed Back To A Bigger Stage
Boston Colleges womens cross country team is headed back to the NCAA Championships after turning in another strong run at the Northeast Regional, where the Eagles put together a balanced effort to finish first and punch their ticket to Terre Haute, Indiana. Rosalie Ten Bruggencate led the way with a third-place finish, while Imogen Gardiner and Ella Fadil added crucial support in fifth and seventh, giving Boston College the kind of front-end depth that has made this group so hard to beat.
The regional title gives the Eagles a bigger stage and a chance to measure themselves against the countrys best, which is exactly where this team wanted to be after handling the pressure of a championship meet. For Boston College, the next step is no longer about qualifying, but about seeing how far a lineup built on steady, top-to-bottom scoring can carry it when the stakes rise again. [Read more 🡒]
BC Women Get A Big Chance To Respond In Battle Of Comm Ave
Boston College womens hockey heads into a two-game Hockey East set with Boston University on Nov. 13 and 14, and it comes at a useful point in the schedule. The Eagles are 6-5-0 overall and have already shown enough in the early going to suggest this weekend can help steady things, especially with both games coming on ESPN+ and the familiar Battle of Comm Ave backdrop adding a little extra edge.
Boston University brings a record that BC should feel good about seeing across the ice, but rivalry games rarely play to script and the Eagles know the opportunity is there to make a statement. With the teams meeting twice in as many days, this is the kind of stretch that can sharpen a season quickly, and BC will be looking to turn a solid position into something more meaningful before the weekend is over. [Read more 🡒]