Boston College Eagles vs Notre Dame Fighting Irish Football Preview

It's the battle of the pop-gun offenses. Television viewers on ABC's Saturday Night Football might want to flip on over to Stanford-Oregon if they want their portion of offense - they're not going to get it from this game in Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts.

The passions will be through the roof in New England. Alumni Stadium will be packed to the gills for this Catholic collision between the Indiana school founded by the Congregation of the Holy Cross and the Jesuit school tucked away in the Northeastern corner of the United States. Yet, the excitement on the field will be generated only by the defenses. These two tradition-drenched schools just aren't giving their fans much bang for their college football buck in 2010.

What can be said about the Fighting Irish and the Eagles on offense that's even the slightest bit complimentary? These units are struggling mightily in 2010, and last weekend proved the point in powerful parallel fashion. Notre Dame and Boston College lost games that were eerily similar.

The Fighting Irish, at one point in the fourth quarter of their home-field loss to Stanford, had allowed 19 points to the Cardinal: one touchdown and four field goals. The defense repeatedly stood on its head in the red zone, getting stop after stop to keep the game from turning into a genuine laugher. The offense, though, couldn't do its part. The Fighting Irish were gobbled up by Stanford's front seven, and ND quarterback Dayne Crist just couldn't generate anything on offense in the absence of a running game. Notre Dame totaled just 44 rushing yards against its Pac-10 foe, and that's why Notre Dame didn't score a touchdown as long as this game remained at least somewhat competitive. (The Irish did tack on a meaningless touchdown in garbage time, well after Stanford had sealed its win in South Bend.) Notre Dame finished 4-of-13 on third downs and could not maintain possession long enough to rest its defense. This is why Stanford - despite failing in the red zone - was still able to move the ball. Had Notre Dame's defense remained fresher, the 37-14 game could have been closer in the fourth quarter.

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Then switch to the other side of the divide, and few details changed.

The Eagles, at one point in the fourth quarter of their home-field loss to Virginia Tech last weekend, had allowed 19 points to the Hokies: one touchdown and four field goals. The BC defense repeatedly stood on its head in the red zone, getting stop after stop to keep the Hokies from blowing the lid off the ACC encounter. The Eagles' offense, though, couldn't do its part. Boston College was manhandled up front by Virginia Tech's defensive line, and BC quarterback Dave Shinskie just couldn't generate anything on offense in the absence of a running game. Boston College totaled just 70 rushing yards against its conference foe, and that's why BC never scored a touchdown - or, for that matter, any points at all - in the entire game. BC finished 4-of-15 on third downs and also failed to rest its defense. Had the Eagles kept the ball a bit more, perhaps Virginia Tech wouldn't have been able to pound away at BC's defense and collect four field goals in the second half of last week's game.

It is indeed amazing that these teams' recent games were almost exact duplicates, the only difference being that Notre Dame wilted to an extra degree against Stanford, allowing the Cardinal to accumulate 18 points in the final eight minutes of regulation. BC never collapsed on defense, but then again, at least Notre Dame scored a garbage touchdown whereas the Eagles were shut out and humiliated.

So, does anyone want to play some offense? Will a quarterback or a wide receiver - maybe gifted Notre Dame wideout Michael Floyd - answer the bell? This could be a Northeastern version of the 3-2 game won by Auburn over Mississippi State in 2008.

Everyone at Alumni Stadium sure hopes that's not the case.

By: Matt Zemek
DFN Sports Senior Staff Writer