BC-Notre Dame preview

Younger BC fans have no idea what this game once met. Right or wrong, it was the biggest game of the season. Should it have been? I don't want to quibble. It doesn't really matter now. Two decades ago that passion and focus was a great tool for TOB. With the ACC move and the Irish moving off our annual schedule, the Notre Dame game doesn't mean as much. But I can tell you one thing: if we win, it will be huge...especially to the people who used to care so much about beating the Irish. 

What's on my mind (not totally related to this game)
A lot of BC fans are done with Hafley. That became pretty evident after the win last week. I don't begrudge those who lost faith. We've looked really bad throughout the year. I still believe, but it takes a lot of rationalizing. But what will it take for Hafley to win back our most passionate fans? I think Addazio showed it can't just be .500 football. If Hafley wants to show he learned and this year was just bad luck, he is going to need to have some big seasons in the next few years.

Three Simple Keys
1. Spread it around. We got multiple guys catching passes last weekend. We need to keep it up. Even throw it to the RBs if you can. It opens things up for big plays to Zay.
2. Protect the ball. BC overcame mistakes last week. Let's not have to overcome the same sorts of turnover issues this week.
3. Control the line on D. I don't expect us to do anything in the trenches on offense, however, we are to the point where the DLine is playing well enough (at times). If we are going to do it this weekend, we need to penetrate and contain. 

Gambling Notes
-- The Irish are 5-5 against the spread
-- BC is 3-7 against the spread
-- ND leads the series 16-9
The current line is BC+20.5

Factoid
We played this game the Saturday before Thanksgiving in 1993.

Scoreboard Watching
It is not a great weekend for ACC Football. The most relevant game for us is Syracuse-Wake. Root for Wake so that Syracuse enters our game shaken and discouraged. 

What I hope to see...
Another solid performance from Morehead. I don't like moral victories but do think building towards something next year is a positive way to end this season.

BC is in trouble if...
Morehead makes too many mistakes. Obviously it would be hard to beat the Irish, but a Morehead meltdown also puts a damper on my "building for next year" narrative.

Bottom Line
I think we will score on the Irish, but I don't know if we will get enough stops. I see us getting in a hole early...again. Battling back...again. But this time we don't do enough late.
Final Score: BC 21, Notre Dame 28