Friday, October 1, 2010

Notre Dame at Boston College: Pick

This is an article that, truthfully speaking, I had hoped to skip.  I don't back out on promises however, so here it is.

You may now be wondering why I wished I didn't have to write this.  The simple fact is that I honestly don't know how I feel about this game, and that I'm debating this pick far more than I should.  If you follow me on Twitter (and if you don't, do it now), you saw this posted on Wednesday night:

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Well, BC isn't really REALLY awful, but the offense is -- or was.  Had a change not been made at quarterback, I think there's a reasonably good chance BC loses this game on Saturday.  Now that the Eagles HAVE made a change, hmm, they could still very well lose on Saturday.

I am as anxious, excited, and optimistic about the future with Chase Rettig* as quarterback as anyone else, but it's his first game at the collegiate level, on ABC prime-time against one of the biggest names in college sports.  We can't go into it with the expectation that he will have a big game and take the Eagles to victory.  It'd be nice, but unless that offensive line remembers how to block as well, we can't expect a lot from them.  What complicates figuring out which of BC's offense and ND's defense is better is that ND's defense, despite being loaded with 4 and 5-star recruiting talent, just has not shown up yet this season, either.  It's a tossup there.

I think we CAN expect a lot from the defense.  Notre Dame has shown themselves to be an OK offense -- not great.  Brian Kelly has said that he wants to get the running game more involved, as their offense has been fairly one-dimensional, but beating BC on the ground is an exercise in futility much of the time.  At the end of the day, however, I think the D will do its job, but will it be enough?

I'm conflicted.  I want to be impartial, but I don't want to concede that the Domers could win.  Keep in mind, however, that this is a completely meaningless game that could only impact the number of wins for our bowl eligibility down the road (if we end up stinking this year).

Like I said, I don't back out on a promise, and BC isn't really REALLY awful.  The Eagles in a squeaker, possibly similar to how BC rebounded against Wake Forest last year after their Clemson embarrassment (but hopefully in a better-quality fashion).

* - Coach Spaz still won't admit it's Rettig; give it up already

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