The Boston College Eagles (+19) are heading west to face the No. 15 Notre Dame Fighting Irish at Notre Dame Stadium. Kickoff for this criticalgame is scheduled for 2:30 p.m. ET and NBC will televise the action.
Betting Preview: Boston College Eagles vs. Notre Dame Fighting Irish
Boston College is a live dog and is currently getting 19 points in this game. The Eagles are also receiving +830 moneyline odds while the Fighting Irish are -1550. If one team can create a bunch of points early on it would produce a reasonable in-game betting opportunity. Oddsmakers have determined the over/under (O/U) to be 64 points.
The game’s O/U was placed originally at 61.5, but the sharp action has pushed that number higher.
The less-than-stellar Eagles are 6-4 against the spread (ATS) and are down 14.5 units so far. The team has posted an O/U mark of 8-2.
The Fighting Irish are up 4.0 units this season. The team is 6-4 ATS and has an O/U record of 4-6.
The Eagles are 5-5 straight up (SU) in 2019 while the Fighting Irish are 8-2 SU.
The Eagles are reeling from a 38-31 loss to Florida State on November 9. Dennis Grosel completed 20 passes for 227 yards, two touchdowns and one interception. AJ Dillon (165 rushing yards on 40 attempts) and David Bailey (67 yards on 12 carries, one TD) spearheaded the ground attack while Kobay White (five receptions, 62 yards, two TDs) and Jake Burt (four catches, 66 yards) handled the receiving duties in the defeat.
Notre Dame just put together a 52-20 win over Navy. Ian Book completed 14-of-20 passes for 284 yards and five touchdowns. Tony Jones Jr (26 yards on nine rush attempts, one TD) spearheaded the running game while Chase Claypool (seven receptions, 117 yards, four TDs) and Chris Finke (three catches, 57 yards) led the receiving attack in the win.
Boston College’s run the ball on 68.2 percent of its offensive possessions this year while Notre Dame has an overall rush percentage of 52.8 percent. The Eagles have rushed for 282.2 yards per game and have 25 scores on the ground this year. The Irish are logging 167.7 rushing yards per game and have 16 total rush TDs.
The Eagles offensive scheme has logged 201.5 yards per contest in the air overall and has 19 passing scores so far. The Irish have recorded 252.7 pass yards per outing and have 29 total pass TDs.
Defensively, Boston College has allowed 184.6 rush yards and 302.3 pass yards per game. The Notre Dame D has allowed 162.5 yards per game to opposing passers and 168.1 yards per game on the ground. The Irish are allowing an adjusted net yards per pass attempt (ANY/A) of just 4.43 to opposing QBs, while the Eagles have given up a staggering 8.61 ANY/A.
Passing-wise, Grosel is up to 515 yards on the year, and has connected on 46 percent of his 89 attempts with five scores through the air and two interceptions. He has a 5.38 adjusted net yards per pass attempt overall, although that number sits at 11.68 over the last two games.
The Eagles have tried to maintain the pace by getting the ball into the hands of their running backs. AJ Dillon (1,209 rush yards, 10 rush TDs, one receiving TD) and David Bailey (593 rush yards, five rush TDs, one receiving TD) have brought significant production to the Boston College offensive scheme.
Ian Book has managed to complete 159-of-269 passes for 2,112 yards, 22 TDs and four INTs for Notre Dame. His ANY/A sits at 8.26 for the year and 10.45 over his past two games.
The Irish will also try to control the game’s pace by turning to their backfield. In addition to Chase Claypool (671 receiving yards, eight receiving TDs), Ian Book (282 rush yards, four rush TDs) and Chris Finke (seven rush yards, 290 receiving yards, one TD) have seen a lot of touches lately.
Boston College Eagles at Notre Dame Fighting Irish Free Pick
SU Winner: Notre Dame, ATS Winner: Notre Dame, O/U: Over
Betting Trends
- The Eagles offense has recorded 10 pass plays of 40+ yards, while the Fighting Irish have put up seven such plays.
- The Boston College defense has allowed 10 pass plays of 40 yards or more, while Notre Dame has given up four such plays.
- The Boston College offense has created 26 rushing plays of 20 or more yards, while Notre Dame has created 14 such runs.
- The Eagles defense has allowed 18 rushing plays of 20 yards or more, while the Fighting Irish have given up 15 such runs.
- The Notre Dame defense has tallied more than twice the sack total of Boston College this year (24 versus 11).
- Boston College has averaged 5.1 yards per carry over its past three games and 6.0 over its last two.
- Notre Dame has averaged 4.5 yards per carry over its last three contests and 5.4 over its last two.
- Over its last three matchups, Notre Dame is 2-1 ATS and the under cashed in two of those three.
- The Over/Under for Boston College’s previous game was 64.5. The over cashed in the team’s 38-31 loss to Florida State.
- In its last three matches, Boston College is 1-2 ATS and the over cashed in each of those three.
- The Over/Under for Notre Dame’s last outing going into it was 55.5. The over cashed in the team’s 52-20 victory over Navy.
- Notre Dame has won seven of its last eight games SU, with a -31-point defeat to Michigan on October 26th accounting for its lone loss over that stretch.
