Notre Dame Fighting Irish VS Boston College Eagles: Staff Picks

It’s senior day for the Notre Dame Fighting Irish and the Boston College Eagles are in town. The boys from BC are having a dreadful year, but they did pick up a little bit of confidence last week after beating the NC State Wolfpack in Raleigh.

Cool.

According to DraftKings Sportsbook, Notre Dame is a 20.5 point favorite with an OVER/UNDER of 43.

Odds/lines subject to change. T&Cs apply. See draftkings.com/sportsbook for details.

Now it’s time for the OFD Staff to unleash their own picks. More still may roll in throughout the day. Here are a few thoughts from The Emperor’s Elite Pick-Em Force:

Hayden Adams

I refuse to pick the spread and total for this game, because I am convinced that whatever I choose will be the opposite of what happens. Notre Dame is inconsistent as hell. Maybe they’re semi-predictable in the sense that every game is its own opportunity for this team to subvert the expectations of the previous week. So coming off a horrific second half against Navy makes you think this team will win convincingly this weekend.

But I’m not falling for it. The Irish are incomprehensible, and the only thing I have the slightest bit of confidence in is that they will win ... but it wouldn’t even surprise me if they drop one on Senior Day to a 3-7 team. FINAL SCORE: Notre Dame 38, Boston College 27

Pat Sullivan

ND playing a home game against a really bad P5 opponent? I refuse to learn from the past, and think the Irish finally put it all together to destroy the Eagles instead of playing down to them like they have with other similar teams this year. Isaiah Foskey will break Justin Tuck’s record on Senior Day, Steve Angeli will get to play a couple series in the 4th quarter, and the Notre Dame offensive line and running backs will do their thing en route to a dominant performance on the ground. Let’s say Notre Dame 44, Boston College 16.

Matt Greene

The weather will be brutal - looks cold. The teams might be a tad unmotivated. There is also a lookahead spot for the Irish coming up when it should be a ranked matchup and rivalry game against USC the following week. The Irish do not cover huge spreads, but there is too much talent and too much overall momentum riding into the end of the season. Irish win this one 30-14.

Billy Gorman

Not much analysis this week, but something tells me the Irish win big. Boston College has been bad this season, Notre Dame doesn’t have anything left for them to “spoil”, and they won’t be looking ahead to next week either, that’s all the reasons to expect an upset debunked. I don’t know if Notre Dame will cover (I picked them to) but this game shouldn’t be close.

Matt Boomer

Notre Dame should win this one easily, but the Irish have yet to show they can consistently dominate subpar competition this year. I still think the Irish will win as BC is probably too ineffectual overall on offense to pose a major threat, but I could see this game remaining moderately close given Notre Dame’s own struggles in that department. Whether that happens will depend on two things: whether the Irish offensive line steps up and consistently dominates an inferior opponent as it has shown it can, and whether Notre Dame’s secondary is able to lock down Zay Flowers. My inclination is that both units will be successful for the most part but have occasional failings that make this the usual close-enough-to-be-annoying-but-never-really-in-danger BC matchup. Give me the Irish 28-10, pulling away with a late, long touchdown run by Chris Tyree in the 4th.

Joseph Babey

Going into this weekend I feel very similar to what I did going into last weekend. Both BC and Navy are equally as bad, even if it’s not in the same way. I am a tad more confident given it’s a home game that’s not at noon. Also BC doesn’t throw the same sort of wrinkles that the Midshipmen are able to. Given all of that, I expect a relatively uneventful game. I’m picking the Irish 33-9. Setting up for a great one out West Thanksgiving weekend.

Joshua Vowles

I’ve grown tired of worrying about senior day over the years, and over the past five or so — I’ve stopped completely. Boston College is a crap football team, and despite Notre Dame’s incredible ability to play up or down top its opponents this week, I think the last game of the year inside Notre Dame Stadium will be a cold-hearted affair for the Jesuits. Irish win 38-10

Other games besides Notre Dame vs BC that I asked the staff to pick are:

Illinois Fighting Illini VS Michigan Wolverines
USC Trojans VS UCLA Bruins
Utah Utes VS Oregon Ducks
Navy Midshipmen VS UCF Knights
Kansas State Wildcats VS West Virginia Mountaineers
Oklahoma State Cowboys VS Oklahoma Sooners
Ole Miss Rebels VS Arkansas Razorbacks