For Boston College, the problem is closing games. The Eagles were tied up with Florida State until Amari Thomas scored his second rushing touchdown late in the 4th quarter, an 11-yarder, to win it 31-24. That gave interim coach Rick Stockstill a win in his first game. Two weeks earlier, BC had looked like it was turning a corner after beating Pittsburgh and then putting 49 on Georgia Tech on the road.
Then the Eagles went to Duke and lost 47-2. That's the game that makes a big Notre Dame number easy to imagine. BC has also lost 2 straight, and at 2-4 in the ACC its bowl hopes are fading. The good news for the Eagles is that the Georgia Tech win showed this offense can put up points in bunches when it gets going. The bad news is that the defense has given up 31 or more 3 times in its last 5 games.
Notre Dame has been just as lopsided in the other direction. The Irish beat Stanford 58-7, handled Navy 35-13 and won 37-26 at North Carolina. The forecast in South Bend calls for about 40 degrees with light drizzle and a 9 mph wind, which is November weather but nothing that should stop either offense. The bigger question is focus. Notre Dame is coming off a playoff-defining night, and it's fair to wonder how sharp the Irish will be against an unranked team the following Saturday.
For Boston College, the only realistic plan is to play the kind of game it played at Georgia Tech, not the one at Duke, and to keep Notre Dame from scoring early the way it did against Miami. For Notre Dame, the job is to get back to full strength on defense, keep Carr playing the way he did against Miami, and keep its playoff case clean for 1 more week.
