Boston College vs. Notre Dame - Gambling Odds and Prediction

I’m back! Did you miss these write-ups? Good, because I did too.

As you can imagine, I took a bit of a hiatus the past few weeks from writing up these gambling and odds posts simply because I didn’t think they’d prove beneficial to anyone. I mean, who in the right mind would want to put any of their hard earned cash on BC football after how this season has unfolded? Exactly, nobody. That is until last weekend where they shocked the world by covering their 18.5 spread and hitting their moneyline of +795.

I am sure there is some lucky gambler out there who had a nice payday from it, but I will tell you one thing, that someone was definitely not me. Instead, I was feeling downtrodden by being one of the many who got severly butt-hurt from Rutgers’ 4th and 29 Hail Mary garbage time touchdown against Michigan State to cover their +10 spread. It cracked my four-legger parlay and inturn my spirits. It even made it on to SVP’s Bad Beats segment which was the real kicker. If you want to see how that game turned out, here are the highlights. But, I digress...

As for preparing for the Holy War this upcoming Saturday, the Eagles are looking to continue their upset streak against archrival #18 Notre Dame in South Bend. The Fighting Irish have been on a bit of a streak of their own by winning their last four contests including an upset of #4 Clemson two weeks prior. With this team clicking, it is no surprise to see them the favorites against the Eagles by 21 points as of this writing.

In looking at the Eagles in this matchup, I don’t feel as though I have to belabor the obvious here. They had a great outing and secured a huge win against NC State last time out. The offensive-line looked decent, even though we couldn’t establish the run at all. Defensively, we dug our talons in the second half and looked like one of the best defenses in the ACC for a half. I hope to see the same energy carries over on Saturday. As for the QB situation, it still remains up and the air as well as which side I am choosing in this contest.

If Phil suits up to get a crack another ‘Revenge Game’ against his former school, I may just have to lay the points. Under Phil, this offense clearly hasn’t clicked and I just don’t envision him getting much done offensively. His passes all season have looked errant, he tries to wait in the pocket far too long, and he doesn’t spread the ball as effectively as Morehead.

Now, if Hafley decides to ride Morehead’s coattails (which I selfishly think he should) I think this puts BC in the best chance to make a game out of it. In the small sample size of two starts for Emmet, he has proven to be a classic pocket passer who can sling the ball on a rope if given enough time. If he gets flushed, he panics a bit. But, I think if the O-line can give him 2-4 seconds to work with, he can really put the ball on the money to all of his receivers. He also doesnt feel like he has to rely on Zay to make a big play all the time. He entrusts Gill, Tomlin, Tackas and Griffen to all make big plays. That leaves defenses guessing a bit more and opens up the playbook a bit more for McNulty.

This Irish defense is a pesky one, though, so either QB option is going to have to their work cut out for them. They only give up 193 yards of passing per game on average and that is clearly going to be the method of attack for the Eagles given their running game has been absent all year and is one of the worst in the country.

Overall, I don’t know if the luck will fall on the side of the Eagles on this one. I am really hesitant to put my money on the Eagles covering, especially if Jurkovec gets the call to start. However, if Morehead starts, I am more inclined to take the points as I think he definetely has shown that he can keep BC fighting against top-tier opponents. In making the assumption that he starts, I think I will take the points on this one. Otherwise, I will probably end up passing on this one all around and just hope for a fun rivalry game.

Prediction: Boston College +21 | Over 45 | Notre Dame ML