This Saturday afternoon, the 5th-ranked Notre Dame Fighting Irish (8-1) host the Boston College Eagles (4-5) in a rivalry game. These two programs will battle is out for the Franky Leahy Memorial Bowl in a game that has some historical ties, especially when you factor in Notre Dame coming off a 31-24 win over the No. 1 ranked team in the country from Florida. The plan is simple: avoid the let down game and don't let history repeat itself. Head coach Marcus Freeman now has his program back in prime position to make the final 12-team College Football Playoff while Eagles head coach Bill O'Brien is trying to play spoiler and get his program back to being bowl-eligible. 

Where: Notre Dame, Ind. - Notre Dame Stadium 
When: 3:30 PM ET
Television: NBC/Peacock - Jason Benetti (play-by-play), Jason Garrett (analyst), Caroline Pineda (sideline)
Radio: Tony Simeone (play-by-play), Mike Golic Sr. (analyst); SiriusXM 129
Line: Notre Dame -30.5; O/U 52.5 

Notre Dame is coming off of their biggest regular season win in the Freeman era. They're back in the good graces of the College Football Playoff committee and are sitting comfortably as the No. 5 ranked team in the country. Starting quarterback CJ Carr is now at the forefront of the Heisman Trophy conversation and the defense is coming off of their best performance against a top team since the arrival of defensive coordinator Chris Ash. Thankfully, the days of the 'let down' performances are behind Freeman and the Irish from a results standpoint. But this is about the process and how things look on the field. 

Offensively, they need to put this game away early and get key starters like Jordan Faison, Jaden Greathouse, Micah Gilbert, Nolan James Jr. and the offensive line some rest. They'll also have the opportunity to push the ball down the field and go big-play hunting early in this matchup. Defensively, it comes down to focus because this simply isn't a good Boston College offense. They've been able to do some good things against teams that don't have a significant talent advantage, Notre Dame does. If they come out focused and aggressive, the Eagles will have a long day at the office trying to get the ball across the 50-yard line. 

There have been several teams that have surpassed my preseason expectations. UCLA and Utah are undefeated and ranked in the top five, Kentucky is a playoff contender and Virginia Tech is looking extremely promising in the first year of James Franklin. Boston College is another team that has far surpassed my expectations that I had for them back in August. I predicted them to go 1-11 and have a ceiling of 3-9. Right now, they're sitting at 4-5 with wins over Georgia Tech and Pitt and Rutgers. O'Brien has gotten this team to be on the cusp of bowl eligibility despite having far less talent on the roster than what they did in 2025. 

Unfortunately, that talent gap has led to a 21-14 loss to the Hokies, a 25-16 loss to the Mustangs, a 34-15 loss to Cincinnati and a 47-2 loss to the Blue Devils. Offensively, quarterback Mason McKenzie is their whole game plan. He leads the team in rushing and passing yards. Their offensive line has struggled mightily throughout the season in both pass pro and run blocking. Defensively, they're scrappy but are handicapped by their offense's inability to put points on the board. Boston College's defense ranks 7th in the country in interceptions but I don't think that will be too much of a factor this weekend. 

This will be the 29th all-time meeting between the Irish and the Eagles. Notre Dame has won the last 10 contests and have won the last five by at least two touchdowns. In their most recent outing, Boston College gave them a battle in Chestnut Hill, but the Irish emerged victorious 25-10. 

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