This Saturday afternoon, the Notre Dame Fighting Irish (5-2) take on the Boston College Eagles (1-7) inside of Alumni Stadium for the first time since 2020. This will be the 27th all-time meeting between these two programs in a series that has been dominated by the team from South Bend. The Irish and the Eagles have played the majority of their games since 2000 and the Irish have won nine games in a row. As frequently as these two programs have met on the field in recent years, they haven't crossed paths as much on the recruiting trail.
As you'll see later on in the article, Boston College's recruiting rankings are reflective of their current state as a program. Notre Dame is a national power on the recruiting trail while the Eagles are fighting their way up in the ranks in the ACC, but they have a ways to go. Let's take a look at how these teams compare from a recruiting perspective using the On3 Industry Rankings.
Notre Dame Offense vs Boston College Defense
Notre Dame has 10 four-star players, one three-star player and one unranked player in their projected offensive starting lineup for Saturday. All 11 of Boston College's projected starting offensive players are former three-star star recruits.
As to be expected, this matchup strongly favors the Irish on paper. Notre Dame has several former Top 300 recruits in their starting lineup including quarterback CJ Carr (No. 68), running back Jeremiyah Love (No. 77) and right guard Guerby Lambert (No. 42). The Eagles don't have a single starter or top reserve player ranked as a former Top 300 recruit. Linebacker Owen McGowan, who is one of the team leaders in tackles, is the highest ranked recruit in their starting lineup at No. 774. Rotational defensive tackle Kwan Williams has the highest recruiting ranking of the bunch at No. 430; Williams has played 193 snaps this season for the Boston College defense.
Notre Dame Defense vs Boston College Offense
Notre Dame has eight former four-star players in their projected defensive starting lineup for Saturday. Boston College has 10 former three-star players and one former unranked player in their projected offensive starting lineup for Saturday's matchup.
Similar to the offensive side of the ball, this matchup strongly favors the Irish. They have several former Top 300 recruits across their starting lineup and top reserve players headlined by linebacker Jaylen Sneed (No. 35), cornerback Christian Gray (No. 112) and linebacker Kyngstonn Viliamu-Asa (No. 43). The Eagles don't have a single former Top 300 recruit in their starting lineup. From a recruiting standpoint, their top player on offense is right guard Logan Taylor who is a former three-star recruit ranked No. 422 in his class.
With that being said, both teams have former three-star players who are playing above their initial recruiting ranking. For Notre Dame, it's defensive tackle Jason Onye (No. 709) and cornerback Leonard Moore (No. 351). For Boston College it's their playmaking receivers, Reed Harris (No. 802) and Lewis Bond (No. 1163).
CLASS RANKINGS
Here are the class rankings of the two programs from the last five seasons (247 Composite Rankings)
Notre Dame
2025 – 12
2024 – 9
2023 – 12
2022 – 7
2021 – 9
Boston College
2025 – 59
2024 – 96
2023 – 63
2022 – 40
2021 – 37
Advantage: Notre Dame
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