SOUTH BEND ― What started as a marathon on Labor Day Sunday night is now a sprint to the regular-season finish line for the No. 12 Notre Dame football team.
Seven games with two weeks to rest are down and five games are all that remain, starting with the season’s third road game at Boston College. The assignment is simple for the Irish: win each of the final five, finish 10-2 and hope and pray that it’s good enough for a return trip to the College Football Playoff.
Boston College isn’t the most challenging opponent, but it’s the most important. Why? Because it’s the next game on the Notre Dame schedule. Go and play it. Go and win it.
Here’s four players that will be key on Saturday (3:30 p.m. ET, ESPN).
No. 12 NOTRE DAME FIGHTING IRISH (5-2)
LG Sullivan Absher (75)
Might the second time be the right time for the 6-foot-8, 327-pound sophomore from Belmont, North Carolina?
When the regular season started, Absher found himself in a time share at starting right guard with Guerby Lambert. They split reps all of fall camp. Lambert got the start in the first half of the Miami (Fla.) game before Absher was tabbed to start the second half. Notre Dame has since gone with Lambert, a fixture in the first five. Absher returned to his role as a backup swing guy, someone who might step into several different spots along the line if needed.
With captain Billy Schrauth shelved by a knee injury, Absher is needed to make his first career start at left guard. Maybe Absher can do what center Joe Otting did against USC in his first career start ― make it look easy. Otting helped the Irish rush for 306 yards and score 34 points.
There are plenty of yards to be gained and points to be scored against Boston College. We hear “next man up” all the time along the O-Line. Absher’s the next man. He’s up.
DT Elijah Hughes (56)
Maybe it was just coincidence that Hughes enjoyed one of his better games last time out against the team he used to play for in USC. Maybe it’s just the progression of a transfer student in understanding what he needs to do and how he needs to do it in coordinator Chris Ash’s defense.
Whatever the case, it worked for Hughes, a 6-3, 300-pounder from Arlington, Virginia, who spent his first two seasons at USC. He was lost in the defensive line shuffle earlier in the year and was still listed as a No. 3 defensive tackle behind captain Donovan Hinish and Jared Dawson heading into the USC game. With veteran Gabriel Rubio out for an extended time with an elbow injury, Notre Dame needs someone to offer some quality snaps.
Hughes has played his best over the last five games with at least two tackles in each. That includes a season-high four stops against Purdue, three tackles, a tackle for loss and a sack against North Carolina State and two tackles against USC.
This Irish defense continues to ascend. The same can be said for Hughes.
BOSTON COLLEGE EAGLES (1-7)
DL Sedarius McConnell (88)
We have to highlight somebody on this Boston College defense, right? A defense that ranks 109th nationally for total defense (410.6 yards per game allowed), 99th in rush defense (163.0), 124th in scoring (34.4 points per game) and 109th in red zone defense (0.906).
Might as well go with McConnell, a 6-3, 279-pound defensive lineman who spent his previous three seasons at Illinois. As far as main guys go, he’s as main as they come for a defense that, honestly, isn’t particularly good. Boston College doesn’t stop the run, struggles to stop the pass and certainly doesn’t keep the other team out of the end zone after allowing 38 points at Louisville, 38 to Connecticut and 42 to Michigan State.
That said, McConnell is coming off one of his better games. He made a season-high five tackles against Louisville. He ranks fifth on the squad in stops (22), and first in tackles for loss (6.5) and sacks (2.5). He can be a problem for an Irish offensive line that will be patched together after its bye week because of injury.
If you’re going to watch anyone on that Boston College defense, might as watch McConnell.
RB Turbo Richard (2)
Richard’s the one to keep an eye on because of his name. Great name for someone who can do a little of everything. Turbo runs the ball out of the backfield. Turbo catches the ball in the flat. Turbo makes the other guys miss and breaks big gainers. It fits the 5-8, 207-pounder from Charlotte, North Carolina. It fits the Eagles.
It fits as long as he plays. Richard was a gametime decision last weekend at Louisville, and the decision was to not play him after he left the Connecticut game the previous week with a shoulder injury. That he’s banged up as November nears is no surprise. Boston College had 18 players who were out against Louisville. Who’s hurt? Who isn’t?
Maybe head coach Bill O’Brien was saving Richard, in his first season as a starter, for the Notre Dame game.
Richard is the leading rusher (88 carries for 431 yards and five TDs). He’s fourth in receiving (19-175-2) and is the second leading scorer with seven touchdowns. No other Eagle has more than three.
Any chance Boston College has in this one requires a Turbo boost.
Follow South Bend Tribune and NDInsider columnist Tom Noie on X (formerly Twitter): @tnoieNDI. Contact Noie at tnoie@sbtinfo.com
This article originally appeared on South Bend Tribune: Four players to watch as No. 12 Notre Dame football visits Boston College
Reporting by Tom Noie, South Bend Tribune / South Bend Tribune
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
