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3 months ago: Boston College's Montel Harris runs past North Carolina States' Rashard Smith for a touchdown in the second quarter of an NCAA college football game, Saturday, Oct. 17, 2009, in Boston. (AP Photo/The News & Observer, Ethan Hyman)

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Brian and Jeff from our newish Boston College SBNation counterpart BC Interruption were kind enough to answer some questions regarding Saturday's game.  They're doing a really nice job over there, so check it out leading up to and after this year's version of BC vs. ND.

Is there any way to explain the schizophrenic nature of this Boston College team?  A young team attempting to find a quarterback?  A solid squad that had a bad game in Blacksburg?  Dissociative identity disorder?

Brian: I think the Eagles schizophrenia can be easily explained in one simple stat. The Eagles are 5-0 at home and 0-2 on the road. But more than that, remember this is a very young team that had to fill a ton of holes this offseason, including, but not limited to, a head coach, an offensive and defensive coordinator, two behemoth nose tackles, two star linebackers and their only starting quarterback who had any in-game experience. This, however, shouldn't take away from the outstanding performances that both the Clemson and Virginia Tech defenses turned in.

For the Clemson game, this team simply wasn't prepared to go into such a hostile environment that early in the season. We also went into week 3 with a lot of ambiguity about who our starting quarterback would be. For the Virginia Tech game, we simply got outclassed on both sides of the ball and QB Dave Shinskie had a hard time reading the stifling Hokie defense.

Overall, I'd say this squad is a solid team: that is to say, the best of the worst in the Atlantic Division this season.

David Shinskie hasn't had a great season so far, but the Irish defense is going to do their best to thrust him into the Heisman discussion.  Can you give me a list of speedy receivers and big, athletic tight ends that will be running free through our secondary? 

Jeff: Colin Larmond Jr. is a sophomore wide receiver that seems to big making a lot of big plays for us.  Despite not being a starter, he leads the team with 4 touchdown receptions and averages over 20 yards per catch.  Larmond Jr. has some speed but is also a big target at 6' 3".  Typically though when you think of speed, you think of our senior, Rich Gunnell, who leads the team in receptions but is not a very big target.  Gunnell was a favorite target of Matt Ryan but this year his numbers could be better if he hadn't dropped several very catchable balls already this season.  As far as tight ends go, we don't seem to be throwing to them as much as we have under previous OC Steve Logan but Chris Pantale, a redshirt freshman has surprisingly become the starting TE and is third on the team in catches.

Montel Harris: great back, good back with an extraordinary game or something else?  What more well known running back does he remind you of, and what sort of plays do the Eagles generally run with him?

Brian: Montel Harris is a good back that, on occasion, has extraordinary games. The last two seasons, he has had two monster games against Florida State. Last season he rattled off 121 yards and a touchdown on 25 carries and this year he topped that with 179 yards and 2 touchdowns on 25 carries. However, as a Jacksonville native, Harris needs no additional motivation when playing the Seminoles. Harris absolutely embarrassed the NC State defense this past Saturday, breaking the school record for rushing yards (264) and rushing touchdowns (5). Unlike his predecessors, Harris is rarely used in the passing game on outs and screen passes. Harris is our feature back but you will likely find him lined up behind the QB. We did throw a different look at opponents this year earlier in the season when we had both Harris and running back Josh Haden in as split backs, but with Haden's injury, Notre Dame probably won't see this look. Harris is usually lined up as a tailback when the quarterback comes out of the shotgun and you'll see a lot of delayed handoffs to Harris from that formation. Also you'll probably see Harris come out of the Wildcat (BC calls it the Bazooka) although he hasn't been a threat to pass.

As for which well-known running back Harris reminds me of (great question, by the way!), that is certainly a tough one. After last week, I'd say the Miami Dolphins' Ronnie Brown when Harris was running the Wildcat offense, but Brown has a good 30-40 pounds of Harris. Plus Brown is much more of a power running - a la his Clemson days - than Harris. Since I'm a NY Giants fan, I'll go with Harris most resembling Giants running back Ahmad Bradshaw. Both are nearly identical in height and weight (5'10", 196 pounds) and both are shifty backs that stay low to the ground, find the holes, make guys miss and explode for big yardage.

Riley Skinner and Christian Ponder both had solid games against the Boston College defense.  What sort of personnel and scheme will Jimmy Clausen be seeing on Saturday?

Jeff: I hope I don't know the answer to this question because I hope that the coaches have a new scheme up their sleeves that might actually get a little pressure on the quarterback.  Other opposing QBs have been able to have success by stretching the field a little with the hours and hours of time they have to sit in the pocket.  Our secondary is pretty good but no matter how good you are you can only cover receivers for so long.  Look for a lot of blitzing from everywhere Saturday in an effort to not let Clausen just sit back there all day.  Our front four alone will not get much pressure on your QB by themselves.

And finally, what's your prediction?

Brian: I typically defer our divine college football predictions to Jeff, so I'll let him take the reins here and answer this question. 

Jeff: I'm so torn on my prediction here.  In the preseason I had us losing to NC State and beating Notre Dame to be 5-3 after Saturday, so I should still be predicting a win, but I can't forget how horribly we've played on the road so far this season.  Notre Dame is not as good as Virginia Tech so I don't think the same kind of disaster is possible in South Bend, but Notre Dame is a good team and it will be a hostile environment.  I'll dodge the question slightly and give a qualified prediction.  If BC fails to gain at least 25 yards on their first two offensive possessions, they will lose 31-17.  If BC gains more than 25 yards on its first two possessions combined, BC wins 31-23 where BC is up 2 scores for a significant portion of the game.  Either way I do not expect a nail biter this week.