Tight ends will be on display when Notre Dame hosts Boston College

The 27th rendition of the “Holy War” is a tale of two tight ends.

Boston College and Notre Dame will resume their off-the-books ACC rivalry when the No. 18 Fighting Irish (7-3) host the Eagles (3-7, 2-5) on Saturday afternoon (2:30) at Notre Dame Stadium in South Bend, Ind. BC is coming off a huge upset win at No. 17 North Carolina State and is playing its fourth ranked opponent in six games.

Eagles’ tight end George Takacs came to BC via the NCAA transfer portal after spending four seasons at Notre Dame. Takacs is excited about going back to South Bend in a bigger capacity than the one he left.

“I’m excited for a lot of reasons,” said Takacs. “I played there for four years and I have great relationships with some of the guys so I’m excited to compete against them.

“It is another big game, another ranked matchup on the road and we have to get after that. But that is the beauty of playing in the ACC. It is one of the best conferences in football so we know we are going to play a good team every week.”

Takacs was a solid pickup for BC coach Jeff Hafley at a position that has been dormant since Hunter Long went to the Miami Dolphins after the 2020 season.

Takacs is tied with Jaelen Gill for second with 24 receptions for 248 yards, a 10.33 yards per catch average, and a touchdown despite missing two games with an ankle injury. Takacs had eight receptions for 78 yards and two touchdowns in 13 games at Notre Dame.

“I don’t know that he is 100 percent yet but he’s giving everything he’s got and he had those two huge catches in the fourth quarter of that (NC State) game,” said Hafley.

The biggest reason Takacs saw limited playing time at ND was the presence of tight end Michael Mayer, who is neck and neck with Georgia’s Brock Bowers for the John Mackey Award.

Mayer competes for a religious institution but performs like the tight end from Hades. Mayer is ND’s all-time leader in receptions, touchdowns and yards by a tight end so he breaks one of his own records every time he catches the ball.

“He is like a freak of nature to be that big and move that well and catch that good,” said BC safety Jaiden Woodbey, who is expected to draw the assignment.

from Boston Herald https://ift.tt/6pPnsHJ