After missing last week and seeing the field sparingly against Murray State, sophomore tight end Brett Norfleet will return to action against Boston College, according to Pete Thamel.

Norfleet only recorded one reception for four yards in the opening matchup with the Racers on very limited snaps. Prior to week one, he had experienced some hip pain that left him questionable. He practiced in a green jersey, signifying no-contact, leading up to week one.

The O’Fallon, Mo product broke out last year for the Tigers, posting 197 yards and three touchdowns, while also becoming one of quarterback Brady Cook’s most trusted targets.

In the absence of Norfleet, Tyler Stephens and Jordon Harris have stepped into his role. Stephens has picked up three receptions for 22 yards early in the season and Harris earned his first career reception as a Tiger last week, good for nine yards.

The Tiger offense hasn’t faltered without Norfleet, scoring 51 points in week one and 38 the one after. Not much of those points have been a result of a pass, with only one passing touchdown being thrown and nine on the ground.

Norfleet will prove a valuable weapon for Cook heading into Saturday’s matchup with the Eagles. Boston College, led defensively by safety Carter Davis and defensive ends Neto Okpala and Donovan Ezeiruaku, have allowed only 347 passing yards through two games. Majority of those came in week once, facing Florida State’s D.J. Uiagalelei.

Missouri kicks off from Faurot Field against Boston College at 11:45 a.m. on the SEC Network.

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Boston College Quarterback Thomas Castellanos the Primary Focus for Missouri Defense

One of two games featuring ranked teams on the same field this week finds No. 6 Missouri playing host to newly-ranked No. 24 Boston College in this weekend’s Week 3 NCAA football action.

The last time we saw this SEC vs. ACC matchup was three years ago in Chestnut Hill, Mass., as the Eagles beat Mizzou by a touchdown in overtime.

But that was when Missouri was still looking for its identity under head coach Eli Drinkwitz, a process that has taken leaps and bounds after winning 11 games and the Cotton Bowl last season.

While the Tigers have yet to allow a point in two games this season, the Eagles will present a decidedly more difficult challenge: BC ranks 10th in scoring defense, 26th in scoring offense, and is 9th nationally by rushing for 285 yards per game on average.

Boston College quarterback Thomas Castellanos hasn’t put the ball in the air often, just 26 times so far, but the dual threat player is hitting 73 percent of his throws with 6 touchdowns and no interceptions.

What do the analytics project for the matchup? Let’s turn to the SP+ prediction model to get a preview of how Boston College and Missouri compare in this Week 3 college football game.

The simulations currently favor the home team, and by an apparently generous margin.

SP+ predicts that Missouri will defeat Boston College by a projected score of 39 to 16 and to win the game by an expected 22.4 points.

The model gives Mizzou a strong 92 percent chance to win the game outright.

SP+ is a “tempo- and opponent-adjusted measure of college football efficiency” that attempts to predict game outcomes by measuring “the most sustainable and predictable aspects of football.”

How good is it this season? So far, the SP+ model is 47-44 against the spread with a 51.6 win percentage.

Missouri is a 16.5 point favorite against Boston College, according to the lines at FanDuel Sportsbook, which set the total at 53.5 points for the game.

FanDuel lists the moneyline odds for Missouri at -720 to win outright and for Boston College at +490.

If you’re using this projection to bet on the game, you should take…

Other analytical models also favor the Tigers to win out at home.

That includes the College Football Power Index, a computer prediction model that uses data points from both teams to simulate games 20,000 times to pick winners.

Missouri comes out the expected winner in 76.6 percent of the computer’s simulations, while Boston College wins the game in the remaining 23.4 percent of sims.

But the index forecasts a slightly closer game, as Missouri is projected to be 11.3 points better than Boston College on the same field, not enough to cover this spread.

Missouri is projected to win 9 games this season and is sixth among SEC teams with a 39.8 percent chance to qualify for the College Football Playoff.

Boston College will win 8.3 games this year, by the model’s calculations, with a 17.5 percent shot at the 12-team playoff, sitting fourth among ACC teams this week.

When: Sat., Sept. 14
Time: 12:45 p.m. Eastern
TV: SEC Network

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Boston is the most Irish city in the world outside of Ireland, according to a new study.

Meal-kit company HelloFresh Ireland researched which cities are the most Irish outside of the Emerald Isle, and Boston took the top spot. Liverpool, England, New York, New York, Glasgow, Scotland and Ottawa, Canada took the next spots on the list.

The study looked at how Irish culture influences 25 cities around the world.

“Boston’s thriving Irish community is at the heart of the city’s celtic twist,” the company said in a release. “Irish immigrants to North America dating back to the colonial period brought with them their rich cuisine culture.”

Here’s what to know about Boston’s Irish influence.

Why Boston is the most Irish city in the world, according to new study

Boston is the most Irish city outside of Ireland, according to a new research study from HelloFresh Ireland.

A release on the study said Boston has a total of 49 Irish pubs, which is more per capita than any other city.

“At seven per capita it beats the likes of New York and Chicago with two Irish pubs per capita each,” the release said.

Additionally, the study used data from Reddit to evaluate Bostonians’ opinions of the city’s Irish food.

“According to keen Redditers who consider themselves connoisseurs of the city’s Irish fayre, visitors should head to the city to indulge in everything from Shepherds Pie to a Full Irish with soda bread,” the release said.

How the most Irish cities in the world were analyzed

Food delivery service HelloFresh Ireland analyzed over 25 cities around the world to determine which city is the most Irish outside of Ireland.

The company said in a release that it focused on Irish cuisine and dining to award cities a score based on the following categories:

• The number of Irish pubs per capita
• The percentage of restaurants offering Irish cuisine
• The number of Google searches per capita for Irish recipes 
• The percentage of population belonging to Irish descent