Irish Buckle Down to Beat Boston College

Chestnut Hill, Mass. – The 12th-ranked University of Notre Dame football team (6-2) stayed strong to hold off a pesky effort from Boston College (1-8) to claim a 25-10 victory at sold out (44,500) Alumni Stadium in Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts, on Saturday afternoon.

The Eagles made a game out of it with fourth down conversions and long drives but the Irish defense held its ground, forced three turnovers and kept the Eagles at bay. The offense was effective at times, none more so than Jeremiyah Love’s 94-yard touchdown in the fourth quarter to put the Irish ahead to stay. On the spectacular run, Love became the first Notre Dame player to own a pair of 90-yard touchdown runs in a career.

Drayk Bowen was all over the field for the Irish defense, piling up a career-high 14 tackles with a sack, two tackles-for-loss and pass broken up.

HOW IT HAPPENED

Boston College won the toss and deferred, kicking off to Notre Dame to start the game. The Irish drew a pass interference on a long throw down the right sideline intended for Malachi Fields on the first play of the game but the drive would end three plays later and James Rendell would come on to punt. 

Boston College’s first drive ended as quickly as Notre Dame’s first effort. Jared Dawson and Boubacar Traore combined on a tackle-for-loss on the first play. Dawson then pressured BC quarterback Dylan Lonergan into an incomplete pass on second down. Notre Dame pressured Lonergan again on third down, this time by Jaiden Ausberry, and Tae Johnson broke up the pass to get Notre Dame’s offense the ball back. 

The Eagles were playing against the run early and the Irish looked to the passing game getting first down throws to Eli Raridon and Will Pauling. The drive would stall there, however, and a BC pass break up on fourth down ended a second empty offensive possession for the Irish. 

After one first down for Boston College, Joshua Burnham put the Eagles behind the sticks with a five-yard tackle for loss as he perfectly played his assignment on a throw to the back out of the backfield. BC got it to third-and-eight and tried to catch the Irish sleeping with a surprise run call but Dawson was there to stuff the play and force another punt. 

On the second play of Notre Dame’s drive, Jeremiyah Love picked up a blitz from the outside which allowed CJ Carr to easily scramble for a first down. Two Love runs made it third-and-three when Carr found Pauling across the middle to move the chains. 

Carr then stepped up and looked long for KK Smith, who he saw beating his defender on a move toward the post. The defender grabbed Smith, eventually catching up with him and intercepting the pass but it was wiped out by the defensive pass interference. 

The Eagle defense was making the Irish earn every yard at this point and on second and eight, it looked like a well-set up screen pass would get Jadarian Price enough room for the first down. A good open field tackle pushed Notre Dame to third-and-eight after the first quarter break. 

Carr adjusted Notre Dame’s protection twice before the snap and Fields beat his defender easily on the post route for a 40-yard scoring strike. The point-after-touchdown attempt hit the left upright and the Irish would lead 6-0 eight seconds into the second quarter. 

Boston College picked up one first down before an overthrow led to an interception on the next drive. Lonergan looked long down field and the pass was tipped in the air by Adon Shuler and intercepted by Tae Johson, who had slipped to the ground behind the play and caught the pass on his backside. 

Notre Dame got itself right back into scoring position before performing a turnover of its own. Carr found Faison wide open down field for 46 yards into the red zone and Price ran three times to pick up a first down. On first and goal, Price was fighting to get into the end zone, had the ball stripped away and BC was able to come up with the ball to end the scoring threat. 

The Eagles switched to quarterback Grayson James on the next drive and he would provide a spark for the home team. Picking up three first downs, one after the Irish were called for a questionable unsportsmanlike penalty when they were just celebrating a second down stop, BC drove all the way inside the Irish 30-yard line. 

Boston College found itself at third-and-one when Drayk Bowen buried the ball carrier for a loss of one. The Eagles went for it on fourth-and-two from the 27 and passed in the flat to the right. Luke Talich recovered when he saw the quarterback drop back, dropped into coverage and broke up the pass on a spectacular leap to give the Irish the ball back. 

Love started the drive with two catches, one on the first play of the drive for 14 yards then another two plays later for 12 yards and a first down. 

After the two minute timeout, Carr dropped back with great protection and found Pauling behind the defense for a 44-yard touchdown strike. Notre Dame tried a two-point conversion, but it was stopped by BC and the Irish lead was 12-0. 

The game was quick moving at this point but there was still a ton of drama left for the final two minutes. The Irish at one point looked in position to get the ball back, calling timeouts after a sack when BC was in third-and-long. 

The Eagles converted, however, and then got rolling down the field, eventually scoring on a 25-yard pass down the right sideline. The Eagles committed a personal foul on the PAT and the Irish moved quickly into scoring position with a 19-yard pass to Faison with 15 more yards tacked on when BC roughed the passer. There were just six seconds remaining and Boston College dropped back to protect the goal line for a Hail Mary play. Carr found Raridon for 14 yards and he stepped out of bounds with one second remaining putting Erik Schmidt in position for a 35-yard kick. The effort was wide right, however, and the Irish owned a 12-7 lead at the break. 

Boston College received the kickoff and embarked on a 21-play drive, helped by a horrendous officiating call, that earned three points. The Eagles chipped away at the Irish defense, who, other than losing the tight end of a 21-yard play early in the drive, yielded little yards on every play. BC was able to convert two fourth-and-ones and faced another fourth down, this one three yards away from a first down. 

Burnham came free immediately up the middle and sacked the quarterback to end the drive. The officiating crew threw a flag on the play, calling a facemask that did not occur. In fact, Burnham never touched the quarterback’s facemask throughout the tackle, instead looking to strip the ball. 

Possibly frustrated by the gift first down, the Irish defense refused to relent. An incomplete pass and a short run brought up third and goal. The Eagles tried a fade against Talich, who played his position perfectly and a 25-yard field goal cut the Irish lead to two points. 

The marathon 21-play drive that ate up most of the quarter was not matched by the Notre Dame offense. They scored, but quickly, as Carr opened up the drive with 11 yards to Faison. Love carried twice, picking up a first down, then Carr hit Raridon on a back-shoulder throw for 30 yards. 

Fields got in on the action with an 11-yard catch and the officials tacked on 15 more yards with BC’s second roughing the passer call of the game. The Irish had the ball first and goal at the four and it took Love two plays to score his 34th career touchdown. 

Boston College continued to fight on the next drive, which looked like it started off with an interception from Leonard Moore which was broken up by the BC receiver. The strange night continued when a Boston College reception led to a first down, then a fumble, then for a few minutes a fumble return for a touchdown by the Irish defense. Replay showed that the receiver recovered his own fumble. The Eagles worked for a first down into Notre Dame territory, but the quarterback pressure forced an errant throw intercepted by Adon Shuler at the six-yard line. 

The Irish were 94 yards away and needed a big play and Love answered the call. Bursting through a huge hole opened by Aamil Wagner and Sullivan Absher (making his first career start at left guard today), Love outraced the entire Eagle defense for the touchdown and a 25-10 lead. 

The final few minutes continued to keep the theme of the strangeness of the game, as it included more sacks from the Irish defense, intentional grounding plays and holding calls. Kyngstonn Viliamu-Asa’s sack ended any Eagle threat to force a 4th-and-32. That play was broken up and Boston College’s hopes of a comeback were dashed.