Irish Pull Away From Boston College

November 9, 1996

Notre Dame at Boston College Final Stats

By Jeremy Dixon, The Scholastic 1996 Football Review

For Boston College, the annual matchup with Notre Dame is The Game. None other comes close in preparation or anticipation. This year, banners hung all around the BC campus touting the continuation of “The Holy War.” Although Irish fans may scoff, they shouldn’t forget that the series between the teams has been split over the past four years. The Notre Dame faithful still seek revenge for the shock­ing upset in 1993 and the trouncing the following year in Boston. This year, however, an off-the-field scandal was the main topic of conversation on the Chestnut Hill campus.

The suspension of 13 Eagle players be­cause of allegations of illegal sports betting had sent Boston into a tailspin. Nobody knew if the Eagles would show up ready to play or if they would allow the scandal to deflate their enthusiasm for the game.

In the end, the Irish won handily, 48-21 (yes, they covered the spread), and the Ire­land Trophy remained at Notre Dame for another year. But not before Boston College gave the Irish quite a scare.

Fears of an upset were not unfounded, either. After all, this was the day that Purdue beat Michigan, Memphis defeated Tennes­see and Vanderbilt nearly upset top-ranked Florida. So when the score was knotted at 21 early in the third quarter, Irish fans could be forgiven for being squeamish.

A day that began with rain and bad weather turned into clear skies by kickoff. Weather forecasters had predicted “tropical-type storms” for the game, a forecast that thank­fully was wrong. But gusts of up to 40 mph affected the kicking game, and the wet field caused several players to slip.

The first half was very sloppy for Notre Dame. Fullback Marc Edwards fumbled while leaping into the end zone early in the second quarter, a score that would have given the Irish a comfortable lead. What appeared to be just another turnover became something much worse, however. Edwards tore the medial collateral ligament of his left knee on the play and would be sidelined for the rest of the year. The Eagles then hosted a clinic on how to run the draw as they marched 80 yards in just under two minutes to take a 10-7 lead.

The Irish turned to sophomore Jamie Spen­cer to fill the void left by Edwards, and he was up to the task. Both Spen­cer and classmate Autry Denson took advantage of holes opened by the offensive line to score touchdowns in the second quarter, giving Notre Dame a 21-10 lead go­ ing into the locker room, de­spite three turnovers.

Boston College Head Coach Dan Henning must have given a rousing halftime speech be­ cause the Eagles came out fir­ing on all cylinders in the sec­ond half. After the Irish kick­ off; quarterback Matt Has­selbeck connected on his first three passes before the Irish defense buckled down, forc­ing a 41-yard John Matich field goal.

On the first play after the ensuing kickoff, Denson ran up the middle, only to forget the ball at the line of scrim­mage. Boston College recovered at the Irish 33. Omari Walker was the workhorse for BC as he consistently blew past the Irish front seven. The defense couldn’t seem to solve the draw play, and Walker ran it to perfection, scoring from 15 yards out. After a two-point conversion, the game was tied at 21.

But this was where the BC victory bus ran out of gas. Tailback Robert Farmer took advantage of his second run from scrimmage to out-sprint the Boston College defense for an 81-yard touchdown. It marked the longest run by an Irish back since Eric Penick’s 85-yard touchdown against USC in 1973.

”Today I just got an opportunity to help the team,” Farmer said.”The offensive line blocked very well, and whenever we’re called upon, we just try to make positive yards and get first downs.”

“Our backs ran well, and obviously our line blocked well,” Holtz said. “We didn’t try to throw the ball much, but we’re glad to get out of here with a win. This is not an easy place to play by any stretch of the imagination.”

The next Irish possession was more of the same. Running down the throat of the Eagle defense. Notre Dame needed just three plays to find pay dirt. Again it was Farmer, who went 11 yards this time for the score. In just over two minutes, the game went from a tied struggle to a comfortable Irish lead.

The defense also rose to the occasion, forcing five Boston College turnovers and compiling four sacks. In the fourth quarter, nose tackle Alton Maiden picked up a Hasselbeck fumble and went rumbling, bumbling, stumbling into the end zone for another score. Melvin Dansby led the way with seven tackles and one-and-a-half sacks. The Irish piled up the yardage, especially in the second half, finishing with a whop­ping 426 yards rushing. Denson led the way with 155 yards and Farmer added 98.

The Irish certainly made it look easy in their fourth-quarter runaway. They were able to put the gambling controversy aside and exorcise the ghosts of 1993 and 1994. And they continued their late-season domi­nance of inferior opponents that began with the Navy game. Holtz and his troops were able to invade Alumni Stadium and win for the first time ever. It was a satisfying victory for Notre Dame, one it would have been wise to bet the farm on.