Irish Win 11th Straight Over Boston College 41-7

The University of Notre Dame football team (9-1), ranked fifth in the latest edition of the College Football Playoff rankings, powered past Boston College (4-6) 41-7 in a chilly, overcast and sold out Notre Dame Stadium. 

The Irish defense stifled the Eagle offense all day, only allowing a touchdown on a short field and scoring six points on a strip sack late in the first half. Notre Dame’s offense was balanced with 224 passing yards and 276 rushing yards getting touchdowns from Nolan James Jr. and Jonaz Walton on the ground with Micah Gilbert and Jordan Faison scoring through the air. 

CJ Carr was an efficient 20-of-26 passing for 217 yards and two touchdowns with his lone interception coming on a tipped pass to begin the third quarter. Gilbert caught five of those passes for a team-high 86 yards and one score while Jordan Faison nabbed five passes for 41 yards and a touchdown. Freshman running back Jonaz Walton rushed for 141 yards and a touchdown. 

Notre Dame’s defense pressured Boston College all day, totalling four quarterback hurries and two sacks. The biggest play, a strip sack by Boubacar Traore deep in BC territory that was recovered by Jaylen Sneed for a touchdown. The Eagles managed just 136 yards of total offense which is the least amount the Irish have ever given up to Boston College in 29 meetings. 

Notre Dame won the toss and deferred its selection to the second half. The Eagles were whistled for holding on the return and took over at their own 11. They earned one first down across the 30 before the Irish defense shut them down. On a second down play, Kyngstonn Viliamu-Asa held the edge on a reverse action and Luke Talich screamed in for a big hit to bring up third-and-eight. Immediate pressure on the next play from Jaylen Sneed forced the BC quarterback to step up, scramble and fall short of the first down. 

The Irish pressured the punt effectively, with Talich coming just inches away from blocking the punt. It forced a short 28-yard punt and Notre Dame took over at their own 34. 

Jordan Faison started the possession with a four-yard catch, his 31st straight game with at least one reception. Nolan James Jr. then carried five straight times, including runs of nine and 10 yards, to move into Boston College territory. Carr converted on third-and-one with a designed run, then on the next play had time to throw, eventually moved to his right and threw a rope to Micah Gilbert at the five-yard line. Gilbert made a strong catch, shook off the BC defender and stepped into the end zone for a touchdown at 6:24 on the clock.

Boston College was shut down on its next possession for a three-and-out. Elijah Hughes had the key stop, stuffing a run on second down before more Irish pressure forced an errant pass on third down. After the punt Notre Dame took over at its own 28. 

The drive started slow with a false start on the Irish but Jack Larsen caught a seven-yard pass on third-and-six to move the chains. Jonaz Walton picked up eight yards on first down, but a dropped pass and pass caught out of bounds forced Notre Dame to punt. 

Boston College earned a first down on a screen pass, but then went back to it on third down and the Irish were ready for the call to force a punt. 

The Irish drive started on the final play of the quarter with a James Jr. four-yard run followed by a Faison short catch on third-and-two at the 28. James Jr. surged behind a huge push from the Irish offensive line and got eight yards for the first down. A play later Gilbert caught a pass and broke another tackle for 15 yards to get to midfield. Carr then looked to Jaden Greathouse and placed a perfect back-shoulder throw for a 22-yard reception at the BC 24-yard line. 

Carr found Gilbert again for a key third down conversion, as the Irish receiver was wide open and converted on third-and-five for a first down at the 12. James Jr. took it from there, getting two yards, then powering behind a hole opened by Guerby Lambert and ran through three BC defenders – eventually helped by Sullivan Absher on a push into the end zone for a 10-yard scoring run. That score gives James Jr. at least one touchdown in every Irish game this season, a team-best 10-game streak. 

The defense gave the Irish offense the ball right back with a three-and-out. Christian Gray made the big play on this drive, cleanly breaking up a pass on a slant pattern during third down. 

Notre Dame’s next scoring drive came on the legs of Jonaz Walton and Faison. Walton broke off a 28-yard run to the left behind Cooper Flanagan and James Flanigan blocks to get into BC territory. Faison then ran a well-executed reverse, taking the ball all the way down to the two-yard line behind a great open-field block from Anthonie Knapp. 

Carr kept the ball to the one and then on third down, Walton utilized his powerful lower body strength and blocks from Knapp and Ashton Craig to score from one yard out. The Irish were up 21-0 with 2:23 left in the half. 

Now, the defense decided to get in on the scoring action. Bryce Young and Elijah Hughes buried the Eagles deep in their territory, sharing a sack to bring up third-and-20 at the BC 16 and the two-minute timeout. After the break Boubacar Traore went around the BC right tackle like he wasn’t even there, getting the quarterback and forcing a fumble that was kicked into the end zone. Jaylen Sneed jumped on the ball for a 28-0 Irish lead with 1:51 left in the second quarter. 

Boston College worked just 16 seconds off the clock in its next possession with two incomplete passes and a short pass caught out of bounds. The Irish looked in good shape with all three timeouts remaining and BC punting. Faison tried to make a play on the return, however, and fumbled the ball away at the Notre Dame 30-yard line. 

The defense was up to the challenge. Villiamu-Asa shut down a scramble on first down and on fourth-and-five, Gray broke up another pass to give the Irish the ball back with 0:47 left after the Irish used all their timeouts on defense. 

Desiring to get points before the half, Carr found Aneyas Williams for six yards then Greathouse for 21 yards into BC territory. Larsen nabbed a six-yard pass out of bounds to the 41 and Greathouse forced a defensive holding call coming open across the middle. The Irish had first-and-10 at the 31 with 0:23 left.

Carr looked to Faison for a nine-yard catch, but he could not break away from the defense. Notre Dame spiked the ball with :07 left. 

Carr tried Gilbert in the end zone but the coverage was there and Spencer Porath came on to knock in a 40-yard field goal as time expired.

Notre Dame received the kickoff but on the first play from scrimmage, a Carr pass was tipped at the line and intercepted for only the second time in 2026. Boston College scored on a two-yard run three plays later to make the score 31-7 at 13:40 of the third quarter. 

The Irish would answer. Gilbert made two more key plays during the drive, a catch and run for 18 yards across midfield. Faison then caught an 11-yard pass, followed by Gilbert again nabbing a pass, fighting off a defender for a 20-yard reception to the BC 13-yard line. Carr then dropped back and looked to Faison on the left side of the end zone. Faison went up and nabbed the 13-yard throw. The referees initially ruled incomplete, but the replay showed a clear foot down for a touchdown. It gives Faison a second toe-tapping spectacular catch in the same end zone for the second-straight game after a similar effort against No. 1 Miami FL last weekend. 

Notre Dame had pushed the lead to 38-7 with 10:24 left in the third. 

Boston College could not move the ball on its next drive. Sneed chased down the quarterback on a run for a loss of two followed by Jayden Sanders ending a quick dump off pass for two yards. BC went to a quick screen with a tight end blocking for a receiver, but Gray fought off the tight end and made the play to force the sixth Eagle punt of the game. 

The next Irish drive would stall out in BC territory. Walton got the Irish down there with runs of 12 and 13 yards, but four straight runs inside the BC 25-yard line earned just nine yards and Notre Dame turned the ball over on downs with 3:31 left in the quarter. 

Boston College would answer by turning it over on downs themselves. The Eagles moved the ball into Notre Dame territory and Luke Talich chased down the quarterback on a scramble for a three-yard loss on third down to bring up fourth-and-six at the Irish 44-yard line. Rodney Durham pressured the quarterback up the middle on fourth down and forced an incompletion. 

On the first play, Walton broke around the left side for a long run but it was called back for a holding penalty. One play later Walton broke the same run, this time legally blocked for 50 yards to the BC 13. The drive would stall there, however, and Portah came on to extend the lead with a 37-yard field goal. It was Irish 41, Boston College 7 with 12:02 left in the game. 

Notre Dame’s defensive second string entered the game but would not relent on the game pressure. Forcing a fourth down chance just across midfield, Loghan Thomas pressured the quarterback and forced an errant pass picked off by sophomore safety Ethan Long at the Notre Dame 10-yard line. 

Both teams would trade possession toward the end of the game but the Irish would take over with more than five minutes left and exhausted the remaining time to earn the team’s ninth win of the season.