CHESTNUT HILL, Mass. - A game many expected to be a comedy turned into a drama here at Alumni Stadium on Saturday.
A 30-point favorite coming into the game, Notre Dame kept the game intriguing with three missed kicks, a lost fumble inside Boston College’s 10-yard line and seemingly endless penalties to extend BC drives.
Still, it was a happy, if unsatisfying, 25-10 win for the Irish, who moved to 6-2 on the season, having ripped off six straight wins. Boston College fell to 1-8 on the year. An ugly first half turned into an ugly third quarter for the Irish, but two consecutive plays in the fourth quarter allowed Notre Dame fans to get off the edges of their seats for the first time all day.
Trailing 18-10, Boston College took over late in the third quarter at its own 27-yard line. The drive was extended twice by penalties and an instant replay review that overturned a Notre Dame fumble recovery for touchdown. They pushed the ball all the way to the 21-yard line, but BC quarterback Grayson James’ third-down pass sailed high and was intercepted by Adon Shuler at the 6-yard line.
Jeremiyah Love took the very first play of the ensuing drive 94 yards for a touchdown, and Erik Schmidt’s extra point stretched the lead to 25-10 with 11 minutes to play.
From there, the Notre Dame defensive front did what it did all day, suffocating Boston College’s offense with constant pressure.
CJ Carr finished the day 18-of-25 for 299 yards and two touchdowns. Jordan Faison caught four passes for 82 yards while Will Pauling caught four for 73 yards and a touchdown.
Love finished with 136 yards and two touchdowns on 17 carries, but 94 of those came on the game’s biggest play.
Boston College possessed the ball for the first 11:24 of the second half.
The Eagles opened the third quarter with a 21-play, 74-yard drive, which was aided by a questionable facemask penalty right when it looked like the Irish were going to get off the field with a turnover on downs. Instead, it gave BC a first down inside Notre Dame’s 10-yard line. The Irish defense held to force a 25-yard field goal from Luca Lombardo, which cut the lead to 12-10.
Notre Dame responded with a seven-play, 75-yard drive that took 3:04 and was capped by a three-yard touchdown run from Love. Carr completed three passes for 53 yards while Love accounted for 17 rushing yards. But, the Irish, on their kicker of the day, couldn’t extend it to a two-score game when Marcello Diomede’s extra point missed, leaving the score 18-10 in the final minute of the third quarter.
It was an uninspiring start for both teams and while the Irish had moments when they looked ready to begin putting the game away in the first half, it was BC that would end the half on a high note, cutting Notre Dame’s 12-0 lead to 12-7 at intermission. Special teams alone cost the Irish five points in the first half.
A third-down drop by Will Pauling killed the Irish’s opening drive. Boston College was suffocated on its first series. BC ran for negative yards on first down, saw BC starting quarterback Dylan Lonergan get pressured into an incompletion on second down and he almost threw a pick on third.
The Irish managed to pick up a pair of first downs on their second drive of the first quarter, but failed to convert a 4th-and-3 at the BC 33-yard line, turning the ball back over to the Eagles.
The Irish survived a near disaster after forcing another Eagle punt following the next possession, when Faison muffed the punt inside Notre Dame’s own 20-yard line, but managed to jump on it.
On the final drive of the first quarter, Notre Dame caught another break when Carr made a poor decision and an even worse pass that was picked off by BC only for the interception to be wiped out by a defensive holding penalty.
That drive would end on the first play of the second quarter, when Carr hooked up with Malachi Fields for a 40-yard touchdown pass on a fourth-down post route. Noah Burnette’s point-after hit the post, leaving Notre Dame with a 6-0 lead one play into the second.
Tae Johnson picked off Lonergan on BC’s next drive, giving the Irish the ball back at BC’s 36-yard line.
Carr immediately hit Faison on a deep crossing route for 46 yards to set Notre Dame up in the red zone. The Irish tried pounding it in; handing the ball to Price four straight times. He picked up 12 combined yards on first three carries, but was stopped for no gain and fumbled on the fourth. Boston College recovered and took over on its own 5-yard line with 10:34 remaining before the half.
James checked in at quarterback to start the series and the Eagles responded with their best drive of the first half. BC went 68 yards on 14 plays, advancing it all of the way inside Notre Dame’s 30-yard line, but James’ pass on fourth down was knocked down by Luke Talich, giving the Irish the ball back on downs.
On the ensuing drive, Carr connected on all three attempts for 70 yards, including a 44-yard touchdown pass to Pauling on the first play after the two-minute timeout. The Irish tried to get the point back they lost on the previous missed PAT, but Love was tackled short after catching a pass from Carr, keeping the score 12-0.
It looked like the Irish would have a great chance to score again before the half, when they had James wrapped up in the backfield on third down, but James wiggled his way out and found Bond for a 22-yard completion to Bond.
James would then complete a 16-yarder to Bond, a 20-yarder to Jaedn Skeete before a 25-yard touchdown pass to Reed Harris over Leonard Moore. BC’s extra point cut the lead to 12-7.
Notre Dame did have the opportunity to add to its lead before halftime thanks to Carr’s 19-yard completion to Faison, a roughing the passer penalty on BC and an interesting defensive alignment by BC that allowed Eli Raridon to pick up 14 uncontested yards in the final seconds. But Erik Schmidt’s 35-yard field goal missed wide right as the half expired.
Carr finished the half 13-for-18 for 237 yards and two touchdowns. Pauling caught four of those passes for 73 yards and a touchdown. The Irish finished the first half with 49 combined rushing yards, 23 for Love and 14 for Price.
Notre Dame hosts Navy next Saturday. The Midshipmen (7-1) were unbeaten until losing to North Texas, 31-17, today.
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