ISD Notebook: Boston College

It was the Brandon Wimbush show on Saturday afternoon in Chesnut Hill as the Irish running game dominated in the second half en route to a 49-20 blowout against the Boston College Eagles. 

Ground and Pound

The Irish were absolutely unstoppable in the run game as both Wimbush and Josh Adams rushed for over 200 yards. After just 55 yards on the ground against Georgia, Adams topped that with a 65-yard burst to set up the first Irish score. Adams finished with 229 yards but was virtually a non-factor thanks to Wimbush's career day. 

The junior set Notre Dame records for rushing yards and rushing touchdowns by a quarterback in a single game. Adams and Wimbush were certainly the focus in the game plan and they were in control all afternoon.

The true heroes of the game were on the offensive line who allowed the Irish to get essentially whatever they wanted. Mike McGlinchey had a huge day, basically eliminating BC pass rusher Harold Landry. 

Dexter Williams finished the game for the Irish and scored two touchdowns late in the game to put it away. Thanks to Williams, the Irish rushed for over 500 yards in the game. 

Flight Delay

Unfortunately, the Irish passing offense didn't have the amount of success the rushing attack did and was a non-factor in the game.

Wimbush struggled again but he certainly did get a lot of help as Equanimeous St. Brown had another tough game. Alize Mack was the only receiver that had a good game which was a welcome sight as he was invisible the first two games. The tight ends got involved early and often which allowed the Irish to open up the run game.

Chris Finke seemed to get more looks as St. Brown had a tough time but the passing attack wasn't much of a priority thanks to how the run game looked. 

Ball Skills

It definitely wasn't the best start defensively but the Irish stuck with it and changed the course of the game.

Shaun Crawford had a game-changing interception in the third quarter when the game was still close and then padded his stats with another pick late in the fourth and a fumble recovery. 

The Irish dominated the trenches as the game went on but early on the game looked like it would be a shootout. The BC offense got into a rhythm in the second quarter as the Irish tackling was a big issue and it was the whole game but thanks to the offense it wasn't a bigger issue.

After Crawford's pick, the defense got their second wind and allowed the Irish to dominate the second half. 

The pass defense looked a little lost at times which allowed Anthony Brown, the BC quarterback to get into a rhythm. Poor tackling was also a problem and that needs to improve if the Irish hope to have a successful season. It was the first game defensively that the Irish looked out of sync at times. 

Compared to last season, the defense is certainly off to a better start. Through three game last season, they allowed 32 points per game compared to just 18.7 this season. Opponents averaged 439.3 yards of total offense after three games last year, compared to 352 this year. 

Kicking Game

Special teams didn't have a significant effect on Saturday's game but there were some things that stood out.

As typical, Chris Finke was on punt returns and did a good enough job, not losing the ball. Punt coverage did seem to be a bit of a problem as BC got a few good returns that set them up in good field position.

Freshman Jon Doerer was kicking off for the first half but had a rough game, not getting enough distance on his kicks and even kicking one out of bounds. Doerer averaged just 56 yards on his kickoffs which was down from Justin Yoon's 63-yard average. Yoon came on to replace Doerer in the third quarter. Yoon was perfect on all his extra points and has gotten into a good rhythm after going 0 for 2 on field goals against Temple in the season opener.