Far From Perfect: Notre Dame Survives Boise State in Penalty-Filled Battle

Liam Farrell
Oct 4
3 min read

No. 21 Notre Dame played a far from perfect game, but ultimately outlasted the Boise State Broncos with a 28-7 victory at Notre Dame Stadium.

Marcus Freeman leads his team to victory

Photo by Notre Dame Athletics

If there would be one word to describe this game, it would be: sloppy.

Notre Dame finished this game with 11 penalties for 112 yards, while the Boise State Broncos rivaled the poor discipline with 13 penalties for 112 yards. Some of the flags could be attributed to the referees being whistle happy, but still there is no situation where the Fighting Irish should be anywhere near that undisciplined.

Aside from the penalties, the Fighting Irish had many self-inflicted mistakes that put them behind the Broncos early on. Notre Dame got stuffed near the goal line on their first drive of the game, and CJ Carr missed a wide-open Will Pauling in the end zone on 4th & 8. Even on the Irish's initial touchdown drive, they missed the ensuing PAT.

The combination of all these factors had the Broncos leading the Irish 7-6 late in the second quarter, which put Notre Dame in an uncomfortable position. The Irish offense responded with touchdown drives on three of their next four drives.

The Irish had yet another balanced offensive attack, with Carr totaling 189 yards through the air while the nation's best running back duo added 186 yards on the ground. Both Jeremiyah Love and Jadarian Price dazzled, as they both recorded a rushing touchdown in this one.

As far as the wide receivers, Notre Dame got another balanced performance from that unit. Jordan Faison continued to be the Irish's most consistent performer as the dual-sport athlete added 83 yards on six catches. The two touchdown scorers were Malachi Fields and Pauling, who combined for six catches and 87 yards.

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In terms of Chris Ash's defense, it was simply his best performance as the defensive coordinator for the Fighting Irish. Notre Dame held the Broncos to seven points and accounted for four turnovers and four sacks.

All-American Leonard Moore had a two-interception performance in his first game back from injury and proved to be one of the nation's best. Safeties Luke Talich and Tae Johnson recorded an interception as well.

In terms of singular standout performances, Kyngstonn Viliamu-Asa delivered the best performance of his Notre Dame career. Viliamu-Asa was the Irish's co-leading tackler, alongside fellow linebacker Jaiden Ausberry. Viliamu-Asa was credited with a half sack along with Boubacar Traore who also turned in his best performance of the season. Ausberry, Jaylen Sneed, and Drayk Bowen were the other players who all had sacks in this one.

While the Fighting Irish gave up 315 total yards of offense, they stopped the Broncos when it mattered most. In a game where the Notre Dame offense was staggering, it was the defense that picked up the slack and got it done when it mattered most.

All eyes are now focused onto NC State next week where the Irish are still looking for a complete team performance. However, in a week where other top teams could not handle their own business, the Fighting Irish got it done even during a disappointing game to keep their playoff hopes alive.

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