Halloween Hangover: Notre Dame Creeps Past Boston College
- Liam Farrell
- 8 minutes ago
- 3 min read
No. 12 Notre Dame had many scary sights, but in the end, made enough plays to power past 1-7 Boston College.
Photo by Notre Dame Athletics
CHESTNUT HILL, Mass. -- It was far from pretty, spooky if you will, for Notre Dame in Chestnut Hill this afternoon.
First and foremost, the special teams fiascos almost came back to bite the Fighting Irish in this one. Last season, Notre Dame struggled with Mitch Jeter as he attempted to recover from an injury early in the season. However, the Irish's struggles rarely extended to point-after attempts. Today, the Notre Dame kicking debacle reached a new low, with two missed extra points and a badly missed 35-yard field goal.
From kicking alone, the Fighting Irish left five points on the board and where Notre Dame is in position for the College Football Playoff, impressive wins are a necessity.
Then, Notre Dame's red zone woes continued in this game as well, as Jadarian Price coughed up his third red zone fumble of the season (one of which was recovered by Notre Dame). Price's fumble halted Notre Dame's attack and simply kept Boston College in the game.
Another facet that kept the Eagles lingering around deep into the second half were the bone-headed penalties. Notre Dame was flagged seven times for 67 yards, but the flags came at significantly inopportune times. Jaylen Sneed committed a roughing the passer penalty on a 3rd & 10 throwaway that gave Boston College more life. Kyngstonn Viliamu-Asa had an unsportsmanlike penalty after a negative play created by the Notre Dame defense as well.
Despite the penalties, Notre Dame's defense played phenomenally. The Irish only allowed 10 points and forced three turnovers. Tae Johnson continues to emerge as a standout who puts himself in great position, as the safety recorded two interceptions. His partner on the backend of the defense, Adon Shuler, has an interception of his own.
The Irish held Boston College to 281 total yards, and stuffed the run in yet another game. When Boston College switched from Dylan Longeran to Grayson James, the Eagles adopted some momentum, but in the end, the Irish front four was able to get enough pressure to confuse the Eagles' signal callers. Notre Dame finished the game with 12 tackles for loss, including five sacks.
On offense, Notre Dame had enough to get it done. Boston College loaded the box with 8 defenders, which forced CJ Carr and the Irish to throw the ball early and often. This created many one-on-one matchups that the Irish failed to capitalize on in the first quarter. However, as the game developed, so did the Fighting Irish offense. Carr finished 18-25, for 299 yards and two touchdowns.
It was clear that Boston College wanted to make Notre Dame one-dimensional through the air, and it was successful for most of the game. However, Jeremiyah Love was able to spring a 94-yard touchdown run in the fourth quarter to put the game on ice. Love finished with 136 yards and two touchdowns.
In the end, Notre Dame had its sloppiest performance to date. With the penalties, special team woes, and offensive cold streaks, Notre Dame wasn't able to put together a dominant performance against a subpar team. Last season, after the Northern Illinois game, the Irish were able to dismantle teams and put them away with ease. This season, against teams with less talent, they don't have that same ability to put games out of reach early. With a couple of dominoes dropping in terms of the CFP race, the Irish need to make the most out of their remaining opportunities.
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