Boston College Football Falls Short of Upset Against No 12 Notre Dame

The Eagles held their own against the Fighting Irish, but came up short of the victory in Alumni Stadium on Saturday night.

Boston College DL Quintayvious Hutchins vs Notre Dame. | John Sexton / Boston College Eagles On SI

CHESTNUT HILL, Mass. — The Boston College Eagles (1-8, 0-5 ACC) football team fell to the No. 12 Notre Dame Fighting Irish (6-2) 25-10 on Saturday night inside Alumni Stadium. 

The two teams battled to a scoreless first quarter. Notre Dame led Boston College in yards 81-17 and time of possession 10:18-4:42, but did not get a scoring opportunity in the first 15 minutes of play. 

Notre Dame opened the second with the first score of the day. Quarterback CJ Carr threw a 40-yard touchdown pass to wide receiver Malachi Fields on the first snap of the quarter. Fighting Irish kicker Noah Burnette Sr., missed the extra point to make it a 6-0 ballgame. 

The Fighting Irish extended its lead late in the quarter out of the two-minute timeout. Carr threw a 44-yard touchdown pass to wide receiver Will Pauling. Instead of kicking, Notre Dame went for the two-point conversion which failed and kept its advantage 12-0. 

In the final 30 seconds of the half, Boston College put up its first points of the day with a 25-yard touchdown pass from quarterback Grayson James to wide receiver Reed Harris to cut into its deficit 12-7. 

James came into the game in the second in place of starting quarterback Dylan Lonergan. Lonergan’s struggles continued as he completed five of eight passes for 29 yards and was picked off on a tipped ball in the second. 

Notre Dame had one more chance in the half to put points on the board. The Fighting Irish got into long field goal range with six seconds left, called its final timeout, ran a play and went out of bounds to get closer with one second left, and missed the 35-yarder to keep the score 12-7 going into the break. 

Coming out of halftime, Boston College received the ball and recorded a monster 21-play drive that covered 74 yards in 11 minutes and 20 seconds and was capped off by a 25-yard field goal by kicker Luca Lombardo to get within two points 12-10. 

The Fighting Irish answered the long touchdown drive with a scoring possession of its own and resulted in a three-yard touchdown run by running back Jeremiyah Love. 

Notre Dame’s kicking challenges continued as it missed the extra point attempt on Love’s touchdown to keep it a one-possession lead 18-10.

Boston College got close to scoring on its following possession that had a fumble by wide receiver Jaedn Skeete called back and a defensive delay of game on Notre Dame, but the Eagles could not get points on the drive. James threw an interception as he was getting sacked to give the Fighting Irish the ball back. 

On Notre Dame’s first snap of the drive, Love broke a 94-yard touchdown run to put the team back up by two scores 25-10.

Boston College had three opportunities to attempt to comeback after the touchdown, but did not get close to scoring with a punt, a turnover on downs on a fourth down sack, and an interception.

Notre Dame ran out the clock after the pick to seal the 25-10 win.

Next up, Boston College hosts the SMU Mustangs next Saturday afternoon for the annual Red Bandanna Game. Kickoff is set for noon ET on ACC Network.