Boston College vs. Notre Dame: 5 Takeaways

Steve Addazio against top 25 teams

Its not secret that coach Addazio has consistently struggled against ranked opponents during his tenure at Boston College. His 1-19 record is just as horrid if you dissect the numbers. Saturday's matchup was no different as the final score was lopsided and potentially could have been a lot worse. The matchup with the Irish has done Addazio no favors either, dropping him to 0-3 as the BC head coach.

The Eagles third quarter was poor

After a Notre Dame touchdown with 2:48 left to play in the first half gave them the lead, Eagles quarterback Dennis Grosel fumbled the ball on the ensuing drive stalling the offense. This would lead to another Irish field goal, taking the lead into the break 16-9. “I felt great about it at halftime, but we just had a poor third quarter,” Addazio said. Unfortunately for BC, those end of the first half miscues would carry into the second half. After Notre Dame kicked a field goal, the BC quarterback would fumble the ball again this time the Eagles were unable to recover and Notre Dame capitalized with another touchdown to make it 26-7. Notre Dame running back Braden Lenzy got in on the action with a 61 yard touchdown run opening up the rout for the Irish.

BC tried to focus on the passing game, it didn't work

Boston College came into this contest ranked 5th in the country in rushing averaging 282.2 yards a game. Saturday they managed only 128, their second lowest out put of the season. The Eagles running back tandem of AJ Dillon and David Bailey were kept at bay with 56 yards and 27 yards respectively. A season low of 14 carried for Dillon to go along with Bailey's 10 showed the apprehensiveness to aggressively run their ground and pound offense that they have featured all season long. For something that has been their identity on offense all season was stifled up and left for dead.

Just as the BC ground game couldn't get any traction, Grosel struggled to find a rhythm through the air. Finishing 9/20 for 63 yards and a touchdown.

One sided rivalry

Proudly dubbed "The Holy War" this matchup up of the only two Catholic Division 1 FBS schools has trended towards one side for over a decade now. Notre Dame is 7-0 against BC dating back to the 2008 season as the last time e BC has come out victorious. Further perspective shows the two programs have been trending in different directions. Since Notre Dame's 4-8 campaign in 2016, the Irish have gone 31-6 with an appearance in the college football playoff last season. Boston College in that span has gone 19-17.

Must win season Finale

Sitting at 5-6, BC must win in order to keep their season alive. Next week's matchup with the Pittsburgh Panters is a game the Eagles have to prevail in order to become bowl eligible. Currently BC is in danger of missing post season play for the first time since 2015, which is the only year in Addazio's tenure that the Eagles did not go bowling. For all the ups and downs these season has produced, finishing below .500 would be a major disappointment for the BC faithful.

Pittsburgh is coming off a 28-0 loss at the hands of a Virginia Tech team that BC was able to defeat to open the season. So now the page must turn past this disappointing performance to a must win performance waiting in western Pennsilvania next week.

“It’s to extend the season,” Tanner Karafa said. “It’s do or die.”