Instant Analysis: No 12 Notre Dame 25, Boston College 10

The Eagles suffered their eighth straight loss at the hands of the Fighting Irish on Saturday night.

Nov 1, 2025; Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts, USA; Boston College Eagles quarterback Grayson James (3) calls the snap count against the Notre Dame Fighting Irish defense in the fourth quarter at Alumni Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Edward Finan-Imagn Images | Edward Finan-Imagn Images

CHESTNUT HILL, Mass. — Boston College football played a close game on Saturday, however it came up short against the No. 12 Notre Dame Fighting Irish 25-10 in the latest edition of The Holy War. 

Boston College entered the contest with a different quarterback at the helm. After starting Grayson James in place of Dylan Lonergan the past two games, Bill O’Brien put Lonergan in to start. 

In the performance, the redshirt sophomore went 5-of-8 for 29 yards and had one interception on a tipped ball. James entered in the second quarter and played the rest of the game. 

In total, James completed 25 of his 37 passes, amassed 240 yards, and threw one touchdown as well as two interceptions. O’Brien said after the game that James was not at full strength and was dealing with a hip pointer. 

The Eagles’ run game could not get going as it boasted just 12 yards on 33 attempts.

Their offensive success came from the passing game and was led by wide receivers Lewis Bond and Jaedn Skeete who had a combined 165 yards. Skeete returned to action after missing the last five games. 

On the defensive side of the ball, Boston College got back veteran linebacker Daveon “Bam” Crouch who has been out with an injury and had not seen time in a game since the team’s 30-20 loss at Stanford in Week 3. 

Crouch tallied just a single solo tackle that came early in the game, but the defense as a whole looked the best it has in weeks. 

The unit had a total of 55 tackles from 16 different players which included 29 solo, four tackles for loss, two pass breakups, two quarterback hits, a forced fumble, and a fumble recovery. 

Defensive back Omar Thornton led the way on the Eagles’ defense as he racked up nine total tackles (six solo and three assisted), one tackle for loss, and one forced fumble. 

Boston College hung around and kept the game close for a majority of the 60 minutes, getting within as little as two points at one time, but a 94-yard touchdown run by Notre Dame running back Jeremiyah Love early in the fourth sealed the deal for the Fighting Irish. 

With the loss, Boston College moves to 1-8 overall and stays at 0-5 in ACC play. The team has three games left on the schedule with two home games against SMU and No. 7 Georgia Tech and a road game at Syracuse to finish out the 2025 campaign.