5 Key Numbers Behind Notre Dame’s Big Win Over Boise State

Notre Dame moved to 3-2 on Saturday after beating Boise State 28-7. Despite the final score giving Notre Dame a three-touchdown victory and a cover at the sportsbooks, it was a one-score game for nearly the first 40 minutes.

However, a look at the box score and after a watch of the game, Notre Dame was in a lot more control than the score indicated for the majority.

Here's a look at five numbers that tell the story of Notre Dame's latest win, a 28-7 win over the Broncos.

Notre Dame Defense Roars: 4.4 Yards Per Play Allowed

It was just two weeks ago that Purdue was breaking of big play after big play to put 30 points on Notre Dame. On Saturday, Notre Dame's defense did a fantastic job of keeping pretty much everything in front of it. Boise State did connect on a pair of 28-yard pass plays, but for the afternoon, Notre Dame held the Broncos to just 4.4 yards per play.

Compare that to the 7.2 yards per play Notre Dame's offense put up and you can see the way the Irish controlled things.

Notre Dame Gets Takeaway Happy: 4 Forced Turnovers

Win the turnover battle and you win the game a lot more than you lose. Win it by four? Chances are you run a team out of the stadium. The final score doesn't show a blowout but the box score gives a look at how uncomfortable life was for Boise State quarterback Maddux Madsen, who threw four interceptions. Notre Dame's improved pressure was a big factor in that, and we'll touch on that more shortly, but takeaways were extra costly for Boise State on Saturday, and something Notre Dame did a much better job forcing a year ago than it had through the season's first four games.

Notre Dame's Self-Inflicted Errors: 14 Points off Scoreboard

Notre Dame actually trailed 7-6 late in the first half, before a Jeremiyah Love touchdown run gave the Irish a halftime edge. Even with the slight 14-7 halftime lead, it felt like things were tilted much more in Notre Dame's favor.

That's because Notre Dame's self-inflicted errors cost the Irish two first-half touchdowns, keeping things closer than they should have been. A false start on third down at the Boise State one-yard line proved costly, as Notre Dame was stopped on a fourth-down attempt. A second-quarter fourth-down misfire by CJ Carr should have also been a touchdown, instead resulting in an incomplete pass and seven more points off the board.

You can't simply retract those from the game. There are errors that Notre Dame has to clean up, but they do speak to Notre Dame's stranglehold Saturday that the scoreboard didn't necessarily show.

Notre Dame's Improved Pressure: 4 Sacks of Maddux Madsen

Notre Dame's defense has gotten after things of late, recording seven sacks over the last two games. Four of those came Saturday, as Notre Dame dialed up pressure with regularity against Boise State quarterback Maddux Madsen. As eluded to above, that pressure helped to cause turnovers, but Notre Dame's pressure deserves some praise as it received deserved ridicule early.

Notre Dame now has 11 sacks through five games, seven of which have come in the last two weeks.

Time of Possession Oddity: Boise State Holds Ball for 35 Minutes

It's not often you see a team put up only 100 rushing yards in a game, average just 2.9 yards per rush attempt, and still dominate time of possession. Boise State did that on Saturday, holding the ball for 35:46 of the 60-minute game.

This stat might not tell the story of Saturday's game as it traditionally would, but the oddity of it is certainly worth mentioning.