Notre Dame Pounds Boston College To Continue November Dominance

Notre Dame continued its dominance in November under Marcus Freeman, earning a convincing 41-7 win over Boston College. The win is Notre Dame's third in a row this season and 13th straight November win. 

Notre Dame's dominance started early, as the Irish forced a Boston College punt to start the game. The Irish offense followed up with a methodical drive that went 66 yards on nine plays and ended with CJ Carr finding Micah Gilbert for a 26-yard touchdown on a scramble.

The Irish ground game showed a good push early in the game, and that would continue throughout the opening half as the Irish built a 31-0 lead at the break.

After the two teams exchanged punts, Carr got the Irish offense rolling, hitting Jaden Greathouse for a 21-yard gain and Gilbert for a 14-yard gain to get the offense moving. Carr then hit Gilbert for seven yards to convert a third-down, getting the Irish down to the 12-yard line. Two plays later, Nolan James Jr. ran over a Boston College defender on his way to a 10-yard score. 

Notre Dame's defense started to take over after that score. Christian Gray broke up a third-down pass on the ensuing drive to force a punt. Freshman running back Jonaz Walton and wide receiver Jordan Faison each had 28 yard runs to set up Walton's 1-yard score as the Irish took a three score lead.

On the next drive, star defensive end Boubacar Traore got around the edge and sacked quarterback Mason McKenzie, knocking the ball loose on the hit. Linebacker Jaylen Sneed fell on the ball in the end zone for a defensive touchdown.

A fumble by Faison on a punt that followed another defensive stopped couldn't get BC into the end zone, as the defense once again buckled down and stopped Boston College on fourth down. 

Carr led the offense down the field 52 yards on seven plays, despite the offense having no timeouts. The drive stalled out late, but placekicker Spencer Porath drilled a 40-yard field goal to cap the first half scoring.

Notre Dame outgained Boston College 287-46 in the first half in what was a truly dominant performance. The Irish offense went 7-of-9 on third-down, while the Eagles were just 1-of-9 on third and fourth-down on the series. Boston College only got past midfield after a special teams turnover by the Irish. The Irish dominated on the ground, racking up 146 yards while holding BC to just nine yards at the break.

The second half started rough for Notre Dame, as Carr failed to properly read a curl-flat call, hitting the flat defender with the ball for his second interception of the season. Boston College responded with a quick 3-play, 27-yard drive to get on the board.

Carr bounced back, hitting 4-of-5 passes for 58 yards to quickly lead the Irish down the field. The drive ended with Carr hitting hitting Faison on a fade route for 13-yard touchdown thanks to a tremendous leaping catch by Faison, who was able to get his foot down for the score.

Notre Dame was never threatened the remainder of the game and by the fourth quarter the Irish had emptied the bench.

Carr finished the game 20-28 for 217 yards and two touchdowns. Walton led the Irish 141 yards on just 15 carries, giving him his third 100-yard game during his freshman season. James added 73 yards on 14 carries and another score. He has now scored in all 10 games this season. 

Notre Dame outgained Boston College 500-136.

The Irish will finish their regular season home slate next weekend when they host SMU (7-3) at 7:30 PM ET. The game will be on NBC.

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