These games happen every year to every team, and Notre Dame fans can breathe a sigh of relief knowing that their team was able to survive a sleepwalking affair on the road at Boston College, 25-10. Recent years’ experience have taught us that holding on for a win in such circumstances is far, far less painful than the alternative, and it’s important to keep that in perspective. Nonetheless, this was still an infuriating game to watch as the Irish seemed to commit every single possible mistake to keep their opponent
in the game, while BC enjoyed an irritating amount of success playing Navy ball in their bid for an upset. Let’s get into three reasons why the Irish won and made us so angry in doing so.
Almost Havoc
This was a game that brought out my inner Mike Valenti as I watched an Irish pass rush that was constantly almost getting home and blowing up Grayson James in the backfield. This may seem like a bizarre complaint as the Irish ultimately did rack up five sacks, but there were opportunities to get many, many more and doing so would have put the Eagles’ slow-moving offense in the middle portion of the game, where they chewed up nearly a quarter of the clock with deliberate drives that avoided negative plays, on track.
QB hurries are a difficult statistic to track, but I’m fairly certain the numbers back me up on this as I counted a dozen on James, who is hardly Michael Vick in the backfield but was nonetheless able to escape one caved-in pocket after another and connect on a number of downfield prayers that extended BC’s drives, and by extension its upset bid. Wrapping up the quarterback with consistency was the difference here between a defensive effort that was merely successful in holding off an upset bid and one that could have actively asserted Irish dominance during the portion of the game where the Eagles threatened.
Sleepy Offense
Some sleepiness was likely to be expected here as the Irish walked into a road matchup against a 1-7 opponent coming off a bye and an emotional, physical win over USC the week before that. And gradually, we saw most of the Irish offense wake up. CJ Carr found his stride after a rough first few series (I am convinced the weird partial shade at Alumni Stadium played a part in this for both teams, and it made me uncomfortable for most of the early part of this game), each of Notre Dame’s principal receivers got into the game and made plays and Jeremiyah Love obviously made a pretty big statement to the game out of reach.
But what was disappointing about this game was the unit that seemed, apart from Love’s 94-yard scamper, to never quite wake up – the Irish offensive line. Similarly to the above point about the shortcomings of the pass rush, this was a game where Notre Dame’s unit up front should have been able to assert its dominance and bully its overmatched opponent. Say what you will about the softness of the men of Troy, USC’s defensive front is obviously far more talented and dangerous than BC’s. But the Irish front that had bullied the Trojans all night in South Bend struggled to get any kind of consistent push and frequently left Love and Jadarian Price exposed in the backfield, ultimately surrendering five TFLs on the afternoon for a 28% stuff rate. With the Eagles chewing up enormous amounts of clock in an effort to shorten the game and limit Notre Dame’s opportunities on offense, an efficient rushing attack would have been an immensely valuable counter. Instead, Notre Dame’s mostly stagnant running (yes, I know the 94 yard touchdown counts too) gave BC life.
Growth on the Sideline
Here’s the silver lining I’m taking from this game. Saturday was a bloodbath for CFP contenders in general. Miami walked into a similar sleepy road game as a significant favorite and fell to SMU. Georgia Tech finally turned back into a pumpkin on the day after Halloween, against an NC State team the Irish easily dispatched earlier this year. Against a coach-less Florida team Georgia fought for its life and barely escaped, as did Michigan against 2-7 Purdue. In other words, it was a survive-and-advance week where clunker games abounded throughout the college football landscape. Recent experience has taught Notre Dame fans that winning such games, which happen every year no matter who you are, cannot be taken for granted, and should be appreciated given the alternative – especially against a BC team and fanbase whose highest ambition is derailing Notre Dame title runs. I think we can all be grateful that the 2025 Irish denied them that satisfaction.
So much of success in these moments comes down to coaching – leaders on the sideline having the ability to help their teams bear down, remember who they are and recover from difficult moments and the frustration that comes with them. We saw that frustration appear for the Irish as the Eagles hung around in this game and mental mistakes began to mount, but Marcus Freeman and his staff were nonetheless able to find the better angels of their players’ natures and get the plays they needed to escape. So consider this a moment of significant growth for a coach who has notably struggled in such moments earlier in his tenure, and then let’s all move on to a better game next week.
