Boston College self-destructed in Saturday’s Holy War clash against Notre Dame under blustery winter whiteout conditions in South Bend, Ind.
The Eagles committed five first-half turnovers and were unceremoniously rolled, 44-0, by the Fighting Irish on Senior Day at Notre Dame Stadium. BC fell to 3-8 and will close out the season at home against Syracuse. The No. 18 fighting Irish improved to 8-3 and finish up at USC. Notre Dame leads the series, 18-9, and has won the last nine meetings.
“When you turn the ball over five times you really don’t have a chance against a good team,” said BC coach Jeff Hafley. “You don’t have a chance against anybody so I’m disappointed there.
“I don’t think it was through a lack of effort and I appreciate the guys that gave everything they had. We didn’t execute well enough and play at a high enough level to win the game.”
Notre Dame rolled up 437 yards of total offense while rushing for 281 yards and four touchdowns. The Irish had 22 first downs, were 8 of 12 on third down and scored six times in seven trips to the red zone.
Notre Dame edge rusher Isaiah Foskey became the program’s all-time sacks leader with 25, while cornerback Benjamin Morrison had three interceptions.
BC had 173 yards of total offense with 10 first downs. BC quarterback Emmett Morehead threw for a combined 660 yards and seven touchdowns in his first two starts against Duke and North Carolina State.
The redshirt freshman from California felt the unrelenting cold hand of the ND defense for four quarters. Morehead completed 9 of 22 passes for 117 yards with three interceptions and four sacks. BC wide receiver Zay Flowers had three receptions to move past Alex Amidon and Pete Mitchell with a school-record 192 career catches.
“Emmett’s played in three games and let’s not judge him off one, two or his third game,” said Hafley. “Emmett is a really good player.”
BC’s three previous opponents scored a touchdown on its opening possession and it appeared ND would be the fourth when tailback Logan Diggs took the opening snap 51 yards off right tackle. The Eagles’ defense stiffened inside the 10 to force a 26-yard field goal by Blake Grupe with 12:50 to play.
BC’s opening drive was a disaster. Morehead’s pass on a third-and-10 from the 13 was intercepted by Morrison on the BC 20. ND went up 10-0 when on a 1-yard plunge by Diggs with 10:05 to play.
The Fighting Irish went up 17-0 on an eight-play, 81-yard drive that included two explosive plays and culminated on a 1-yard flip from Pyne to Matt Salerno for his first of the season.
Notre Dame converted Morrison’s second pick into a 20-0 lead into a 41-yard field goal by Grupe with 14:07 of the second. Morehead was strip-sacked by linebacker Jack Kiser and was recovered by Foskey on the BC 43. The Irish went up 23-0 on 46-yard field goal by Grupe with 8:27 to play in the half.
BC’s fourth turnover resulted in a 30-0 lead with 5:02 to play. Flowers dropped a backward pass from Morehead and it was recovered by Marist Liufau on the BC 42. Tailback Audric Estime scored on a 7-yard sweep with 3:04 to play. ND went up 37-0 lead on a 12-yard run up the middle by Chris Tyree with 58 seconds to play in the half.
