Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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www.BLUEANDGOLD.com NOV. 30, 2019 19 BY LOU SOMOGYI T hree years ago as freshmen, Notre Dame's 2019 seniors found themselves in the rubble of a 4-8 season and uncertainty about the future of the program. On their Senior Day in 2019, the 40-7 victory for the No. 16-ranked Irish (9-2) over Boston College (5-6) put another exclamation point on its revival. Since that awful 2016 cam- paign, the Irish have produced a 31-6 record, a College Football Play- off berth, the longest home winning streak (18) in 30 years and the most consecutive victories in November/ December in more than 50 years (see "By The Numbers" on page 23). "Pretty special class of players," re- flected Notre Dame head coach Brian Kelly after his team's third straight victory by at least 31 points. "We talk about failure. Failure is not fatal. It's the ability to come back from those times, and this group has certainly learned that and understands how it's that group that gets back up and goes to work and perseveres and shows grit — and they're just great life lessons. "So proud of them, emotional after the game for them, and it was a great moment to spend with our seniors in this last home game for them." After a slow start and falling behind 7-6 in the second quarter, the Fighting Irish overwhelmed the Eagles with a 501-191 advantage in total yardage. Senior quarterback Ian Book com- pleted 26 of 40 passes for 239 yards with three touchdowns and no in- terceptions — and for the fourth straight game led the team in rushing with 12 carries for 66 yards. Three different Irish targets caught seven passes and one touchdown apiece, led by junior tight end Cole Kmet (7 for 78 yards), and followed by fifth-year senior Chris Finke (7 for 71) and senior Chase Claypool (7 for 60). Junior Jonathan Doerer was 4 of 4 on field goals, but the story of day was a superb defensive effort. Boston College was held 154 yards under its rushing average, finishing with only 128 after entering the con- test with an average of 282.2 yards per game that was fifth best in the nation. The nation's third-leading rusher, AJ Dillon, was limited to 56 yards on 14 attempts. Fifth-year senior Buck linebacker Asmar Bilal received the game ball after making a team-high eight tack- les with one stop for loss plus one pass broken up. Senior defensive ends Ade Ogundeji and Khalid Ka- reem controlled the edge, each re- cording six tackles and forcing a fum- ble, with Ogundeji producing two sacks and another for lost yardage, while Kareem also had a sack and a quarterback hurry. FIRST QUARTER: NOTRE DAME, 3-0 Top Moment: Following the open- ing kickoff, Notre Dame drove 50 yards in nine plays to set up Doerer's 47-yard field goal at the 11:11 mark. Book connected with Finke for 21 yards on the first play and later had a 13-yard scramble. Feature Performer: Book accounted for 114 of Notre Dame's 132 yards of total offense, completing 7 of 9 passes for 85 yards and carrying six times, mainly off scrambles, for 29 yards. Stats: The Irish outgained Boston College 132-16 and had an 11:48 to 3:12 advantage in time of possession. Notes: A safety blitz and sack by senior Alohi Gilman led to a three- and-out on the Eagles' first series … Book also was sacked to end Notre Dame's second drive, but the quar- ter ended with the Irish facing third- and-eight at the Eagles' 11-yard line. SECOND QUARTER: NOTRE DAME, 16-7 Top Moment: After Boston College took its first lead at 7-6, Notre Dame an- swered with a 75-yard drive in 15 plays in 5:08 to regain the lead at 13-7 with 2:48 remaining on a six-yard tally from Book to Claypool. The duo also com- bined for a seven-yard completion on third-and-six from Boston College's 31, and on fourth-and-three from the 24, Book found Finke on a six-yard gain. Feature Performer: Doerer went 3 of 3 on field goals in the first half, the last from 45 yards with one second left to provide Notre Dame a two- score advantage at 16-7. Stats: Notre Dame finished the first half with nearly double the yardage, 253 (167 passing and 86 rushing) to 127 for the Eagles (66 rushing and 61 passing). Notes: On the first play of the sec- ond quarter, Claypool dropped a crossing pattern on third-and-eight from the 11, leading to a 29-yard field goal by Doerer with 14:52 left to push the advantage to 6-0 … Boston Col- lege took its first lead at 7-6 with 7:56 left on a one-yard play-action run by quarterback Dennis Grosel to end a 16-play, 84-yard drive that took 6:52 … Grosel had a nine-yard draw on third- and-six from the Irish 49-yard line, and a 39-yard pass to wideout Kobay White, who made a double move on sophomore cornerback TaRiq Bracy, to set up the Eagles at the 1-yard line … A sack by Ogundeji forced a Boston College punt, and Notre Dame took possession at its 17-yard line with 1:18 left … An 18-yard run by Tony Jones Jr. and a pass interference call help set up Doerer's 45-yard field goal right before the end of the half. THIRD QUARTER: NOTRE DAME, 33-7 Top Moments: Two Irish touch- downs in exactly two minutes. After the Fighting Irish defense forced a lost fumble by quarterback Grosel, Notre Dame drove 40 yards in six plays, concluding with an 11-yard scoring pass from Book to Kmet with 3:44 left to build the advantage to 26-7. The next Irish possession took only 11 seconds when sophomore receiver Braden Lenzy on the first play— following a 21-yard punt return by Finke — took a jet sweep 61 yards for a score at 1:44 to blow the game open. Feature Performer: Notre Dame's defense, led by ends Kareem and Ogundeji, forced three-and-out on the first two Boston College series and TAKING WING Notre Dame is dominant for a third straight week with 40-7 victory against Boston College Senior wideout Chase Claypool was one of three Irish pass catchers to haul in seven receptions with one touchdown in the win over the Eagles. PHOTO BY ANDRIS VISOCKIS