Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/1540994
22 NOV. 8, 2025 BLUE & GOLD ILLUSTRATED TURNING POINT When Boston College could have tied the game early in the fourth quarter, redshirt sophomore safety Adon Shuler put himself in the right position for Notre Dame. As the lone deep safety on a third- and-7 at the Irish's 23-yard line, Shuler faded to his right where wide receiver Jaedn Skeete tried to cre- ate space with freshman nickel back Dallas Golden covering him. That led Shuler to being in the right spot when quarterback Grayson James overthrew Skeete. Shuler caught the ball at the 4-yard line and ran out of bounds at the 6. Notre Dame pressured James in the pocket with redshirt sophomore defensive end Boubacar Traore and redshirt sophomore linebacker Jaiden Ausberry, which likely impacted the poorly thrown pass by James. Shuler, who deflected quarterback Dylan Lonergan's pass that redshirt freshman safety Tae Johnson intercepted in the second quarter, made sure to secure the James pass on his own. Boston College only trailed 18-10 when Shuler intercepted the pass on the ninth play of the drive. Notre Dame's lead felt much safer following the Shuler interception. Then junior running back Jer- emiyah Love made sure the lead was bigger with a 94-yard touchdown run on the next play. STATS OF THE GAME Redshirt freshman quarterback CJ Carr connected on 18 of 25 passes (72.0 percent) for 299 yards with 2 touchdowns and 0 interceptions. He completed 12 straight passes from late in the first quarter through the start of the fourth quarter. Notre Dame allowed Boston College to rush for just 12 yards, and sacked the Eagles quarterbacks 5 times and finished with 12 tackles for loss. The Irish scored on a pair of passing plays of at least 40 yards — a 40-yard touchdown for redshirt senior Malachi Fields and a 44-yard touchdown for redshirt senior Will Pauling — for the second time this season. TOO MANY CONVERSIONS ALLOWED For as good as Notre Dame's defense may have played statistically, the flaws for the Irish came on third and fourth downs. Boston College's 21-play, 74-yard drive that lasted 11:20 in the third quarter was a result of three fourth downs turning into first downs — two by run and one by penalty. The Eagles officially finished 2 of 4 on fourth downs, but that didn't include questionable facemask penalty on a fourth-down sack by redshirt junior defensive end Joshua Burnham. The Irish weren't much better at stops on third down. BC converted 8 of 18 third downs. Notre Dame entered the game allowing third-down con- versions 37.1 percent of the time, but it allowed the Eagles to convert at a 44.4 percent rate. That's not good enough for Notre Dame and could be troubling if it happens against Navy Nov. 8. THREE OBSERVATIONS BY TYLER JAMES JUNIOR LINEBACKER DRAYK BOWEN Bowen had 14 — fourteen — solo tackles, 13 of which came in the second half. Putting it simply, he took over the game and was the primary reason Notre Dame held Boston College to three points after the break. The man in the middle of Notre Dame's defense created 3 havoc plays, too — a sack, a tackle for loss and a pass broken up. QUARTERBACK CJ CARR Notre Dame's point total doesn't show it, but Carr had the bounce-back game he needed. The red- shirt freshman completed 18 of 25 throws for 299 yards (12.0 yards per attempt), and he hit multiple home runs that helped the Irish survive. First, Carr tossed a deep ball on fourth-and-6 that he confirmed was intended for the man who caught it. Redshirt senior wide receivers Malachi Fields and Will Pauling were both in the area, but Fields ran under it and evaded two defenders (and Pauling) for a 40-yard touchdown. Soon after that, Carr found Pauling on a deep post for a 44-yard score. Boston College stacked the box and played a ton of Cover 0, committing to stop the run. That means for Notre Dame to win, Carr had to beat the Eagles over the top. He did. JUNIOR RUNNING BACK JEREMIYAH LOVE Speaking of home runs, Notre Dame got the ball at its own 6-yard line with 11:21 left in the game and an eight-point lead. Love said, "Enough of this," and he hit the gas pedal with everything he had. Love ran through a wide-open seam up the middle, and when he broke free, no one in Boston Col- lege's secondary had an angle. He raced 94 yards to the house, becoming the first Notre Dame player to score two 90-yard rushing touchdowns in his career. His first, of course, was his 98-yard score in the first round of last year's College Football Playoff against Indiana. Love racked up 136 yards on 17 carries, as well as an additional score. He also caught 4 passes for 30 yards as he built his case for a trip to New York as a semifinalist for Heisman Trophy ceremony. GAME BALLS BY JACK SOBLE Junior linebacker Drayk Bowen (No. 34) made a career-high 14 tackles in the victory over Boston College. PHOTO BY NICK GRACE