In spite of a drummed-up quarterback controversy that never really materialized; a fickle group of fans who did not boo much at all and used the marshmallows they brought for a war in the stands rather than an assault on the Irish, and the hangover from last week's loss to Southern Cal, Notre Dame prevailed.
It was a classic "circle the wagons" effort for a 3-5 Notre Dame that is struggling to find something positive on which to build.
"This game was all about pride," Irish coach Bob Davie said. "When you're 2-5 and you just lost the kind of football (games both teams lost) last week, it's pride. It's about who is going to come out and practice all week the hardest. Who's going to want to win the game the most."
The most impressive dividend from the victory was the excitement and the sense of accomplishment the Irish showed en route to the win over the 2-6 Eagles.
Notre Dame's offense, led at quarterback by Ron Powlus for 61 plays and Jarious Jackson for 21, collected 323 passing yards and 526 yards of total offense. The defense, finally healthy and sound, limited the Eagles to just 83 rushing yards and only one third-down conversion in 12 tries.
Sophomore receiver Raki Nelson caught six passes for 110 yards and likely established himself as a long-ball threat. Notre Dame's new-found, big-play offense had nine pass plays of 15 yards or more. A 44-yard hookup between Nelson and Powlus was the longest.
"First thing I thought, when we got the ball (on the interception), we had to make something happen," Irish offensive coordinator Jim Colletto said. "The players play and they played good today. We're not playing on offense like I would like to, but this is more like I'd be able to have them play."
The Irish offense, led by Powlus early, scored on its first two possessions and built a 28-0 lead five minutes into the second quarter. Jackson played on the first series with the "T team" in the goal-line situation and then engineered an 83-yard, nine-play scoring drive that he finished off with a three-yard run on a quarterback draw to make it 21-0.
"We accomplished what we wanted with Jarious," Davie said. "He provides us with a spark on offense and that's what we need for this team."
While emphasizing that Powlus, who completed 18 of 31 passes for 267 yards and two touchdowns, is still the starter, Davie was pleased with the effort he gave.
Davie said. "He wouldn't be back at Notre Dame if he wasn't. He wouldn't have played as well as he did today if he wasn't."
"I don't like to come out of a game, no," Powlus said, who deferred to Jackson for just one full series while the outcome was in doubt. "It wasn't fun, but that's the way it was. I wanted to have a good game for my teammates. I'm happy for Jarious, but it's tough to be on the sideline any time. There is no controversy around the situation. I wasn't going 'me against the world.'"
Once the 28-0 lead was in place, all that was left to interest the fans was Notre Dame's performance in the third quarter. Held scoreless in six of their first seven games in the third quarter, the post-halftime period has evolved into a mental roadblock. Notre Dame came into the period leading 28-7 and couldn't afford a letdown.
One drive that lost five yards and tailback Autry Denson's fumble on the first play of the second left the Irish scrambling.
"We started the third quarter, I said, 'Holy smoke, is this going to happen again'" Colletto said. "They fought through that."
A late-hit penalty on the Eagles after Irish tailback Clement Stokes was stopped for a yard gain on a first-and-30 situation from the Notre Dame 21 turned things around. Powlus hit Nelson for 44 yards and set up a Scott Cengia 20-yard field goal.
Allen Rossum added a late highlight with an 80-yard kickoff return for a touchdown. Jackson scored a touchdown with 33 seconds left in the game when he engineered a 90-yard, 9-play mop-up drive.
Scoring Summary
Boston College 0 7 10 3 - 20
Notre Dame 14 14 3 21 - 52
First Quarter
ND: Tony DRIVER 1 run (Scott CENGIA PAT blocked), 12:00 left. Drive: 20 yards, 5 plays, 1:26 elapsed after Notre Dame interception. Key play: Benny Guilbeaux 25 return of interception to the BC 20. Score: Notre Dame 6, Boston College 0.
ND: Malcolm JOHNSON 4 pass from Ron POWLUS (POWLUS pass to Jabari HOLLOWAY), 8:18 left. Drive: 62 yards, 6 plays, 1:49 elapsed after BC punt. Key play: Powlus to M. Johnson for 36 on 1st and 10 from the ND 38. Score: Notre Dame 14, Boston College 0.
Second Quarter
ND: Jarious JACKSON 3 run (CENGIA PAT), 13:33 left. Drive: 83 yards, 9 plays, 2:53 elapsed after BC punt. Key play: Autry Denson 21 run on 2nd and 3 from the BC 41. Score: Notre Dame 21, Boston College 0.
ND: DENSON 8 run (CENGIA PAT), 10:09 left. Drive: 51 yards, 4 plays, 1:15 elapsed after BC punt. Key play: Powlus to Holloway for 32 on 1st and 10 from the ND 49. Score: Notre Dame 28, Boston College 0.
BC: Anthony DiCOSMO 27 pass from Matt HASSELBECK (John MATICH PAT), 1:20 left. Drive: 69 yards, 4 plays, 1:20 elapsed after ND punt. Key play: Hasselbeck to Todd Pollack for 30 on 1st and 10 from the BC 31. Score: Notre Dame 28, Boston College 7.
Third Quarter
BC: MATICH 27 FG, 9:14 left. Drive: 5 yards, 4 plays, 2:01 elapsed after Notre Dame fumble. Key play: Andrew Krauza recovers Autry Denson fumble at ND 15. Score: Notre Dame 28, Boston College 10.
ND: CENGIA 20 FG, 4:07 left. Drive: 70 yards, 12 plays, 5:07 elapsed after BC kickoff. Key play: Powlus to Raki Nelson for 44 on 2nd and 12 from the ND 47. Score: Notre Dame 31, Boston College 10.
BC: Mike HEMMERT 1 run (MATICH PAT), 2:01 left. Drive: 80 yards, 6 plays, 2:06 elapsed after ND kickoff. Key play: Hasselbeck to Derrick Crittenden for 30 on 1st and 10 from the BC 33. Score: Notre Dame 31, Boston College 17.
Fourth Quarter
ND: Bobby BROWN 10 pass from POWLUS (CENGIA PAT), 13:44 left. Drive: 78 yards, 9 plays, 3:17 elapsed after BC kickoff. Key play: Powlus to Brown for 12 on 2nd and 9 from the ND 23. Score: Notre Dame 38, Boston College 17.
BC: MATICH 36 FG, 10:14 left. Drive: 59 yards, 9 plays, 3:30 elapsed after ND kickoff. Key play: Hasselbeck to Mike Guazzo for 20 on 2nd and 12 from the ND 38. Score: Notre Dame 38, Boston College 20.
ND: Allen ROSSUM 80 kickoff return (CENGIA PAT), 9:56 left. Score: Notre Dame 45, Boston College 20.
ND: JACKSON 1 run (CENGIA PAT), 0:33 left. Drive: 90 yards, 9 plays, 4:17 elapsed after BC fails to convert on fourth down. Key play: Jackson to Jay Johnson for 32 on 1st and 10 from the BC 47. Score: Notre Dame 52, Boston College 20.
Attendance - 80,225 (sellout)
Statistics
BC ND
First Downs 19 29
Rushing 4 10
Passing 14 15
Penalty 1 4
Rushing Attempts 32 48
Yards Rushing 111 233
Yards Lost Rushing 28 30
Net Yards Rushing 83 203
Net Yards Passing 277 323
Passes Attempted 33 35
Passes Completed 23 21
Had Intercepted 1 0
Total Offensive Plays 65 83
Total Net Yards 360 526
Average Gain Per Play 5.5 6.3
Fumbles: Number-Lost 0-0 2-1
Penalties: Number-Yards 10-95 6-61
Number of Punts-Yards 7-286 3-134
Average Per Punt 40.9 44.7
Punt Returns: Number-Yards 2-16 2-8
Kickoff Returns: Number-Yards 8-116 5-134
Interceptions: Number-Yards 0-0 1-25
Possession Time 30:24 29:36
Third Down Conversions 1-12 9-14
Fourth Down Conversions 0-1 0-1
Sacks by: Number-Yards 2-14 3-20
Boston College
RUSHING ATT GAIN LOST NET TD LG
Mike Cloud 8 41 2 39 0 16
Omari Walker 12 35 2 33 0 11
Mike Hemmert 3 12 0 12 1 9
Frank Chamberlin 1 1 0 1 0 1
Matt Hasselbeck 8 22 24 -2 0 12
PASSING ATT COMP INT YDS TD LG
Matt Hasselbeck 33 23 1 277 1 30
RECEIVING RECPT YARDS TD LG
Todd Pollack 5 69 0 30
Scott Dragos 4 42 0 12
Anthony DiCosmo 2 40 1 27
Derrick Crittenden 2 34 0 30
Mike Guazzo 2 31 0 20
Mike Hemmert 2 8 0 7
Omari Walker 2 6 0 4
Rob Tardio 1 24 0 24
Jermaine Walker 1 10 0 10
Frank Chamberlin 1 7 0 7
Mike Cloud 1 6 0 6
PUNTING NUM YARDS AVG LG
Jason Malecki 7 286 40.9 45
RETURNS PR KO INTS
Scott Dragos - 1-10 -
Derrick Crittenden - 4-63 -
Jermaine Walker 2-16 1-23 -
George White - 2-20 -
Notre Dame
RUSHING ATT GAIN LOST NET TD LG
Autry Denson 18 97 16 81 1 21
Clement Stokes 13 50 0 50 0 11
Ken Barry 5 41 0 41 0 23
Tony Driver 4 24 0 24 1 12
Jarious Jackson 4 16 0 16 2 9
Jamie Spencer 1 1 0 1 0 1
Ron Powlus 3 4 14 -10 0 4
PASSING ATT COMP INT YDS TD LG
Ron Powlus 31 18 0 267 2 44
Jarious Jackson 4 3 0 56 0 32
RECEIVING RECPT YARDS TD LG
Raki Nelson 6 110 0 44
Joey Getherall 3 46 0 20
Bobby Brown 3 31 1 12
Autry Denson 3 5 0 4
Jabari Holloway 2 48 0 32
Malcolm Johnson 2 40 1 36
Jay Johnson 1 32 0 32
Ken Barry 1 11 0 11
PUNTING NUM YARDS AVG LG
Hunter Smith 3 134 44.7 47
RETURNS PR KO INTS
A'Jani Sanders - 1-9 -
Benny Guilbeaux - - 1-25
Deveron Harper - 1-1 -
Allen Rossum 2-8 3-124 -
