Notre Dame Football: 4 Best games against Boston College

Notre Dame Football: 4 Best games against Boston College

2009: Notre Dame 20, Boston College 16

2009 was a long, frustrating season for Notre Dame fans. Charlie Weis’ last season started out well enough, going 6-2, but fell apart as the Irish finished 6-6, and chose not to even bother going to a bowl game. It was a disaster, but it could have been worse.

They hadn’t beaten Boston College since 2000, and Boston College was a strong 5-2 coming into the game.

The first quarter was low scoring, only a Notre Dame field goal and a safety forced by Boston College hit to scoreboard. That’s where the game stayed, at 3-2, until midway through the second quarter. Notre Dame lined up for a field goal, but faked the kick, scoring a touchdown on the play.

There was a catch, though, as a flag for holding lay on the field. In the end, Notre Dame settled for a field goal.

From there, it was a back and forth game. Boston College responded with a nine-play touchdown drive that ended in a touchdown. Once Jimmy Clausen and the Notre Dame offense got the ball back, they marched downfield. Golden Tate would catch a touchdown pass with less than a minute left in the half.

This would make the halftime score 13-9.

A rushing touchdown after driving a short field to start the second half put Boston College back on top, but largely due to four second half turnovers, the Eagles wouldn’t score again. They didn’t make it easy for Notre Dame to score, though, forcing the Irish to go three and out three times in the second half alone.

Luckily, on a different three play drive that third play was a touchdown pass to Tate for 36 yards. That pass to Tate would be the difference in the game as Notre Dame held on to beat Boston College 20-16.