 completed their second straight unbeaten season (7-0) at Notre Dame Stadium, where they have won 18 straight. But for the second straight week, the stadium was not filled after a streak of 273 sellouts since 1973. The announced crowd of 71,827 was 5,795 short of capacity. ''We controlled the line of scrimmage,'' Irish coach Brian Kelly said. ''We were a little uneven early on. To go undefeated at home two years in a row says everything about what these seniors mean to this program. '' A total of 29 players, some with eligibility remaining, were introduced before the final home game. The group is 31-6 in three seasons since a 4-8 freshman year in 2016. One of the players taking a pre-game bow was Book, who could return next fall after not playing his freshman campaign. He now has 29 touchdown passes for the season, 14 in the four-game winning streak. ''We'll see,'' Book said when asked if it was going to be his final home game. ''You never know what can happen. '' Leading 16-7 at halftime thanks to Jonathan Doerer's field goals of 47, 20 and 45 yards, the Irish scored 17 points in the third quarter to bury the Eagles (5-6). ''I felt great about it at halftime but we just had a poor third quarter,'' said B. C. coach Steve Addazio, who was an assistant under former Irish coach Bob Davie. ''I think it was an execution letdown. We did not execute in the third quarter. '' Book's second touchdown pass, an 11-yarder to Cole Kmet, followed a fumble recovery by linebacker Drew White. On Notre Dame's next possession, wideout Braden Lenzy zipped 61 yards on a jet sweep to put the Irish in command, 33-7. Book completed 26 of 40 passes for 239 yards and led the Irish with 66 yards on 12 carries. He connected with Chase Claypool on a 6-yard TD in the second quarter and Chris Finke for a 6-yard score in the final quarter that was set up by freshman safety Kyle Hamilton's team-leading fourth interception. Boston College's only touchdown came in the second quarter on a 1-yard run by quarterback Dennis Grosel, who managed just 63 yards on 9-of-20 passing and was sacked four times by the Irish, twice by defensive end Adetokunbo Ogundeji. THE TAKEAWAYBoston College: The Eagles were fifth in the nation in rushing at 282. 2 yards a game coming in, but were held to 128. Dillon, a 250-pound junior who had 1,451 yards entering the game, was held to 56 yards on 14 carries. The 16-play, 84-yard scoring drive leading to Grosel's TD that took 6:52 off the second-quarter clock and temporarily provided a 7-6 lead was the highlight of a long day for the Eagles, who had 191 total yards, 292. 7 under their average coming into the game. Notre Dame: The Irish scored on four of five first-half possessions, but four offensive line penalties, including three on false starts, bogged down the drives and forced field goals. Book and the Irish heated up in the second half, finishing with 501 total yards, 252 on the ground and 249 through the air. It was their third game of the season over 500 yards. POLL IMPLICATIONSNotre Dame: The Irish probably won't make any significant move up from No. 15. UP NEXTBoston College: Closes the regular season at ACC rival Pittsburgh in need of a victory to become bowl eligible. Notre Dame: Seeks a third straight 10-victory season Saturday at Stanford. ---More college football: http://apnews. com/tag/Collegefootball and http://www. twitter. com/-Top25)
Nov 20, 2019Quarterback Ian Book etched his name into the Notre Dame annals last week, setting a school record with his third game of the season with at least five touchdown passes. As the No. 16 Fighting Irish (8-2) prepare to host Boston College (5-5) on Saturday in South Bend, Ind. , the senior signal-caller remains eager about adding to that standard while keeping his team climbing toward its third straight double-digit win season. "I feel great," Book said. "I'm confident, confident with all the guys on this team. The defense is doing an awesome job getting us the ball. They play so well and give us so many opportunities, and our offense, we're starting to roll. " Book connected with Chase Claypool on four of his five scoring passes as Notre Dame routed then-No. 23 Navy 52-20 last week. "Chase always has the juice," Book said. "You can tell when he gets on a roll, you want to keep getting him the ball. Even though it might not be the clearest look, he's going to come down with it. That makes my job easier. " Book has thrown for 2,293 yards, with 26 touchdowns and six interceptions, while also rushing for 421 yards and four scores. Rested from their bye week, the Eagles have their eyes on spoiling senior day for the Fighting Irish. A victory would make Boston College bowl-eligible for the sixth time in seven seasons under coach Steve Addazio. Saturday marks the first meeting between the programs since 2017 and the first encounter at Notre Dame Stadium since 2011. Addazio said he has made sure to discuss with players the importance of absorbing the storied game-day stadium atmosphere at Notre Dame without being consumed by it. "As I told our kids, you've got to have great preparation because you've got to go into that stadium with great confidence, and you've got to have a warrior mentality," Addazio said. "When you go out into that tunnel and get ready to go on the field, it's not easy to go beat Notre Dame at Notre Dame. . . . You've got to go in there with great confidence and understand that you're going to have to go the distance, four quarters, to beat that team on their home field. " The Eagles rolled to a school-record 691 yards of offense in a 58-27 win at Syracuse on Nov. 2, and they gained 508 in a 38-31 home loss to Florida State one week later. The attack has clicked behind junior running back AJ Dillon, who enters the game with 1,451 rushing yards and 13 touchdowns on 272 carries this season. A one-time Notre Dame recruit, Dillon is the grandson of Thom Gatewood, who was an All-America wide receiver for the Fighting Irish. Addazio preached balance and consistency when defending the Fighting Irish. "They've got weapons, and when you overload one thing, you leave something else a little vulnerable," he said. "So you've got to have a little bit of everything in there, and you've got to be right when you're making your calls because you're playing a little bit of chess in terms of those moves that you want to do to take away this and that, take away this on this. Every time you take something away, that means you're exposing something else. " Notre Dame leads the series with Boston College 15-9 and boasts six straight victories against the Eagles, who had won the previous six meetings. Boston College is 5-7 all-time in South Bend and is looking for its first win there since 2007. --Field Level Media
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