Notre Dame Undefeated Streak Continues, Defeat BC 21-6

Notre Dame quarterback Everett Golson throws under pressure from an approaching Boston College defender, Kasim Edebali. [AP photo: Winslow Townson]

[NoCoastBias.com] Notre Dame “shipped up to Boston” and did exactly what they needed to do - take care of business and get another win. In the process they improved their record to 10-0, a mark not seen since 1993. It wasn’t pretty, but at least it wasn’t the heart attack that Notre Dame fans had to suffer through last week against Pitt.

The Eagles were hoping to have a repeat of their upsets over Notre Dame in 1993 and 2002 when they broke Irish hearts and halted Notre Dame’s undefeated seasons. But the 2012 Boston College squad just didn’t have the talent to compete with a scrappy, motivated, hard working Fighting Irish squad.

Notre Dame’s 21-6 victory gave them their third straight win in a series that dates back 37 years. The Irish may not have won tonight in style points, but their undefeated streak continues and with an Alabama loss to Texas A&M their national title hopes are still very much alive.

Boston College quarterback Chase Rettig had a productive day despite the final score of the game. Rettig completed 27 of 43 passes for 247 yards, the ninth time this season he has passed for more than 200 yards. Wide receiver Alex Amidon caught six passes for 84 yards and has a total of 73 catches for 1,157 yards on the season, which breaks the Boston College season record.

Fighting Irish quarterback Everett Golson won his eighth consecutive game as the starter, completing touchdown passes to John Goodman and Troy Niklas and running one in himself. Linebacker Manti Te’o had another banner day with five tackles and a fourth-quarter interception that brought this total to six for the season, a school record for linebackers. Golson completed 16 of 24 passes for 200 yards, and Irish multi-threat running back Theo Riddick again broke the century mark running for 104 yards and catching six passes for 67 yards.

This 2012 edition wasn’t pretty. There wasn’t much fancy footwork this week or big time plays, but Notre Dame got the job done. And most importantly for Irish fans there was no upset this year in "The Holy War." Just two Catholic teams with very different seasons.

While Notre Dame revels in their 10-0 record, 2-8 Boston College has to now figure out what they need to do to rebuild this team and bring it back to relevance. The Eagles have beaten just one FBS team this season, and the two ranked teams they faced prior to Notre Dame — Florida State and Clemson — beat them by a combined 58 points.

In the past four seasons, the gap has grown between Boston College and elite teams both in the ACC and around the nation. The Eagles are barely competing in the ACC and rapidly sinking into irrelevance nationally.

Now Brian Kelly has to keep his Irish squad focused for one final home game against Wake Forest next week, and a season finale against the Trojans in Los Angeles. Both other undefeated teams have tough tests ahead, with the Oregon Ducks facing Stanford and Oregon State, and Kansas State taking on Baylor and Texas. Notre Dame fans will have a lot to cheer for in the next few weeks if they want a chance at the national title spotlight.

Cheers!