No. 12 Notre Dame rested, ready for rivalry game at Boston College

Though No. 12 Notre Dame had no game to prepare for last weekend, coach Marcus Freeman knew there was no time for his team to rest on a five-game winning streak during its recent bye week.

The Fighting Irish (5-2) looked for every way to raise their level of play as they awaited Saturday afternoon's road challenge against "Holy War" rival Boston College (1-7) in Chestnut Hill, Mass.

"We had to elevate during the bye week," Freeman said. "I was pleased with the way we prepared. We worked on consistency in our fundamentals that will then determine more consistent play in our execution."

Notre Dame has plenty to carry over from a 34-24 home win over then-No. 20 Southern California on Oct. 18, including a season-best rushing effort (306 yards) featuring touchdown runs by both Jeremiyah Love and Jadarian Price for the 11th time in their Irish careers.

Love led the way rushing for a career-high 228 yards, and the Irish defense forced three second-half turnovers, backing up quarterback CJ Carr, whose 136 passing yards were a season-low total.

"When their best was needed, they got it done," Freeman said of the defense.

The Irish will look for more of the same against Boston College, which it shut out 44-0 at home in the teams' last meeting in 2022.

Carr still threw his 14th touchdown pass -- the second-most among FBS freshmen -- and ran for another.

"He has done a wonderful job in his first seven games as a first-time quarterback in terms of leading this offense, in terms of what he has on his plate," Freeman said. "He's done a tremendous job, and there's more. That's the exciting part. There's more to his game."

Despite remaining winless against FBS competition this season, Boston College showed some signs of life before falling 38-24 at then-No. 19 Louisville last week.

Grayson James threw for 244 yards and three touchdowns in his second straight start. The Eagles forced three turnovers but allowed 504 yards of total offense (317 rushing) and 10 points off Louisville takeaways.

"To me, it comes down to turnovers," Boston College coach Bill O'Brien said. "We took the ball away very well against Louisville, but then we gave it right back to them. We have to continue to take the ball away when presented to us, but we have to do something with that."

Unlike last week, O'Brien did not announce a starting quarterback for the upcoming game. Alabama transfer Dylan Lonergan has not played in the last two games after starting the first six.

"I'd say it's TBD based on a lot of things, not because of the way anybody played or anything like that," O'Brien said. "What's best for the team is to do the best job we can of ... trying to win the game. The wins are more important than anything else."

Regardless of the signal caller, the Eagles remain a top-30 passing offensive nationally. Against Louisville, Lewis Bond caught his first touchdown of the season, and Kaelan Chudzinski his third. Chudzinski's 216 yards are tops among FBS freshman tight ends, including 80 last week.

--Field Level Media