SOUTH BEND, Ind. — Cornerback Benjamin Morrison had three interceptions, the Notre Dame defense forced two fumbles and the No. 18 Fighting Irish scored on their first eight possessions Saturday to rout Boston College 44-0.
The Fighting Irish (8-3) won their ninth straight against Boston College (3-8), the only other Catholic university playing in FBS. Notre Dame also extended its regular-season winning streak against Atlantic Coast Conference teams to 28.
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The temperature at game time was 27 degrees, making it the coldest game at Notre Dame in nine years, and heavy snow fell during much of the third quarter.
Notre Dame dominated from the start, with Logan Diggs breaking through the line untouched for 51 yards before being tackled at the BC 24-yard line. The Irish settled for a 26-yard Blake Grupe field goal.
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On the next possession, Diggs scored on a 1-yard run, then Drew Pyne threw a 1-yard touchdown pass to Matt Salerno and the rout was on.
A little more than four minutes into the game, Notre Dame had more points than Boston College had total yards — 17-7. Notre Dame had an 11:42 to 3:18 advantage in time of possession and needed to make only five tackles in the first quarter.
The Eagles threatened to score after Emmett Morehead completed his first pass, 39 yards to Zay Flowers at the Notre Dame 25. But Morehead’s next pass to Joe Griffin was intercepted by Morrison in the end zone.
Morrison, who had two key interceptions Nov. 5 in a win against then-No. 4 Clemson, also intercepted Morehead at the BC 20-yard line on the Eagles’ first possession and at the BC 47 on the Eagles’ first possession of the second half.
The Irish — winners of five straight and eight of nine — had a 336-81 advantage in total yards in the first half and 214-1 in rushing offense to open a 37-0 halftime lead. For the game, the Irish had a 437-173 advantage in total yards and finished with 281 rushing yards.
It was the fifth straight game the Fighting Irish have scored at least 35 points. The only other time that’s happened was the first five games in 1943, when the Irish won a national championship with a 9-1 record.
The 44-point victory was the second largest in the series; the Irish beat the Eagles 54-7 in 1992.
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Diggs finished with 122 yards and a touchdown on 15 carries, and Audric Estime had 71 rushing yards and two touchdowns. Pyne was 13 of 25 for 156 yards and a touchdown.
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Morehead made his third career start because Phil Jurkovec, who formerly played at Notre Dame, is out with injuries. Morehead was 9 of 22 for 117 yards and was sacked four times.
The Eagles, who entered with the worst rushing offense in FBS at 61.4 yards per game, were held to 56 yards.
Boston College: The Eagles couldn’t build on their last-minute 21-20 victory over then-No. 17 North Carolina State. BC hasn’t beaten ranked teams in back-to-back games in 14 years.
Notre Dame: The Irish, who lost home games against Marshall and Stanford, avoided a third embarrassing loss in South Bend and kept alive their hopes for a sixth straight 10-win season.
Boston College: The Eagles on Saturday play host to rival Syracuse for the first time since 2018.
Notre Dame: The Irish will be seeking to play the role of spoiler when they play at No. 7 USC on Saturday.
