Boston College vs. Notre Dame: Game Grades, Analysis for the Fighting Irish

In order to guarantee victory, coaches often say that their team's worst night must be just a little bit better than their opponent's best night.  For Notre Dame, that pretty well sums up the Irish's victory over rival Boston College.

There haven't been many victories uglier than that one, but a win is a win. And considering the Irish were facing off against the nation's top overall defense in Boston College on a night and in a setting overflowing with distractions, any victory is probably welcomed.

Still, we don't issue our weekly report cards to give teams a pass.  Let's break down the good, the bad, and the boatload of ugly in this week's game grades for Notre Dame.

Here is the box score from Saturday's game, via NCAA.com.

Position	First Half Grade	Final Grade
Pass Offense	B-	B
Run Offense	C	B-
Pass Defense	A	A
Run Defense	A-	B-
Special Teams	B+	B
Coaching	B	B+

Fighting Irish Pass Offense

Yardage wise, DeShone Kizer actually performed pretty well against a defense that was giving up barely more than 235 offensive yards per game.  Kizer had 320 yards on 20-of-38 passes.  Unfortunately, three of those incompletions were actually caught by Boston College.

Three interceptions in a game is a season high for Kizer—obviously—and he only managed to make up for his wayward passes by coming up with some much-needed strikes down the stretch in the second half.

Charles Krupa/Associated Press

Kizer wasn't helped too much by his receivers, either.  The usually sure-handed Will Fuller had three big drops on the night and didn't get his hands on the football for a reception until late in the second half. Fuller finished with three receptions for 72 yards but could have had much loftier numbers were he not participating in the Notre Dame juggling act for much of the game.

Fuller's 72 yards were enough to surpass 1,000 receiving yards on the season.

Chris Brown led all receivers with 104 yards and a score on six receptions.

Fighting Irish Run Offense

The running game wasn't much better.  The big story is the potential loss of C.J. Prosise, who left the game in the second quarter with an ankle injury.  He didn't return to the game and was seen on the Notre Dame sidelines with crutches in the second half.

Still, Prosise did manage to eclipse the 1,000-yard mark before leaving the game, giving Notre Dame just its fourth season in school history with both a 1,000-yard rusher and a 1,000-yard receiver.

Prosise also added to Notre Dame's turnover margin by fumbling before his exit.  He actually had two fumbles, but one was overturned on review.

Josh Adams didn't have the most productive evening in relief of Prosise.  Not only was Adams guilty of putting the ball on the turf, but he only managed 2.6 yards per carry on 14 attempts.

Sure, Boston College is the nation's top rush defense, limiting opponents to just 71.7 rushing yards per game heading into Saturday night. But if Notre Dame wants to be the No. 4 team in the nation, the Irish have to find a way to solve defenses of 3-8 teams like Boston College. 

Fighting Irish Pass Defense

As great as the Boston College defense is, the Eagles' offense is just awful.  The Eagles ranked 127th (out of 128) in the FBS in total offense before Saturday night, and it wasn't difficult to see why.

John Fadule, a true freshman walk-on, is known as the "passing" quarterback in the carousel of QBs utilized by head coach Steve Addazio.  Fadule was just 7-of-16 on the night for 64 yards.  Jeff Smith, the runner of the group, actually completed 5-of-6 for 24 yards and a late touchdown.

Maybe Addazio should rethink his hierarchy.

Charles Krupa/Associated Press

Still, limiting any team—other than Army or Navy—to just 88 passing yards is a solid night for the Irish, and we're not going to penalize the defense just for facing off against a lackluster passing attack.

Fighting Irish Run Defense

The run defense, however, wasn't quite as spot-on as the passing defense.  Boston College had some decent success in the second half on the ground, including a run by the aforementioned Smith of 80 yards for a touchdown.  Smith finished with 100 yards on five carries.

The Irish also allowed some space for Fadule to run in the second half, and the youngster exploited the gaps left open by the coverage to pick up 64 yards on eight carries.

Boston College's success is something future opponents can use as a blueprint to exploit Notre Dame's pass coverage and open up running room.  The Irish looked very susceptible to the draw, and a quarterback with good scrambling skills could be devastating to a defense that doesn't always have the most sound fundamentals when it comes to "staying home."

Fighting Irish Special Teams

The special teams only had one little hitch: Kizer couldn't handle a PAT snap and was forced to run around on a broken play before throwing the ball aimlessly into the end zone.

Justin Yoon was 2-for-2 on his field-goal attempts and 1-for-1 on the extra point he did actually get to kick.

C.J. Sanders was eventually yanked from his punt return duties and replaced by Fuller after juggling a few attempts and finishing the night with minus-four yards on three returns.

Fighting Irish Coaching

In the "old days," Brian Kelly may have had an aneurysm at some point during the game.  The play of Notre Dame was enough to drive even a sane person mad, and Kelly hasn't always been a guy known for his calm, cool demeanor.

But if Kelly's blood pressure was through the roof Saturday night, he didn't show it.  He calmly coached up his players when they came to the sideline, and he made quick, decisive changes when necessary.

The Irish did enough to win the football game, and sometimes doing just barely enough is the best a coach can do given the circumstances.

It's difficult to see what else Kelly or his staff could of done; sometimes the players just don't execute or perform to their abilities.  Saturday night was clearly one such night.

Credit goes to Kelly for keeping his players levelheaded when things seemed to be falling apart around them.  That could be a very important factor heading into the final week of the 2015 regular season.

Unless otherwise noted, quotes or references to quotes were obtained firsthand by the writer.

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