Fighting Irish-Eagles: Notre Dame Beats Boston College 20-16

In what is becoming something of a theme with Notre Dame football this season, the Fighting Irish left it late before securing their first win against the Boston College Eagles since 2000. 
 
All but one of Notre Dame's games have been decided in the final minutes, and their 20-16 victory on Saturday was no different as they relied on an interception with 1:38 left in the fourth quarter to seal the win. 
 
The pick was the fifth Boston turnover of the game and it proved to be the game-winning play which saw Notre Dame end their Catholic rivals' six-game winning streak stretching back nine years.
 
Heisman candidate Jimmy Clausen twice brought Notre Dame from behind in South Bend, throwing for 246 yards and two touchdowns on 26/39 passing.

Golden Tate was also instrumental in halting Notre Dame's skid, catching 11 passes for 128 yards and helping them put last week's narrow loss to USC behind them. 
 
Offensively, Notre Dame did not turn the ball over, while their rush defense limited Boston College to 72 total yards on the ground just one week after Montel Harris ran wild for 264 yards and five touchdowns. 
 
The Eagles' main threat Rich Gunnell caught a career-high 11 passes for 179 yards, and quarterback Dave Shinskie threw for 279 yards and a touchdown. 
 
But it was Shinskie's third interception of the second half which eventually put the game to bed as he tried to march BC downfield in the closing minutes. 
 
The win moved Notre Dame to 6-2, giving them the momentum they need ahead of next week's primetime showdown with Washington State. 
 
Boston College meanwhile slipped to 5-3. 

Recap

Notre Dame scored on their first drive of the game on Tausch's 37-yard field goal—his 11th consecutive successful kick—but Boston's defense helped get them on the board quickly after.

The Eagles scored their first points of the first half in a road game this season midway through the opening quarter when Jimmy Clausen was flagged for intentional grounding in the end zone.

Clausen got out of the tackle box, but he failed to throw the ball past the line of scrimmage under heavy pressure, resulting in a safety.

Montel Harris' first turnover in 363 touches gave Notre Dame the ball in great field position in the second quarter, and a third-down penalty gave Clausen a new set of downs which would lead to the game's next score.

The Fighting Irish took the lead 6-2 on a Tausch 34-yard field goal after a touchdown on a fake FG was pulled back on a holding penalty.

Although Notre Dame settled for the three points, it was the Eagles who left the field happier after knocking down passes aimed at Golden Tate and Kyle Rudolph on second-and-8 and third-and-8 from the Boston 10-yard line.

The Eagles responded well though, and they took their first lead of the game with 4:40 left in the half. 

Dave Shinskie marched BC down the field with 22-yard completions to 6'5" Justin Jarvis and Chris Pantale as part of a 74-drive that concluded with a 7-yard touchdown pass to senior Rich Gunnell who was wide open out of the slot.

Notre Dame regained the lead with 36 ticks remaining as Clausen moved around the pocket and kept his eyes down field before finding Tate on a 10-yard TD pass.

Down 13-9, the Eagles came out of the gates strongly to open the second half, scoring on their opening drive.

Unfortunately for Shinskie and the Eagles, it would be all downhill from there on out.
 
Shinskie hit Gunnell on back-to-back completions and Montel Harris spun across the line from the two to give Boston College a 16-13 lead. 
 
The Eagles were on the brink of a two-score lead when they were faced with second-and-goal on the Notre Dame 5-yard line. 
 
But Sergio Brown hit Harris at the three, knocking the ball loose and allowing Brian Smith to recover the fumble. 
 
Despite the turnover, Boston College got the ball back inside Notre Dame territory when the Fighting Irish went three and out and punted the ball to their own 40-yard line. 
 
Failing to capitalize on the short field, Shinskie threw a pick to Kyle McCarthy on third-and-13 to hand possession straight back to the Fighting Irish. 
 
After moving the ball down to the 1-yard line, Notre Dame passed up a chip shot with 11:30 remaining to go for the six on fourth down.

Out of the Wildcat formation, Robert Hughes took the direct snap and looked for a seam through the middle. 

But safety Marcellus Bowman came over the top, lowered his head, and put a hit on the half back to complete a big goal-line stand and keep BC ahead. 
 
The defensive stand put them in poor field position though, and Clausen and the Fighting Irish took over inside enemy territory for the first time from the 49 after three BC running plays failed to move the chains.

Three plays later and the hosts were back on top. 

Clausen read Bowden's blitz early and threw the ball over the advancing defensive linesman to Golden Tate for his 11th catch of the day. 

Faced with single coverage and a big cushion, Tate burst down the sideline and then cut inside the secondary for a 36-yard catch and his second touchdown of the afternoon.

Looking to rally his team, Shinskie threw his second interception of the half on Boston College's next possession. 

Shinskie threw into double coverage trying to find Gunnell, enabling McCarthy to come away with the tipped pass. 

Officials overturned what would have been Clausen's third interception of the year with 3:29 left in the game on third down, forcing the Fighting Irish to punt the ball away,  and giving Boston one final chance. 
 
Faced with fourth-and-17, Shinskie hit Gunnell on a 30-yard options route to move the Eagles down to the Notre Dame 46. 
 
A Pass interference penalty advanced Boston to the 31-yard line, but Shinskie threw his next pass down the middle right to Brian Smith which killed the game off with Boston out of timeouts.