Notre Dame's Defense Leads the Irish to Victory Over Boston College

On Saturday, Boston College came into South Bend riding a six game winning streak. They went home with a loss and were unable to make it seven in a row. So Irish fans should be thrilled with the win, right? I think all Irish fans are glad we got the win, but how we feel about this win will vary from fan to fan.

There are really two ways to look at it. You could say that it was the worst game offensively all year. Twenty points is the lowest the Irish have scored all year. Jimmy Clausen did throw two touchdowns to Golden Tate who had 11 catches for 127 yards. Armando Allen had a very nice game running the ball as he was just under 100 yards.

Even Duval Kamara had his best game in a long time with 7 catches for 61 yards. Overall though, the offense did sputter and lacked their normal swagger. I kept asking where in the world is Kyle Rudolph?

An Irish win could be negative and look at this as an ugly win. Or you could look at it the way I do. This was the kind of game Notre Dame had to have. They needed to show that they can win a game with the defense. On Saturday the defense had it's best game of the season.

Based on what I had seen so far in the year, I looked at the defense and said just don't give up 30. Keep them under thirty and more. To my surprise the defense kept them much lower than that.

This weekend Clausen, Tate, and Allen really need to take a back seat to Manti Te'o, Kyle McCarthy, and Brian Smith. It is nice that these guys can be the stars for once. The defense seems to have steadily gotten better since Manti Te'o has been starting. Against Boston College he was all over the place. He has a great nose for the ball.

The Irish defense also recorded 5 turnovers. Kyle McCarthy continued to be a leader in the backfield and had two more interceptions. Brian Smith added a pick with a minute to go to put the game on ice.

After being scrutinized all year the defense really deserves a lot of credit for this one. At the end of the first half they gave up a long drive which featured long plays to Rich Gunnell who finished with 10 catches for 179 yards and a touchdown. Boston College put together another long drive to start the third quarter in which they went right through the Irish defense for another score.

On the next drive, it was more of the same and the Eagles appeared to be on their way to another score. The Irish however forced a fumble on the goal line. That seemed to change the momentum as Boston College never threatened to score again until the last minute drive. Again, Brian Smith put a stop to that .

There are really two ways to look at this win. You can say it was ugly because of a lackluster day offensively. Or you can say it was the best game by the defense all year. At any rate, a win is a win no matter how you see it. It feels great to have this Boston College monkey off the back.

This article is also posted on http://fightingirishgameday.com/