NOTRE DAME TURN OVERS VICTORY TO BOSTON COLLEGE

NEWSPAPER ACCOUNTS OF NOTRE DAME DEFEAT

BC Upends Bumbling Irish

By Avani Patel CHICAGO TRIBUNE - November 3, 2002

South Bend, Ind. - Sadness and shock clouded their eyes as they stared at what could have been. As players in white visitors' jerseys rushed the field at Notre Dame Stadium in elation, those in the green could only watch.

Because yesterday, in front of a Notre Dame Stadium record crowd of 80,935, the fourth-ranked Irish (8-1) fell to a tough, enterprising Boston College (5-3) team, 14-7, an outcome that signaled more than just a single loss.

Notre Dame, whose undefeated streak came crashing to a halt, must reset its focus, so long trained on a trip to the national championship game at the Fiesta Bowl, to the present, to correcting the foul-ups and foibles that littered its entirely preventable loss to the Eagles.

In a season in which it has virtually patented poise, Notre Dame put on an uncharacteristically discombobulated performance, fumbling the ball seven times. Three times, the Eagles recovered.

"It was all us," quarterback Carlyle Holiday said. "They weren't forced."

Holiday put the ball on the ground three times, and tailbacks Ryan Grant and Marcus Wilson each coughed it up twice. In addition to picking up drops, the Eagles also snagged two interceptions. All of Boston College's points came off turnovers.

Yesterday, the Irish came away scoreless on five of their six trips into the red zone, their only points with 2:25 left to play, when Holiday lofted a touchdown pass to Maurice Stovall in the right corner of the end zone.

Having closed to within one touchdown, however, Notre Dame didn't get the ball back until there were only 12 seconds left, giving Holiday only enough time to loft two incomplete "Hail Mary" passes before the game ended.

Like the last time Boston College knocked off a top-five team - Nov. 20, 1993, when the Eagles beat No. 1 Notre Dame - the Eagles again dashed Notre Dame's national-title aspirations.

"I don't think '93 had anything to do with this game at all. This is Boston College vs. Notre Dame, doesn't matter what year it is," Eagles coach Tom O'Brien said.

Eagles tailback Derrick Knight said: "It is definitely good to come out here and play a sound football game with no turnovers, to control the clock, control the ball, score when we needed to score, and hold them off when we needed to. It was a great effort on everyone's part." Especially Knight's, who had 129 yards on 26 carries and, by running for a first down on the Eagles' final possession, helped keep the ball out of Irish hands at the end.

Knight also scored the first BC touchdown, on a 3-yard run, in the first quarter.

The Irish did a good job shutting down the Eagles' offense, holding quarterback Brian St. Pierre, who had been averaging more than 233 yards per game, to only 77, on 9-for-20 passing, and allowing the team only nine first downs.

Unfortunately for the Irish, their offense did an even better job shutting itself down. Notre Dame outgained Boston College by 173 yards, and had 22 first downs. Grant ran for 107 yards. But three of Notre Dame's seven fumbles, and one of its two interceptions, came inside the red zone.

Holiday had a stellar passing day, completing 16 of 32 for 198 yards. But backup Pat Dillingham, who played almost the entire second quarter - after Holiday took a hit to the head and was held out because of wooziness - threw two interceptions.

One, a shoveled attempt to throw the ball away as he was being sacked, ended up in the arms of linebacker Josh Ott, who ran it back 71 yards for the score, putting the Eagles up 14-0. That proved to be the difference.