(Photo: Bret Feiner)
It was Halloween weekend, and Notre Dame spent much of Saturday afternoon playing like they’d seen a ghost.
A 29.5-point favorite over Boston College, the Irish stumbled through four quarters of miscues, missed kicks, and mental errors before finally staggering out of Alumni Stadium with a 25–10 win, a victory wrapped in chaos.
Now before we go any further it is a Fighting Irish Preview rule that we never disrespect a win. It’s hard to win — especially on the road, in November, and under the pressure of playoff hopes — and Notre Dame did win, and it was their sixth straight.
But this was the kind of afternoon that could have haunted them forever.
The Irish played a sloppy, unfocused, penalty-filled, kicking-cursed game that might have turned into a true nightmare. Boston College held a ten-minute advantage in time of possession and ran 23 more plays than Notre Dame, numbers that would have challenged almost any team — and yet, through turnovers, defensive toughness, and one spectacular play from Jeremiyah Love, the Irish survived.
For much of the afternoon, Notre Dame looked haunted by its own mistakes. Missed extra points, a missed field goal here, a red-zone fumble there, and some baffling penalties — including a phantom facemask on Josh Burnham — left the Irish haunted by their own errors.
The kicking game was a particular struggle. Three different Notre Dame kickers combined for two missed extra points and a 35-yard field goal miss that clanged off the upright. If the special teams had a costume, it might have been “The Ghost of Points Lost.”
Fortunately for Marcus Freeman, Chris Ash’s defense continues to be the team’s backbone. Despite Boston College’s time-of-possession advantage and extra plays, the Irish limited the Eagles to 281 total yards, one touchdown, and a single field goal.
Drayk Bowen was a force on the field, finishing with a career-high 14 solo tackles, a sack, two tackles-for-loss, and a pass breakup. He consistently disrupted Boston College’s rhythm and was the heart of a defense that refused to let the Eagles take control. Tae Johnson and Adon Shuler combined for three interceptions, part of a recent defensive surge that has Notre Dame among the nation’s leaders: the Irish now have 12 interceptions in the last four games and 16 on the season.
The offense never found a rhythm behind a line now missing three starters. The ground game that had shredded USC for 306 yards vanished, save for one breathtaking 94-yard touchdown run by Jeremiyah Love — a play that briefly lifted an afternoon otherwise filled with struggles. Without it, Notre Dame ran 28 times for just 65 yards.
CJ Carr delivered a bounce-back performance — 18-of-25 for 299 yards and two long touchdowns — but the offense still lacked consistency. A questionable two-point conversion failure before halftime raised eyebrows, a reminder that Notre Dame was navigating a game full of challenges.
Still, the Irish found a way to win — and in November, that’s what matters. You survive the tricks, take the treat, and move on.
Because not every victory is meant to be beautiful. Some are just meant to be survived.
Six straight now for the Irish, even if this one came wrapped in cobwebs and confusion.
It may not have looked like a playoff ready football team, but on this Halloween weekend, Notre Dame proved that sometimes the scariest thing isn’t the opponent — it’s how your own team plays.
But the Irish are 6-2, and you never disrespect a win.