Notre Dame football recruiting writer with past experience covering Ohio State football recruiting for cleveland.com. Current Northwestern University graduate student and John Carroll University grad.
SOUTH BEND, Ind. — Notre Dame left no doubt about it.
In the final home game of the 2022 season, the No. 18 Irish walloped Boston College 44-0 in South Bend on Saturday. And the senior day victory came with the help of an incredible performance by freshman cornerback Benjamin Morrison to give Marcus Freeman his first shutout win as a head coach.
Inside ND Sports awarded game balls to Morrison and sophomore running back Logan Diggs for their performances in Saturday's game.
Notre Dame offense: RB Logan Diggs
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Irish sophomore running back (3) Logan Diggs dodges Boston College defender Jaiden Woodbey (9). (ASSOCIATED PRESS)
When it mattered most, Logan Diggs put the Irish in a position to cruise their way to victory.
Diggs' lone touchdown resulted in Notre Dame's second score of the game, which put the Irish ahead 10-0 with 10:05 remaining in the first quarter. The 6-foot, 214-pound sophomore running back registered 111 yards in the first half, securing his third 100-yard rushing performance in his last five games.
Fifty-one of those yards came on Notre Dame's first play of the game for the longest rush of his career.
Diggs added 11 yards in the second half to bring his final stat line to 15 carries for 122 yards (8.1 yards per carry) and one touchdown. He also added a 28-yard catch. His 150 all-purpose yards were a career-high.
Notre Dame defense: CB Benjamin Morrison
Notre Dame freshman cornerback Benjamin Morrison (20) celebrates after making an interception. (Jeff Douglas, Inside ND Sports)
Benjamin Morrison's freshman All-America campaign carried into week 12 with two interceptions in the first quarter. And another in the third.
Those three interceptions tied a Notre Dame single-game record, which 14 other players hold. The last Irish player to snag three picks was safety Harrison Smith in the 2010 Sun Bowl.
The 6-1, 179-pound Morrison's first interception came on Emmett Morehead's third throw of the game, putting the Irish in the red zone. That field position netted ND's first touchdown.
After the Boston College offense mustered up an offensive effort two drives late, Morrison stopped the bleeding with another interception. Morrison caught more passes from Morehead than all Boston College receivers in the first quarter.
And yet, Morehead tested Morrison again.
On the Boston College quarterback's third pass of the third quarter, Morrison reintroduced himself with his third and final interception of the game.
Morrison's output increased his total to five on the season, all coming in the last three games. Before the Phoenix Brophy Prep product's fourth pick, the last Irish freshman to have that many interceptions in a season was Kyle Hamilton in 2019.
With his five interceptions, Morrison exceeded Cole Luke for the most in a season by an Irish cornerback since Luke's four in 2014. Morrison's five picks are also the most in a season since Manti Te'o had seven in 2012.
