Notre Dame-Boston College Countdown: 10 To 1
10 Times Notre Dame has started 8-0 since 1950, and a win today would make it 11. The others were 1964, 1966, 1970, 1973, 1988, 1989, 1993, 2002, 2012 and 2018. In every year but one (2002) of those, the final game for the Fighting Irish had national title implications on it, including the semifinal of the 2018 playoff that would have advanced Notre Dame to the title game.
9 With the win over Clemson last week, it was the ninth time Notre Dame defeated the No. 1 team since the start of the AP poll in 1936 (and a first in 27 years). That is tied with Miami for second most, behind Alabama’s 10.
8 Ranking of Notre Dame nationally in scoring defense (14.6 points per game) when excluding two teams that have played only one game. The two defensive stats that particularly highlight this are a No. 4 ranking in rushing defense (85.1 yards per game, a pace that would be the best since the 1973 national champs) and the country's second-best third-down conversion defense (.247), behind Oklahoma State (.233), among teams who have played more than three games.
7 Straight victories recorded by Notre Dame over Boston College since 2009, with head coach Brian Kelly 6-0, including 3-0 at Alumni Stadium plus 1-0 in Fenway Park.
Remarkably, prior to the run, the Eagles won six straight versus the Fighting Irish from 2001-08.
6 Consecutive games played by quarterback Ian Book without throwing an interception, dating back to the opener versus Duke. His current streak of 168 straight passes without tossing a pick are second most in school history, behind Brady Quinn’s 226 in 2006. It also is the fourth longest current streak in the nation this year.
5 Red-zone opportunities last week for Boston College in its 16-13 win versus 1-7 Syracuse last week. The Eagles scored only one touchdown, kicked three field goals and missed a fourth.
Notre Dame also wants to fare better in the red zone after scoring three touchdowns in six tries last week in the triumph against No. 1 Clemson.
4 Notre Dame is one of only four teams since 2018 to lose three or fewer games, and is fourth in winning percentage with its 30-3 mark (.909). The three teams ahead of it are 36-2 Clemson (.947), 31-2 Alabama (.939) and 29-2 Ohio State (.935) — with both the Crimson Tide and Buckeyes having games cancelled this week.
3 Notre Dame’s current 13-game winning streak — the longest in the nation — is tied for third-longest at the program in the 70 years since 1950. It is surpassed only by the school-record 23 in 1988-89 and 17 in 1992-93 (ended by Boston College).
A win over the Eagles would leave the Irish in sole possession of third since then, breaking the tie of 13 in both 1973-74 and 2017-18.
2 Victories in Boston College history, per the school’s athletic department, versus opponents ranked in the AP top 5 at the time of the game. The Eagles are 2-32 overall — with both victories coming at Notre Dame: 41-39 versus the 10-0 and No. 1 Irish in 1993, and 14-7 against the 8-0 and No. 4 Irish in 2002. Both came the week after Notre Dame defeated Florida State, the former when the Seminoles were No. 1.
However, we did some of our research and discovered that in the 1941 Sugar Bowl, No. 5 Boston College defeated No. 4 Tennessee, 19-13. It was the last game for Frank Leahy as the Eagles’ head coach before returning to his alma mater and guiding Notre Dame to four national titles and six unbeaten seasons.
At home, BC is 0-13 versus the top 5.
1 Win needed by Kelly to reach 100 in his career at Notre Dame — although the NCAA would only recognize it as 79-37 because of 21 “vacated” victories in 2012-13.
The 100 would tie Lou Holtz, who was 100-30-2 at Notre Dame from 1986-96.
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