No. 12 Notre Dame escapes Boston College with 25-10 victory

By Canadian Press on November 1, 2025.

Jeremiyah Love broke free for a 94-yard touchdown run on the first play after a Notre Dame interception squelched a potential game-tying drive and the 12th-ranked Fighting Irish won their sixth straight, beating Boston College 25-10 on Saturday.

Notre Dame (6-2) had a surprisingly difficult day against the one-win Eagles (1-8), mired in a scoreless tie after one quarter and giving up a touchdown just before the half that left the Irish with a 12-7 lead.

The Eagles trailed 18-10 early in the fourth quarter — thanks to three missed Irish kicks — and had a chance to tie it before Adon Shuler intercepted Grayson James inside the Notre Dame 5-yard line.

On the next play, Love went up the middle before heading for the left sideline and outracing the defenders to the end zone.

Love ran for 136 yards and two touchdowns for the Irish, who haven’t lost since Sept. 13, when they dropped their second straight game to a ranked team, by a combined four points.

CJ Carr completed 18 of 25 passes for 299 yards with a 40-yard touchdown to Malachi Fields and a 44-yarder to Will Pauling in the second quarter.

Grayson James returned to the field and completed 25 of 37 passes for 240 yards and a touchdown. He was also sacked five times, and his interception under pressure with 11:21 left killed BC’s last chance at a victory. He also threw an interception on the first play of the Eagles’ final possession, when they took over at their own one-foot line after a punt.

Dylan Lonergan started his seventh game of the season, but was replaced by James after throwing an interception on the first drive of the second quarter.

Notre Dame had three different kickers miss attempts.

Noah Burnette hit the right upright after the Irish scored on the first play of the second quarter on a 40-yard to Fields. The Irish got the ball back with just 17 seconds left in the second quarter and took advantage of a pair of 15-yard BC penalties to advance to the Eagles 17. But Erik Schmidt’s kick was wide right as time expired in the half.

Marcello Diomede’s extra point was wide right in the third quarter, leaving the Irish with an 18-10 lead.

The game in the Catholic school rivalry known as the Holy War began with players having to be separated during warmups and featured roughing the passer penalties and personal fouls against each team.

The takeaway

The Irish were never in danger of losing, but it was an unconvincing victory over a one-win team. With no ranked teams left on the schedule, the Irish need only to avoid a more serious stumble to make the playoff.

Already eliminated from bowl qualification, the Eagles could have made their season with a victory against the only other Catholic school in FBS. Instead, they are still in danger of their worst season since 1978.

Up next

Notre Dame: Hosts Navy next week before finishing the regular season against Pittsburgh, Syracuse and Stanford.

Boston College: Has a chance to play spoiler against SMU and Georgia Tech before finishing the season against Syracuse.

___

Get poll alerts and updates on the AP Top 25 throughout the season. Sign up here and here (AP News mobile app). AP college football: https://apnews.com/hub/ap-top-25-college-football-poll and https://apnews.com/hub/college-football

Jimmy Golen, The Associated Press