Boston College Athletics
Boston College
Notre Dame
Eagles Upend Notre Dame, 21-17
October 27, 2001 | Football
Oct 27, 2001
Postgame audio
By HOWARD ULMAN
AP Sports Writer
BOSTON - William Green's scoring plays of 71 and 70 yards almost were wasted when he fumbled with 2:08 left. Then the Boston College defense bailed him out.
The Eagles (6-2) stopped Notre Dame's drive in the final minute, won 21-17 and became bowl eligible by clinching a winning season Saturday night. The Fighting Irish (3-4) moved perilously close to postseason elimination when Sean Guthrie sacked Matt LoVecchio on their final play.
"The defense kept me out of the crazy house," said Green, who rushed for 195 yards on 28 carries. "I went to make a play and he knocked it right out."
Tyreo Harrison recovered at the Irish 35. On the next play, quarterback Carlyle Holiday, who ran for 109 yards and threw his first two collegiate touchdown passes, ran 2 yards but left with a right knee injury.
LoVecchio, benched after Notre Dame lost its first two games, got the Irish to a second-and-7 at the BC 20 then was tackled for no gain by Antonio Garay, threw an incompletion and was sacked by Guthrie as BC got the ball back with 26 seconds left and ran out the clock.
"They made some big plays and we couldn't come back," Notre Dame tight end Gary Godsey said. "The sign of a tough team is to bounce back and fight."
That might be tough even though Notre Dame still can finish with a winning record and earn a bowl bid. The remaining schedule is challenging: home games against Tennessee and winless Navy before games at Stanford and Purdue.
BC has games against tough Miami and Syracuse and a weak Rutgers team.
On Saturday, the Eagles scored so quickly that their offense held the ball for just 19:45 while Notre Dame had it for 40:15.
"We had trouble getting ourselves off the field," BC coach Tom O'Brien said. "We had trouble sustaining drives."
The Irish had a three-game winning streak ended as Green accounted for 262 of BC's 354 yards, scoring on a 71-yard run and a 70-yard pass play that tied the game 14-14.
"He's a difference maker," O'Brien said. "William told me before the game that he was going to have the game of his life."
Notre Dame took a 17-14 lead on Nicholas Setta's 42-yard field goal with 1:30 left in the third quarter before the Eagles went ahead 21-17 on Brian St. Pierre's second touchdown pass, a 20-yarder to Jamal Burke with 12:32 remaining.
"Defensively, we gave up big plays," Notre Dame coach Bob Davie said.
The Irish had some offense left, moving from their 37 to a third-and-1 at the BC 16. Julius Jones was tackled for a 1-yard loss by Vinny Ciurciu and Doug Bessette knocked down Holiday's fourth-down pass in the end zone with 3:04 to go.
BC had a chance to run out the clock, but Green fumbled, giving Notre Dame its last opportunity and the Eagles defense one final stand. But first Guthrie gave his defensive mates a pep talk.
"I was just telling all the guys `You've got to make a play. You've got to make a play. Things happen,"' he said.
Jones scored the game's first touchdown on Holiday's 21-yard pass three plays after Grant Irons' interception.
After the kickoff, the Eagles needed only three plays - all runs by Green - as they tied the score 7-7. He rushed for 8 yards on the first play and 1 on the second before bursting up the middle for the 71-yard touchdown. That gave him 1,062 yards rushing, making him the first BC player with two 1,000-yard seasons on the ground. He finished with 1,164.
Another Notre Dame interception, by Vontez Duff, started a 15-play, 74-yard drive capped by Holiday's 5-yard scoring pass to John Owens nine seconds before halftime, making it 14-7.
The Eagles scored the tying touchdown with 3:25 left in the third quarter. Green and St. Pierre connected for a 70-yard touchdown play with the running back covering 45 yards after the catch.
