Boston College Eagles Soar Over The Irish, 27-14

By John Mooney

Heisman Trophy candidate Matt Ryan picked apart Notre Dame's defense with short passes and threw for two touchdowns in leading fourth-ranked Boston College to a 27-14 victory over Notre Dame.

Ryan completed 32 of 41 passes for 291 yards with two touchdowns and an interception. BC running back Andre Callender contributed with 90 rushing yards and two touchdowns. He started the scoring with a 7-yard run early in the first quarter and scored again on a 1-yard run in the second quarter. In the second half, the Eagles jumped ahead 20-0 on a 9-yard, third-quarter TD pass from Ryan to Callender, who reached the end zone three times on the day.

It looked like a rout was underway until Notre Dame scored a pair of third-quarter touchdowns in less than two minutes to cut the lead to 20-14. Backup QB Evan Sharpley replaced an ineffective Jimmy Clausen and threw a 19-yard TD pass to Robby Parris. Later, Irish linebacker Brian Smith picked off one of Ryan's throws and ran it back for a 25-yard touchdown.

The Irish were called for 15-yard excessive celebration penalty, which was assessed on the kickoff. Brad Newman returned the kick 18 yards to the Notre Dame 44. Five plays later, Ryan threw quickly to beat a Notre Dame blitz and connected with Kevin Challenger for a 13-yard scoring strike to put the game away. Although the Irish defense constantly put pressure on the star quarterback, they never sacked him.

"We had seen them blitz UCLA the week before and expected that," Ryan, a fifth-year senior, said. "They did a nice job with the pressure all day, but I thought our guys did a good job as well."

Meanwhile, Notre Dame's offense continued to struggle and produced just 222 yards of total yardage. BC allowed only 27 yards rushing; it was the fifth time this season the Irish have gained less than 50 yards on the ground during a game. Clausen was 7-of-20 for 60 yards and two interceptions. He was pulled in favor of Sharpley after throwing his second INT on Notre Dame's first offensive play of the second half.

"The bottom line is we had no touchdowns, no points. I thought Jimmy was banged up pretty good, didn't have great zip. I told him I'd give him the first drive of the second half to see what he had," said Coach Weis. "When he threw that early pick-off, I just felt at that time a fresh Evan was the way to go."

Sharpley was 11-of-29 for 135 yards and got his team into the end zone. His performance will give Weis something to think about before deciding next week's starter against archrival USC.

"He gave us a spark and made some plays, especially in that first drive. He made some nice throws in the second half, but the bottom line is I think we're hot and cold," Weis said.

The Eagles are now 7-0 for the first time since 1942 and beat Notre Dame for the fifth straight time in a battle between the only two Catholic schools to play Div. I-A college football.