5 Stars: The best and worst of Notre Dame’s rout of Boston College

The Irish played their best game of the season today, a resounding defeat of Boston College where they played a full 60 minutes and looked like one of the best teams in the country. There was not much to complain about, as you will read below. Find out who had the best performances, five stars, and worst performance, one star, during todays 44-0 drubbing of the Eagles.

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5 ⭐️ - Ben Morrison

What else can you say about this true freshman. He has played early and often getting tested every week, passing with flying colors. In my stats prediction from this morning, I called Morrison to pick off one pass, but he outdid my prediction with three. There is no doubt in my mind that Morrison has secured himself a spot on multiple freshman All-American teams and maybe even some other ones. Every game it looks like Morrison gets better and right now he’s just scratching the surface of the player he can be.

4 ⭐️ - The running backs

Why was this group just four stars, well Benjamin Morrison had plenty to do about that. Otherwise it would have been very easy to select this group as a top performer. All three of the backs, Logan Diggs, Audric Estime and Chris Tyree scored touchdowns. Diggs was the leader of the group going for 122 yards. Estime not only ran the ball effectively, but was the lead blocker on many plays. This unit played up to their potential and more this game.

4 ⭐️ - Tommy Rees’ play calling

Apr 23, 2022; Notre Dame, Indiana, USA; Notre Dame Fighting Irish offensive coordinator Tommy Rees talks to quarterback Drew Pyne (10) during warmups before the Blue-Gold Game at Notre Dame Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Matt Cashore-USA TODAY Sports

I’d like of offer up a mea culpa to Rees, as I said earlier this year that his offense couldn’t be fixed until the offseason. Well, Rees has turned this group around, playing to their strengths. Drew Pyne isn’t going to be teams but what he can do is manage a game well and make enough play to keep drives alive. Going heavy on the ground is something that should have happened all season but we are finally seeing it in full effect. You can’t just run the ball every time and Rees finding the mix has elevated this teams play significantly.

4 ⭐️ - Al Golden’s defense

Sept. 10, 2022; South Bend, Indiana;Notre Dame Fighting Irish defensive coordinator Al Golden watches in the first quarter against the Marshall Thundering Herd at Notre Dame Stadium. Matt Cashore-USA TODAY Sports

This unit has had it’s ups and downs this year and this was the high of the season. They completely stopped anything that the Eagles wanted to do when the game was still competitive. It was such an impressive showing, five forced turnovers, multiple negative plays, under 200 yards given up and just over one-and-a-half yards per rush. It was a game where plenty of younger players got the chance to see the field and they kept the shutout alive. Overall, it was the best showing of the season.

⭐️ - Zac Yoakam

There isn’t much to complain about when you take a 37-0 lead at the half and keep up that play during the second half. If you want to nitpick then it’s the fact that Yoakam had two kickoffs that went out of bounds and gave the Eagles good field position. They didn’t do anything with it, so at the end of the day, Yoakam didn’t hurt the bottom line.

Story originally appeared on Fighting Irish Wire