Notre Dame-Boston College: History of College Football’s Catholic Rivalry

Notre Dame and Boston College are set to meet again this Saturday for what will the 27th all-time meeting between the two.  Despite them being the only two catholic schools that play FBS football, the rivalry on the field between the Irish and Eagles is relatively young.

Any college football fan of a certain age can recall what happened in 1993 when Boston College ruined Notre Dame’s perfect season a week after the Irish beat No. 1 Florida State.  Heck, Notre Dame fans recall when the Eagles ruined another undefeated season by upsetting the Irish in 2002, a week after Notre Dame had stunned, you guessed it, Florida State.

There is a lot more to this rivalry than just those two games, though.  Here is a look back at some of the biggest moments when the two got together.

Notre Dame snags Frank Leahy

July 8, 1954 – When a Memphis sun gave them a 95-degree “hot foot,”‘ three Colonial Country Club Golf Tournament celebrities, Frank Leahy (left), former Notre Dame football coach; Dizzy Dean (center), former St. Louis Cardinals pitcher and Mary Ann Villegas, pretty New Orleans fairways queen, abandoned the greens to dunk their doggies in the kiddie pool. Diz captivated the youngsters with his “umbrella” bonnet.
Bygone

Before he turned into one of college football’s all-time greatest head coaches at Notre Dame, Frank Leahy was having great success at Boston College.  Leahy led Boston College to a 20-2 mark in two seasons, including a win in the Sugar Bowl in 1940.  Leahy was then offered the vacant head coaching job at his alma mater, Notre Dame.  Boston College didn’t want to let him go and the story goes that Leahy went all the way to the mayor of Boston to try and let him out of the deal.  Ultimately, Leahy got out of that Boston College deal and brought Notre Dame football to an even higher level.

1975: First Meeting

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The first meeting between the two programs didn’t come until 1975.  No, it didn’t take place in Notre Dame Stadium or in Chestnut Hill, but instead in Foxborough, Mass. at the home of the New England Patriots.  Notre Dame won the first contest between schools 17-3 in [autotag]Dan Devine[/autotag]’s (pictured above with an unknown former player) first game as Fighting Irish head coach.

1983 Liberty Bowl

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The second meeting between the programs came by chance as both were picked to play in the 1983 Liberty Bowl.  Heisman Trophy winner Doug Flutie led Boston College but on a weird night where the Eagles couldn’t convert an extra point attempt, Notre Dame won 19-18 despite three touchdown passes from Flutie.

1992: Regular series starts with rout

AP Photo/John Swart

The two met again in 1987’s regular season, a game Notre Dame won.  The regularity of the series began in 1992 when Notre Dame played host to Boston College and routed the Eagles 54-7.  On this day scenes from the movie “Rudy” were filmed at halftime.

While leading 37-0 in the third quarter, Lou Holtz called for a fake punt which was executed perfectly.  Although it didn’t factor into the final score that day, some people out there (raising my own hand) feel it had everything to do with what happened a year later.

1993: Down goes No. 1

A week after upsetting No. 1 Florida State, Notre Dame was a win away from a perfect regular season and likely Orange Bowl berth.  Instead, Boston College controlled the majority of the day and a had as much as a 21-point lead before Notre Dame fought back for the late lead.  However, a 41-yard David Gordon field goal as time expired ruined the afternoon for the Irish.

1998: Goal line stand

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Notre Dame was ranked 13th and held a 31-20 lead in the fourth quarter.  However, Eagles senior quarterback Scott Mutryn threw a 6-yard touchdown pass to get within five and the Boston College defense made a stop of Notre Dame.  Boston College proceeded to march to the Notre Dame four-yard line but was stopped on four-straight downs as the Irish held on for the victory. Safety Deke Cooper made the tackle on fourth down to seal the deal for Notre Dame.

2002: BC again stuns unbeaten Irish

(AP Photo/Joe Raymond)

Notre Dame was fresh off a victory over Florida State and returned home to wear kelly green jerseys and take on Boston College.  The Irish offense struggled to move the ball all day as quarterback Carlyle Holiday exited with an injury and Boston College shocked the Irish, 14-7.

Things were never the same for Tyrone Willingham from that moment forward.

2004: Irish choke one away

(AP Photo/Joe Raymond)

Despite building a 20-7 halftime lead, Notre Dame’s offense again vanished in the second half and a pair of touchdown passes by Paul Peterson helped guide Boston College to a 24-23 win over the hosts.  It was the fourth win in a row and the fifth in six tries for the Eagles over the Irish.

2009: Irish finally stop the bleeding

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From 2001-2008, Notre Dame dropped all five contests they had against Boston College.  That streak was nearly extended in 2009 as Boston College held a 16-13 lead midway through the fourth quarter.  Jimmy Clausen found Golden Tate for a 36-yard touchdown to put the Irish in front for good on a day Boston College turned the ball over five times (and still nearly won).

2012: This time Irish stay perfect

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Boston College had made a habit of beating unbeaten Notre Dame teams previously but in 2012, the undefeated Irish had little trouble beating the Eagles 21-6 as Everett Golson threw for two touchdowns and ran for another in the win.

2015: Fenway Game

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Notre Dame was in contention for a College Football Playoff appearance when the Shamrock Series took the Irish to Fenway Park to play Boston College in 2015.  The Irish overcame a slow offensive night that was full of turnovers to pull out a 19-16 victory.

2017: Irish run like crazy

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Josh Adams ran for 229-yards and Brandon Wimbush rushed for another 207 and four touchdowns as Notre Dame’s ground attack was unstoppable in the 49-20 win back in 2017.

2019: Senior day domination for Notre Dame

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It was a somewhat slow start for Notre Dame on senior day 2019 but Ian Book got things going largely with his legs as the Irish cruised to a 40-7 victory.

2020: Irish obliterate ex

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In 2020, a week after beating No. 1 Clemson, Notre Dame went on the road to take on Boston College.  The Eagles were led by former Notre Dame quarterback Phil Jurkovec but a pair of touchdown receptions by Ben Skowronek helped Notre Dame to a 45-31 victory and to stay perfect.

All-time results

Notre Dame leads the all-time series 17-9.  Below are the all-time game-by-game scores courtesy of Sports Reference.

Image courtesy of Sports Reference

Story originally appeared on Fighting Irish Wire