It took a little longer than anyone would have like, but Notre Dame slowly is finding its rhythm against Boston College. Of course, no Irish fan truly will rest until those 1993 demons have been vanquished. For now, they’ll be happy that their team has a 31-16 lead going into halftime.
Phil Jurkovec continues to be on a mission, as evidenced by a 34-yard completion to Jaelen Gill in which he barely avoided taking a sack on third-and-15. Two plays later, he took the ball himself for a 17-yard gain. The Irish’s defense locked down after that, but Aaron Boumerhi kicked a 31-yard field to break a 10-10 tie. The Eagles then tried to really seize momentum with an onside kick and nearly were successful but for a block that took place before Isaiah Pryor was able to touch the ball.
Given new life, the Irish’s offense made the most of it. Ian Book had a 20-yard run, then completed a 48-yard pass to Avery Davis from midfield. C’Bo Flemister only needed 2 yards to put the Irish back ahead with a touchdown. Near-disaster had turned into great fortune.
After the Irish’s defense forced a three-and-out, a fair-catch interference allowed the offense to begin its next possession at midfield. Book went right back to work, finding Javon McKinley twice for first downs. He then gave Ben Skowrenek his second touchdown of the game from 13 yards out. That made it clear that the Irish were intent on pouncing on anything that would give them an extra opportunity or advantage.
The Eagles weren’t ready to go into the locker room quietly, however. Jurkovec found Gill for a 40-yard completion on the following possession to set up a 35-yard field goal on Boumerhi. They then looked poised to get even closer after Chibueze Onwuka forced a Kyren Williams fumble that Isaiah McDuffie recovered. But that chance was wiped out when their own fumble was recovered by Daelin Hayes.
Out of that, Book was able to guide one final drive to end the second quarter. He mainly kept it on the ground with the longest play being a 16-yard run he executed himself to set up first-and-goal with time almost gone. After spiking the ball, he found Skowronek again, and the receiver completed the hat trick with a 4-yard touchdown catch.
Talk about a tale of two halves of a quarter.