It’s pretty simple.
Simply say the name “Boston College” to any Notre Dame fan and nightmares are immediately brought back.
It’s as easy as 1993, a week after knocking off No. 1 Florida State in the “Game of the Century”, Notre Dame laid the golden egg of all eggs and lost at home to Boston College which in turn kept the Irish from a national championship.
Nine years later it was Notre Dame in their first year under Tyrone Willingham shocking the nation and jumping out to an 8-0 record after upsetting Florida State in Tallahassee.
One week later, in the most hideous green jerseys the world has ever seen, quarterback Carlyle Holiday got injured and No. 4. Notre Dame fell to Boston College 14-7 and were never able to recover under Willingham’s tenure as they’d go just 13-15 the remainder of his watch starting with that game.
Related: The best photos from Notre Dame’s upset of No. 1 Clemson
No. 2 Notre Dame hits the road this week to again take on Boston College one week after a massive win.
A win certainly wouldn’t get the talk of Boston College ruining Notre Dame’s title hopes forever, at least unless the second ranked Irish were able to put and end to their 32 year title drought this January.
But a win over Boston College even in 2012 didn’t make those awful memories go away, even when Notre Dame wound up in the national championship game.
This Boston College team is significantly improved compared to the 2019 Eagles that Notre Dame beat up 40-7 late last season.
They may be 5-3 but are dangerous under former Notre Dame backup quarterback Phil Jurkovec.
The Eagles had a 28-10 lead at Clemson just a week ago before giving it up and falling 34-28.
They also nearly knocked off a then-unbeaten North Carolina team before falling late, but in their only other defeat they were blasted by Virginia Tech, 40-14.
They also had to sneak out with a victory over traditional powerhouse Texas State, 24-21 and also barely got by a bad Syracuse team last week with a 16-13 win.
It’s hardly a great team Notre Dame faces in Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts but it’s certainly one that has made life hard on some good teams to date.
There will be plenty of story lines and memories of both 1993 and 2002 when Notre Dame hits the road this weekend but if talent has anything to do with it, it should be a game the Irish roll to 8-0 in before their bye week.