Boston College shut down Notre Dame with its physical, relentless defense and beat the error prone Irish 17-0 on Saturday night in Boston. The Eagles intercepted four passes from Jimmy Clausen, recovered a fumbled punt at a critical juncture and blocked a punt deep in Notre Dame territory. The Irish defense played well and prevented the score from drifting into the absurd, but the offense was completely overmatched by the eagles.

The BC defensive line, led by B.J. Raji, shut down Notre Dame’s feeble attempts to run the ball early. The Irish offensive line was outclassed by the more lightly recruited Eagle players, who were noticeably tougher in the trenches. When Coach Charlie Weis went almost exclusively to the passing game, Boston College employed seven or eight players in coverage to thwart him. Deep drops by talented linebackers such as Matt Herzlich resulted in overthrows by Clausen and a bushel of interceptions and near misses.

As a result of Irish ineptitude and poor punting by Eric Maust, the first half was played almost entirely in Notre Dame’s end of the field. Eagle kicker Steve Aponavicius kept his team off the scoreboard with an early miss, but converted a 27-yard field goal near the end of the first quarter for a 3-0 lead.

This narrow margin held throughout most of the second quarter, when Notre Dame finally strung together a couple of first downs. Hope was quickly dashed when Clausen overthrew tight end Kyle Rudolph and the ball landed in the hands of BC safety Paul Anderson at the Eagle 24. Anderson wove his way through the flat-footed Irish and scored to put his team ahead by 10-0.

Clausen had an opportunity to get his team on the board in the last two minutes of the half, but another interception in the red zone killed a drive with 21 seconds remaining. Despite the poor showing, a flicker of hope remained for Irish fans because Boston College was unable to generate any offense of its own.

Those hopes quickly dissipated on the first series of the second half. Notre Dame held the Eagles to a three and out, and the Irish were about to get the ball back in their best field position of the night. Unfortunately, Golden Tate fumbled the ensuing punt and BC recovered near midfield. Strong runs by Montel Harris set up a short touchdown pass from Chris Crane to Brandon Robinson to give the Eagles a 17-0 lead.

From that point forward, Boston College took no risks on offense and sat back in its deep zones on defense to stifle any attempts at an Irish comeback. A frustrated and confused Clausen threw two more interceptions into this coverage, but the defense never quit despite the hopelessness of the situation.

The lone scoring chances for Notre Dame in the second half followed a 42 yard punt return by Tate and a 32 yard reception by Michael Floyd. The Irish failed to convert a fourth down after the former and Clausen threw his fourth interception after the latter.

It was essentially a lackluster performance by the offense, which showed no intensity and was embarrassed throughout the evening by the Eagle defense. The running game was non-existent yet again, and the passing game has become all too predictable.

Let’s review the questions that helped determine the outcome:

Can Notre Dame stop the run and put the game into Crane’s hands?
Not really. BC gained 167 yards rushing and Crane was content to flip short passes when the need arose.

Will the Irish be able to contain Raji and Brace?
When attempts to block them failed, the Irish tried holding. That didn’t work either.

Will Clausen be able to throw the ball effectively and with the usual zip?
The sophomore QB made a number of poor decisions and overthrew several passes.

Which kicker will give his team a lift?
Aponavicius tried to give Notre Dame a lift with his hooks and shanks, while Brandon Walker’s uniform remained pristine.

Will the Irish offense bog down in the third quarter?
Tate’s fumble began a period in which ND held the ball for less than five minutes and gained only 32 yards with one first down.

Will the Irish defense run out of gas in the fourth quarter?
No, they showed a great deal of pride, but the Eagles were not really trying to score.

Can Notre Dame force third and long situations and put pressure on the passer?
Had the offense showed up, this might have mattered.

The Irish dropped to 5-4 on the season and are regressing in each successive week. This steady decline began in the second half at North Carolina and an awful Washington team provided only temporary solace. What seemed like a certain bowl berth for this team now might resemble a courtesy invitation to a once famous but washed up lounge singer to perform at a B-list Indian gaming casino. Simply stated, Notre Dame football remains so in name only.

As for the future of Charlie Weis, this loss should cause the newly appointed Athletic Director to pick up the phone and make contact with potential replacements. In truth, Jack Swarbrick should have done this when he took the job in August on the heels of a 3-9 season with no guarantees of a satisfactory turnaround this year, but the school is no longer known for proactive administration. In the interim, Notre Dame fans and alumni will have to find ways to express their discontent until the light goes on upstairs.