Notre Dame 52, Boston College 20
October 25, 1997 – Notre Dame Stadium

by Al Lesar
South Bend Tribune

NOTRE DAME, Ind. – Forget the competition. Maybe Boston College isn’t exactly an Alliance Bowl football team, but the positives from Notre Dame’s 52-20 win over the Eagles were too important to be overlooked.

In spite of a drummed-up quarterback controversy that never really materialized; a fickle group of fans who did not boo much at all and used the marshmallows they brought for a war in the stands rather than an assault on the Irish, and the hangover from last week’s loss to Southern Cal, Notre Dame prevailed.

It was a classic “circle the wagons” effort for a 3-5 Notre Dame that is struggling to find something positive on which to build.

“This game was all about pride,” Irish coach Bob Davie said. “When you’re 2-5 and you just lost the kind of football (games both teams lost) last week, it’s pride. It’s about who is going to come out and practice all week the hardest. Who’s going to want to win the game the most.”

The most impressive dividend from the victory was the excitement and the sense of accomplishment the Irish showed en route to the win over the 2-6 Eagles.

Notre Dame’s offense, led at quarterback by Ron Powlus for 61 plays and Jarious Jackson for 21, collected 323 passing yards and 526 yards of total offense. The defense, finally healthy and sound, limited the Eagles to just 83 rushing yards and only one third-down conversion in 12 tries.

New faces played major roles in launching the Irish in the right direction.

Strong safety Benny Guilbeaux, on the third play of the game, intercepted a pass by B.C. quarterback Matt Hasselbeck and returned it 25 yards to the Eagle 20. The pick ended a streak of 18 quarters without an interception.Freshman tight end Jabari Holloway caught a critical third-down pass from Powlus for 16 yards on the first Irish series that set up Tony Driver for a one-yard touchdown run.

Sophomore receiver Raki Nelson caught six passes for 110 yards and likely established himself as a long-ball threat. Notre Dame’s new-found, big-play offense had nine pass plays of 15 yards or more. A 44-yard hookup between Nelson and Powlus was the longest.

“First thing I thought, when we got the ball (on the interception), we had to make something happen,” Irish offensive coordinator Jim Colletto said. “The players play and they played good today. We’re not playing on offense like I would like to, but this is more like I’d be able to have them play.”

The Irish offense, led by Powlus early, scored on its first two possessions and built a 28-0 lead five minutes into the second quarter. Jackson played on the first series with the “T team” in the goal-line situation and then engineered an 83-yard, nine-play scoring drive that he finished off with a three-yard run on a quarterback draw to make it 21-0.

“We accomplished what we wanted with Jarious,” Davie said. “He provides us with a spark on offense and that’s what we need for this team.”

While emphasizing that Powlus, who completed 18 of 31 passes for 267 yards and two touchdowns, is still the starter, Davie was pleased with the effort he gave.

Davie said. “He wouldn’t be back at Notre Dame if he wasn’t. He wouldn’t have played as well as he did today if he wasn’t.”

“I don’t like to come out of a game, no,” Powlus said, who deferred to Jackson for just one full series while the outcome was in doubt. “It wasn’t fun, but that’s the way it was. I wanted to have a good game for my teammates. I’m happy for Jarious, but it’s tough to be on the sideline any time. There is no controversy around the situation. I wasn’t going ‘me against the world.'”

Once the 28-0 lead was in place, all that was left to interest the fans was Notre Dame’s performance in the third quarter. Held scoreless in six of their first seven games in the third quarter, the post-halftime period has evolved into a mental roadblock. Notre Dame came into the period leading 28-7 and couldn’t afford a letdown.

One drive that lost five yards and tailback Autry Denson’s fumble on the first play of the second left the Irish scrambling.

“We started the third quarter, I said, ‘Holy smoke, is this going to happen again'” Colletto said. “They fought through that.”

A late-hit penalty on the Eagles after Irish tailback Clement Stokes was stopped for a yard gain on a first-and-30 situation from the Notre Dame 21 turned things around. Powlus hit Nelson for 44 yards and set up a Scott Cengia 20-yard field goal.

Allen Rossum added a late highlight with an 80-yard kickoff return for a touchdown. Jackson scored a touchdown with 33 seconds left in the game when he engineered a 90-yard, 9-play mop-up drive.

Scoring Summary

Boston College 0 7 10 3 – 20Notre Dame 14 14 3 21 – 52

First Quarter
ND: Tony DRIVER 1 run (Scott CENGIA PAT blocked), 12:00 left. Drive: 20 yards, 5 plays, 1:26 elapsed after Notre Dame interception. Key play: Benny Guilbeaux 25 return of interception to the BC 20. Score: Notre Dame 6, Boston College 0.

ND: Malcolm JOHNSON 4 pass from Ron POWLUS (POWLUS pass to Jabari HOLLOWAY), 8:18 left. Drive: 62 yards, 6 plays, 1:49 elapsed after BC punt. Key play: Powlus to M. Johnson for 36 on 1st and 10 from the ND 38. Score: Notre Dame 14, Boston College 0.

Second Quarter
ND: Jarious JACKSON 3 run (CENGIA PAT), 13:33 left. Drive: 83 yards, 9 plays, 2:53 elapsed after BC punt. Key play: Autry Denson 21 run on 2nd and 3 from the BC 41. Score: Notre Dame 21, Boston College 0.

ND: DENSON 8 run (CENGIA PAT), 10:09 left. Drive: 51 yards, 4 plays, 1:15 elapsed after BC punt. Key play: Powlus to Holloway for 32 on 1st and 10 from the ND 49. Score: Notre Dame 28, Boston College 0.

BC: Anthony DiCOSMO 27 pass from Matt HASSELBECK (John MATICH PAT), 1:20 left. Drive: 69 yards, 4 plays, 1:20 elapsed after ND punt. Key play: Hasselbeck to Todd Pollack for 30 on 1st and 10 from the BC 31. Score: Notre Dame 28, Boston College 7.

Third Quarter
BC: MATICH 27 FG, 9:14 left. Drive: 5 yards, 4 plays, 2:01 elapsed after Notre Dame fumble. Key play: Andrew Krauza recovers Autry Denson fumble at ND 15. Score: Notre Dame 28, Boston College 10.

ND: CENGIA 20 FG, 4:07 left. Drive: 70 yards, 12 plays, 5:07 elapsed after BC kickoff. Key play: Powlus to Raki Nelson for 44 on 2nd and 12 from the ND 47. Score: Notre Dame 31, Boston College 10.

BC: Mike HEMMERT 1 run (MATICH PAT), 2:01 left. Drive: 80 yards, 6 plays, 2:06 elapsed after ND kickoff. Key play: Hasselbeck to Derrick Crittenden for 30 on 1st and 10 from the BC 33. Score: Notre Dame 31, Boston College 17.

Fourth Quarter
ND: Bobby BROWN 10 pass from POWLUS (CENGIA PAT), 13:44 left. Drive: 78 yards, 9 plays, 3:17 elapsed after BC kickoff. Key play: Powlus to Brown for 12 on 2nd and 9 from the ND 23. Score: Notre Dame 38, Boston College 17.

BC: MATICH 36 FG, 10:14 left. Drive: 59 yards, 9 plays, 3:30 elapsed after ND kickoff. Key play: Hasselbeck to Mike Guazzo for 20 on 2nd and 12 from the ND 38. Score: Notre Dame 38, Boston College 20.

ND: Allen ROSSUM 80 kickoff return (CENGIA PAT), 9:56 left. Score: Notre Dame 45, Boston College 20.

ND: JACKSON 1 run (CENGIA PAT), 0:33 left. Drive: 90 yards, 9 plays, 4:17 elapsed after BC fails to convert on fourth down. Key play: Jackson to Jay Johnson for 32 on 1st and 10 from the BC 47. Score: Notre Dame 52, Boston College 20.

Attendance – 80,225 (sellout)

Statistics

BC NDFirst Downs 19 29Rushing 4 10Passing 14 15Penalty 1 4Rushing Attempts 32 48Yards Rushing 111 233Yards Lost Rushing 28 30Net Yards Rushing 83 203Net Yards Passing 277 323Passes Attempted 33 35Passes Completed 23 21Had Intercepted 1 0Total Offensive Plays 65 83Total Net Yards 360 526Average Gain Per Play 5.5 6.3Fumbles: Number-Lost 0-0 2-1Penalties: Number-Yards 10-95 6-61Number of Punts-Yards 7-286 3-134Average Per Punt 40.9 44.7Punt Returns: Number-Yards 2-16 2-8Kickoff Returns: Number-Yards 8-116 5-134Interceptions: Number-Yards 0-0 1-25Possession Time 30:24 29:36Third Down Conversions 1-12 9-14Fourth Down Conversions 0-1 0-1Sacks by: Number-Yards 2-14 3-20

Boston College

RUSHING ATT GAIN LOST NET TD LGMike Cloud 8 41 2 39 0 16Omari Walker 12 35 2 33 0 11Mike Hemmert 3 12 0 12 1 9Frank Chamberlin 1 1 0 1 0 1Matt Hasselbeck 8 22 24 -2 0 12

PASSING ATT COMP INT YDS TD LGMatt Hasselbeck 33 23 1 277 1 30

RECEIVING RECPT YARDS TD LGTodd Pollack 5 69 0 30Scott Dragos 4 42 0 12Anthony DiCosmo 2 40 1 27Derrick Crittenden 2 34 0 30Mike Guazzo 2 31 0 20Mike Hemmert 2 8 0 7Omari Walker 2 6 0 4Rob Tardio 1 24 0 24Jermaine Walker 1 10 0 10Frank Chamberlin 1 7 0 7Mike Cloud 1 6 0 6

PUNTING NUM YARDS AVG LGJason Malecki 7 286 40.9 45

RETURNS PR KO INTSScott Dragos – 1-10 -Derrick Crittenden – 4-63 -Jermaine Walker 2-16 1-23 -George White – 2-20 –

Notre Dame

RUSHING ATT GAIN LOST NET TD LGAutry Denson 18 97 16 81 1 21Clement Stokes 13 50 0 50 0 11Ken Barry 5 41 0 41 0 23Tony Driver 4 24 0 24 1 12Jarious Jackson 4 16 0 16 2 9Jamie Spencer 1 1 0 1 0 1Ron Powlus 3 4 14 -10 0 4

PASSING ATT COMP INT YDS TD LGRon Powlus 31 18 0 267 2 44Jarious Jackson 4 3 0 56 0 32

RECEIVING RECPT YARDS TD LGRaki Nelson 6 110 0 44Joey Getherall 3 46 0 20Bobby Brown 3 31 1 12Autry Denson 3 5 0 4Jabari Holloway 2 48 0 32Malcolm Johnson 2 40 1 36Jay Johnson 1 32 0 32Ken Barry 1 11 0 11

PUNTING NUM YARDS AVG LGHunter Smith 3 134 44.7 47

RETURNS PR KO INTSA’Jani Sanders – 1-9 -Benny Guilbeaux – – 1-25Deveron Harper – 1-1 -Allen Rossum 2-8 3-124 –