Boston College Holds Off Irish

William Green’s scoring plays of 71 and 70 yards almost were wasted when he fumbled with 2:08 left. Then the Boston College defense bailed him out.

The Eagles (6-2) stopped Notre Dame’s drive in the final minute, won 21-17 and became bowl eligible by clinching a winning season Saturday night. The Fighting Irish (3-4) moved perilously close to postseason elimination when Sean Guthrie sacked Matt LoVecchio on their final play.

“The defense kept me out of the crazy house,” said Green, who rushed for 195 yards in 28 carries. “I went to make a play and he knocked it right out.”

Tyreo Harrison recovered at the Irish 35. On the next play, quarterback Carlyle Holiday, who ran for 109 yards and threw his first two collegiate touchdown passes, gained two yards but left with a knee injury.

LoVecchio, benched after Notre Dame lost its first two games, got the Irish to a second-and-7 at the Boston College 20 then was tackled for no gain by Antonio Garay, threw an incompletion and was sacked by Guthrie as Boston College got the ball back with 26 seconds left and ran out the clock.

“They made some big plays and we couldn’t come back,” Notre Dame tight end Gary Godsey said. “The sign of a tough team is to bounce back and fight.”

That might be tough even though Notre Dame still can finish with a winning record and earn a bowl bid. The remaining schedule is challenging: home games against Tennessee and winless Navy before games at Stanford and Purdue.

Boston College has games against No. 1 Miami, Syracuse and a weak Rutgers team.

On Saturday, the Eagles scored so quickly that their offense held the ball for just 19:45 while Notre Dame had it for 40:15.

The Irish’s three-game winning streak ended as Green accounted for 262 of Boston College’s 354 yards, scoring on a 71-yard run and a 70-yard pass play that tied the game 14-14. He also became the first Boston College player with two 1,000-yard rushing seasons.