A bright spot for Notre Dame was the play of quarterback Brady Quinn.
While he made some mistakes, the true freshman led his team on an 18-point comeback and put them in a position to win. Quinn finished the game with the most passing yards since since Nov. 25, 1978 when Joe Montana threw for 358 yards at USC. In that game, Montana led Notre Dame back from a 24-6 deficit to take a 25-24 lead before seeing the Trojans win on a last-second field goal.
It was also the first two-touchdown game of Quinn's young career.
Quinn thought the team would have won if they had just a few more seconds.
"I was trying to stay positive. We just ran out of time. If you give us 10 more seconds I think we get a field goal team out there and we get a field goal," Quinn said.
Both of Quinn's interceptions came off tipped passes and were caused by miscommunication.
"Both interceptions were the same exact thing. It was miscommunication between the tight end and myself," Quinn said. "That's just something we both need to communicate on better and recognize what the defense is trying to do and what we're trying to do."
Where's the running game?
Two weeks ago against Pittsburgh the Irish offensive line looked great, pushing the Panthers around and opening up holes for Notre Dames backs. In that game, Julius Jones broke a Notre Dame single-game rushing record with 262 yards. Saturday, he and fellow running back Ryan Grant could only muster a mere 68 yards combined.
Jones couldn't explain what the difference was between the Pittsburgh game and the Boston College game.
"I don't know what it was," Jones said.
Jones was especially upset with another Notre Dame loss.
"It stinks. There's nothing positive about losing," Jones said. "The only positive thing was that we played hard in the second half and didn't give up."
Jones also said the team must pick themselves up and focus on Florida State next weekend.
"I think everybody has to motivate themselves," Jones said. "We've lost five games and everybody has to step up and look at the situation and play individually the best they can so we can get some wins."
Irish must wait for another chance
Notre Dame doesn't play Boston College again until 2007 ,and that might be a very good thing for the Irish.
With their 27-25 loss Saturday, Notre Dame dropped its third straight game to the Eagles and fourth in the last five meetings between the two teams.
"I told the team that everything was excused right now," Boston College coach Tom O'Brien said in reference to a question about the Eagles' problematic pass defense and punt protection. "They've beaten Notre Dame four times in five years and three years in a row. It's a tremendous accomplishment."
The Irish lost after allowing two long touchdown plays by running back William Green in 2001, then fumbled six times and saw their national championship hopes die in 2002 when the Eagles won 14-7 at Notre Dame Stadium.
The upcoming schedule has the teams meeting at Notre Dame Stadium in 2007 and Alumni Stadium in 2008.
Gameday captains
The gameday captains were Vontez Duff, Omar Jenkins, Billy Palmer and Derek Curry for Notre Dame.
