The intensity never fades

BOSTON COLLEGE - No undefeated season at stake. No green jerseys. Not even a cameo appearance by Pat Dillingham. Yet, even without the high stakes of last year's game at South Bend, the Boston College-Notre Dame rivalry continued this weekend with more suspense than anyone could have imagined. After all, who would have expected the Irish offense to come back so late in the game? So what put the Eagles over the top against a mediocre ND team and gave BC its third win over ND in a row and the fourth victory in the past five meetings? A few adjustments, a little luck, and some clutch performances late in the game.

"I've been ready for this my whole life," Daniel Rudiger, Rudy, 1993.

Head coach Tom O'Brien knew from practice that quarterback Quinton Porter was more than ready for the Irish.

"This week, [Quinton Porter] was into this football game as much as I've seen him in his progress here," said O'Brien. "There were some sparks and some things that he did today that I think were very good and that we can build on."

"When you sign that paper, you're thinking of playing Notre Dame. When you get yourself out there, it's all emotion. The hard part is trying to neutralize that emotion," said Porter.

Porter finished the game with a respectable 199 passing yards. But what made his performance even more remarkable was his versatility, taking on a more Flutie-esque role against the Irish to grind out 41 yards on the ground. More importantly, several of Porter's carries picked up desperately-needed ground in short-yardage situations.

O'Brien commented on the evolved role of Porter against the Irish defense. "We wanted to run because of their scheme. The quarterback has to carry the ball against some of the things they do," he said. "We got the quarterback more involved in running the football. That isn't something we've asked him to do, but he's athletic enough and can do some things."

The focal point of Porter's gritty running display was the one-yard touchdown run, which extended the lead to 24-6. Porter rolled to the outside, took on a Notre Dame defender, and dove for the pylon to get the score.

"I just put down my head and went for it. I didn't even look to any receivers or think about throwing the ball away," he said.

After the victory, some called Porter's performance a "coming of age" for the junior quarterback.

"I think he came of age about two or three weeks ago," said Porter's main target Grant Adams. "He knew he had to step it up. The final drive was huge. He was putting the ball on the money for the most part and I just tried to give him a big picture so he could get me the ball."

"We're gonna go inside; we're gonna go outside. Inside and outside," Knute Rockne, Rudy, 1993.

The Eagles did not complete a pass to a wide receiver for more than half of the game. Yet Porter found Adams when the team needed the big plays, connecting repeatedly with the 6'1" junior on two drives in the third. The first to Adams came on a 26-yard pass to the Irish 28.

Two plays later, Porter found Adams again on a slant route to the sidelines for a 23-yard gain, which set up Sandro Sciortino for a field goal. On the next series, Adams made a shoe-string grab on a 28-yard pass play, allowing Porter to scamper for the touchdown run.

"Every quarterback has a guy they like to throw to because they know they can catch the ball," O'Brien said of the combination.

Porter expressed similar affinity for his wideout, "He's just so squirmy and can get through there [to areas in the middle of the field]. To tell you the truth, I was pretty much looking him up the whole time."

"They can't lick us, so what do you say men?" Knute Rockne, Rudy, 1993.

Special teams were an adventure for both BC and ND, particularly in the punting units. Bad snaps and short punts on both sides provided good starting position throughout the game. Yet for the Irish, their biggest setback came on a failed fake punt at their own 44. The stop put the Eagles in ND territory, allowing a short-field drive to widen the lead to 18.

From there, BC resorted to a conservative offense to take time off the clock. But as the BC lead dwindled, ND pulled through in what could have been the winning play. Carlos Campbell broke the line to block Jeff Gomulinski's punt; it was returned for a touchdown to put the Irish ahead late in the fourth.

"That could demoralize a lot of teams, but we showed a lot of character and that we could come back and make the drive," said Porter.

While punting faltered, kick returns by Will Blackmon consistently gave the Eagles solid field position. Blackmon, who finished with three returns for 95 yards, saved his best for when the Eagles needed it the most, taking the ball 42 yards off the kick. This gave BC a smaller field to work with and alleviated the pressure of having to drive from BC territory with only three minutes remaining. O'Brien saw this potential in the sophomore standout.

"Right before the half [Blackmon] returned one; he was dancing around on the sideline. He could have done the same thing. I told him I'm going to take him off the field if he keeps dancing around. Take it, hit it, and go for it. And that's what he did," said O'Brien.

The Eagles' head coach dismissed the problems on the other side of special teams, albeit due to the win in part. "I don't know [what went wrong]. We'll find out. We won," he said.

Still, with so many snap problems on the afternoon, there was reason to worry about Sciortino's game-winning attempt. Combined with the fact that the senior kicker had only made five of 11 field goals for the season, and it is easy to see why even the chip-shot 26-yard winner had SuperFans on the edge of their seats.

Nevertheless, Sciortino had no problem delivering the final blow to the Irish, easily putting the kick down the middle of the uprights and dropping the Irish to their worst start since 1963.