Nov 1, 2025; Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts, USA; Notre Dame Fighting Irish wide receiver Malachi Fields (0) runs after a catch in the fourth quarter against the Boston College Eagles at Alumni Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Edward Finan-Imagn Images Edward Finan-Imagn Images

Mixed Reactions To Notre Dame's Win Over Boston College

Originally posted on Notre Dame Fighting Irish on SI
By John Kennedy | Last updated Nov 2, 2025 1:06 AM ET

Notre Dame got what mattered the most, a win

After a well-played and emotional win over USC, Notre Dame had its final in-season off-week before squaring off with Boston College. Irish nation hoped that Notre Dame would use the extra week to rejuvenate their minds and bodies, leading to a crisp, fired-up team that could easily cover a 30-point spread against the lowly 1-7 Eagles.

Instead, the Irish appeared sluggish and sloppy at times and made a plethora of mistakes ranging from penalties to missed kicks, more short yardage issues to fumbles while mere yards from the endzone. Lowly Boston College even won the time of possession battle by over ten full minutes.

The question now is, what is the appropriate reaction to this Notre Dame performance? Should Notre Dame fans just be glad the Irish won when many other ranked teams didn't on this day and keep it moving to Navy? Or does will kind of erratic performance against such an awful team hurt Notre Dame in the upcoming CFP ranking reveal and portend bad things for the rest of the stretch run?

Let's examine these two camps.

IRISH WIN ☘️#GoIrish☘️ | @Gatorade pic.twitter.com/0tCtrjb1Gv
— Notre Dame Football (@NDFootball) November 1, 2025

Notre Dame needed to cover the 30-point spread

Judging from many of the Irish fans on my postgame call-in show, there is fear that this performance will hurt Notre Dame in the first CFP rankings that come out Tuesday.

These folks believe that with two losses, it won't be enough for the Irish to simply win their remaining games, but that they must dominate opponents to make the field.

Considering how lackadaisical Notre Dame looked at times in this game, and that the spread was 30 and the opponent was 1-7, no, the Irish didn't wow anyone with this win. Especially coming out of an off-week, Notre Dame was expected to play much better than it did. This is a fair critique.

Just be happy with the Notre Dame win

While I understand and share the frustration with how the Irish played, at least Notre Dame won. Miami cannot say that. Vanderbilt cannot say that. Georgia Tech cannot say that. I, too, expected the Irish to play much better than they did, but I'd much rather have these complaints after any win than a season-ending loss.

There is a possibility that the CFP doesn't judge Notre Dame as harshly as some in the fan base are. Perhaps they see a tough road win against a rival by over two touchdowns? Notre Dame didn't do all it could to impress in this game, but it also didn't let Boston College ruin the season.

Notre Dame will find out on Tuesday how much its resume is valued, and while there's no doubt better football must be played if the Irish expect to win out and make a CFP run, the win was the most important piece of the puzzle, and that was accomplished.

This article first appeared on Notre Dame Fighting Irish on SI and was syndicated with permission.

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