Nobody in the locker room mentioned the “B” word after Notre Dame’s 24-23 loss to Boston College on Saturday, perhaps because it was too painful. A victory would have left the Irish with a 6-2 record against a credible schedule, bowl-eligible and in decent shape for an attractive holiday trip with three tough games remaining.
Now . . .
The Irish are 5-3. After a week off, they’ll travel to Tennessee (6-1), where opponents rarely win. Then it’s the home finale against Pittsburgh, whose 5-2 record includes an overtime victory against Boston College. They end the regular season at Southern Cal, which is undefeated, ranked No. 1 in both polls and the Bowl Championship Series standings and a probable two-touchdown favorite. The Trojans have beaten the Irish by a combined 89-27 in their last two meetings.
So a second straight no-bowl season is a distinct possibility. Not since 1985-87, the last two years of the Gerry Faust era and the first of Lou Holtz’s, have the Irish sat out the bowl season for two or more years in a row.
“We’re going to prepare and play to win the last three games,” senior linebacker Derek Curry said.
The loss obscured a standout performance by Derek Landri, a junior defensive tackle from California. Landri had seven tackles, a sack and blocked a field goal against the Eagles.
“This hurts,” Curry said. “We had opportunities we didn’t take advantage of, and we missed too many assignments.”
And as if getting burned by Boston College wasn’t bad enough, the Irish now have to wait two weeks before they can attempt another victory.
“We’re hungry for a win,” quarterback Brady Quinn said. “We don’t want to have to wait two more weeks for our next game, but we’ll get everyone healthy and ready.”
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Next: Nov. 6 at Tennessee, 2:30 p.m., WBBM-Ch. 2
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