B.C. holds off Irish to remain unbeaten

Matt Ryan threw for 291 yards and two touchdowns, Andre Callender scored three times and No. 4 Boston College beat Notre Dame 27-14 Saturday to remain undefeated.

The Eagles (7-0) appeared ready to blow the game open when Ryan threw a 9-yard scoring pass to Callender to make it 20-0 with 11:42 left in the third quarter. The score was set up when Tyronne Pruitt intercepted a pass by Jimmy Clausen and returned it 30 yards to the Notre Dame 11.

However, the Irish (1-6) scored a pair of touchdowns 95 seconds apart to cut it to 20-14. Evan Sharpley, who replaced the ineffective Clausen, threw a 19-yard TD pass to Robby Parris and linebacker Brian Smith returned an interception 25 yards for a touchdown.

The Eagles quickly regained control after the Irish were called for excessive celebration and penalized 15 yards on the kickoff. Brad Newman returned the kick 18 yards to the Notre Dame 44 and the Eagles needed only five plays to score. Ryan, throwing quickly to beat the blitz, hit Kevin Challenger for a 13-yard TD to make it 27-14.

The Irish appeared to have cut the lead to 27-21 with 5:47 on a 13-yard pass from Sharpley to Parris on fourth-and-1, but tackle Mike Turkovich was called for holding. Sharpley threw the ball away under heavy pressure on fourth-and-11 as the Eagles ended the Irish threat.

Boston College is 7-0 for just the fifth time in 107 seasons, the first time since 1942, and beat its rival Notre Dame for the fifth straight time. The Irish lead the series between the only two Catholic schools to play major college football 9-8, but the Eagles have won six of the last seven.

Notre Dame failed to end BC's undefeated season, something the Eagles did to the Irish in 2002 when they were 8-0 and ranked fourth and in 1993 when they were 10-0 and ranked No. 1.

The loss in 1993 cost the Irish a national championship as they finished No. 2 to Florida State, a team they beat the week before the loss to BC.