Notre Dame’s defense has a chance to build on its biggest statement of the season, but the challenge this week is more about discipline than drama.
After taking down the No. 1 team in the country and slamming the door on Miami’s final drive, the Irish head into their matchup with Boston College with plenty still to prove on that side of the ball. The defense showed it could rise to the moment last Saturday, but it is still not a finished product. Against an Eagles offense that does not stack up statistically with what Notre Dame just faced, the key will be avoiding the kind of lapses that can let an inconsistent unit hang around.
That starts up front with Boubacar Traore, who is beginning to turn national heads. The 6-5, 253-pound defensive end from Boston has put together 29 total pressures and 11 hits plus sacks on the quarterback this season.
He added seven total pressures and one sack against Miami, a performance that got him back on track after he was one of the players Notre Dame needed most in that game. Traore came into the 2026 season with major buzz and first round NFL draft pick potential, and now he has another chance to keep that momentum rolling.
The matchup lines up well for him. Boston College has had real trouble protecting the quarterback, ranking 110th nationally in sacks allowed with 24 and 130th in tackles for loss allowed with 61.
Right tackle Kristian Phillips has taken the brunt of it, leading the team with 23 pressures allowed, including eight hits plus sacks in the eight games he has played. This is the kind of spot Traore should own.
On the back end, Christian Gray is in position to keep proving that his move inside was the right call. Notre Dame shifted the starting field corner to nickel this offseason to take advantage of his aggressive style and his ability to come downhill against the run, and that showed up against Miami.
Gray, the St. Louis native, handled his toughest test of the year and looked sharp doing it.
He has had consistency issues before, but this season has already been strong, and now he has a chance to stack another clean outing.
His assignment is a dangerous one in a different way. Boston College does not bring Miami’s passing firepower, but it does have a receiver who can tilt the field.
Slot man Javarius Green leads the Eagles in yards and receptions, is tied for the team lead in touchdowns, and also tops the roster in catches that have gone for first downs. Bill O’Brien will lean on him to get the offense moving, which means Gray has to stay locked in and not let Green turn into a problem.
The linebacker group also has to keep doing the heavy lifting with Drayk Bowen out. Jaiden Ausberry and Jaylen Sneed stepped up against Miami and made game-changing plays, helping contain Mark Fletcher, handling underneath routes, and keeping Darian Mensah from doing damage with his legs. That same job is waiting again with Boston College quarterback Mason McKenzie.
McKenzie, a DII transfer who has made the jump to the P4 level and made an impact, leads the Eagles in both passing and rushing yards. He has been effective creating off script, extending drives, and moving the chains with his legs.
Ausberry and Sneed will need to limit that part of his game the way they did last week. It is another test for Notre Dame’s linebackers, and one the Irish expect to handle.
In Other News...
Notre Dame Just Lost A Huge 2031 Matchup At The Worst Time
A future trip to Gainesville had been on Notre Dames calendar for years, but that plan is gone now after Florida canceled the home-and-home series scheduled for 2031 and 2032. The move comes with the SECs shift to nine conference games, which gave the Gators a contractual out and reshaped a matchup that would have been one of the more attractive nonconference dates on the Irish schedule.
Notre Dame has already filled the opening by lining up Washington for a home-and-home series beginning in 2031, keeping the long-range slate moving even as the search for additional Autonomy 4 opponents continues. For a program that has to plan years ahead to maintain the kind of schedule it wants, the change is a reminder that even the biggest future games can disappear quickly when conference realignment and scheduling rules collide. [Read more 🡒]
Notre Dame May Have Found A Dangerous New Role For Kyngstonn Viliamu-Asa
Kyngstonn Viliamu-Asas day against Miami looked like more than just a breakout moment in the box score. He turned in the first sack by a Notre Dame linebacker this season, but the bigger development may have been how the Irish deployed him in the middle of the defense, where he handled the sideline communication duties and stayed on the field for a career-high 70 snaps.
For Notre Dame, that kind of workload matters because it came in a game where the defense was dictating terms from start to finish. The Irish generated 32 total pressures on Miami quarterback Darian Mensah and kept him from finding much rhythm, with Viliamu-Asa emerging as part of the front-line answer in a role that could give this defense a different edge as the season moves on. [Read more 🡒]
Notre Dame Just Got Dragged Into ESPNs Latest CFP Ranking Debate
Stephen A. Smiths latest take on the College Football Playoff rankings stirred up the usual noise, but it also pulled Notre Dame back into a familiar conversation about how teams are judged when the schedule debate gets loud. Smith questioned whether Utah belonged at No. 2, raised doubts about the quality of its wins and argued Alabama should be inside the top five, which quickly set off a wave of reaction across social media and the broader college football crowd.
For Notre Dame fans, the part that stood out was how quickly the comparison game started. Critics of Smiths view pointed to Utah and Notre Dame in the same breath, using the Irish schedule as part of the argument over perceived bias in ESPNs coverage and ranking discourse. It is the kind of debate that never really goes away in November, especially when the rankings are still fluid and every talking point seems to come with an agenda attached. [Read more 🡒]