Sources: BC down more starters on ailing O-line
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Pete ThamelESPN
Boston College‘s offensive line, besieged with injuries all year, will be without two more starters at No. 13 Wake Forest on Saturday.
Sources told ESPN that Eagles left guard Finn Dirstine will miss the remainder of the season, as he is expected to have surgery on his injured shoulder in the near future.
Boston College starting center Drew Kendall will be out this week at Wake Forest with a broken wrist, sources said. Kendall broke his left wrist against Clemson on Oct. 8, had surgery on it last week and is likely to return this season, although a timetable remains unknown. The injury is to his non-snapping wrist, which should help his return timeline.
Kendall, a redshirt freshman, had been the only lineman to start every game at the same position for Boston College this year. Only one player projected as a starter heading into the season, left tackle Ozzy Trapilo, will play at his slated position from the preseason on Saturday.
Dirstine would be the third Eagles lineman projected as a starter this summer to undergo season-ending surgery. All-ACC guard Christian Mahogany tore his right ACL during the summer, and right tackle Kevin Cline tore an ACL in September.
A fifth-year senior, Dirstine had started Boston College’s first four games this season before missing the past two with the shoulder injury.
Against Wake Forest on Saturday, Boston College will start two converted defensive linemen on the interior — center Jackson Ness and right guard Dwayne Allick — along with a former preferred walk-on, Nick Thomas, at left guard. It will mark Ness’ first career start at center.
Jack Conley, who started the season at guard, will continue to start at right tackle in place of Cline.
Kendall is the son of former Boston College star and NFL first-round pick Pete Kendall. Drew Kendall, ranked in the ESPN 300 for the class of 2021, was one of the Eagles’ biggest recruits since the arrival of third-year coach Jeff Hafley, as Boston College beat out Stanford, Michigan and Penn State for Kendall.
He had played well this season amid all the offensive line tumult around him, as Boston College wasn’t able to start the same offensive line in consecutive weeks until the Clemson game. That streak has ended.
SOUTH BEND, Ind. — Jeremiyah Love tied the Notre Dame record with a 98-yard touchdown run, Riley Leonard added two more scores and the Fighting Irish shut down the highest-scoring team in the College Football Playoff, overwhelming Indiana 27-17 on Friday night.
The seventh-seeded Fighting Irish (12-1) won their 11th straight — and their first playoff victory. They’ll face second-seeded Georgia in the Sugar Bowl on Jan. 1. Notre Dame coach Marcus Freeman got the biggest win of his three-year career by extending his Irish record to 12 victories over ranked teams in three seasons.
“There’s no place like Notre Dame,” Leonard said. “This is why you come here, this is why I came here — to play for a championship.”
Tenth-seeded Indiana (11-2) completed a magical season by finishing with its second fewest points this season on a cold, brisk night in the first CFP game ever played on a campus site. Both of the Hoosiers’ losses came to top-five opponents. Indiana set a single-season school record for wins but still hasn’t won at Notre Dame since 1898.
Notre Dame took control on its third offensive play when Love scooted around the right side of Indiana’s defense, eluded one tackle and sprinted down the sideline to make it 7-0. He matched Josh Adams’ longest run in school history, set in 2015 against Wake Forest. It was also the longest run in CFP history.
“It’s all about finding a way to get another week,” Freeman said. “It wasn’t easy. But we’re going to enjoy this one and we’ll get another one.”
Love finished with eight carries for 108 yards despite appearing to reinjure his left knee later in the first half.
Indiana never recovered after Notre Dame made it 14-0 early in the second quarter.
Leonard’s 1-yard TD run late in the fourth gave him 15 this season to break Notre Dame’s season record by a quarterback.
Indiana scored both of its touchdowns in the final 1:27.
Notre Dame made it 14-0 on Leonard’s 5-yard TD pass to Jayden Thomas early in the second quarter. The Irish settled for three more field goals, and the defense took care of the rest — allowing just one field goal.
Leonard was 23 of 32 with 201 yards and one interception. Notre Dame receiver Jordan Faison caught seven passes for 89 yards.
Indiana quarterback Kurtis Rourke turned in another poor game against a top defense, finishing 20 of 33 with 215 yards, with two TDs and one interception, and the Hoosiers rushed for just 63 yards.
“They took it to us,” Indiana coach Curt Cignetti said. “They won, they deserve to win. We didn’t play our best game, but they had a lot to do with that tonight.”
Notre Dame: The Irish have relied on the running game and defense all season — and it was that combination that gave Notre Dame the first playoff win in school history. It may need more out of its passing game to win its first national championship since 1988.
Notre Dame: Plays Georgia in the Sugar Bowl on New Year’s Day.
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