The History Of Boston College-Notre Dame's 'Holy War'
BOSTON (CBS) -- The BC Eagles and Notre Dame Fighting Irish are gearing up for their third neutral site meeting of their storied rivalry, famously dubbed "The Holy War."
This one will be a little extra special, as it takes place in Fenway Park and will be the first football game to be played in the famous ballpark in 47 years. As part of Notre Dame's "Shamrock Series," it will count as a home game for the Fighting Irish, despite the BC campus being just a few minutes away from Fenway.
Here's a few stats you should know about the rivalry leading up to Saturday's tilt:
- Notre Dame holds a 13-9 overall edge in the rivalry, and is 1-0 in neutral site showdowns. That neutral site win over the Eagles came in the 1983 Liberty Bowl, with tailback Allen Pinkett leading the Irish to a 19-18 win with 111 yards and a pair of touchdowns. Quarterback Doug Flutie was a year away from winning the Heisman Trophy, and threw for 287 yards and three touchdowns in the BC loss.
- A 1992 meeting with the Irish at South Bend was a forgettable one for the Eagles, as they got pummeled 54-7. But an interesting side note from the game is that crowd scenes for the famous movie Rudy were filmed during halftime of the game.
- Boston College's biggest win over Notre Dame came in 1993, when the Eagles upset the top-ranked Fighting Irish in South Bend. The Irish were going for a perfect season and had erased a 38-17 deficit in the final 11 minutes of the game, but Eagles QB Glenn Foley (who threw four touchdown passes in the game) drove BC down the field and set up kicker David Gordon for a game-winning, 41-yard field goal to give BC a 41-39 victory. Gordan had missed a 40-yarder earlier that day, but connected to give BC one of the greatest upsets in school history.
- The Eagles knocked the Irish out of Bowl contention for the first time since 1986 during the 1999 season, pulling off a 31-29 win in South Bend behind three touchdown passes from Tim Hasselbeck.
- Boston College got the best of the 4th-ranked Irish in 2002, claiming a 14-7 victory in South Bend. It was the first time in 17 years the Irish wore their green jerseys at home, and the last time they have worn them against BC.
The Irish will wear those green jerseys again Saturday night at Fenway Park.
- The Eagles beat Notre Dame in both 2007 and 2008 to make it six straight wins over the Irish. A 27-14 win in 2007 improved BC to 7-0 on the season, and they picked up another win in South Bend in 2008 by picking off Irish QB Jimmy Clausen four times.
- After BC won six straight in the rivalry from 2001-08, Notre Dame has now won the last four meetings. Their latest showdown came in 2012 when the 4th-ranked Irish bested the Eagles 21-6.
- Notre Dame head coach Brian Kelly was born in Everett and raised in Chelsea. He went to school at St. John's in Danvers and was a four-year linebacker at Assumption College. After graduating in 1983, he served as linebackers coach and defensive coordinator at Assumption until 1986.
- Boston College played at Fenway Park in the 1930s, '40s and '50s, with their last game coming in 1956 -- a 7-0 loss to Holy Cross.
- The Eagles are 75-21-5 in 101 games at Fenway.
