With Notre Dame football coming off a massive 31-24 victory over the No. 1 Miami Hurricanes last week, many wondered how head coach Marcus Freeman’s team would come out against Boston College in another home matchup. It didn’t take long for the Fighting Irish to show they were locked in from the opening kickoff.

Notre Dame came out strong, put together a dominant 24-point second quarter, and rolled Bill O’Brien’s Boston College team 41-7 There aren’t many poor performers when a team wins by seven scores. Putting together my weekly winners and losers piece was not the easiest task, at least when it came to the second section.

Here are the nine winners and two “losers” from Notre Dame’s dominant home win against Boston College.

The winners

Fast starts

A question surfaced from the Notre Dame fan base this week about the program’s history against Boston College after beating a No. 1 team, which brought back plenty of memories from 1993. This Boston College team was not a good one, but you wanted to see how focused the Irish would be coming off such an emotional win over the Hurricanes.

They were focused from the start. The defense played tremendously well, and the offense hit a surge in the second quarter that left no doubt early on for Freeman and company.

WR Micah Gilbert

Gilbert continues to make huge plays for Notre Dame, including a 26-yard touchdown catch to open the scoring. He had three receptions for 48 yards in the first half and did not play much after halftime, but still finished with five catches for 85 yards.

At 6-2, 205 pounds, Gilbert has been a godsend in the boundary for an Irish receiver room that had question marks going into the year. Heading into this contest, he had 33 receptions for 528 yards and five touchdowns. The junior is becoming a more consistent target for star quarterback CJ Carr.

RB Nolan James Jr.

James has become Notre Dame’s best all-around running back, and it showed in this game. He ran for 73 yards and a touchdown on just 14 carries, running tough and finding a ton of hidden yards.

The 5-10, 215-pound sophomore has quietly been one of the more productive running backs in college football over the last several weeks. James has solidified himself at the top of the rotation.

RB Jonaz Walton

While James might be the de facto RB1, Walton is the second-best running back in this group and arguably the most dangerous runner. He ran for 141 yards and a touchdown on just 15 carries, good for 9.4 yards per rush. That included a 50-yard rush, the longest of the day. Walton also had another 28-yard run, which tied Jordan Faison for the second longest of the day for the Fighting Irish.

As Walton gets more comfortable, this offense is trending in a great direction.

LB Kyngstonn Viliamu-Asa

Viliamu-Asa has been fantastic since becoming Notre Dame’s starting Mike linebacker last week against Miami because of the injury to Drayk Bowen. The 6-3, 230-pound linebacker is dynamic on the second level.

He led the team with seven total tackles and flew sideline to sideline. His ability to stone quarterback Mason McKenzie after barely any yardage was a huge reason Notre Dame got off to such a fast start defensively.

Luke Talich

You can include Talich on every winners list from here until the end of the season. He flies around the field, and at 6-4, 221 pounds, he is the ultimate chess piece for defensive coordinator Chris Ash.

It’s hard to describe just how important he has been to the back end of this Notre Dame defense.

EDGE Boubacar Traore

Traore is finally reaching the tremendous upside we thought he had a couple of years ago as a true sophomore. The senior is now a dynamic weapon for the Irish, and his sack and forced fumble near the end of the first half put Notre Dame in the driver’s seat.

The 6-4, 250-pound pass rusher is among the best in college football, and his presence cannot be overstated.

Run blocking

Notre Dame was incredibly physical up front, especially on the interior with Anthonie Knapp, Ashton Craig, and Sullivan Absher. They consistently moved the line of scrimmage and got the run game going early.

Bryce Young

Young doesn’t have a crazy stat line, with just one tackle and half a sack, but he was disruptive throughout. At 6-6, 260 pounds, he is arguably the best athlete pound for pound on either side of the football for the Fighting Irish.

He had been a little quiet over the last several weeks, but he was incredibly present against Boston College. If Notre Dame is going to win a national championship in 2026, it’s going to be because Traore and Young become one of the best pass-rushing duos in the country.

The losers

Jordan Faison’s ball security

It was a strange day for Faison, who made a couple of nice plays as he typically does, including a huge touchdown reception. However, he also had a rough drop and fumbled a punt late in the second quarter. That mistake did not end up hurting the Irish, but Faison is usually incredibly sure-handed. He put the ball on the turf a couple of times in this matchup against the Boston College Eagles.

CJ Carr’s interception streak

Carr has barely made any mistakes this year. Heading into the contest, he had thrown just one interception and had only been sacked twice.

He threw a poor interception to begin the second half while targeting his favorite pass catcher, Faison. It’s not the end of the world, but it was an uncharacteristic mistake by Carr. Seeing that streak end was the one unfortunate note in an otherwise dominant victory.