Boston Col. 14, Notre Dame 7

SOUTH BEND, Ind., Nov. 2 (UPI) -- For the second time in nine years, Boston College ended Notre Dame's hopes for an undefeated season a and national championship Saturday, handing Tyrone Willingham his first loss as Fighting Irish coach, 14-7.

In 1993, David Gordon kicked a 41-yard field goal on the final play of the game as the Eagles shocked Notre Dame, 41-39, costing Lou Holtz a shot at a possible second national title.

History repeated itself Saturday, although the two games could not have been more different.

"Well, obviously we have a very excited locker room," Boston College Coach Tom O'Brien said. "It's a great day for Boston College."

The Fighting Irish (8-1), who came in ranked third in the BCS standings, dominated Saturday's contest statistically, but committed five turnovers.

"We do not need to change our focus," Willingham said. "We work on turning the ball over every day and we work on creating turnovers every day. I think the plan we have in place has served us well this year. Now, we just have to get back to executing it the way we know we can."

Notre Dame outgained Boston College 357-184 and had a 22-9 edge in first downs. While Derrick Knight rushed for 129 yards on 26 carries for the Eagles, Brian St. Pierre completed nine of 20 passes for 77 yards.

In winning its first eight games, Notre Dame capitalized on its opponents' mistakes. However, the roles were reversed Saturday as Boston College took advantage of numerous miscues by the Fighting Irish.

"The game plan was to grind it out on them," St. Pierre said. "We thought we could run the ball on them. We knew it was going to be a choppy game, but if we had the ball at the end, it would be all right and that's what happened."

Linebacker Josh Ott spearheaded the Eagles' defensive effort. He recovered Ryan Grant's fumble that led to Derrick McKnight's three-yard touchdown run with 2:39 remaining in the first quarter, then returned an interception 71 yards for a score with 4:03 left in the first half.

Donning its green jerseys for the first time since 1983, Notre Dame fumbled eight times, losing three. Only Carlyle Holiday's late 20-yard touchdown pass to Maurice Stovall enabled the Fighting Irish to avoid their first shutout at home since 1978.

"We have been talking about the sea of green all season and I wanted our team involved in it," Willingham said. "The sea of green is important because it talks about attitude. It talks about the Notre Dame family and football team coming together as one."

Holiday, who spent part of the second quarter on the bench with a shoulder injury, was 16 of 32 for 198 yards. Grant rushed for 107 yards on 27 carries.

Notre Dame came up empty on its first five trips inside the red zone. The Fighting Irish gave up the ball on downs twice, botched a field goal, fumbled and threw an interception.

With 2:25 remaining and two timeouts remaining after scoring the touchdown, Willinghham elected to kick deep instead of attempting an onside kickoff. But the Eagles picked up one first down and punted with only 12 seconds remaining.

Boston College (5-3) celebrated another stunning win at Notre Dame after Holiday threw two incomplete passes.

"The kids were excited when they saw the green jerseys," O'Brien said. "They took the green jerseys as a sign of great respect, as if were something to be reckoned with."

Notre Dame's national championship aspirations had gained momentum with last week's impressive 34-24 loss at Florida State.

With games coming up against Navy, Rutgers and Southern California, the Fighting Irish are still in contention for a BCS berth.

After being competitive in losses at No. 1 Miami and No. 3 Virginia, the Eagles finally broke through against a top-10 opponent, giving Coach Tom O'Brien his biggest victory in six years at Boston College.

"Coming into this stadium is so historic," Boston College center Dan Koppen said. "I am still in shock. I don't have the words to describe what I"m feeling, seeing my teammmates in there. It's everything and more. I'm sure I'll realize it tomorrow."