Today is senior day at Notre Dame stadium as the Irish honor all seniors who will be playing their final game in the iconic stadium that Rockne built.

A total of 25 seniors will be honored before the Boston College game today. Among them will be Avery Davis. Davis is a sixth-year wide receiver for ND who suffered his second season-ending ACL tear in August. He has decided not to petition the NCAA for an extra year of eligibility. Davis arrived in South Bend in 2017 and also played quarterback, running back and cornerback during his career with the Irish.

Junior tight end Michael Mayer and anyone else expected to leave as early entrants to the NFL Draft will not be honored during the pregame ceremony. Head coach Marcus Freeman said the pregame ceremony is for seniors who are leaving the program.

Which ND team will show up today is another question.

Last week the Irish were two teams. The first half ND dominated Navy in building a 35-13 lead at halftime. In the second half the Irish froze, as the Midshipmen decided to put on a full blitz against the Irish, rushing eight and nine men at times.

The net result was ND managed just 12 yards of total offense in the second half. Quarterback Drew Pyne was sacked five times, mainly because he held onto the ball too long and looked completely confused by Navy’s defense. ND allowed Navy to score 19 unanswered points in the second half and came a on-sides kick attempt short of pulling an upset. ND recovered the attempt and with 1:21 left ran the clock out. The final score, 35-32, should never have happened.

Today ND is a big favorite again. The Irish are 19-point favorites against a BC team that is 3-7 but coming off a a come-from-behind 21-20 win over North Carolina State last week.

It looks like ND plays “down” to its level of competition when it is a heavy favorite. Note the Marshall and Stanford games. Also, the struggles with UNLV and Navy last week.

ND is now at 7-3 and it would be a real plus heading out west next week at 8-3 to face an excellent Southern California Trojan team. A 9-3 finish would put ND in a high level bowl game.

Today the Irish face a Eagle team that has struggle, but also has shown at times it can play.

As I mentioned the Eagles are 3-7. The other two wins have been over Maine, 38-17; and Louisville, 34-33. The losses have been to Rutgers, 22-21; Virginia Tedch, 27-10; Florida State, 44-14; Clemson, 31-3; Wake Forest, 43-15; Connecticut, 13-3; and Duke, 38-31.

As you know former ND QB Phil Jurkovec has been the BC signal caller the last two seasons. He did not play last week because he is still in the concussion protocol. His back up, Emmett Morerhead, did a outstanding job for the Eagles in leading to a win late in the fourth quarter. There is a chance, of course, that Jurkovec will play today. Others to watch is running back Patrick Garvoc, who has 296 yards on 99 carries and receiver Zay Flowers with 921 yards on 67 catches and 10 touchdowns.

ND leads the series, 16-9, and has won the last eight between the two schools. When ND and BC started playing each other the media labeled it the “Holy War” series.

The game will be televised by NBC nationally with a 2:30 p.m. airtime and a 2:40 p.m. kickoff.

IRISH NOTES ... Some Navy game stats. Audric Estime had 49 yards rushing on eight carries, Logan Diggs had 31 yards on 13 carries. ND didn’t run the ball much, taking advantage of Navy’s weak secondary. Pyne completed 17 of 21 passes for 269 yards and four TDs. Receiving was led by Braden Lenzy with five catches for 67 yards and a score; Jayden Thomas had 80 yards on three catches and a score; Michael Mayer had 23 yards on three catches; and Deion Colzie had 50 yards on two catches. Defensively, Marist Liufau, Jack Kiser and Xavier Watts all had eight tackles each with Prince Kollie getting seven. ND had only 66 yards rushing to 255 for Navy ... ND’s record-setting punt-block unit made it five straight games with block as senior linebacker Jack Kiser broke through against Navy late in the first half. The block set up a 37-yard scoring strike from Payne to Jayden Thomas on the next play. Navy hadn’t allowed a blocked punt since its 2021 season opener against Marshall. Kiser became the sixth different player with a blocked punt this year for Notre Dame, joining Bo Bauer (Marshall), Prince Kollie (Stanford), Isaiah Foskey (two against UNLV), Clarence Lewis (Syracuse) and Jordan Botelho (Clemson) ... Lenzy’s senior season has not been full of many accomplishments, but that changed last week with his big game against Navy game. But the one that will never be forgotten was a 38-yard catch for a TD. Face-guarded by Navy cornerback Mbiti Williams Jr., Lenzy reached around and caught the ball with one hand while balancing it against Williams’ back ... Linebacker Kollie said it best about last week’s meltdown. “We have to learn how to finish games. We have to learn how to put opponents away and close games - shut the door completely and not give them any hope. We’re still working on that.” ... Pyne’s performance in the second half included the following first seven drop-backs - sack; interception (on a batted pass); hurried overthrow to an open Michael Mayer; sack; down field completion to Colzie for 21 yards; sack; and sack ... Defensive lineman Justin Ademilola plans to run out for Senior Day today with twin brother Jayson Ademilola. Justin has a year of eligibility remaining and hasn’’t decided if he will come back for the 2023 season. ND, and Freeman, want Justin to return for another year. Because Justin only played in three games in 2018, he’s still able to use his 2020 COVID bonus year. Jayson, who played as a freshman in 2018, has exhausted his eligibility ... Despite the dismal performance in the second half against Navy, ND climbed two positions in the national poll to 18th ... ABC-TV announce that the USC-ND game will have a 7:30 p.m. start on Nov. 26 ...ND is riding an 18-game winning streak in November and hopes to continue it today. Freeman made special note of the streak this week in meetings with his coaching staff. He hasn’t let the team forget about the streak either ... In my preseason picks I have ND winning today. The Irish should be able to handle the Eagles, but covering the spread may a lot harder to do. The weather forecast for South Bend today is partly cloudy and cold. Just like here.