Notre Dame: Matthias Farley steps up in thin margins of playoff race

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In a game decided by three points, graduate student safety and team captain Matthias Farley’s trifecta of special teams plays proved to be an important difference-maker in Notre Dame’s win over Boston College at Fenway Park.

Farley stuffed a fake punt attempt two yards shy of a first down, downed a punt at the six-yard line and recovered Boston College’s onside kick with 54 seconds remaining. He earned the game ball for his efforts, which stood out in a largely sloppy evening for the rest of his teammates.

“He's been that kind of player for us all year,” coach Brian Kelly said. “… That's why he's a captain.”

The plays Farley made against Boston College are the kind of small impacts that add up over the course of the College Football Playoff race.

With Notre Dame’s offense sputtering — DeShone Kizer threw three interceptions and both Josh Adams and C.J. Prosise lost fumbles, with all five turnovers coming inside the Eagles’ 40-yard line — plenty of pressure was placed on the Irish defense and special teams units at Fenway Park. The defense, largely, held up until Boston College inserted Jeff Smith in at quarterback, who ripped off an 80-yard touchdown run and engineered a late scoring drive that made Farley’s onside kick recovery necessary to clinch the win.

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But Farley’s two earlier special teams efforts kept Boston College from having any shot at gaining offensive momentum as its offense lurched from play to play.

“I don’t think you can point just three plays,” Farley said. “I think a lot of guys stepped up on offense, Chris Brown played well, Amir (Carlisle) played really well and we just fought the whole four quarters. Special teams obviously contributes to that but I don’t think those three plays solidified anything.”

Farley’s been through the grind of a title run, serving as a starting safety on Notre Dame’s 2012 team that went undefeated in the regular season and reached the BCS Championship. That team was an exercise in critical playmaking, with so many games being decided by seven or fewer points. Had a few plays not been made against Purdue, BYU, Stanford, etc., we might remember the 2012 season as the one in which Alabama and Oregon finally met in a title game.

[MORE: Could Prosise miss ND's game against Stanford?]

Even after his moves from starting safety to nickel corner to backup safety/special teamer over the last few years, Farley has proven to consistently make plays for Notre Dame. He notched six and a half tackles for a loss, three and a half sacks and four interceptions last year, and has an interception and forced fumble in limited defensive action in 2015.

Ideally, Notre Dame wouldn’t have needed those three special teams plays Farley made against Boston College. The Eagles are 3-8, and Notre Dame’s showing against a bad ACC side probably didn’t impress the College Football Playoff selection committee. 

But Notre Dame left Boston with a win, thanks in part to Farley’s efforts in his penultimate regular season game with the Irish.

“He does everything for us,” linebacker Joe Schmidt said. "He never complains. He’s a hard worker, he’s a leader, he’s a baller, he’s what every football wants, what every football coach whats, what every football player wants to play next to."

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