It says a lot about the state of a program when the majority of its opponent’s backups are out on the field for nearly all of the final quarter.

That was the case for Boston College football, which got walloped by No. 5 Notre Dame (9-1) 41-7 on Saturday in South Bend, Ind., to suffer its third straight defeat.

By the nine-minute mark of the fourth quarter, the Fighting Irish had subbed out starting quarterback CJ Carr for backup Noah Grubbs, including plenty of additional starters for backups or third strings who had watched Notre Dame’s top units torment the Eagles (4-6, 2-4 ACC) for the previous hour and a half or so.

And even those players seemed to competently drive against BC’s defense as time winded down.

The Eagles finished the game with a season-low 136 yards of total offense while surrendering 500 yards to the Fighting Irish, who were led by a ground attack that averaged 6.9 yards per carry with Jonaz Walton and Nolan James Jr. picking up the brunt of the work.

With all said and done, it marked the second time this season that BC was totally demolished in all phases of the game — Duke being the first — and with similar issues holding them back.

"Just couldn't get anything going,” BC head coach Bill O’Brien said. “Had a hard time blocking them, had a hard time getting open, and just couldn't get anything going."

“We definitely thought that we had to try the best we could to slow the game down, but quite obviously that did not work. When you fall behind like that, it's hard to try to slow the game down, and we just fell so far behind."

Micah Gilbert’s 26-yard scoring reception had the Fighting Irish leading 7-0 after the initial quarter.

The touchdown came on the Fighting Irish’s first offensive possession of the game, which saw them convert on third down twice.

BC was going nowhere offensively, meanwhile, averaging just 3.6 yards per rush on seven attempts while going 1-for-4 on third down.

That trend persisted until halftime, as the Eagles totaled just 46 yards of total offense and two first downs by the end of the second.

“They played a lot of man coverage,” O’Brien said. “Very stout up front, a lot of plug blitzes. We had trouble moving them. They really did a great job against our quarterback run game."

Things could not have gone more differently for the Fighting Irish, however, who generated 24 points in the second quarter alone to cement a 31-0 lead at the break.

First, James Jr. bulldozed over Carter Davis for a 10-yard rushing score, and Walton then increased BC’s deficit to 21-0 with a one-yard touchdown on the ground a little over six minutes later.

On 3rd and 20 from the Eagles’ 15-yard line on the following possession, quarterback Mason McKenzie was strip-sacked by Boubacar Traore, and Jaylen Sneed recovered the ball before falling on top of it in the end zone for six more.

“It’s the same stuff,” safety KP Price, who intercepted Carr on the first play of the second half, said. “Gap integrity, things like that. It’s really just the players taking up leadership, I feel like, and getting our job done.”

BC caught a brief sign of life after Jordan Faison botched a punt recovery, which gave the Eagles’ field position at the Fighting Irish 31 with 1:24 to go in the half.

But the Eagles turned the ball over on downs from Javarius Green’s dropped pass on 4th and 5, and kicker Spencer Porath knocked in a 40-yard field goal as the clock expired.

After Price intercepted Carr on the opening play of the third quarter — just the second pick the current Heisman frontrunner has thrown all season — BC scored via Bo MacCormack III’s four-yard rushing touchdown to make it 31-7.

But the Fighting Irish responded immediately, as Carr dotted up Faison for a 13-yard touchdown reception on a jump ball against Syair Torrence, and with 12:02 left in regulation, Porath booted in a 37-yard field goal.

"I just told the team, in all three phases we did not coach well enough and did not play well enough,” O’Brien said. “We had our chances to make some plays. I’m not saying we had chances to win the game. That’s not what I’m saying. But we didn’t put them in a good position enough times, and when we did, we didn’t make any plays."