The Notre Dame Fighting Irish had 5 chances to score touchdowns throughout the game but they came away with only 3 points each time and mistakes kept this game closer than it should have been as the Irish needed overtime to knock off the Washington Huskies 37-30.
Even though the Huskies were able to move the ball up and down the field the Irish defense made some key stops, including two goal line stands, and they held Washington out of the end zone when it mattered most forcing an incomplete pass on fourth down and 19 in the extra period to preserve their third straight last second victory.
The first goal line stand came in the third quarter with the Irish defense twice stuffing quarterback Jake Locker at thew goal line and the ball was turned over on downs at the 1-yard line. The Irish then drove down the field and came away with one of their five field goals an inching Notre Dame closer 24-22.
The second goal line stand came in the fourth quarter after the Huskies ate up over nine minutes off the clock. The Irish defense stuffed Washington and forced them to kick a field goal that was good but then the officials made up a penalty(roughing the snapper) which gave the Huskies a fresh set of downs. The tired Irish D was able to persevere and forced the Huskies to kick another field goal to give them a 27-22 lead.
Jimmy Clausen, who had a career day throwing 23 of 31 for a career high 422 yards and 2 TDs, threw for one of his two touchdowns with 1:22 left in the game to tight end Kyle Rudolph to give the Irish the lead at 28-27 . Robert Hughes did something on the 2-point conversion that the Irish were not able to do from inside the five yard line all afternoon, he scored and gave Notre Dame a three point lead 30-27.
The Huskies once again drove down the field and tied the game on 37-yard field goal to force overtime. In the extra period Hughes once again found the endzone to put Notre Dame ahead for good from 1-yard out and then the Irish defense did its job to help Notre Dame to improve to 4-1 on the season.
Golden Tate had a monster day for Notre Dame finishing with 9 catches for 244 yards and 1 TD. He routinely broke tackles and gave the Irish opportunities to score including his own 67-yard catch and run and he also had a huge catch and run to start the second half that went 77-yards but the drive ended in only 3-points.
The Irish defense is terrible and they give up lots yards and points but I guess its okay when you have one of the best offenses in the nation its okay. I'm a realist this team is not that good, sure their offense is unstoppable but the defense is absolutely terrible, they are going to lose to teams that are better than they are, especially USC next weekend. If they face a good defense and an offense that can score Notre Dame will be in trouble, lucky for them only one team left on their schedule fits that bill and its USC, but who knows what will happen when they travel to Pittsburgh and an improved Stanford team at the end of the season, hopefully they will have worked out some of their defensive kinks by then.
GO IRISH!
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