Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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mer all-conference sprinter is tough to catch in the open field when he can get up to full speed. He's scored three times in his career from 55 yards out or farther, but he had yet to break loose in 2013 prior to that run. "It just opened up and I ran," he said. "I did my job." Kelly and his staff were more excited about the way he crashed through the Sooners defense and broke tackles on several other runs in the second half. He ran three straight times late in the third quarter for a total of 25 yards, carrying would-be tacklers with him on each try. That effort eventually set the Irish up for an easy touchdown pass to Niklas, which pulled them to within six points at the time. "Coach was harping on me just to run more physical. Sadly it had to take until now to do it, but I just plan on continuing to do that," Atkinson said. "… I was just doing what I was told and running more physical, and I'm happy that I did it effectively today." Atkinson's physical performance spearheaded a run-game resurgence for the Irish. They racked up 220 yards on the ground, easily the highest total of the season. A host of different backs shifted in and out of the lineup during the previous three weeks and as a group failed to reach 100 rushing yards in games against Michigan, Purdue and Michigan State. Alma Mater Mix-Up Members of Notre Dame's team jogged off the field Saturday night to a chorus of boos from the student section. The jeering came not because the team fell to 3-2 with the loss to Oklahoma, but because some of the players — acting on directions from head coach Brian Kelly — bypassed singing the alma mater with the rest of the student body after the game. Miscellaneous Notes • Junior tight end Troy Niklas has averaged one touchdown for every four catches thus far in his Irish career. Niklas' 30-yard scoring play was his 16th catch and fourth touchdown. He also caught touchdown passes against Temple and Michigan earlier this season and had one TD grab, against Boston College, in 2012. • Members of Notre Dame's 1957 football team were honored on the field prior to kickoff. That year, the Irish traveled to Norman and ended Oklahoma's NCAA-record 47-game winning streak under head coach Bud Wilkinson. Overall, Notre Dame is 9-2 all time against the Sooners. Prior to this year's defeat, no Notre Dame team had lost to Oklahoma since 1956. • The loss to Oklahoma snapped a 10-game winning streak for the Irish in Notre Dame Sta- dium. The unbeaten run, which began in October 2011, was the longest for the Irish since it won 10 straight in 1999. • Senior wide receiver TJ Jones caught his 13th career touchdown pass on a six-yard connection with Tommy Rees in the first half. The catch moved him into sole possession of 10th place on the program's all-time career touchdown receptions list. • Junior linebacker Ben Councell will not be available for the first half of the game against Arizona State in Dallas. Councell was ejected for hitting an Oklahoma receiver in the head while leading with his helmet in the fourth quarter. The new NCAA targeting rule dictates that any headto-head related ejection in the second half of a game will result in the player missing the first half of his following game.