Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/195693
Senior linebacker Manti Te'o flattened Oklahoma quarterback Landry Jones in the first half of Notre Dame's 30-13 win over the eighth-ranked Sooners on the road last October, and he finished with 11 tackles and an interception in the fourth quarter that helped seal a victory that legitimized the Irish. photo by Bill Panzica St. Mary's alum. They had watched the Notre Dame-Michigan game with Bridget just a few weeks earlier in the University of Michigan Intensive Care Unit. On Friday, October 5, they were planning to disconnect Bridget's ventilator at 3:00 pm. It would be her last day. That morning, they casually opened their email and saw one that had come from: manti te'o. He would pour out his feelings and connect with the Smiths' world. "We opened that letter that morning, and it was just a bright spot on the saddest day of our lives," Louise Smith said. "We read it to her; we shared with her what it said. They say hearing is the last thing to go. I don't know. I believe she internalized it. "It's so encouraging to have someone in that position know there's something more important than football, more important than athletics." Friday, October 26 Former Oklahoma coach Barry Switzer stopped by the Sooners' Memorial Stadium and visited with Irish coach Brian Kelly briefly this afternoon. The Irish team flew into Oklahoma City and drove to Norman and spent close to a half-hour at the stadium, with ESPN's GameDay set just outside the Sooners' home facility. Saturday, October 27 It's no easy drive to arrive at Memo-