Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/195693
rial Stadium in Norman, with traffic and fans packing the narrow roadways in the vicinity of the stadium. It's an impressive atmosphere in prime time as the Sooners and Irish prepare to do battle. Unbeaten Notre Dame stated its best case yet for earning a tag as a legitimate national championship contender — as the fifth-ranked Irish ran off 17 straight fourth-quarter points to dispatch eighth-rated Oklahoma at Memorial Stadium in Norman, Oklahoma, in a prime-time outing televised by ABC. After the two teams battled to a 13-13 deadlock following a Sooners touchdown with a little more than nine minutes remaining in the game, the Irish responded in definitive fashion. First, quarterback Everett Golson made maybe the biggest play of the night, hitting seldom-used freshman receiver Chris Brown for a 50-yard pass play (his first career reception) on a second down from the Irish 35. That set Golson and his teammates up at the Oklahoma 15, and five plays later the Notre Dame signal-caller ran it in from the 1 for a 20-13 Irish lead at the 5:05 mark as the visitors went ahead for good. Next, senior linebacker Manti Te'o ended the Sooners response with a diving interception of a pass (off the hands of Jalen Saunders after a Dan Fox hit) that was reviewed by officials and ultimately resulted in an Irish first down at the Sooners 45. The Irish ran four plays and reached the Oklahoma 29, where Kyle Brindza connected on a 46-yard field goal to make it 23-13 with 3:22 remaining. Finally, after Oklahoma lost the ball on downs, the Irish drove 20 yards for the final points, with Theo Riddick running 15 yards to push the Irish lead to 30-13 with only 1:36 left. Oklahoma quarterback Landry Jones finished with 356 passing yards, but Notre Dame's defense allowed only 15 net rushing yards to the homestanding Sooners who had lost only four previous home games (against 79 wins) during the Bob Stoops era. The win moved the Irish to 8-0. Meanwhile, a balanced Irish attack included 215 rushing yards — 74 each by Riddick and Cierre Wood, with both scoring a touchdown. Sixty-two of Wood's yards came on an electric first-period TD dash that gave Notre Dame a 7–3 advantage at the end of the opening quarter. Golson threw for 177 yards and ran for another 64. Te'o made the most noise for the Irish defense, finishing with a gamehigh 11 tackles (all in the first half) to go with his fifth interception, two tackles for loss, and one attention-grabbing sack of Jones on a third down early in the second period. The Sooners marched 71 yards on their second possession, ending in a 28-yard Mike Hunnicutt field goal after stalling at the Notre Dame 11. Wood's 62-yard TD run came on the second play of the ensuing Irish possession. Midway through the second period, Notre Dame drove 64 yards from its own 19, with Golson twice connecting on key third-down throws — once to DaVaris Daniels and once to Robby Toma. From the Oklahoma 17 Kyle