Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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TURNING POINT With Notre Dame leading 14-0 and 1:24 remaining in the first half, it took possession at its 44 with no timeouts remaining. Six plays later, a 24-yard scoring strike from senior quarterback Everett Golson to sophomore wide re- ceiver William Fuller in the right cor- ner of the south end zone made the halftime score 21-0. A team trailing only 14-0 at the in- termission and receiving the second half kickoff still can have an optimistic outlook. However, a 21-0 deficit going into the locker room can have a much more demoralizing effect. The Fight- ing Irish offense ran the two-minute drill with aplomb and poise, even leaving 34 seconds to spare. It wasn't necessarily the dagger with a full half still to go, but it was a huge momentum boost — just like the previous week versus Rice when Notre Dame scored a touchdown on a 53-yard pass play with five seconds left before halftime to move ahead by three scores, 28-10. STAT OF THE GAME There are three to highlight: • For the second straight game, Notre Dame committed zero turn- overs — head coach Brian Kelly is now 15-0 when his Irish don't have a turn- over — and had only two penalties. • Notre Dame was 4 for 4 in the red zone (20 yards and in on the op- ponent's side of the field), with three touchdowns. In two games now, the Fighting Irish have scored all 10 times they reached the red zone, with seven of them touchdowns. • Michigan's average starting field position was its own 22-yard line — including its 19 in the second quarter and its 14 in the third. Notre Dame's starting field position was its 37, in- cluding its 44 the entire second half. Michigan outgained Notre Dame 289- 280 in total offense, but had more field to cover. THE FORGOTTEN PLAY There is such a fine line in athletics with momentum and how the bounce of a ball falls. That occurred for Notre Dame when it was leading 7-0 and fifth-year senior cornerback Cody Riggs mishandled a bouncing Michi- gan punt at his 14. The Wolverines ap- peared to be on the verge of recovering it when Irish sophomore linebacker James Onwualu scurried in to pick up the loose ball and gain six yards to the Notre Dame 20. Had Michigan recov- ered it deep in the Irish territory, the possibility of tying the score or kicking a field goal increased drastically. Remember when Notre Dame led Michigan 24-7 in 2011 and Wolverine quarterback Denard Robinson fum- bled at the Notre Dame 1-yard line — and then the ball bounced right back in his hands for an easy touchdown? Michigan went on to win, 35-31. The ball can have crazy bounces so often, and this time it went Notre Dame's way. THREE OBSERVATIONS BY LOU SOMOGYI