Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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missed opportunities in the first half with some turnovers. We felt like 7-7 at the half could have been a lot dif- ferent if we had taken care of the foot- ball." That halftime score assuredly could have leaned toward the Irish, 10-7, if not for a steady rain. Once each half, the field goal unit had difficulty get- ting a clean hold for senior kicker Kyle Brindza to boot toward the up- rights. The first attempt ended in an ugly miss. The second was deflected and returned 39 yards by Stanford for the game's longest play. Yet Kelly showed faith in junior long snapper Scott Daly, junior holder Hunter Smith and Brindza, sending them out for a third attempt in the fourth quarter — or perhaps his trust was based in common sense. "We found a revolutionary idea that will probably be the biggest thing in college football," Kelly explained, with a hint of sarcasm. "We're going to put gloves on the holder." Gloved, Smith set the ball perfectly for Brindza to knock through a 45- yard field goal with 7:32 remaining that would provide the winning mar- gin — but not without a little drama. Explosive Stanford wide receiver Ty Montgomery — who was bottled up by the Irish for most of the game, catching four passes for just 12 yards and running five times for only 14 yards — broke loose for a 42-yard kickoff return. The Cardinal then drove 58 yards in nine plays to re- claim the lead. After Hogan converted a third-and-eight play from the Irish 33 with a perfectly placed 23-yard pass to wide receiver Devon Cajuste, running back Remound Wright tra- versed the final 11 yards on a well designed draw play on third-and-goal after a timeout. That set the stage for Golson's he- roics with 3:01 remaining. The Irish signal-caller calmly guided his team to the Cardinal 19, before losing four yards on a quarterback draw on third- and-seven when he ran into sopho- more right guard Steve Elmer. On fourth-and-11 with the game on the line, the Cardinal rushed just three but still managed to put pressure on Golson — a block from sophomore left tackle Ronnie Stanley provided the quarterback the extra second he needed — before he spotted Koyack, who had found a hole in the coverage. "[Golson] does a phenomenal job of keeping plays alive," Cardinal head coach David Shaw said. "He's got great vision when he gets outside the pocket." "I scrambled around and just saw a bust in their coverage and saw that Ben was wide open in the back of the end zone," Golson said. "I knew I had to get it to him. I tried to put it on the line and get it there as quickly as I could." For biased observers, such as junior left guard Nick Martin, the ball took an eternity to get to Koyack. "My man took off, so I know [Gol- son's] out of the pocket," Martin said "I turn and do as much as I can, and I see him release it. I look down and just see Koyack waiting there for it. "It was kind of like slow motion. He was just sitting there waiting for the ball. Get it there. Get the catch. Let's go home."