Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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AUSTIN COLLINSWORTH SCORES IN RETURN TO ACTION Prior to Notre Dame's 43-40 over- time loss to Northwestern, injuries had limited fifth-year senior safety Austin Collinsworth to just two games in 2014. First, an MCL strain held him out of ac- tion through September. Then, against North Carolina Oct. 11, the Irish captain sustained a dislocated shoulder. In his return to action against the Wildcats, Collinsworth scooped up a fumble forced by fifth-year senior cor- nerback Cody Riggs and returned it 32 yards for a touchdown to put the Irish ahead 13-9. "Just an unbelievable, exhilarating, terrific moment on an otherwise bad day," Collinsworth said. "It was a great play by Cody getting that ball out. He punched it out beautifully, and it was just sitting on the ground so perfectly. "It wasn't rolling around. It was just the easiest scoop and score ever. We practiced that drill all the time in high school. I had a high school coach named Swope, so we called it the 'Swope and NORTHWESTERN GAME NOTES NOTRE DAME VS. NORTHWESTERN QUARTER-BY-QUARTER COMPARISON Notre Dame 1st Qtr. 2nd Qtr. 3rd Qtr. 4th Qtr. 1st Half 2nd Half Final Time of Possession 4:18 10:36 4:30 8:48 14:54 13:18 28:12 Third-Down Conversions 1-2 2-5 1-3 3-4 3-7 4-7 7-14 Fourth-Down Conversions 0-0 0-0 1-1 0-0 0-0 1-1 1-1 Average Field Position ND-30 ND-27 50 ND-47 ND-28 ND-48 ND-39 Northwestern 1st Qtr. 2nd Qtr. 3rd Qtr. 4th Qtr. 1st Half 2nd Half Final Time of Possession 10:42 4:24 10:30 6:12 15:06 16:42 31:48 Third-Down Conversions 7-8 1-3 0-4 1-4 8-11 1-8 9-19 Fourth-Down Conversions 0-1 0-1 1-1 0-0 0-2 1-1 1-3 Average Field Position NU-22 NU-47 NU-19 NU-29 NU-34 NU-24 NU-29 RED ZONE EFFICIENCY (INSIDE 20-YARD LINE) No Poss. TD FG Score ND 4 2 0 2 NU 6 4 1 1 Fifth-year senior safety and team captain Austin Collinsworth made three tackles and returned a fumble 32 yards for a touchdown in his first game action since Oct. 11. PHOTO BY BILL PANZICA BY ANDREW OWENS AND DOUGLAS FARMER