Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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the Irish, they punted eight times, suf- fered a failed fake punt attempt, lost a fumble and settled for a field goal after a 67-yard kickoff return. Less than five minutes into the fourth quarter, though, Boston Col- lege backup freshman quarterback Jeff Smith scored on an 80-yard touch- down scamper. The two-point conver- sion failed, and the Irish held a 19-9 lead. Prior to the score, Notre Dame had taken a two-possession lead late in the third quarter, propelled by a pair of third-down conversions. On the first, Kizer and fifth-year se- nior slot receiver Amir Carlisle con- nected on an eight-yard reception to move the chains on third-and-one from the Irish 37. On third-and-eight from the Irish 47, junior wide receiver Will Fuller hauled in a Kizer pass for a 32-yard gain, following a drop — one of three he had in the game — while wide open in the middle of the field on the previous play. Two plays later, Kizer connected with senior wide receiver Chris Brown for a 12-yard score, giving the Irish a 16-3 lead after a botched point after attempt. A 35-yard field goal by freshman Justin Yoon stretched the Irish advan- tage to 19-3 at the 10:35 mark of the fourth quarter. "Those are guys who have been there and done it," Kizer said of his re- ceivers. "Those are guys I knew were going to be able to pick me up during a situation in which I wasn't playing pretty good ball. "When you get into those situations, you've got to get back to the basics and do the things that got you there