Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/86484
The man who persists through the bad luck, who keeps right on going, is the man who is there when the good luck comes and is ready to receive it." — Robert Collier "All of us have bad luck and good luck. oodles of mistakes. Who can forget South Florida's 96-yard fumble return for a touchdown in the season opener that set the tone for an underwhelm- ing season? Or how about USC's 80- yard fumble return for a score when Notre Dame was on the verge of tying the game in the third quarter? Against Michigan last year, when I n 2011 the Notre Dame football team experienced all kinds of bad luck, which was compounded by Notre Dame Creating It's Own Luck FIGHTING WORDS WES MORGAN the Irish had a 24-7 lead heading into the fourth quarter, Wolverines QB De- nard Robinson turned a fumble into a touchdown to make it a 10-point game. Then Irish quarterback Tommy Rees let the ball slip out of his hands on first-and-goal from the 7-yard line. The Wolverines capped the furious rally with a 16-yard touchdown pass with two seconds remaining. Those are just examples of how a few mistakes, ones that nine times out of 10 can be mitigated, turned into worst-case scenarios. This fall has been considerably dif- Sophomore quarterback Everett Golson's fumble conveniently rolling out of bounds during Notre Dame's 41-3 romp over Miami is just one example of the good fortune the program has experienced this season. PHOTO BY BILL PANZICA ferent. When Rees was called upon in the final minutes against Purdue to try and piece together a game-winning drive, he dodged a delay of game pen- alty when the play clock expired but it was never called. The Irish marched 55 yards and broke a 17-17 stalemate with a 27-yard Kyle Brindza field goal with seven seconds remaining to win the game.