Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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one-yard pickup from ju- nior quarterback Andrew Hendrix to sophomore tight end Troy Niklas. They had only one first down on their first three possessions of the quar- ter, and that play was sul- lied by a Niklas personal foul after the whistle. The running game helped piece together a respect- able drive just before halftime only to come up empty-handed when Brindza missed his sec- ond field goal attempt of the night. The miscues continued forced to watch while the Notre Dame running game salted away all but the final seconds on nine consecutive running plays. Notre Dame's rush- ing game, as it has done frequently this season, provided the finishing blows, but Rees and se- nior tight end Tyler Eif- ert got the ball rolling through the air in the first quarter. Rees targeted the 6-6 in the second half — ju- nior nose guard Louis Nix extended a BYU comeback chance with a facemask penalty, and Hoffman ran free behind the secondary a few plays later — but the Cougars failed to take advantage. Nelson (23-of-36 pass- ing for 177 yards) missed Hoffman badly, and then took a nine-yard loss when senior linebacker Carlo Calabrese and sophomore defensive end Stephon Tuitt cor- ralled him for the fourth sack of the game for the Irish defense. The Cougars decided to punt with a little more than six minutes left in the game, and then were (for 73 yards), all of which came in the first quarter, match a season high and are more than he had during a three- game stretch earlier in the season. Rees looked to his favorite target often early, and that duo appeared to be on pace for a career day before the Irish re- sorted to the run in the second half. The final three quarters All-American on six of his first seven pass at- tempts in the first quar- ter and completed four of them. Eifert made an acrobatic diving catch for 29 yards to start the first scoring drive of the game and finished it four plays later with a touchdown catch on another success- ful third-and-goal play. He released from his spot at tight end untouched and leaped for a high pass in the middle of the Cougars end zone. "He provides a mis- match out there on of- fense," Rees said. "He's a great player. He can run; he's got a lot of size. I think he does a good job of getting open and find- ing a way to come down with the ball." Eifert's four catches of Saturday's game were largely devoid of style points and will likely lead to the rest of the col- lege football world call- ing into question Notre Dame's place in the top five among a group of teams that typically posts astronomical stats against lesser opponents. The Irish will get a chance to prove themselves next week in a top-10 battle with Oklahoma on the road. For now, Notre Dame and its head coach are happy to be scrap- pers. "I think we've proven that if it's tight we're go- ing to find a way to battle back and pull it out," said Rees, the personification of this team's new iden- tity. "It's not always the most fun way to win, or prettiest, but a win's a win." ✦