Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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THREE OBSERVATIONS TURNING POINT BY LOU SOMOGYI Oklahoma had just tied the game 13-13 with 9:10 remaining in the contest, scor- ing the first rushing touchdown against the Irish defense in 41 quarters. Notre Dame took the kickoff to its 27 and one play later finally connected on the play tried a few times this year — including earlier against the Sooners — but always just missed. This time, the long heave by sophomore quarterback Everett Golson to speedy freshman wide receiver Chris Brown connected perfectly in stride for a 50-yard gain to the Okla- homa 15. Sooners safety Javon Harris bit on the play-action fake, and Brown was able to race past cornerback Demontre Hurst in man coverage for the long gain. Five plays later, Golson took the shot- gun snap from the 1 and dove past the pile at the goal line for the go-ahead score with 5:05 left. Every young quar- terback confronts a potential watershed moment in his career, and Golson ap- peared to have crossed that threshold with this drive. TOP STAT(S) OF THE GAME Nothing better explains the physical dominance in this game than the fact that Notre Dame outrushed Oklahoma 215- 15. Although the Sooners began with a fast-tempo, no-huddle offense and came out firing with passes, it shouldn't be forgotten that they entered the game av- eraging 199.7 yards rushing per game, just ahead of Notre Dame's 193.9 average on the ground per contest. It isn't like Oklahoma was one-dimensional — but the Irish defense made it such. The Irish patiently ran the ball all four quarters and wore down the Sooners in the final quarter by imposing their physi- cal will. Oklahoma never established any rhythm or consistency with its ground at- tack. The tenets of championship football — no turnovers, stop the run on defense, and run physically and effectively on of- fense, especially late in the game — have consistently manifested themselves at Notre Dame this season. IRISH NOW IN PLAYOFF FORMAT Notre Dame's first two games (Navy and Purdue) put it in the Associated Press top 25. The next two (Michigan State and Michigan) put it in the BCS postseason radar. The ensuing two (Mi- ami and Stanford) made a BCS appear- ance theirs to lose. Now, these last two (BYU and Oklahoma) have validated the Irish as a bona fide national title con- tender. Winning in Norman wasn't a fluke. Notre Dame won the battle in the trenches on both sides of the ball and did not make costly mistakes. A playoff will not arrive in college football until 2014, but think of Notre Dame now in the "Final 32" of the NCAA Tournament. Win against Pitt, and you're in the Sweet 16. Get past Boston Col- lege and it's the Elite Eight. Defeat Wake Forest and it's the Final Four. Vanquish USC and the title game is a reality. Notre Dame doesn't quite control its destiny of advancing to the title game, but all that is important now is controlling a 12-0 finish.