Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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THREE OBSERVATIONS TURNING POINT BY LOU SOMOGYI ing distance and put itself in a favorable position when it pinned Notre Dame back at its 13-yard line with 8:56 left in the first half and behind only 7-3. The Fighting Irish then embarked on a Boston College kept itself within strik- 16-play, 87-yard touchdown march that milked 8:30 off the clock. Sophomore quarterback Everett Golson's eight-yard touchdown pass to sophomore tight end Troy Niklas capped the march with 26 seconds left until the intermission. Dur- ing this drive, the Eagles were without standout fifth-year senior middle line- backer Nick Clancy, who had been in- jured earlier in the quarter. Notre Dame converted all four of its back Everett Golson's two-yard score on third-and-goal. The second touchdown drive in the first half covered 87 yards and required four third-down conver- sions, the last coming on an eight-yard run off the option by Golson on third- and-eight. The third quarter opened with a 65- yard touchdown march that needed two third-down conversions, most notably a 20-yard pass from Golson to junior wide- out TJ Jones on third-and-12 from the Boston College 38. That march helped seal the verdict. third-down attempts during the drive, with the last three on runs or scrambles by Golson. The final one came on an eight-yard run off the option in which he split two defenders and stretched to get the eighth yard. The TD and two-score advantage came on the ensuing play and may have demoralized the game Eagles right before halftime. third-down situations to build a 21-3 ad- vantage, and finished 11 of 14 overall (78.6 percent). The Fighting Irish were 8 of 8 on third Notre Dame converted its first 10 TOP STAT(S) OF THE GAME down during the first half when they had only three possessions on offense, one of which resulted in a lost fumble. The first touchdown came on a 95-yard march in which three third-downs had to be converted, including a 23-yard pass to junior running back Theo Riddick on third-and-seven and sophomore quarter- the Hare finishes with the moral that "slow and steady can still win the race." In the world of college football as it re- Aesop's Fable about the Tortoise and WILL SLOW AND STEADY WIN THE RACE? lates to beauty contests and style points, head coach Brian Kelly's 10-0 Fighting Irish are still perceived as the tortoise in the race — methodical, opportunis- tic and plodding along at a steady and almost boring pace. It is not as electrify- ing like Oregon or even Kansas State, which for the most part have tallied 40, 50 points per game while making it look easy. Nevertheless, Notre Dame joins the Ducks and Wildcats as the three pro- grams with unblemished records enter- ing the weekend of Nov. 17. The motto during the NCAA's March Madness is "survive and advance." If Notre Dame can maintain its steady pace and rhythm as a collective blue-collar, hard-hat pro- gram, it just might yet find a way to win this race while not getting absorbed with the sprinters around them.