Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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Notre Dame's seniors carried the Irish to a 38-0 blowout of Wake Forest in their final home game and then ended the day at the top of the polls THE NEW NO. 1 tled Wake Forest 38-0 in its final home game of the regular season. The 11-0 Irish then claimed a spot at the very top of the BCS standings as the only bowl eligible team in the country without a loss. Both Kansas State and Oregon fell later in the evening, putting Notre Dame in control of its own destiny. Hours earlier, one late. Notre Dame disman- T minute into the fourth quarter of a game long since decided, Irish head coach Brian Kelly called time out to salute the se- niors that brought them there. "I wanted to make it a special moment BY DAN MURPHY he curtain calls came early in South Bend; the biggest news came for the seniors on de- fense," he said. "They have been, obviously, the rock. They've car- ried us while we were trying to find ourselves offensively." Notre Dame pitched its first shutout since the 2009 season opener against Nevada, the first time senior captains Kapron Lewis-Moore and Manti Te'o played in an Irish uniform. The goose egg brought Notre Dame's season average down to 10.1 points al- lowed per game, the lowest in the country, but the Irish offense stole the show against Wake Forest (5-6 overall record). Three seniors scored tional championship bid. The offense and rookie quarterback Everett Gol- son took another step forward by showing for the first time an ability to consistently take big leaps down the field. Senior running back in Notre Dame's most productive first quarter of the season to sap any drama surrounding its chances to stay unbeaten and in the hunt for a na- Cierre Wood drew first blood just four plays into the game with a 68- yard touchdown run. Wood took an option pitch from Golson and ran untouched until he reached the goal line on the longest run of the year for Notre Dame. He ended the game with a team-high 150 yards on 11 carries. "Cierre continues to do the job we ask him to do," Kelly said. "He ran north and south, which is the one thing that he's continued to work on as a football player. He's getting better." Wood broke a 20-yard