Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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THREE OBSERVATIONS TURNING POINT BY LOU SOMOGYI best this year and left no doubt that victory was in hand. The Fighting Irish tallied 21 unanswered points in the first 10:32 — their most to start a game since a 21-0 lead in the first 10:09 ver- sus Michigan in 2008 (a 35-17 victory). If there was one most pivotal play, The first quarter was Notre Dame's per game entering the contest. Golson's 317 yards passing were the most ever in the first half by a Notre Dame quarterback, breaking the previous mark of 300 by sopho- more Jimmy Clausen during the 49-21 Sheraton Hawaii Bowl victory against Hawaii on Dec. 24, 2008. Golson's 317 yards passing in the first it came on the first series when Notre Dame had third-and-11 at its 8-yard line. Sophomore quarterback Everett Golson rifled a 24-yard completion across the middle to senior running back Theo Riddick to get them out of poor field position and prevent Wake Forest from setting up from a good starting point. On the next play, senior running half also might be the second most in any half by a Notre Dame quarterback. Clausen had 340 in the second half dur- ing a 23-21 loss to Navy in 2009. back Cierre Wood romped for a 68- yard touchdown, and the rout was on. In the five previous home games this season, Notre Dame had failed to score more than 20 points in four quarters of regulation time (it had 29 in a triple- overtime victory versus Pitt Nov. 3). sophomore quarterback Everett Gol- son had completed 14 of 18 pass at- tempts for 256 yards with three touch- downs and an interception, while directing a 28-0 advantage. Twelve of those 14 completions resulted in first downs. He finished the first half with 317 With 6:17 still left in the first half, TOP STAT(S) OF THE GAME Notre Dame improved to 8-0 at Okla- homa to move to the round of 32. The pulsating win over Pitt advanced it to the Sweet 16. The 21-6 conquest of Boston College promoted it into the Elite Eight. And now the 38-0 rout of Wake Forest puts it to the Final Four while the other "higher seeds" such as Kansas State, Oregon and Alabama were stunned this month. All any athlete or team can ask for is 52-24 upset of No. 1 Kansas State and Stanford's 17-14 overtime victory at No. 2 Oregon is that now Notre Dame is truly in the "Final Four" of the de facto foot- ball playoff. It's not about being No. 1. It's about controlling your own destiny with two victories in the "Final Four." We started this "tournament" when What was significant about Baylor's ND CONTROLS DESTINY FINAL FOUR: yards passing while connecting on 17 of 25 attempts. The Irish already had 430 yards of total offense by halftime, eclipsing their average of 403.3 yards to be in control of its own destiny. No hand wringing about polls, no poli- ticking, no numbers crunching … it's all in the hands of Notre Dame to seize the moment with two more victories.