Next Gen Journal

By Nate Balmert

The Notre Dame vs. Washington game (ND won 37-30 in Overtime), though not a historic rivalry, nor a battle of ranked teams, packed an inordinate amount of drama into a long four hours. The weather’s transition from sunny to cool to rainy seemed to reflect the increase in suspense as the game went on. Making the weather bearable were a plethora of neighbor-hugging and referee-cursing plays.

From High Above the Notre Dame-Washington Game

Without further ado, a recap of this game’s most important plays:

(In approximate order of importance)

1. Kyle McCarthy and Harrison Smith’s monster hit at the goal line. It was fourth and ten. Washington’s possession in the first overtime. A stop, and Notre Dame is victorious. Washington QB Jack Locker delivers a throw over the middle. The receiver has possession for what seems like fifteen seconds, but Notre Dame’s safeties deliver a spine-tingling sandwich hit that jars the ball loose. The Notre Dame bench clears and the band runs onto the field. Meanwhile, the player who was about to extend the game into a second overtime with a completion lies on the ground for what seems like half of the fight song.

2. ND’s insane 2 point conversion. It was a feat of running ability. Though I have never seen “the Bus,” (Jerome Bettis) Hughes seemed equally Bus-like on this play. Up 1, Notre Dame went for a two point conversion. The ball went to Hughes, who seems to get stopped at the one yard-line. But after a second of stopping, Hughes plowed forward in an incredible feat of running to give Notre Dame a 3 point lead.

3. Jimmy Clausen’s screen pass that wasn’t. Jimmy threw the ball away. Or so he thought. Actually he threw it backwards and there was no receiver. Washington recovered the fumble and returned it for a touchdown.

4.Notre Dame’s first goal line stand. The Huskies decided to go for it on fourth and goal from the one. It seemed like a good idea at the time, but Notre Dame’s Manti Teo delivered a solid hit to keep the running back from the goal line. The lack of points scored on this drive proved damning for Washington.

5. Notre Dame’s six goal line stops and the touchdown that wasn’t. Yes, six is the right number. Normally you need three. But after stopping Washington three times, Notre Dame was rewarded with a roughing-the-snapper penalty, giving the Huskies a new set of downs from the one yard line. A Washington false-start helped, but the goal defense was amazing. Or the Husky O-line choked. Either way, the biggest play was when the referees overturned a touchdown call that would have given the Huskies a massive 9 point lead.

6. The interception that wasn’t. Yeah, it probably wasn’t close. But in the stadium, everyone thought we had put the game away with the Huskies driving, down three in the final minute. Given a reprieve, the Huskies converted and tied the game with a field goal.

7. Washington’s half-time field goal. When the Irish thought the momentum was theirs, the Huskies drove down in the waning minutes of the first half to take the lead going into halftime.

8. Five field goals. The ND red zone offense was atrocious. ‘Nuff said.

9. Special Teams. Especially Steve Filer’s special teams tackles. Okay, these were not as game changing, but our student section erupted in cheers of “We love Steve,” and they were especially important to me because he lives down the hall in my dorm. He had a couple solid defensive plays as well.

10. Golden Tate’s TD flip that wasn’t. Wideout Golden Tate had 244 yards on the day; on the first play of overtime, he made an excellent catch but tried to do a flip into the end zone. It would have been amazing, but it was a risky play. Too much of a chance of getting the ball ripped loose. But it was certainly fun to watch as he vaulted into the air, just short of the goal line.

The Irish broke a 3-game overtime losing streak with the win. When asked about all of Notre Dame’s recent last-minute wins stud receiver Golden Tate said, “I guess we’re just a clutch team.” Apparently, Golden doesn’t know about the luck of the Irish.

Nate Balmert is the NGJ Sports Editor. He is a student at the University of Notre Dame.