Irish Stand Tall Against Washington

SOUTH BEND, Ind. -- "Charlie, can you talk about what a relief it is to win by seven points as opposed to three?"

That was the opening post-game salvo, posed by local radio announcer Steve Moritz, following Notre Dame's 37-30 overtime win versus Washington Saturday afternoon/evening.

'Touche," answered Weis, his face a portrait of relief and joy.

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After three consecutive games that were decided in the final minute, the Fighting Irish ratcheted the drama to levels that TNT does not even know. Michigan, Michigan State, Purdue: those three games had heads-or-tails type endings. Saturday at Notre Dame, by comparison, the coin landed on its side. It was that riveting.

"It was... a great college football game," said Washington coach Steve Sarkisian, who has already been involved in two of the best in his first five games with the Huskies. "For all the things that happened in this ballgame, I think as a fan everybody loved it."

Gracious words in defeat, and none more true.

This was a battle that was good to the last hit, which itself was the perfect exclamation mark to a memorable game. Jake Locker's fourth-and-19 pass in overtime found wideout D'Andre Goodwin on the 3-yard line, but only a millisecond before Notre Dame safeties Kyle McCarthy and Harrison Smith arrived.

Their one-two punch was so violent that both the football and Goodwin's helmet went flying, and in opposite directions, before both landed harmlessly on the turf.

Where do you begin? With Notre Dame quarterback Jimmy Clausen's personal-best 422 yards passing? With the longest reception (77 yards) and rush (31 yards) of Golden Tate's career? With Tate's 244 receiving yards, the most by an Irish player since Jim Seymour's record-setting 276 in 1965? With a school record-tying five field goals on as many attempts by freshman Nick Tausch?

No. You begin with defense, and once more we'll give the floor to U-Dub's charismatic young coach, Sarkisian.

"The bottom line," said Sarkisian, "is this game came down to we had two opportunities (three, actually) to score touchdowns from the one yard-line, and we came away with three total points. That's the bottom line."

The Huskies led 24-19 late in the third quarter when Locker connected with freshman wideout James Johnson on a third-and-16 from the Irish 30 down to the eight yard-line. That, for all intents and purposes, is when the game began.

A running play by freshman Chris Polk, who ran for a career-high 136 yards, gained four yards (Irish linebacker Brian Smith hit Polk at about the 13, but the Husky pup ran like Earl Campbell after halftime). Locker took a shotgun snap and ran three yards to the Irish one on second down. Two plays for one yard.

The Irish held. On third down. And then again on fourth.

That was only the beginning. The Irish marched quickly downfield for a first-and-goal at the seven only to settle for a field goal. In all, the teams combined for five different first-and-goal situations from the seven or closer today without scoring a touchdown.

It was the subsequent Husky drive, one that lasted 19 plays and 9:19 that will be remembered for quite some time. Washington ran a dozen consecutive plays from the Irish eight yard-line or closer without hitting paydirt.

Twice the Huskies had a first-and-goal from the one, an opportunity to go up at least nine points with fewer than seven minutes to play, and the Irish held.

"Penetrate your gap, get upfield," said junior defensive end Kerry Neal, who had his best game in a gold helmet.

"Simple as that."

"Just confidence and heart," echoed defensive tackle Kapron Lewis-Moore, who also put up a signature performance. "With each stop we just kept gaining momentum."

U-Dub ran a total of eight plays from the Notre Dame two-yard-line or closer in the second half, and each time the Irish denied it. The final six were a product of the Irish stopping the Huskies three times, and then being flagged for the ever-popular "roughing the snapper" penalty as the Huskies kicked a field goal. That flag moved the Huskies half the distance to the goal line, from the two, and required a third goal-line stand on the soggy turf.

"I think that the entire game, the ebb and flow of the game, probably the whole game came down to that double goal-line stand," Weis said.

The Irish prevented Washington from crossing a physical threshold and in so doing may have crossed a psychological one of their own. Suddenly, they were gritty.

"We had to sit around the last few weeks," middle linebacker Brian Smith said, "hearing about how great Notre Dame's offense is. How they're gonna have to score at least 30 points to win any game. It felt great for the defense to come through."

Washington kicked a field goal to go up 27-22 with 3:04 remaining, but it sure felt as if the Irish had gained ground.

It only took five plays for Notre Dame to take the lead, Clausen hitting tight end on a made-for-Michael Floyd fade route from 12 yards out. But it was the two-point conversion that was the defining play, as tailback Robert Hughes took a direct snap.

Hughes ran into a scrum at about the three yard-line. Clausen, who'd faked that the snap had sailed over his head, actually turned his back on the play, expecting that it was over ... but the whistle never blew.

The pile, with Hughes somewhere inside it, moved. Glacially, but it moved. Inconceivably, Hughes and an entourage of at least six other players fell into the end zone as the referee raised his hands. Such an effort, as it turned out, was the difference between victory and defeat. When the Huskies kicked a 37-yard field goal with 0:06 remaining in regulation time, Hughes' effort was the reason it was 30-30 and heading to overtime as opposed to yet another heartbreaking loss for the Irish, 30-29.

"It was just a fight," Hughes said about his two-point play. "You gotta win the fight."

"I got a little emotional on the sideline on that play," Smith said. "Just watching Robert refusing to give up."

The twin/triplet goal line stands heralded a transformation. It has been a long, long time since the Irish simply lined up across from an opponent, buckled up the chinstraps, and outhit them. But, in the fourth quarter and overtime, they did.

In overtime, in fact, the Irish sent two Huskies reeling with concussions. First, Tate, who is unable to go an entire game of late without making a memorable leap, attempted to vault over a Husky defensive back and into the end zone. There was just one problem.

"I thought I had a chance for the end zone," Tate said.

"I thought he was close to the goal line," said Clausen of his connection with Tate on the first play of overtime, "but I guess he took off from about the seven yard-line."

Tate went airborne, his knee striking the helmet of Husky safety Nate Williams. He helicoptered, at one point hovering 180 degrees upside down and at least three feet in the air, and somehow landed without fumbling.

"All I was thinking," Weis said, "was don't drop the ball."

Tate did not. Williams left the game with a concussion. One play later, Hughes and the Irish offensive line willed it in for the winning margin.

Four plays after that, McCarthy and Smith crushed Goodwin, who lay on the field a full minute after the game ended. It was violent, it was worrisome, it was euphoric, it was cathartic: all at once.

None of this happens, though, without the inspired play of the defensive line on those first-and-goal situations.

No Irish unit has been more criticized, and rightly so. The defensive line coach is a 39-year veteran, a man who spent his previous 21 seasons of coaching at the University of Washington. His name? Randy Hart. Funny, because if anything was proven in the cool gray squall enveloping South Bend Saturday, it's that these Irish, now 4-1, at least have that.