| Notre Dame Fighting Irish celebrate after defeating BYU 17-14 at Notre Dame Stadium. The Irish moved to 7-0 for the first time since 2002. (US Presswire) |
Theo Riddick charged through the line, kept his legs churning, placed his left hand on the ground to maintain his balance and found daylight.
A third-down run that BYU appeared to stop for a 1-yard gain midway through the third quarter suddenly turned into a game-changing 55-yard burst. On an afternoon when Notre Dame starting quarterback Tommy Rees completed only seven passes, the senior running back rescued the No. 5 Irish with a superlative performance in a 17-14 win over the Cougars.
Riddick had two critical third-down conversions, including the aforementioned 55-yard run as Notre Dame improved to 7-0 for the first time since 2002. Against a Cougars’ defense that entered Saturday’s game ranked third in FBS against the run, the Irish rushed for 270 yards on 43 carries. Riddick finished with a career-high 143 yards on 9.5 yards per carry. Fellow senior Cierre Wood added 114 yards on 18 carries.
“We controlled the line of scrimmage against a very good defense,” Irish coach Brian Kelly told NBC after the win. “That’s the way we play the game. It’s going to be one of those things where we just keep playing and keep grinding it out.”
The Irish took the lead for good on a 2-yard run by sophomore George Atkinson III with 12:53 remaining. Atkinson III took an end around, juked a BYU defender and darted into the end zone for Notre Dame's first lead since late in the first quarter.
On the ensuing drive, BYU advanced inside the Irish 35 largely in part to two third-down runs by QB Riley Nelson. The drive stalled, though, after a nine-yard sack by Irish DE Stephon Tuitt and LB Carlo Calabrese on a 1st-and-10 from the Notre Dame 31. BYU was forced to punt after Nelson failed to connect with RB Iona Pritchard on a third-down attempt.
Notre Dame responded with a nine-play, 48-yard drive that took nearly six minutes off the clock. The drive was kept alive by a key 6-yard run from Riddick on a 3rd-and-5 from the Irish 37 with 3:18 left. Riddick broke a tackle from BYU LB Brandon Ogletree before hitting a crease in the left side of the line.
BYU received the ball at its own 20 with 22 seconds left, but never threatened. Notre Dame linebacker Danny Spond clinched the win with an interception of Nelson.
Strong defensive effort: Though BYU became the first team to score a touchdown on the Irish defense in 17 quarters, the Irish still needed a stellar performance on defense to escape with the win.
Notre Dame sacked Nelson four times and held the Cougars to just 66 rushing yards. Tuitt recorded 1.5 sacks, while DE Kapron Lewis-Moore and LB Dan Fox added a sack apiece. Calabrese finished with 0.5 sacks and five tackles.
“We just had a clean game in the second half,” Lewis-Moore said.
Notre Dame still hasn’t allowed a rushing touchdown this season. The streak extends 38 quarters to a win last November against Boston College.
Rees struggles: Though Everett Golson (concussion) was cleared by team doctors earlier this week, Kelly said he decided on Friday that he would rest the redshirt freshman quarterback for Saturday’s game. In Golson’s absence, Rees went 7 of 16 for 116 yards, with one touchdown and an interception.
After a 4-yard touchdown pass to Tyler Eifert late in the first quarter, Rees went nearly a quarter and a half without a completion. With Notre Dame pounding the ball on the ground, Kelly’s team only attempted three passes in the second half.
“If they are going to play a lot of two-deep zone, we always like to think about running the football,” Kelly said. “We’re becoming that type of football team where we’re finding an identity. That’s why we stuck with it.”
Kelly announced that Golson will be the starter for next Saturday’s game at Oklahoma.
(For more on the game, check out CBSSports.com's Eye on College Football blog)
For more up-to-the-minute news and analysis on Notre Dame football, follow bloggers Evan Hilbert and Matt Rybaltowski @CBSBigEast.