Washington/Notre Dame: A Battle for the Ages

A match-up between two unranked opponents will not often make it to the ballot for “Game of the Year,” but when all is said and done this college football season, it is unlikely anyone would be lambasted for casting their vote for this epic contest at rain-soaked Notre Dame Stadium.

The Fighting Irish squeaked past the Huskies, 37-30—in overtime—in a game that truly had it all—seven lead changes, nearly 1,000 yards of combined total offense, wild plays by the handful, and numerous blown opportunities to name a few.

Quarterback Jimmy Clausen led the way to another heart-stopping Irish win in going 23/31 for 422 yards and 2 touchdowns; as great as his performance, though, he was upstaged by his favorite wide receiver target. Golden Tate was absolutely deadly, catching nine passes for 244 yards and a touchdown; the performance, in terms of single game receiving yardage, was the second best in Notre Dame history.

The Irish defense, a unit often maligned the first month of the season, stepped up huge on two second half possessions. Twice, the Huskies moved the ball inside the Irish 1 yard line and came away with only three points to show for it—Locker was stopped on fourth down the first time, and Washington settled for an Erik Folk field goal after being denied again. A touchdown on either possession would have given the Huskies a two-score lead and, likely, put the game out of reach for the Irish. All in all, the Washington offense ran eight plays from the Irish 1 yard line and failed to score on each of them.

Aside from those eight plays, Washington quarterback Jake Locker had a respectable performance of his own in throwing for 281 yards and running for a touchdown on the Huskies’ first possession; however, like his quarterback counterpart, Locker was outperformed by a teammate. Redshirt freshman running back Chris Polk carried 22 times and fought for all 136 of the yards he gained; it was his first 100-yard performance as a Husky, but it was a play that was taken away from him that loomed large.

With the Huskies leading 24-22 midway through the fourth quarter, Polk took a handoff and burst through a seam to the end zone for an apparent touchdown. After the play was reviewed, though, it was ruled that Polk’s knee hit the ground before he crossed the goal line. The call was a controversial one in that the play was close enough that it could have gone either way, but it was a call that kept Notre Dame in the game. As mentioned, the Irish defense proceeded to hold their ground and with three minutes left, the Husky lead was only five.

Before their final drive, Notre Dame had only managed one touchdown and settled for five field goals as a resilient Husky defense turned them away time after time. The Luck of the Irish chose a good time to surface, though, as Clausen eventually hit tight end Kyle Rudolph for a go-ahead touchdown. On the ensuing two-point conversion, the Huskies appeared to have stuffed running back Robert Hughes at the four yard line, but Hughes kept fighting and found a way to cross the goal line.

Down three with just over a minute remaining, Washington was forced to start at their own ten yard line after a mental error by return man Quinton Richardson. Unfazed by the long field ahead of him, Locker completed a deep ball to wide receiver James Johnson and the Huskies were given new life. Kicker Erik Folk, who nailed the game winner against USC two weeks ago, blocked out the hostile crowd and tied the game at 30 to send it into overtime.

In the extra period, the goal line proved less elusive for the Irish as they only needed two plays to find the end zone; the Huskies, who had mushed their hearts out all game, finally ran out of bite and could not come up with the equalizer. To add injury to insult, wide receiver D’Andre Goodwin suffered a concussion after getting viciously sandwiched by two Irish defenders, which caused him to drop the last pass of the game.

With that last ball hitting the grass, the final chapter of an epic story was completed by two teams that played a game as golden as their respective helmets. There may have been turnovers, dropped passes, spotty execution, and countless points given away, but this contest should be remembered for something else: Two teams that battled back and forth and spent themselves numb in trying to win an exhilarating college football game.

It was an entertaining reminder of why so many love this sport.