Notre Dame Wins 3OT Thriller

Going into this weekend in college football, Notre Dame was one of the four undefeated teams in the BCS who were vying for a spot in the National title game, yet there match up with unranked Pittsburg was mostly overlooked by college football fans. Much of this may have been due to the fact that two of the other top four teams were playing in primetime games against ranked opponents, No. 1 Alabama vs No.5 LSU, and No. 4 Oregon vs No. 17 USC. This battle in South Bend, Indiana however, would turn out to be the most interesting game of the day.

After getting outplayed for most of the game by a feisty Pittsburg Panthers team led by running back Ray Graham who ran for 172 yards and a touchdown, Irish true Freshman Quarterback Everett Golson had a chance with three minutes remaining to engineering a game tying drive and keep the undefeated season alive. That’s exactly what the star quarterback did. Doing it with his arm along with his great speed out of the pocket, Golson led the Irish to the doorstep and capped the drive off with a five yard touchdown pass to Theo Riddick. Then on what was arguably the most important play of the game, the ensuing two point conversion attempt to tie the game, Golston kept it himself, diving head first across the goal line and sending the game into overtime.

In the first overtime, both teams kicked matching field goals, sending the game into a second overtime, in which Notre Dame running back Cierre Woods fumbled the ball diving into the end zone. This turnover set up a Pittsburg 33 yard field goal that would have ended the Irish’ national championship for the season, but as we all know, anything can happen in college football, and Pitt kicker Kevin Harper pulled the field goal just slightly right. Given back hope, Notre Dame would make the most of their second chance, with Golson scoring on a one yard run in the third overtime that ended the game. The true freshman showed his maturity, coming back from a few early mistakes to lead his team to victory with 227 yards passing and another 74 on the ground. Irish Coach Brian Kelly pointed out the clutch performance by his quarterback and awarded him with the game ball. It was anything but pretty, but the bottom line for the Irish is that at 9-0 they are still very much in the hunt for the National Title.

Stats Via : espn.com

Image 1 via: www.southbendtribune.com