Loyola of Maryland took a much slower route to the NCAA lacrosse championship game than the Greyhounds are accustomed to.SOUTH BEND – Notre Dame pulled its football season away from the brink and took a step toward a brighter future Saturday.
The Irish, coming off a bye week after back-to-back losses and a tragic death, upset No. 15 Utah 28-3 at Notre Dame Stadium. A victory that was celebrated with fans pouring onto the field after this season’s final home game.
“Through the last three weeks we certainly have had a great deal of adversity that we’ve had to overcome together as a group,” coach Brian Kelly said.
“(What) you saw today was a football team that didn’t have on their shoulders the tradition and reputations and all the things that you have to worry about sometimes being a football player at Notre Dame, and they just flat out played.”
Saturday was a series of firsts for the Irish (5-5), who need one more victory over either Army at Yankee Stadium next weekend or at USC on Nov. 27 to become bowl eligible.
It was their first win over a ranked team since defeating then-No. 19 Penn State on Sept. 9, 2006. It was the first win on Senior Day since Notre Dame beat Duke 28-7 on Nov. 17, 2007. And it was the first win since Declan Sullivan, a 20-year-old junior, died filming practice Oct. 27.
“There’s been a lot scrutiny on this program, a lot of doubt and unbelief,” said linebacker Brian Smith, who led the defense with 10 tackles. “The guys in the locker room and coaches know we are going to work every day and doing the right things. And it showed today.”
Special teams put the Irish in position for the upset in the opening quarter.
After going down 3-0 on a 46-yard field goal 6 1/2 minutes into the game, Notre Dame’s Robert Blanton blocked a Utah punt and returned it six yards for a touchdown and a 7-3 lead with 2:04 to play in the opening quarter.
“Everybody was really excited,” Blanton said of the reaction to his play.
The Irish took a 14-3 lead about 2 1/2 minutes into the second quarter thanks to Michael Floyd’s 3-yard touchdown catch from first-time starting quarterback Tommy Rees, who took over when Dayne Crist was lost for the season with a knee injury Oct. 30.
The Irish started to put the Utes away at the start of the second half when Utah return man Shaky Smithson had the ball jarred loosed by Austin Collinsworth.
Daniel Smith recovered the it on Utah’s 26-yard line for Notre Dame, which scored a play later when Rees connected with Duval Kamara for a 26-yard touchdown and a 21-3 lead 13 seconds into the third quarter.
Kamara added a 12-yard touchdown catch with 9:09 to play in the third quarter to cap the scoring.
“It’s kind of shell shocking,” said the senior receiver, whose only catches were for touchdowns Saturday. “Today things rolled our way in being successful in beating Utah.”
Notre Dame’s defense held Utah to its fewest points in 45 games, and it was the least amount of points the Irish have given up to a top-20 team since the 1993 Cotton Bowl.
Utah, which came into the game averaging 41 points, gained 265 yards and only 71 of those came from the rushing game.
Notre Dame had 127 rushing yards, led by Cierre Wood’s 71, and Rees rebounded from a 1-for-4, 3-yard first-quarter passing performance to finish with 13 completions on 20 attempts for 129 yards and three touchdowns with no interceptions.
“It’s the culmination of what we’ve been working on since December,” Kelly said of the victory. “… We’re not a finished product by any means, but we’re starting to develop the mental and physical toughness the way that you need to go and approach this game from a day-to-day basis.”
