12 Plays that Defined Notre Dame Football in 2012

As the final days of 2012 wind down and we inch closer and closer to Notre Dame’s showdown with Alabama for the BCS Championship, today we look back at the plays that defined Notre Dame’s improbable run to Miami.

12. Stephon Tuitt’s fumble return against Navy

Notre Dame’s season opening win over Navy in Dublin might have lacked the drama that characterized some of Notre Dame’s victories later in the season, but it also had its fair share of highlights and the one play that stands out from this one was Stephon Tuitt’s 77 yard fumble return.  Notre Dame was in clear control of the game and would have won the game whether or not Ishaq Williams jarred the ball loose with Tuitt scooping it up off the turf and rumbling down the field for a score, but the play set the tone for the season – Notre Dame had a defense that was going to make plays.

Notre Dame had lacked a big play defense for years, but Tuitt’s highlight worthy play was the first real indicator that Notre Dame had some players on defense this year.  Not only did it show that Notre Dame had playmakers on defense – it showed Notre Dame had playmakers up front where the Irish lacked such ability since Justin Tuck wore the blue and gold.  Tuitt is a big man.  A man much too big to be able to run down the field as fast as he did back in September, so when he did it raised some eyebrows.

11. Tommy Rees’ 38 yard pass to Tyler Eifert against Michigan

In week 4 of the season, Everett Golson was pulled early for ineffectiveness with Brian Kelly opting to rely on junior Tommy Rees.  While Rees was steady against the Wolverines, the defense kept Notre Dame in this game by keeping Michigan off of the scoreboard for three quarters.  In the fourth quarter, however, the Wolverines added two field goals to cut Notre Dame’s lead to 13-6.  With Notre Dame facing a key third down and four from their own 31 yard line, Kelly showed just how much faith he had in Rees by letting him drop back and throw for the first down.

On that third down, Rees dropped a well thrown ball right into Tylerr Eifert’s midsection for a 38 yard gain which effectively ended the game with Michigan having just one timeout remaining at the time.  Before that pass, Rees had only attempted 10 passes all game accounting for a just 77 yards.  Without that conversion, Notre Dame would have had to punt and give Michigan the ball back with more than two minutes left on the clock after they had scored on their last two drives.

10. Everett Golson’s 36 yard touchdown to John Goodman against Michigan State

When Notre Dame traveled to East Lansing in week 3, they did so as a big road underdog to then top 10 ranked Michigan State.  After the teams traded punts on the first two series of the game, Notre Dame moved the ball to the Spartan 36 yard line thanks to some great field position provided by the defense and a first down completion to Robby Toma.

On a 2nd and 9 play, Everett Golson dropped back to pass and after stumbling a bit he fired down field to John Goodman whose second catch of the season was a one handed touchdown grab with a Michigan State defender draped all over him.  The play set the tone for the game and was the kind of throw that Notre Dame fans were not used to seeing from Tommy Rees.  It was a glimpse of the potential that Golson brought to the table – potential that would develop at a steady pace throughout the season as Golson grew in confidence week to week.

9. Everett Golson’s long bomb to Chris Brown against Oklahoma

Speaking of Golson’s confidence growing from week to week, there might not have been any better evidence than that development than when the Irish traveled to Norman to take on Oklahoma.  After leading most of the game, Oklahoma tied the Irish in the fourth quarter at 13.  While spending most of the year relying on his defense and running game, Brian Kelly turned to his sophomore quarterback when the Sooners tied things up.

On Notre Dame’s next drive Golson came out firing hitting TJ Jones for an 8 yard gain on the first down and then on second down, Kelly and Chuck Martin rolled the dice and called a bomb to freshman speedster Chris Brown.  Golson and Brown nearly connected for several passes downfield to this point in the season – including earlier in the game (pictured above – sorry, it was the only picture we had access to for this one), but had yet to actually do so.  On second down at his own 35 yard line though, Golson dropped back and fired a nearly perfectly placed  50-yard bomb to Brown for the frosh’s first career catch.  Four plays later Golson gave Notre Dame the lead for good and the Irish never looked back.

8. Everett Golson’s 2-point conversion against Pitt

A week after Notre Dame’s big win in Norman, the Irish sleep-walked through the first three quarters against a mediocre at best Pitt team and found itself trailing 20-6 in the 4th quarter.  Notre Dame came storming back in the final 15 minutes, however, and despite a horrible end-zone interception earlier in the corner, they scored a touchdown with just over two minutes remaning to cut the Pitt lead to two.  That lead was two instead of one because of a missed extra point earlier in the quarter forcing Notre Dame to go for two.

Notre Dame lined up for the two point conversion and for a bit it didn’t like there was anywhere for Golson to go with the football.  A lane opened up for Golson though and the sophomore dashed for the end-zone and lunged forward for the two point conversion to tie the game and send the game into over time.  Had Golson not converted that two pointer, Pitt would have had the ball with two minutes remaining with Notre Dame possessing two timeouts and needing another score to win the game.

7.  Kevin Harper’s missed field goal in overtime

While Golson’s fourth quarter heroics got Notre Dame to overtime, the Irish would not have made it out of Notre Dame Stadium unbeaten that night had it not been for a missed field by Pitt’s Kevin Harper.  After Notre Dame running back Cierre Wood fumbled into the endzone on Notre Dame’s second possession in overtime, all Pitt needed to derail Notre Dame’s dream season was a field goal.

Pitt played it conservatively in the second overtime with three straight Ray Graham rushes setting up Harper’s 33 yard attempt that would have ended the game. Harper failed to push his kick inside the right upright, however, and Notre Dame was given another chance to put the Panthers away.  After Harper connected on a 44 yarder in the third overtime, Everett Golson lead the Irish into the endzone with his arm and his legs and Notre Dame escaped unharmed in a game that very easily could have been the one that got away.  Why couldn’t David Gordon do the same thing 19 years ago???

6. Tommy Rees’ third down conversion to John Goodman against Purdue

Notre Dame’s dream season could have been derailed a few times throughout the year, but many people forget that Notre Dame was a desperation heave from Tommy Rees to John Goodman away from overtime against a pretty weak Purdue team in week two.  After pulling Everett Golson in the fourth quarter to let Rees run the two minute drill in a 17-17 game, Brian Kelly and Notre Dame faced a 3rd and 6 from their own 49 yard line.  Purdue blitzed Rees and he threw up a jump ball to Goodman who had yet to catch a pass on the season.  Goodman corralled Rees’ heave and the Irish moved down the field behind Rees for the game winning field goal.

Now that Notre Dame is ranked #1 in the country and preparing to face Alabama for all the marbles in less than two weeks, let that sink in and ask yourself if you ever imagined Notre Dame would be in this position when Goodman came down with that pass to escape with a three point win over Purdue.

5. Tommy Rees’ 3rd down conversion to Theo Riddick in overtime against Stanford

A month after rallying Notre Dame against Purdue, Rees was called on again by Brian Kelly in the fourth quarter against Stanford.  This time, however, Rees was not called to duty because of Golson’s play – his number was called against the stout Cardinal defense because Golson was knocked out of the game with a concussion.  Rees came off the sidelines cold and capped off a drive Golson started by leading the Irish to the game tying field goal to force overtime.

Notre Dame received the ball first in overtime and after Rees was sacked on first down things weren’t looking too good for the Irish.  A 9 yard completion to Davaris Daniels on 2nd down set up Rees and the Irish with a 3rd and 8 in a driving rain.  On 3rd down Rees dropped back and lobbed a perfectly placed pass to Theo Riddick who rolled out of the backfield and hauled in Rees’ pass to set up the Irish with a first and goal.  One the next play Rees hit TJ Jones for a 7 yard touchdown that proved to be the game winner thanks in large part to some more heroics we’ll get to in a bit.

4. Cierre Wood’s long touchdown run against Oklahoma

Early on in the Oklahoma game it looked like the Sooners were not going to have too much trouble moving the ball on the Irish defense.  After two drives Oklahoma had just three points, but a very costly botched snap on their first drive derailed what looked like a promising drive and Notre Dame had Oklahoma to thank for the Sooners having just three points almost as much as they could thank themselves.

Faced with a 3-0 deficit on the road in a hostile environment, the Notre Dame offensive line opened up a hole that Cierre Wood could have drove a truck through before racing 62 yards downfield untouched for an Irish touchdown.  The run was a sign that the Oklahoma defense was not some immovable object that Irish offense was not going to be unable to get around and showed that the Irish meant business despite being a double digit underdog to a team they were ranked higher than… Wait a minute, that sounds familiar, doesn’t it?

3. Notre Dame’s goal line stand against USC

While not Notre Dame’s biggest goal line stand of the season (more on that soon), Notre Dame’s stop of USC on 4th down from the one yard line in the final minutes of the game on Thanksgiving weekend was the cherry on top of the sundae for an Irish defense that made big play after big play whenever called upon throughout the 2012 season.

After three straight Trojan runs from the 1 yard line netted no gain for the USC offense, Lane Kiffin decided to try a pass with his freshman quarterback.  Manti Te’o got pressure on Max Wittek and his 4th down toss fell incomplete giving Notre Dame the ball back with a 9 point lead, two and a half minutes, and just one timeout for USC.  Had Kiffin just kicked the field goal, he could have put the pressure back on the Notre Dame offense, but he rolled the dice thinking that Notre Dame couldn’t possibly stop his offense four times from the one yard line.  Kiffin lost that bet and the game and the Irish are headed to Miami.

2. Manti Te’o’s interception of Landry Jones against Oklahoma

After taking the lead 20-13 in the fourth quarter, Notre Dame had to once again stop Landry Jones and the Oklahoma offense in order to escape with the road upset.  Jones converted a 3rd and 3 to set up the Sooner offense was a first down at their own 41 yard line before dropping back to pass again on the ensuing play.  When he did, his pass was batted up in the air and Manti Te’o, as he did all season, found himself in position to make a game changing play.  Te’o made a diving attempt to pick off Jones and just barely got his hands under the ball to secure the interception and give the Irish offense the ball back at the Oklahoma 45 yard line.

Once Notre Dame had the ball back, they added a field goal to give themselves a two possession lead with just 2:31 remaining.  The play was the signature play that firmly put Te’o in the Heisman debate and made him the front runner until Johnny Maisel led Texas A&M to an upset of Alabama a few weeks later.  The play, however, will live on as the signature moment in Te’o’s Notre Dame career… unless of course the Hawaiian native comes up with another game changing play on January 7.

1. Notre Dame’s goal line stand against Stanford

Any list of top plays for Notre Dame in 2012 has to end up with what will go down as one of the most epic goal line stands in Notre Dame history regardless of what happens in Miami on January 7.  After Tommy Rees led the Irish into the endzone to start overtime, it looked like the Cardinal was going to quickly respond when they moved the ball to the Irish 4 yard for a first and goal three plays into their overtime possession.

What happened over the next four plays will live on in Irish lore for years to come.  Stefan Taylor moved the ball to the Irish 1 yard line with two carries to set up a 3rd and goal.  Stanford’s offensive line vs. Notre Dame’s defensive line.  Strength vs. Strength.  Taylor surged toward the goal line on 3rd down when Manti Te’o came up and met him before he crossed the plane and repelled him back.  Fourth and 1.  Driving rain.  Perfect season on the line for the Irish.  Notre Dame sold out for the run again and Stanford obliged with another Taylor run and despite twisting and turning, Taylor was stopped short of the goal line.  Video replay confirmed the call and Notre Dame stormed the field for their 6th win of the season.

After being pushed around by Stanford the previous two seasons, Notre Dame pushed back and sealed their 6th win of the season in a very fitting away given their opponent and given how they ended up navigating their schedule enroute to a 12-0 regular season.

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14 Comments

  1. Along the lines of Joeyknuklehead’s line of reasoning, a very distant honorable mention also to Miami WR Phillip Dorsett for dropping several long balls (including 2 sure TDs on the Canes’ first drive) early on in the game in Chicago. Perhaps the Irish go on to kill Miami regardless. But who knows how a big play TD on Miami’s first play pumps them up and brings down ND. Thankfully, we’ll never have to find out!

  2. Honorable mention to any of the U Michigan Ints that set the tone for the game. Anybody know if Davaris Daniels will be ready for the Bowl game.

    1. Daniels has been practicing the last two weeks since his collarbone injury. He will be fully healthy for the Orange Bowl.

  3. It seem like in the 2nd half of the season that Theo Riddick and Everett Golson made most of the big plays for the team. For a team that struggled so badly in the red zone, Theo Riddick became Notre Dame’s #1 threat in the red zone. This leads up to my #1 play. It was against Oklahoma right after Chris Brown’s long reception. Notre Dame had a 2nd and 9 or 10, I was assuming that ND was going to settle for a field goal and Oklahoma would have a great chance of winning. Everett Golson hit Theo Riddick on that 2nd down play on a crossing route. Riddick ran the ball to the 3 yard line to put ND in complete control in the red zone. Three plays later, Golson ran it in from a yard and ND put Oklahoma’s backs against the wall.

    Since that crucial play, Notre Dame circled the offense around Riddick. Riddick became an added feature in the passing game for much of the last four games. He made some gigantic plays, especially against Pittsburgh.

  4. The one common theme through all of these plays is not one man makes a team. It goes from Manti, to Everet, to Tommy, and etc. This is a team and if they play to their ability will be in this game. I have kept off the boards and tried not to watch to much ESPN, but it hasn’t worked. This is a team and with either a win or a loss I am proud to be an Irish fan because this team is what the University is about.

  5. Think the two most important plays, both on the list, were the Stanford goal line stand and, most importantly, the Pitt missed FG. Also don’t have any problem with the others chosen.

    That being said … two plays that I would not have ignored … the long run by Theo Riddick vs BYU and the pass not completed to a wide open BYU receiver thanks to steady pressure during the game that caused their QB to not set his feet when there was time to do that.

    The TR run was the second best I’ve seen at ND in my 40+ years of watching ND home games. Could not believe he got past the line of scrimmage when I saw it live and was even more amazed when I saw the replay.

    Aside … the best run the should not have happened belongs to Alan Pinkett vs Arizona as a FR running on pure instinct. What should have been a run off tackle became one more or less straight ahead. The end result was something like a 70 yard TD as he somehow got through a tangle of bodies (a rugby scum) as folk on both sides of the ball were moving toward where the play was designed with the defenders then trying to change direction.

  6. trey, I’m with Frank on the Tommy Rees play. In the moment, it
    was needed and pivotal. there are trigger points for a great season
    and sometime it’s just that one first down……

  7. Say what you want about TR, but it is clear that without him we are not 12-0.
    Kudos to TR and BK for handling this QB situation better than anybody could have imagined.

  8. I think this author has too much of a love affair with Tommy Rees. Come on, a 3rd and 6 play is one of the most important plays of the season?

  9. I loved this game, don’t get me wrong. But when I hear “experts” say that we crushed OK that just tells me they have no earthly idea what they’re talking about. Of course that’s no surprise, but this was a CLOSE game. Yes the bomb to Brown was huge because of its timing in the game. ND came right back at OK after they scored and sent a huge message. Definitely a season changer

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