Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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better bowl opportunities moving forward than the Big East. It was on this day a deal with the Atlantic Coast Conference was announced, which included full membership for all Irish sports other than hockey and football. The Irish kept their football independence, but were required to play five ACC opponents each year beginning in 2014. Sept. 15 — The No. 20 Irish went to East Lansing, Mich., and stomped 10th-ranked Michigan State, 20-3, to improve to 3-0 for the first time in a decade and defeat a top-10 opponent for the first time since 2005. The Spartans never reached the red zone, and fifth-year Irish senior receiver John Goodman hauled in his first TD catch since 2009 to start the scoring. Golson finished with 178 passing yards and also ran for a six-yard score. Sept. 22 — Continuing what would eventually be the team's hallmark in 2012, Notre Dame kept visiting Michigan out of the end zone for a 13-6 victory. It was the same day Te'o's girlfriend, Lennay Kekua, was laid to rest in Hawaii. Te'o said he sent a bouquet of white flowers before making two interceptions. Kelly awarded the game ball to Kekua. Oct. 3 — Te'o, after being featured on the cover of Sports Illustrated, opened up to beat reporters about the loss of his two loved ones. Oct. 6 — Wood and sophomore George Atkinson III rushed for more than 100 yards each to lead the No. 9 Fighting Irish to a 41-3 thrashing of Miami at Chicago's Soldier Field. Notre Dame piled up 376 total rushing yards after averaging just 89 yards on the ground through the first four contests. Oct. 13 — With ESPN's College GameDay in South Bend, No. 7 Notre Dame stuffed No. 17 Stanford twice from inside the 1-yard line in overtime to preserve a 20-13 victory. The primetime win opened the door to the program's first BCS appearance since 2006. Rees again stepped in for Golson, who suffered a helmet-to-helmet hit that resulted in a concussion. Rees went 4-of-4 passing to push the Irish to a gametying field goal in the final minutes of regulation. A seven-yard slant pass to junior wide receiver TJ Jones in overtime gave the Irish the advantage before the defense bricked off the goal line for one of the most thrilling endings in Notre Dame Stadium history. "Does he have all the elite skills? No, but he's a gamer. He'll do anything. Those guys in that locker room will go to the wall for him. They'll do anything because he's a great teammate." BRIAN KELLY ON QB TOMMY REES AFTER BEATING PURDUE Oct. 14 — Notre Dame (6-0) landed at No. 5 in the first BCS poll of the year behind No. 1 Alabama, No. 2 Florida, No. 3 Oregon and No. 4 Kansas State. Oct. 20 — It wasn't pretty, but Rees guided the team's 17-14 home win over Brigham Young from start to finish with Golson sidelined because of a concussion. Against one of the nation's top run defenses, Atkinson wiggled into the end zone to give ND its first lead of the game in the fourth quarter. Senior slot receiver/running back Theo Riddick rushed for a career-high 143 yards, including a 55-yard gain that seemed to die immediately in a pile of linemen, only to see Riddick spring free and set up a field goal that would trim the deficit to 14-10. Oct. 27 — Golson's return in Norman, Okla., made Notre Dame a true title contender. The fifthranked Irish ran over No. 8 Oklahoma in front of a sea of Sooners fans, 30-13, and Golson matured in front of Irish fans' eyes in the final nine minutes of play. Tied at 13-13, Golson marched the offense 73 yards, completing all four passes, most notably a 50-yard play-action bomb to rookie Chris Brown, and finished the drive with a one-yard touchdown run to break the stalemate. Golson finished 13-of-25 passing for 188 yards, added 64 yards rushing and had no turnovers. After Golson's TD, Te'o came away with his fifth interception of the season, and Riddick added a 15-yard scoring scamper to put the game out of reach. Notre Dame, which moved up to No. 3 in the BCS standings the next day, put up the final 17 points. Nov. 3 — It felt like a trap game and was for three quarters, but Pittsburgh's trip to South Bend proved to be another magical night for the Fighting Irish. A bit For The Record • Sophomore Everett Golson was the first quarterback in school history to lead the Irish to road victories over top-10 foes in his first two respective road starts, at No. 10 Michigan State, 20-3, on Sept. 15, and at No. 8 Oklahoma, 30-13. • Senior Manti Te'o won seven national college football awards, which was the most in the history of the game. He claimed the Dick Butkus (top linebacker), Bronko Nagurski (top defender), Walter Camp (player of the year), Lombardi (lineman or linebacker), Chuck Bednarik (top defender), Maxwell (top player) and Lott IMPACT (defensive player who carries himself best on and off the field) trophies. Former Michigan star Charles Woodson won five national awards in 1997, including the Heisman. • Sophomore Kyle Brindza kicked the most field goals in one season for the Fighting Irish with 23. The previous record was 21 by John Carney in 1986. • Senior safety Zeke Motta's nine assisted tackles against Alabama tied a Notre Dame bowl record first set by Jay Case at the 1979 Cotton Bowl against Houston. • Senior Tyler Eifert became the alltime receptions and receiving yardage leader at Notre Dame among tight ends. He finished his career with 140 catches for 1,840 yards and 11 touchdowns. Both records were previously held by Ken MacAfee since 1977. 2012 RESULTS Date Opponent Score Attendance Sept. 1 vs. Navy* W, 50-10 48,820 Sept. 8 Purdue W, 20-17 80,795 Sept. 15 at Michigan State W, 20-3 79,219 Sept. 22 Michigan W, 13-6 80,795 Oct. 6 vs. Miami^ W, 41-3 62,871 Oct. 13 Stanford W, 20-13 (OT) 80,795 Oct. 20 BYU W, 17-14 80,795 Oct. 27 at Oklahoma W, 30-13 83,031 Nov. 3 Pittsburgh W, 29-26 (3OT) 80,795 Nov. 10 at Boston College W, 21-6 44,500 Nov. 17 Wake Forest W, 38-0 80,795 Nov. 24 at USC W, 22-13 93,607 Jan. 7 vs. Alabama$ L, 42-14 80,120 * at Aviva Stadium, Dublin, Ireland; ^ at Soldier Field in Chicago; $ BCS National Championship Game at Sun Life Stadium in Miami Tyler Eifert earned the John Mackey Award as the nation's top tight end while also often lining up out wide to create potential mismatches and open up other areas of the Notre Dame offense. PHOTO BY BILL PANZICA BLUE & GOLD ILLUSTRATED 2013 FOOTBALL PREVIEW 130-133.Year In Review.indd 131 ! 131 6/25/13 3:06 PM