Not to rain on what turned out to be a wonderfully entertaining parade for Notre Dame fans, but Saturday’s 20-17, you-had-to-see-it victory over UCLA masked some fairly serious flaws in the 6-1 Irish.
Brady Quinn got off the deck–literally–to take Notre Dame 80 yards in three plays with no timeouts to win it, hooking up with Jeff Samardzija on an improbable 45-yard TD strike with 27 seconds left.
That Quinn could muster the energy to direct such a drive was laudable. He had spent much of the afternoon either flat on his back or running for his life from a relentless UCLA pass rush that sacked him five times and belabored him constantly by simply outquicking his blockers.
Coach Charlie Weis described it as “a tough day at the office” for Notre Dame’s offensive line.
When Quinn was stuffed on a fourth-and-1 quarterback sneak at the UCLA 35 with 2:20 remaining, disconsolate Irish fans were left to ponder a holiday trip to, oh, Jacksonville, Fla., for the Gator Bowl.
But the Irish defense got the ball back, and Quinn and Samardzija took it from there.
“It came down to players making plays at the end,” Weis said.
As for the flaws–the Irish managed 41 yards on 35 rushes, were 4-for-19 on third down, against a middle-of-the-pack Pac-10 team, etc.–that’s a problem for another day.
“No way am I unhappy with today’s performance,” Weis said. “Eighty yards, no timeouts, a touchdown with less than a minute remaining–sign me up for a bunch of those.”
