Saturday’s 27-20 defeat by #8 Stanford in the balmy California clime was nothing to be ashamed of. Nix, Hardy, and Shumate didn’t even make the trip. Big Lou’s absence, especially, was felt time and again as the Cardinal’s Tyler Gaffney carried the ball thirty-three times for 189 yards and a touchdown. That the Irish were in it at all, and with a chance to tie late in the fourth quarter is credit to the players who were available.

As the 2013 season is dissected, much of the inquest’s ink will be spilled on Tommy Rees, whose performance was typical of his others this year. Two touchdowns, one to TJ Jones and one to Davaris Daniels, were offset by soul-shattering interceptions in the fourth quarter, the last of which dashed any hope of an Irish victory and followed a critical and unlikely stand by the defense, who somehow held Stanford and forced a three-and-out with 3:35 on the clock.

That the stage was thus set for another chapter to be penned in Irish lore was made clear when the Cardinal undid a rare mistake by Zack Martin, whose false start on third-and-four set up a difficult third-and nine. Call it fate, or luck, or karma, or the call of the phantom whistle, something made Stanford’s Josh Mauro jump offside, erasing the deficit and setting up the more manageable third-and-four all over again. 

That is, until Wayne Lyon made his second pick of the quarter. With that, it was over. Questions, what-if’s and visions of the Pinstripe Bowl were all that were left to dance in Irish heads.

Stanford held Irish runners in check, with Folston carrying the most and furthest (seventeen carries for only fifty yards). While Notre Dame had difficulty stopping Gaffney, in the red zone, they held, and forced field goals where touchdowns seemed likely. Benett Jackson and Austin Collinsworth each notched an interception as the Irish defense held and gave the offense plenty of opportunities.

So that’s it. It feels different, this, from last year. Four losses, once crowed as a sign of progress, now hang as albatrosses. Is there promise in the future? Clearly. Jaylon Smith, Folston, the Lil Admiral, and Davaris Daniels have been bled and earned their stripes and run whatever other gauntlet of cliches you can find. Whether Golson’s return will be enough to return Notre Dame to the BCS and make 2013 a one-off disappointment remains to be seen.

Relive it all here:

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Yesterday, against BYU, the Irish offered up a complete performance, whether tribute to themselves as seniors or as apology for last game’s clanger against Pitt is for them alone to know. It was also perfectly balanced, on the production end, as forty-seven rushing attempts and twenty-eight passing attempts turned out 235 yards in each column for a total 570 yards. And, it was perfect, too, as seniors shared the highlight reels with underclassmen Jarron Jones, Jaylon Smith, and Sheldon Day.

It was imperfect, though, if you believe, as I do, that the term “home-field advantage” should begin, at least, with the actual field itself. Yesterday, amid the romance of swirling snow and the dying of a blue November light, chunks of turf gave way to stymie TJ Jones and stifle runs by Folston and Atkinson. The 2013 BYU game should be remembered for many reasons. The deplorable turf should be one of them.

Notre Dame’s defense, maligned for reasons valid and not this year, played certainly well enough. They contained BYU’s quarterback, Tayson Hill, when they needed to, and held the BYU offense to 13 points, one touchdown and two field-goals, spread over the first and third quarters. In critical spot after critical spot in the fourth quarter and with the contest very much in the balance, the Irish front four were as stout as they were in any magic moment in the 2012 season of magical moments. They shattered Hill’s pocket on BYU’s final possession. Stephon Tuitt , who harried the BYU line all game, notched his sixth sack on the season by fighting through the Cougars’ left tackle and causing a six yard loss from the Notre Dame forty yard line with three minutes left. Sophomore Jarron Jones blocked what should have been a gimme field goal. Senior Austin Collinsworth picked up a timely interception.

Jaylon Smith, who wore Danny Spond’s number in his honor, was bright future in a snow globe as he continued to show why he electrified the recruiting services not that long ago. He blocked a pass and picked up three solo tackles, being everywhere at once. That he failed to sack Tayson Hill is probably less due to Smith’s inexperience than it is to Hill’s ability to run. It bears noting that Hill ran for 101 yards in Notre Dame while Johnny Football only managed fifty-four yards in Baton Rouge.

The touchdowns, perhaps due to the turf, the snow, the dark of night, or Notre Dame, all came in the first quarter. Tommy Rees, in his final home appearance, connected for sixty-one yards to Davaris Daniels, who then stunned fourteen year old girls around the country by breaking out a Hunger Games 2 salute or something. That’s what the kids on Twitter said. Daniels appeared to be Tommy’s target du jour, but TJ Jones, also for the last time on the auld sod, collected a couple of long passes, the first of which was a thirty yard toss that set up a short touchdown run by Tarean Folston. From that point, it was Kyle Brindza’s day (or night) (however you classify a game played out under the lights in the pitch dark) and he responded by connecting twice from twenty-six yards and once from eleven hundred and six, with storm force winds in his face and icicles hanging from his facemask.

The Irish ran the ball well, despite the field conditions. Folston and Atkinson gashed the Cougars for long gains, with Atkinson specifically turning out a noteworthy and uncharacteristically tough run. Cam McDaniel had 117 yards on the day and was only denied a long run for a touchdown by his lack of break-away speed. That any of this, or Tommy’s day, was done against a very well-regarded defensive unit is credit to Zack Martin and the Irish offensive line, who are playing as well as any in the country.

As time expired along with their final appearance, emotions took over. For Schwenke and Fox, Shembo and Tuitt and Rees, this was the final singing of Notre Dame, Our Mother and for the fans, the last time to chant their names. That the crowd chose to sing for Tommy and whether they meant fond farewell or good riddance or some combination of the two is for them, individually, alone to know.

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The Middies executed a terrific game plan, rushing for 331 yards. Navy did not turn the ball over and had no penalties on the day. Navy’s quarterback Keenan Reynolds found advantage through the air in the Fourth Quarter, picking up thirty-four of Navy’s eighty-eight total passing yards on a dagger strike to Matt Aiken and a touchdown to take the lead 34-31. It was, though, a critical flub on second-and-five on the Notre Dame thirty-four that ultimately gave the game to the Irish.

The muffed pitch resulted in a nine-yard loss. Trailing 34-38, the Middies passed for ten yards on third down, setting up a fourth and four. Navy ran a reverse to the left, appeared to have the defense fooled, but Notre Dame’s freshman phenom Jaylon Smith exploded into the picture and corralled Navy’s Shawn Lynch for no gain. ND took over on downs and ran out the clock.

Tommy Rees had some tough moments to go with his high-light material, which included pretty touches to TJ Jones and Ben Koyack. DaVaris Daniels and CJ Prosise had nice grabs, too. Corey Robinson, The Admiral’s son, did his best USS Zumwalt impersonation. Tommy had two picks on the day, one of which resulted in a Navy scoring drive. (Author’s note: when I wrote this post Sunday morning, Robinson was listed as Did Not Play. See the Comments, below).

It was the Irish running backs, and Folston in particular, who were the real story. GAIII jogged for thirty-three yards on the opening kick off and scored a touchdown on a forty-one yard run for ND’s first score. Illustrative of his second-half performance were Folston’s runs of 15, 15 and 14 yards in a single drive in the fourth quarter. He had a leaping one yard touchdown after almost scoring on the previous play to cap the day.

Injuries hit the Irish hard, who started the day without Big Lou in the middle. By the end of the game, Kona Schwenke, Sheldon Day and Ben Councell had joined him on the sidelines. Schwenke, it bears noting, had a huge day with eleven tackles, setting up Jaylon Smith for a huge tackle for loss on one particularly terrific play. Coach Kelly had little information post-game on the players’ status, though he referred to the locker room as “a triage.”

In any event, it was a win and another step closer to a BCS-berth. With Texas Tech and Michigan (hahahahahahahahahaha) picking up their third losses on the season, the Irish should rise in the BCS standings, where they sat at twenty-five going into Saturday.

Here are the highlights:

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Tommy Rees’s night started promisingly enough, leading the Irish on a seventy-plus yard opening drive that ended in a failed fourth-and-goal conversion attempt from the one yard line. On the play, USC’s Su’a Cravens blasted through the end and blew up Cam McDaniel three yards in the backfield. There was an emotional appeal to the play call itself, with the opportunity it presented to finish off a dominating drive with a touchdown that would have certainly amped up an already excited team and home crowd. That said, putting the issue on Kyle Brindza’s foot may have been the smarter call.

As it went, Tommy didn’t have to do much, but what he did, he did well. He finished the evening with 166 yards, no interceptions and two touchdowns, one to USC-offeree Troy Niklas and one to TJ Jones. He left the game, however, midway through the third quarter with what Coach Kelly called “neck strain” after being sacked. His condition won’t be known until Monday and his availability for the Air Force game is unknown. 

Andrew Hendrix’s performance in relief was not good, and Kelly’s concern was palpable in his remarks after the game. The ND offense was almost completely neutered once Rees left the game. Hendrix was awful throwing the ball and only slightly better running. If Rees is in fact gone for the next game or several games, Notre Dame’s offense may regress severely.

It was, then, very much a game won by the defense, who used the bye week to good effect. Jaylon Smith notched his first career interception while Louis Nix plugged up the middle well and broke up a pass. NBC’s Mike Mayock may have even used the phrase “butt control” in referring to Nix’s performance, but my notes are blurred by spilled Trojan Blood. Stephon Tuitt, on the heels of a minor “is he or isn’t he?” controversy, was rampant, picking up two sacks and seven tackles to go with a pass block of his own. Given the offensive talent USC brought into the game, it is rather remarkable that they did not score in the second half and went 0-11 on third down after the opening drive. USC came into the game averaging twenty-eight points per game.

Southern Cal was clearly a team worn down by injury and the symptoms of scholarship reductions. Marqise Lee, the all-world receiver, started the game, but left and did not play in the second half. They missed two field goals, one terribly to the right. Their offense couldn’t get anything done. Note that in its win over Arizona, the Trojans ran the ball for 249 yards and passed for 297 yards. Against ND last night, they could only muster 129 rushing yards and 166 yards through the air. 

This was a huge win for Notre Dame, who hosted a bevvy of recruits and representatives from the Sugar and Fiesta bowls. By putting the ghosts of home losses past in the past, Notre Dame has positioned itself for a run to the BCS, if Tommy Rees is capable of coming back effectively. If not, the coaching staff will earn their money over the next few days, by either ramping up Andrew Hendrix, or burning Malik Zaire’s redshirt.  

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