Our Lady Shows Her Courage When It's Needed in 31-21 North West Subjugation | Our Lady Insider Football

This may be because the Notre Dame ensemble still feels like a complex mathematical problem after the Irish defeated the Big Ten West Northwestern leader and themselves in a test drive. -21 Saturday night at Ryan Field.

From side to side you can see the higher ceiling that still looks very real and achievable. In others, you can see warts that do not disappear yet.

In critical moments, however, you might see the mental strength that will make it necessary for the 17th Notre Dame 9-0 football team to evolve beyond the school's history. .

"They have been like that all year," said ND coach Brian Kelly. "They play one piece at a time. They do not go too high. They do not get too low. "

The mental loss suffered by a Notre Dame team in the playoffs last November was more evident on Saturday night when the Irish needed it the most, especially after Northwestern (5-4) blocked a draw at 8: 57 and cashed 112 seconds later, Clayton Thorson sneaks into the fourth quarterback.

TD reduced its deficit to 24-21 and made the Wildcats dream to win their first win against an opponent ranked among the top five in the AP since Ara Parseghian, Irish coaching icon, l & # 39; Two weeks earlier to open the 1959 season was at Northwestern. He also removed his future employer later this season on the South Bend road.

But the Irish offensive responded with a 89-yard, 10-game run, crowned by a 23-yard run by Ian Book on a misleading game that brought the Irish home to 10, at 2:45. The ND defense finally ended the situation by toppling the Northwest on its own territory to take possession of the ball.

Irish midfielder Julian Love played against Chicagoland's 7-on-7 teammate Flynn Nagel in a quarter of the first try.

In total, the ND defense held its third opponent of the season under 249 yards, recording five sacks, limiting the Wildcats to five conversions in three attempts in 15 attempts and 3.6 yards per game (equalizing the season's highest score). defense).

"When we were only three by three, everyone was pacing, screaming at each other, motivating each other," we're going, "says Love.

"Our defense is like waking a sleeping beast when the games are tight."

The Irish defense also helped the Irish disaster avoid disaster in the first moments of the match. The book fumbled after pretending to give the ball to halfback Dexter Williams, and Blake Gallagher of Northwestern recovered 35 meters from Notre Dame's goal zone.

Six games later, Drew Luckenbaugh missed a 39-yard placement.

"Just a missed communication," said Book. "It happens sometimes, but it sucks to start like this. Again, it's something you have to forget about and move on, and I think the whole team did that. "

Maybe nobody is better than Book. Faced with the most effective pass-level defense with which he has faced in seven career starts (46th nationally), the junior had a sluggish start and finished with a record 343 yards.

Book was at his best in the third quarter, when he completed 11 of 14 passes for 195 yards and two touchdowns as the Irish turned a 7-7 tie at half-time into a 21-7 lead before the fourth quarter.

For the first time as a starter, Book did not complete 70% or more of his passes in a match, but at 64.7% (22 of 34) he was not very far away.

"He made those adjustments," said Kelly after the first half of Book-7's out of 15. "It would probably have taken a film study to make those adjustments (earlier in the season), then they would likely get into action the following week.

"He can do them at half-time. You can sit, examine with them, train them. He can see them clearly and then access those immediately in the third quarter. "

Junior Chase Claypool contributed to this process with records of eight receptions and 130 yards. Michael Young (47 yards) and Mikes Boykin (20 yards) had TD receptions.

"Chase did great," said the book. "I know how hard he works to practice. He must have had a big night tonight.

Drue Tranquill, linebacker, apparently did not appear. But he had one.

A week after the captain had a sprained ankle in a 44-22 victory over the Navy, second-year Jordan Genmark Heath took his place. But Tranquill, ND's second striker to make his debut, played inspired football in a limited role and made five tackles.

"I looked and saw Drue next to me, and I was so confused," Love said. "I thought he was hurt. But the type of competitor that he is, he really wanted to lead this team and he did it. He has fought a lot to be on the ground today. "

Kelly added, "We did not know exactly what he could do before the game. He did a lot more than we thought we could do. He is remarkable. "

What was not so remarkable is an unrealistic Irish game: 121 yards on 40 staves (3.0) on average; Race defense in the ND at times – rookie Isaiah Bowser had 93 yards in 23 races; and the special teams blunder beyond the blocked punt.

"We just have to pay more attention to detail," said Kelly. "We put our best players on the field, and they must be better every moment."

But the mental capacity to achieve this goal, as well as to smooth out the other asperities, seems to be there.

"Last year we were in the same position and we were not able to stay focused," said linebacker Te'von Coney, who scored two sacks among his 10 tackles. "We looked ahead and it cost us.

"In the off season, we have trained to be more focused and we are doing a great job to stay in the moment."