Notre Dame could have ‘gone sideways,’ instead it’s still fighting
-
Mark Schlabach, ESPN Senior Writer
MIAMI GARDENS, Fla. — On Sept. 7, Notre Dame fell to Northern Illinois, a 28-point underdog, in one of the most stunning defeats in the program’s storied history.
The then-No. 5 Fighting Irish not only lost to the Huskies at home, but they were manhandled by a Mid-American Conference program that had never beaten an AP top-10 opponent. Northern Illinois outgained the Irish 388-286 in total yardage, converted twice as many first downs, allowed just two plays longer than 19 yards and blocked two field goals.
For the Fighting Irish, who had won 23-13 at Texas A&M in their opener a week before, their season could have been over as it barely started.
“It could have gone sideways fast,” Notre Dame defensive coordinator Al Golden said.
Four months later, the Fighting Irish are somehow one victory away from capturing their first national championship in 36 years.
Notre Dame defeated Penn State 27-24 on Mitch Jeter‘s 41-yard field goal with seven seconds left in a College Football Playoff semifinal at the Capital One Orange Bowl on Thursday night.
The No. 7 Fighting Irish will play the winner of Friday’s other semifinal between No. 5 Texas and No. 8 Ohio State at the Goodyear Cotton Bowl Classic in the Jan. 20 CFP National Championship presented by AT&T.
The team that couldn’t beat a four-touchdown underdog at home has now won 13 consecutive games — with a chance for one more, the biggest of them all.
“I often tell them, in your lowest moments you find out the most about yourself,” Notre Dame coach Marcus Freeman said. “We’ve had low moments, but we had a really low moment Week 2, and these guys battled. We’ve got great leaders. We’ve got great players that chose to put this university and this football program in front of themselves.”
Notre Dame’s coaches and players credit Freeman, who turned 39 at midnight after the game, with keeping the Irish on track after their stunning loss to Northern Illinois. It was an arduous task for a former defensive coordinator who had never been a head coach until he was promoted on Dec. 3, 2021, to replace Brian Kelly, who left for LSU.
“He handled it magnificently,” Golden said. “Just being in that situation, being in that chair like that, that’s tough. There’s no escape from it, but it never got to the locker room. It never got to the team meeting room. He handled all the stress and all the pressure internally, and was the leader that we all needed at that moment.”
Freeman didn’t want the Fighting Irish to wipe the pain of losing to Northern Illinois from their memory. He wanted them to embrace the adversity to remember that they can never take anything for granted.
Freeman’s message to his team was simple: Keep the pain. Don’t let it go.
“I think it really caused us to lock the locker room door and say, ‘Hey, it’s just us. The people in this room are the only things that matter,'” linebacker Jack Kiser said. “I think Coach Freeman’s message and mentality through the rest of the year kind of echoed that.”
The day after the loss to Northern Illinois, defensive tackle Howard Cross III huddled with Freeman and quarterback Riley Leonard.
“It’s the second game of the season,” Cross told them. “I’m not going to go belly up in the second game of the season. We need to keep pushing.”
The Irish won their next 12 games by an average of 27.5 points. Only one of them, a 31-24 victory over Louisville, was decided by fewer than 10.
After reaching the CFP, Notre Dame defeated Indiana 27-17 in a first-round game on Dec. 20, then Georgia 23-10 in a quarterfinal game at the Allstate Sugar Bowl on Jan. 2.
“I think you learn the most about your team and the guys around you at the lowest points, and we showed who we were after that game,” said receiver Jordan Faison. “After that loss, it was devastating. Everyone felt bad about it, but being able to bounce back kind of shows the team and the grit we’ve got.”
The scar tissue from 124 days ago is what helped the Irish overcome season-ending injuries to several of their best players, including All-American cornerback Benjamin Morrison and star pass rusher Rylie Mills.
It’s what helped them overcome injuries in their victory over Penn State. With the Irish trailing 10-0 late in the first half, Leonard had to leave the game after he was hit by defensive tackle Dvon J-Thomas on an incomplete pass. They lost two starting offensive linemen, left tackle Anthonie Knapp and right guard Rocco Spindler, to injuries as well.
While Leonard was being examined for a potential concussion, backup quarterback Steve Angeli came off the bench and led the Irish on a 13-play scoring drive. Jeter kicked a 41-yard field goal on the final play of the half to make it 10-3.
Angeli had attempted only 28 passes this season before Thursday. He completed 6 of 7 attempts for 44 yards on his lone possession.
“We had a lot of confidence in Steve and what he can do, and we weren’t just going to put him in there to hand the ball off,” Freeman said. “We were going to go to try to score, and we ended up scoring three points.”
Leonard cleared concussion protocol at halftime and returned in the second half. He scored on a 3-yard run on the opening drive to tie the score at 10.
The Irish went ahead 17-10 on Jeremiyah Love‘s 2-yard run on the third play of the fourth quarter. But then Penn State tied the score on Nicholas Singleton’s 7-yard run with 10:20 to play.
After Leonard threw his second interception on the next play, Singleton scored again to give the Nittany Lions a 24-17 lead with 7:55 to play.
With less than five minutes remaining, Leonard threw a 54-yard touchdown to Jaden Greathouse, who was wide open after cornerback Cam Miller fell down. Greathouse juked safety Jaylen Reed and ran into the end zone to tie the score at 24.
Leonard completed 15 of 23 passes for 223 yards with one touchdown and two interceptions. He led the Irish on four scoring drives in the second half.
“He’s a competitor, and competitors find a way to win, and that’s what Riley does,” Freeman said. “That’s what this team does.”
It seemed like the game was headed to overtime after both teams punted in the final minutes.
But with 35 seconds left, Penn State quarterback Drew Allar tried to throw a pass away. Safety Jaylen Sneed hit Allar as he threw, and cornerback Christian Gray intercepted the ball at the Penn State 42 to set up Jeter’s winning field goal.
“That’s what Christian Gray does,” Freeman said. “He makes plays when it matters the most.”
The Fighting Irish will have to make a few more big plays against Ohio State or Texas if they’re going to win their first national championship since 1988. They’ll likely be underdogs in Atlanta, especially if they’re playing the high-powered Buckeyes, but they wouldn’t have it any other way.
“To see how far we’ve come after the hiccup early on, just to know that we have one more guaranteed, one last one guaranteed, it’s just so exciting,” Kiser said.
The Fighting Irish believe they wouldn’t be playing for a national title if they hadn’t been tested like few other teams.
The team that wouldn’t quit somehow keeps winning.
“The time you’re tested the most is when you’re at your lowest point,” Freeman said. “We lose to Northern Illinois and you’ve got a decision: Do I want to be selfless, or am I going to put individual glory ahead of myself? I hope the nation sees no matter what the situation was, this team continues to put Notre Dame in front of [itself].”
BROOKLYN, Mich. — Denny Hamlin is unfazed that a three-judge federal appellate panel vacated an injunction that required NASCAR to recognize 23XI, which he owns with Michael Jordan, and Front Row as chartered teams as part of an antitrust lawsuit.
“That’s just such a small part of the entire litigation,” Hamlin said Saturday, a day ahead of the FireKeepers Casino 400. “I’m not deterred at all. We’re in good shape.”
Hamlin said Jordan feels the same way.
“He just remains very confident, just like I do,” Hamiln said.
NASCAR has not commented on the latest ruling.
23XI and Front Row sued NASCAR late last year after refusing to sign new agreements on charter renewals. They asked for a temporary injunction that would recognize them as chartered teams for this season, but the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals in Richmond, Virginia, on Thursday ruled in NASCAR’s favor.
“We’re looking at all options right now,” Hamlin said.
The teams, each winless this year, said they needed the injunction because the current charter agreement prohibits them from suing NASCAR. 23XI also argued it would be harmed because Tyler Reddick’s contract would have made him a free agent if the team could not guarantee him a charter-protected car.
Hamlin insisted he’s not worried about losing drivers because of the uncertainty.
“I’m not focused on that particularly right this second,” he said.
Reddick, who was last year’s regular-season champion and competed for the Cup title in November, enters the race Sunday at Michigan ranked sixth in the Cup Series standings.
The charter system is similar to franchises in other sports, but the charters are revocable by NASCAR and have expiration dates.
The six teams may have to compete as “open” cars and would have to qualify on speed each week to make the race and would receive a fraction of the money.
Without a charter, Hamlin said it would cost the teams “tens of millions,” to run three cars.
“We’re committed to run this season open if we have to,” he said. “We’re going to race and fulfill all of our commitments no matter what. We’re here to race. Our team is going to be here for the long haul and we’re confident of that.”
The antitrust case isn’t scheduled to be heard until December.
NASCAR has not said what it would do with the six charters held by the two organizations if they are returned to the sanctioning body. There are 36 chartered cars for a 40-car field.
“We feel like facts were on our side,” Hamlin said. “I think if you listen to the judges, even they mentioned that we might be in pretty good shape.”
-
Sports3 years ago‘Storybook stuff’: Inside the night Bryce Harper sent the Phillies to the World Series
-
Sports1 year agoStory injured on diving stop, exits Red Sox game
-
Sports2 years agoGame 1 of WS least-watched in recorded history
-
Sports2 years agoMLB Rank 2023: Ranking baseball’s top 100 players
-
Sports4 years ago
Team Europe easily wins 4th straight Laver Cup
-
Environment2 years agoJapan and South Korea have a lot at stake in a free and open South China Sea
-
Environment2 years agoGame-changing Lectric XPedition launched as affordable electric cargo bike
-
Business3 years agoBank of England’s extraordinary response to government policy is almost unthinkable | Ed Conway