Last week, Notre Dame survived against a scrappy Purdue team despite missing several key players. Ten years ago this week, the Irish played one of the zaniest games of the last 20 years against upstart Washington.

A Sark Attack

The 2008 Washington Huskies might have been the worst major conference team of the BCS era. Ty Willingham’s final team finished 0-12 and lost an incomprehensible nine games by 20 points or more. It was just about the most hopeless situation in college football when UW hired away USC’s offensive coordinator in Steve Sarkisian.

By the time Notre Dame was set to play the Huskies, Sarkisian had worked a minor miracle. Washington had beaten #3 USC  (sans Matt Barkley) and were already on pace to win more games in a single season than Willingham did in Seattle. Jake Locker was already starting to get some NFL Draft hype around this time because of his #physicaltools and Chris Polk would turn into an excellent college running back. Yet the Huskies were also extremely young and coming off a bad loss to Cal. The national media assumed they were still a year or two away from becoming serious contenders.

Notre Dame was a 12-point favorite in this game with Armando Allen returning to the lineup and Clausen having a week to heal from his turf toe. With a closer to full-strength team, the Irish were expected to roll at home. However, this was no longer UW in the image of Ty Willingham…

Game Highlights

*If you would like to watch the game in its entirety, click here. If you want DownInTheBend’s condensed games from the 2009 season, you can find those here.

Some Thoughts

  • Whew, this game was a marathon. This has always been one of my favorite Weis-Era games if only because it was just so entertaining from start to finish. It was a joy to re-watch knowing the outcome. Another historical footnote: this was Notre Dame’s first ever overtime victory.
  • Golden Tate was an absolute maniac in this game with nine catches for 244 yards and a 31-yard run off a reverse. Has there ever been a Notre Dame receiver who was that good at breaking tackles? It should come as no surprise that he consistently leads the NFL in yards after catch every year.
  • I always get a kick out of Pat Haden calling Harrison Smith “Harrison Ford” after Smith knocked the ball loose on Washington’s final play. Also is there any doubt that would be ruled targeting in today’s game?
  • The Irish defense went back to being bad, giving up 457 yards. Chris Polk ran through approximately 80 tackles in this game and Locker looked like an NFL quarterback against the likes of Sergio Brown and Darrin Walls.
  • However, they managed to avoid more damage by pulling off two of the most incredible goal-line stands in Irish history. More on that below.
  • This is the game where I believe Charlie Weis lost his nerve a little bit. The Irish offense was nearly unstoppable throughout, except Weis kicked five field goals inside the 25-yard line. Weis had gone for it on 4th down seven times already in 2009 after being one of the most aggressive coaches in the nation while at ND. In this game? Zero 4th down attempts, despite the Irish trailing throughout the second half. For some reason, he eschewed his aggressive nature and it nearly cost the Irish a crucial game.
  • With Armando Allen still gimpy, Robert Hughes ran well again with 8 carries for 70 yards. Maybe Weis should’ve played that guy more?
  • That Washington team had some serious talent at the skill positions. Locker, Polk, Jermaine Kearse and D’Andre Goodwin have all played in the NFL as of 2019.

Beyond Comprehension

If you were any neutral observer, this would have been a phenomenally fun game to watch. If you were an ND fan, this was one of the most torturous games you could ever sit through. Ultimately, it was one of the zaniest contests of the Weis Era and of the last 30 years of Notre Dame football.

The Irish offense was powerful once again following an off-week against Purdue, except they could not score in the red zone and finished 2-10 on third down. Yet, when touchdowns were required at the end of the fourth quarter and overtime, Clausen and Co. delivered. As mentioned earlier, Tate was a destroyer of worlds while Kyle Rudolph boxed out a defender for a touchdown in the last minute and a half. Who knew those guys would turn out to be good pros?

While the Irish defense was mostly poor once again, they came up with perhaps the two most unlikely goal line stands in Notre Dame football history. The first came with the Huskies leading 24-19 at the end of the third quarter and the defense stopping four plays inside the five-yard line. The second was even more ridiculous, with Tenuta’s sieve of a defense somehow surviving eight consecutive plays from inside the three-yard line. Eight straight stops for ND’s worst defense of the SP+ Era! I wonder what Manti Te’o would’ve thought at the time if he’d been told that this game wouldn’t even crack the top-three of his most memorable goal line stands at Notre Dame.

The defense still almost gave the game away at the end of regulation by letting Washington drive for a field goal, but Harrison Smith saved the day in overtime by obliterating Goodwin right at the goal line on Locker’s Hail Mary. Like I said before, it would definitely be targeting in 2019, but just admire this hit for what it was at the time.

 

The Nemesis on Deck

It’s unfortunate this game has been somewhat forgotten, much like the 2009 season itself has slipped from the collective conscious. And while the Irish almost lost to an eventual 5-7 team while being favored by two scores, this contest’s greatness should be recognized. It featured the best performance of one of Notre Dame’s GOAT wide receivers and a double goal line stand, an exceedingly rare combination. Add in Clausen fighting through injury to throw for 422 yards in the rainy conditions and and you’ve got an instant classic.

There would be no respite for the Irish, because next week was the big one. #6 USC was coming to South Bend and we didn’t know yet that this would be Pete Carroll’s last year in LA. They looked like title contenders once again and this was the ultimate “show me” game for Charlie Weis after three straight blowout losses at the hands of the Trojans. After playing four consecutive barn-burners, Weis’ final team would now have to slay the ultimate dragon…

Other Things that Happened that Week

  • Michigan lost in overtime to Michigan State 26-20 as Tate Forcier’s September Heisman campaign mercifully came to an end.
  • One week after Miami got trucked by Virginia Tech, the Canes beat #8 Oklahoma at home. The U was back! Again!
  • #4 LSU beat #18 Georgia in Athens thanks in part to two touchdowns in the last three minutes and a controversial excessive celebration call.
  • Twelfth-ranked and undefeated Houston lost to UTEP in an all-time shootout. Case Keenum threw for 576 yards and five touchdowns in a losing effort.
  • It was a quiet week for the 8th ranked Fighting Kelly’s as they beat an awful Miami (OH) team. However, their next game would be against the undefeated USF Bulls in Tampa on October 15.