An All-Time Classic
Wow. What a game. It is rare that a mega-hyped sporting event of any sort lives up to expectations; rarer still when the action far exceeds the talk.
USC-Notre Dame had it all. The No. 1-ranked, two-time defending national champion, on a 27-game win streak, on the road against the No. 9 team in the most famed intersectional rivalry in the sport, on the most hallowed field in the land. That's a lot to live up to, but it did.
The fourth quarter was absolutely off the charts. You knew when USC scored with 5:09 left, the Trojans hadn't put the game away. You knew when Notre Dame left 2:02 on the clock after regaining the lead, the game still wasn't finished. Even when USC lined up for a fourth-and-9 play deep in their own territory on the next drive, as suspenseful as the play was, you knew that somehow this game was going to come down to the final snap.
Then, as if the game needed any more drama, throw in the fact that if the Fighting Irish had not stripped Matt Leinart of the ball and knocked it out of bounds on the second-to-last play from scrimmage, time would have ran out and Notre Dame would have won. For that matter, if the ball had been stripped, crossed the plane, then gone out, it would have been a touchback and Notre Dame ball.
AND, do you think Pete Carroll maybe took mental notes that day over a decade ago when Dan Marino beat his New York Jets after a fake spike in the game's closing seconds? I know I fell for it when Carroll made the signal to down the ball, the whole stadium fell for it, Notre Dame fell for it. That was one of the gutsiest calls I've ever seen in my life. The Irish basically got caught napping. Excuse me while I take a moment to scoff at everyone who has ever mocked Carroll over the years.
Big as that play was, though, the gutsiest call was that 4th-and-9 audible called by Leinart to Dwayne Jarrett in coverage for a 61-yard gain while the Notre Dame Stadium crowd was making a ridiculous amount of noise. That goes right on the short list of the most clutch plays we'll ever see in sports in our lifetime.
And it sure seemed like Leinart was constantly being tended to on the sidelines during the second half, so he must have been playing hurt.
What a game.
Oh, and any AP voters that drop Notre Dame out of the top 10 after an effort like that deserves to have their ballot revoked. Rarely has a team earned esteem in a losing effort like the Irish did on Saturday. And boy is Charlie Weis going to have a monster recruiting season this winter.
Going into Saturday, I personally consider the following to be the five best football games I've ever seen in my life, in no particular order:
Super Bowl XXXVI -- The Patriots beat the Rams and join the Super Bowl III Jets as the biggest upset-makers in Super Bowl history.
Super Bowl XXXVIII -- The Patriots beat the Panthers in the sort of game the Super Bowl should be every year but rarely ends up as.
The Flutie Game, 1984 -- I don't even really have to give the details on this one, do I? Boston College's win over Miami on a Hail Mary was the reason why an entire generation of Bostonians think Doug Flutie is the greatest football player of all-time and will not engage in rational discussions on the subject.
BC beats Notre Dame, 1993 -- Same atmosphere as Saturday's game, except the underdog won this one.
San Diego 41, Miami 38, overtime, 1982 playoffs -- This was the game that hooked me on football as a kid. San Diego goes up 24-0 out of the gate. Miami ties it by halftime. 1,036 yards total offense. Rolf Bernirschke kicks the game winning field-goal 13 minutes into overtime.
Obviously, there's a heavy Boston bias here, which is why I'm calling this my own personal top five and not trying to claim this is any sort of definitive deal. I'm not sure this game will have the historical impact of the rest, but for pure excitement while the game was happening, it is not hype to call today's game one of the all-time greats.
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