College Football

Escape Artists

Despite another dramatic comeback victory, Notre Dame is still struggling to prove it deserves a spot in the BCS

WHY WAS this man smiling? Notre Dame right guard Bob Morton was part of a line that had surrendered five sacks, paved the way for a measly 41 rushing yards and generally made UCLA defensive ends Justin Hickman and Bruce Davis look like modern-day versions of Carl Eller and Deacon Jones. "As much as I'm not going to enjoy watching film tomorrow," declared the redheaded senior, "I had more fun playing this game than I've had in five years at Notre Dame."

While Morton appreciated the skill and sportsmanship of the Bruins' front four, whom he described as "the classiest group I've ever played against," he was more appreciative of the outcome last Saturday, a 20--17 victory that the Fighting Irish flat out stole from the visitors, who led 17--13 with 62 seconds left.

Thanks to intense pressure from Hickman (three sacks) and Davis (two) and drum-tight secondary play, the Bruins had smothered quarterback Brady Quinn and the Notre Dame offense for 59 minutes. Until that point, Quinn had completed two passes of more than 13 yards to his wide receivers.

Everything changed in the next 35 seconds. First, Quinn found senior wideout Jeff Samardzija for 21 yards up the right sideline. Then he hit David Grimes, a slight sophomore, for 14 yards. Finally, from the Bruins' 45, Quinn dropped back, scanned the field and pump-faked to buy himself an extra moment. It was just enough to discombobulate the Bruins. He hit Samardzija in stride near the UCLA 30, and the receiver eluded lunging linebacker Christian Taylor, cut inside free safety Dennis Keyes and danced into the end zone for the game-winning touchdown. It was Samardzija's second TD of the game and the 22nd of his career.

"No timeouts, they have to go 80 yards," muttered a disgusted Hickman after the game, "and they do it in three plays."

"Don't let all the Notre Dame hype fool you," added Davis. "They could've been beaten. They should've been beaten."

Fair point: It's past time to admit that Notre Dame's lofty preseason ranking—SI put the Irish at No. 2—was unreasonably high. Notre Dame, now 6--1 and ranked ninth in the BCS standings, has issues on both sides of the ball. Although seven starters returned from last year's explosive offense, the Irish have lost much of their quick-strike capability. "Teams want to take away the deep ball, the big play, take away our outside guys and force us underneath," Quinn said after a game in which he completed 27 of 45 passes for 304 yards. "We're more than willing to do that."

Indeed, before that game-winning series Notre Dame's previous two scoring drives were 19 and 14 plays. The characteristics of this squad seem to be patience, composure and grit. For the second time this season the Irish won a game they seemed assured of losing. The win over UCLA was only slightly less dramatic than the 16-point, fourth-quarter deficit the Irish overcame against Michigan State on Sept. 23.