Plenty Of Breathing Room

Close games had become the rule for Notre Dame during the 2009 season. Washington State, not surprisingly, was the exception.

Facing the weakest opponent on their schedule, the Fighting Irish dominated in every facet of the game and rolled to a 40-14 victory over the Cougars before a “home” crowd of 53,407 at the Alamodome in San Antonio.

Notre Dame rolled up a staggering 416 yards of total offense in the first half and 592 overall. Junior quarterback Jimmy Clausen completed 22 of 27 passes for 268 yards and two scores before exiting late in the third quarter. He got plenty of help from a pair of classmates – Robert Hughes, replacing injured junior Armando Allen at tailback, rushed for 131 yards and added 51 on four receptions, while receiver Golden Tate amassed 141 total yards and added two scores (one rushing, one receiving).

Hughes came up five yards short of his career high with 131 yards against Washington State.

Defensively, the Irish were largely bulletproof against the toothless Cougars, allowing only 206 total yards. Much of that light damage was done on the two WSU scoring drives, both of which ended with touchdown passes from Jeff Tuel to Jared Karstetter.

First Quarter: Notre Dame, 9-0
Notre Dame’s defense needed less than a minute to get the Cougars off the field, forcing a punt that left the Irish in possession at their 44-yard line. Hughes pushed the ball into Washington State territory with a 15-yard run to the Cougar 40, and Clausen followed with consecutive 11-yard passes to Tate and sophomore tight end Kyle Rudolph.

The Irish would eventually advance as far as the WSU 4-yard line, but a fumble and an incomplete pass short-circuited the drive, and Notre Dame wound up settling for three points on a 29-yard field goal by freshman kicker Nick Tausch with 9:44 on the clock.

Following another three-and-out by the Cougars, the Irish were forced to kick it away, and a low snap led to a wobbly 10-yard punt by freshman Ben Turk. That gave Washington State its best field position of the period at its 43-yard line.

For the third time, WSU failed to move the sticks, and Notre Dame took over at its 20 after a punt into the end zone. Going to the Wildcat formation on three straight plays, the Irish got runs of 10 and 33 yards from Tate and a 12-yarder from Hughes to set up a first down at the Cougars’ 11-yard line. On 2nd-and-6 from the 7, Clausen rolled out and found junior wideout Duval Kamara open in the back of the end zone with 14 seconds left in the quarter.

Washington State blocked the extra point and nearly ran it back for two points, but junior tight end Mike Ragone was able to run down Chima Nwachukwu before he reached the other end zone.

The period ended with the Cougars picking up their only first down of the opening frame, moving forward to their 42-yard line as time expired.

The Big Moment: Tate’s 33-yard run helped awaken what had been a relatively stagnant Notre Dame offense, setting up the game’s first touchdown.

By The Numbers: Notre Dame dominated the period from every angle, outgaining the Cougars both on the ground (92-8) and through the air (45-11) en route to a 137-19 edge in total offense...Time of possession skewed heavily in favor of the Irish, 10:32 to 4:28.

Second Quarter: Notre Dame, 30-7
The Cougars quickly were forced into another punt as the period opened, and freshman tailback Theo Riddick got the Irish offense going again with runs of 6 and 14 yards to the Notre Dame 49. A short pass to Hughes put the Irish in WSU territory at the 37-yard line, and Clausen hooked up with Kamara two plays later for 17 yards to the 20.

On second down from the 16-yard line, Tate took a direct snap out of the Wildcat and bounced out to the left for a touchdown at the 9:29 mark. Tausch’s extra point made it a 16-0 game, and the floodgates began to feel as though they were opening up.

After Washington State’s fifth consecutive punt, the Irish embarked on their third straight touchdown drive. Clausen connected on short passes to Hughes for 16 yards and Tate for 21 yards, and Hughes followed with a 10-yard run to the Cougars’ 27-yard line. A face mask at the end of a Rudolph reception set up first-and-goal at the 8, and on third down Hughes leapt into a pile and over the goal line for a 1-yard touchdown with 4:02 to go in the half.

The Cougars finally got untracked offensively and responded with a quick scoring drive. Tuel capped the surge with 2:49 remaining by completing an 11-yard touchdown pass to Karstetter.

Penalties looked as though they would prevent the Irish from mounting a serious counterattack before the intermission, but on the final play of the half Clausen lobbed one from midfield to the end zone, and Tate leapt to snatch it in triple coverage for perhaps his most impressive highlight-reel touchdown yet.

The Big Moment: Tate’s grab sapped any momentum that the Cougars had gotten out of their lone touchdown drive and kept the blowout rolling.

By The Numbers: The Fighting Irish continued to control the game statistically, finishing the half with an incredible 416 yards of total offense while allowing just 104...Notre Dame had a large upper hand in rushing (151-55) and passing (265-49) yardage, first downs (23 to 6) and time of possession (19:51 to 10:09).

Third Quarter: Notre Dame, 33-7
The Irish got out to around midfield before stalling on their first drive of the second half, but Turk made up for his first-quarter gaffe by pinning the Cougars back at their 2-yard line. After a three-and-out, Notre Dame regained possession at the Washington State 45.

Clausen led the Irish offense all the way down to the 2-yard line, but he was tripped up on second-and-goal, aggravating his turf toe injury, and Notre Dame had to settle for a 23-yard field goal with 3:16 to go in the quarter. The kick was the 14th consecutive made field goal for Tausch, breaking the school record set by Mike Johnston back in 1982.

Tuel went for a big strike upfield on the Cougars’ next possession, but the rookie was intercepted by sophomore Robert Blanton at the Notre Dame 30-yard line. Sophomore quarterback Dayne Crist came on in relief of Clausen.

Hughes was able to pad his rushing total with a pair of double-digit bursts, but penalties again derailed the Irish offense, and Turk punted away to the WSU 16 in the closing minute. The Cougars ended the period at their 9-yard line.

The Big Moment: Washington State prevented the score from getting further out of hand with its quarterback sack in the red zone, holding the Irish to a field goal and essentially knocking Clausen out of the game.

By The Numbers: Notre Dame went into the final period with a solid advantage in every category on the stat sheet, including total offense (490-130), rushing (217-139), passing (273 to minus-9) and time of possession (32:41 to 12:19).

Fourth Quarter: Notre Dame, 40-14
Each team punted on its first possession of the period, but the Irish snapped out of their offensive lull with 10:01 remaining when Crist hit sophomore wideout John Goodman over the middle for a 64-yard score, the first career touchdown for each.

Junior nose tackle Ian Williams tipped and then intercepted a Tuel pass at the WSU 27-yard line. Notre Dame failed to convert, however, with Crist fumbling on third-and-long (appearing to injure his knee in the process) and giving the ball back to Washington State at its 35.

The Cougars cashed in on that miscue, driving 65 yards for another Tuel-to-Karstetter touchdown, this one from 9 yards out with 5:16 to go in the game.

Fifth-year senior Evan Sharpley came on as the third Irish quarterback, killing much of the remaining clock with handoffs to sophomore tailback Jonas Gray. Notre Dame advanced to the WSU 43-yard line before punting, and the Cougars were left to run out the final 1:03.

The Big Moment: With the outcome no longer in doubt, Goodman’s catch-and-run provided the only real excitement of the fourth period.

By The Numbers: The Irish finished with an incredible 40 minutes and 54 seconds in possession time, as well as a sizeable cushion in total offense (592 to 206)...Notre Dame outgained WSU on the ground, 255-102, and through the air, 337-104...The Irish picked up 33 first downs to 12 for the Cougars.