Greatest Notre Dame 11th-Hour Pass Plays: Numbers 20-19
In the media interview room shortly after Notre Dame’s 21-17 victory versus LSU in this year’s Jan. 1 Citrus Bowl, the moderator referred to junior receiver Miles Boykin’s 55-yard touchdown reception from sophomore quarterback Ian Book with 1:28 left in the game as a “catch that will go down as one of the great plays in Notre Dame history.”
Indeed, the sensational, one-handed, leaping grab in which Boykin broke one tackle and side-stepped two others on a deep sideline toss by Book — in which only Boykin could grab it — is one that will likely be talked about for decades in Fighting Irish lore.
Where would we rank it among the greatest and/or most famous 11th-hour pass plays at Notre Dame? We compiled a list of 20 predicated upon the following five criteria:
• Situation And Time Remaining — About Two Minutes Or Less
• Distance Covered
• Impact On The Season
• How Clutch And Dramatic Was It?
• Everlasting Memory Over Time
Our series through this month begins with Nos. 20 and 19 — both of which happened to occur in the Brian Kelly era (two of five from his regime in this top 20 countdown).
No. 20: Sept. 8, 2012: Notre Dame 20, Purdue 17
Situation: Trailing 17-7 in the fourth quarter at Notre Dame, the Boilermakers rally to knot the game at 17 with 2:12 left and have momentum on their side — especially when Kelly opts to insert No. 2 quarterback Tommy Rees in place of starter Everett Golson, who had set up Purdue’s 15-yard touchdown drive the previous series with a lost fumble in which he purportedly also injured his hand.
Rees is greeted with a loud chorus of boos by his home fans.
Clutch 11th-Hour Pass Play(s): On third-and-six from his 49-yard line, Rees under heavy duress floats a pass to John Goodman toward the Notre Dame sideline that looks like it could be intercepted for a pick six. Goodman shields the defender from the ball for an 11-yard grab. Three plays later on third-and-10, Rees rolls out and completes a 20-yard pass to Robby Toma to help set up Kyle Brindza’s 27-yard game-winning field goal with seven seconds left.
Amid the circumstances of coming in cold (after a one-game suspension for an off-the-field altercation) and shaking off the boos, it is a remarkably clutch effort by the current Irish quarterbacks coach.
Impact: Although Notre Dame was ranked only No. 22 at the time, this victory helps set the table for a 12-0 regular season that would place the Irish No. 1 entering the postseason. This is a highly underrated sequence (beginning at the 2:13 mark of the above video) from that campaign.
No. 19: Oct. 31, 2015: Notre Dame 24, Temple 20
Situation: No. 9 Notre Dame trails unbeaten and No. 21 Temple, 20-17 and faces second-and-10 at the Owls’ 17-yard line with 2:15 remaining.
Irish quarterback DeShone Kizer already had thrown two interceptions in the red zone against the stout Owls defense.
Clutch 11th-Hour Pass Play(s): Kizer drops back and looks toward the end zone to his favorite target, Will Fuller, who is going to be double-covered. The Irish signalcaller finds him on a perfectly placed back-shoulder completion past the goal line and near the right sideline for the game-winning touchdown with 2:09 remaining.
Impact: Notre Dame’s Playoff hopes are kept alive as it improves to 7-1 and eventually elevates to No. 4 in the month of November.
Tomorrow: Nos. 18-17.
----
• Talk about it inside Rockne's Roundtable
• Subscribe to our podcast on iTunes
• Learn more about our print and digital publication, Blue & Gold Illustrated.
• Follow us on Twitter: @BGINews, @BGI_LouSomogyi, @BGI_CoachD, @BGI_DMcKinney and @BGI_CoreyBodden.
• Like us on Facebook