Sophomore quarterback Ian Book started the second half and rallied Notre Dame from a 14-6 fourth-quarter deficit with two touchdown passes, the latter a 55-yarder to junior Miles Boykin, who made a superb one-handed stab with 1:28 remaining, to lift the Fighting Irish (10-3) to a 21-17 victory versus LSU (9-4) in the Citrus Bowl.
Boykin (three catches, 102 yards, one TD) was named Citrus Bowl MVP on a unit that had lost three of its top four pass catchers to suspension or injury.
Earlier in the quarter, Book found freshman Michael Young on a six-yard touchdown and then tied the game at 14 with a two-point shovel pass to junior running back Josh Adams that knotted the game at 14.
Book finished the game 14-of-19 passing for 164 yards and the two scores, and added 36 yards rushing on 11 carries. Inserted near the end of the first half to run the two-minute drill in a scoreless game, Book led the Irish to a field goal and then played the entire second half.
The victory ended Notre Dame’s nine-game losing streak in January games and enabled the Irish to post their second 10-win season in three years, and only their third in the last 11.
“We stayed calm and everybody did their job,” Book told ABC-TV right after the game. “Hats off to the 10 other guys on offense. They made it easy for me.
“We’ve been rebuilding since January and to get 10 wins just shows hard work paid off. It’s a great way to start off the New Year.”
Here is the game summary by quarter:
FIRST QUARTER: Notre Dame 0, LSU 0
Top Moment: On the game’s opening series, Adams was thrown for a three-yard loss on fourth-and-one at the LSU 31. The drive was set up with a 35-yard pass from junior starting quarterback Brandon Wimbush to classmate Equanimeous St. Brown on the first play.
Feature Performer: Notre Dame sophomore cornerback Julian Love had excellent coverage on LSU’s first play in which the Tigers went deep, broke up a pass to end the second series, and forced an incomplete pass on third down on the third Tigers possession.
Stats: Notre Dame totaled 102 yards total offense (52 passing, 50 rushing), and LSU 77 (51 rushing, 26 passing).
Miscellaneous: LSU Josh Growden and Notre Dame’s Tyler Newsome both had pooch punts that resulted in the Irish starting at the two-yard line and the Tigers at the three-yard line … Notre Dame’s four series in the quarter began on its own 25-, two-, 13- and 10-yard lines.
LSU fumbled twice, once on a punt snap and then by DJ Chark on a punt return, but the Tigers recovered the ball both times in their territory.
SECOND QUARTER: Notre Dame 3, LSU 0
Top Moment: Halfway through the quarter, the Tigers had second-and-goal at the Irish two, but gained only one yard on second down and could not quarterback sneak in the football on third down. On fourth down, LSU fullback Tory Carter was called for illegal motion, forcing a fourth-down field goal attempt by Connor Culp that went wide right with 7:45 left.
Feature Performer: Notre Dame’s red-zone defense effectiveness helped result in two missed field goals by LSU.
The second miss came from Jack Gonsoulin from 37 yards with 2:00 left after LSU had a first-and-10 at the Irish 19. No gain on first down and a tackle for an eight-yard loss by senior rover Drue Tranquill helped stifle the drive.
Stats: LSU ran 34 plays in the first half for 187 yards, rushing for 76 yards on 19 carries and completing 9-of-15 passes for 111 yards.
Notre Dame’s 33 plays netted 154 yards, garnering 69 yards rushing on 19 carries and finishing 6-of-14 passing for 85 yards.
LSU possessed the ball 18:42 to Notre Dame’s 11:18.
Miscellaneous: With 2:00 left after LSU’s second missed field goal, Book was inserted and his 21-yard scramble on third-and-19 plus an 18-yard completion to Boykins set up junior kicker Justin Yoon’s 46-yard field goal with four seconds remaining for the game’s first score.
LSU’s defense had forced three straight three-and-outs, which resulted in the change from Wimbush — who was 2-of-7 for 17 yards after his completion to St. Brown on the game’s first play — to Book.
THIRD QUARTER: LSU 7, Notre Dame 6
Top Moment: The game’s first touchdown came with 11:37 left in the quarter on a 20-yard middle screen from LSU quarterback Danny Etling to Derrius Guice on third-and-four. The drive was set up when Notre Dame freshman Isaiah Robertson did not see where the ball bounced on an LSU punt, resulting in the ball hitting his foot and long-snapper Blake Ferguson recovering it at the Irish 43-yard line.
Feature Performer: Despite often facing duress, Etling completed 4-of-6 passes in the quarter for 64 yards, highlighted by the touchdown to Guice.
Stats: Through three quarter, LSU had 276 yards on 50 plays while Notre Dame had 222 yards total offense on 48 plays.
Miscellaneous: LSU cornerback Greedy Williams intercepted a Book pass from the Irish 30 with 7:18 left in the quarter, but an LSU penalty forced the Tigers to begin the drive at the seven-yard line. When LSU then punted to its own 49-yard line, it set up a 49-yard field goal by Yoon with 2:47 remaining to cut the Irish deficit to 7-6.
FOURTH QUARTER: Notre Dame 21, LSU 17
Top Moment: With 1:28 left, Book tossed a pass down the sideline on which Boykin made a leaping one-handed stab, broke a tackle and evaded another defender for a 55-yard touchdown that gave the Irish the lead for good.
Feature Performer: The Book-to-Boykin combination hit on two crucial plays. Overshadowed by the game winner was that on Notre Dame’s previous drive, Book threaded the needle downfield to Boykin between two defenders for 29 yards on third-and-19 from the LSU 48-yard line with the Irish behind 14-6.
Stats: LSU finished with 399 yards total offense (229 passing, 170 rushing) to Notre Dame’s 370 (216 passing, 154 rushing).
Miscellaneous: With LSU leading 7-6 and facing third-and-goal at the Notre Dame three, Etling rolled out and found Grice with 11:13 remaining to build LSU’s lead to 14-6. It capped a 75-yard march in 12 plays that milked 6:34 off the clock.
The Irish offense responded with a 75-yard touchdown drive in 10 plays where on third-and-goal from the six-yard line, with excellent protection, Book scanned the field before scrambling and firing the touchdown to freshman wideout Michael Young crossing near the back of the end zone at the 7:49 mark. The two-pointer to Adams tied the contest.
LSU's final drive ended at its 34 after four straight incomplete passes by Etling while facing good pressure from the aggressive Irish defense.
Gonsoulin had put LSU ahead 17-14 on a 17-yard field goal with 2:03 left after a shovel pass to Guice on third down from the three-yard line was stopped inches short of the goal line.
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