No. 9 Notre Dame survives No. 14 Stanford 17-14 as special season continues

By Brent SobleskiOct 4, 2014, 7:30 PM EDT
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It’s quickly developing into a special season in South Bend. The last time the Notre Dame Fighting Irish eked by the Stanford Cardinal it became a precursor to Brian Kelly‘s squad eventually playing for a national championship.

Could Notre Dame be a team of fate again this season?

RELATED: Watch a full replay of the game

With their backs against the wall and trailing 14-10, the Fighting Irish faced a 4th-and-11 situation from Stanford’s 23-yard line. Golson dropped back to pass as the clock neared one minute remaining. No receiver was open as Golson worked thorugh his initial progressions. The quarterback rolled to his left after feeling pressure. Golson spotted tight end Ben Koyack wide open in the corner of the end zone. The quarterback unleashed the most critical pass of the season and connected with the big target for the game-winning touchdown.

Notre Dame faced the nation’s No. 1 defense and still came away with a 17-14 victory. Even on a rain-soaked field and multiple mistakes couldn’t stop the Fighting Irish offense from amassing 370 total yards against David Shaw‘s defense.

Kelly can now look toward the future with two concerns despite a 5-0 start.

While Golson eventually became the hero of Saturday’s contest, he could have easily been the goat. Six turnovers in two games generally equates to losing football. The talent around Golson continues to pick the him up, but there are talented programs still on Notre Dame’s schedule which will eventually take advantage of the quarterback’s mistakes.

The upcoming schedule is certainly daunting.

The Cardinal were ranked 14th in the nation, but Stanford isn’t playing at the same level as the No. 1 Florida State Seminoles, who Notre Dame faces in two weeks. Also the other team to beat Stanford, the USC Trojans, are also on the Fighting Irish’s schedule.

Notre Dame prides itself on a tough schedule, and this year’s version will be difficult to navigate.

But like the 2012 team, Notre Dame can hang its hat on a strong defense and a quarterback that makes clutch plays at key moments. It also helps that four of the nation’s Top 6 teams lost this weekend too.

 

Houston QB D’Eriq King considering leaving team to grad transfer elsewhere in 2020

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By Zach BarnettSep 23, 2019, 3:41 PM EDT
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Houston quarterback D’Eriq King is considering leaving the team, counting this season as a redshirt and then graduate transferring elsewhere for the 2020 season. If such a move is completed, it’s believed to be a first in major college football.

King’s father, Eric King, told Mark Berman of the Fox affiliate in Houston that the move is a done deal.

However, King himself says the decision is not final.

Whether it happens or not, that such a move is being considered is a radical (and, depending on your perspective) cynical use of the new redshirt rule, passed in 2018, that allows players to compete in up to four games and still count the season as a redshirt.

Kelly Bryant did at Clemson, as did Jalen McCleskey at Oklahoma State. (Ironically, King played McCleskey, now at Tulane, on Thursday night.)

But neither of those players were starting quarterbacks. Bryant’s departure happened after he had just been demoted in favor of Trevor Lawrence.

King is Houston’s starter, and its best player. He has 36 games’ experience under his belt; only one other Cougar has thrown pass this season, freshman Logan Holgorsen. (He’s 1-of-1 for 5 yards.)

King threw for 2,982 yards and 36 touchdowns and rushed for 674 yards and 14 scores last season before missing the final portion to a knee injury. On Thursday he passed Tim Tebow to become the first player in FBS history to rush and throw for a touchdown in 15 consecutive games.

Houston is off to a 1-3 start under new head coach Dana Holgorsen, and it’s clear that the King camp doesn’t believe he’s clicking with the new coaching staff.

And while King’s decision would be treated in some corners of the college football world as a sky-is-falling scenario, it’s telling that King’s experience at Houston is chalked up as business as usual. A product of Manvel, Texas, King was recruited, signed and played his first season for Tom Herman. Herman left for Texas and was replaced by Major Applewhite, but he was fired after two seasons and replaced by Holgorsen.

It appears now that King would like a do-over on the end of his college career, and would like to do so for a coaching staff that he can actually choose to play for.

BYU loses grad transfer RB Ty’Son Williams for the year

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By Zach BarnettSep 23, 2019, 3:21 PM EDT
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Ty’Son Williams‘s career has come to a premature end, as the running back revealed on Twitter on Sunday that he has suffered a torn ACL in his left knee.

A graduate transfer from South Carolina, Williams actually signed with North Carolina out of Sumter, S.C., but transferred to Columbia and spent three years with the Gamecocks. After totaling 165 carries in two seasons on South Carolina’s active roster. Williams was enjoying the usage he never got at his first two schools. He rushed a career-high 17 times for 92 yards and two touchdowns in BYU’s win at Tennessee, then bested that mark a week later, carrying 19 times for 99 yards in the Cougars’ 30-27 win over No. 21 USC on Sept. 14.

“Unfortunately my 2019 season has come to an end due to an ACL year in my left knee,” Williams wrote on social media. “Having no regrets as every time I gave it my all when I was out there. I appreciate all my family and friends reaching out as I always say “I love y’all.”

Williams carried six times for 28 yards in BYU’s loss to No. 17 Washington on Saturday.

For the year, Williams rushed 49 times for 264 yards and three touchdowns.

Williams used a redshirt in leaving North Carolina for South Carolina, so he would have to appeal to the NCAA for a medical hardship to return for a sixth season in 2020 — and he passed the 4-game threshold this season. As a graduate transfer, Williams owns a Bachelor’s degree from South Carolina and is pursuing a Master’s in communications at BYU.

Pac-12 says ending of Ole Miss-Cal could have been reviewed, but says call on field was correct

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By Zach BarnettSep 23, 2019, 2:10 PM EDT
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Before we move on, let’s acknowledge two competing, equally true things. First, if your team lost a game like Ole Miss did, you’d be hopping mad, too. Second, much of Ole Miss’s anger is a thin veil obscuring the fact the replay they wanted would have been a de facto fourth timeout, as well as the fact their team could have hustled a heckuva lot quicker to the line of scrimmage to run that ill-fated final play.

All that said, the Pac-12 has now issued its review of the ending of No. 15 Cal’s controversial win over Ole Miss, and found that while the play “probably should” have been reviewed, the underlying call on the field was correct. Elijah Moore came down short of the goal line.

“Given the closeness of the call, and that it was an end-of-game scenario, it probably should have been stopped by instant replay for review,” Pac-12 VP of officiating David Coleman says. “However, as there was not irrefutable video evidence that the ruling … could be overturned to a touchdown, it was the correct call.”

A review in that situation would have been an undeniable advantage to Ole Miss, allowing the Rebels to regroup and snap the ball with a fresh play call from offensive coordinator Rich Rodriguez.

Instead, the correct call was not reviewed, and it’s hard to be angry at the replay official for not reviewing a correct call.

No. 11 Texas loses two starting DBs for a month, a third for longer, backup LB for the season

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By Zach BarnettSep 23, 2019, 12:53 PM EDT
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Coming into this season, Texas really liked its depth in the secondary. Heading into the meat of the Big 12 schedule, that faith is about to be tested.

Tom Herman confirmed Monday that Texas will be without starting cornerback Jalen Green and starting safety Caden Sterns for the next month and safety Josh Thompson for even longer. All three were injured during the No. 11 Longhorns’ 36-30 win over Oklahoma State.

Those injuries were in addition to the injuries already sustained by starting nickelback BJ Foster and back-up safety DeMarvion Overshown, who both missed Saturday’s game.

Additionally, freshman linebacker Marcus Tillman, Jr., will miss the remainder of the season with an MCL sprain.

The Green injury is especially painful for Texas given the circumstances that led to it. The ‘Horns were set to take a 21-13 lead into halftime when, with 45 seconds left in the second quarter, punt returner Jake Smith muffed a punt at his own 15-yard line, which Oklahoma State recovered. Forced to defend an extra possession, Green dislocated his shoulder attempting to tackle Oklahoma State running back Chuba Hubbard and did not return to the game. Adding insult to injury, Oklahoma State scored on the possession. (Though Texas obviously won the game.)

Sterns led the Longhorns with 12 tackles on Saturday but left the field seated upright in a cart after spraining a ligament in his knee. Sterns also missed Texas’ win over Georgia in the Sugar Bowl due to a knee injury and sat out spring practice recuperating the knee.

Texas is off this week, accounting for one of the weeks Sterns, Green and Thompson will miss. That’s the good news. The bad: all are certain to miss the ‘Horns Oct. 12 date with No. 6 Oklahoma.