I planned to get to campus around 11:00. Probably because of the weather, I wasn't motivated enough to get there that early. I ended up parking at St. Mary's a little after noon. It's a good place to park for a Notre Dame game. You walk from there to campus and you come to the Grotto. From there, I walked past the dome and my old home, St. Edward's Hall. Apparently St. Ed's was just renovated, but I didn't go in to check it out. After that, I walked over to the Joyce Center, which was set up for volleyball. My favorite student plays volleyball. I keep telling her that she's going to play volleyball at Notre Dame someday. Then I walked over to the Compton Family Ice Arena. It was built as our new hockey arena after I graduated so I've never been inside. I've heard that it's really nice. I figured it would be open like the Joyce Center is before football games. I reached the doors and tried to go in, but the doors were locked and the signs on the doors said that the building hours were like 10:00-1:00 and the doors locked at 12:50. I checked my watch and it was 12:51. Nuts.
From there, I met up with Wilhelm and Courtney for some tailgating. At that point, it wasn't too cold (the rain hadn't started yet). I went over five years without seeing Wilhelm. Since then, I've seen him for the Championship Game, three games last season (Oklahoma, Arizona State, and Navy), and this year's Stanford game. I hope to make it back to Texas for the 2015 season to see a Rangers game so maybe I'll see him then also. It sounds like the next time I see Courtney will be next year at the Courtney-Dennis wedding in St. Paul. Tailgating was fun, but it started to rain maybe around 2:00 and it started to get cold.
Wilhelm and I ended up sitting together for the game. It was a sloppy game and it was really cold. I was getting texts from my brother and Jon and Kyle. It was too cold and wet to answer them, but they did provide good information about replays and and the backup holder warming up and stuff like that. At halftime, I made the adjustment to putting my arms under my poncho. That was a good move.
We took our first lead at 10-7 in the fourth quarter. With the way our defense was playing, I felt pretty confident. But Stanford marched right down the field and took the lead. I felt like it was setting up for a great finish. On the plane the night before, I had read the chapters in Lou Holtz's autobiography about his first three seasons at Notre Dame. If there's anybody who believes in Notre Dame more than me, it's Lou Holtz. As Lou has said, "If you've been here, no explanation is necessary. If you haven't been, no explanation will suffice." Notre Dame is a special place and this was going to be a special win. I was completely confident that we were going to win. And then it was fourth and 11. I was praying the Hail Mary over and over again, but I was still confident that we'd win. And then the ball was snapped and I didn't see anybody open. But then Everett Golson threw the ball to Ben Koyack who was wide open. The ball got there before the defender could get there and it was awesome. I took the arms out from under the poncho to high five Wilhelm for that play.
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| I think I took this picture on the game-winning drive. It was too cold and wet for me to take pictures before the fourth quarter. |
We still needed to stop them on defense. Stanford didn't have a lot of time, but they still had a chance. On the last play, we brought the blitz and forced an intentional grounding. There were six seconds left on the clock, but I knew we were going to get a ten-second run off on the penalty and the game would be over. It was over and it was awesome. I wouldn't change anything about the day. The weather was all part of the experience.
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| Me, Wilhelm, and the finger of the girl that took our picture after the game. |
So let's go through my favorite Notre Dame games ever, starting with ones I didn't go to:
11. Florida State 1993- This probably should rank higher, but the fact that we were cheated out of a National Championship that year puts it behind the next three games on the list.
10. West Virginia 1989 Fiesta Bowl- This win secured the 1988 National Championship.
9. USC 1988- 1 vs. 2 on the road against our biggest rival. We won to finish the 1988 regular season undefeated.
8. Miami 1988- Catholics vs. Convicts. 4 vs. 1. "Save Jimmy Johnson's ass for me!" 31-30. It was also the same day that Kirk Gibson hit a pinch hit home run to win Game 1 of the World Series. If I had any memory of any of this, it would probably be the greatest day of my life.
7. USC 2010- Not nearly as awesome as the games I've mentioned so far, but I actually watched this game. It wasn't a great season, but it felt great to finally beat USC for the first time since 2001.
6. Michigan State 2006- It was a great comeback to win. This was one of the better moments of the Charlie Weis Era.
5. Wake Forest 2012- Easy win against a bad opponent. It's on the list because we got to number 1 that day.
4. Oklahoma 2012- The win that showed people we were for real in 2012
3. Michigan 2014- I despise Michigan with a passion. Beating them 31-0 in the last game of the series was perfect.
2. Stanford 2012- The goal line stand in overtime in the rain. It was awesome.
1. USC 2012- We beat our biggest rival to clinch a spot in the National Championship Game.
And now my favorite games that I attended:
12. Arizona State 2013- Shamrock Series game in Dallas with my brother Sean and Wilhelm. Wilhelm and I didn't have high hopes going into this game, but we won and Sean and I had a good time in Dallas.
11. Army 2010- The first football game at the new Yankee Stadium. There's nothing significant about this game other than that, but I was pretending it was Notre Dame and Army playing at Yankee Stadium in 1943.
10. BYU 2005- Brady Quinn threw six touchdown passes and it was the first win I ever saw at Notre Dame Stadium.
9. Navy 2012- The game was in Dublin. So many Notre Dame fans having a good time in Ireland and a great start to a great regular season.
8. USC 2013- It was a really ugly game, but I needed to see us beat USC in person.
7. Georgia Tech 2006- Jon, Wilhelm, Dennis, Chris and I made the road trip to Atlanta. Not a great performance, but we got the win to start the season.
6. Penn State 2006- We pounded Penn State to start the home schedule and we thought we were on our way to a great season.
5. Army 2006- My last home game as a student. We were happy late in the game when we fumbled trying to run out the clock because it gave Kyle an opportunity to get on the field and become a Notre Dame football legend.
4. UCLA 2006- I remember saying before the game that this game was the last one that I might attend as a student that could be competitive. And we nearly lost. Quinn to Samardzija for 45 yards to win was amazing.
3. Pittsburgh 2005- Jorge, Mike, Dane and I made the road trip to Pittsburgh for the first game of the 2005. It was the first game I ever attended and it was awesome. We won easily and had a great time celebrating the victory with other Notre Dame fans in Pittsburgh afterwards.
2. Michigan 2012- It wasn't pretty, but again, I really hate Michigan. That was the game where I started to believe in 2012.
1. Stanford 2014- I hate Stanford, but not as much as I hate Michigan. But the fact that we scored the game winning touchdown on fourth and 11 late in the game gives it the top spot. It was a special win. And the weather is just part of a great story.
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| So wet. So cold. So awesome. |
Let's add another game to my list of favorite games I didn't attend tonight. Go Irish!
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