Irish Write Final Chapter

Somehow, Notre Dame’s players knew they were about to rewrite every narrative of this game and plenty of them on their season in one final drive.

The sun had disappeared; replaced by thick, hovering clouds that covered all of Notre Dame Stadium and looked especially dense above the 87 yards of real estate that the Fighting Irish were required to traverse.

“We were saying, ‘You know, it’s something to write about. It’s going to be a legendary drive,’” said guard Trevor Ruhland, starting up front for the Irish’s banged up offensive line. “That’s what we said when we got it on the 1 as well.

“It wasn’t pretty but never a doubt in our minds that we would get it done.”

It was metaphor for the day.

The Irish, they had done it to themselves of course. After 24-straight red zone scores to open the season, college football’s last perfect team in that area, the Irish failed three times inside of Virginia Tech’s 20-yard line. Technically, three times inside the Hokies’ 10.

They had given away a 14-point swing; Jafar Armstrong stoned at the 1 and fumbling, it careening into the arms of Divine Deablo as Deablo gathered it for a 98-yard touchdown return.

Worth noting, Deablo’s defensive sprint was 13 yards more than the Virginia Tech offense had mustered the entire first half.

But these teams were tied. Virginia Tech had momentum. By 5:55 p.m., the Hokies had a 20-14 lead and 87 yards to protect for a season-defining victory.

Instead, Ian Book happened. Chase Claypool, too. Avery Davis, yep. Armstrong as well.

A battered, beat-to-reserve-pieces offensive line shined, too. Notre Dame, 21-20 victors.

Eighteen plays. Two fourth-down conversions. Five third downs. The Irish had converted two of the first four.

Then Book’s number got called. Quarterback draw. One step back, fake the handoff to Armstrong and dart around right end.

Only there was more. Cut upfield, read the defenders, read the blocks.

Then? Well, then, Book high-stepped his way into the right corner of the end zone and all the way into a season-saving play. Notre Dame 21, Virginia Tech 20. There were 29 seconds left, but it was over. Kyle Hamilton made sure of it with his game-ending interception.

A 10-win season is still within reach. There could be a New Years Six at-large bid.

There’s absolutely no debating this team’s character and resiliency, both of which earned some understandable questioning this week after last Saturday’s embarrassment at Michigan.

“Well, I think that a lot of them come to Notre Dame with an understanding of one of the things that they need to be successful here, both in the classroom and on the football field. And then within the football program, we try to build on those traits every single day,” coach Brian Kelly said. “It's never a finish line. It's a journey. There's no destination as it comes to building character with your football team. And they're life lessons, right?

“They got knocked down last week, humbled, if you will. And this week they come back and they have to fight for their lives, in a sense, to come up with a victory. So it teaches them a lot about how important it is to have great focus and accountability and all the great life lessons that we all teach. I teach it as a parent, you probably taught as parents, that you can take with you when you leave here. So that's an ongoing process.”

Microcosm for the game. The Irish had marched 82 yards, on 17 plays and from their own 1-yard line, on their penultimate possession.

Backtracked. Self-destructed. Missed a field goal.

Merely setting the stage for the de facto walk-off-win.

“That's what I'm probably most proud about is just being able to go on the sideline and after missing a field goal and still having time but knowing and believing that we can go out there and do it,” Book said. “So, I didn't see any disbelief in anybody. I knew the offense was fired up ready to go and I knew the defense was doing a great job tonight, we were going to get another opportunity and we did.”

And Book, well, he made sure the Irish took that opportunity and danced into the night, right through the end zone up against the brick wall and into a jubilant celebration.