Notre Dame vs. Arizona State: Score and Twitter Reaction
No. 9 Arizona State took advantage of some sloppy play from No. 10 Notre Dame to come up with a 55-31 victory at Sun Devil Stadium on Saturday.
ESPN Stats & Info captured the wild, back-and-forth nature of the game:
.jpg?w=256 "Ohio State Team Doctor")
A disastrous first half from Notre Dame quarterback Everett Golson put the Fighting Irish in a 34-3 hole early on. They fought back in the second half and came within three points of the Sun Devils in the fourth quarter, but a Golson pick-six dashed the Irish's hopes and secured victory for Arizona State.
Here is a quarter-by-quarter look at the score:
| Notre Dame | 3 | 7 | 7 | 14 |
| Arizona State | 17 | 17 | 0 | 21 |
ESPN College Football gave a rundown of what to expect before the game:
With the score tied 3-3 late in the first quarter, freshman defensive lineman Tashon Smallwood ripped through the Notre Dame offensive line and sacked Golson, forcing a fumble that Smallwood did well to recover on the Fighting Irish's 13-yard line.
Arizona State quarterback Taylor Kelly found Jaelen Strong streaking toward the corner of the end zone on the next play, and the wideout made a spectacular touchdown grab to give the Sun Devils their first lead.
Golson then threw an interception to Marcus Hardison on the first play of the ensuing drive, setting up a three-play scoring drive for ASU. Running back Demario Richard plunged in from one yard out for the touchdown.
The Sun Devils defense, looking nothing like the unit that gave up 62 points to UCLA earlier this season, was all over Golson early on. SportsCenter noted that Golson was under heavy pressure for much of the first half:
Golson did a bit better on the next drive, moving the Fighting Irish into opposing territory, but the nightmare was not yet over as the beleaguered signal-caller tossed a pick that Damarious Randall took 59 yards to the house to make it 24-3 Arizona State with over 14 minutes to play in the second quarter. Dane Brugler of CBS Sports stated that Randall is a fine NFL prospect:
Notre Dame's next drive ended somewhat mercifully in a punt. Kelly responded with a 43-yard touchdown pass to Cameron Smith, cueing bedlam at Sun Devil Stadium.
When the dust finally settled, Arizona State had a 28-point lead and looked to have wrapped the game up early. The Big Lead's Jason McIntyre was about ready to count the Fighting Irish out:
Golson did his best to salvage things after the nightmare spell, throwing a nine-yard touchdown pass to William Fuller with 11 seconds remaining in the first half to make the score 34-10. It appeared the second half would be all about damage control for Notre Dame, but the late score gave it some much-needed hope.
Golson started off the third quarter with yet another drive-killing pick, but his teammates picked up the slack.
The Fighting Irish defense looked much better in the second half, as it didn't have to deal with short fields from turnovers.
Notre Dame cut the Sun Devils lead to 34-17 on a one-yard run by Cam McDaniel late in the third quarter. The senior running back came through for his team again early in the fourth quarter following a Kelly interception. His second one-yard plunge of the day cut the Sun Devils lead to 10.
The Fighting Irish forced a punt on the next ASU possession, and Golson tossed his second touchdown pass of the day. The Sun Devils' secondary made it pretty easy on him, as this still from SportsCenter shows:
Golson's 25-yard touchdown pass to Amir Carlisle made it 34-31 and the Irish had the Sun Devils on the ropes.
Alas, Notre Dame would not complete what would have been a truly remarkable comeback. Arizona State finally put together a fine drive behind strong running from D.J. Foster. Kelly finished it off by hitting Richard for a four-yard score to put the Sun Devils back up by 10.
Golson, despite growing more and more confident with every drive, would throw yet another pick-six, although one could hardly fault him for this one. Golson hit receiver Corey Robinson in the numbers down the right sideline, but the wideout coughed up the ball directly into the hands of defensive back Lloyd Carrington, who took it 58 yards to the end zone for a 48-31 Arizona State lead with 3:41 remaining.
Kelly would add another touchdown on a two-yard run in garbage time to create the final scoreline of 55-31.
Yahoo Sports' Pat Forde noted the game ended Golson's Heisman hopes:
What little College Football Playoff hopes the Fighting Irish had coming into the game blinked out of existence under the hot sun in Tempe, Arizona. Their weak schedule and two losses take them out of the discussion with so many hopefuls from the power conferences likely to finish with just one loss.
Arizona State appears to be the class of the Pac-12 South and looks strong enough to challenge Oregon for the conference title should both teams make it to the championship game. However, the Ducks offense may be too much for a Sun Devils defense that needs to create turnovers to hold off the stronger attacks in college football.
.jpg?w=480 "Ohio State Team Doctor")
