Notre Dame: Little Things Add Up to Big Win

Saturday featured another nail-biting victory for the Fighting Irish of Notre Dame. This time it was against the surprisingly improved Washington Huskies.

This is four straight weeks that the game has come down to the wire and the third straight victory.

For Irish fans, it has been a great year if you love great games but a bad one if you have a heart condition.

The Irish pulled out another come-from-behind win and for the first time in the Charlie Weis era, got an overtime victory.

There is no doubt that this Irish team is much improved from the previous two seasons. In the previous two years, they would find way to lose games and this year they are finding ways to win.

What is the difference?

Well it is a more mature team. That has led to better and smarter plays on the field. What really stood out against Washington was how Notre Dame did the little things so well.

Looking at the game it really was a lot of little things that made the difference between winning and losing.

The first little thing that was done well was coaching decisions. Charlie Weis has been known to go for it on fourth down. While fans always want to, it usually isn't the smart thing to do.

On Saturday, Weis did decide to manage the game better in these situations. On defense, Jon Tenuta has also been laying back on the blitzes a little more. The result is better tackling.

The second little thing was made field goals. A few months ago fellow Notre Dame writer Dan Bruner wrote an excellent article on how the kicking game is often overlooked, but has cost Notre Dame games in the past.

The Syracuse debacle really stands out here. Well, on Saturday true freshman Nick Tausch made five field goals in the victory.

The third little thing was the offensive line. Sure Jimmy Clausen has definitely grown alot this year and has gotten better each week. But if you were to ask me what is the biggest difference in him this year, I would say the line. That really showed on Saturday, as Clausen had all day to throw.

The fourth little thing was goal line stands on defense. This happened twice on Saturday.

The first one involved stopping the Huskies and Jake Locker on third and fourth down.

The second stand was even more amazing, considering they had to do it twice because of a cheap penalty on a field goal to Ian Williams. These stands turned 14 points into 3 points.

The final little thing was Robert Hughes and his refusal to go down on a two point conversion. Hughes appeared to be stuffed but he refused to be denied the end zone and fought through a crowd of defenders to get the two points.

The Irish then took it into overtime and scored in two plays. The defense then came through on first and second down to bury the Huskies in difficult situations on thirds and fourth down. Then game ended with senior Kyle McCarthy breaking up a long pass from Locker.

In the end, the Irish finally came through in an overtime situation. However, it is important to remember that the game doesn't even make it to overtime if not for good coaching decisions, made field goals, great pass protection, goal line stands, and a crucial two-point conversion.

This game is a perfect example of how little things make a big difference on the one thing that matters: the scoreboard. 

This article is also posted on http://fightingirishgameday.com/