Notre Dame Releases Years Of Frustration While Shutting Down No. 14 Utah

Making their first trip to South Bend, the #14 ranked Utah Utes packed heavy, bringing with them an estimated 11,000 fans.

It was apparent early Saturday morning that Utah was out in full force, as swarms of Utah fans toured the Notre Dame campus, more visiting fans than I had ever seen at one time, while I smiled and nodded at them, in my heart I was hoping to send them back to the other side of the country with a huge loss.

It was nice to see the Utah fans enjoying the Notre Dame Bagpipe band, who put on the show of a lifetime underneath the Golden Dome hours before the game, a show that featured the original bagpiper from 1951, and a special guest piper from Buffalo, N.Y.

Walking into the stadium, the first thing that caught my eye was eight sections in the south end of the stadium that were solid red, as well as smaller pockets of Utah fans all over the stadium.

Even with the strong showing of support, the Utes never got into the game, their fans never got into the game.

The Irish student body and fans were in control from the moment that the four fighter jets did a perfectly timed fly over to conclude the National Anthem.

Years of frustration were purged Saturday, this was Notre Dame's first win over a ranked opponent since Penn State in 2006. This win was exactly what we needed, it wasn't the nail biter that we have become so used to.

This was a decisive victory, a win that allowed Coach Kelly the opportunity to get seniors like Bobby Burger and Brian Castello some well-deserved snaps.

One longtime Notre Dame fan who was watching at home said that, "she cried her eyes out" when Brian Castello took the field, she said, "I've watched him (Castello) sending in plays for so long, it was so good to see him out there on the field."

It was a combination of underclassmen and seniors, offense, defense and special teams, great coaching and great execution of plays. Saturday was exactly what we as Notre Dame faithful needed to feel good again.

As the student body flooded the field following the win, it warmed the heart to see such joy in South Bend, players, students, band members and fans all joining together in celebration. 

What we saw Saturday was classic Notre Dame football, and an instant classic game, soon, when more of the pieces are in place, this is the type of game that we will be seeing more often than not.