Notre Dame Football: The Play That Changed The 2010 Season

It read as a simple line in the box score of the Notre Dame vs Utah game: 02:04 ND- Blanton, Robert 6 yard blocked punt return (Ruffer, David kick), UU 3-ND 7.  That is how future generations will see the events that unfolded on Saturday November 12th 2010. Those who watched or were lucky enough to be in attendance will have a different story. The story that those will tell is that of a series of events that changed the entire 2010 season. Notre Dame at 4-5 and fresh off back to back losses to Navy and Tulsa, with the tragic death of Declan Sullivan still hanging on, faced then-15th ranked Utah, who peaked at number five at the end of October.

Notre Dame fans were already frustrated with Bob Diaco's defense and everything in general. The cold, rain and wind didn't help much either. This had all the makings of a bad afternoon with the four jet-fly over being the sole highlight.

 I asked Matt Hughes of Michigan, his thoughts about his first time on Notre Dame's campus and he stated, "Aside from the overall beauty of the campus, my first impression was, why are so many Utah fans here? Purdue, I could see. Utah, I didn't think that they would be represented so much."

Then it happened. With Utah up 3-0 and the Irish fans very possibly with one more non-productive series away from losing interest in the game, if not the rest of the season, Robert Blanton blocked  Sean Sellwood's punt attempt at the six yard line and took it in for the score.

It was almost as if the wind stopped being so cold and the rain stopped being so wet. Somehow, this was the spark that the Irish needed, cruising on to a 28-3 victory. Ute fans seemed to slump in their seats when Blanton took the block in for six and the Irish fans came to life.

I asked Notre Dame Bagpipe Band member Colin Patience to describe the buzz in the student section after Blanton's block, saying, "That blocked punt was the perfect primer for our spirits that day. That block really turned things around for our moral and provided a huge stepping stone for an amazing end to the season."

Sometimes you can pinpoint a certain game that turns a season around; stretch of games, maybe a goal line stand or some other defensive stop. For Notre Dame fans, it was a blocked punt on a cold, wet Saturday in mid-November that turned the season for the better.

Coming off the bye week, what would happen was anyone's guess. Would Notre dame mail it in the rest of the way or would they go down fighting? Going into the Utah game, it seemed that the defense and the coaches were not exactly on the same page. Would the defense go through the motions?

Looking back, we know the answer's to these questions now. The Irish showed there fight by running the table the rest of the way; the defense finally bought into Diaco's scheme, and the result was spectacular. The best part of all is that it was just a glimpse of things to come.