Irish come through in the clutch to win Music City Bowl thriller

When all was said and done, Brian Kelly looked like a man relieved as he ran to meet Les Miles at midfield.  After a dismal month of November to end the season, Notre Dame (8-5) pulled off the upset over SEC foe No. 22 LSU (8-5).

Kyle Brindza knocked the game winning field goal between the uprights as time expired to propel the Irish to a 31-28 victory over the Tigers at LP Field in the Franklin American Mortgage Music City Bowl on December 30.

“We wanted a challenge, and I know LSU wanted a challenge,” Coach Brian Kelly said.  “We were disappointed in how we played at the end of the year, and our guys wanted an opportunity to finish the season the right way.  They played hard for four quarters and the mantra was to get this to the fourth quarter and find a way to win it, and they did that.”

In a game that no one expected to be a shootout, the teams exchanged scores throughout the whole contest, up until the 5:41 mark of the fourth quarter when the Fighting Irish took control of the ball and executed a 14 play, 71 yard drive before Brindza sealed the Tigers’ fate.

Arguably the game’s most decisive play came just seconds before the first half ended, when Les Miles released a play from his bag of tricks.  The Tigers field goal unit trotted to the half yard line and lined up for a chip shot.  Holder Brad Kragthorpe picked up the snap and bruised his way through linemen before being stopped short at the goal line.  The call would go up to the booth for review and ultimately be confirmed, but it remained a controversial ruling.

Les Miles addressed the play call and booth review shortly into his post-game conference.  “The guy that carried the ball for us said he absolutely scored, and you know, kids will be kids. But this guy will tell the truth and give it to me straight,” Miles replied.

Miles credited Notre Dame for its performance, but also praised LSU running back Leonard Fournette for his impressive showing.  Fournette had 143 yards on 11 carries with two touchdowns, one of them a 100 yard kickoff return for a score that answered a touchdown run from Notre Dame quarterback Malik Zaire just minutes before in the second quarter.

Fournette, a freshman phenom, came into LSU as a high profile recruit and proved to fans from both sides that he will be a major threat next year.  He broke multiple records during the Music City Bowl, including longest kickoff return ever in the bowl’s history, and setting a freshman single-season rushing record for LSU.

However, another freshman stood out more in the final outcome.

Notre Dame freshman quarterback Malik Zaire won the Music City Bowl MVP award after he helped lead the Irish to victory.  He showed veteran efficiency, going 12-15 for 96 yards and a score, along with 96 yards on 22 carries with a touchdown.

Less than a day before the matchup, Kelly named Zaire as starting quarterback over Everett Golson.  Zaire made an appearance in garbage time against USC, showing some flash and potential.  Kelly did not give Zaire full reign at the helm, however, as the demoted Golson came in for a number of passing situations, none bigger than the game winning drive where he went 4-5 passing, including a third and ten conversion to Ben Koyack.

Notre Dame outgained LSU in total offense 449-436.  The Tigers scored three of their touchdowns in a 38 second span, but would not put any more points on the board after their fourth touchdown with 6:14 to go in the third quarter.

The Fighting Irish handed LSU its first loss outside the SEC West all season.  Kelly won his second straight bowl game at Notre Dame, andh is third all time.  The Irish improve their record over the Tigers to 6-5, and their all-time record against SEC opponents to 19-13.

Jonathan Mehall is a senior at Holy Cross College majoring in communication with a minor in sports management. By the way, when Malik Zaire was asked by a reporter if he wanted to be compared to Rudy, Zaire gave a witty response and said, “Wasn’t Rudy a one hit wonder?” Contact Jonathan at jmehall@hcc-nd.edu.