No. 5 Irish grind out comeback win over BYU
SOUTH BEND, Ind. -- Theo Riddick pounded his way for a career-high 143 yards and Cierre Wood added 114 yards as BCS-No. 5 Notre Dame overpowered a Brigham Young defense that entered the game third in the nation against the run, earning a 17-14 victory yesterday.
"As a team, this was special," Riddick said. "We showed that we can run the ball."
He got no argument from Notre Dame coach Brian Kelly.
Riddick "just ran really hard, north and south, physical," Kelly said. "That gives energy for everybody. The O-line sees a guy who's really pounding it in there. He got us that energy we needed."
Riddick had runs of 55 and 27, the two longest of his career, to pace Notre Dame (7-0), which is off to its best start in a decade and has a big game against No. 10 Oklahoma next week. The Cougars (4-4) fell to 0-3 on the road as they surrendered a season-high 270 yards rushing.
Backup quarterback Tommy Rees, starting in place of injured Everett Golson, completed 6 of 7 passes in the first quarter for 86 yards and a touchdown, throwing four of those to Tyler Eifert. But Rees missed his next seven passes and the Irish attempted only three passes in the second half.
Rees' only completion of the second half was a 31-yarder to TJ Jones with a little more than a minute left in the third quarter. Riddick ran the ball up the middle for 19 yards to the BYU 5. Three plays later, George Atkinson III scored on an end around, cutting inside BYU safety Joe Sampson for the touchdown to give the Irish a 17-14 lead.
The Cougars drove to the Notre Dame 31 on the next possession, but quarterback Riley Nelson was sacked for a 9-yard loss. Moments earlier, Cody Hoffman was wide open for what would have probably been a touchdown, but Nelson's pass wasn't close.
Nelson was 23-for-36 for 177 yards with two interceptions and two TD passes.
On Riddick's 55-yard run from the 37-yard line, he ran into a pile at the line of scrimmage, put his hand down to keep his balance, then broke out of the pack before being caught by cornerback Jordan Johnson at the 8-yard line.
Brigham Young took advantage of Notre Dame mistakes to open a 14-7 halftime lead. After going 17 quarters without giving up an offensive touchdown, Notre Dame gave up two in a span of 2:18: a 6-yard pass from Nelson to Hoffman and a 2-yard pass from Nelson to Kaneakua Friel.
