Irish win overtime thriller

By AL LESAR, Tribune Staff Writer

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Notre Dame wide receiver Golden Tate, left, slips the tackle of Washington linebacker Cort Dennison on his way to a 67-yard touchdown in the second quarter of an NCAA college football game in South Bend, Ind., Saturday, Oct. 3, 2009. (AP Photo/Michael Conroy)

By Jim Pinkerton

Story Created: Oct 3, 2009 at 4:52 AM EST

Story Updated: Oct 13, 2009 at 2:32 PM EST

SOUTH BEND — One more week. One more Notre Dame football game that goes down to the wire.

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Robert Hughes scored from one yard out in overtime and the Irish defense shut down Washington's attempt in the extra period as Notre Dame escaped with a 37-30 victory.

For the second week in a row, with the game on the line, Irish quarterback Jimmy Clausen hit tight end Kyle Rudolph for a late touchdown.

After that score, Washington made one last gasp, venturing to the Irish 19 before Erik Folk drilled a 37-yard field goal to tie the game at 30 with :06 left in the game.

Clausen's dramatic 63-yard scoring march, which, at the time, appeared to be good enough for the win, was set up by the Notre Dame defense. Twice - once at the end of the third quarter and again late in the fourth - the 4-1 Irish had goal-line stops on the 2-3 Huskies.

Washington ran four plays, starting at the Irish 8, and came up without any points on the first. The second lasted eight plays from inside the 7 and came away with three points to make the score 27-22 and set up the game-winning drive.

Notre Dame spent most of the game playing from behind. Four trips inside the "red zone" (Washington's 20-yard line) resulted in four field goals, rather than touchdowns.

Twelve points instead of 28 made a big difference.

Clausen, coming off a memorable last-minute win over Purdue, threw for 422 yards. He had more than 300 yards three other times this season.

However, one major Clausen blunder cost the Irish seven points.

In the second quarter, with Notre Dame up 9-7 and the ball on the ND 30, Clausen wobbled a pass that was deemed a lateral. It fell to the ground and was scooped up by Desmond Trufant. He ran 17 yards for the Huskies touchdown.

Chris Polk was an impressive part of the Washington offense. For the first time in his career, the redshirt freshman rushed for more than 100 yards.

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