Quick – what is your absolute favorite play ever in Notre Dame football history? Heck, if you’re a bigger basketball fan you can share that as well but I’m legit curious as we sit here avoiding contact with each other and trying to pass the time until better days are upon us.
An up-start and top-ten Notre Dame team welcomed defending champion and No. 1 USC to Notre Dame Stadium. It was the biggest game at Notre Dame in a dozen years and a classic wound up playing out.
A Brady Quinn pass found Jeff Samardzija for a 32 yard touchdown pass to tie things at 14 and Notre Dame’s defense answered the call forcing a three-and-out immediately after.
Then entered Tom Zbikowski:
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t89zYrTfJ5w]
Forget for a second how things ended that afternoon and instead remember just that exact moment. In the dozens of games I’ve been too I’ve never heard it louder, not even when Quinn gave the Irish the lead late in the fourth quarter.
From the Tom Malone punt nearly being blocked initially to Chase Anastasio’s block at the 37-yard line (seriously, go back and watch again and appreciate it) and finally Zbikowski breaking three tackles at the end to finish the return.
Heisman Trophy winner Matt Leinart and soon-to-be Heisman winner (before it was taken away) Reggie Bush coupled with Pete Carroll and everything USC was at the time, I thought for the life of me that Tom Zbikowski shifted the tide in what was to be a monumental win.
We all know it didn’t end that way and maybe it’s just me looking back at wide-eyed me in my very late teens. For a team I’ve always rooted for but never seen win a championship though, I don’t know if things have gotten much better for me as a Notre Dame fan than at that very moment.
So what’s yours? Share it on our Facebook page or send us a tweet explaining which play and why, and maybe yours will be chosen for a future post here at FIW.