Notre Dame Fighting Irish demonstrated a better game, ruthlessly beating the Brigham Young Cougars 17-14 in a one-sided game in South Bend Saturday.
It was clearly No. 5 Fighting Iris' day. They looked more confident on the field and played like a team; all players contributing to the team's victory. On the other hand, the Cougars had a tough time against the ruthless No. 5 Fighting Irish, who seemed unstoppable in a rushing game.
Bronco Mendenhall, coach of the Cougars said, "They were physical and we had a very difficult time making consistent tackles and a lot of times. Seems like we had good contact, either at the line of scrimmage or shortly thereafter and the running backs kept driving their legs and running hard."
Theo Riddick starred in Notre Dame's victory, running a career high 143 yards. It included runs for 55 and 19 yards, which helped Notre Dame score 10 points, all of which came in the second half.
The Associated Press quoted Riddick as saying, ''As a team, this was special. We showed that we can run the ball. I feel we just have a whole other level of confidence. No one puts their head down or anything. We all knew what we had to do in the second half and that was get more points than the opposing team, and we did that."
Roddick's roommate Cierre Wood also made a contribution for Notre Dame, running 114 yards on 18 carries, helping the Fighting Irish to 270 rushing yards against the Cougars, who have only allowed an average of 67.9 yards per game.
Riddick said of Wood, "I think we both feed off each other. Once we both see one of us make a big run or something like that, we get amped, very hyped up and things like that to make another play. And I think we did that today."
Brian Kelly, the coach of Notre Dame, was pretty impressed with his team's performance on Saturday.
He said of Riddick, "What he did more than anything else is that he ran north and south and he played physical. That gets energy for everybody. The O-line sees a guy that's really pounding it in there. I think that he got us that energy that we needed."
"It goes to the toughness of our football team. They believe they are going to win. There's no question they believe they are going to win, and if there's any questions out there, that's been eradicated over the last couple weeks," he added.
Kelly also had some kind words for the opponents, saying they were pretty formidable and could not be taken lightly. He said he was aware that the Cougars would be dangerous and it was therefore important to come up with a solid and effective game plan.
''That's a bracket buster team in basketball parlance, that's a darned good football team. Our kids hung in there and won the football game. So really pleased to be 7-0,'' he said.
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