September 28, 2013

Notre Dame Oklahoma Final Stats

NOTRE DAME, Ind. (AP) – A year after beating Oklahoma in the final 6 minutes, Notre Dame just about beat themselves in the first 3 minutes against the Sooners on Saturday.

Interceptions on consecutive passes by Tommy Rees and two touchdown passes by Blake Bell were too much for No. 22 Notre Dame to overcome in a 35-21 loss to the 14th-ranked Sooners.

Rees didn’t see a linebacker blitzing from behind on the first interception, and his pass to TJ Jones ricocheted to Oklahoma linebacker Frank Shannon in the second as the Sooners jumped to a 14-0 lead.

“We put ourselves in the hole and couldn’t fight out of it,” said running back George Atkinson III, who had a career-high 148 yards on 14 carries.

That was the consensus among the Irish players: that they lost the game more than Oklahoma won it.

“We’re really disappointed, as we would be with any loss, but especially with this one where we feel like we gave them 14 points and ended up losing by 14 points,” Jones said.

The win ended Oklahoma’s seven-game losing to Notre Dame and was just the second in 11 meetings for the Sooners (4-0) against the Irish (3-2), including ending an NCAA-record 47-game winning streak in 1957.

Oklahoma coach Bob Stoops, an Irish Catholic who grew up in Ohio and downplayed the history aspect all week, conceded the victory was especially gratifying.

“Now that it’s happened this way, I’m pleased and I sure am glad for those older Oklahomans that have been through all those games Notre Dame had beaten us. We get some level of satisfaction winning this one,” he said. “Who knows when we’ll play again? So they can live it up and say, ‘We got you’ last until we go again.”

After Notre Dame played a nearly perfect game in beating the Sooners last season, with no turnovers and just one penalty for 5 yards, Oklahoma was the one that made the fewest mistakes Saturday. The Sooners, who managed just 15 yards rushing against the Irish last season, finished with 212 yards rushing.

The game was a stark contrast to last season, when the Irish dominated the lines of scrimmage and amassed 215 yards on the ground. The Sooners frequently went wide on both runs and passes to try to offset Notre Dame’s size inside. The Irish managed to rush for a season-high 220 yards.

Bell, making his second career start, wasn’t as impressive as he was when he passed for 413 yards and four touchdowns in a 51-20 win over Tulsa, but he was good enough to lead the Sooners over the Irish. He was 22 of 30 passing for 232 yards and two touchdowns.

“He was really sharp. He put the ball where it needed to be, finding the right guys, going through his reads,” Stoops said. “And give credit to the line to give them the opportunity to find those guys, so I thought he played great.”

Bell, threw a 26-yard TD pass to Lacoltan Bester to cap an 88-yard drive after an interception by cornerback Julian Wilson late in the second quarter, said the victory was especially satisfying considering last season’s loss.

“We felt like we left some stuff on the field last year. Obviously we didn’t come up with a win last year so we really wanted this one bad, especially coming on the road,” Bell said

Rees struggled for a second straight game. After three straight games of passing for more than 300 yards, he was 9 of 24 for a season-low 104 yards, although he also had two touchdown passes.

“Obviously, I’m disappointed with how I played, individually. I’ve got to be better. You can’t turn the ball over and expect to win games against good teams like Oklahoma,” Rees said.

Notre Dame coach Brian Kelly said there was plenty of blame to go around.

“This is about 11 players. We don’t execute on the offensive line in the first fumble, we don’t run the right route. It’s natural for everybody to go after the quarterback, but there’s 11 players out there,” Kelly said.

Kelly didn’t want to talk about what the loss means big picture for the Irish, who entered the season with hopes of making it back to the BCS title game.

“That’s for you guys talk about. I’ve got a football team we’re trying to work with and develop. You guys can have your own comments and decide what happens and put us in any bowl you want,” he said.