Brady Quinn's 45-yard Bomb Gives Notre Dame Last Minute Win
October 23, 2006
Todd Sikorski - All Headline News Staff Writer
South Bend, IN (AHN) - Notre Dame needed all the help from "Touchdown Jesus" on Saturday to beat UCLA in South Bend. There is no other way to explain the way Notre Dame won-on a last minute 45 yard bomb from QB Brady Quinn to Jeff Samardzjia. The 20-17 win left Notre Dame with a record of 6-1 and still alive to be eligible for the Bowl Championship Series.
It was not only that last second pass that makes one figure "Touchdown Jesus"-a famous mural of Jesus overlooking Notre Dame Stadium with his hands up in the air-had something to do with the win.
It looked like UCLA won the game late in the fourth quarter when it stopped Brady Quinn on a fourth-and-1 play from the Notre Dame 35. With only 2:25 left in the game, it seemed like the Irish would fall to their second loss of the season.
However, thanks to a stingy Irish defense and the wise use of two timeouts, Notre Dame got the ball back with a little more than a minute left in the game.
Quinn then went to work and hit Samarzjia with a 21-yard pass and then hit David Grimes with a 14-yard pass. After that came that winning bomb to Samardzjia.
The last second win destroyed the fact UCLA was in charge for the majority of the game. After Notre Dame scored the game's first touchdown in the first quarter, UCLA scored two touchdowns in the second quarter. The first came off a 54-yard pass from QB Patrick Cowan to Marcus Everett. The next came six minutes later when Cowan connected on a 36-yard touchdown pass to William Snead.
The rest of the scoring came from field goals by both teams, two by Notre Dame's Carl Gioia and one by UCLA's Justin Medlock.
That left the score at 17-13 and set up the final, improbable finish.
Notre Dame next plays Navy next week and probably will not need the help of "Touchdown Jesus" in that game. However, they probably thought the same thing of the game against UCLA.
