No. 3 Notre Dame survives Northwestern's upset bid

EVANSTON, Ill. — Now do you see why Notre Dame coach Brian Kelly had Quenton Nelson address his former teammates this week?

Unranked and upset-minded Northwestern gave the No. 3 Irish everything they could handle Saturday night at Ryan Field before falling 31-21. Notre Dame, playing at cozy Ryan Field for the first time since 1976, improved to 9-0 and kept its national championship hopes alive.  

Nelson, the rookie offensive guard drafted sixth overall by the Indianapolis Colts in the spring, was brought in to remind the Irish how much more they’ll have to give to survive November.

“He’s a guy that has been part of this run for us in terms of what we’re doing and how we’re doing it,” Kelly said Thursday, “so I wanted to give him the opportunity to give a little bit of insight as to what the plan is here and how we finish this off. It was good for his words to resonate with our football team.”

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Over the past five Novembers, Notre Dame entered 1-8 on the road against teams from Power Five conferences. Nelson was party to some of those flops, especially last year after the Irish were ranked third in the initial College Football Playoff rankings of 2017.

This time the committee put Notre Dame fourth in its first rankings on Tuesday.

“Quenton is a guy that has a mindset of getting after his opponent,” Kelly said. “You’ve got to be tough-minded in November. These, week to week, are games where you have to be tough-minded. Quenton brings that to the table.”

So, apparently, does a preponderance of Nelson’s former teammates.

Three reasons the Irish beat the Wildcats on Saturday:

PACKING A PASS RUSH

Notre Dame’s defense sacked senior quarterback Clayton Thorson five times, but the biggest of those belonged to Julian Okwara. With Northwestern facing third-and-8 from the Notre Dame 46 on the first drive of the second half, Okwara chased Thorson halfway across the field to drop him near the home sideline. A go-ahead touchdown drive ensued as the Irish took the lead for good.

CHASING GLORY

Miles Boykin extended his streak of games with at least one touchdown catch to five, but it was bookend target Chase Claypool who proved even tougher to cover. The 6-4 Canadian from British Columbia finished with eight catches for 130 yards. His best work, however, might have come late in the first half as he broke up a certain interception for defensive end Joe Gaziano deep in Irish territory.

STAYING CALM

Senior linebacker and co-captain Drue Tranquill, battling a sprained right ankle, had to be used more judiciously than normal. While Tranquill was mainly saved for third-down and goal-line situations, sophomore Jordan Genmark Heath piled up six first-half tackles filling in at the “Buck” position.