Aug. 7, 2009
When Brady Quinn walked off the field after being stuffed on a fourth-and-one play with 2:25 remaining, it looked like the 10th-ranked Notre Dame football team was going to suffer an upset loss on their home field to unranked UCLA.
Things needed to go perfectly for the Irish after that play. Notre Dame had enough timeouts to get the ball back, but the defense would have to force a three-and-out. The offense would then have to drive nearly the length of the field with little time remaining.
The defense did their job, getting UCLA off the field. The effort was led by running back/linebacker Travis Thomas, who stopped two runs for no gain in the three-play posession.
Quinn walked back onto the field with 1:02 remaining and after two completions near the sidelines, found Jeff Samardzija for the winning touchdown…
The und.com video crew caught up with Coach Weis on Thursday, Aug. 6, just outside his office. He sat down and provided his memories of that play, which marked only the third time in Notre Dame history the team posted a winning touchdown with less than 30 seconds remaining…
When und.com launched its redesigned site on July 8, 2009, we asked for Irish fans to vote for the top plays of the Charlie Weis era. After close to 13,000 votes, Notre Dame fans have determined the top 10 plays since 2005 – and we will be unveiling them one at a time over the next 10 business days until fall football practice begins on Aug. 8.
The pass from Quinn to Samardzija was voted #1 by Irish fans. Remember, you can today, Aug. 7, at 12 noon ET.