July 31, 2009
When the Notre Dame football team traveled to Washington in 2005, most Irish fans were focused on the meeting between then first-year coach Charlie Weis and the previous coach of the team, Tyrone Willingham.
The Notre Dame football team, however, was thinking about much more than a coach-against-coach matchup. They were focused on a promise their head coach had made earlier in the week.
Washington received the kickoff and marched down field, all the way to Notre Dame’s one-yard line before Chindeum Ndukwe forced a fumble and recovered the ball. Pinned deep in their own territory, the Irish ran a bootleg-type pass to the right, as Brady Quinn hit Anthony Fasano for a 13-yard gain.
It seemed like a gutsy play call to get the Irish out of trouble in their own territory. We all learned the next day that the play meant a lot more – especially to a grieving family in South Bend, Indiana.
For a longer feature on the story, see ESPN’s feature run soon after the Washington game in 2005.
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.
Pass Right is #6 on the list – check back on Monday, August 3 as we continue the countdown to #1.