July 30, 2009
Just before halftime of the 2008 Sheraton Hawai’i Bowl, Jimmy Clausen pitched the ball to Armando Allen, who was swallowed up by the Hawai’i defense for a six-yard loss. As the final seconds of the half ticked away, Clausen calmly got the offense back to the line of scrimmage and called the final play of the game’s first 30 minutes.
It was a make-or-break moment in the contest. The Irish had to score on the play, or there might not be enough time to kick a field goal. Clausen gave a play-action fake, stepped back and dropped the ball into the hands of Golden Tate – who was double teamed by the Hawai’i defense but made the grab in the corner of the endzone.
At the end of the 18-yard strike, there was just one second left on the game clock. A quick check by the instant replay official confirmed that Tate easily had his left foot down before stepping out of bounds.
It was the second of three touchdown team ups that Clausen and Tate would perform during the game – you can see all three of those pass plays in the original version of this play for the nomination process –
Notre Dame went on to defeat Hawai’i 49-21 in the 2008 Sheraton Hawai’i Bowl.
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 Clausen to Tate completion is #7 on the list – check back tomorrow as we continue the countdown to #1.