Unlikely hero for Notre Dame dooms Tigers
Published 7:00 pm Tuesday, January 2, 2018
<p class="indent">ORLANDO, Fla. — So an unlikely kid made a great one-handed catch — and maybe a better run afterwards.</p><p class="indent">Sometimes that’s what it comes down to — one player, one play.</p><p class="indent">Monday’s magical snag by Notre Dame’s Miles Boykin, which was delivered by the Irish’s backup quarterback, will go down as one of the postseason’s highlights, and the way he split LSU two defenders to finish the 55-yard game-winning touchdown with 1:28 to play was straight out of a video game.</p><p class="indent">But it didn’t make it any easier for LSU to accept the 21-17 loss to the Irish in the Citrus Bowl.</p><p class="indent">“Tough day today,” LSU coach Ed Orgeron said. “I think we saw a little bit of everything.</p><p class="indent">“Very disappointed in this loss. I told the team to put it on me, should have prepared them better.”</p><p class="indent">“We just didn’t finish the job we started,” said LSU running back Derrius Guice, who scored both Tiger touchdowns on passes from Danny Etling.</p><p class="indent">They came close — like they did most of the day.</p><p class="indent">But LSU got only three points from its two trips to the 1-yard line and had their season-long field goal kicking woes flare up again with two short misses in the first half.</p><p class="indent">“It became a game of inches,” Orgeron said “That was the difference in the game.”</p><p class="indent">So LSU, which outgained Notre Dame 399-370, trailed 3-0 at halftime, totally took over the game in the third quarter, yet couldn’t hold a 14-6 lead in the fourth quarter.</p><p class="indent">Still, the Tigers re-took a 17-14 lead with 2:03 to play on, of all things, a 17-yard field goal by Jack Gonsoulin.</p><p class="indent">It came a play after Guice, who had 98 yards rushing, was stopped inches short of he goal line and the Tigers settled for a field goal.</p><p class="indent">Still, Orgeron felt good.</p><p class="indent">“Our defense had stopped them all day,” he said.</p><p class="indent">But all it took was one play by one player — even an unlikley hero like Boykin, who came into the game with only nine catches all season and caught the game-winner from backup Ian Book.</p><p class="indent">“It was really almost like a blur,” said Boykin, with reached to grab it with one hand before splitting LSU defenders Donte Jackson and John Battle and sprinting to the end zone.</p><p class="indent">“We talk about situations like this all the time. It’s not often you get to be in one.”</p><p class="indent">Notre Dame coach Brian Kelly apparently had a premonition.</p><p class="indent">He told Boykin before the game that he was going to be the MVP.</p><p class="indent">“He looked at me like I had two heads,” Kelly said. “But I felt like he had a chance. He’s got the ability if we can get him the football.”</p><p class="indent">The Irish did — right in front of Orgeron on the LSU sideline.</p><p class="indent">“It was a tremendous catch by him,” Orgeron said. “We had Donte on him, our best cover guy.”</p><p class="indent">But the one-handed catch of the long pass wasn’t the worst of it.</p><p class="indent">“We did a poor job missing the tackle,” Orgeron said. “We should’ve lived to fight another down there. We had two guys on him and missed the tackle. That’s what I’m most disappointed of.”</p><p class="indent">LSU finished a 9-4 season on a down note after winning six of its last seven heading into the bowl.</p><p class="indent">“Our guys fought hard,” Orgeron said. “Looking at the overall picture, very proud of our football team. Made tremendous improvement over the season. But very disappointed in this loss.</p><p class="indent">“There are some things we need to get fixed and we’re going to fix them. Especially in areas where we didn’t perform.”</p><p class="indent">He might start with the kicking — LSU has already signed what Orgeron called the “best kicker in America” in graduate transfer Cole Tracy — and the red zone offense.</p><p class="indent">“We played poorly,” said Guice, whose touchdowns came on receptions of 20 and 2 yards from Etling, who scrambled much of the day but still completed 19 of 133 passes for 229 yards.</p><p class="indent">“He made made some tremendous plays,” Orgeron said. “Some of those third-down conversions, guys fought to get open and he scrambled. He got hit, he got up. Tough, typical Danny Etling.”</p><p class="indent">Etling also ran for two key first downs.</p><p class="indent">But, as Orgeron noted, “We bogged down in the red zone. That’s something we’ve got to get better at.”</p><p class="indent">With LSU missing the two field goals, neither offense did much damage in the first half.</p><p class="indent">But Notre Dame got a lift just before halftime when Book was inserted at quarterback for season-long starter Brandon Wimbush.</p><p class="indent">Wimbush is the scrambler of the duo but Book keyed the drive that gave Notre Dame a 3-0 lead just before halfime with a 21-yard scramble on third-and-19.</p><p class="indent">Wimbush wasn’t hurt, but Kelly said it was the plan all along to play Book, who never came out after entering the game.</p><p class="indent">“I think he made a difference,” said Orgeron. “Obviously we had a plan for Wimbush — we were going to stop the run. He (Book) came around and scrambled, made some plays, extended some with his feet and threw very well.</p><p class="indent">“I’ll give him some credit.”</p>
