South Bend, Ind. – As the 2005 season reached its apex, as an unprecedented dynasty stood on the precipice of collapse, one question, asked inside the din of a screaming, angry throng of more than 80,000 fans, saved Southern California’s drive toward history.
One Heisman Trophy winner, Matt Leinart, stood at the 1-yard line with seven seconds left and turned to this year’s Heisman contender, tailback Reggie Bush.
“Think I should?” Leinart asked.
Bush, who had already scored a career-high three rushing touchdowns to keep USC alive, replied, “Let’s go. Do it.”
With that bit of schoolyard moxie, Leinart put top-ranked USC’s season on his back. He eschewed spiking the ball and plowed, twisted and turned – with a massive push from Bush – to score with three seconds left for a wild 34-31 win Saturday over ninth-ranked Notre Dame (4-2).
“At USC, we’ve had a lot of tough games, a lot of tough wins,” Leinart said, “and this obviously goes down in the history books as probably one of the best ones ever played.”
For a few seconds, it was going down as one of the greatest wins in Notre Dame history, as USC’s quest for a historic third straight national title appeared over. The clock read 0:00, a packed Notre Dame Stadium began to empty onto the field and the plucky Irish and first-year coach Charlie Weis appeared poised to replace USC in the national spotlight.
But in a bizarre final seven seconds, on the heels of Leinart’s season-saving fourth-and-9 completion to Dwayne Jarrett at 1:08, the college football world ratcheted back into place. With no timeouts and 23 seconds left, on first-and-goal from the Irish 2, Leinart scrambled toward the end zone but was tackled at the 1.
USC, with a 27-game win streak on the line, got up to run a final play but the clock slowly ticked to zero, sending Notre Dame Stadium into pandemonium.
It was too soon. Leinart had fumbled out of bounds at the 1, stopping the clock with seven seconds left.
“I saw the hit and I saw the ball go flying,” Irish safety Tom Zbikowski said. “I got a little excited, but it was obviously premature and I knew another play was coming.”
In that situation, offensive coordinator Lane Kiffin said, Leinart has a choice. If the defensive line isn’t set, he’s told to run the “clock” play, or quarterback sneak. If the line is set, he can sneak it or spike the ball for another play.
Leinart had already driven the Trojans (6-0) 74 yards in the final 1:58. He doesn’t have a Heisman at home for having no guts.
“He’s our leader,” Bush said. “He’s been doing it for the last two years and I have faith in him and his playmaking ability. I know the type of player he is. He’s not going to give up. He’s not always going to win a game on his arm.”
Still, that 1 yard looked like the 405 at L.A. rush hour after a surprisingly strong Notre Dame defense held the nation’s top offense to only 21 points through three quarters. Leinart didn’t score on the initial surge, but he twisted and Bush charged from behind to bull him through. It’s against the rules but no flag flew.
“I felt something, but I didn’t know,” Leinart said. “(Bush) said, ‘You’re welcome, man. I pushed your back.’ I was like, ‘Thanks, dude!”‘
Chalk it up as Leinart’s second magical comeback in little more than a minute. Brady Quinn had just done his impersonation of an attending Notre Dame alum, Joe Montana, driving the Irish 87 yards to a 31-28 lead on a 5-yard scramble with 2:04 left.
Facing fourth-and-9 on the USC 26, Kiffin called for a five-step drop and a pass to the sideline. If Leinart saw Notre Dame ready to blitz, Kiffin told him to call for a bomb to Jarrett. The college football world smelled upset. Notre Dame smelled history. USC smelled trouble.
“For the first time in my career here,” Bush said, “I was unsure.”
Leinart wasn’t. He audibled over the thundering din and threw a strike to Jarrett, who caught the ball – with double vision from a scratched cornea suffered earlier in the game – at the 50. He was just caught by beaten cornerback Ambrose Wooden on the 13 at 1:08.
The game ended a gutsy night by an Irish team that had lost its past three games in this 75- year-old rivalry by 31 points each. Weis put them in green uniforms for the eighth time in history, and he controlled the ball with Quinn hitting 19-of-35 passes for 264 yards. The Irish converted on 10-of-19 third downs.
Notre Dame’s defense, only 94th nationally, kept Leinart from dominating, and Zbikowski’s 60-yard punt return for the 21-14 lead seemed to be an omen. But Bush, who rushed for 160 yards, went on a game-tying 45-yard run up the middle and gave USC a 28-24 lead on a 9-yard run with 5:09 left.
“We feel very fortunate to come out of here with a win,” USC coach Pete Carroll said. “This is one of those games you will see on one of those “Classic” channels somewhere soon.”
Staff writer John Henderson can be reached at 303-820-1299 or jhenderson@denverpost.com.
