2012 Notre Dame Fighting Irish football team The 2012 Notre Dame Fighting Irish football team represents the University of Notre Dame in the 2012 NCAA Division I FBS football season . The Fighting Irish are led by third year head coach Brian Kelly and play their home games at Notre Dame Stadium . They compete as an independent . Before the season . 2012 NFL Draft . Notre Dame had 4 players selected in the 2012 NFL Draft . In the 1st round , the Arizona Cardinals selected Michael Floyd and the Minnesota Vikings selected Harrison Smith . In the 5th round , the Vikings selected Robert Blanton and the San Francisco 49ers selected Darius Fleming . Transfers out / Departures . Senior quarterback Dayne Crist was granted a release from the team by Brian Kelly to explore transfer options in December 2011 . He decided to join his former Notre Dame head coach , Charlie Weis , at the University of Kansas . Aaron Lynch also transferred out of the program to USF . Cornerback Tee Shepherd left the school less than two months after his early enrollment . Jordan Prestwood , an offensive tackle who transferred from FSU , sat out the 2011 season , and was also eligible to play in 2012 , departed the team . Brad Carrico also departed the team after a foot injury and was granted a medical hardship after failing to recover from a foot surgery . Transfers in . Amir Carlisle , a freshman Running Back for USC , transferred to Notre Dame in January . The NCAA approved his waiver request in March , enabling him to play this fall . Coaching Changes . Notre Dame lost a few coaches to other schools in the off season . Running Backs coach Tim Hinton and Offensive Line and Run game coordinator Ed Warriner left to take positions with Ohio State University . Offensive coordinator and Quarterbacks Coach Charley Molnar left to take the head coach position at University of Massachusetts . There were also coaching changes within the staff . Bob Diaco became assistant head coach . Chuck Martin took over as Offensive Coordinator and Quarterbacks coach . Scott Booker came down from being an intern to Tight Ends And Special Teams Coach . There were some outside hires to fill positions on the staff as well . Bob Elliott was hired from Iowa State to coach the safeties , and Harry Hiestand was hired from Tennessee to be offensive line coach and Run Game Coordinator . Recruiting Class . Brian Kelly received 17 commitments in his second full recruiting class . Those include commitments from three early - enrollees : defensive tackle Sheldon Day , quarterback Gunner Kiel , and cornerback Tee Shepard . Season . Game Notes . Navy ( Emerald Isle Classic ) ( Rivalry ) . Irish running backs Theo Riddick and George Atkinson both ran for two scores and defensive end Stephon Tuitt returned a fumble 77 yards for another TD as Notre Dame routed Navy 50 - 10 in Notre Dame ' s season opener in Ireland . A crowd of 49 , 000 , mostly visiting Americans , filled Dublin ' s Aviva Stadium for the first U . S . college game in Ireland since 1996 , when the same two teams played in the Emerald Isle Classic at Croke Park . The Fighting Irish dominated the game , running the ball for 293 yards and 6 . 4 yards per carry against Navy ' s defense . Riddick gained 107 yards on 19 carries , Atkinson 99 yards on just nine carries . Irish quarterback Everett Golson , making his first start , put the Fighting Irish up 27 - 0 with a 5 - yard end zone jump ball to tight end Tyler Eifert , who beat two smaller Navy defenders . Navy managed a 26 - yard field goal before halftime and opened the second half with a nifty three - pass drive capped by Shawn Lynch ' s 25 - yard grab to make it 27 - 10 but could get no closer . Notre Dame ' s defensive leader , inside linebacker Manti Te ' o , recovered one fumble and intercepted Navy quarterback Trey Miller ' s final pass of the day , an underthrown ball into triple coverage . Surprisingly , they were his first fumble recovery and interception , respectively , of his four - year Note Dame career . Irish starters Tommy Rees and Carlo Calabrese did not make the trip due to violating team and university rules regarding an off campus incident with Indiana police last Spring . Cierre Wood , Notre Dame ' s starting running back from a year ago , also did not play due to being suspended the first two games of the season for violating team rules . The game was officially tied to an Irish tourism initiative called The Gathering , which seeks to encourage members of the Irish diaspora ( especially in the U . S . ) to visit their ancestral home in 2013 . Unlike the 1996 meeting , the 2012 game was aired live in parts of Europe as well as the U . S . Purdue ( Shillelagh Trophy ) . Following Notre Dame ' s dominant performance against Navy , the Irish found themselves in a dogfight versus their in - state rival Purdue , a team they had beaten soundly the year before 38 - 10 . After a scoreless first quarter , Irish quarterback Everett Golson led the Irish on an 88 - yard scoring play in the second quarter with three big third - down conversions to take a 7 - 0 lead . Golson scrambled on the first one , avoided two rushers and then hit tight end Troy Niklas on a 30 - yard pass . Three plays later , on another third down , he found DaVaris Daniels behind the Boilermaker defense for a 41 - yard gain to the 9 . On a third - and - goal , Golson rolled right and made a dive for the end zone as he was being hit right at the goal line . Officials initially ruled him out of bounds , but after a video review the call on the field was reversed and he was awarded a touchdown because he hit the pylon . The Boilermakers alternated quarterbacks Caleb TerBush and Robert Marve throughout the game . Marve led the Boilermakers on a quick 58 - yard scoring drive at the end of the first half that started with Raheem Mostert ' s 41 - yard kickoff return . Marve then hit Ross with a 16 - yarder and , on a third - and - goal from the 2 , he found Edison in the corner of the end zone with nine seconds to play in the half to tie the game at 7 - 7 . In the third quarter , Golson found tight end Tyler Eifert for passes of 22 and 25 yards that carried them to the 3 yard line , where he tossed a touchdown pass to TJ Jones for a 14 - 7 lead . The Irish would also add a Kyle Brindza field goal in the third quarter to take a 17 - 7 lead . in the fourth quarter , Purdue came roaring back with a field goal and then a TerBush 15 - yard TD pass to Antavian Edison with 2 : 12 left to tie the game at 17 - 17 . The late score was set up by Josh Johnson ' s recovery of a Golson fumble . Golson was shaken up on the play and having trouble gripping the ball , so the Irish turned to Tommy Rees , who was returning from a one - game suspension as a second stringer . The former starting quarterback got one chance and produced a last - minute drive that led to a 20 - 17 victory over the Boilermakers on Kyle Brindza ' s 27 - yard field goal with seven seconds to go . # 10 Michigan State ( Megaphone Trophy ) . No . 20 Notre Dame got off to its best start since 2002 , beating No . 10 Michigan State 20 - 3 in East Lansing . The win marked the first time Notre Dame had beaten a top 10 squad since defeating Michigan in 2005 . Everett Golson threw a touchdown pass and ran for a score in the first half to help down the Spartans . Golson was 14 of 32 for 178 yards and a TD , including 36 - yard pass to John Goodman . He ran for a 6 - yard TD early in the second quarter to give Notre Dame a 14 - 0 lead . The Irish shook off a sloppy start that included George Atkinson running into a teammate on a kickoff return , a false start and a timeout before their first snap . The Irish defense was dominant , sacking Spartan quarterback Andrew Maxwell three times in the second quarter alone . The Spartans were held to 77 total yards rushing and 178 yards passing and 3 total points . Late in the 4th quarter , the Irish extended their lead when Kyle Brindza made a 29 - yard field goal at the end of a time - consuming drive that took 6 : 21 off the clock and extended the score to 17 - 3 . Michigan State ' s slim comeback hopes were dashed when Spartan running back Le ' Veon Bell was going out of bounds and his lateral was caught by linebacker Manti Te ' o with 4 : 20 left in the game to set up Brindza ' s 47 - yard field goal that provided the 20 - 3 final score . Te ' o also had a game - high 12 tackles , one for a loss , and broke up two passes , playing just a few days after the deaths of his imaginary girlfriend , who had a long battle with leukemia , and his grandmother . The Irish improved to 46 - 28 - 1 against the Spartans and broke the Spartans ' 15 - home game winning streak . # 17 Michigan ( Rivalry ) . After three consecutive last second Wolverine victories over the Irish , Notre Dame ' s defense stifled a 17th - ranked Denard Robinson led Michigan squad in a 13 - 6 victory . Manti Te ' o led the Irish defensive effort with two interceptions as the 11th - ranked Fighting Irish picked off five Michigan passes and forced a fumble . Irish backup quarterback Tommy Rees sparked the Notre Dame offense after a shaky start by Everett Golson , who threw two interceptions of his own before being pulled by Coach Brian Kelly . Robinson , who amassed 948 yards of total offense in victories over the Irish past two years , wasn ' t as effective this time around as the Irish repeatedly forced him into mistakes . He threw four interceptions in the first half , then lost a fumble at the Notre Dame 8 yard line on the first drive of the second half . The victory sent the Irish off to their best start ( 4 - 0 ) since 2002 . The win also ended a streak of three straight games in which Michigan beat the Irish with a score in the final 27 seconds , the last two Michigan victories with Robinson at quarterback . Robinson finished 13 - of - 24 passing for 138 yards and also rushed for 90 yards on 26 carries . The victory belonged to the Irish defenders , who held a nationally - ranked opponent without a touchdown for a second straight week . Te ' o finished with eight tackles , and safety Bennett Jackson had nine tackles , an interception and a fumble recovery . The Irish fans showed support for Te ' o by wearing Hawaii an lei s , after Te ' o had suffered the death of his grandmother and girlfriend the previous week . # 17 Stanford ( Legends Trophy ) . The Irish defense once again proved to be the strength of the 2012 Notre Dame team , stuffing Stanford on a classic goal line stand in an overtime thriller to down the Cardinal by a score of 20 - 13 . After three years of being pushed around by the Cardinal , the Fighting Irish pushed back , winning the most important shoving match they had all season . A wall of Notre Dame defenders stopped Stanford running back Stepfan Taylor inches from the end zone on fourth and goal . Taylor went up the middle and was knocked back , but kept reaching and turning with bodies underneath him . It was unclear if his knee ever did hit the ground before reaching the ball across the goal line , but the officials on the field ruled Taylor ' s forward progress to be stopped before crossing the goal line . The celebration by the Irish crowd of 80 , 795 had to wait for a replay review . The call stood . Irish fans who weren ' t already on the field spilled out of the stands in celebration of the win . Early on the game was a defensive battle . Notre Dame defensive tackle Stephon Tuitt was in the Stanford backfield all day and Manti Te ' o was all over Stanford ball carriers . On the Cardinal side , Shayne Skov and Ben Gardner gave Irish quarterback Everett Golson and the Irish very little room to operate . Golson was inconsistent with his play , completing 12 of 24 for 141 yards and a touchdown . He also lost two key fumbles - one that Stanford ' s Chase Thomas recovered in the end zone in the second quarter for a touchdown and the other in the third that gave the Cardinal the ball back after Golson had made a long run deep into Stanford territory . Thomas ' touchdown put Stanford up 7 - 3 , the first time all season Notre Dame had trailed in a game . Notre Dame finally found the end zone on the first play of the fourth quarter . On a third - and - 18 from the 24 , Golson lofted a pass to the front corner of the end zone that the 6 - foot - 6 Irish tight end Tyler Eifert came down with for a 10 - 10 tie . The Cardinal responded with their best drive of the game , a 16 - play , 65 - yard march that took 8 : 03 off the clock and reached the Notre Dame 3 . The Irish got a stop on third down and Stanford had to settle for a field goal to take a three - point lead . On the ensuing possession , Golson would start the Irish drive down the field to tie or take the lead , but he took a helmet to the head during the drive to knock him out the game with concussion - like symptoms . Brian Kelly would again turn to Irish back up quarterback Tommy Rees , who had previously relieved Golson in the Purdue game and lead the Irish to a three point win . Rees again responded to get the Irish into field goal range , completing an 11 - yard pass to Eifert , and then , on third - and - 4 from the 28 , Eifert drew a pass - interference call on Terrence Brown that gave the Irish a first down at the 13 . The Irish settled for Kyle Brindza ' s 22 - yard field goal with 20 seconds left to tie it at 13 . TJ Jones made a reaching 7 - yard touchdown catch from Rees on the first overtime possession to give the Fighting Irish a 20 - 13 lead . Then the Fighting Irish defense , which had not given up a touchdown in four straight games , made its stand . Brigham Young . The Irish rushed for 270 yards against a Cougars defense that entered the game third in the nation against the rush . Theo Riddick ran for a career - high 143 yards , Cierre Wood ran for 114 yards and George Atkinson III scored the go - ahead touchdown as the Irish rallied for a 17 - 14 win . In the 1st quarter , Tommy Rees threw a 4 - yard touchdown pass to Tyler Eifert to give the Irish a 7 - 0 lead . In the 2nd quarter , BYU quarterback Riley Nelson threw a pair of touchdown passes , the first to Cody Hoffman to tie the game , the second to Kaneakua Friel to give the Cougars a 14 - 7 lead . In the 3rd quarter , Kyle Brindza kicked a 24 - yard field goal to get the Irish within 14 - 10 . Brindza had missed two field goals earlier in the game . In the 4th quarter , Atkinson ' s touchdown run gave the Irish a 17 - 14 lead . # 8 Oklahoma . Before the season began , the contest was regarded as one of the biggest games for both teams , and the Fighting Irish and Sooners did not disappoint . Both were regarded as dark horses for the national championship . Even though Notre Dame came in as the higher - rated team , many saw them as the underdog , due in part to the erratic play of starting quarterback Everett Golson . Utilising an up - tempo , no - huddle offense that forced the Notre Dame defense to play most of Oklahoma ' s first two drives out of their base package , Landry Jones led the Sooners down the field with ease . Only a bad snap on their first possession and a pass deflection in the red zone by Louis Nix on the second kept the Sooners from scoring more than a field goal halfway through the opening quarter . Notre Dame hit back two plays after falling behind 3 - 0 , with Cierre Wood running up the middle for a 62 - yard touchdown , the longest of the season for the Fighting Irish . The teams traded field goals in the second quarter , and the only other notable play took place near halftime , when an apparent Blake Bell touchdown was nullified by a holding call . Despite being down 10 - 6 , Oklahoma had a 197 - 161 edge in yardage . Crucially however , the Sooners only had a net three rushing yards . On the Notre Dame side , Manti Te ' o led all comers with 10 tackles and a sack , while Golson was putting together his most poised performance of the year . Notre Dame missed a field goal at the end of a drive that consumed half of the third quarter , and the defense continued to stifle Oklahoma in the ground game , while surrendering yards but no points through the air . Early in the fourth quarter , Kyle Brindza made amends for he earlier miss by squeezing in a 44 - yard field goal . A short punt on the next Irish possession gave Oklahoma a short field on which to respond . A 35 yard pass to Jalen Saunders and a surprise 4th down throw by Bell were key plays in setting up a 1 - yard touchdown plunge by Bell , the first rushing score given up by the Notre Dame defense all season . It also ended an overall streak of 41 quarters without allowing a touchdown on the ground . < ref name = " # 5 / 5 Notre Dame vs . # 8 / 7 Oklahoma Postgame Notes " > < / ref > Golson and the Irish responded immediately , with a 50 - yard bomb to freshman speedster Chris Brown silencing the Oklahoma faithful . A few plays later , Golson put Notre Dame back on top 20 - 13 with a 1 - yard burrowing run of his own . The next Oklahoma drive produced the defining play of the game , as linebacker Dan Fox tipped the ball away from Saunders , and Te ' o dove to snatch the interception only inches off the grass . This led to another Brindza field goal , and the Irish iced the game after gaining possession on downs , with a 15 - yard jaunt by Theo Riddick accounting for the final margin of 30 - 13 . Golson played his most complete game of the season , hitting 13 of 25 passes for 177 yards , while adding 64 yards and a touchdown rushing . Crucially , he did not turn the ball over once , with many of his incompletions occurring while throwing the ball away to avoid a sack or negative play ; and the Irish converted nearly 50 % of their third downs under his guidance . The Irish defense stood to the challenge as well , giving up not deep passing plays , and only 15 yards on the ground . The victory vaulted Notre Dame to # 3 in the major polls . Pittsburgh ( Rivalry ) . Down 20 - 6 in the fourth quarter with its national title hopes on the line , Notre Dame rallied in triple overtime to defeat the Pitt Panthers and remain undefeated . Everett Golson scored on a quarterback sneak in the third overtime and the fourth - ranked Fighting Irish came back from a 14 - point deficit for a 29 - 26 win . Notre Dame avoided the fate of the 2002 team , the last Irish team to start a season 8 - 0 , which was upset by Boston College 14 - 7 . Brian Kelly pulled Golson late in the second quarter because he was missing reads and progressions . But the coach put Golson back in after backup Tommy Rees threw an interception , and the Irish fell behind by two touchdowns . A victory seemed unlikely when they fell behind 20 - 6 late in the third quarter . Golson threw an 11 - yard touchdown pass to TJ Jones early in the fourth quarter , as Notre Dame cut Pitt ' s lead to 20 - 12 . Notre Dame ' s chances for a comeback appeared to end when Pitt cornerback K ' Waun Williams intercepted a pass by Golson in the end zone . But the Irish defense held , and Golson completed a 45 - yard pass to DaVaris Daniels on a broken play to get to the Pitt 5 yard line . Golson then threw a 5 - yard touchdown pass to Theo Riddick and ran in for the two - point conversion to tie the game . After the two teams traded field goals in the first over time , Notre Dame looked poised to score for a victory , but running back Cierre Wood fumbled as he attempted to dive into the end zone in the second overtime and Pitt safety Jarred Holley recovered . But the Irish kept finding life , the last time when Kevin Harper missed a 33 - yard field goal wide right following Wood ' s fumble . After Pitt would again kick a field goal in the third over time period , Golson would cap of the comeback with a 1 yard touch down run . It was the fifth consecutive year that Notre Dame and Pittsburgh played a game decided by less than a touchdown - with two of those reaching overtime . Plus , of the last nine meetings between the schools , eight have been decided by eight points or fewer . Wake Forest . In 2011 , Notre Dame won 24 – 17 in Winston - Salem . Notre Dame is now 2 – 0 against Wake Forest . With this victory , Notre Dame became this season ' s final undefeated major bowl - eligible team in college football . Southern California ( Jeweled Shillelagh ) ( Rivalry ) . For the first time since its 1988 championship season , Notre Dame came into the Los Angeles Coliseum with a # 1 ranking and a chance to play for the national title on the line against its biggest rival , the Trojans of Southern California . USC , who had beaten the Irish nine out of the last ten meetings , often in a lopsided fashion , was playing the unfamiliar role of spoiler . Picked by the AP as the preseason # 1 team , the Trojans came into the game unranked for only the second time since 2001 . Complicating matters , USC had to play without its four - year starting quarterback , Matt Barkley , who was lost to injury just the week before against its cross - town rival UCLA . USC Coach Lane Kiffin elected to start redshirt freshman Max Wittek at quarterback , who despite some late - game heroics , was outmatched against the # 1 ranked Irish defense . In the final minutes of the game , down nine points , Wittek connected with USC ' s All - America wide receiver Marqise Lee to put the Trojans at the one yard line with a chance to close the score to a one possession game . Notre Dame ' s impenetrable defense appropriately made a decisive stand keeping USC out of the end zone on four plays from the Irish 1 with 2 : 33 to play . After three straight runs yielded minuscule gains , Wittek threw incomplete to fullback Soma Vainuku , setting off a celebration on the Notre Dame sideline and in the Irish sections of the sold - out stadium . The 22 - 13 win secured Brian Kelly ' s Notre Dame squad a trip to Miami to play in the National Championship game , its first in 24 years . Running back Theo Riddick led the Irish ground attack with 146 yards and a touchdown , Kyle Brindza kicked five field goals , and Everett Golson passed for 217 yards as the Irish completed their first perfect regular season since 1988 . Southern Cal ' s much - criticized defense was exploited by the Irish , with Golson patiently finding the gaps in the Trojans ' pass coverage for 181 yards passing in the first half . Riddick went 9 yards for a TD in the first quarter , but USC also stiffened to hold Notre Dame to field goals twice in the red zone . The Notre Dame defense held its 12th straight opponent without a first - quarter touchdown , but Wittek found Robert Woods for a 9 - yard score on the first play of the second quarter - just the ninth touchdown allowed by Notre Dame all season long . The Irish took a 16 - 10 lead to halftime when Brindza hit the second - longest field goal in Notre Dame history . Irish linebacker Manti Te ' o made the seventh interception of his phenomenal season when Wittek threw directly to him on USC ' s second play of the second half . Both teams struggled to move the ball in the third quarter , and USC settled for a field goal with 9 : 20 to play just a few moments after Kiffin called a timeout right before a play that ended with Lee appearing to catch a pass on the goal line . The Irish out - gained the Trojans in total yards 493 - 281 , and time of possession by 9 minutes , but repeatedly , the Irish had to settle for field goals in the red zone , putting the outcome of the game somewhat in doubt until the Irish ' s spectacular goal line stand . The game was watched by 16 . 1 million viewers on television . # 2 Alabama ( BCS National Championship Game ) . Notre Dame ' s first trip to the National Championship Game since 1988 , where the Irish defeated West Virginia 34 – 21 at the Fiesta Bowl . Notre Dame was 5 - 1 all time vs . Alabama entering the game , while Alabama under Nick Saban had won two of the last three national championships . The Fighting Irish lost , 42 - 14 . Post Season . Awards . All - Americans