As Notre Dame finished off the closing seconds of its 30-13 win at Oklahoma, an audible noise began echoing through Memorial Stadium in Norman.
It was not the sound of boos (though there were plenty of those during the game). It was not the sound of feet shuffling toward the exits (though there was plenty of that as well). It was the chants of “Man-ti Te’- o” coming from the Notre Dame faithful.
Sure, quarterback Everett Golson had grown up in front of the entire country Saturday night, but Irish fans knew it was their star linebacker who was most responsible for the team’s 8-0 record.
Te’o, a senior from Hawaii, is the unquestioned leader of this Notre Dame defense. The inside linebacker has been all over the field this season. He has 72 tackles, 11 of which came against the Sooners, and he also has five interceptions – including the game-winner in the closing minutes of Saturday’s victory.
But Te’o isn’t just leading with his play on the field. He is showing his true colors off of it as well.
In a tumultuous three-week period, Te’o not only saw his girlfriend lose her battle with Leukemia, he lost his grandmother as well. Te’o responded by not only putting together a Heisman-worthy season, but by placing himself in the shoes of another cancer victim.
Bridget Smith, a 12-year-old girl who loved Notre Dame, was also a victim of Leukemia. Upon hearing her story, Te’o wrote a two-page email to her family about how he can relate to their pain, and the role religion played in his healing. The Smith family, who is Catholic, received the email the day of Bridget’s passing. She may not have been conscious when the family received the letter, but they read it to her anyway.
The most impressive thing about the gesture from Te’o was that he did it behind closed doors. Nobody encouraged him to write the letter, and it was only thanks to a family friend of the Smith’s that the media became aware of the letter.
Without a doubt, Te’o has been the key figure behind Notre Dame’s revival. The offense, which is being led by a freshman quarterback, is averaging only 26.4 points a game. Time and again, the team has relied on Te’o and the defense to make a big stop. And in every single instance they have delivered.
Notre Dame’s bend-but-don’t-break mentality has allowed the Irish to have one of the stingiest defenses in the country. The unit has surrendered a touchdown on less than a quarter of the opponents’ drives into the red zone, and has given up only one rushing touchdown all season.
That figure is even more impressive when taking into account who the Irish have played this season.
In their season-opener, they faced a Navy squad that runs the ball on nearly every play. Two weeks later, they held Michigan State running back Le’Veon Bell to just 77 yards. The next game he rushed for 253 against Eastern Michigan.
In Week Four, the Irish not only kept Michigan speedster Denard Robinson out of the end zone, they also picked him off four times. Two games later, they shut out Stanford star Stepfan Taylor, who is among the most talented running backs in the country. They held Taylor to less than four yards a carry, and made the season-saving (albeit controversial) goal-line stand in overtime.
But as great as the Irish have played all year, Saturday’s victory over Oklahoma was easily their biggest statement. The Sooners had come in averaging 200 rushing yards a game, and Te’o and Co. held them to just 15 yards on the ground. OU quarterback Landry Jones seemed to be back on track after the Sooners averaged 52 points a game in their three previous contests. That all came crashing down Saturday night.
Jones still piled up 356 yards through the air, but it hardly mattered as Notre Dame’s dominating red zone defense continued. Never was it more apparent than late in the first half, when Oklahoma drove to the 4-Yard line but was unable to capitalize. That left Notre Dame with a 10-6 advantage heading into halftime, a lead it never surrendered.
While the defense is 11th in the country at 293 yards a game, its red zone defense has allowed ND to rank second in the country in scoring defense, at 9.8 points a contest. The Irish have just four games to make up ground on Kansas State, but if the defense delivers a similar performance in the finale against USC, look for a possible jump in the season’s last BCS standings.