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Notre Dame survives...barely.
As 16.5-point favorites in their home opener on Saturday, the No. 8 Fighting Irish needed a late fourth quarter touchdown to put down the Toledo Rockets 32-29 in South Bend. Quarterback Jack Coan completed an 18-yard touchdown pass to Michael Mayer with 1:09 left for the go-ahead score. For context, Coan did this after HAVING HIS FINGER POPPED BACK IN!
from having a dislocated finger to throwing the winning touchdown pass in 20 seconds pic.twitter.com/AfHxz0Vu9C
— Timothy Burke (@bubbaprog) September 11, 2021
Toledo was close to pulling off the shocker when backup quarterback Daquan Finn took a 26-yard option-keeper to the house for the go-ahead touchdown with 1:35 left in the fourth quarter.
TOLEDO TOUCHDOWN TO TAKE THE LEAD OVER NOTRE DAME pic.twitter.com/FAtIyqwGZ9
— Alex. (@Dubs4O8) September 11, 2021
Following the ensuing kickoff, a pair of pass interference calls gave ND prime field position and set up Coan to deliver the game-winning blow.
This was Notre Dame’s first game ever broadcast exclusively on the Peacock premium streaming service. If you wanted to watch it live, you had to pay for a monthly subscription. Take that cash grab and something about Karma for what you will.
Notre Dame is already living on the edge this season as this came just five days after they escaped with an overtime win at Florida State on Labor Day. This would’ve been the second Top 10 upset of the afternoon after Ohio State fell to Oregon in The Horseshoe.