On the first Saturday of the 2006 College Football season, there were plenty of exciting games and none with a bigger spotlight on it than #2-ranked Notre Dame, coached by offensive genius Charlie Weis, traveling to Atlanta to take on an upset-minded Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets team. 

Ga. Tech got off to a fast start, led by their sensational wide receiver Calvin Johnson making plays.  QB Reggie Ball hooked up with Johnson, who had his 7th career 100-yard game on Saturday night (and he's only a junior) for a touchdown that made it 7-0 after one quarter.  They extended the lead to ten on a Travis Bell field goal.  Everything was going dandy until Irish QB Brady Quinn, the front-runner to win the Heisman, scored a key rushing touchdown on a draw play up the middle to put Notre Dame down only three at the half. 

It was the kind of TD before the half that takes the air out of a stadium and team.  Despite playing their little hearts out, the Yellow Jackets couldn't add to their recent history of upsets that includes knocking off the likes of Auburn and Miami.  Darius Walker's second half touchdown run that put ND up 14-10 turned out to be the final score.

I take four things out of this game:

#1 - Questionable/Inconsistent Officiating - There were at least three instances where I felt Ga. Tech got a bad break.  Sure, you can sure they were all 'good calls' or 'correct calls' if you're a Notre Dame fan.  But I don't see how the Phillip Wheeler helmet-to-helmet hit on Quinn constituted a penalty on third down when he was in bounds, there have been worse hits that didn't get a penalty and why they waited to throw the flag.  At the 13 minute mark with GT faced with a 3rd & 5 - to me it didn't appear that there was 'indisputable evidence' to overturn what was originally called a catch on the field.  Okay, when you go back and look at it, part of the ball does indeed touch the ground.  Thing is he does catch it, and in any other game, my opinion is that nine times out of ten that call on the field stands.  Lastly, when former Notre Dame Head Coach Bob Davie up in the booth hints at a 'late hit' and 'offensive pass interference' it tells you that the Big Ten officials helped the visitors as much as it hurt the home team from earning a win. 

#2 - Notre Dame converting key third downs - Sure, they were held to 54 yards on their first 26 offensive plays and the opposition (being GT) had a 188-134 yardage edge at the break.  But the Irish converted some key third downs, enough to pester Jon Tenuta's defense and chew up clock time in the second half.  If it wasn't for Walker running well and them converting key third downs - they wouldn't have won.  Credit the shrewd play-calling of Weis.  You're always going to see some draws and screens when he's on the sidelines. 

#3 - Notre Dame's 2nd Half Defense - It was nothing short of tremendous.  Reggie Ball had a few good rushing gains, though d-coordinator Rick Minter brought pressure on him.  In fact, it was their blitz on 3rd & 15 after a Travis Thomas hit off a bad snap that put them out of scoring range late in the game when the Yellow Jackets were driving.  Tashard Choice also wasn't nearly as much of a factor as he was in the opening quarter and part of the second period. 

#4 - Calvin Johnson was Brilliant, but why not more throws his way?  - I didn't understand it at all.  He was double teamed at times... so what?  They used him as a decoy on certain plays, which is understandable and worked some.  What didn't work was the team's offense when he didn't touch it at least once on that possession.  He's the best playmaker at the receiver position in College Football, PERIOD.  Had Head Coach Chan Gailey not been conservative by punting on 4th & 1 - their chances of winning increase significantly if you ask me.  Also, if they threw the ball to Johnson like they should have, he would've had 15 grabs, another score and a victory would've been certain.  That's just one person's opinion...

In short, the Irish "survived," an upset scare as Brent Musberger put it, in my mind because of their defense, the leadership of Weis and Quinn to keep plugging away, and Walker running well to keep the offense balanced when Tenuta designed the GT defense to blitz/make ND beat them with the run.  Ga. Tech fell short due to their inability to stop ND on third downs.  Plus, not getting CJ the ball enough cost them.