By the time Notre Dame arrived at the Rose Bowl to face UCLA on October 6, 2007, the season already felt like it was slipping away. The Irish were 0-5, buried beneath criticism, injuries, and the weight of a seven-game losing streak dating back to the previous season. For a program built on pride and tradition, it was unfamiliar territory — and dangerously close to history for all the wrong reasons.
But sometimes a season-changing moment doesn’t begin with offensive fireworks or headline-grabbing
heroics. Sometimes it starts with a defense refusing to quit.
On a night when the Notre Dame offense still struggled to find consistency, the Irish defense delivered one of the grittiest performances of the Charlie Weis era. Led by Maurice Crum Jr., Tom Zbikowski, and a relentless defensive front, Notre Dame forced turnovers, created chaos, and finally gave Irish fans something they had desperately been waiting for: hope.
The following excerpt is from the 2007 Notre Dame Football Review, published in Scholastic Magazine (Vol. 149, No. 7, January 31, 2008), and written by Andy Gray.
Ending the Losing Streak
by Andy Gray
Winless in the first five games of the season and on the verge of tying the longest losing streak in school history at eight, the Irish arrived at the Rose Bowl on Oct. 6 in dire need of a win. UCLA seemed poised to thwart the Irish effort, standing at 4-1 and seeking vengeance for the previous season’s last-minute game-winning Notre Dame drive. Yet Bruins starting quarterback Patrick Cowan and running back Chris Markey were sidelined with injuries, and hope could still be found in Utah’s 44-6 dismantling of UCLA a few weeks prior.
That hope came alive when freshman quarterback Jimmy Clausen, starting despite a recent hip injury, completed his first three passes for two first downs. But the Irish opening drive stalled thereafter, and senior Geoff Price was called in to punt. After an exchange of two more fruitless drives, the Bruins managed to get on the scoreboard with a 29-yard field goal.
The Notre Dame offense failed to move the ball once again on the ensuing drive. The well-established pattern of a sputtering offense placing the Irish defense in a tough position asserted itself once again. If this squad was going to make something happen, the defense would need to provide the spark.
Tom Zbikowski did just that.
On UCLA’s first play after the punt, he flew into the backfield to sack quarterback Ben Olsen at his own 12, forcing a fumble that was recovered by Notre Dame freshman Kerry Neal and returned to the 1-yard line. Olsen was forced to leave the game with a knee injury after the play. Though the Irish offense was unable to push the ball into the end zone and settled for the tying field goal, UCLA’s loss of its only available experienced quarterback would prove pivotal.
Olsen’s replacement was McLeod Bethel-Thompson, a walk-on who had never thrown a pass in collegiate action. Bethel-Thompson was able to manage his offense and hand the ball to running back Kahlil Bell to secure another field goal for the Bruins just before halftime, but these were the last points UCLA would put on the scoreboard.
On the opening drive of the second half, senior Maurice Crum Jr. made the first of many key plays on a Bruin fourth-down play, sacking Bethel-Thompson for a loss of eight yards. The turnover on downs was converted into another Irish field goal, tying the game at 6-6. It also marked the first crack in the UCLA offense, a precursor of the deluge of miscues that were to come.
Crum forced and recovered a Bell fumble on UCLA’s next play. The Irish offense failed to move, but Price pinned the Bruins at their own 1-yard line. The inexperienced Bethel-Thompson panicked in his end zone, throwing a pick to Irish safety David Bruton, the first of four interceptions he would throw in the game. The turnover was converted into points by a 1-yard Clausen touchdown run.
Celebration promptly began on the Irish sidelines, but Head Coach Charlie Weis knew the game was not over.
“It’s been a while since we’ve been up in the second half,” Weis said. “So I told my guys to act like they’ve been there before. Don’t make me look like an idiot.”
The defense was not finished.
Just three plays later, Bethel-Thompson was sacked by sophomore linebacker John Ryan, forcing a fumble. Crum recovered the fumble in the backfield and barreled 34 yards to the end zone, putting Notre Dame up 20-6, the final score.
Bethel-Thompson’s passes would be intercepted three more times, once by senior Terrail Lambert and twice by Crum.
Crum, a senior who would return for a fifth year, finished the game with two fumbles forced, two fumbles recovered, two interceptions, one interception returned for a touchdown, seven tackles and a sack.
Asked about his spectacular performance, for which he was named the Walter Camp National Defensive Player of the Week, Crum said:
“We were playing great as a team, as a unit. So I think we kind of fed off each other. When you are feeding off each other like that, the plays are bound to happen. I just happened to be there […] I guess every dog has his day, and I guess it was my turn.”
The 2007 season would ultimately remain one of the most difficult in modern Notre Dame history, but that night in Pasadena mattered.
It mattered because the Irish finally fought back.
Long before the program returned to national championship conversations, playoff appearances, and undefeated regular seasons, there were nights like this one — nights when a battered team simply refused to let the season completely collapse. Against UCLA, the defense carried the weight of an entire frustrated fan base and reminded everyone that pride still lived inside that locker room.
For Maurice Crum Jr., it became one of the defining performances of his Notre Dame career. For the Irish defense, it was a masterclass in resilience. And for Notre Dame fans watching a painful season unfold week after week, it was a long-awaited reminder of what victory felt like again.
Sometimes the most memorable wins are not the prettiest or the biggest.
Sometimes they are simply the ones that stop the bleeding.
Cheers & GO IRISH!
