South Bend, IN -- George Atkinson III scored a go-ahead touchdown early in the fourth quarter, and the fifth-ranked Fighting Irish escaped with a 17-14 win over upset-minded BYU at Notre Dame Stadium.

Notre Dame's stout defense again held an opponent under 300 yards and pitched a shutout after trailing, 14-7, at halftime.

Theo Riddick and Cierre Wood spearheaded a dominating running attack with 143 and 114 yards, respectively, on the ground, as the Irish (7-0) continued their best start since the 2002 season.

Notre Dame head coach Brian Kelly opted to sit quarterback Everett Golson after the first-year starter suffered a mild concussion against Stanford last week. Tommy Rees, seven days after finishing off an overtime win over the nationally-ranked Cardinal, completed just 7-of-16 passes for 118 yards with a touchdown and an interception.

Kelly said after the game that Golson will start next week against 10th-ranked Oklahoma.

Riley Nelson threw for 177 yards with two touchdowns and two interceptions for BYU (4-4), which has dropped its last two games to fall back to .500.

 

The Sports Network