John Walters

SOUTH BEND, Ind. - Profound silence emanating from the student section. The opposing team sprinting from the bench to celebrate on the field. Gold-helmeted players collapsing to the turf, their bodies exhausted, their spirits extinguished.

If this scene sounds familiar to you, it should. It’s the portrait of Notre Dame football for the past decade-and-a-half. The curse of David Gordon is alive and well, and it resurrected itself on Saturday inside Notre Dame Stadium. Pittsburgh defeated the Irish 36-33 in four overtimes, the longest game in either school’s history, but for seasoned observers of Notre Dame football, the suspense lay not in the outcome but rather the method of the downfall.

Snapshots abound:

• Nebraska quarterback Eric Crouch preserving his school’s No.1 ranking, and placing an early bid for his Heisman Trophy, by beating an Irish defender to the pylon in a 2000 overtime win.
• Michigan’s Remy Hamilton drilling a game-winning field goal with :02 left to beat the No. 3-ranked Irish in ’94.
• Unranked Northwestern shocking No. 9 Notre Dame in the 1995 opener, which remains the biggest win any living alum of that school can recall (and, boy, do they love to recall it).
• Michigan State freshman Javon Ringer planting a flag at midfield after the Spartans won 44-41 in overtime in ’05.
• Navy, the one opponent whose hearts were more brittle than the Irish in the closing moments of games here, stopping Travis Thomas on a two-point conversion — in the third overtime — last season.
• The Bush Push of ’05.
• These same Panthers, who capped a game-winning drive in the closing moments of their last visit here in ’04 with a game-winning field goal to win 41-38 in what would be Tyrone Willingham’s final game in South Bend.

Whether or not someone is recording a “Notre Dame Defeat March” is unknown, but this much is: there’s more than enough footage available for a music video.

It all began 15 Novembers ago when Boston College visited and refused to play the role of sacrificial lamb to an undefeated, top-ranked Irish team in the final game of the season. One year earlier, the Eagles had been embarrassed 54-7 on this turf. Scenes from Rudy had been shot at halftime. Lou Holtz ordered a fake punt with the Irish clinging to a 37-0 lead in the second half.

What better vengeance than to ruin Notre Dame’s two-foot putt to a national championship (the Irish had already accepted a Cotton Bowl invite versus Texas A&M)? Gordon — who is Jewish! — booted a 41-yard field goal to nullify Notre Dame’s brilliant 21-point fourth quarter comeback and in effect, abscond with the “Luck of the Irish” mojo. It has rarely been spotted here since, except in snippets versus Navy and one other time versus UCLA.

That 41-39 loss to Boston College pre-dated overtime, which came into play in 1996. The Irish have now played seven overtime games, all of them at Notre Dame Stadium. The Irish are a dispiriting 2-5 in those contests.

The Irish are not much better versus ranked teams or in nail-biters in South Bend since Boston College, then coached by Tom Coughlin, shocked them in 1993 (Coughlin, as head coach of the New York Giants, would go on to an even more renowned championship-thieving win against an undefeated foe).

The Irish are 11-12 at home versus ranked teams in the past 15 years, and just 2-6 since 2003. In their last seven games decided by five or fewer points at Notre Dame Stadium, the Irish are 1-6. Honestly, if Notre Dame finds another way to finish in second place in a photo-finish home loss any time soon, someone should spray-paint their gold helmets silver.

The lone victory in that seven-game stretch, which extends back to 2004, occurred two years ago. Trailing UCLA 17-13 with less than a minute to play, wide receiver Jeff Samardzija hauled in a double-pumped Brady Quinn pass and navigated the UCLA secondary as if it were a kiddie obstacle course to score the game-winning touchdown, a 45-yard gem. Those Bruins were not even ranked.

Samardzija, now under the employ of the Chicago Cubs — a franchise that could teach the Irish a thing or two about long-term disappointment — stood on the sidelines during Saturday’s loss. For much of the game, which Notre Dame seemed to have in hand, he must have marveled at wideout Michael Floyd.