SOUTH BEND, IND. — For Georgia Tech B-Back Patrick Skov, going to Notre Dame as a road team favorite was a familiar experience.
And after losing for the second time in two years in that role, certain indelible memories of Notre Dame Stadium have taken form.
“Shoot, nightmares, really,” he said.
Only twice recently have the Fighting Irish been home underdogs while also ranked in the top 10. Last year against Stanford, which lost 17-13. And Saturday, with the Yellow Jackets coming in as 2 ½-point favorites only to see the eighth-ranked Irish win again, 30-22.
Last season with Stanford Skov was the blocking fullback who barely dented the stat sheet. He came to Tech as a grad student transfer with the idea of having a little more impact.
Clearly he has, and the trend continued Saturday. He pretty much took care of all the Yellow Jackets scoring, rushing for one touchdown and catching two more during the frantic last minute
When Skov stuck his nose into the middle of the formidable Notre Dame defense on Tech’s second play of the game (a two-yard gain), he eclipsed his career rushing total against the Irish. From there, he’d have a far more eventful afternoon than he ever enjoyed with the Cardinal.
Despite scoring three times, Skov seemed more concerned with a first quarter sequence in which he fumbled (and recovered himself) and then missed an assignment on the following play, a third-and-one from the Notre Dame 17 that gained nothing. Never mind that he converted on the ensuing fourth down carry. Tech ended up missing a 30-yard field goal on that possession.
“We didn’t execute. We had a great opportunity to put some good stuff on film and we did the opposite, we put a lot of bad things on film,” Skov said.
“After my fumble I can’t make a mistake the next play, which is what I did.”
He scored first in the second quarter, on a 5-yard bolt up the middle that concluded an 80-yard touchdown excursion.
Striking twice on the same play, a swing pass that he quickly turned upfield, Skov at least applied some lipstick to the scoreboard before the plane ride home.
After his 24-yard catch and run with 48 seconds left, Tech recovered an onside kick, and three plays later, Skov struck from 15 yards out.
His three touchdowns in this game alone nearly matched his total his last year at Stanford (four).
“Well, they were playing man-to-man, delayed blitzing the linebacker, so they had nobody for (Skov). We tried it early in the third quarter and couldn’t get it off,” Paul Johnson said.
“He did some good things. Also he’s going to see the tape and see a lot of things he could have gotten more out of (running) inside, too,” Johnson added.
The late touchdowns seemed like cold comfort to the B-Back.
“We gave ourselves an opportunity. I guess that’s all you can ask for,” he said, with a shrug and an unconvinced tone.
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