[GJEM]

LEFT TO RIGHT, TOP ROW:
HB Aaron Coley shakes tackle for 1-yd TD | WR Tony Thomas celebrates 14-yd TD | MLB Gemara Hill picks off QB Morgan Newton in 3rd QTR.

LEFT TO RIGHT, BOTTOM ROW:
One of Alexander's ridiculous throws into triple coverage, result INT | WR Dominique Henry spins his way to a 101-yd K.O ret. | HB A. Coley stopped on 1/2-yd line on 2-pt conv.

MIGHTY SWEET
Notre Dame’s D hangs on to preserve 2-point Sugar Bowl victory.

New Orleans, LA- Notre Dame came into the 2013 Sugar Bowl looking for their third BCS Bowl victory in four appearances and fourth overall bowl victory since their terrible run of losing 9-straight dating back to 1995 when they defeated Texas A&M in the Cotton Bowl.

Kentucky was on a bowl run of their own looking to win the schools fourth straight bowl game after failing to make the post-season in 2008 as they fell one win shy of the all important 6th win.

From the get go we got exactly what we though we would, a fierce Notre Dame defense against Kentucky’s one dimensional running attack.

“They were the best defense we had faced all year, and we played some good ones,” said Coach Mitchell. “They got great penetration both up the middle and on the outside which really stalled our running game practically the whole night. We’re used to Powell getting a few yards here and a few yards there and then BANG, a huge chunk of yards; however that wasn’t the case as they had our offensive line on their heels and they had to do whatever they could just to allow Newton time to hand the ball off.”

The back and fourth scoring took its toll on the Kentucky secondary as the relentless gun slinging out of junior quarterback Kevin Alexander and his 37 pass attempts really started to show as the game went into the fourth quarter.

Kentucky allowed Alexander to tear them apart as he threw for 312 yards and 3 touchdowns as Notre Dame once again proved that this program is here to stay.

Kicking continued to be a problem for the CPU as even with the slider set at 50, kicker Ryan McCullough missed three of four field goal attempts and one of four extra point attempts.

It was over when… Notre Dame’s freshman wide receiver Tony Thomas caught a 14-yard touchdown pass late in the fourth quarter to put the Irish ahead 36-27.

Gameball goes to… Zach Mayfield, whose 43-yard fumble return in the second quarter to put the Irish up 13-10 ignited the Notre Dame sideline and ultimately captured the games momentum, momentum they never let go of.

Kentucky’s Unsung Hero… Heisman winner Brandon Powell, who singled handily kept Kentucky in this game from beginning to end and proved in front of a national audience why he deserved the Heiman trophy this year. It wasn’t his normal output but his 131 yards off 28 carries and one touchdown allowed drives to stay alive which put Kentucky in position to win it in the end, however they just couldn’t do it falling 2 points shy of their fourth consecutive bowl victory.

Notre Dame’s Unsung Hero… Aaron Coley, who racked up 144 all-purpose yards and scored two of Notre Dame’s five total touchdowns in the Irish’s 36-34 victory.

Stat of the game… 6. Kentucky and Notre Dame combined to turn the ball over six times resulting in 31 points, 17 for Kentucky and 14 for Notre Dame.

2012 Schedule and Results
AUG. 26 : AT LOUISVILLE (Won 31-28)
Series Record: Kentucky Leads 4-1 (2012)

SEPT. 1 : AT UTEP (Won 38-31)
Series Record: Kentucky Leads 1-0 (2012)

SEPT. 8 : CINCINNATI (Won 35-23)
Series Record: Kentucky Leads 1-0 (2012)

SEPT. 15 : AT #3 FLORIDA (Won 27-17)
Series Record: Kentucky Leads 3-2 (2012)

SEPT. 22 : SOUTH FLORIDA (Won 59-14)
Series Record: Kentucky Leads 1-0 (2012)

SEPT. 29 : SOUTH CAROLINA (Lost 52-38)
Series Record: South Carolina Leads 4-1 (2012)

OCT. 13 : AT #18 OLE MISS (Won 38-30)
Series Record: Kentucky Leads 1-0 (2012)

OCT. 20 : AT MISSISSIPPI STATE (Won 63-6)
Series Record: Kentucky Leads 4-1 (2012)

OCT. 27 : #4 AUBURN (Won 27-21)
Series Record: Kentucky Leads 2-0 (2012)

NOV. 3 : VANDERBILT (Won 52-14)
Series Record: Kentucky Leads 5-0 (2012)

NOV. 10 : GEORGIA (Won 44-21)
Series Record: Kentucky Leads 3-2 (2012)

NOV. 17 : AT TENNESSEE (Won 15-14)
Series Record: Tennessee Leads 3-2 (2012)

DEC. 1 : #4 AUBURN (Won 36-13)
Series Record: Kentucky Leads 3-0 (2012)

JAN. 1 : AT #5 NOTRE DAME (Lost 36-34)
Series Record: Notre Dame Leads 1-0 (2012)

** Series win / loss records starting in 2008