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Notre Dame runs fake field goal to perfection vs Virginia (Video)

ByCody Williams|
Sep 5, 2015; South Bend, IN, USA; Notre Dame Fighting Irish head coach Brian Kelly runs onto the field before the game against the Texas Longhorns at Notre Dame Stadium. Notre Dame won 38-3. Mandatory Credit: Matt Cashore-USA TODAY Sports
Sep 5, 2015; South Bend, IN, USA; Notre Dame Fighting Irish head coach Brian Kelly runs onto the field before the game against the Texas Longhorns at Notre Dame Stadium. Notre Dame won 38-3. Mandatory Credit: Matt Cashore-USA TODAY Sports

The Notre Dame Fighting Irish executed a fake field goal as well as humanly possible

The Notre Dame Fighting Irish got the ball to start their contest against the Virginia Cavaliers in Scott Stadium and their offense drove down the field methodically. Malik Zaire struggled throwing the ball, though, and it looked as if the Irish were going to have to a settle for a field goal. Again, that’s what it looked like.

On fourth and goal with the offense lined up to kick for three points, Notre Dame pulled out some trickery early on the road. The holder pulled up the snap and faked a toss to the kicker. Instead, he hit Durham Smythe with a shovel pass, which Smythe then ran into the endzone thanks to some terrific blocking:

That’s about as perfectly as you can run a fake field goal at any level. The fake to the kicker, the running lanes opened for Smythe after the shovel pass, and the execution on the part of Smythe to get into the endzone were perfect.

Of course, Notre Dame followed up that bit of trickery by trying to go for the two-point conversion. That was a much less successful venture for the Irish than the fake field goal. In fact, they probably should’ve just run the fake for a second time.

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