Back to the Top News Newsfeed

Trading Blame and Worry, Notre Dame Grapples With Celebration’s Fallout

Pool photo by Matt Cashore

As soon as the final whistle blew, signaling that last-gasp laterals would not prevent the Notre Dame football team from its biggest win in a generation — a 47-40 double-overtime defeat of top-ranked Clemson on Saturday night — a can’t-look-away scene unfolded at Notre Dame Stadium.

Thousands of students leapt over brick walls, dashed past overwhelmed security guards and stormed the field, gleefully mobbing the Notre Dame players and one another. They reveled for more than 15 minutes, ignoring announcements to retreat.

In normal times, a scene like this is a rite of college football.