Final Thoughts: Notre Dame-Long Beach Poly

A couple final thoughts on tonight's big showdown:

--It was obvious Poly made some big adjustments to their running game at halftime. The Jackrabbits ground game was virtually nonexistent in the first half, but midway thru the third quarter, their big, physical offensive line started to push the Knights D-line back and open up gaping holes for RB Johnny Toloumu, who finished with 132 yards, most of which came in the second half.

You have to give a lot of credit for that to the Poly D, which shut down ND's offense and forced two key turnovers. By the fourth quarter, the ND defense looked gassed. They'd just spent too much time on the field.

-- It was obviously a tough loss for the Knights, who came into the postseason with dreams of proving all their detractors wrong. But they didn't look particularly glum after the game. It seemed they all realized they'd just lost to a very talented team and had nothing to hang their heads about.

Plus, ND impressed a lot of people last night. Poly's WRs may have all the hype and national recognition, but NDs Shane Horton and Mike Stanton turned a lot of heads with their performances. After the game, several LB Poly players and coaches made a point of finding Horton and congratulating him on a game well-played. Horton's younger brother, Wes, also had a great game. Look for Wes Horton to be a national-caliber recruit next year.

-- Four key plays that won't show up in the scorebook or any story:

1. Erik Folk's missed 51-yard FG try in the first half would've given the Knights a 10-0 lead. At that point in the game, ND was rolling and LBP was doing damage control. ND led 14-7 at the half, but it could've been 31-7. Crist overshot Horton and Stanton on deep balls at least two times in the first half. Both would've been easy touchdowns. Add in Folk's missed FG and it could've been a very different game.

2. Bryshon Nellum's 42-yard punt return for a TD. ND had no intention of punting to the speedy Nellum, but a bad snap forced Folk to rush his punt and kick it low and directly at Nellum. It took about 5 seconds for Nellum to remind the Knights why nobody punts to him as he caught the ball coming forward, sprinted past the defense and mugged for the Fox TV cameras in the end zone.

3. Bryshon Nellum's fumble in the fourth quarter. Right after ND got back into it with a 68-yd TD pass from Crist to Horton to make the score 28-21, Stanton stripped Nellum of the ball near midfield. The ball bounced right back into Nellum's hands and the entire Poly sideline let out a loud exhale, knowing how big a bullet they'd just dodged.

4. Notre Dame decided to go for it on 4th and 10 from its own 15 yard line with 3:36 and three time outs remaining. Crist threw and incomplete pass and LB Poly took over on downs with great field position. ND's defense held them on three plays, using a time out after every play so only about a minute went off the clock. But with such good field position, Poly chipped in a field goal to make it a two-possession game.