ORLANDO – Notre Dame pulls off the upset in Citrus Bowl 21-17.

Both team came out swinging on offense but their drives would end on three and outs. The LSU defensive line would end the Irish first drive on a tackle for loss.

Notre Dame would start its second offensive possession pinned deep in their own end zone and so would LSU after a poorly fielded punt. Derrius Guice would break off a 31 yard run to get the tigers out of their own end zone but the drive would halt as the Irish defense hunkered down.

The first quarter would end on a tackle for loss by the LSU defense as they bottled up Notre Dame running back Josh Adams.

LSU would miss a 22 yard field and turn the ball over on downs, then missed another opportunity to take the lead in the second quarter as they missed a 37 yard field goal.

Notre Dame would score right before halftime after kicker Justin Yoon made a 46 yard field goal.

LSU and Notre Dame both missed opportunities in the first half to score a touchdown. The red zone defense from both teams was superb.

LSU would recover a botched punt by Notre Dame. Long Snapper Blake Ferguson would come out of the pile celebrating the turnover.

The Tigers would capitalize on the Notre Dame miscue and score on a 20 yard pass from Danny Etling to Derrius Guice early in the third quarter.

Notre Dame would pull starting quartback Brandon Wimbush from the game in the second half and Sophmore quarterback Ian Book would take over. Book would throw an interception to Andraez Williams. The miscue wouldn’t hurt the Irish.

Notre Dame would come up big in the third quarter on a 49 yard field goal by Justin Yoon that would make it a 7-6 game with ‪2:47‬ left in the third quarter.

The LSU offense would catch their groove early in the fourth quarter after a hard 10 yard run by Derrius Guice. Guice would finish off the 12 play, 75 yard drive on a two yard pass from Danny Etling that put the Tigers up 14-6.

Notre Dame would score halfway through the fourth quarter on a six yard pass from Ian Book to wide out Michael Young. The Irish would tie the game up 14-14 with ‪7:49‬ left in the fourth quarter.

 LSU would go up 17-14 after a 17 yard field goal by Jack Gonsoulin. The Irish would answer right back on a 55 yard pass from Ian Book to wide out Miles Boykin with 1:28 left in the game.

The tigers would try and score late but failed on their last offensive possession. Notre Dame would kneel to run out the clock out.

Notre Dames defense was lead by Palm Beach County native and Palm Beach Gardens High School alum Te’von Coney who recorded 12 tackles and one quarterback hurry in the Citrus Bowl.

Wide receiver Miles Boykin was named the 2017 Citrus Bowl most Valuable Player. Boykin recorded 3 catches for 102 yards and score the game winning touchdown.

Post-game comments from LSU

Head coach Ed Orgeron:

“I compliment our team for fighting hard. Played 60 minutes. Although we played very poorly, especially in the special teams area, we gave ourselves a chance to win by going up with under two minutes left to go in the game. Give credit to them. They made a play. It was a tremendous play by their receiver. Our guys fought hard. We’re looking at the overall picture of the season. I’m very proud of our football team going from 3-2 to 9-3 and battling in the SEC West.”

“We made some tremendous improvement over the season. I’m proud of this football team and our coaching staff. Obviously we’re very disappointed in this loss. I told the team to put it on me. I should have prepared them better. (There are) some things that we need to get fixed and we are going to fix them, especially in the areas that we didn’t perform.”

Orgeron went on to talk about how Notre Dames quarterback switch hurt the LSU defense. “I think he made a difference. Obviously we had a plan for Wimbush. We were going to stop the run. Obviously he came around and scrambled. You know, he had a couple of zone plays that gave us some problems that were out of pitch. He made some plays. He extended some plays with his feet and he threw on the ball very well. I’ll give him some credit.” He said.

Post-game comments from Notre Dame:

Head coach Brian Kelly

“Well, it was an exciting win. We were a little shorthanded out there. It was, first of all, satisfying to win a bowl game against an opponent in LSU and to do it in the manner that we did, coming from behind with young players out there that, I think, started on scout team. And just really proud of the effort of the entire group: Offense, defense, and special teams.
And so, you know, anytime — I’ve said this, you know, to get to ten wins out two out of the last three seasons, really a nice mark for our football team.”

Kelly went on to talk about his prediction that Miles Boykin would be the Citrus Bowl MVP. “Miles over here knows the story. We were in practice and we knew that we were going to have to get a couple of one on one matchups on the outside and I told Miles, I said, “Miles, you’re going to win the MVP trophy,” and he looked at me like I had two heads. But I felt like he had a chance. He’s got the ability, if we could get him the football. And Ian got him the football and Miles made a great individual play and, lo and behold, I’ve got the MVP sitting next to me.”

Ian Book:

“It was an awesome opportunity, such a surreal moment, that last play with Miles. Ten wins, it feels great. It’s a great way to start off the new year and I’m excited to start off this new year with a team that I love.”

Miles Boykin:

“It was really almost just a blur. We talk about situations like this all the time and it’s not often that you get to be in one like this. And so it was just an extremely humbling moment for me just to be able to go out there and help make a play to help my team win. I mean, we talk about how as a receiver, we’re play makers and winning the 50/50 ball — we talk about that every day. During that moment, I had to make the play. Otherwise, I didn’t know how the outcome was going to be. But Ian gave me a great ball and the coaches gave a great play and I was just able to make a play on it.”

This was a high energy football game and both teams fought hard to end their season on a high note.

Photo Credit: Xavon Christopher