Sun Sentinel Palm Beach Edition
Citrus Bowl
Notre Dame rallies to defeat LSU on a late fourth-quarter touchdown in Orlando.
Notre Dame football coach Brian Kelly was prophetic during his preparation leading up to the final game of the season.
During a practice this week in Orlando, he walked past wide receiver Miles Boykin and told the junior he’d be named most valuable player of the Citrus Bowl on Monday.
Boykin rose to the occasion and made the biggest play of the day at Camping World Stadium late in the fourth quarter, helping No. 14 Notre Dame (10-3) rally for a win 21-17 win over No. 17 LSU (9-4).
“One of the things that was really important in this game was to get him the ball in a position where their defensive backs, who were outstanding, couldn’t make a play on the ball,” Kelly said. “It looked like a top-10 play, and it was, obviously, but that’s something he and [the quarterbacks] work on, and it was successful today.”
Boykin made a one-handed grab along the LSU sideline on a pass from second-string quarterback Ian Book, then shook off a defender and juked past another before finishing off a 55-yard touchdown with one minute, 28 seconds to play.
He finished with three catches for 102 yards in a game that kicked off in 53 degree weather and was played under an overcast sky and a windy mist.
“It was really almost just a blur,” Boykin said of the game-winning play made in front of an announced crowd of 57,726.
“We talk about situations like this all the time and it’s not often that you get to be in one like this. It’s an extremely humble moment for me, to be able to go out there and help make a play for my team.”
Book took over full-time for Brandon Wimbush in the first half after the Irish starter went 3-of-8 passing for 52 yards to open the game. The sophomore went 14-of-19 through the air for 162 yards and added 36 yards on the ground, including a run for 21 yards.
After being intercepted early in the third quarter, Book completed three consecutive passes to put the Irish in position to get within 7-6 on a 49-yard field goal by Justin Yoon.
When LSU answered with a touchdown pass from Danny Etling to Derrius Guice to widen its advantage to 14-6, Book responded by capping a 75-yard, 10-play drive by threading a pass through a tight window in the end zone.
Michael Young made the reception to keep the Irish’s hopes alive with less than eight minutes to play. Josh Adams followed that up by taking a shovel pass from Book and powering his way into the end zone for a 2-point conversion to knot the score at 14-14.
The Tigers had little trouble moving the ball from there though as they drained nearly six minutes from the clock during a 12-play drive that ended just inches short of the goal line.
Guice was ruled down on a third-down run up the middle, which set up a 17-yard field goal by Jack Gonsoulin to give LSU a 17-14 lead with close to two minutes to spare.
But it wouldn’t be enough.
“Obviously, you think about it, but you go ahead, you go ahead with under two minutes left to go,” LSU coach Ed Orgeron said of opting to kick. “Your defense has played well, I didn’t think they were going to score, I thought we could stop them and give our team the chance to win.”