On a very cold and rainy day last Saturday Notre Dame rallied in the final minutes of a very important game to win 17-14 over a strong Stanford team and take one of three important October games.

The Irish won despite some more turnovers by Everett Golson, but also won because of the fine play by the Irish quarterback including the final drive and the winning touchdown pass on a fourth and 11. Golson, as head coach Brian Kelly said afterward, is a winner.But with all the praise put on the offense and Golson, in my opinion, it is the young Irish defense that is really leading the way and it is the "D" that has been able to keep the Irish close after back-to-back poor performances by the offense.ND's defense held Stanford to 47 total yards rushing on 32 carries. An Irish turnover led to one of Stanford's two scores. The rushing total was the least in seven seasons for Stanford.The win was called a "statement victory" by the South Bend press.Golson struggled early with his fumble leading to Stanford's first score. But he finished with 241 yards passing against the nation's leader in passing yards allowed and the fifth-rated pass-efficiency defense, 106 yards more than the most the Cardinal allowed in their first four games.The Irish offense has the potential to be really explosive if they can cut down on the turnovers.More on the game later.Today the Irish face a North Carolina team that had great promise aye the start of the season. The Tar Heels opened with wins over Liberty, 56-29, and San Diego State, 31-27, but has lost the last three to East Carolina, 70-41, Clemson, 50-35, and last week Virginia Tech, 34-17. As you probably noticed the Heels have given up 154 points in the three losses.Quarterback Marquise Williams leads the team in rushing with 333 yards on 57 carries and two touchdowns backed by running back Elijah Wood with 169 on 39 and three scores. He has completed 94 of 154 passes with four interceptions but nine completions were for TDs. Top receivers are Ryan Switzews with 269 yards on 24 receptions and a score and Quinshad Davis with 196 on 16 and three TDs.ND leads the series, 16-2. The two teams last played in 2008 with the Tare Heels winning, 29-24. ND won, 45-26, in 2006.The game will be televised nationally by NBC-TV with a 3:42 p.m. kickoff.IRISH NOTES: Golson completed just 20 of 43 attempts for two TDs and one interception. Cam McDaniel ran for 41 yards on 15 carries, Golson 34 on seven, Greg Bryant 14 on six, C.J. Prosise 26 on one, and Tarean Folston, 14 on three. Chris Brown led the receivers with 60 yards on four catches, and a score, Corey Robinson, 46 on four, Will Fuller, 27 on three, Amir Carlisle, 34 on two, and Ben Koyack, 28 on two and the winning TD catch. Defensively Jaylon Smith had an outstanding day with 14 tackles. Joe Schmidt had seven tackles and Cody Riggs six ... As expected the kickoff for the Florida State game has been set for 8:10 p.m. and will be televised nationally by ABC-TV ... The South Bend press has been critical of running back Bryant saying he has been "tentative" running the ball. In the Rice and Michigan games he was a bull. The press is wondering if their is a hidden injury problem, or that Bryant has, for some reason, lost confidence ... Freshman defensive end Andrew Trumbetti had his first career sack in the game ... Austin Collinsworth made his season debut after missing the first four games with a knee injury. He made a tackle on his first play of the season ... ND is 11-6 under Kelly in games decided by four or fewer points ... Golson is now 15-1 overall as a starter and is 5-1 against Top 25 teams ... ND is fifth in the AP poll and sixth in the coaches poll after a weekend in which some of the top teams lost ... Here is an amazing stat. Kelly's teams are 78-1 when they hold their opponents to fewer than 20 points ... ND's defense still hasn't been scored on in the third quarter ... ND finally got a quarterback recruit for the 2015 class. Brandon Wimbush, a 6-2 and 210 pounder from St. Peter's Prep, in Jersey City, N.J., announced on Tuesday he has committed to the Irish. In doing so he de-committed from Penn State, where he was originally set to go. He is rated a four-star prospect and is the only QB commitment in next year's class ... There is still no word on the five players suspended from participating in football activities since August for alleged academic fraud allegations. All had their hearings before the student/faculty committee last week. A unconfirmed report states the five are now in an appeal process meaning some kind of punishment must have been handed out following the hearings with the committee. But I caution, this is not confirmed ... There are plenty of local Irish fans in South Bend this weekend including from Tamaqua and the Panther Valley area ... Today the Irish are in what many call a "trap game." ND enters at 5-0 and coming off a hard-fought win over Stanford. Kelly and his staff has to worry about letdown after such a game. Also, he has to worry that his team is looking ahead to next Saturday's showdown with top rated Florida State. North Carolina is a talented team that just hasn't been playing very well the last three weeks. That makes them dangerous for the Irish because they are not a pushover they appear to be because of the last three games. In my preseason picks I have the Irish winning today. They should win, but the 17 point favorite role the bookies have put on them might be too many points.