7-0.

On a perfect October day, the special season continues in South Bend. Coming off of last week’s legendary goal line stand, the Fighting Irish avoided a letdown and dropped the BYU Cougars, 17-14.

Throughout the week, I can’t tell you how many times I heard the phrase “trap game” thrown around. With the university on fall break and a big game in Norman, Okla. coming down the pipeline, the media thought – or perhaps expected – that the Cougars would knock off the fifth-ranked Irish.

As it’s often said, “all good things must come to an end some time,” and for a couple of hours on Saturday afternoon, it certainly looked like Notre Dame’s win streak would be one of them.

But instead, it’s just the defense’s impressive stretch of games without surrendering a touchdown, and at the end of the day, that was nothing more than the answer to a trivia question.

With his starting quarterback still suffering the side effects of a concussion, Brian Kelly called upon his veteran once again – and while he won’t win any end-of-year offensive awards – once again, Mr. Tommy Rees got the job done.

Against a squad ranked third in the nation against the rush, Theo Riddick and Cierre Wood each eclipsed the 100-yard mark, and maybe more importantly, helped the Irish use up more than five minutes of clock in the fourth quarter.

Then, on one of the game’s final plays, linebacker Danny Spond intercepted a BYU pass to seal the victory. You’ve got to feel great for Spond, a junior who, at the start of the year, thought he might never walk again, let alone play football.

Good teams find a way to win, and today, that’s exactly what Notre Dame did. I think I speak for many when I say that in past years, this was the type of game the Fighting Irish would have ended up on the other side.

But as we’ve said so often over the last few weeks, 2012 is a different season and the Fighting Irish are a different team.

We’ll have more coming tomorrow, but for now, enjoy highlights, Irish Connection and a post-game interview with Kapron Lewis-Moore.

See you next Saturday, Sooners (and you too, College GameDay).

We’re heading to Norman next week for a Top 10 showdown between the Fighting Irish and the Sooners! #NDvsOU — College GameDay (@CollegeGameDay) October 21, 2012