Notre Dame vs. Oklahoma 2012: Sooners fans place blame on defense

Oklahoma fans believe the Sooner defense underwhelmed in a 30-13 loss to Notre Dame.

Oklahoma vs. Notre Dame final: Sooners lose 30-13

No. 5 Notre Dame walked away with a big victory on the road on Saturday night, beating No. 8 Oklahoma 30-13 at Oklahoma Memorial Stadium in Norman.

The Sooners would trail 13-6 early in the fourth quarter, taking advantage of a short field to tie the game on a Blake Bell 1-yard touchdown run with just over nine minutes remaining in regulation. Notre Dame would answer with quarterback Everett Golson leading the Irish on a 73-yard touchdown drive capped by Golson's 1-yard run to give Notre Dame a 20-13 lead.

Oklahoma and quarterback Landry Jones would get the ball with 5:05 remaining, but after a third-down conversion, Jones threw a devastating interception to kill the Sooners' comeback hopes. Notre Dame would put the game away with a field goal and touchdown in the final minutes, highlighted by Theo Riddick's 15-yard scramble to give the Irish a 30-13 final margin.

Jones was 35-of-51 for 356 yards for Oklahoma, and was held without a touchdown pass for the first time this season. For Notre Dame, Golson was 13-of-25 for 177 yards, with his ground game adding 64 yards and a touchdown on 11 carries.

ND celebration, twitter.com/slmandel/statu…

— Stewart Mandel (@slmandel) October 28, 2012

Box Score Hero: The Notre Dame defense held the prolific Oklahoma offense to just 379 yards and 20 points while forcing one turnover, with the Sooners just 3-of-13 on third down. A good chunk of that yardage came in garbage time in the final minute. Linebacker Monti Te'o, who is making a bid for the Heisman Trophy, forced a key interception late in the fourth quarter.

Rankings Ramifications: Oklahoma will certainly slip out of the top ten and will likely fall out of the top 15 after suffering two losses on the season. Both losses have come against top-5 teams, however, which could help them in the rankings.

But Did They Cover? Oklahoma fell far short of covering the 11-1/2 point spread, with the Sooners favored in the game.

For More On This Game: For more on OU football, visit Oklahoma blog Crimson And Cream Machine. For more on Irish football, visit Notre Dame blog One Foot Down.

Next Week's Schedule: Notre Dame heads home to take on Pittsburgh at 3:30 p.m. ET on Nov. 3, with coverage on NBC. Oklahoma will face Iowa State at a time yet to be determined.

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This story was originally published on SB Nation.com.

Notre Dame vs. Oklahoma 2012 score update: Sooners trailing 10-6 after 3 quarters

No. 5 Notre Dame continues to lead No. 8 Oklahoma, 10-6, after three quarters on Saturday night.

The Irish led 10-6 at the end of the first half thanks to a strong defensive effort that forced several long Sooner drives to end in field goals. Notre Dame's defense forced the Sooners to become one-dimensional on offense as the Oklahoma rushing attack failed to muster any progress. While quarterback Landry Jones was able to move the ball in the second quarter, the Sooners were forced to settle for a field after having first-and-goal late in the half.

The struggles would continue in the second half, when the Sooners were forced to punt on their lone possession of the third quarter. Notre Dame held the ball for over 11 minutes in the quarter yet walked away with zero points, due mostly to missed field goal from 35 yards out.

Through three quarters, Landry is 24-of-33 for 233 yards, with Oklahoma managing just eight yards total rushing in the game thus far.

Notre Dame vs. Oklahoma 2012 score update: Irish lead 10-6 at halftime

No. 5 Notre Dame leads No. 8 Oklahoma, 10-6, at halftime on Saturday night in Norman, Okla.

The Irish held a 7-3 lead after the first quarter, forcing the Sooner offense to punt three times in the first 15 minutes. Notre Dame would take the lead when running back Cierre Wood took a handoff 62 yards for the lone play of the drive.

Oklahoma answered a Notre Dame field goal in the second quarter with a lengthy drive as quarterback Landry Jones led the Sooners 79 yards in the final minute of the half. The Irish, however, would stand tall at the goal line and force the Sooners to take a field goal to preserve the Notre Dame lead.

Notre Dame defense's stifled the rushing attack of Oklahoma and forced the Sooners to become a one-dimensional air-raid offense. Jones was 18-of-27 for 194 yards in the first half, completing passes to six different receivers, yet was held scoreless in the first half.

Notre Dame will receive the ball to open the second half.

Notre Dame vs. Oklahoma 2012: Game time, TV schedule, odds and more

The No 5 Irish hit the road to face No. 8 Oklahoma on Saturday.