Game balls for Watts, Love and Golden in Notre Dame’s win over Virginia

SOUTH BEND, Ind. – 30 years ago, Notre Dame defensive coordinator Al Golden got his first taste of college football coaching as a graduate assistant after serving as the high school offensive coordinator the year before.

It was at the same school — Virginia — where Golden’s coaching star rose dramatically in 2001 during a five-year run as the school’s defensive coordinator.

On Saturday at Notre Dame Stadium, the 55-year-old third-year Irish defensive coordinator put on a masterclass against the team that gave him two big coaching breaks, though some of the garbage-time stats diluted the numerical evidence.

Golden’s Irish defense forced four of Virginia’s five first-half turnovers — including three interceptions in the final 3 1/2 minutes of the second quarter — and constantly put the Irish offense in prime position at No. 8 Notre Dame. Notre Dames 35-14 Senior Day conquest.

Inside ND Sports typically gives out two game balls after each Notre Dame game. We bump it up to three this time to include Golden.

Here are the others:

SUBSCRIBE TO INSIDE ND SPORTS TO STAY AT NOTRE DAME ATHLETICS

CLICK HERE TO SUBSCRIBE INSIDE ND SPORTS ON YOUTUBE

DEFENSE: Xavier Watts, safety

The graduated senior safety and converted wide receiver, likely his final regular-season game at Notre Dame Stadium, collected an interception, a fumble recovery, a pass breakup and three tackles for the nation’s No. 2 pass efficiency defense.

OFFENSE: Jeremiah Love, running back

It was an uneven game statistically from an offensive standpoint, with Notre Dame not getting its first third- or fourth-down conversion until the final drive of the third quarter. And then they didn’t score on it.

But sophomore running back Jeremiyah Love continued to get stronger as the game wore on, finishing with 137 yards and two TDs on 16 carries. It marked the 10th game in a row in which Love found the end zone.

JOIN THE CONVERSATION ON THE INSIDER LOUNGE NOTICE BOARD

• Talk to Notre Dame fans about Insider Lounge.

• Subscribe to the Inside ND Sports podcast at Apple Podcasts, Spotify, SoundCloud, Podbean or Pocket Cast.

• Subscribe to Inside the ND Sports channel on YouTube.

• Follow us on Twitter: @insideNDsports, @EHansenND and @TJamesND.

• Like us on Facebook: Inside ND Sports

• Follow us on Instagram: @insideNDsports