Beyond the Boxscore: INside Notre Dame’s Rollercoaster Ride vs. Northwestern

Notre Dame QB Ian Book vs. Northwestern (Photo: Daniel Bartel/Icon Sportswire)In a game where momentum seemed to shift back and forth, the Notre Dame Fighting Irish were able to remain undefeated with a 31-21 road win over the Northwestern Wildcats on Saturday night. Those swings saw the Irish dominate the first and third quarters, while the Wildcats controlled the second and made things uncomfortable in the final quarter. In the latter case, they managed to get within a field goal with seven minutes left after Notre Dame had looked to have salted the contest away.

Irish fans might have been excused if they had a sense of deja vu from last week after Notre Dame fumbled in enemy territory on…