Posted by ESPN.com's Graham Watson

SOUTH BEND, Ind. -- San Diego State coach Chuck Long spent most of this week praising redshirt freshman quarterback Ryan Lindley, and after Saturday's game against Notre Dame, it was easy to see why.

Lindley led the Aztecs to a near upset of the Irish and had it not been for a fumble at the goal line, he would have accomplished that feat.

Earlier in the week, defensive players talked about Lindley being rattled in a raucous Notre Dame environment.

"With any young quarterback, it's different playing in games," linebacker Maurice Crum Jr. said of Lindley. "You can't prepare yourself for every situation. Some situations you just have to go through to learn from. So with young quarterbacks they have to really again grow in situations and that's definitely an advantage."

Lindley's stat line doesn't do justice to the way he led San Diego State into a hostile environment. He had several receivers drop open passes and Notre Dame made several good defensive plays.

Lindley finished the day throwing for 274 yards and a touchdown while completing just under 50 percent of his passes. He was asked to throw 17 consecutive passes to start the game and threw 59 total.

Lindley's arm carried the offense while the running game managed just 80 yards (4.7 yards per carry).

"I was ready. Coach told me we were going to throw it around," Lindley said. "I was joking with the guys and I told them we were going to do a Colt Brennan and throw it 60 times, so 59 sounds right."

Long said the offense studied film of Notre Dame linebackers coach Jon Tenuta's defense from Georgia Tech. He said he knew the Irish were going to come after Lindley, so the game plan was to throw the ball quickly and hope to get behind the defense.

San Diego State accomplished this feat during the drive to its first touchdown. Receiver Darren Mougey got behind the secondary in the middle of the field and raced 43 yards to the 1-yard line to set up Lindley's first rushing touchdown of his career.

"Ryan Lindley, you saw glimpses of him," Long said. "He's got a very, very bright future."