Good game, Sam.

[Killian]

Props to 'Bama. You were right, I was wrong.

[Laxplayer]

This bitch was over with 8 minutes left in the first quarter. Props to Bama.

[Left Seater]

While I am not rooting for ND, their representation on this board is far above average.

While this game may not be going how you hoped, don't lose sight of the gains this season and of the future.

[M Club]

This bitch was over when no one had the common courtesy to not step on their dicks when playing ND during the regular season. Imagine the ass whooping you'd be getting if it were Oregon instead.

[WolverineSteve]

Fuck that pussy Pitt kicker for making my eyes have to watch an abortion in real time. Fuck Oregon for shitting down it's leg and not getting to the MNC. Fuck the BCS, bring on the playoff!

[Laxplayer]

This bitch was over when no one had the common courtesy to not step on their dicks when playing ND during the regular season. Imagine the ass whooping you'd be getting if it were Oregon instead.

Last time I checked ND beat Michigan this year. How many times did your pussy ass wolverines step on their dicks this season. Well once I clearly remember and that was vs. ND. Scoreboard motherfucker.

[WolverineSteve]

This bitch was over when no one had the common courtesy to not step on their dicks when playing ND during the regular season. Imagine the ass whooping you'd be getting if it were Oregon instead.

Last time I checked ND beat Michigan this year. How many times did your pussy ass wolverines step on their dicks this season. Well once I clearly remember and that was vs. ND. Scoreboard motherfucker.

Why does this have anything to do with Michigan? We lost to Bama, ND, Ohio, South Cackalacky....name the bad loss. Sure ND has scoreboard over Mich. Doesn't mean they deserved to burn my retina's tonight.

[M Club]

This bitch was over when no one had the common courtesy to not step on their dicks when playing ND during the regular season. Imagine the ass whooping you'd be getting if it were Oregon instead.

Last time I checked ND beat Michigan this year. How many times did your pussy ass wolverines step on their dicks this season. Well once I clearly remember and that was vs. ND. Scoreboard motherfucker.

Notre Dame fan calling Michigan fan pussy. That's brilliant. Remind me again which bitch school cancelled the series on the other in the midst of a three-game losing streak.

Otherwise, Michigan was one of the teams referenced above, so thanks for echoing by point, bitterman. Threw four straight balls straight into your chests and you still barely won, at home. Those are the type of teams that get buttfucked in the MNC against real competition. (Was that homo smack, Lefty?)

[Mace]

Props to Alabama and Sam....and also to the Domers for a great season.

[M Club]

Well, good thing for the rest of us ND did get in so we were spared a Floribama final.

Fuck Bama but congrats.

Fuck ND but congrats.

[Terry in Crapchester]

Props to Bama. They dominated in every phase.

Our defensive front seven -- the strength of our team all season -- fell flat on its face. Of course, that was due more to the way Bama played than anything else. McCarron had a career night, and our secondary was exposed -- something I feared would happen all season, and it became little more than a fait accompli in the absence of a stellar game from our front seven.

Saban showed, once again, why he's the best coach in college football, bar none. In BTPCF, at least right now, there's Alabama, and then there's everyone else.

This loss hurts right now, but as Sam said, nothing to hang our heads about this season. If someone had said, at the beginning of the season, that ND would run the table in the regular season only to get skunked in the BCS championship game, I think most ND fans would have taken that. I know I would have.

The unanswered question, and unfortunately, it will remain unanswered for awhile to come: was this season the start of something new for ND, or was it yet another fleeting moment of brilliance punctuating the same old, same old overwhelming mediocrity we've seen for most of the last two decades? The loss will be much more palatable down the road if the answer is the former.

[Loganfan]

Rack Bama. That game was over by the time they 1st put McCarrron's GF on TV.

[Laxplayer]

Threw four straight balls straight into your chests and you still barely won, at home. Those are the type of teams that get buttfucked in the MNC against real competition. (Was that homo smack, Lefty?)

They won. Barely? Who fucking cares. Scoreboard is a bitch. Well at least the team I root for got to the MNC game after not being there for 24 years. ND will be back before Michigan

[M Club]

Not surprised Capt. Think Things Through still can't glom onto my larger point even after stopping to point it out for you. Good for you: scoreboard. Don't think I disputed that. Michigan was one of many teams that scabdicked their way to a loss against you guys and kept you from becoming the 10-2 team you really were.

ND will be back before...

Everyone says that. Tell them to put their money where their mouth is and suddenly they "don't bet."

[Laxplayer]

Here's money and a mouth. What do you want to bet?

[MuchoBulls]

Fuck that pussy Pitt kicker for making my eyes have to watch an abortion in real time. Fuck Oregon for shitting down it's leg and not getting to the MNC. Fuck the BCS, bring on the playoff!

What about the refs who gave Pitt a phantom PI call that kept an ND drive alive, orthe refs who did not call the last play of the Stanford game correctly?

[M Club]

Here's money and a mouth. What do you want to bet?

$100 to charity of winner's choice. Are we defining "back" as playing in the MNC game, which will probably be an actual NC game by the time either of us have to pony up?

[Killian]

What about the refs who gave Pitt a phantom PI call that kept an ND drive alive,

Yes

orthe refs who did not call the last play of the Stanford game correctly?

No

[Left Seater]

Killian, I would be interested to hear your take on the Stanford 4th OT play. Do you think the officials got it right?


I think that play is far more influential on the ND season than the bogus DPI. That one call didn't cost Pitt the game. The Stanford one prevented a 2nd OT period.

[MuchoBulls]

What about the refs who gave Pitt a phantom PI call that kept an ND drive alive,

Yes

orthe refs who did not call the last play of the Stanford game correctly?

No

Forward progress wasn't stopped on the RB and the ball clearly broke the plain of the goal line.

[Killian]

The officials thought forward progress had been stopped, as evident by the line judge blowing his whistle, him running in from the side, and ND defenders quitting on the play.

As to the point if I thought they got it right, yes, I do. After watching the play from multiple angles, multiple times, there was nothing that showed conclusively that Taylor broke the goal line before his elbow hit the turf. In fact, in order for him to score without putting his elbow down and using that to lunge forward as it appears in the replay, he would have had to do some Matrix-like physics bending.

That having been said, if the refs had not blown the play dead and determined he had scored, there was nothing in any of the replays that would have overturned it because the point where it appears his elbow is down is blocked out by a Notre Dame defender.

I also agree with Lefty on the PI call. It was an awful call, but it happened at the beginning of the 4th quarter. ND had two other possesions, one of which ended in an interception in the endzone. Who knows how the game would have been altered if that PI had not been called, but ND would have had at least 2 other opportunities to tie the game.

[Left Seater]

The officials thought forward progress had been stopped, as evident by the line judge blowing his whistle, him running in from the side, and ND defenders quitting on the play.

Couple of things about your comment. What are you basing your claim that the official blew his whistle on? There is only one possible official of the 7 on the field who would blow his whistle on that play and it is the Head Linesman. He was twenty five yards from the snap as he is on the sidelines.

Is it based on the fact that a few ND players started celebrating clearly before their teammates?

I don't think the H blew his whistle on that play nor did any of the officials. First the play is to the HL side and near the goal line. He and the LJ have sole responsibility for the forward progress and it is their whistle. Since it is to the HL's side of the field the LJ is going to defer to the HL. On the replay the HL is visible on most of the shots and in none of them does he give any indication that he blew his whistle.

When an official blows his whistle he will also raise his hand in the air over his head immediately. Think an NBA official calling a foul. This is a signal to the clock operator that the ball is dead and he can start the 40 second clock. On a change of possession play the official will signal to stop the clock as soon as he blows his whistle by waving his arms back and forth over his head. In this instance the official did neither.

On close plays at the goal line the HL and LJ will run as fast as they can to the pile when the runner is down short of the goal line inside the 1 yard line. If they are unsure of the forward progress they will cautiously make their way onto the field to find the ball. In this instance the HL is pretty slow in getting inside.

Further the U continues to officiate the play and moves out of the way of the ball carrier as the runner stretches for the goal line. Had the HL blown his whistle the U wouldn't be moving in such a manner.

Finally if the HL was going to call the runner down due to his forward progress being stopped, he would have had to call him down at the 1 yard line. The runner came to a stop when he hit his own player in the back. After that point in time the runner is always moving towards the goal line and to say his progress was stopped inside the one is wrong.

I don't think the HL knew where the ball was or where the player was stopped and he just left it up to review.

[Left Seater]

As I understand it, the receiver (was it Eifert?) on the sideline was moving the ball from one hand to the other as he went out of bounds...and that caused the incomplete call. I thought that was a catch myself. Lefty?

As far as the punt being fumbled by Bama, Lefty cleared that up at the time, I believe. Still coulda gone either way.

They got the "fumble" by ND right. His knee was down...ball stayed with the Irish.

I thought it was a well-called game overall.

My initial thought on the play at the sideline was no catch. Then during the replays I thought it was extremely close. Yes the ball does move slightly, but I have also seen that called a catch many times. In the end the officials made the book call which is always hard to argue with. This is the one I thought could go either way.

The opportunity to catch the kick call was absolutetly correct. As I said at the time the call wasn't because a Bama and ND player were within the radius. It was because the catch was muffed and therefore still a kick. The return man is afforded the opportunity to complete the catch without further interference. The second ND player clearly interfered with that opportunity.

Overall I agree that it was a well called game, but it was also an easy game to call.

[Killian]

I'm basing it on multiple ND players saying they heard the whistle and stopped playing, including the 3 players who were making the tackle.

People saying the call was blown piss me off. At best it was inconclusive and couldn't be over turned based on the replay, no matter what the call in the field was. After watching the play many times, I don't think there is anyway he could have scored without putting his elbow down.

[MuchoBulls]

I'm basing it on multiple ND players saying they heard the whistle and stopped playing, including the 3 players who were making the tackle.

People saying the call was blown piss me off. At best it was inconclusive and couldn't be over turned based on the replay, no matter what the call in the field was. After watching the play many times, I don't think there is anyway he could have scored without putting his elbow down.

Here's the video. Not sure what is so inconclusive about this. Whistle was definitely not blown when they show the side angle, forward progress was not stopped as Mayock clearly confirms, and the ball broke the plain of the goal line before it left the RB's hand. Also, ND's players weren't celebrating before the ball crossed the line.

[Killian]

Here's the video. Not sure what is so inconclusive about this. Whistle was definitely not blown when they show the side angle, forward progress was not stopped as Mayock clearly confirms, and the ball broke the plain of the goal line before it left the RB's hand. Also, ND's players weren't celebrating before the ball crossed the line.

I didn’t say they were celebrating, I said they quit playing. Two of the players making the tackle (Motta #17 and Te’o #5) stop trying to make the tackle while he is still on top of his player. They both said they heard a whistle, which was the reason they quit trying to tackle him. So I don’t think it was definite that a whistle hadn’t blown.

And while the ball broke the plane before he fumbled it, it was in his right hand. It would be almost impossible for him to stretch the ball over the line without his left elbow being down. Right about the 2:30 mark shows this, but the view of his left arm is blocked by an ND defender. You can’t infer that he wasn’t down anymore than you can that he was. So, the play on the field stood. There is nothing in any of those angles that show him conclusively not down and in the endzone.

[Left Seater]

Excellent video. Watch the HL at the :37 second mark thru about :42 seconds. When he first comes into the shot he isn't waiving his hands over his head. Then he starts while in the shot. This is the indication that he started blowing the whistle at that point.

Why would he blow it at that point? The replays clearly show that the runner was still moving forward at that point. And as you point out it is impossible to see if the runners elbow touched the ground due to the ND players blocking the line of sight. The official can't assume that it did touch like you are.

Now fast forward to the 2:20 mark. You will see the umpire still officiating the play. As you advance frame by frame the HL will enter the shot and by 2:24 you see the HL still isn't giving any visual indications that he has blown his whistle. However, the whistle is in his mouth and ND players 5 and 6 are running towards him away from the play. It is at this point that those two players likely heard the whistle as the HL begins to blow it there as shortly thereafter he signal dead ball with his hands.

The real tell for me in this video is the Umpire. He would have the best look at the runner. Go to 2:30 and watch the umpire. He is looking at the runner the whole time. Once the ball crosses the plane he turns his head to look at the HL. He is expecting to see the HL signal TD.

Same thing at 3:30. Umpire still has the ball live.

My question to that HL would be how did the ball become dead at the 1 foot line? Either it was dead at the 1 yard line or it was a TD. If he blows his whistle anywhere between the 1 and the goal line it has to be an inadvertent whistle because the runner was still moving forward. That would mean 4th down should have been replayed.

Now I agree with you completely on the replay end of things. Nothing 100% that could over turn the call. I also agree that had the HL called TD there was nothing 100% to over turn that call.

[Laxplayer]

$100 to charity of winner's choice. Are we defining "back" as playing in the MNC game, which will probably be an actual NC game by the time either of us have to pony up?

How about 50. I'm a teacher and have a kid in college. Granted by the time either of them get to the MNC game we'll be dead but what the hell. Let's do it. First one back to the MNC game......

[M Club]

Deal. I'm a teacher but minus the chilluns. But like you said, will probably have one in college myself once the bill comes due. Hope your coach doesn't peace out.

[Van]

That's actually a pretty good line. Taking a cheap shot at your main rival whenever and wherever you can?

Absolutely.

[Mace]

That's a good one, Sam. Keep them coming whenever you find something.

[Mace]

It's fun to go through old newspaper clippings and dig up memories of the past. I went through a box a few months ago and found a lot of clippings from the 80's about the baseball team I was coaching. Of course I had to sit there and read them all. Also found a game program from the first Iowa football game I attended in 1966. Of course they lost to Northwestern that day, but Ed Podolak had a good day.

[Terry in Crapchester]

It'll be the Tide getting it one day...maybe...probably not...no way...maybe when Saban croaks.

You're only a Mike Shula hire away from returning to that day.