Password for unfaithful rebirth12/13/2023 Two Notre Dame defenders barely made it back across the line before the ball was snapped.Īmateurish officiating is the one reason I prefer the NFL to college football. Leinart hustled his offense to the line of scrimmage as Weis still stood 10 yards onto the field, arms spread in confusion, asking in vain for an explanation. Then they spotted the ball a yard or so closer to the goal line than it should have been - at the ½-yard line - and blew the whistle for play to immediately resume. The refs huddled and ordered that seven seconds be put back on the clock. Weis raised his arms in victory as Notre Dame defenders began dashing toward the sideline in fist-shaking celebration, dodging out-of-their-mind students as they went. At least one referee signaled that the game was over. The ball shot out of his hands and out of bounds at what appeared to be the 2 - maybe the 1½. With time running out and USC at Notre Dame's 2-yard line, Leinart rolled left, decided to run for it and got blasted near the goal line. To me, that was as shocking as the season-saving pass USC's Matt Leinart completed on fourth-and-9 from his 26 to set up USC's game-winning, rule-breaking touchdown. When Weis provided no irate ammo for reporters, the officiating dissolved into a non-issue. Yet Weis, bless him, believes in sportsmanship as much as he believes in his alma mater, his heaven on Earth, his Notre Dame. In fact, he had a responsibility to his team to make more of a case to the media that Notre Dame deserved to win. Weis had every right to raise holy heck about a series of late officiating blunders that cost his team that game. In fact, Weis' high-road reaction after that loss was one reason he received only three AP Coach of the Year votes, which tied him for third with USC's Pete Carroll behind Texas' Mack Brown, who finished second with eight. OK, USC survived, 34-31, and the Irish really went 9-2. The cupboard looked as bare as the Indiana plains in winter.Īnd Charlie Weis, who deserves to be named coach of the year, led the Fighting Irish to a 10-1 record, and in his game-of-the-year centerpiece, upset what some experts consider the greatest college team ever: USC. Some receiver named Jeff Samardzija had been just another bench-warming Rudy under former coach Ty Willingham. Quarterback Brady Quinn had turned into the next Ron Powlus-style overhyped bust. Many of the same media members who voted for Paterno believed Notre Doom wouldn't win more than a couple games under a first-year coach who hadn't been a head coach beyond high school. 11 game?Īnd forgive them for letting their yuletide emotions run away with them and for voting for the wrong coach of the year. How much should we read into Brett Favre's wave at the end of this Dec.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply.AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |