Irish don't do anything on their first possession of the 2nd half but the defense forces a South Carolina punt and then the best drive of the game for the Irish ends with a TD run by Buchner. 24-24
Fake punt by the Irish gets us a new set of downs and then a 39 yard TD run by Logan Diggs and the Irish take the lead 38-31 for the first time. Come on defense!
Wow had them right where we wanted, forced a punt and then a great drive to inside the 10 and a pick six in the endzone and instead of being up 2 scores we are tied again at 38-38. Fans are going nuts on Tommy Rees and while I agree that I was surprised we threw the ball as we seemed to have worn down the defense but that was just a horrible decision by Buchner.
I've been a supporter of Rees this season despite all the criticisms, however, that pass call from the six that SC intercepted and scored on is indefensible. You want to run more time off the clock, you're in easy FG range to put you up 2 scores, the only thing that could **** up this game is a turnover for 6 and he made it happen. He cheapens the ND diploma. How could anyone that stupid graduate?
Well the Irish came back on the next series and marched down the field and a great play call by Rees for a wide open TE who fooled the whole USC defense and an easy walk in TD. Buchner was the straw though, he threw for 3 TD's and ran for 2 TD's...we'll forgive him the 2 pick sixes that he threw! Defense really stepped up in the 2nd half. Tim will have to wait for the Blue and Gold game to see Angeli!
I don't think we'll see Buchner again unless there's an injury. He learned the art of throwing short passes into the ground from Golson.
I would agree that if Sam Hartman comes then it will be hard to see Buchner as the starter. If he could learn to make those touch throws then the sky is the limit for him with his ability to run the football. But that's a big if. I have to wonder if in today's world if he sticks around hoping to have the same roll he had in 2021 with Jack Coan and then have a shot at being the starter in 2024. There was a time that would be pretty normal, I mean look at Kevin McDougal. But in 2022 guys move.
I never doubted for a second the Irish would win.....I doubted for a lot of minutes though!! Not the way I wanted but I sure as hell take it. Go Irish! Congrats to Marcus Freeman on his first bowl win as ND HC!!
Gip would you had called that pass play that Evans scored on or would you have run the ball and if stopped kicked the FG?
I will give Al Golden kudos for how the defense played in the 2nd half, the USC offense only got 7 points and that was on an amazing throw and catch for a TD which I think if they had a higher resolution camera on the sideline that kids toe was out of bounds. The other score was that 100yd pick six. While I would agree that with 1st and goal and how we were running the ball that continuing to run made more sense, but once the play was called that pick was the result of a terrible decision by Buchner, just like he made a horrible decision to try and flip the ball while going down or the 1st pick six where he made a horrible decision to throw the ball to a a player who was bracketed front and back. It was on Buchner to recognize that he had no play and toss it out of the endzone.
Buchner almost gives the game away and ends up winning it. I may have to see my cardiologist on Monday!!!
In the end this was a very satisfying bowl win. When I think of our last 20 years in the bowls we haven't had much to cheer about. That Sun Bowl win over Miami was good but Miami had just fired the head coach, we had a Pinstripe bowl win over Rutgers. The Music City Bowl win over LSU was really good as was the Citrus Bowl win over the same LSU squad. The win over Iowa State was a good one but this one was probably one of best in recent years
I’d have called a rollout pass-run option. At that point since I screwed up and let SC back in the game I would have tried to get up by 7. They’d have to go the whole field to tie,
With all the mistakes we made against a very good team, we kept fighting back. We refused to lose. That mentality is what defines CHARACTER. My kudos go to 1) Buchner for doing exactly what a coach wants his players to do: good or bad, forget the last play. That's what enabled him to guide team to fight through the potentially fatal mistakes and fight back for the win; 2) Tommy Rees for doing the same thing as Buchner. After making a risky call that resulted in a pick 6 (Before the play, I said to myself, don't risk the INT. Just run the damn ball), he made the call that won the game. He's growing in the right direction as an OC; 3) Al Golden for making defensive adjustments in the 2nd half which enabled us to capture the momentum as the half moved along. Last and certainly not least, 4) Coach Freeman for instilling in the entire team the character and refuse-to-lose mentality that was evident today. GO IRISH!
For all those who hate Tommy Rees and think he almost personally gave this game away. 1. Had a QB who hadn't played since Sept. 2. Offense produced 45 points anyway 3. Offense produced 558 yards including 264 yds rushing. 4. QB threw 3 TD's and ran for 2 TD's. 5. How many points would we have scored if he'd called a great game?