Obviously ND dominated the rest of the way but an attempt to block low when the blockee is turning away from the block and exposing his back legs is always like getting a purposeful charge in BB. In this case though the blocker whiffed and still got the bad call. The only difference that made in the game is that PSU could have stayed closer w/o the call and had some MO for the 2nd half. Otherwise though a great W for the Irish and well deserved.
Really a good win for the Irish. 41-17 and it really wasn't that close. PSU is a year away from being really good. Bring on Michigan...
I was there, 20th row, 25 yard line. The clip happened right in front of me. I and everyone around me saw it plain as day and called it before we ever saw the flag. I know the game and I know a clip when I see it live and in real time. If the TV announcers didn't agree, they are as full of crap as you are.
Well then Sid I guess me, the TV replays and the announcers are just full of crap then as you so eloquently stated.
speaking of refs <t>ND has now played two games this season. Both games with Big 10 officials. In both games now, ND's opponents have been called for offensive holding a grand total of ZERO times. Do you believe that to be true?<br/> <br/> My overall point was that there were lots of blown calls in that game. There's always several calls that get made or missed out of turn. Hell, while I was replying to you a series of blown calls took place and they all effected the game in the short term but were over come in the end.<br/> <br/> In the ND/GTech game, there were some God awful calls that went against ND that killed drives. I suppose you can say that it ruined ND on the 'style points' factor that pollsters are worried about, but the bottom line is that ND came thru to win the game.<br/> <br/> Style points are for drag queens, high divers, ice skaters and sports writers.</t>
I've always said that 5% of what happens to you. 95% is how you react to it. You must be able to control your destiny regardless of what others do to you. To continually blame others for what happens to you is a defeatist attitude. Obviously, this was not the case with ND tonight.
That reminds me, I and the knowledgeable folks around me saw three or four obvious holds on PSU that were not called. It was frustrating to watch. The most glaring was on a screen pass that went for several yards right in front of us. It was obvious to me when we scored at the end of the half that we were the superior team yesterday and that we were going to refuse to lose. It was hard for me to grasp that we were the better team because PSU's LBs, Paul P. and Conor, are truly outstanding players. Their DL line completely bottled up our inside running game. They have a horse at RB who is fast and powerful. They have great speed at WR. Our DBs were getting beat most of the day one-on-one, but in double coverage we got the job done. Plus our front 7 put heavy pressure on the QB all day. To me, their primary "issue" is the inconsistency of their new QB. His arm is, as some would say, a cannon. But a key interception by Ndukwe was set up by an underthrown pass. When he gets more seasoning and more confidence, he will present a huge challenge to his opponents. As anyone who watched the entire game saw, the two touchdowns were completely meaningless. This was a true thrashing, for which we likely will pay dearly next year when we go to Happy Valley. But that is for another time. After a game like this, you ask yourself, are we that good or is PSU that bad? It's been a long time since I've thought this way, but I firmly believe that we are that good. PSU will make big noise in the Big 10 this season. We will know even more about our team after next week's tussle with a solid, veteran Michigan team, who will be out to avenge last year's upset. I don't know about the outcome, but I feel more confident about our chances than I have for a long time.
You know me...I'm usually the last one to get on ND's bandwagon because....well...someone's got to be the last one on right? In any event I do think that ND is loaded with top ten talent and has chance to play in Tempe but I believe the defense will ultimately be what trips the Irish up. I thought when PSU had the ball in the first half that they were ready to march down and score but they kept getting the penalty or other miscue that kept them at bay. Then I see that Ga Tech scored a measly total of 24 points on offense vs. a team (Samford) that beat a school in it's opener that I have never heard of...Miles College!!! Let's see....Miles College played Samford who played Ga Tech who played ND. I'll bet you have to go way....way back to find that kind of transition/cpmparison for an ND opponent. The point I'm trying to make here is the jury is definitely out on whether the ND defense truly had a great game vs. Ga Tech because if they only got 24 on Samford it might not say much that they only got 10 on ND. Again...without the misfires on offense I thought PSU looked ready to be in the game offensively until the huge swing of possibly 14 points right before the half that was ignited by the "clip" call. The ND offense however is top 5 material absolutely IMHO.
For what it's worth MCG, my wife watched the game on TV, and she agrees with the announcers. BUT, you can be darn sure I'm not going to tell her she's full of crap. I want to live. :wink: Regardless of what the replay showed, and like so many other calls that replay refutes, it was a clip to all who saw it live and in real time, including the ref who threw the flag. And that's what counts. Period. Fini. As Corey said, and as you have so much trouble accepting, the calls and noncalls tend to even out during the course of the game. The exceptions are few and far between. Yesterday was no exception. Even if that call had not been made and PSU had scored a TD, they would not have won the game. We were not going to lose. This is a senior-led team who knows how to refuse to lose.
No one who follows college football would disagree that some bad calls are much more crucial and game changing than others. Read all of my posts on this and you will see the only difference that I have said it would have made is that PSU would have been in the game at halftime and possibly beyond except for the call and the ND late 1st half TD and as a result the Lions were buried at the half and pretty much out of it. I'll bet Curtis had another hernia watching these events unfold.
Amazing. I sat there for almost 2 quarters and all 5 penalties that had been called up to then were on the Irish. They make one call on Penn St. and you'd think that it was the only critical call in the game.
Something no one has talked about yet is Akron's victory over NC State. Granted, NC State is a lower-level ACC team, but they are a competitive and high-level D-1 program. My point relating to this topic is that it validates that Akron is a good team and their loss to PSU last week says much about the quality of PSU's team and the quality of our win over them. Of course all this talk goes out the window at the start of our game with Michigan next Saturday.
"No one who follows college football would disagree that some bad calls are much more crucial and game changing than others" Not all penalties are created equal.
ahh bull puckey <t>Some talking points:<br/> <br/> -GTech played a nearly perfect football game and was almost never penalized. The calls against ND were mostly phantom (I challenge anyone to show me where McKnight held on his block-he decleated the guy). All of this in a tough Southern road environment and ND still fell in the polls despite winning. Seriously think about that.. playing on the road, hostile environment, opponent plays a nearly perfect game yet you still win but drop in the polls. Well thank God everyone got their #1 vs #2 matchup. (yawn).<br/> <br/> -Once again, MCG, do you really believe that ND's opponents haven't committed offensive holding in the last 2 games? Esp the first two games of the season?? No holding. Someone bottle that water, its a miracle.<br/> <br/> -Penn State is now not that good. The media has told me so. However, according to those same pundits, Florida looked impressive against Central Florida and Nebraska looked impressive against Nichols State? Are you kidding me? We may not know how good Penn State is this year, but I damn well know how good UCF and Nichols State are.<br/> <br/> -As for your scheduling question... since nearly everyone has taken the SEC/Big12 approach to noncon scheduling, I'm sure that we'll see some more crazy connections via 7 degrees of seperation over the years. Hell, we can't play ourselves every week and that's the only way to avoid such a conflict in these times.</t>
Not questioning ND's schedule IC but just the gauge of their defensive performance vs. a team (GaTech) that could only manage 24 offensive points on Samford of all teams. It's still tough to say how good ND's defense is right now but overall the Irish look pretty damned good and rest assured if ND is unbeaten there is no possible way they would not be in the NC game...they ARE ND for Christ's sake. Any drop in rankings is moot if ND keeps on winning.
I guess I'd take MCG more seriously but jayzus he can suck the fun out of just about any win with the penalties that were or weren't called. And thankyou very much but I don't think I'll take the word of the annoucners that it was or was not a good call as gospel. Also one thing you can't accuse the Irish of is getting favorable treatment from the refs, Penn State like all visitor to ND stadium bring their own refs with them. It was a great win for the Irish, and we dominated the field. Penn State played tough and never quit, I thought their young QB Morelli show some real potential. He has arm strenght and I liked his accuarcy. But it was his first road start in a hostile environment. Anybody who thought that game turned on that call just stopped watching at that point that was not a game changer there was plenty of time left in the game Penn State didn't have to panic they could have come back the next play and made a big play. Their defense which was supposed to be their strenght could have shut us out the rest of the way, but they didn't. Just like in the Texas game it was clear that Notre Dame and Ohio State were the best teams on that day. Go Irish. Terry
Terry, PSU was driving and had a first down inside the ND 20 with three minutes or so left on the clock and probably would have hit the lockerroom down 13-3 at most instead of the 20-0 it was. ND went down and scored right after the penalty and it was pretty big at the time. However, I am NOT saying PSU would have won the game but I am saying that at half a score of 13-7 or 13-3 and it's a different game in the 3rd quarter.
As far as the ND D is concerned, Ga. Tech didn't cross our 45 in the second half.Coupled with the first three quarters of the PSU game and that's 3 points in 5 quarters. I don't know anything about Samford but then I couldn't tell you anything about Troy, New Hampshire, Akron or Montana St.