https://125.nd.edu/moments/notre-dames-first-game-of-the-century-1935/
Jim Stone and Ty Barber. Gifted Georgia 7 points to start game.
What's the worst that could happen?
David Grimes’ Stanford catch hasn’t even been mentioned. While certainly not the most historically significant play, given the horror show that was the 2007 season and the fact that we still won the game, it still has to be one worst calls ever to go against ND.
didn’t cost us the game
Was also a beauty with an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty, too.
There are so many plays that are forgettable.
Just because nobody mentioned it before.
And from a historical context, it was the moment that people realize Faust wasn't some football coaching God.
Frankly, the year 1981 (Digger decline, Devine leaving, Krause retiring) was the end of the "old" Notre Dame and the start of the present era of ND just not being that great.
I was there. I wish I hadn't been.
Also, Michigan sucks
drop is without a doubt the answer to your question. Especially since it's an open wound with us not having won a title since it happened. Those guys not being champions and Holtz not being a multiple championship coach bothers me greatly.
Agree with the others below which were worse but this needs to be added to the list.
It means "more than famous."
he had a plethora of plays?
It was covered up, but it ended up costing the school millions.
the end of the half. We were going to go up 34-7 on a short FG and somehow 20 seconds later it was 31-14 going into half. They won the game 35-34. I just remember being stunned that under Holtz we could lose such a huge lead with what was a great team loaded with legit future NFL players.
He may have been Holtz's BVG.
field goal right before half also resulted in an injury to our kicker, and at the end of the game, down 1, our reserve walk-on kicker misssed a modest length field goal. Game was at Notre Dame, I think.
Hentrich was injured, and a walk-on (Pendergast, I think) missed a field goal at the end of the game. Later commentary talked about how fortunate Tennessee was that ND's walkon backup kicker was kicking into the south end zone, rather than at Touchdown Jesus.
At any rate, we lost. I still hate Johnny Majors.
Then the Irish lost the next week, on the road and by a lot, to Penn State. We used to use other descriptors of that game, but those graphical references have not aged well in light of Penn State's issues.
Then the #18 Irish received an invite to take on Steve Spurrier's #3 Gators in New Orleans. That game remains the greatest ND victory I have ever attended in person - even better than the November 1993 FSU game. Spurrier was a better villain than Bowden, and New Orleans was a better venue than South Bend.
Brutal loss to TN. Then at PSU was rough.
ND fans outnumbered in Sugar Bowl. Great win. Sparse crowds on Bourbon Street after as UF fans went home sulking.
Team still had an outside shot at playing for the title if they could take care of business. The season fell apart after that play. That team had a ton of talent. Fortunately they were able to regroup in a memorable Sugar Bowl win over Spurrier and Florida.
It's worth at least 6 points on the card.
Still untucking believable
The bitch pitch.
When a FG would’ve won it.
Get used to it indeed.
with senior kicker on sideline who had not yet missed. Maybe Kelly thought he was due to miss.
Again did not trust kickers, maybe with some justification. Believe we had missed one kick and bobbled another snap that day. But the book says when scoring to go up 11 late in the game, take the singleton. Naturally we didn't get the 2.
Northwestern of course got the TD, 2-pointer and FG to force OT, where they won.
And we lost the game by 1? Something like that. I was screaming at the tv as he was making his decision. Didn’t Kelly later say that he had consulted his highest authority or some shit
That decision forced ND to go for 2 again at the end of the game. The turnovers didn’t help either.
If you assume that every 2 point conversion attempt is going to fail, then obviously every 2 point conversion attempt is going to be dumb.
In the Clemson game, they were down 21-3 before scoring a TD with 14:13 left in the game, making it 21-9 pending the conversion attempt. At that point there were a lot of potential outcomes. One such outcome was that if they converted the 2-pt conversion with 14:13 left, then they would have only needed a 1-pt conversion at the end of the game to win the game outright.
Another way to look at it is this way. Knowing in hindsight that Clemson kicked a FG later in that game and assuming you'll make all your kicks (not completely certain in a rainstorm but let's go with this for sake of argument), Kelly had 4 different potential outcomes with respect to 2-point conversions:
(a) Go for 2 the first time and convert - Win the game in regulation.
(b) Don't attempt it the first time - Go to overtime and 50% chance to win.
(c) Fail to convert the first time, succeed the 2nd time - Go to overtime and 50% chance to win.
(d) Fail to convert 2 times in a row - Lose the game in regulation.
Since (b) and (c) give you the same result, the decision comes down to which is more likely: Going 1-for-1, or going 0-for-2? If my math is correct, the breakeven point is whether your average successful conversion rate is 38%. Going for it gives you a 38% chance of winning (by converting the first time), and it gives you a 38% chance of losing [62% chance they fail the first time, multiplied by 62% chance they fail the 2nd time = 38% chance they fail both times]. So if they're going to convert it more than 38% of the time on average, then Kelly made the right decision against Clemson.
As for the 2014 Northwestern game, that was just plain dumb.
left and a 3 point lead trying to lob a corner fade. Tommy Rees throwing an interception from around the 20 yard line in the final minute of the Tulsa game down 2 with an accurate kicker.
Letting Michigan go ~80 yards in 30 seconds to beat us in 11 (long pass play being the main culprit)
Blitzing Michigan State on 4th and 10 in 2000 to get burnt on a slant route that goes the distance for Sparty's four straight win over us
The two 2011 goal line fumbles that were taken back 99 yards: starting the season opening drive against USF and also occurring against USC in a game that we were badly outplayed but were still attempting to tie the game in the late third quarter I believe.
Having a blown play at Purdue in 1999 with a huge offensive line at like their 2 yard line and then listening to their crowd chant down 3!!!2!!!1!!! as our offense was scattered trying to spike the ball.
Pete Bercich letting the interception slip through his fingers against Fredo.
undefeated season. I was there in person as well.
Bush Push
If we're using the currently used definition of infamous - famously bad - that laps the field, even though it wasn't because of anything ND did wrong on that specific play.
That loss, which I witnessed in person as a first-year law student, dropped us to a putrid 1-7 on the year; given the end of our win streak vs. Navy that might’ve been the absolute nadir of our program to date. It was absolutely the most hopeless I’ve ever felt since I started following ND.
07 was a disaster, but it was always going to be bad given the talent on hand, Weis just made it worse.
Tulsa coming after a Navy blowout and Declan, falling to 4-5 against on paper one of the worst ND schedules of all time (although it didn't end up that bad), with a guy who at the time had won everywhere else as coach, really made me start to feel hopeless.
Heart breaking
Allowed to advance a fumble in college football at that time. That allowed that third down instead of ND first and goal on the 2. Two of the three plays in my lifetime that haunt me. He third is Pete B failing to catch the INT against BC in 1993.
we came back from so far behind, got the two points after TD. But for the mussed INT, Notre Dame would have had the title that year. Excruciating.
Rematch vs. FSU
Harder to beat that team twice especially without home field advantage.