Notre Dame had the ball and a 14-10 lead with just over four minutes remaining but could not run out the clock. One last gasp was all Ohio State needed to pull out a last second victory with a 65-yard scoring march that broke the hearts of the Irish faithful. The ending was eerily reminiscent to the 2005 Bush Push loss to top ranked USC.
The loss dropped the Fighting Irish to 4-1 on the season. Coach Marcus Freeman confirmed that the hosts had only ten defenders on the field on the one-yard scoring plunge by Chip Trayanum.
The final series for both teams overshadowed what was objectively a winning performance by the Irish. They appeared to be the better team as the evening progressed but their failure to register any points from promising first half drives ended up being very costly.
Missed tackles also hurt at critical moments but I’ve given up hope that flaw will be corrected this season. Too many of Notre Dame’s defensive backs are either converted wide receivers or simply lacking the hitter’s mentality needed to make a sure tackle in space.
Still, the Irish were able to compete at this level. The program is close to the goal of becoming elite but players and coaches must learn how to win games of this caliber. Poor play selection cost them in the final offensive sequence. They should have run out the clock or at the very least forced Ohio State to burn its timeouts. They did neither.
Defensively, they had just pressured McCord into an intentional grounding penalty to force a third down and nineteen play with seconds left. The decision to rush only three stunned me. It enabled the decisive play of the game. Having only ten players on the field when the Buckeyes stuck the final dagger in their hearts just added to the insult.
Let’s review the answers to our pregame questions:
Which team will establish and maintain a productive rushing attack? Both teams had their moments. Much of Ohio State’s ground success came on one play, enabled of course by a horrible missed tackle.
Will Notre Dame find ways to distress McCord both in the pocket and downfield? Not enough to win. McCord was an entirely different player under pressure but the Irish couldn’t or didn’t apply it when needed most.
Which coaching staff will seize early momentum with innovation and surprise? Neither team did much to surprise the other. Both coaches were aggressive on fourth down with their offense with little success as the defenses came up with big stops.
Will Notre Dame’s receivers get open or will Hartman have to run for his life? The Irish pass blocking was excellent and got better as the game progressed. The receivers were usually well covered but Hartman turned to tight end Mitchell Evans, who played a great game.
Can the Irish avoid costly penalties that have plagued them in recent weeks? Notre Dame had a few penalties that were not too costly in the final analysis.
Which team will have fewer turnovers? There were no turnovers in this generally well played game although both teams turned the ball over on downs at least twice.
Can the aggressive Irish secondary keep the elite Ohio State wide receivers in check? They did a good job for the most part and forced McCord to go to tight end Cade Stover. Still, when McCord had too much time he was able to get the ball to Harrison and Egbuka.
Which team will win the battle of field position? Ohio State dominated this category and it had a large impact on the outcome.
Will Notre Dame’s green jerseys and the green-out in the stands be worth a few points? The jerseys looked good and the crowd was rocking all night. Right up until they had to file out of the stadium in stunned silence and disbelief.
Leo says:
Bitter end to a valiant effort by the team. Coaches let them down by overthinking play calling on offense and abandoning what worked well up to the 3rd and 19 – pressure on QB. We’re getting very close to where we want to be. Coaches need to learn from their mistakes and not make them again – like taking a knee with 45 seconds left in our first bowl game with Freeman as HC. I will be the first to give the team credit for playing like the fighting Irish once again. No quit in these players. Stick to what got you there and be who we are.
Paul Argentieri says:
To Mr. Vannie, a superior reporter about ND football: please advocate to burn the ugly green jerseys once and for all as it worked in 1977, but those Domers could hit and tackle and the 3 man no rush!
Thx
Paul Argentieri
Michael Hollerich says:
Agreed on the ugly uniform. for what it’s worth (not much). Don’t like the single color look in general. And the shade of green looked sickly, lime-colored, not even a real green.
Mike says:
If I wasn’t a partisan I’d have enjoyed it as one of the best, real deal, hard fought top rank college games I’ve ever seen. Before the loss, I was going to e-marvel to a friend how well conditioned the Irish are. They are, but the devastation took over the wonder. Doesn’t lessen the enthusiasm for the rest of the season, though. It’s just a case of unexpected gut wrenching.
dgruber says:
It was a great game. Too many missed tackles and a train wreck by the Irish the last 3 minutes of the game, They really looked good and I can’t imagine how they will prepare for Duke but they will, they have to and their fans will be watching and cheering. As to NBC, while having a contract does not ask you to favor Notre Dame but the commentators spent most of the entire game praising, worrying about, and trying to figure out how Ohio State could manage to win. I was disgusted. Go Irish
SRS says:
I hope Todd Blackledge and Noah Eagle are the new commentators going forward. Disappointed with the loss. Don’t let OSU beat you twice by laying an egg at Duke. Go Irish
Drasail2 says:
Vannie,
Thanks for the write up.
Man that stung! However in the beauty contest that is college football this can leverage us to the top. Next up Duke.
Go Irish!
TumorGoByeBye says:
Man THAT was well said! Coach is going to have to go 400-level Psych class this week to get these lads ready for Duke. Nobody is going to feel the least bit sorry for us. Need to dig deep and move forward. These guys are good they need to keep grinding and I think they will.
irishhawk50 says:
I said to my wife. Notre Dame is going to lose after I saw the 3 lineman on a 3rd and 19. Even if you were going to only rush 3, disguise it. The Irish were finally starting to get to McCord and confusing him a bit. Why give him time and his receivers time to get open to get to the line to gain?
Freeman’s statement about only having 10 on the field was head scratching. Better to have 11 on the field and give them a half yard.
I feel bad for the team, They played their hearts out. Coaching played a big role in letting them down. Also made a mistake going for it on 4th on the 40. Pin Ohio State back and make they move down the field.
irishhawk50 says:
Upon further review (as per Pete Sampson), Notre Dame could have substituted since Ohio State did on that play. No excuse what so ever for a former defensive coach not knowing the rules!
PFSTEVE says:
Absolutely!
ND fan in the South says:
Vannie, can you confirm that we were out of time outs right before the “10 man” play? I am hearing mixed reports on that.
Mike Coffey says:
I can confirm that, we’d called our last TO right before that play.
John Vannie says:
That’s correct, thanks.
irishhawk50 says:
If Sampson is correct, then the Irish would not have needed a time out to run an 11th player out on the field.
John Vannie says:
It is correct. This makes one wonder whether Freeman really knew ND was a man short or if he said so to cover for himself or his defensive assistants who blew it.
ND fan in the South says:
So we really blew it. You know the whole thing is just gut-wrenching for Marcus. But, like he always says….”learn from our mistakes.” And he will.
D. Gremillon says:
Guess the ND seasoned, experienced QB didn’t work out too well in this game. What was needed was seasoned coaches.
Mike says:
That seasoned QB won us the game; then the coaching staff had a deja-vue Kelly/Rees couple of minutes, getting way too cute going away from what was working offensively (running up the gut, instead a two back formation with an unblocked DE, and then a failed screen pass) AND defensively (4-man front with pressure leading to an intentional grounding penalty, instead 3-man front with a zone defense gifting the tOSU QB all the time in the world to find the one WR we never controlled). The players won; the coaches gave the game away. Sad. The true telling development about this team comes Saturday nite at Duke, when we find out what this team and coaching staff are made of.
Jim says:
Rushing 3 men on the third and 19 made no sense, but did that happen because they only had 10 men on the field for that play too?
John Vannie says:
No, they had 11 on that play. Probably needed 12 or 13.
Jim says:
Ah right — It was the two plays at the goal line where they only had 10 players. Amazing that they stopped them once and almost twice while playing short handed.
The Obvious says:
That was the dreaded “Open Borders” defensive formation. It only benefits the opposition.
GOND88 says:
The end of this game was reminiscent of the 2005 “Bush push” and it hurts just as badly. I have no idea why on ND’s last series Parker didn’t continue running the ball down OSU’s throat while it was working and the OSU D-line had clearly had enough. Even if after Estime’s 12yd run and first down they went three and out it would have taken more time off the clock and forced Ryan Day to burn one of their timeouts which likely would have prevented their eventual comeback.
The lack of a consistent pass rush and poor open field tackling allowed OSU to keep drives alive most of the game. That stupid 3 man front leading to the critical OSU first down was probably Freeman’s idea. ND’s four man rush was getting decent pressure on McCord on that last drive.
I’ve never seen a bigger baby and classless PoS than Ryan Day. He cried and wailed the entire post game about comments an 86yr old Lou Holtz made about OSU being “soft”. I didn’t necessarily agree with Holtz but that’s beside the point.
Sure, OSU made a few more plays than ND down the stretch but it took a miracle at the end for them to win. While the scoreboard unfortunately doesn’t show it most agree that ND seemed to be the better and tougher team for most of the night.
Irish Rifle says:
Excellent post.
John Amberg says:
It was a very poor decision by Gerad Parker and Marcus Freeman to keep Audric Estime on the sidelines after he picked up 11 yards for a first down with under 2:40 to play. I realize he got off to a slow start, but he is our battering ram, our go-to guy. He had the longest run from scrimmage at 22 yards and in my opinion if he would have stayed in the game and had a couple more carries, ND might well have iced the game with a third first down. I do not understand the logic behind that call. I really think it was the inexperience of our OC and Head Coach that cost us this game.
Irish Rifle says:
Couldn’t agree more.
Mike says:
For unknown reasons ND seems to have a policy that all the RBs rotate in regularly to play in every game, no matter what the results on the field are. In the first 4 games the opposition was poor enough that all 5 did well, but against a top 5-6 team we needed to shelve that and go with the bruising workhorse, who in this game appeared to be having the desired effect late in the game. HUGE failure in offensive coaching, and very likely cost ND the victory, as tOSU most likely never gets to where it did, as you explained. A shame. Players deserved better.
Irish Rifle says:
John – you absolutely nailed it with your analysis of why the Irish lost in the two paragraphs immediately before reviewing the answers to your pregame questions. I could not agree more. It pains me to say this, as I am a raging fan of HC Freeman and his staff, but this loss falls squarely upon their shoulders for the reasons you set out. This is stunning and totally unacceptable.
irishhawk50 says:
“We have to coach better”
Brian Kelly
Irishwolf says:
I wonder why whomever was supposed to be in on the last two plays, and their backup, weren’t clamoring to get into the game. My 8-year old granddaughter’s soccer team are always begging to get in- I guess that’s too demeaning at this collegiate level.
We apparently had the coaches, the QB, the higher-ranked players, the physicality, all those things we wanted, but forgot to put ‘able to count to 11’ in the list of requirements.
It looked like Freeman, Parker, and Hartman were not ready for this level…..yet, if ever.
Mike says:
Nit: Hartman was everything we needed him to be, and hoped he would be. He WON the game in the 4th quarter, and then the coaches gave it away.
Scott says:
I was with you up until your last statement. You’re a complete and total fool if you think Hartman’s performance was less than expected. He found receiver after receiver to help them drive the length of the field. Did he miss a FG in the first half? Did he brain fade and take Estime off the field late in the game when ND had their D on the ropes? Is he responsible for miscounting the number of linemen were on the field on the winning TD play? Did he decide to rush 3 instead of 4 on 3rd and 19? I couldn’t care less what you say, really. Hartman was everything I expected in this game and nowhere near at fault for the loss.
John says:
We are moving in the right direction. Let’s just arrive sooner rather than later.
To me, the crucial play was ND’s final third down, which followed Hartman’s loss of ~5 on the keeper. So 3rd and ~15 with under 2 minutes, from around our 30 and thus knowing that somehow getting a first down may ice the game or at minimum force OSU to burn TOs.
The play called was an inside handoff for 2 yards, which while it kept the clocking moving and precluded the possibility of a sack or interception, provided no real chance to get the first down. Question is: how does that call reconcile with the mantra of “Play to win rather than not to lose?” To me, it doesn’t. The pass protection, Sam, and receivers need to be given that chance.
Proud of the team and coaches and am confident they’ll prove their resilience by winning out. Go Irish!
joe says:
I agree John! You hit it right on the nail!!
Pap says:
The only worse loss was the 93 BC game, in my opinion. Blew a tremendous opportunity.
Irish Rifle says:
That one cost ND a National Championship.
Kevin says:
This was my contention when our defender dropped the INT. It so reminded me of the ’93 BC game. That missed opportunity probably cost ND a chance to make the Final 4.
#❤️🍀50 says:
same script, different coach, same results……but yeah we belong
#❤️🍀50 says:
same script, different coach, same result 🙄
Jimbo says:
IMO the only thing that salvages season is to win out. Next 3 opponents are 12-0, remaining opponents are a total of 19-9. Clemson appears down but would not say that will be an easy win especially on the road. USC is an absolute must win.
Phil Calandra says:
Vannie, you’ve been telling us all year that the weak link on this Irish team is safety play. You nailed it, for sure. Close games always feature multiple “game deciding” plays, but IMHO there were two Irish misplays, both by our starting Safeties, that really cost us the game. First the whiffed tackle on Henderson’s 65 yard TD run. Our guy not only missed, but he also didn’t even slow the guy down. The second was the easy interception that was blown and would have ended the game, a few plays before the OSU winning TD dive. Shades of 1993 vs BC.
Mike says:
Is that the one when our All-American linebacker decided to do an Irish jig for the BC quarterback instead of leveling him?
joe says:
What a heartbreaking loss!!!! This defeat is right up there with the Bush Push game and the 1993 BC game. Still very proud of the team and the way they fought throughout the game! John, why do teams use the 3 man rush? I understand it provides more coverage vs the opposing team’s passing attack. But my thinking has always been if a quarterback has time to throw, the receivers will get open. The d-backs can only covered the wide receivers for so long. It’s very frustrating to me when I see a 3 man rush!!
Anyway, good game by the Irish!! Go ND BEAT Blue Devils!!!!!!!
John Vannie says:
The three man rush should be used only on 50-yard Hail Mary passes at the end of a half. Nothing else.
Dan says:
The Irish are 4-1
One Historian says:
1) In the OSU game last I never really felt we had a chance to win, this year I DID.
2) WHO is responsible for the Irish only having 10 men on the field for the crucial play? I wouldn’t say we were outplayed as much as we were clearly out-coached.
3) Please – BURN those green uniforms – they served their purpose long ago and I would be saying this even if we had won – I promise.
4) McCord made his bones on that last drive.
5) Duke is undefeated so far this season and I think it would be very neighborly for the Irish to make them pay for yesterday – next week.
6) Even the announcers made note of the poor tackling.
7) Ryan Day almost turned me into a UM fan with his no-class rant about Lou Holtz at the end of the game.
John Vannie says:
Notre Dame brings back the green jerseys periodically to sell merchandise.
One Historian says:
You do an excellent job and thanks for that but (and I hate to say this) – you have (inadvertently I’m sure) placed yourself in the early running for this week’s ‘Captain Obvious’ award.
Which obviously means that we will see them again.
Marty says:
How much blame goes to Swarbrick? “Gerad Parker was promoted to the Offensive Coordinator position in January after Athletic Director Jack Swarbrick botched the hiring of Utah’s talented and seasoned Coordinator, Andy Ludwig.”
One positive not mentioned, as least the amount of Red in the stadium was not an embarrassment and it certainly wasn’t the 40% prediction.
NDfan1982 says:
It feels better to be competitive in a big game, and arguably the better of the two teams, than observing that ND has no chance of winning as has been the case in most potential statement games the past 30 years. It is embarrassing, however, before a national audience to have 10 defensive players on the last two plays of a game when needing a goal line stand following a time out.
My goodness, it required a unified team effort to lose that game with about 2:40 remaining, ND up 4 points having just gotten a first down by ramming the ball successfully at OSU who had 2 time outs remaining. Here’re my main takeaways regarding the coaches and players.
1. ND’s DC, immediately following a time out, fails to intervene when only 10 defensive players are on the field for the game’s last two plays. Eventually, OSU scores right at the point where the missing defensive end would have been. Freeman is the boss and the middle linebacker is on the field, and are also responsible for such failure. While the low scoring game means the defenses played well and the DCs deserve credit, crunch time is what separates winners and losers. ND’s DC struggled as Miami’s head coach. His designed blitzes at ND seldom lead to sacks or clear hurried throws. He had no answers for Lincoln Riley’s offense last year. I don’t know how well he recruits, especially defensive front sevens.
2. The decision was perplexing to rush only three when OSU faced a must convert 4th down and 19 yards to go or ND wins. ND’s front seven pass rush is already a major weakness, and telegraphing and rushing only three gave the new starting frosh OSU QB and receivers time to make the big play. The inexperienced OSU QB is still a 4-5 star and his receivers arguably are the best in the country. Giving that combination time is not a good plan. The defensive players screwed up, too, all seeming to be waiting behind the receiver. There were enough defenders in the area to bracket the receivers front and back. Earlier in the same possession, that QB had missed under pressure some easy throws, although he also made some big ones, but not facing 4th and 19 or the game ends. I question if the current DC, notwithstanding that he appears a very nice person, is the DC to lead ND back to a national championship. ND’s head coach, on the other had, has lots of upside, knows football, is a great face and voice of ND, a head coach of color, and with some NIL support can recruit with the best of them.
3. The first-time ND OC calling a screen play with 2:28 left time for OSU to come back. The objective at that point of the game is first to burn clock and second to get a first down. ND faced second down and 15 yards, but OSU only had 1 time out left and needed a TD. A run burns OSU’s last time out and a punt presumably leaves OSU’s inexperienced college QB needing to go 60-70 yards for a TD with about 1:30 or less and no time outs. My disagreement with the OC’s call isn’t too strong because at least the idea is that a successful screen pass could have iced the game. That is calling plays to win as opposed to calling plays not to lose, such as rushing three on 4th and 19. Player execution was also bad on that play. The running back ran too flat a route. He had room and needed to run his route farther down field so ND’s QB would have more room to drop the ball into him instead of having such a sharp angle to complete the pass over the jumping defensive end. ND’s QB may have been able to do better, but mainly the play failed when the running back stayed too close behind the rushing defensive end. The small gripe about the OC’s game plan against OSU is that it should have tried to go deeper on some passes to keep the defense honest.
4. The blown up play at about 2:38 with ND on first and 10 was a player execution error. ND’s left side lineman pulling to the right missed his block and sent the rushing defender into Hartman. Initially, I thought the right tackle screwed up going downfield to execute a block toward the left. When I saw it on replay, I think it was a designed play calling for the right guard to go down field left and the lineman on the left to pull right behind the line. The right side lineman blocked his guy to the left but the left side lineman mostly whiffed on his assignment on the right.
5. The game showed ND has upside but still is missing some players to be a real contender for the championship. The linebackers know what they should be doing but are a step slow. Great defenses have linebackers that can go from sideline to sideline. The front seven’s pass rush and sacks are not good. Too many missed tackles. Some backfield players have trouble finishing big plays. One back missed two picks and the last one that would have sealed the game went through his hands. The new DBs are very good and Morrison is one of the best cover guys in the country, pretty much shutting down Marvin Harrison, who many say is the best current college receiver. To land five star players, well targeted NIL money is simply a reality. .
These are thoughts from the football peanut gallery. I thought last night’s game would be an offensive shootout. Oh, well.
One Historian says:
ALL good points, leading me to bring up that Third Year ‘Legend’ – both Ara and Lou won it all in their 3rd year @ ND. Methinks that will hold true again.
We’re ALMOST there – both the team and the coaches.
Will says:
There is a lot of pearl clutching and second guessing going on in Notre Dame nation today. I recommend everyone reflect upon Vannie’s analysis of Notre Dame’s roster weaknesses on both sides of the ball. Because ND has a very good transfer quarterback and because ND skated through its first 4 games, a false narrative developed that this would be THE year we finally would win another national championship. As Vannie has pointed out numerous times, we have too many holes in our roster to reach elite status this year. Yes, this OSU game was a disappointment not only because we lost but because of the way we lost. However, I would not read too much into this game …pro or con. The reality is we have a very, very young and inexperienced head coach with many appealing qualities. What I like most about him is that he is reshaping the roster, the coaching staff, and the on field strategy. I believe Freeman will be ND’s head coach for a very long time, and I also believe that he knows what needs to be done to return ND to the ranks of the elite after 30 years of mediocrity. This year is part of the reshaping process. We are not there yet and no doubt we will have 2 or 3 more disappointing losses this season. But the process has started, and eventually under this coach we will be elite. Thank God for that.
irishhawk50 says:
Kool-Aid, anyone?
Will says:
I prefer the cherry flavor.
Irishmac says:
Rushing 3 and dropping 8 is playing to not lose, it is not playing to win. 10 players on the field for 2 consecutive crunch time plays is beyond poor coaching. Coaches lost this game. Marcus should say that and own that.
ND fan in the South says:
MF has taken ownership of it. He is falling on the sword for Golden and others. That’s why the assistants and the team would run through a wall for him. I want to see us win out convincingly to prove this point.
Steve T says:
Thoughts from a lifetime ND fan nearly 24 hours after kickoff:
The Good:
Our defense played Lights Out. OSU had scored 20 pts or more in a NCAA/FBS record 77 games! That streak is broken as ND’s defense held them to 17 points. We were stout against the run (less one play) and forced numerous punts.
We held OSU on 4th and 1 from our 10 yard line. Great pursuit to snuff out that Jet Sweep and at that point ND should have won.
We held OSUs Wide Receivers in check. Marvin Harrison Jr was literally a non-factor and he might be the best receiver in college football. Great job by the ND secondary in keeping him in check whether by bracket coverage, straight man-to-man or zone coverage schemes.
A 96 yard drive in 4th quarter to take the lead, mostly on the ground!
The bad:
Two long drives in the first half resulted in 0 points. One we went for it on 4th down, came up inches short and two a missed field goal. Get at least three points (or six) and we have a different result in this game.
Atrocious, horrible 4th down calls. You have a 230+ lb running back – 2nd in the nation in rushing, give Estime the ball!!! Don’t get cute – don’t get fancy give it to Estime and let him pick up inches or one yard. Instead they go play action and a QB sneak on those two 4th downs.
No pressure on 3rd and 19 with 15 seconds left in the game. Rush at LEAST 4 to get in McCords face, instead we played coverage and gave him time to throw.
With a lead and the ball, we had just got two straight first downs (running) and one more would have sealed the victory. Instead ND gets cute – with a -5 busted play and an incomplete SCREEN pass. At a minimum force OSU to burn all their timeouts, we had the running game clicking running between the tackles – why not stick with that?
And lastly – 10 men on the field. I know what happened, on 3rd and 19 we had a pass defense personnel in – and when OSU converted the one pass rusher left the field as it was 1st and goal from the one yard line. OSU rushed up to spike the ball and we couldn’t get a lineman in. But even after the incomplete pass – still we couldn’t get an 11th player in? If we get another lineman in – I don’t think OSU scores as they ran to the weak side where ND had 2 players, and he still only got in by inches.
Yeah disappointing loss – and I see the next 3 ND opponents are 12-0 so far.
VegasPoker74 says:
The 3rd and 19 bend but don’t break defense was the ultimate “play not to lose strategy”. Losers play not to lose. They also play 1 man short.
Algoldendomer says:
can we stop with the “bad play calling” on the final series? ND got 2 immediate first downs to get out of the field position hole, or did we forget those? can we give tOSU some credit for blowing up the fist down for a loss of 5? And the screen was a good call, sadly also blown up by a great tOSU defensive play. 10 men on the field? Didn’t matter on 2nd down and probably wouldn’t have mattered on 3rd down. I knew we were going to lose when Brown failed to catch the winning Int… shades of Pete Bersich (sp?) there. A great, hard-fought game that somebody had to lose.
manager47 says:
John – it has taken a couple of days to digest Saturday’s Game – very much appreciate your analysis and direct overview. We can go back and forth on what should have – could have – bottom line is now looking back some decisions that were made turned out to be the wrong ones. Run the ball – go right behind the top NFL offensive line prospect in the Country and let number 7 handle the football. Second guess themselves with a screen pass – incomplete – stopped the clock. Second, put the pressure on the QB when it was 3rd and 19 – too much time to find a receiver. Third, ND had the last substitution after Ohio State made a move to send in a player before the snap – ND then could have sent in the 11th player. Who was up in the press box to alert the sideline of this ? The Game got fast and now what is said is ‘We have to be better ” Didn’t give the best opportunity to win – heartbreaking.
Hoss says:
Meet the new boss, same as the old boss.
Irish Coffee says:
I am disgusted by the number of OSU fans at the game. I previously witnessed this kind of turn out by opposing team’s fans at the Georgia game a few years ago. It looks like OSU’s fans wanted it more, and Irish fans were willing to sell out to make a quick buck. This is what you get when you make a deal with the devil. Where are the REAL Irish fans?
Paul Siebel says:
Nuff said.
The game is over and we lost.
I live in Ohio a win would have made my day.
Scott says:
I also live in Ohio and the OSU fans are not brimming with glee. They know they escaped and that ND put a dent in them. I would have loved the W, but not this year. Beat USC and ND may find itself in a rematch. I am happy to see that Alabama is still trailing ND in the polls.
Hoss says:
Freeman says “they” have to learn from this game. At what point do you abandon what has been working for you and think reflecting on that after a loss is a teachable moment. You’re a high ranking football program, if you don’t know by now then ND made a brutal hiring decision. Act like you’ve got some balls and some confidence (and ffs, start working the refs more). Not running the clock and letting them keep their timeout; rushing three and giving them all day right after forcing a ground call from the pressure, etc., everything you guys have already covered. I haven’t been this sick over a loss in 30 years.
One Historian says:
There seems to be a bit of a cover-up concerning WHO could be held responsible for ND having only 10 men on the field for the final 2 plays and that’s fine – we denizens of the peanut gallery (even those with reserved seats) don’t really need to know. I believe that coach Freeman is determined to keep the issue in house – if he has to he’ll own it – and that speaks well of him.
ND fan in the South says:
Could it be as simple as this: You look at the final drive and the OSU players that made the key plays. Three 5 star athletes made the key plays to win the game. Our 4 stars had opportunities to make plays that would have sowed it up for ND. They did not make those plays.
So we are just a little short on talent. But Freeman’s No. 1 priority is recruiting and he is doing a fine job there. I agree with Lou Holtz. Marcus will win a Nash.
One HIstorian says:
IMO we would have won the game but we were out-coached. Freeman knows it and is keeping it in house – we don’t need to know. I DON’T think that will happen again, because Freeman is a quick learner.