Post Game Observations (Pitt)...

[IrishinSyria]

Over the last day... My observation is more centered on this fanbase... ( All over the internet and such, not just at IE) Seems there is a serious disconnect somewhere... It seems on one end you have a base that saw the growth last year and was ready to finally move forward after two decades of frustration... And they melted down... On the other it seems we have a segment that not only expected 8 wins, but is almost fine with it... And the two sides are just cutting each others throats.

I predicted 7 or 8 wins last year and I felt this year's version of the team would be about the same/better if Golson took his game to the next level. We're on the big picture track, but lose to BYU and I might start to drift into the melt down side of things.

Last year we had a solid team with great leadership and great luck... no serious injuries, lucky plays left and right, Lane Kiffin... this year, we have a very solid team with average leadership and terrible luck.

 

[Redbar]

I mean it's no Power-I, but it's not really abandoning physicality either. This team controls the end of the LOS better than any of Kelly's Notre Dame teams. For some reason they just can't block up the middle for ****.

It's important to note that nearly everyone recruited power in Holtz's day, football has progressed past that. And it swung towards...



...that. I totally agree. But then guys like Urban Meyer (ugh) came along and meshed the two together and created the power spread. This, I theorize, is where Brian Kelly (wisely) wants to take the program. A fusion of Ohio State/Stanford/New England Patriots is the direction this offense needs to take, and can be there in a year or two. They've recruited the hell out of TEs and OLs (muuuuch better than Ohio State, I might add), and the RB recruits have the power to get it done.

I do agree that Notre Dame will just have better success following a Stanford recruiting model (i.e. heavy on the "big skill" TEs and never enough OL), because those kids are more easily found in Notre Dame areas and raised in Notre Dame-type families. The less the Irish have to rely on speed, the better.

I think Kelly wants this model something like this for his team:

QB: Decently mobile gun slinger
RB: balanced, leaning towards power (think Jonas Gray)
RB: speed guy who works in space
WR: sure-handed possession
WR: tall rangy mismatch
WR: speedy elusive scatback slot (McKenzie come on down)
TE: A mauler who can dominate the end of the LOS
TE: A more nimble TE who can do it all well enough

You can do a lot of things with this lineup:

QB: Golson
RB: Folston // Bryant
RB: Carlisle
WR: Daniels // Fuller
WR: Robinson // Onwualu
WR: McKenzie // Carlisle
TE: Niklas
TE: Koyack

I don't

I don't disagree, in fact I think you are right about the offense and explained my position with regard to our historical recruiting resources and the implications of that better than I did. My question is, and really this stuff all started with talking about the other phases of the game, poor special teams and poor tackling on the second and third level of the defense. I wonder if and am curious of your opinion, on my assertion that the defensive and specialty personnel suffer because the only time they experience smash mouth power or option football in practice is from the scout team. Generally, when they face the ones offensively it is such a "schematic" style that the discipline, reaction, and toughness necessary to play the other phases of the game are not second nature. And, while we can find it within ourselves at times (second half USC), it is not how we see ourselves when we look in the mirror, it is not what we practice everyday. I understand we have been decimated by injuries, and I understand we need to upgrade the inside backers and safeties, but saying we have to tackle better and maintain our gap discipline is one thing, studying fits on the chalk board is another, and scrimmaging it every day in practice against the starting offensive unit is yet another. There is definitely a correlation between spread offenses and not so dominant defenses, (with the exception of Florida, but they are just stackkked with defensive talent) it seems difficult to have both and ultimately defense wins football games.

 

[Buster Bluth]

My question is, and really this stuff all started with talking about the other phases of the game, poor special teams and poor tackling on the second and third level of the defense. I wonder if and am curious of your opinion, on my assertion that the defensive and specialty personnel suffer because the only time they experience smash mouth power or option football in practice is from the scout team.

I would probably lean more towards the lack of depth and guys getting tired. I imagine the scheme dealio impacts them when they're playing option football, but I just don't see it have a demonstrable impact against a power team.

I think the fact that the LB/DB depth chart has been obliterated...

CAT: Shembo, Williams
MIKE: Grace, Fox
WILL: Carlo, Moore
DOG: Spond, Smith, Councell

S: Baratti, Farley
S: Shumate, Collinsworth

...says a lot. I mean hey I get the "stop making excuses Buster" talk, and believe me Notre Dame simply should have won that game, but I mean there are always reasons. I just don't think they're necessarily indicative of deep-root issues this time. But at a minimum, can we recognize that this isn't anywhere near an optimal situation?

Generally, when they face the ones offensively it is such a "schematic" style that the discipline, reaction, and toughness necessary to play the other phases of the game are not second nature. And, while we can find it within ourselves at times (second half USC), it is not how we see ourselves when we look in the mirror, it is not what we practice everyday. I understand we have been decimated by injuries, and I understand we need to upgrade the inside backers and safeties, but saying we have to tackle better and maintain our gap discipline is one thing, studying fits on the chalk board is another, and scrimmaging it every day in practice against the starting offensive unit is yet another. There is definitely a correlation between spread offenses and not so dominant defenses, (with the exception of Florida, but they are just stackkked with defensive talent) it seems difficult to have both and ultimately defense wins football games.

This is a really interesting issue, and probably above my pay grade. I would probably add to the discussion three things.

1) A lot of the coaches who got in and made an impact on the spread wave of the '00s aren't also going to be defensive maestros too. The spread is their winning asset and allowed them as individuals to break into the scene and win games. Guys who used the revolutionary offense won games because they could score at a higher rate than their opponents, not necessarily stop them at a higher rate. And as they moved up the chain, it didn't mean their defensive knowledge got better too, you know?

2) Good defenses are uncommon regardless, and increasingly so (I assume). I can't name many spread programs with good defenses, but I can also name a lot of pro-style programs with awful defenses. So there's that. Possibly BCS-bound Texas A&M just gave up like 550 to Ole Miss on Saturday, no one here cares, they have Johnny Manziel. I really think spreads and rules have made defenses much harder (and more frustrating) overall.

3) Are the true powers running a spread? That's where the best coaches are, right?

Michigan: No
Notre Dame: Mostly
Texas: No
Nebraska: Sorta
Ohio State: Yes (21-0 since)
Oklahoma - Mostly
Alabama - No
Tennessee - No?
Southern Cal - No
Georgia - No
LSU - No
Penn State - No
Auburn - Yes

I could make an argument the spread isn't being run at places with the best athletes anyway. You put your best athletes on defense for a reason...

 

[Irish#1]

The reason Holtz's team blocked, tackled and demonstrated great toughness and Coach Kelly's teams struggle at times IMO is Holtz ran a power offense, which meant the defense practiced everyday with a power offensive team ergo they had to play very tough and physical style, so you had a pretty tough physical team overall. This spread scheme we run IMO negates the size and physical advantage that we traditionally have been able to recruit and exploit. Spread teams usually are smaller faster teams, they usually don't have tough physical defenses to compliment them and they usually don't win Championships. The spread has had great success in some places and in some circumstances, I think the Notre Dame spread offense experiment is realizing some unforeseen??? growing pains. (Difficulty in short yardage and goaline offense, special teams toughness, and 2nd and 3rd level defensive tackling.)

I think one of the problems we have at the moment is TR playing in our offense instead of EG. We still run the same offense as last year. I'm guessing BK wanted to keep things cohesive so come next year, it's not another offense to implement.

 

[Grahambo]

Over the last day.. My observation is more centered on this fanbase... ( All over the internet and such, not just at IE) Seems there is a serious disconnect somewhere... It seems on one end you have a base that saw the growth last year and was ready to finally move forward after two decades of frustration... And they melted down... On the other it seems we have a segment that not only expected 8 wins, but is almost fine with it... And the two sides are just cutting each others throats.

For me personally, despite my disappointment in not winning every game 100-0, I like to think I understand the personnel enough to have guessed 8/9 wins was what this season was gonna be. Doesn't mean I'm okay with the 3 losses because I'm not okay with losing. I firmly believe those 3 losses could have easily been 3 wins but no sense in moaning about it now.

Injuries and academic problems have severly hamstrung this team. No, that's not an excuse but it can't be overlooked either. A lot of freshman and RS have gotten burn so that's very good. With EG returning and Folston emerging and another Top 5 recruiting class, I'm very optimistic about next season. I believe that to be the true turning point for ND. The no excuse season if you will.

Others disagree and that's cool, I just see it differently.

 

[GowerND11]

This game was a hard pill to swallow. Tuitt being ejected was huge. It was a BS call and led to a touchdown. Day needs to just grab that ball. Worst thing that happens is it's ruled incomplete and he hands it to the ref. Always grab the ball!!!

Rees was Rees, and he did what we expect. TJ, I cannot believe he could be so careless while running with the football. That play sincerely hurt our chances.

One play I've noticed we haven't run this year is that Trap Draw we seem to have ran very effectively in the Kelly Era. Anytime I've seen that play run we would get huge chunks of yardage, yet this year I have not seen it. It seems like that would be a great play to get GAIII or Carlisle the ball.

 

[Jerry]

I don't disagree, in fact I think you are right about the offense and explained my position with regard to our historical recruiting resources and the implications of that better than I did. My question is, and really this stuff all started with talking about the other phases of the game, poor special teams and poor tackling on the second and third level of the defense. I wonder if and am curious of your opinion, on my assertion that the defensive and specialty personnel suffer because the only time they experience smash mouth power or option football in practice is from the scout team. Generally, when they face the ones offensively it is such a "schematic" style that the discipline, reaction, and toughness necessary to play the other phases of the game are not second nature. And, while we can find it within ourselves at times (second half USC), it is not how we see ourselves when we look in the mirror, it is not what we practice everyday. I understand we have been decimated by injuries, and I understand we need to upgrade the inside backers and safeties, but saying we have to tackle better and maintain our gap discipline is one thing, studying fits on the chalk board is another, and scrimmaging it every day in practice against the starting offensive unit is yet another. There is definitely a correlation between spread offenses and not so dominant defenses, (with the exception of Florida, but they are just stackkked with defensive talent) it seems difficult to have both and ultimately defense wins football games.

It's an interesting question about the defense and ST. I'm not really sure once the season starts how often the #1 offense is even going against the #1 defense in practice? Somebody with more insider knowledge might know but I was under the impression that they don't do a ton of live hitting week to week so the scout team might be all they see.

Seems like the spread is used by more undersized programs in general. I honestly think it's hard today to run pro-form in college and have a chance if you are a smaller program because you need large lineman and a QB that relies on his arm only to beat bigger programs. So maybe it's just that the top programs can recruit for pro-form and naturally have better defenses??

 

[RDU Irish]

Coming into town, dialed up the local sports radio and they were jacked up for the game. Pitt had 70 recruits they hosted. Traveling and staying with Pitt fans, this was the biggest game of the year for them. Reps to them, I hope they can get better as a result of this win.

The most obnoxious and ignorant fans I had to deal with were ND fans. Calling Russell "horrible" is pretty dumb considering he was a Freshman AA and is about the last person in the secondary to take a shot at. Talking up "Steven" Tuitt? C'mon man, how do you not know how to say the first name of one of our top players? Yeah, arguing for PI on every incompletion.... It was embarrassing.

I thought the atmosphere was fun. Changing game time to 8pm less than a week before definitely hurt the on site atmosphere. Most fans treated it like David vs. Goliath even though there was a 4.5 point line in the paper that morning.

I made the trip b/c I knew it would be a game to remember. It did not disappoint on that front. I have a hard time getting worked up over losing after three bad turnovers on the road and Utopo playing half the defensive snaps due to injury and referee grand larceny.

Anyone who marked this up as a can't lose game is fairly clueless as to how CFB works. There is much more parity than most posting here care to acknowledge. Pitt is not "horrible", they are a team that will beat you if you open the door like we did. We do not have the benefit of myriad opponents on our schedule that we can expect to over come a -2 TO margin or worse.

 

[RDU Irish]

There are plenty of "bad" teams that can still beat just about anyone. Yes they may need a few more bounces and calls their way but they still have the horses to capitalize on it. I circled Pitt and BYU before the season even started, always match up well with us and better defensively than they get credit for. Let's hope the offense pulls their head out vs. BYU b/c the defense is looking pretty rough.

 

[N_D_Fighting_Irish]

I mean it's no Power-I, but it's not really abandoning physicality either. This team controls the end of the LOS better than any of Kelly's Notre Dame teams. For some reason they just can't block up the middle for ****.

It's important to note that nearly everyone recruited power in Holtz's day, football has progressed past that. And it swung towards...



...that. I totally agree. But then guys like Urban Meyer (ugh) came along and meshed the two together and created the power spread. This, I theorize, is where Brian Kelly (wisely) wants to take the program. A fusion of Ohio State/Stanford/New England Patriots is the direction this offense needs to take, and can be there in a year or two. They've recruited the hell out of TEs and OLs (muuuuch better than Ohio State, I might add), and the RB recruits have the power to get it done.

I do agree that Notre Dame will just have better success following a Stanford recruiting model (i.e. heavy on the "big skill" TEs and never enough OL), because those kids are more easily found in Notre Dame areas and raised in Notre Dame-type families. The less the Irish have to rely on speed, the better.

Great conversation between Redbar and you.

A couple of things. I think the biggest difference between Meyer's and Kelly's offenses is the application of power. They seem to recruit the same big bodies on the OL and TE but they utilize them differently. It seems Kelly wants to build a fortress around the QB. His offenses attack the defense primarily by air and running the ball is more to keep the defense honest. Meyer's uses the big bodies as tanks attacking the DLine by running the ball. One tell is the type of QBs each coach recruits. Kelly recruits QBs that are mobile passers. Meyer recruits running QBs with some passing skills.

I think you pointed this out and others have pointed this out. The big flaw in both of their offenses is that depend upon the play of one position to succeed. Meyer's offense without Tebow was not pretty. We have seen the struggles of Kelly's offense without quality QB play.

Regarding Meyer's success at Ohio State, I think it says more about how weak the Big Ten is than how good Ohio State is. Ohio State should pray it doesn't play Alabama or FSU in a bowl game or they will be exposed.

 

[Irish Jacky]

Carlisle and Farley

Carlisle and Farley

One, a dropped pass that could have gone for big yardage.

The other a critical missed tackle that cost us an easy 7 points.

What's the chance neither of these guys sees the field for the rest of the season, given that both of them were in a sort of dog house to begin with?

I'd say it's AT LEAST 50-50 at this point.

 

[ACamp1900]

There are plenty of "bad" teams that can still beat just about anyone. Yes they may need a few more bounces and calls their way but they still have the horses to capitalize on it. I circled Pitt and BYU before the season even started, always match up well with us and better defensively than they get credit for. Let's hope the offense pulls their head out vs. BYU b/c the defense is looking pretty rough.

BYU is not a bad team though... Even so, it's pretty clear this team goes as Tommy does... If that's not clear after four years, then nothing is... If he protects the ball ND beats BYU

 

[tko]

One, a dropped pass that could have gone for big yardage.

The other a critical missed tackle that cost us an easy 7 points.

What's the chance neither of these guys sees the field for the rest of the season, given that both of them were in a sort of dog house to begin with?

I'd say it's AT LEAST 50-50 at this point.

No doubt Carlisle will be bundled up in his long ND sideline coat vs BYU, but Farley will be in and hopefully bounce back.

 

[Emcee77]

BYU is not a bad team though... Even so, it's pretty clear this team goes as Tommy does... If that's not clear after four years, then nothing is... If he protects the ball ND beats BYU

Yep. Not saying that Tommy is the only reason we've lost this season, but when Tommy takes care of the football, we win. When he doesn't, we lose.

 

[Buster Bluth]

BYU is not a bad team though... Even so, it's pretty clear this team goes as Tommy does... If that's not clear after four years, then nothing is... If he protects the ball ND beats BYU

/irishenvy for the next 12 days.

 

[Veer option]

My observations and opinions:

That Tuitt call was the biggest crock of $hit. It totally changed the attitude of the defense. The PI call was BS too, but it didn't make me as upset as sending one of the best defensive players ND has had in the last 15 years to the locker room. IMO Refs shouldn't have the authority to kick a player out of the game. Loss of a series or quarter perhaps but not an entire game. Especially when the call is entirely subjunctive on a players "intent"

I still don't understand why ND continues to shuffle in and out sometimes entire skill positions sets every down. If ND can't score points with Folston/Cam at RB, Koyak and Niklas at TE and DD and TJ at WR on the field then the team has major problems. Play them till they need a break IMO.

I said it earlier this year, this team screams of 2011. No offensive identity and extremely turnover prone.

Why cant ND line up and stuff it down another teams throats is beyond me.

Not trying to sound too Chicken Little, but it still surprises ND beat MSU, ASU and USC.

 

[irishpat183]

Coming into town, dialed up the local sports radio and they were jacked up for the game. Pitt had 70 recruits they hosted. Traveling and staying with Pitt fans, this was the biggest game of the year for them. Reps to them, I hope they can get better as a result of this win.

The most obnoxious and ignorant fans I had to deal with were ND fans. Calling Russell "horrible" is pretty dumb considering he was a Freshman AA and is about the last person in the secondary to take a shot at. Talking up "Steven" Tuitt? C'mon man, how do you not know how to say the first name of one of our top players? Yeah, arguing for PI on every incompletion.... It was embarrassing.

I thought the atmosphere was fun. Changing game time to 8pm less than a week before definitely hurt the on site atmosphere. Most fans treated it like David vs. Goliath even though there was a 4.5 point line in the paper that morning.

I made the trip b/c I knew it would be a game to remember. It did not disappoint on that front. I have a hard time getting worked up over losing after three bad turnovers on the road and Utopo playing half the defensive snaps due to injury and referee grand larceny.

Anyone who marked this up as a can't lose game is fairly clueless as to how CFB works. There is much more parity than most posting here care to acknowledge. Pitt is not "horrible", they are a team that will beat you if you open the door like we did. We do not have the benefit of myriad opponents on our schedule that we can expect to over come a -2 TO margin or worse.

It wasn't so much "can't lose"...but "should win". We should beat PITT

There are plenty of "bad" teams that can still beat just about anyone. Yes they may need a few more bounces and calls their way but they still have the horses to capitalize on it. I circled Pitt and BYU before the season even started, always match up well with us and better defensively than they get credit for. Let's hope the offense pulls their head out vs. BYU b/c the defense is looking pretty rough.

They're D isn't good. At all.

Just saying

 

[ClausentoTate]

The most obnoxious and ignorant fans I had to deal with were ND fans. Calling Russell "horrible" is pretty dumb considering he was a Freshman AA and is about the last person in the secondary to take a shot at. Talking up "Steven" Tuitt? C'mon man, how do you not know how to say the first name of one of our top players? Yeah, arguing for PI on every incompletion.... It was embarrassing.

The Pitt fans around me were just awful. One literally yelled (and this is verbatim) "this bunch of c***suckers [Pitt players] are f***ing awful" about midway through the first quarter. About half of the ones in the row in front of me left at the half. Another one threatened to "take [a 70 year old ND fan] outside for a beating" after the targeting call and later to "look out on the way to [his] car". Another one would turn around and yell "ND sucks" to some ND fan's face while pointing at the guy every single time Pitt got a first down.

As a result I yelled "TARGETING, THROW THEM OUT" every single tackle in the second half.

Pitt fans are insufferable. It's like they have little brother syndrome, except we don't really care about them at all.

The targeting call and the 4th down pass interference call were egregiously, embarrassingly bad. Why even play the game if we're going to get jobbed so hard? After watching it in person, on the jumbotron, on my DVR and in gif form, there's no way you throw him out after that hit. I really wish we didn't have this PC nonsense where complaining about the refs is taboo. Some of these refs are just awful. We need NCAA refs and not this conference balogna.

Speaking of targeting calls, did anyone watch the Baylor game on Thursday? That DB literally left his feet to hit Shepard high when Shepard couldn't see him and didn't get thrown out. On the same drive he had a goalline stop and later in the game he had an interception. While Tuitt getting ejected may not have had an effect, IT COULD HAVE. It was a huge call that was completely overstepping the intention of the rule. It makes me legitimately want to stop watching CFB all together, which I think I'm going to do this weekend. I'm just so tired of the crap... and it helps that it's a bye week

 

[Bluto]

There were some really bad calls but by far the hands down worst was that one first down spot (I think it was on Pitts last possession of the game) and the review that confirmed it. The ball was clearly two yards or so short.

 

[NDohio]

The Pitt fans around me were just awful. One literally yelled (and this is verbatim) "this bunch of c***suckers [Pitt players] are f***ing awful" about midway through the first quarter. About half of the ones in the row in front of me left at the half. Another one threatened to "take [a 70 year old ND fan] outside for a beating" after the targeting call and later to "look out on the way to [his] car". Another one would turn around and yell "ND sucks" to some ND fan's face while pointing at the guy every single time Pitt got a first down.

As a result I yelled "TARGETING, THROW THEM OUT" every single tackle in the second half.

Pitt fans are insufferable. It's like they have little brother syndrome, except we don't really care about them at all.

The targeting call and the 4th down pass interference call were egregiously, embarrassingly bad. Why even play the game if we're going to get jobbed so hard? After watching it in person, on the jumbotron, on my DVR and in gif form, there's no way you throw him out after that hit. I really wish we didn't have this PC nonsense where complaining about the refs is taboo. Some of these refs are just awful. We need NCAA refs and not this conference balogna.

Speaking of targeting calls, did anyone watch the Baylor game on Thursday? That DB literally left his feet to hit Shepard high when Shepard couldn't see him and didn't get thrown out. On the same drive he had a goalline stop and later in the game he had an interception. While Tuitt getting ejected may not have had an effect, IT COULD HAVE. It was a huge call that was completely overstepping the intention of the rule. It makes me legitimately want to stop watching CFB all together, which I think I'm going to do this weekend. I'm just so tired of the crap... and it helps that it's a bye week

I saw that the ACC reviewed the targeting play and confirmed that the correct call was made on the field and in the booth. That the officiating crew on site were absolutely correct in their interpretation of the rule.

SMH

 

[ThePiombino]

I saw that the ACC reviewed the targeting play and confirmed that the correct call was made on the field and in the booth. That the officiating crew on site were absolutely correct in their interpretation of the rule.

SMH

It does them no good to 'about face' now...

 

[NDohio]

It does them no good to 'about face' now...

True. I wonder what the reaction would have been were it two true ACC teams playing.

 

[ThePiombino]

True. I wonder what the reaction would have been were it two true ACC teams playing.

Good question.

 

[irishpat183]

I saw that the ACC reviewed the targeting play and confirmed that the correct call was made on the field and in the booth. That the officiating crew on site were absolutely correct in their interpretation of the rule.

SMH

It does them no good to 'about face' now...

True. I wonder what the reaction would have been were it two true ACC teams playing.

Good question.

Can't lose to PITT. One call or player getting thrown out shouldn't ultimately cost us a game against PITT.

If that's the case, then we are no where near as good as some of you say. Bama lost, arguably, their best D player in Clinton-Dix earlier in the year and they still dominated.

I know we're just kicking things around, but you can't blame the game on the refs or surface. We've been on the right side of some calls lately (PITT last year)

 

[IrishLax]

Speaking of officiating, just found out this is the same crew that did the Michigan game. You know, the Michigan game where the line moved reallllllllly funny right before kickoff... and then there was a very controversial PI call on Bennett Jackson on what would've been a stop and gotten us the ball back with a chance to take the lead.... is it coincidence that the two games with the fishiest lines pro-ND also are the two with really big questionable calls and are by the same crew? Maybe. Maybe not.

Really loving this new arrangement with the ACC.

 

[Folsteam_Ahead]

Speaking of officiating, just found out this is the same crew that did the Michigan game. You know, the Michigan game where the line moved reallllllllly funny right before kickoff... and then there was a very controversial PI call on Bennett Jackson on what would've been a stop and gotten us the ball back with a chance to take the lead.... is it coincidence that the two games with the fishiest lines pro-ND also are the two with really big questionable calls and are by the same crew? Maybe. Maybe not.

Really loving this new arrangement with the ACC.

If I were Swarbrick, I'd make a call to the commissioner about cleaning up these types of calls that are being enforced only against ND.

 

[Redbar]

Speaking of officiating, just found out this is the same crew that did the Michigan game. You know, the Michigan game where the line moved reallllllllly funny right before kickoff... and then there was a very controversial PI call on Bennett Jackson on what would've been a stop and gotten us the ball back with a chance to take the lead.... is it coincidence that the two games with the fishiest lines pro-ND also are the two with really big questionable calls and are by the same crew? Maybe. Maybe not.

Really loving this new arrangement with the ACC.

With the level of intra-program cheating, whether it is recruiting, academically, paying guys, juicing up, breaking the 20 hour rules, why should we believe that cheating hasn't infiltrated into the one aspect that is the easiest to do and most directly affects the desired outcome. When teams are not totally mismatched all it takes is one or two well timed flags or missed calls to tip the scale and change an outcome. Sadly, I am not surprised.

 

[IrishJayhawk]

It wasn't so much "can't lose"...but "should win". We should beat PITT



They're D isn't good. At all.

Just saying

*Their

 

[Irish Insanity]

If I were Swarbrick, I'd make a call to the commissioner about cleaning up these types of calls that are being enforced only against ND.

I didn't like the call because when you watch it he drives thru with his shoulder and even lifts it on a follow thru along with his arm.

ACC coordinator of officiating Doug Rhoads reviewed the tape of Notre Dame's 28-21 loss to Pittsburgh, obviously including the Tuitt penalty, and deemed both the targeting flag and ejection to be warranted, a league spokesperson said.

 

[Emcee77]

I didn't like the call because when you watch it he drives thru with his shoulder and even lifts it on a follow thru along with his arm.

I totally agree. It's realy frustrating to me that the call was upheld upon review by the ACC. I mean what is Tuitt supposed to do? This was not a defenseless player. Tuitt lowered his shoulder; the Pitt player lowered HIS shoulder and kept coming; their helmets happened to hit. Makes no sense. I wasn't mad about Councell, but this is different.