Things we haven't discussed yet
First: Every time they showed Michael Floyd's smug arrogant face it made my blood boil. Did anyone else feel this way?
Second: First offensive drive of second half. Is it an exaggerating to say that Denard trucked half of the Irish defense for an extra 7 yards at the end of his long run?
September 11th, 2011 at 9:59 PM ^
1) Floyd is good, he deserves to have a smug arrogant look on his face.
2) I don't remember him running many people over. He did hit Teo head on once though and got the first down.
September 11th, 2011 at 10:21 PM ^
Floyd is extremely gifted. His demeanor gave off the impression that he had NO respect for our team. Te'o is also extremely gifted. His demeanor/interactions with our team belay a very opposite level of sportsmanship/respect. Maybe my statement is clearer with comparison.
September 11th, 2011 at 10:22 PM ^
He dragged 3 Irish defenders with him for about 8 yards, and when two more latched on he took the pile another 4 yards before he decided not to allow them the ongoing opportunity to strip him. In essence, 5 defenders didn't seem able to drag him down.
September 11th, 2011 at 10:57 PM ^
I can't wait to get the chance to sit and watch it again.
September 12th, 2011 at 1:02 AM ^
... it was THIS moment. Awesome. :D
September 11th, 2011 at 10:01 PM ^
on the final kickoff.
September 11th, 2011 at 10:02 PM ^
I'm pretty sure we fumbled before the score and thus it was a touchback for ND had the clock not run out.
September 11th, 2011 at 10:07 PM ^
I watched it a couple times, and I think the ground caused the fumble. Looked like he was down at the 1 though.
September 11th, 2011 at 10:13 PM ^
The carrier was down by contact, not a fumble. Supposedly the ground cannot cause a fumble. Were the game to have continued, M would have had the ball inside the 1
September 11th, 2011 at 10:25 PM ^
That would make it a safety
September 11th, 2011 at 10:34 PM ^
That would be if Notre Dame fumbled it out the back of their own end zone. If you fumble out of an opponent's end zone, it's their ball on the 20.
September 11th, 2011 at 10:50 PM ^
I reenacted this accidentally on NCAA 12 and it was a safety. They knocked it out of the back of their own endzone. SAFETY.
September 11th, 2011 at 11:43 PM ^
They never had possession. Touchback.
September 11th, 2011 at 11:52 PM ^
hhhhhhhh
September 11th, 2011 at 10:07 PM ^
I am pretty sure, although not positive, that the kicking team can't advance an onside kick once recovered. I think this situation would fall under that rule.
September 11th, 2011 at 10:11 PM ^
I'm fairly confident that Utah State would wish that was the case, seeing Auburn tacked on a good 45 yards from their onsides recovery.
September 11th, 2011 at 10:13 PM ^
Nope. They brought it back to where the Auburn guy caught it. In our case, though, I think they can advance it because it was touched by and ND player first.
September 11th, 2011 at 10:16 PM ^
Also, it was a pooch kick...not onside kick
September 11th, 2011 at 10:27 PM ^
I did about 2 seconds of research, and from what I found you can advance it if the other team has possession and then fumbles it, not just touches it. An argument can be made either way for whether the ND player really had possession when he touched the ball.
Also I don't think there is a difference between a sqibb kick, an onside kick, or even a full kick that the recieving team fails to field. I think all are treated the same under this rule.
September 11th, 2011 at 10:36 PM ^
Punts are treated this way too. A muff cannot be advanced, but a fumble can.
September 11th, 2011 at 10:15 PM ^
Why do people think that was a damn on-sides kick. It was a squib. And it was fielded and fumbled by a ND player
IT
WAS
NOT
AN
ON-SIDE
KICK
I don't think it's possible to try harder to get this point out. I have seen this probably 10 times on this site.
What looked like an on-sides kick to you?
September 11th, 2011 at 10:19 PM ^
Think a lot of things about football that aren't true. Many people still think Denard can't pass.
September 12th, 2011 at 12:03 AM ^
ND nation, most of those people are ND fans.
September 12th, 2011 at 2:37 AM ^
they'll have to learn again next year and lose 6 out of 7.
September 11th, 2011 at 10:26 PM ^
Well if you're arguing about advancement rules by a kicking team, then technically there is no such thing as an onside kick in the first place. There are legal kicks and illegal kicks. A legal kick goes 10 yards and stays inbounds; it's a live ball. So even if the kicker kicks it deep and no one on the receiving team touches it, the kicking team would get the ball where recovered. Once it travels 10 yards, it doesn't matter what the kick looks like after that.
Now, if you're talking about strategy, then yes, that was totally a squib and not an on-side. Who would think that anyway? Dolts.
September 11th, 2011 at 11:19 PM ^
You sir, are correct. I'm not sure why anyone is freaking out that some people labelled this an onside kick. All kickoffs are the same - once it goes 10 yards, it's a live ball and recoverable (though not advanceable) by either team (The ball also must hit the ground first to be recovered by the kicking team). This is equally true whether the ball travels 10 yards or 60 yards. "Onside kick" has no meaning in the rulebook. This play was not an intentional onside kick, just a "squib" but effectively it became an onside kick.
There are many odd kicking rules that don't get dealt with too often in a game - look up "fair-catch field goal" for another interesting rule.
September 11th, 2011 at 10:07 PM ^
He fumbled on the 1 yard line and then they batted it out of the back of the endzone. Even if it looked like he might have scored, there was no reason to review the play.
September 11th, 2011 at 10:19 PM ^
His knee was on the ground when his hands came down onto the ground and the ball popped out.
This is not a fumble. Unless the game is M-ND and being officiated by BE officials.
September 11th, 2011 at 11:20 PM ^
September 11th, 2011 at 11:21 PM ^
Cause M had already covered the spread......oh wait, that was the USC-Utah game.
September 11th, 2011 at 10:02 PM ^
September 11th, 2011 at 10:04 PM ^
...and not Hawthorne?
September 11th, 2011 at 10:17 PM ^
Devin for sure. Idk why either.
September 11th, 2011 at 10:05 PM ^
I was wondering about it myself.
September 11th, 2011 at 10:34 PM ^
Looked like DG was being scolded to me. Maybe he ran out onto the field to celebrate and Hoke was letting him have it a little.
September 11th, 2011 at 11:09 PM ^
September 11th, 2011 at 11:22 PM ^
Would you settle for admonish?
September 11th, 2011 at 11:14 PM ^
I thought Gardner might've gone on the field to celebrate the TD and Hoke was warning him not to draw a celebration penalty.
September 11th, 2011 at 10:03 PM ^
September 11th, 2011 at 10:07 PM ^
in the first 3 quarters was really bad. Borges didnt put Denard in good postion to make plays. The 4th quarter he went with what DR is great at and for that I give him some small props.
September 11th, 2011 at 10:21 PM ^
Please explain what Borges did differently in the 4th quarter.
September 11th, 2011 at 10:11 PM ^
I'm cool with the playcalling. If Denard hadn't made some silly mistakes on his INTs, he hadn't overthrown a few wide open guys and Roundtree and Hemingway hadn't dropped very catchable passes, we may have killed them.
September 11th, 2011 at 10:47 PM ^
ND was clearly selling out on stopping the run (namely Denard). Borges recongized and called plays where we had people open. There were over throws, drops and stuff like that which crippled us. The playcalling wasn't crippling us though.
September 11th, 2011 at 11:22 PM ^
I was confused why so many long passes were called - Denard's strength is usually short to medium routes that he can throw on a rope rather than lofted deep balls. Seemed like very few 7-15 yard passes were called in the first half.
September 11th, 2011 at 11:37 PM ^
We took what the defense gave. They were bringing a lot of guys in the box, so we attempted to stretch the field vertically.
September 11th, 2011 at 10:03 PM ^
It was AT LEAST half.
September 11th, 2011 at 10:04 PM ^
on his back, he managed to put half the ND defense on his back too. That run was nothing short of amazing, but I had not thought of it in all of my delirium. Thanks for bringing that one up!
September 11th, 2011 at 10:07 PM ^
That drive ended in a punt. That was my favorite play...along with the big pass Denard made with a lineman wrapped around his legs...lol
September 11th, 2011 at 10:12 PM ^
Denard crushing the DT under his feet.
I've never seen anything like that before - he just stood there, made the pass. Incredible.
September 11th, 2011 at 10:15 PM ^
Leveled up, and cashed in his XP for a few new skills/feats