USC Players: "Notre Dame Gave Up"

Submitted by GoodLuckVarsity on

Interesting article from ESPN about the USC players' take on Notre Dame's 4th Quarter demeanor on saturday.  The money quote comes from USC Linebacker Chris Galippo:

"At the end there, when they didn't call those timeouts, they just quit. And that's what Notre Dame football's about. They're not anything like USC."

http://espn.go.com/los-angeles/ncf/story/_/id/7144760/usc-trojans-matt-…

The Baughz

October 25th, 2011 at 1:37 PM ^

I watched the game and I completely agree with these comments. They had no interest of playing football in the 4 th qtr. Im not sure how recruits came away impressed with ND after watching that. (cough cough Jordan Payton)

UMichYank11

October 25th, 2011 at 1:45 PM ^

Holtzsch hasch to schay that the final schcore was not represented by how hard Notre Dame really played and that Notre Dame will still be a BCSch Bowl Team after they beat Schtanford and get that ninth win and that the team never quitsch and that the Notre Dame playersch played their heartsch out for the Schtadium that day.

The FannMan

October 25th, 2011 at 2:02 PM ^

Actually, Lou thinks he needs to keep picking ND to go undefeated every year.  That way, delusional ND fans hate whatever coach can't deliver on Dr. Lou's predictions of glory.  No one is as good at ND as Dr. Lou - just ask him.  If only there was a younger version of him somewhere.  Like maybe in Florida . . .

justingoblue

October 25th, 2011 at 1:43 PM ^

Next up: Swarbrick telling the media that Kelly "didn't live up to the expectations we have for coaches at ND". When the AD was asked if he had to worry about Kelly's mental state, he snapped back, "I don't have to worry about it, he does".

That would be pure schadenfreude gold.

jblaze

October 25th, 2011 at 1:50 PM ^

if I were a ND fan.

"Kelly left little doubt he was peeved with backup quartrerback Dayne Crist's goal-line fumble against USC, which was returned for a critical touchdown and a 14-point swing. Asked if he is worried about Crist rebounding mentally, Kelly snapped: "I don't have to worry about that, he does."

I'm happy that Hoke comes across well during his interviews.

 

http://articles.chicagotribune.com/2011-10-23/sports/chi-kelly-notre-dame-still-has-plenty-to-play-for-20111023_1_brian-kelly-notre-dame-irish-coach

ijohnb

October 25th, 2011 at 1:58 PM ^

M fans think they had it bad with the piped in music.  ND had first down music, second down music, and third down music.  I have to say it is even more of a clash with ND and their game atmosphere than it is was originally with Michigan.  

That entire game was a disaster from the minute ABC picked up coverage.  It was like ND was trying to perform a program makeover mid season. 

Jordan Payton come on. Notre Dame?

In reply to by ijohnb

TJ

October 25th, 2011 at 2:31 PM ^

I know the general concensus among mgobloggers is that piped in music sucks and isn't traditional rabble rabble tradition rabble rabble. But it makes the stadium atmosphere better. It gets the croud going, and even more importantly, 16 to 17 year old highschool kids love it. Maybe ND doing it in excess is bad, but now and then it really isn't that awful.

South Bend Wolverine

October 25th, 2011 at 2:35 PM ^

"But it makes the stadium atmosphere better."

No, it doesn't.  It makes the unique and awesome experience of a college football game, with live marching band etc, into something you can get at any minor league hockey game.  When you have something unique and special that millions of people have a death-before-dishonor loyalty towards, you don't make it more generic.

Pasadena_Blue

October 25th, 2011 at 1:58 PM ^

I love how that article also says how Kelly insisted the getting a BCS berth was, "never the main goal" and that the dangling of that carrot was just a sound byte. Love to see the back tracking going on to justify less than stellar coaching and performance.

ppToilet

October 25th, 2011 at 2:03 PM ^

It was mystifying to see them just hold and hold and hold onto those timeouts as if they were going to save them for the next game or something.

Holtz did say at halftime, in agreeing with Mark Mays, that they really needed to win this game.

rmic2

October 25th, 2011 at 2:18 PM ^

ND has not been relevant since the early 90s, yet their fans get louder every year. I have to admit I was worried when they signed Kelly to coach. But I don't see him lasting - he has been clearly out-coached multiple times now. And he is such a jerk to the media, and to the players.

Blue boy johnson

October 25th, 2011 at 2:20 PM ^

Not the first time ND has quit against USC.

1974 ND led 24-6 at halftime. ND players decided they weren't happy with coach Parsegian and quit trying in the 2nd half of the game.

Final score USC 55 ND 24

I was 13 and watching the game with my dad (huge ND fan) and saying "Hey ND isn't trying". A couple of days later in the paper the reports came out that ND had layed down in the 2nd half. Ara Parsegian retired at the end of the season.

I tried googling info about ND quiting on their coach but so far no luck.

I particularily remember a play where Pat Haden was rolling out and the ND defender just stopped and let Haden complete a TD pass, which prompted me to say,"hey ND isn't trying"

 

Nov. 30, 1974
No. 6 USC 55, No. 5 Notre Dame 24
The Coliseum
"The Comeback."

USC trailed 24-0 late in the first half against the nation's top-ranked defense. But with 10 seconds remaining before halftime, Anthony Davis scored on a 7-yard pass from Pat Haden. The two-point conversion failed, and the Trojans trailed 24-6 at the half. Davis took the opening kick of the second half 102 yards to open the floodgates for USC, which scored 35 points in the third quarter. Davis scored twice on short runs and Haden threw TD passes of 18 and 45 yards to Johnny McKay. Less than two minutes into the fourth quarter, the Trojans scored twice more on a 16-yard pass from Haden to Shelton Diggs and a Charles Phillips' 58-yard interception return for a touchdown.

friendlyNeighb…

October 25th, 2011 at 4:40 PM ^

USC kicked our ass in that 2nd half, but I haven't heard anybody in the last 45 years suggest that ND quit. I've heard players and coaches interviewed about that game and none of them suggest that ND quit, rather that they just got destroyed by Davis. That was Ara's last season. His players loved him. Hard to believe that they mailed in the 2nd half of the biggest game of the season.

Quitting is not using your timeouts to try and pull off an admittedly unlikely, but crazier-things-have-happened comeback. I was at the game and it sure as hell felt like ND just wanted it to be over. It was the 2nd lowest point of the Kelly era.

 

Blue boy johnson

October 25th, 2011 at 7:27 PM ^

I can't find anything online about ND tanking it. I might have to go to the library and check out the News and Freep on microfilm from early December 1974 and find the article speculating on the Irish quiting.

ND had the number 1 D in the country and gave up 55 points in 17 minutes. 55 points in 17 minutes!

Ara Parseghians retirement came out of the blue, nobody was expecting him to retire, but when your team quits on you, it might quicken the process.

Go to 3:52 of this video and watch #48 on ND "rush" the passer. What a pathetic effort.

Blue Durham

October 25th, 2011 at 8:00 PM ^

game as well and remember it as well as any I have seen.

First, I was a big Notre Dame fan, and I really loved their QB, Tom Clement.  He was in the running for the Heisman that year, until that game.  He ended up a Canadian football player.

My aunt and uncle (from Georgia) were visiting my family in New Jersey, and my uncle was not a big sports fan, but did not like Notre Dame much.  So he bet me on the game ( a dollar, I think).  I took the bet.

At half time, with USC down 24-6 and not looking very good, he said that he would be willing to let me off the hook and settle for me paying half the amount of the bet if I like! 

I recall that Notre Dame just didn't have the speed of USC, and Anthony Davis just destroyed them.  Looking at the video, I understand what you are saying (I think that was hesitancy that you see on #48, not dogging it), but Notre Dame was not a fast team (look at all of the large bodies they had).

What would get the team, so ready to play at the start of the game, to quite on Parseghian?  Did he choke a puppy at half time or something?  I just think that after Davis' kick off return for a TD to start the 2nd half, followed by another relatively quick score, things just snow-balled and the entire team started just looking around as to what was going to hit them next.  That and the USC coaches realizing that they could really exploit the difference in team speed.

Blue boy johnson

October 25th, 2011 at 8:19 PM ^

With all due respect BD, that is not hesitation, his lazy ass never got to the point where he could hesitate.

I am not a conspiracy theory guy, but I thought watching the game ND quit, and then there were rumblings in the paper about ND quitting. I remember this point well because when I told my Dad ND "wasn't trying", he told me I was full of it, but the paper backed up my speculation in the coming days.

Now I could be wrong (don't think so) and ND really didn't mail it in the 2nd half, but there was definitely speculation that they did. Something supposedly happened at half time and a couple players (looks like 48 was one of them), decided not to give full effort in the 2nd half.

turd ferguson

October 25th, 2011 at 3:24 PM ^

I thought the same thing when I was watching that game.  In fact, in the last minute of the 4th quarter, Kiffin was on screen and I'm pretty sure that the camera caught him asking an assistant, "What's he doing?" with respect to Kelly not using those timeouts.

I didn't see much of the game before that point, but the end seemed very odd to me.

True Blue Grit

October 25th, 2011 at 4:11 PM ^

as he is at ND?  Or has the Irish pressure-cooker atmosphere and their unrealistic fan-base turned him into one?  Here are 2 HUGE mysteries of the universe:

1.  How does ND keep hiring the wrong head coaches despite (I presume) spending a lot of effort on the search process?

2.  How does ND keep attracting and signing so many excellent H.S. players despite #1 and the ugly on-field losses?  Are the kids and their parents just blinded by the golden dome, helmets, and great tradition that's becoming smaller and smaller in the rear-view mirror?

Johnny Blood

October 25th, 2011 at 4:36 PM ^

I saw later on that the USC LB was forced to apologize for his comments.  Link:

http://rivals.yahoo.com/ncaa/football/news?slug=ap-uscsapologies

But I have to believe if you're on the field lined up against someone, you can tell if they are going all out or mailing it in. 

Pretty unbelievable to get called out for that though, reflects really poorly on the coaching staff.  And I still can't believe the recruits had a great time... somethings will never make sense.

Enjoy Life

October 25th, 2011 at 5:18 PM ^

USC QB Barkley has joined the chorus. But, he was kinder and gentler:

“I would agree with that,” Barkley told ESPN 710 in Los Angeles. “I was shocked that they didn’t use the [fourth-quarter] timeouts because we got on the field with . . . about seven minutes left, and I thought they were planning on stopping us and saving their timeouts for the end when they had the ball.”

Barkley later added: “It seemed from our sideline and our perspective that they did give up. It seemed uncharacteristic of Notre Dame. I wouldn’t have wanted to have been on that sideline.”

 

http://www.suntimes.com/sports/colleges/8399300-419/usc-qb-matt-barkley…

Indiana Blue

October 25th, 2011 at 7:57 PM ^

It is true ... other than it really wasn't the ND players that quit, it was the head coach who has the responsibility to call timeouts.  Kelly quit ... not the players.

Kelly  -  the win at all costs (ie - Floyd) coach,  throws his players under the bus. If you look up asshole in the dictionary there's a picture of him.

Go Blue!

energyblue1

October 25th, 2011 at 5:24 PM ^

Giving up back to back 15yd runs and putting sc in fieldgoal range made sure they couldn't use those timeouts....ie nd was down by 14pts, a fg makes  it 3 scores with less then 2 minutes......by this point kelly was relying on a turnover cause nothing short of a turnover or missed fg would have given nd a chance....no matter how much time they left on the clock.

Outside appearances one could guess but by football players standards they should be smart enough to know this....

Indiana Blue

October 25th, 2011 at 8:29 PM ^

and I doubt USC would have even tried one.  They wouldn't take the chance of having it blocked and returned for a TD.  nd had plenty of time to force USC to make a decision ... but Kelly wanted to get off the field fast so he could start berating his players to the media.

Go Blue

gmoney41

October 25th, 2011 at 5:30 PM ^

Like all of us are saying, why in the hell would any top ranked player choose to go to Notre Dame.  They haven't been relevant in 20 years.  Come on Payton, don't ruin your career going to that school.