OFFICIATING in SDST GAME

Happened to catch a replay of Notre Dame vs. San Diego State last night on the BTN, and what really stood out was the officiating, esp. in the second half.  I'm far from a conspiracy theorist (other than my thoughts on Herbstreit's blatant abuse of media access to benefit OSU poll positions, but that's another story), but it was hard to ignore what seemed like a skew in favor of the Irish in several calls despite their poor performance.

Even in the tide-turning fumble play which would have put the Aztecs up 20-7 with 11:00 left in the game,  the zebras seemed to be trying to help the home team, going so far as to try to spot the ball as a touchback when clearly the fumble was picked up by the safety whose knee was ON the 1-ft. line just as he scooped the ball.  Other several calls, questionable def. pass interference, etc. seemed to just disappear.

I guess my point is, what kind of crew will we be getting to call the game on Saturday down there?  Typically any non-con receives an impartial officiating crew, so a Big 10-Pac10 game such as the Buckeyes-Trojans matchup would receive a Big 12 or ACC crew.  But where does that fall with Notre Dame, the inexplicably last major Independent?  Hope we get better non-partisan officiating than San Diego State did.


AND, hoo boy, did WEIS look huge Saturday.  I think every time they showed him on the sideline he was suckin' down a cup of Gatorade.