Posted on 10/15/2005 7:37:59 AM PDT by scott says
SOUTH BEND, Ind. -- Charlie Weis, welcome to your kingmaking moment.
You know all about what makes Notre Dame the stuff of myth and lore -- hell, you lived a glory-days chunk of it as a student here. You've embraced the tradition of the place so often since becoming head coach, some people swear you're half leprechaun.
And Saturday -- outlined against a blue-gray October sky, perhaps? -- you have a chance to own a shiny piece of Golden Dome glory for yourself.
That's how big this is for Coach Crew Cut.
The grand scope of Saturday's game against almighty USC is exactly the thing that brings out the Notre Dame (cue the angels singing on high) in Notre Dame. And this is exactly the kind of game that can transform a Notre Dame coach into a hero.
A seemingly unbeatable opponent riding a mile-long winning streak. A rising Fighting Irish team. An unmistakable feel of fall in the northern Indiana air. Notre Dame Stadium. Touchdown Jesus. The whole Domer shebang.
Cue the marching band. Feel your skin prickle. Set the echoes' alarm clock for 3:30 p.m. ET.
"It's about winning games, period, here," receiver Jeff Samardzija said. "There's a lot of people who love Notre Dame, but there's a whole lot more people who love Notre Dame when you win."
And love the coach when he wins games like this.
The kingmaking moment happened in this stadium for Lou Holtz, twice. Seventeen years ago this Saturday, Holtz accelerated the resurgence of the Irish program by upsetting No. 1 Miami 31-30 -- the catalyst for Notre Dame's last national championship. In 1993, Holtz did it again, beating No. 1 Florida State in South Bend 31-24. This is the biggest Notre Dame game since that day.
(Excerpt) Read more at sports.espn.go.com ...
John L has to look at firing some of his coaches. I don't think I've ever seen a coach that ticked off as John L was at half time. State should have had that game. But that's how Ohio State seems to win.
Possibly.
According to the NCAA rule 7-2-4b (http://www.ncaa.org/library/rules/2005/2005_football_rules.pdf) the ball is spotted where it went out if it is lost behind the line of scrimmage. So, you are right on that account. But I watched the replay in slow-mo from Sportscenter thanks to my DVR and I didn't see it go out at the 5. I was actually looking to see if it went out the side of the endzone. Would that be a touchback for ND if that happened? Anyway, it didn't, the ball clearly went just to the right side of the ref who was standing on the goal line. It wasn't clear exactly how far it was from the ref. But it certainly wan't five yards.
The rule:
Out of Bounds
ARTICLE 4. a. When a backward pass goes out of bounds between the goal
lines, the ball belongs to the passing team at the out-of-bounds spot; if
out of bounds behind a goal line, it is a touchback or a safety.
b. When a fumble is out of bounds in advance of the spot of the fumble,
the ball is returned to the fumbling team at the spot of the fumble.
Fumbles out of bounds behind the spot of the fumble belong to the fumbling
team at the out-of-bounds spot. If a fumble is out of bounds
behind a goal line, it is a touchback or a safety (Rules 8-5-1 and 8-6-1)
(A.R. 7-2-4-I, A.R. 8-6-1-I and A.R. 8-7-2-VIII-IX).
Bump to #62.
Nope. According to the NCAA rules, stopping forward progress does not make a dead ball. It just marks the spot of the "end of the run".
One exception -when the ball carrier is being "held" such that his forward progress is stalled:
Rule 4-1-3
a. When it goes out of bounds other than a kick that scores a field goal
after touching the uprights or crossbar, when a runner is out of bounds,
or when a runner is so held that his forward progress is stopped. When
in question, the ball is dead (A.R. 4-2-1-II).
(Oh, and also if the whistle has blown -inadvertantly or not- it's a dead ball.)
This has to do with those situations where the ball carrier is wrapped up and is not going anywhere and has no hope of going anywhere. But that was not the case with Lineart. Sure, his forward progress was stopped, but he was in the process of being tackled. Even if he is being tackled and falling backwards and the ball comes out, it is a live ball. I think it was Michigan that got robbed on this type of situation. They returned it for a TD if I recall correctly. The replay gave it back to Minnesoat. (Unless, of course the whistle inadvertantly blew.)
The rule (2-8) assumes the ball has yet to become "dead":
SECTION 8. Forward, Beyond and
Forward Progress
Forward, Beyond
ARTICLE 1. Forward, beyond or in advance of, as related to either team,
denotes direction toward the opponent’s end line. Converse terms are
backward or behind.
Forward Progress
ARTICLE 2. Forward progress is a term indicating the end of advancement
by the runner or airborne pass receiver of either team and applies to the
position of the ball when it became dead by rule (Rules 4-1-3-a, b and p;
Rules 4-2-1 and 4; and Rule 5-1-3-a Exception) (A.R. 5-1-3-I-VI and A.R. 8-
2-1-I-IV).
Look at player #51:
Rule 9-3-2
b. The runner shall not grasp a teammate; and no other player of his team
shall grasp, push, lift or charge into him to assist him in forward
progress.
I hadn;t noticed that one. Good pic.
Whoops. Make that player #5.
Cal has given us a run for our money the last 2 years -- and UCLA is looking tough, too. USC is really going to have to earn it this year -- and I don't know if my heart can take it!
Do you think Leinart was savvy enough to have let the ball go out on purpose?
UCLA is always the last game -- at least the last conference game. It used to be that when USC hosted Notre Dame it was always Thanksgiving weekend and that was it for the season. Now they have USC playing UCLA in December. It hasn't looked this good between the two since 1988, when Rodney Peete and Troy Aikman battled it out! It was great -- Rodney Peete had the measles and people didn't think he would play. He came storming into the Rose Bowl to wild cheers. It was a great game and USC won and was undefeated with only ND to go! ( Notre Dame crushed our hopes for a National Title and went on to win it for themselves. I'm glad that wasn't the case this year -- but SC has a long way to go!)
As I understand it, the visiting coach gets to decide whether or not he wants instant replay and Carrol decided against it. (He has to make that determination before the game though, I think -- can't just make that call when it suits him.) Anyway, even with the replay it looked clear to me that the ball was dropped out of bounds. And, had he not dropped it, it would have been a TD anyway.
"Being a Catholic, I have a soft spot for Notre Dame. Go Irish!!"
Last year, my son was Baptised on the day of the USC-Notre Dame game. I told our priest that we have a tradition of having Turkey Enchiladas while watching the USC-Notre Dame game and that he was welcome to join us. (When USC hosts N.D., it is always the Saturday after Thanksgiving.)
I warned him that even though I'm Catholic, USC is my Alma Mater, so I'd be rooting for the Trojans. He quipped, "That's OK, USC is probably more Catholic than Notre Dame anyway!"
My dad loved that one!
Thought you might get a laugh out of what I posted to Pissant.
No, it hasn't been. Every other year -- when Notre Dame played in LA -- the Irish were SC's last game. Now the UCLA game has been bumped back to the first weekend in December because the broadcast media wants a Pac 10 showdown to schedule against all the conference title games in the SEC, Big 12, etc.
It used to be that when USC hosted Notre Dame it was always Thanksgiving weekend and that was it for the season.
It's still the Saturday after Thanksgiving, but no longer the last game of the season as I previously mentioned.
It hasn't looked this good between the two since 1988, when Rodney Peete and Troy Aikman battled it out!
Loved that game. Probably Peete's best game considering how sick he was that day.
Notre Dame crushed our hopes for a National Title and went on to win it for themselves.
Considering how overpowering SC was that year, that game was really hard to take. Everybody thought SC was poised to take the top spot after ten years (at that point) of mediocrity. Not to be. ND was flat-out better that day. In fact, that entire 0-12-1 streak was hideous.
I always said losing to UCLA was embarrassing and losing to Notre Dame was painful. Thankfully, USC won't be doing much of either for the forseeable future.
Fight on! (USC Class of 1974).
"No, it hasn't been. Every other year -- when Notre Dame played in LA -- the Irish were SC's last game. Now the UCLA game has been bumped back to the first weekend in December because the broadcast media wants a Pac 10 showdown to schedule against all the conference title games in the SEC, Big 12, etc. " Uhhhh -- I believe that is exactly what I posted -- not the stuff about the broadcast media, but the other stuff. No biggie though.
I was a student there during the Pete days and lucky enough to be at the USC-UCLA game that year. I had cardinal and gold "measles" on my face! What a game. That season was such a heartbreaker -- glad to see them back on top now. You really have to admire Leinart for sticking with the school when he didn't have to. I hope he fares better in the pros than Pete did.
Just the same -- I don't think my heart can take a "great" showdown between USC and UCLA this year. I'll "settle" for USC winning in a big fat blowout.
Fight on! (IR '91)
I hope I didn't mislead you with how I signed my post. (It looked a lot like Fightin' Irish, but it was "Fight On" (USC's mantra) and the IR was my field at USC -- International Relations.) I'm a Trojan fan -- but good luck to your son! He is a nice looking young man. You should be proud!
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