Seven years ago, ESPN College Game Day rolled into campus as a resurgent Irish took on a ranked team from California. That game ended in controversy as Matt Leinart’s QB sneak looked to have been stuffed — until Reggie Bush shoved him into the endzone.
Seven years later, those demons were exorcised and the Irish came out on top with a controversial call going in their favor for a change.
Although, that call doesn’t seem to be all too controversial as it definitely looks like Stepfan Taylor’s elbow was down after the whistle blew anyways. But let’s assume the PAC 12 refs blew it. Let’s assume that Stanford got screwed.
I don’t care.
You know what all Irish fans heard after the Bush Push? That we should’ve stopped the Trojans on 4th and 9 and that goal line play would’ve been a non-factor. As much as the thought of the Bush Push alone makes me furious, that is beyond fair to say.
Hell, let’s move past the Bush Push. Ask David Grimes how much pity he has for Taylor.
Remember “Little Giants”? Of course we do. Remember the play clock was at zero well before the snap? You bet we do.
Now David Shaw wants to cry foul and I’m supposed to feel bad? I don’t think so.
Phantom whistles had nothing to do with the Stanford defense failing to stop a Tommy Rees game tying drive after Golson was knocked out of the game. There were no forward progress judgements that needed to be made when Rees then led a TD drive to open OT. The refs didn’t miss the first Stanford field goal attempt. A misplaced spot after a review wasn’t the reason Stanford’s only TD came on the combo of an Everett Golson fumble and a poor Brian Kelly play call in ND’s own endzone.
Were Josh Nunes’ two INTs also the caused by controversy? Did the officials give Tyler Eifert a boost on his jumping TD catch?
I don’t think so.
The bottom line is that Notre Dame is 6-0, ranked #5 in both the coaches’ and AP polls, and sit #5 in the BCS no matter how much whining comes from Palo Alto.
It’s not like we should really expect anything different. After all, Stanford manged to allow one of the most famous plays in college football history that also contained its fair share of controversy.
Guess what? Cal still won that game too.
In short:
Texan by birth, Irish by choice.
First-generation Domer and a former student manager, HLS podcast host, HLS Sim creator, Extra Life streamer, and technical problem haver. You can find more non-Notre Dame related writing on his Patreon.
- Epilogue - January 3, 2022
- HLS Podcast Finale - January 2, 2022
- The Final Fiesta: Notre Dame vs Oklahoma State NCAA ’14 Sim - December 31, 2021
