Blue and Gold Illustrated

Nov. 27, 2020

Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football

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www.BLUEANDGOLD.com NOV. 27, 2020 5 FAN FORUM A BOOK KEEPER The performance of the unfairly ma- ligned Ian Book against Clemson was masterful. It was great to see the gutty competitor silence his critics in the big- gest Notre Dame win in 27 years. Patrick Jacobs Los Angeles BE HEARD! Send your letters to: Letters Blue & Gold Illustrated P. O. Box 1007, Notre Dame, IN 46556 or e-mail to: lsomogyi@blueandgold.com A couple of days following Notre Dame's 47‑40 double‑overtime victory against No. 1 Clemson, we asked our BlueandGold.com members this: After Notre Dame cut the lead to 33‑32 with 22 seconds left in regulation, would you have gone for the two points and the win? Head coach Brian Kelly admitted it briefly crossed his mind but "we had worked too hard to get back into the game, and so it just didn't feel right." Among our first 50 respondents, 25 replied no, 21 said yes, while four said they would have done it after the first overtime. Here were some samples: TPIrish: No. You go for two only when you absolutely have to. Oth‑ erwise, it's too much of a risk of leaving points on the field. See Northwest‑ ern 2014, Clemson 2015. Surfrider619: I would have because a 1‑point win makes you a hero and at that point I felt like the offense was struggling the whole second half until that last drive. NDFarley: Nope. Clem‑ s o n wa s t h e wa l k i n g wounded on their front 7 and ND was pounding t h em d ow n . C l em s o n can't throw it 40 yards over your head in the red zone. ND was averaging over 6 yards per rush and Clemson was barely 1 yard per rush. It was a trench battle at that point and ND had the huge ad‑ vantage. GroggyGrizzly: Would rather have the ball and a chance to end the game right then and there in‑ stead of having 13 snaps or more on both sides of the line of scrimmage where anything can hap‑ pen. Some good, some bad. Vimes: Wouldn't have blamed him for it. I did want him to go for 2 in the first OT. Dgislason: Not at home, crowd or no crowd. Backer48: Kick the extra point. That decision CANNOT be the reason you lose in that situation. That is a move reserved for a big underdog, not a team that's trying to prove it's part of the elite. If you lose going for 2, it is absolutely soul crushing. A loss in OT sucks, but I think the play‑ ers would mentally/emotionally recover faster. I'd also say that final drive would and will have lasting impact on the team's confidence. A lot of that is lost if you eff‑up a 2‑point try. JohnnyH: I would have gone for 2 at that in‑ stance — and also after the score in the first OT. I felt we were somehow or some way going to find a way to lose if we did not try to win it when given the chance. I have sadly seen it too many times. 937Irish: Kick it. Kelly made the right decision. We were wearing their defense down late in the game and had to feel like a win in OT at home was better odds than putting it all on one play from the 3. JY09: I voted yes because after the first 30 sec‑ onds the ND offense had not scored a TD. Cavanaugh117: If the exact same scenario were to play out in a rematch game in December, Notre Dame definitely should go for two. If the other team is more talented than you are, you go for two in order to try to "steal" a win. On Nov. 7, Clemson was not the more talented team, due to the missing players. In December, very different story. Irishboy1: No. Kelly's decision was like Ara's in 1966 in being conservative at the end. The Irish had fought too hard to tie it up to gamble on one play. Littlearmy84: I don't disagree with what BK did but I would have gone for 2. I didn't feel the game was trending in ND's favor. Plus, I was going to have a stroke if we lost due to a missed extra point. Vonteego: You go for 2 at the end of the 1st overtime. They scored, you drove 25 yards and scored. Knowing that in the second OT you get the ball first and have to drive 25 yards (let's say 4 plays) and you need to stop them (another 4 plays), you need 8 things to go right. OR you have 1 play from 3 yards out to win the game. 1 outcome vs. 8 outcomes is just probability theory. You go for 2 after the 1st OT when you know you have to start on offense in the sec‑ ond OT. That was the mistake, and fortunately it worked out great for ND. But they needed the personal‑foul penalty to offset the holding call or they would have been back on the 35 and likely screwed in the second OT. Very fortunate. FROM THE WEB JOIN THE CONVERSATION! GET A 60-DAY FREE TRIAL WITH CODE IRISH60 Brian Kelly admitted he briefly considered going for a two-point conversion after the Irish scored a touch- down to make it 33-32 with 22 seconds remaining, but noted "we had worked too hard to get back into the game, and so it just didn't feel right." COURTESY ACC/NOTRE DAME ATHLETICS

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