Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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BLUEGOLDONLINE.COM NOV. 30, 2024 53 A s he went through his de- fense's performance in the 35-14 win over Virginia, Notre Dame head coach Marcus Freeman cracked a smile. Freeman began his spiel by praising Irish defensive coor- dinator Al Golden's group for playing "pretty much lights-out all night." But then he reached Virginia's scoring drive, which was sparked by a 38-yard com- pletion from graduate student quarterback Tony Muskett to senior wide receiver Malachi Fields. "They had a long pass, which may or may not have been com- plete," Freeman said. Freeman is too diplomatic to say it, but that pass was abso- lutely not complete. Replay clearly showed sopho- more Notre Dame sophomore cornerback Christian Gray clawed the ball loose, causing it to hit the ground before Fields could complete the pro- cess of the catch. To its credit, Virginia hustled to the line of scrimmage and snapped the ball as soon as it could, nullifying any opportunity to review the play. Freeman considered calling timeout to give the replay booth more time, but the line judge from the Atlantic Coast Conference officiating crew advised against it. "I don't know if maybe they didn't get time to buzz down before the ball was snapped," Freeman said. "They do a really good job of trying to help you not waste the timeout. The officials don't want us to waste timeouts. So, when I'm told they're looking at the replay, I don't want to waste the timeout." Earlier in the game, the referees made a call that might have had Freeman as incensed as he's ever been on the foot- ball field. It certainly had him as angry as he's been at refs. Notre Dame ran a fake punt in which graduate student linebacker Jack Kiser took a snap and handed the ball to soph- omore wide receiver Jordan Faison, who had hidden himself behind the right side of the line. Kiser and a few others ran right, but Faison ran left, outracing ev- eryone and making the punt returner miss on his way to a 73-yard rushing touchdown. Rather, it would have been a 73-yard touchdown if the officials did not call illegal formation. But by all postgame accounts, the refs got the call wrong and/or misinterpreted the rule. Essentially, Notre Dame was flagged for not having enough players num- bered 50-79 on the line of scrimmage in a non-obvious kick formation. How- ever, because Kiser was 2 yards off the line of scrimmage and took a shotgun snap, the formation should have been classified as legal. It was frustrating for everyone in- volved, particularly because Freeman and special teams coordinator Marty Biagi thought they covered all their bases. "Coach Biagi addressed that play with some officials [before the season started]," Freeman said. "I explained it to them [before running it]. 'Hey, we have a fake punt that we're going to come out of the huddle quickly and snap it. I just want you to know that our guys have to be set. We know all the rules." Freeman has not heard from the ACC on the subject, but the league's explanation won't change the outcome. Likewise, Freeman isn't let- ting the call change how he feels about the play. "I know it didn't count for seven points, but we're going to celebrate that fake punt," Free- man said. "I can't wait to show the players, because there's been a lot of work put into that." The work began last Decem- ber when Notre Dame had the fake ready for the Sun Bowl. After the Irish beat Georgia Tech using multiple fake kicks in Week 8, they decided to re- install it. S i n ce t h e n , Fre e m a n ex- plained, Notre Dame's players have been "dying" to run the fake. The op- portunity didn't present itself in blow- out wins over Navy and Florida State. But with the offense stuck in neutral and a fourth-and-6 from their own 27- yard line to work with, the Irish pulled the trigger. What happened next couldn't have made Freeman prouder. "They executed it flawlessly," Free- man said. Between the catch that wasn't a catch and the illegal formation that wasn't illegal, Notre Dame came out on the wrong end of some questionable — at best — officiating decisions. None of it affected the outcome of the game, which was mostly over at kickoff and definitely over at halftime, but the missed calls could have cast a dark cloud over an otherwise successful evening. But on that Monday afternoon, the only dark clouds in South Bend are the ones spilling rain all over campus. Free- man and company are taking the game's unfortunate events in stride. ✦ Head coach Marcus Freeman and his Fighting Irish team found them- selves on the wrong end of a couple calls against Virginia, but didn't let either affect the outcome of the game. PHOTO BY MICHAEL MILLER Irish Taking Officiating Errors In Stride Staff writer Jack Soble has covered Notre Dame athletics for Blue & Gold Illustrated since August 2023. Contact him at Jack.Soble@on3.com. OFF THE DOME JACK SOBLE