Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/400621
TURNING POINT With Notre Dame trailing 31-27, only 13 seconds remaining in the contest and the Irish facing fourth- and-goal at the 3-yard line, senior quarterback Everett Golson found sophomore wide receiver Corey Rob- inson open in the flat for a touchdown (similar to the first TD) — but had it nullified because junior slot receiver C.J. Prosise illegally blocked an FSU defender into the end zone. The prob- lem stemmed mainly from Prosise drive blocking and not disengaging from the defender, making "the rub" conspicuous to the official. This ending in the closing seconds will be discussed with the same in- famy among Notre Dame faithful as the Irish clipping call on Rocket Ismail's 91-yard punt return against Colorado in the 1991 Orange Bowl 10-9 loss, and the "Bush Push" when USC's Matt Leinart snuck over for the winning TD (34-31) on an illegal push from running back Reggie Bush in 2005. STAT OF THE GAME Florida State quarterback Jameis Winston completed 15 of 16 passes for 181 yards and a score in the sec- ond half, while directing three touch- down drives. The reigning Heisman Trophy winner was held in check in the first half and looked somewhat confused by Notre Dame's myriad blitz schemes, completing only 8 of 15 throws for 92 yards while the Semi- noles trailed 17-10 at halftime. FSU also missed on all four third-down attempts in the first half. Florida State did a better job of picking up the blitzes in the second half, and in the process the crossing routes behind the linebackers across the middle were open. Winston also made a couple of amazing comple- tions while backpedaling from the Irish rush and keeping Florida State drives alive with his composure and athletic skills. NO MORAL VICTORIES, BUT … Despite the gut-wrenching loss that dropped Notre Dame's record to 1-17 against Associated Press top- five teams since 1999, the Irish dem- onstrated that they merit legitimate College Football Playoff contention discussion entering November. How- ever, finishing off one of these show- downs is still a step that needs to be taken. There was much elation among Irish followers with a close 27-24 over- time loss to No. 1 Nebraska in 2000 and the 34-31 setback to No. 1 USC in 2005 that "Notre Dame is back." To perform on the road like this against a true top-three program the past several years provides better evi- dence that the Irish are coming closer to their own consistent elite status. Running the table in November — hardly a given — should put them back in the College Football Playoff hunt. THREE OBSERVATIONS BY LOU SOMOGYI