It wasn't the officiating folks, it was really bad game management

[CardHack]

I'm glad Matt McGavic used the line "coping mechanism" in describing hand wringing over officiating. The call with Lacy was awful which is unfortunate because it lends itself to the whole remaining narrative of it being a poorly officiated game--my only remaining complaint is that Clark should have been ejected for what was called an unsportsmanlike conduct--especially in the context of Jamari Johnson's blindside blocking penalty in the fourth quarter. I don't care if Bell walked off the field and pissed on Clark's family members in the stands beforehand or even spit on him as some Notre Dame scribes have alleged. My complaint as it applies to the coping mechanism is I'm not so convinced on all of the spots and the one posted on Twitter over and over as "evidence" is a joke. The spot where the official took the football from the sideline to the spot on the left hash to have another official step in and correct it was because the official who moved it DID have the spot wrong. That's not a conspiracy folks, that was a corrected mistake and I didn't think Chaney was remotely close to getting the first down. I am of the mindset that if Chris Bell turns his 6"2, 220 pound frame upfield instead of angling to the sideline and trying to outrun a faster DB we're not pissing and moaning about the spot. And that's not even to mention the recipe for folly that ensued on 4th down where Brohm and the staff went into a brain lock thinking there was going to be a measurement. That whole sequence of events to me was horrifying because in a high pressure, high intensity situation Jeff looked like he was on Tilt more than in control of all the variables. I don't have a problem with the playcall of an option pitch on 4th and 1 into the shortside, I have a problem with it being Chaney who is a North/South exclusive runner and Jeff confessed as much postgame. The Browns were much better personnel fits for that play.

The "spots" on the the game's last drive were also vexing because of the same end of the half mismanagement. We got the ball back on our final drive at the 2:44 mark. 1st down run for 5 to midfield, next snap at the 2:21 mark run for 3 yards to the Notre Dame 47 and this is where I am equally as critical of Jeff as at the end of the first half...we had a two minute warning timeout and no remaining timeouts pocketed which is why the run on 2nd down I thought was dumb, dumb, dumb. Passing gave you more upside. Incompletion stops the clock and sets you up with 3rd and 5 and you can do that coming out of a huddle, completion more yardage, a clock stoppage for the 1st down and an extra play before the two minute warning. The whole sequence suggested to me in retrospect that Jeff didn't want to give Notre Dame any time to get off a long field goal if and when we scored. Honestly, I think we were probably going to go for two if we scored the touchdown on that drive but we'll never know. If I'm being honest I would have played for OT because I think defensively we had figured out Notre Dame's attack midway through the second quarter and virtually dominated to the point of the breakdown at the 9:00 mark of the 4th quarter.

...and again, that isn't officiating folks. Frankly, Jeff choked on the bit.

 

[vivid_red]

I tend to agree. It is easy after the game to same what we should have done on certain play or situation, much harder to do under game pressure in real time. However that is why college coaches are paid the big salary, to make the "smart/correct" decision quickly during the game. GO CARDS!

 

[TheRealVille]

I'm glad Matt McGavic used the line "coping mechanism" in describing hand wringing over officiating. The call with Lacy was awful which is unfortunate because it lends itself to the whole remaining narrative of it being a poorly officiated game--my only remaining complaint is that Clark should have been ejected for what was called an unsportsmanlike conduct--especially in the context of Jamari Johnson's blindside blocking penalty in the fourth quarter. I don't care if Bell walked off the field and pissed on Clark's family members in the stands beforehand or even spit on him as some Notre Dame scribes have alleged. My complaint as it applies to the coping mechanism is I'm not so convinced on all of the spots and the one posted on Twitter over and over as "evidence" is a joke. The spot where the official took the football from the sideline to the spot on the left hash to have another official step in and correct it was because the official who moved it DID have the spot wrong. That's not a conspiracy folks, that was a corrected mistake and I didn't think Chaney was remotely close to getting the first down. I am of the mindset that if Chris Bell turns his 6"2, 220 pound frame upfield instead of angling to the sideline and trying to outrun a faster DB we're not pissing and moaning about the spot. And that's not even to mention the recipe for folly that ensued on 4th down where Brohm and the staff went into a brain lock thinking there was going to be a measurement. That whole sequence of events to me was horrifying because in a high pressure, high intensity situation Jeff looked like he was on Tilt more than in control of all the variables. I don't have a problem with the playcall of an option pitch on 4th and 1 into the shortside, I have a problem with it being Chaney who is a North/South exclusive runner and Jeff confessed as much postgame. The Browns were much better personnel fits for that play.

The "spots" on the the game's last drive were also vexing because of the same end of the half mismanagement. We got the ball back on our final drive at the 2:44 mark. 1st down run for 5 to midfield, next snap at the 2:21 mark run for 3 yards to the Notre Dame 47 and this is where I am equally as critical of Jeff as at the end of the first half...we had a two minute warning timeout and no remaining timeouts pocketed which is why the run on 2nd down I thought was dumb, dumb, dumb. Passing gave you more upside. Incompletion stops the clock and sets you up with 3rd and 5 and you can do that coming out of a huddle, completion more yardage, a clock stoppage for the 1st down and an extra play before the two minute warning. The whole sequence suggested to me in retrospect that Jeff didn't want to give Notre Dame any time to get off a long field goal if and when we scored. Honestly, I think we were probably going to go for two if we scored the touchdown on that drive but we'll never know. If I'm being honest I would have played for OT because I think defensively we had figured out Notre Dame's attack midway through the second quarter and virtually dominated to the point of the breakdown at the 9:00 mark of the 4th quarter.

...and again, that isn't officiating folks. Frankly, Jeff choked on the bit.

It was both. A combination of suspect play calling and one sided officiating. If you're here to tell us after watching that game, the refs didnt hurt Louisville far more than ND, you're just in denial.

Yes, we should have won anyway without our mistakes and Brohms dumb play calls on 4th down, but without the assistance of the refs, ND would not have had the lead in the 4th quarter.

I watched the game again this morning and anyone who says the officiating wasn't one way just isn't seeing straight.

 

[Ipartiedwithhopgood]

There's a combination of things impacting results. First road game (got down large early), weather (ain't gonna help our guy go into the bag of tricks), Oline/Dline (especially in this type of game, they have more here) injuries, officiating (it was bad), coaching decisions/strategy (eh, not sure maybe not great), adjustments (D played strong 3rd Q), bad luck (some of that) ... and............talent (they have more).

The one variable rarely discussed is talent disparity. Portal might be helping bridge the gap but at the end of the day the ND roster probably has much more talent than our roster does. To be clear I have not taken deep dive research into this, I am speculating.

My guess is ND is hanging around the T10 annually with recruiting classes and has significantly more 4* guys than the Cards, and more 3-4* depth too.

So for UofL to actually stroll into S. Bend given that and other variables, to have the ball late in the game with a chance to get the W, this tells me the UofL staff is better than the ND staff.

So I have a hard time going with "Jeff choked" but it is a short-sighted narrative that will get some legs.

 

[CardHack]

The one variable rarely discussed is talent disparity. Portal might be helping bridge the gap but at the end of the day the ND roster probably has much more talent than our roster does. To be clear I have not taken deep dive research into this, I am speculating..

I don't subscribe to this because you really have to go position by position; for two and a half quarters our defensive line was defeating or stalemating their offensive line; the untold story is they are what kept Notre Dame from stretching their lead. Our linebackers were fantastic. Their Secondary and our Secondary right now is night and day and preseason I don't think many would have thought that; you knew that Notre Dame returned two All-Americans, even without Quincey Riley I would have said preseason we can overcome that for a game or two. It's been a bit if a mess.

But where the talent argument falls apart most for me is when you factor the quality of Shough's passes and marry that to who he is throwing those passes to. There is no comparison aerially between Louisville and Notre Dame and if you want the best evidence of that look at how little an impact a preseason All-American candidate like Mitchell Evans has on the game and it's not his fault per se; Leonard isn't a quality passer to trust challenging with Evans more downfield. Shough throws good wide receivers open and makes quality throws in the deep and intermediate parts of the field; Notre Dame's lack of that makes them easier to defend.

 

[TheRealVille]

There's a combination of things impacting results. First road game (got down large early), weather (ain't gonna help our guy go into the bag of tricks), Oline/Dline (especially in this type of game, they have more here) injuries, officiating (it was bad), coaching decisions/strategy (eh, not sure maybe not great), adjustments (D played strong 3rd Q), bad luck (some of that) ... and............talent (they have more).

The one variable rarely discussed is talent disparity. Portal might be helping bridge the gap but at the end of the day the ND roster probably has much more talent than our roster does. To be clear I have not taken deep dive research into this, I am speculating.

My guess is ND is hanging around the T10 annually with recruiting classes and has significantly more 4* guys than the Cards, and more 3-4* depth too.

So for UofL to actually stroll into S. Bend given that and other variables, to have the ball late in the game with a chance to get the W, this tells me the UofL staff is better than the ND staff.

So I have a hard time going with "Jeff choked" but it is a short-sighted narrative that will get some legs.

Well, I don't agree with the ND talent edge. I didn't see it in this game at all, even on the lines. Now if one uses recruiting rankings for talent, then yes ND has that advantage.

In this game, the Cards dominated the box score. Had more yards, better QB play and even better receiver play. The defense was faster than ND's and I believe made better adjustments than ND.

Louisville lost this game in the first half with the turnovers and allowed the Irish to play from ahead instead of behind. I believe many Cards fans are starting to question Jeff calling the plays while being the head coach. He is glued to the play cards on offense and is making some rash decisions with the plays he calls.

This game was for the taking by Louisville, who I believe is a much better team. Unfortunately, for the Cards sake, losing as the better team is a staple of college football. Remember the Pitt lost last year?

I made my game by game predictions for this season back in August and I had Louisville losing this game to ND mostly because of exactly what happened with the refs and the breaks. I still believe the Cards can run the table or finish at 10 and 2. The return of Lacy gives the Cards two dynamic receivers and they have a great QB who can get them the ball.

This loss sucks because we're better than ND but it doesn't derail the Cards playoff chances. A ND loss would have and that just couldn't be allowed unless the Cards played a mistake free game.

 

[Ipartiedwithhopgood]

I don't subscribe to this because you really have to go position by position; for two and a half quarters our defensive line was defeating or stalemating their offensive line; the untold story is they are what kept Notre Dame from stretching their lead. Our linebackers were fantastic. Their Secondary and our Secondary right now is night and day and preseason I don't think many would have thought that; you knew that Notre Dame returned two All-Americans, even without Quincey Riley I would have said preseason we can overcome that for a game or two. It's been a bit if a mess.

But where the talent argument falls apart most for me is when you factor the quality of Shough's passes and marry that to who he is throwing those passes to. There is no comparison aerially between Louisville and Notre Dame and if you want the best evidence of that look at how little an impact a preseason All-American candidate like Mitchell Evans has on the game and it's not his fault per se; Leonard isn't a quality passer to trust challenging with Evans more downfield. Shough throws good wide receivers open and makes quality throws in the deep and intermediate parts of the field; Notre Dame's lack of that makes them easier to defend.

Riley Leonard is their leading rusher and they have a beast back there at RB. You left that part out of your pretty pass analysis. He's a fit for what they do. You are witnessing different philosophies in coaching. They are vanilla, our HC has a deeper playbook. Our guy is going to throw it around, and I love him and the system JB provides him.

Leonard was the #12 rated player per this site in the portal. Shough was rated #316. I'm not saying those rankings are 100% on target here, but that's a pretty large disparity right there, and you are loving our guy up and running theirs down.

But this is not about one guy, and it's not about just a potential talent disparity either. My guess is they have the #'s.

It's about a lot of factors explaining this loss. There's more in my chamber than refs sucked, JB did some things that sucked. That stuff is real also. What can I say, I've got a lot of room for a lot of information.

Cheers.

 

[Thecycle27]

I think Louisville created/had more opportunities but just didn’t make plays. Why? That is a mixed bag.

1. Officials—-the spots forced 4th downs against a really good defense. They won. The pass interference was ridiculous hurts momentum. Who the hell knows what targeting is. Legit 2 starters could or should of been ejected. Those decisions matter.

2.Coaching—-can’t go into half with all your time outs. You have to force the TV/officials to replay the spot on 3rd down. Bell’s spot was awful. The one on the last drive looks to be close but neither play was replayed on the broadcast. Call a damn timeout lose your mind.

The defense can’t keep completely blowing simple coverages. The offense can’t drop balls, have penalties and turnovers.

That is coaching.

3.Players—-this is the tricky part with leaning on the portal. Learning system, communication, and actual fit takes time. You don’t know if players will thrive in the system until they actual play. It is a crap shoot on how quick teams absorb all the above. The results are all over the place from it working, being OK and sucking.

SMU isn’t going to be easy. The line tells you it is a 1 play game. They don’t clean things up they could lose.

 

[Ipartiedwithhopgood]

Weather didn't help us. It eliminated a portion of the playbook offensively which is where JB has a lot to offer. Some slow developing plays maybe left off the menu.

 

[Cardiac Red]

Officiating most definitely played a huge role. In the course of a game there are a lot of holding calls missed and the spot of the ball is questionable in the flow of the game. The double PI on Lacy alone was a game changer. If it is called only DPI we have the ball inside the 5 and most likely score, it also flips momentum. But, instead of 1st and goal inside the 5 our drive stalls out. You can't even argue that..

 

[TheRealVille]

I think the win for the Cards vanished on that INT that Brooks juggled. He may have scored on that play or at least got to the red zone.

I believe if ND had to come from behind or match the Cards scores, they wouldn't succeed. Same thing on that double pass interference BS. Cards would have had 1st and goal.

Had those two plays went our way, I believe we would have won. Of course anything can happen like fumbling at the goal line, but I think we would have been leading going into the 4th quarter.

One mistake which was a fluke with the ball bouncing right into the defenders hands. The other a horrible call by the refs that everyone I've seen says they have never seen before.

Everything else about these two teams still apply but it was these two plays I believe is what determined the outcome. It sucks we couldn't overcome it and we almost did until that mysterious last series.

What I got most out of now watching this game twice is Louisville's potential on offense with Lacy has no ceiling. We have to remember Louisville has only played two real games. That early bye week has really put us behind most teams. I would have loved to have played the Irish two weeks from now.

I think this SMU game will say a lot. We should be able to score 40+ against their defense.

 

[nccardfan]

I'm not looking to find coaching negatives and maybe this is clear to others but who does the play calling for the offense? Is it 100 percent Jeff? I'm asking because Brian is listed as the offensive coordinator and the QB coach, but I wouldn't think he would need to be in the booth if he didn't have some input on the plays being called. During the game, they showed him a couple of times while we were on offense and it didn't look like he was relaying any information to the sidelines. Maybe Jeff gets too emotional in the tight situations and needs to listen to more input from upstairs?? I don't know, just wondering how it operates between the two and if anyone with knowledge can provide some feedback.

Go Cards!

 

[Cardiac Red]

I think this SMU game will say a lot. We should be able to score 40+ against their defense.

We may have to score 40 to win, their offense is pretty good. They probably haven't seen a Defense like ours though..

 

[CardHack]

I think the win for the Cards vanished on that INT that Brooks juggled. He may have scored on that play or at least got to the red zone.

I believe if ND had to come from behind or match the Cards scores, they wouldn't succeed. Same thing on that double pass interference BS. Cards would have had 1st and goal.

Had those two plays went our way, I believe we would have won. Of course anything can happen like fumbling at the goal line, but I think we would have been leading going into the 4th quarter.

I agree with the sentiment. It became very clear early in the second quarter that it was going to have be Leonard's arm that was going to have to produce yardage for ND, because their ground game got bottled up for every bit of the 2nd and third quarters. Time and score dictated Notre Dame didn't have to force the issue offensively.

The Brooks' drop INT was a 3rd and 7 conversion where the LOS was the Notre Dame 47 and the interception was at the 30 (with 6 minutes left in the half) when the game was 21-14. As you said, you go from what looked like a scoring drive that in 10 seconds had Notre Dame at the Louisville 36 already in FG range giving us the 24-14 halftime deficit. In fact, the defense held throwing a 3rd and 1 for a three yard loss. We looked like we were marching for a tying score.

The Lacy interference came two downs after Lacy's spectacular catch down to the Notre Dame 38 and that interference signaled Notre Dame was having trouble with Lacy; it wouldn't have been goal to go it would have been a first down at the Notre Dame 21 and the drive subsequently fell apart when Shough was sacked for a loss of 6 then a false start by Monroe Mills more or less officially took them out of field goal range on the next snap. That interference was a huge change in momentum in a quarter that didn't have any points.

 

[AnotherCFD]

The op acts like people don’t eyes of their own. It was a combination of 3 things. Brohm already admitted his play calling wasn’t the best at times. Turnovers was the second. And yes, officiating was one sided and hurt Louisville. The op acts like because Chris Bell didn’t finish the play the way he wanted him to that he shouldn’t be granted the first down. What does it matter how he did it he passed the marker and they wouldn’t even review it to correct their mistake. Nobody on X was acting like officiating was the sole reason we lost either.

 

[AnotherCFD]

There's a combination of things impacting results. First road game (got down large early), weather (ain't gonna help our guy go into the bag of tricks), Oline/Dline (especially in this type of game, they have more here) injuries, officiating (it was bad), coaching decisions/strategy (eh, not sure maybe not great), adjustments (D played strong 3rd Q), bad luck (some of that) ... and............talent (they have more).

The one variable rarely discussed is talent disparity. Portal might be helping bridge the gap but at the end of the day the ND roster probably has much more talent than our roster does. To be clear I have not taken deep dive research into this, I am speculating.

My guess is ND is hanging around the T10 annually with recruiting classes and has significantly more 4* guys than the Cards, and more 3-4* depth too.

So for UofL to actually stroll into S. Bend given that and other variables, to have the ball late in the game with a chance to get the W, this tells me the UofL staff is better than the ND staff.

So I have a hard time going with "Jeff choked" but it is a short-sighted narrative that will get some legs.

We out gained them badly for having such a talent deficiency. Louisville is the better team imo but hard to overcome unforced turnovers and timely missed calls.