Leading up to the game with North Carolina, Notre Dame fans were voicing their displeasure that their team was 4-1 and unranked. This was the first time the Irish have been4-1 and unranked. Well, North Carolina made that point moot today with a 29-24 victory. And they had a lot of help from Notre Dame not being able to hold on to the ball. Notre Dame turned the ball over five times, while the Tar Heels had zero turnovers. Irish quarterback, Jimmy Clausen had a strong day passing the ball for 384 yards and two touchdowns. But one of his two interceptions was taken back for a touchdown. That play, at the start of the third quarter tuned the momentum of the game. From then on out, North Carolina looked and played like the better team, outscoring Notre Dame 20-7 in the second half.
On the next to last play of the game, Clausen hit Michael Floyd for 24 yards at the North Carolina 19. Floyd fumbled the ball on the play and North Carolina recovered. With the crowd going wild and both teams walking on to the field to shake hands, the play was reviewed for what seemed like 10 minutes before a ruling that the play on the field stood. It was a weird scene waiting for the results, and kept the final outcome in question with Notre Dame so close. But the luck of the Irish ran out today, and Notre Dame fans can go back to worrying about things other than their team being ranked.
North Carolina, on the other hand is right in the mix for a shot at the ACC title game. With Virginia, NC State, Duke, and Maryland still on the schedule, things are certainly looking up. Also, with backup turned starter Cameron Sexton coming on strong at quarterback and not making mistakes while moving the team, questions about the offense might be put to rest.
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
10-13-2008 @ 9:36AM
Cedric C. Carter said...
All I can say to the Notre Came football team and fans and alumni and boosters is HAR HAR HAR HARDEE HAR HAR!!! Ha Ha Ha!!!
The network sports commentators who were "calling" the game can eat a HUGE helping of CROW because they were so blatantly biased toward Notre Dame it was SICKENING. Give North Carolina the PROPS they deserve. The Tar Heels took it to Notre Dame and capitalized on most if not ALL the Irish mistakes.
Welcome to a good old fashion "down South butt whuppin'"
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10-11-2008 @ 8:41PM
Ryan said...
There is no Michael Ford on the Notre Dame team. A+ for effort though.
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10-11-2008 @ 8:45PM
Jim said...
And if North Carolina really does have Virginia twice on its upcoming schedule, then they really do have it easy!
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10-11-2008 @ 8:44PM
Johnny said...
Thanks Ryan
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10-11-2008 @ 8:47PM
Johnny said...
Yup, someone got in a hurry
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10-11-2008 @ 9:03PM
Jim said...
Cedric, does being outgained by 160 yards and winning by five points while a plus-five in turnovers constitute a "down South butt whuppin'"? And the game ends with Notre Dame in the red zone, although they fumbled?
If you give up 472 yards and 27 first downs, your defense should be hanging its head in shame.
All this time I thought that had been watching close, exciting football games and it turns out they were all "butt-whuppins'"
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10-11-2008 @ 11:19PM
haha said...
this article is probably the worst ive read....can this person be any bigger notre dame hater...haha give props to both teams it was a good game...notre dame dominated it but had to many costly turnovers....they should feel fortunate to turn it over five times and actually have a chance to win this game at the end...
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10-13-2008 @ 4:10PM
Cedric said...
I get about as close to "hating" Notre Dam as I can without actually HATING them. I "DO" however STRONGLY dislike the organization called Notre Dame football!
Look people, Notre Dame just DIDN'T GET THE JOB DONE! So they LOST period!
Many (but not all) Notre Dame fans act as if their team is God's GIFT to college football and that they are therefore somehow "entitled" to Top 25 ranking practically EVERY college football season. There are several other very good college football teams that never get seen national t.v. because of the "preferential treatment" that Notre Dame BOUGHT from a major network. I realize that strength of schedule and some prior season performances get figured into determining the rankings; but the openly blatant bias, favoritism by t.v. game announcers/commentators and "molly coddling" that the Notre Dame football program so often gets is sickening.
The "success" that the current Notre Dame coach 'has' had is the result of (in large part) to the recruitment of many players under Willingham's 2-3 seasons there. As far as I'm concerned, Wiilingham got a raw deal and was not allowed to stay long enough (at LEAST five seasons) to see the "fruit" of the recruits during his tenure. If the current Notre Dame coach (Weis [sp]) has a losing season this year and/or next seson, I wonder if he will get "kicked to the curb" just like they did to Willingham?
10-12-2008 @ 10:52AM
Bobby Dodd said...
How sweet it is.
All that Top 25 smack just got rammed up your arrongant rear ends.
Maybe the fat retard can get Regis Philbin to suit up.
Who's next?? Oh, yeah that 0-5 team from Washington.
When was the last time you beat a ranked team again?
HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA
Notre Dame sucks!!
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10-12-2008 @ 11:07AM
Jim said...
How sad that once proud Notre Dame has be sniffing around hoping to make the top 25! This is the 4th year of Weis...he has no excuses...nothing left to blame on Willingham. He may be a good quarterback coach, but he one of the worst head coaches in ND history. He promised to make ND "Nasty." Te only thing "nasty" about ND is the coaching! You can bring top recruits every year, but if you can't coach them and motivate them, it won't matter. Weis should move on...we want Skip Holtz.
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10-14-2008 @ 9:14AM
steve said...
RIGHT ON!
Look at the ND Bowl Games records for the past
10-12 years...JOKE...or is it CHOKE?
They buy the best players in the country and
still not Number One!
10-12-2008 @ 11:52AM
Joe said...
Wow. I thought there might be some reasonable discussion about the game here, but instead there are just a bunch of ignorant comments. The game was close. ND played well until they got sloppy with the ball. The team is extremely young and will hopefully learn from it. Congrats to UNC for hanging tough and winning the game.
As for Cedric and Bobby Dodd - thanks for adding some meaningful insight. Your ignorance is overwhelming.
And, by the way, the majority of ND fans were NOT demanding ND be in the top 25. If you checked any of the Irish boards you would have seen the majority of fans were fine with not being ranked. Many have become more patient b/c you can see what is coming down the pike in a year or two.
And Jim, what are smoking?
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10-12-2008 @ 12:20PM
Bobby Dodd said...
Joe,
Keep your holier-than-thou "flaccid Irish" rhetoric for ND message boards.
The fact is that ND has been in decline for 20 years, and has enjoyed nothing but artificial rankings for most of that 20 years. Your bowl record is the most telling indicator of that artificial boost.
The truth is that you can't beat ranked teams, or for that matter, teams with winning records.
The fat retard (former "genius), is the biggest mistake ND has ever made, and the chickens have come home to roost.
Maybe you can get a pair of Charlies' GIANT fruit of the looms to use as a crying towel, you little whiner.
NOTRE DAME SUCKS!!!!
10-12-2008 @ 12:20PM
Joe said...
Bobby -- Hate all you want. And keep throwing insults. You are clearly unhappy with your lot in life if you get your panties in such a twist. Nice fat retard comment - you are completely classless. There is nothing holier than though about my comments. Go get some exlax, pal.
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10-13-2008 @ 8:09AM
Bobby Dodd said...
Hey Joe,
What discussion about the game? The flaccid Irish lost another game to a ranked team with a winning record. The end.
Better luck against Washington and Navy.
NOTRE DAME SUCKS!
10-13-2008 @ 4:42PM
ss said...
Bobby You are right. Weis is nothing but a big fat pig. Everytime Paul Mcguire tried to say the truth on how bad ND was, Griese would smooth it over. ND is in the past and has relied on this to get bowl invites. Pure and simple they SUCK and I am really happy. Sure am glad the Fat Pig has a long term contract, cause ND is super cheap and won't pay him to leave.
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10-13-2008 @ 9:05PM
T108 said...
My opinion and my opinion only, ND really needs to look at the QB situation. Clausen is not, nor will he be the type of QB or leader that the team needs on the field.
It is time coach to re-think.
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10-14-2008 @ 12:59PM
tiffany said...
really jimmy is not and will not be a great qb? hmm... i am sure you are saying this do to the lack of improvement from last year and i am sure there wont be any improvement in the next two years after this one. also due to the lack of improvement from the whole team i am sure that we will all be sitting here saying that they suck next year. (notice the sarcasm, i am laying it on thick)
hey bobby and cedric, who is your team?
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10-15-2008 @ 6:20AM
Bobby Dodd said...
Poor tiff,
Smoking that leprechaun crack again. What improvement? The only thing that has improved is the weakness of your scheduled opponents. Rah, rah, whip Washington. Don't forget Navy!!!
I can tell you this without hesitation. Notre Dame is NOT my team.
How did it feel when North Carolina ripped your Top 25 hopes right out of your chest?
NOTRE DAME SUCKS.
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10-15-2008 @ 10:44AM
Mike said...
How can anyone say ND was dominant when they had 5 turnovers and gave up 29 points?They were also outscored in crunch time in the 2nd half 20-7.Butch inherited a total lack of talent and with mostly true freshman and sophomores has them in the top 20 in less than 2 years.Give him 2 more years and he will be aiming for top 5.
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