The Fiesta Bowl: (The What could have been game).

[biological warrior]

Today's matchup between Notre Dame and, the Ohio State University in Tempe, Arizona has alot revolving around it and quite possibly could have been the National Championship game if things turned out differently for both teams. OSU lost to Texas (Which plays USC for the BCS National title) and, So. Cal. (Which really lost to ND, but that is for another thread).

So in reality these 2 teams if fortune or fate could have been different would probably be playing on Wednesday, but that is for Alternate Historians to figure out. So let's enjoy the game and, hope its one to remember.http://www.operationsports.com/fofc/images/smilies/smile.gif

[Blade6119]

Did you forget that little thing called Michigan State beat Notre Dame?

[Johnny93g]

Did you forget that little thing called Michigan State beat Notre Dame?

meh......details

GO IRISH ;)

[Craptacular]

Don't forget about Penn St beating OSU as well. This should be a good game to watch ... I hate both teams. :D

[Philliesfan980]

Brady Quinn's sister is ugly

[JW]

Go to hell, Notre Dame. Go Buckeyes.

[st.cronin]

One of these years there will be about 9 teams with 1 loss, and the BCS will be exiled to Sardinia.

[biological warrior]

TD Irish. Reminds me of that first drive during the Michigan game.

[RendeR]

not thrilled to be missing carpenter out there today. Gonna be an interesting day.

[RendeR]

WHHOOOTT!

[biological warrior]

Smith Fumbled! ND ball in the OSU red zone!

[RendeR]

D-FENSE

D-FENSE


Whooot, 4 and out baby, nothing cheap for the Irish today...

[Logan]

Another long TD for Ginn. I know Musberger is happy that Ginn's athletic ability bailed him out of a premature TD call.

[st.cronin]

Who is that guy wearing #7 for Ohio State? Was he on the team all year? I don't remember seeing him.

[Logan]

OT: As a 49er fan, I never thought I would rather see Jerry Rice on my TV playing in that Raider uniform, than what he is currently on air pimping.

[RendeR]

I can't believe they aren't working Ginn over harder (the Irish Defense) something tells me they decided he isn't a real threat since his season wasn't all that impressive..


More the fools them.

[cthomer5000]

Nice to see Ginn do something for a change.

[RendeR]

Nice to see Ginn do something for a change.
Indeed!!

[RendeR]

FIRST DOWN!

[biological warrior]

Quinn seems to be feeling more comfortable.

[RendeR]

Yeah, we had him rattled early, but the defense is looking sluggish on this drive. Wish we had Carpenter in there, he's a beast at LB. The run game is really missing his playmaking ability.

[RendeR]

Nice, they might get a few plays and a few first downs here and there, but that defense isn't gonna break.

[ISiddiqui]

Wow... nice throw by Smith.

[RendeR]

TOUCHDOWN!


21-7 Buckeyes!!!

[RendeR]

DOLA: IF the Buckeyes go up by 3 scores the ND offense becomes one dimensional and I think it spells the doom of the Irish in this contest.

[MylesKnight]

Thus far this looks like the standard ND Bowl Game Team that we've seen over the past what, dozen years or so.

Are these the beginning stages of what happened with Willingham in South Bend? Magic only lasts so long..

[RendeR]

Having ignored ND for years now, what is their recent history in bowl games?

[MylesKnight]

Let's just say lots of L's, with many of the rout variety.

[cthomer5000]

Poor Eddie George. :(

[st.cronin]

I believe if ND loses today, they actually set the NCAA record for most consecutive bowl losses.

[biological warrior]

If ND loses this one BIG. It would set a course for another 5 disappointing years (mainly due to the past 2 ND coaches having GREAT 1st years and, crushing losses the past 8 years). Of course the game isn't over and, I think ND can pull this one out.

[SackAttack]

Go to hell, Notre Dame. Go Buckeyes.

.

[RendeR]

.
http://www.operationsports.com/fofc/images/smilies/biggrin.gif

[RendeR]

Poor Eddie George. :(
Why for art thou saying this?

[RendeR]

And Quinn's sister has mixed feelings yet again as her boyfriend AJ HAWK crushes her poor lil brother.


Whooot. love this defense.

[cthomer5000]

Why for art thou saying this?
He was on at halftime. I just felt bad about how quickly he hit the wall and was out of the NFL.

[pbot]

As an impartial observer (I dislike both teams)...

What the heck is wrong with Bob Carpenter's forehead? When they showed him in profile before the game I expected him to order the roast duck with the mango salsa.

Musberger is driving me crazy everytime he says "AJ Hock". It's HAWK, you nitwit. HAWWWWWWWWK.

[biological warrior]

Come on ND Lets score on this drive.

[mauchow]

Quinn's sister is not ugly.

[biological warrior]

Good drive by Notre Dame. Lets keep it up and Go D.

[cthomer5000]

oops... should have let Flutie kick the XP.

[biological warrior]

TD Notre Dame!

[cthomer5000]

I say it's a fumble. It took two steps before fucking up when trying to tuck the ball. I'm sure they're reviewing it thoug...

[Celeval]

TD Notre Dame!
Coming back... here's the review.

[ISiddiqui]

TD Notre Dame!Nope.

[timmynausea]

That looked like a fumble to me.

[MylesKnight]

ND doesn't get a call?? Do these officials know we are talking about Notre Fricking Dame here.. They always get the benefit of the doubt. ;)

[ISiddiqui]

LOL!

Though it was quite obviously an incomplete pass :D.

[RendeR]

ND doesn't get a call?? Do these officials know we are talking about Notre Fricking Dame here.. They always get the benefit of the doubt. ;)
Even the Notre Dame bias can't dispute an incomplete pass as fucking obvious as that one =)

Go BUCKEYES!!

[RendeR]

He was on at halftime. I just felt bad about how quickly he hit the wall and was out of the NFL.
Yeah I suppose I have to agree with you on that, I loved watching him play, the man was a tank. On the other hand, he carried the ball so many times and took such a pounding that I can sort of understand him wearing out earlier than most running backs.

he was a great one.

[RendeR]

HOLY hell, the ND bias is in full swing when it comes to holding calls though. Their offensive line is gang raping the D-linemen and they aren't getting called for ANYTHING...gah.

[MylesKnight]

Don't care much for Oh-How I Spend So Much State, but I can't stand ND. They are the Duke Kzysechski's (or however you spell that) of College Football... You know, "On TV, more than Leave It To Beaver re-runs".. - Thank You Pete Gillen.

I believe this is the battle of the two biggest $$$$ spenders in College Football... Hey, based on that shouldn't these two be playing in the Title Game each year. :D

[st.cronin]

HOLY hell, the ND bias is in full swing when it comes to holding calls though. Their offensive line is gang raping the D-linemen and they aren't getting called for ANYTHING...gah.

Notre Dame is actually allowed to hold. It's a special rule.

[MylesKnight]

This one should be decided already.. Hopefully OSU puts this one away early in quarter number four.

[RendeR]

Don't care much for Oh-How I Spend So Much State, but I can't stand ND. They are the Duke Men's Hoops of College Football... You know, "On TV, more than Leave It To Beaver re-runs".. - Thank You Pete Gillen.

I believe this is the battle of the two biggest $$$$ spenders in College Football... Hey, based on that shouldn't these two be playing in the Title Game each year. :D
Not sure where you get this opinion of tOSU, the vast majority of their players come FROM Ohio, its not their fault that their home state is one of the greatest Football player creation machines in the country http://www.operationsports.com/fofc/images/smilies/cool.gif

[RendeR]

This one should be decided already.. Hopefully OSU puts this one away early in quarter number four.
Very true, without the two first haolf turnovers this game could well have been 35-7 at the half and we'd all be playing Civ-IV by now http://www.operationsports.com/fofc/images/smilies/biggrin.gif

[MylesKnight]

I actually didn't have any feelings at all for OSU until the a certain M. Clarett made his way to Columbus.

OSU Football is a big spender though (and a big revenue producer as well might I add)... Just check the stats... They are consistenly #1 in this category.

[Solecismic]

Okay, so there's this chick who looks like the love child of Mick Jagger and Jennifer Love Hewitt they keep showing. As usual, I'm watching with the sound off. Who is this person? Charlie Weis' hairdresser?

[mauchow]

Okay, so there's this chick who looks like the love child of Mick Jagger and Jennifer Love Hewitt they keep showing. As usual, I'm watching with the sound off. Who is this person? Charlie Weis' hairdresser?
A.J. Hawks girlfriend/Quinn's sister... Weird huh?

[JeeberD]

Okay, so there's this chick who looks like the love child of Mick Jagger and Jennifer Love Hewitt they keep showing. As usual, I'm watching with the sound off. Who is this person? Charlie Weis' hairdresser?

http://www.operationsports.com/fofc/showthread.php?t=45904

[st.cronin]

Okay, so there's this chick who looks like the love child of Mick Jagger and Jennifer Love Hewitt they keep showing. As usual, I'm watching with the sound off. Who is this person? Charlie Weis' hairdresser?


HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA

[RendeR]

Okay, so there's this chick who looks like the love child of Mick Jagger and Jennifer Love Hewitt they keep showing. As usual, I'm watching with the sound off. Who is this person? Charlie Weis' hairdresser?

that would be AJ Hawk's girlfriend, oh yeah, and Quinn's sister.

[Galaxy]

A.J. Hawks girlfriend/Quinn's sister... Weird huh?

It's a fricken college relationship, not like they are married and all grownup. She's ugly, annoying and seems pretty snobby. Plus, I want to watch football, not Blind Date.

[Solecismic]

A.J. Hawks girlfriend/Quinn's sister... Weird huh?

Okay, that's even dumber than the tennis people who thought it would be neat to constantly focus on Pete Sampras' fille du jour.

But tennis has steadily gotten more boring since they started allowing rackets the size of a billiard table, so at least I can understand the sentiment.

I thought maybe this chick had cured cancer, or was the next Lindsay Lohan. But no. She's boning a linebacker who wants to take her brother's head off. What drama!

[JeeberD]

She's boning a linebacker...

She-male?

[RendeR]

She-male?
Now now, just beacause Dallas sucks. its no reason to be bitter :)

[st.cronin]

Now now, just beacause Dallas sucks. its no reason to be bitter :)

He didn't sound bitter to me. He sounded EXCITED.

[dawgfan]

Musberger is driving me crazy everytime he says "AJ Hock". It's HAWK, you nitwit. HAWWWWWWWWK.
I'd like to hear from a linguist on this, but I'm unclear what the actual difference in pronunciation is supposed to be between "hock" and "hawk". Where I'm from there is no difference.

What makes this even more confusing is checking the dictionary.com site and cross-referencing their pronunciation guide - they list as examples for the sound associated with "hawk" things such as caught, paw, for, horrid and hoarse. Where I come from, the first two examples sound different than the last three - "caught" and "paw" would be pronounced with the same kind of "ahhh" sound you make at a visit to the doctor ("stick out your tongue and say..."). In attempting to imagine how these words would be pronounced similar to "for", "horrid" and "hoarse" I'd have to pronounce "caught" and "paw" with a heavy New York accent, pursing my lips as I pronounce the vowels.

I managed to find this entry on Wikipedia discussing this issue: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cot-caught_merger

[JeeberD]

Now now, just beacause Dallas sucks. its no reason to be bitter :)

I just didn't realize that women could bone their boyfriends (unless a strap-on is involved, of course)...

[cthomer5000]

That review will make that play a TD.

edit: and it is now indeed a TD.

[kingfc22]

That's a TD

[RendeR]

Yeah, he stuck it out just barely enough.

[RendeR]

I just didn't realize that women could bone their boyfriends (unless a strap-on is involved, of course)...This be true enough, I just gotta get my anti-cowboy agenda dealt with for the week ;)

[st.cronin]

Somebody should really be fired for ever thinking Justin Zwick was better than Troy Smith. It took me about 2 series of watching Smith to conclude that he was in a totally different league.

[cthomer5000]

OSU got a way with a huge hold on that play.

[kingfc22]

Ugh

[RendeR]

Oh BABY!!!

[kingfc22]

game over

[RendeR]

GAME

[RendeR]

OVER

[Philliesfan980]

Wow, the underrated Troy Smith really has played better during the 2nd half of the year. He's what a JR? Should be interesting to see if he declairs.

Quinn not coming up big in this game should hold off the Tom Brady comparisons until some point next year.

[JW]

Way to go, Buckeyes. Congratulations. And, btw, for all the talk ABC has been doing about Quinn, I would rather have the OSU QB on my side. Which takes nothing away from Quinn. He is a good one.

[Philliesfan980]

Way to go, Buckeyes. Congratulations. And, btw, for all the talk ABC has been doing about Quinn, I would rather have the OSU QB on my side. Which takes nothing away from Quinn. He is a good one.

Yeah, its good for ND fans out there, because this will pretty much make him come back for another year. If he blew up in this game, I could honestly see the NFL talent guys talking him into coming out this year. I think someone would take a chance on him in the top 10.

[st.cronin]

Congratulations Buckeye fans on winning the National Championship.

[Philliesfan980]

Its a shame that PSU didn't get a chance to play a quality opponent in a bowl game this year. OSU is going to be perceved to be the better team in the Big 10 this year because of this win.

[RendeR]

Its a shame that PSU didn't get a chance to play a quality opponent in a bowl game this year. OSU is going to be perceved to be the better team in the Big 10 this year because of this win.tOSU IS the better team in the conference, tougher schedule, same record. We win;)

[Philliesfan980]

tOSU IS the better team in the conference, tougher schedule, same record. We win;)


Haha. Forget about head to head ;)

[RendeR]

Haha. Forget about head to head ;)
Actually when you want to look at SoS you should ignore head to head games, yes PSU won their game, that doesn't make them a better team, it just means they won a single game, almost any team can win on any given day, I mean hell, even Mi-Shit-Gin won a few games this year ;)

Ignoring the PSU-tOSU game you'll see that tOSU had a more difficult schedule and came out with the same record, so overall tOSU is the better "team" in the conference. nationally, PSU got one on us this year and gets the bigger bowl game against a shit opponent. Lets hope the Lions don't blow it down there =)

[scooper]

Well, that one sucked. But oh well, on to 2006. My thoughts:

Ohio St. was a better team. Quinn and the offense played well. Smith and company played better. Troy Smith has improved week by week all season. He is vastly underrated, but I can understand based on his slow start and his suspension for off the field issues. If he keeps his head on straight, he can be a great QB.

This one hurts, but ND finished 9-3 and had a shot to catch one of the best teams in the country near the end. Expectations have risen over the season, but if you had given me this option preseason, I would have gladly taken it.

Tressel's first team five years ago was not nearly as good as his group on the field last night. He has risen the talent level and execution level immensely. I'm not so sure last night's team couldn't have beaten their O2 team.

Weis is recruiting like a madman and the play on the field and level of execution, in spite of last night, is still night and day from the last couple years. ND was not as talented as Ohio St. If Charlie continues to recruit the way he has so far, that will change over the next couple years. I'm still excited about the future of ND's program.

Congrats Buckeye fans. You've got a good team. It's frustrating to lose to you, because even my Buckeye friends admit the asshole quotient among your fan base is larger than most and I'm sure I'll be hearing it. But, if you can walk the walk....

The lead in to this game was fun here in Ohio. I hope we can meet up again in a couple years for a title game.

[biological warrior]

Well, that one sucked. But oh well, on to 2006. My thoughts:

Ohio St. was a better team. Quinn and the offense played well. Smith and company played better. Troy Smith has improved week by week all season. He is vastly underrated, but I can understand based on his slow start and his suspension for off the field issues. If he keeps his head on straight, he can be a great QB.

This one hurts, but ND finished 9-3 and had a shot to catch one of the best teams in the country near the end. Expectations have risen over the season, but if you had given me this option preseason, I would have gladly taken it.

Tressel's first team five years ago was not nearly as good as his group on the field last night. He has risen the talent level and execution level immensely. I'm not so sure last night's team couldn't have beaten their O2 team.

Weis is recruiting like a madman and the play on the field and level of execution, in spite of last night, is still night and day from the last couple years. ND was not as talented as Ohio St. If Charlie continues to recruit the way he has so far, that will change over the next couple years. I'm still excited about the future of ND's program.

Congrats Buckeye fans. You've got a good team. It's frustrating to lose to you, because even my Buckeye friends admit the asshole quotient among your fan base is larger than most and I'm sure I'll be hearing it. But, if you can walk the walk....

The lead in to this game was fun here in Ohio. I hope we can meet up again in a couple years for a title game. Well said! As soon as the last of the Davie recruits on Defense leave ND should be a good team. Saw alot of poor tackling and missed opportunities on defense. Hats off to the Buckeyes and, their speed.

[Mr. Wednesday]

Quinn not coming up big in this game should hold off the Tom Brady comparisons until some point next year. Without seeing what was going on in the secondary, I have a hard time pinning the loss on Quinn. He's got to be at least third (and possibly lower) on my hit list.

(Edit: Not to mention, in his last meaningful series, he led the team to a TD to put them back into the game, but the ineptitude of the defense [or, if you prefer, the execution of the OSU offense] denied him a chance to tie the game.)

[Mr. Wednesday]

The biggest contrast to me was how the coaches reacted to the defensive performance in the first couple of series. ND continued to only rush four despite the lack of success with the tactic (failing to get pressure on Smith and predictably breaking down in the secondary when he had all day to throw). OSU started blitzing and stunting linebackers to create pressure. The results were predictable. Throw in ND having one adequate cover corner, and there you are...

I have to say that the game developed pretty much the way I feared it would -- like Syracuse and Tennessee, OSU had a good enough defense to slow down the ND offense; unlike the aforementioned teams, OSU had a good enough offense to exploit ND's defensive weaknesses and win the ballgame. The Buckeyes were certainly the worst matchup ND faced all season -- I don't know if I can say that they're a better team than SC, but they had fewer weaknesses the Irish were capable of exploiting than the Trojans.

[scooper]

I'm going to revisit the Brady Quinn topic after looking over the stats. The guy hit 64% of his passes and threw for 294 yards. Plus, he committed no turnovers. Quinn showed well in this game. His biggest mistakes, I think, were some sacks due to either indecision or good coverage downfield.

Honestly, I think Quinn had a better game than Weis. Why they got away from Walker on the draws is beyond me. I don't think that kid will ever be an every down NFL back, but he is the protypical NFL third down back. Great vision for draws, good receiver and capable blocker.