Notre Dame up 31-28, 7 seconds remaining vs. USC

October 15, 2005. Simply the most amazing football game I’ve ever seen (on television).

One of the greatest football rivalries ever – USC vs. Notre Dame.

“Irish quarterback Brady Quinn had given Notre Dame a 31-28 lead with 2:02 left, dashing around right end for a 5-yard touchdown, extending his right arm across the goal line with the ball.”

With just 2 minutes remaining, they showed a long list of winning streaks that were ended in South Bend.

For a moment the Irish, dressed for success in kelly green jerseys, thought they had added another stunning upset to their illustrious history. Leinart scrambled from inside the 5, launched himself toward the end zone but was stopped short and the ball was sent flying out of bounds.

The clock kept ticking down to 0:00. Notre Dame’s fans rushed the field

We saw Notre Dame winning, 31-28, and time was up: 0:00.

but after the officials huddled, 7 seconds was put back on the clock and the ball was spotted inside the 1. …
Leinart pushed and spun his way into the end zone with 3 seconds left to cap a chaotic finish and No. 1 USC escaped with its 28th straight victory, a back-and-forth 34-31 win Saturday over No. 9 Notre Dame in a game that lived up to the hype.

Three seconds. Final score: USC 34, Notre Dame 31.

I was never into football before. But football really makes things awesome when you come to USC.

Fight on!

11 Responses to “Notre Dame up 31-28, 7 seconds remaining vs. USC”

  1. Sanketh Shetty says:

    Awesome man!!! Some one was asking me how I could sit through such a long game!!! I guess his question was answered today. :) Totally cool.

  2. Due to my own inclinations, I couldn’t decide right up to the end who I wanted to win. But I got to see exactly what I wanted in terms of a high scoring and exciting game.

  3. Wes says:

    people here are extremely pissed about your unfair win.

    however, that will just make the game between us, worth more. We’ll be sure to get revenge.

  4. Elliot Lee says:

    Hi Wes. It sounds like people there are “extremely pissed” rather often. Anyway, if you saw and/or read about the game, you should know it wasn’t “unfair.”

    Take it easy =)

  5. THE HOG says:

    Let me say that even though I dont follow either team, but follow college football religiously, the officials did drop the ball on this one, the game was over! And as usual USC gets by slightly, there is only so much of that you can do, it will catch up. Enjoy it and I cant wait until they get robbed and then hear everone complain from USC’s end saying that it was unfair. Trust me, I sat with some very key individuals that know their football and there are people in trouble for what happen, you just wont hear about it! Take Care and hold on for that unfair loss…..ND was robbed!!!

  6. zippy says:

    When a ball goes out of bounds the clock must stop. It’s pretty simple. How can those “key individuals” call it any other way? I’d love to hear thier arguments.

  7. THE HOG says:

    The argument was simple and that is why the officials had a problem with it. And as a matter of fact even added too much time to the clock. The officials I was sitting with had no problem with it. The game was over! Period! Lets be real and admit it….People make mistakes and officials are not perfect. That is why some hold their jobs and others dont. Because of poor calls….You will never hear about it but look for them in the seasons to come.

    Take Care and with love…..

  8. Jerry Meng says:

    Question: Was Matt Leinart knocked out of bounds at the one yard line in which his fumble was already out of bounds; or did Matt Leinart fall within bounds and then fumble causing the ball to go out of bounds? If the latter, do NCAA rules state that a ball fumbled in bounds and then goes out of bounds a reason to stop the clock?

  9. Prashant says:

    Once and for all, Leinart fumbled the ball in mid-air while in bounds, due to helmet-to-ball contact from an ND player. The ball sailed directly out of bounds even before Leinart landed on the ground, so the official clock should have – and did – stop. The clock that you see on the scoreboard is not the official game clock, and the referees were so busy spotting the ball correctly they did not signal to the scoreboard keeper to stop the clock. Furthermore, calling a timeout when you do not have any is not a penalty in college football.

    Sorry if you ND fans feel “robbed” on this one, but you and I both know that wasn’t the case. You should have stopped us on 4th and 9, not whine about the refs giving away the game on the 1 yard line.

  10. ND says:

    Uh…let me just say that ND had the game one, and ya they should’ve stopped USC. But I find it kinda funny that USC had to cheat to win…let’s see. Ya, I believe that aiding the run is illegal. Also, what about Leinert’s progress being stopped. I guess all of you just let that stuff slip your mind. It doesn’t matter what any of you say in reply. You are all a bunch of guys who think you know everything about football and that you’re so right about it all. Well get over it b/c all of your replies are opinions b/c you’re USC fans. Until you find a neutral person you’ll all disagree with me. Notre Dame wins that game if there is a decent crew of refs..over and out!

  11. I Killed Fat Charlie. says:

    the truth is, USC won the game. unfortunately u cannot go back and change that. they didn’t play a better game, but our offense came through when they needed to. and it was enough to stop notre dame. the clock stops when the ball goes out of bounds. and all those people who say it was lucky he fumbled… if you check the replay. Leinart ends up IN the endzone at the end of the play. so if he didnt fumble or did fumble it doesnt matter.

    penalties called for assisting the ball carrier are rarely called at all. and you cannot review for penalties. stop whining.

    however. i have to agree that Oklahoma cn whine at their officiating screw up.

    they got robbed.

    and further notes.

    it really doesnt look like Notre Dame is going to get revenge… i think they will lose three or four times this season. they look WEAK. Brady Quinn is not going to win the Heisman. and it doesnt look like they will win a national championship any time soon.

    usc ohio state for the fiesta bowl.

Leave a Reply to Prashant Cancel reply