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 Mistakes cost Irish chance at upset bid
Posted: Tuesday September 07, 1999 03:24 PM
By Brian Kessler
South Bend, Indiana (U-WIRE) -- The Irish shot themselves in the foot Saturday. Costly turnovers, unnecessary penalties and poor clock management resulted in a disappointing 26-22 loss to the Wolverines at Michigan Stadium. "I knew what the emotion would be in the football stadium with 111,000 people," head coach Bob Davie said. "That was a hard game. It was a battle, so yes, I saw two good football teams battling, and one team didn't play extremely smart, and that team didn't win." The Irish coughed up the ball four times and lost it twice. Quarterback Jarious Jackson also overthrew Dan O'Leary resulting in a fourth quarter interception by Michigan's Tommy Hendricks. "We didn't play smart," Davie said. "When you turn the ball over three times, you're going to have a hard time winning." Jackson also had a difficult time pitching the ball, as Michigan's pursuit played havoc on the Irish option attack. "I thought Jarious played his heart out," Davie said. "Anybody who watched that game and focused on those bad pitches and that interception probably hasn't been in that situation themselves. Jarious played his butt off. "Did Jarious play smart all the time? No," Davie continued. "When Jarious threw that interception, he'll be the first to tell you the ball slipped a little bit. But I like his effort. He kept us in the game and I thought he played well." Jackson had a career-game throwing the ball. He completed 18-of-29 passes for 302 yards, but also was sacked four times, including once in the final minute of play, dashing Irish hopes of a comeback. Michigan's Dhani Jones brought down Jackson for a 10-yard loss which kept the clock ticking. "I saw the whole time they brought the free safety blitz from the weak side and we ran a route behind it, but the thing is I should have thrown it away," Jackson said. "They came up on me quick and we wasted five or six seconds by taking the sack." Two 15-yard penalties also plagued the Irish late in the game. Bobby Brown had a controversial celebration penalty following the Irish's 2-point conversion which put them ahead 22-19. "You can't expect to come up here and beat Michigan with silly mistakes like that," Davie said. "I don't blame Bobby Brown. I blame myself." Anthony Thomas returned the ball to the Michigan 42-yard line on the ensuing kickoff. The Wolverines took advantage of the short field and safety Ron Israel's late hit. "We had the celebration penalty at the end, and then have the late hit, you're not going to win," the head coach said. "I take responsibility for it." Israel was penalized 15 yards for a personal foul after tackling Shawn Thompson once he had already stepped out of bounds. This mistake proved costly, as Michigan drove down the field and eventually scored on Thomas' 1-yard run with 1 minute, 48 seconds left to play. "We made some stupid mistakes like hitting guys when they were already out of bounds and a couple of other foolish things which allowed them to drive down the field," Jackson said. The sack by Jones and Notre Dame's inability to reach the first-down marker on the final play of the game sealed the fate for the Irish. Jackson completed a pass to Raki Nelson for a 19-yard gain, but the Irish didn't get a favorable spot and time expired. "That was disappointing," Davie said. "There was some confusion over whether that was a first down. We made a mistake there. We should have gotten the ball to the stakes." All things considered, the Irish battled and kept themselves in the game when it was needed. If the Irish had just eliminated a few of their costly errors, they may have been able to change the outcome of the game.
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