Needless to say Brian Kelly is unhappy about the penalty call that cost his team a victory Saturday night. Notre Dame had fourth and goal on the Florida State 2 yard line, Corey Robinson caught what would be the game winning pass but an offensive pass interference call negated it. It was a pick play. Three receivers bunched, two receivers, Will Fuller and C.J. Prosise push into the end zone leaving Robinson wide open. The play looks very similar to Notre Dames first touchdown pass, including Robinson catching the pass. No penalty was called on that one just on the same play that decides the game.
Kelly doesn't seem to be optimistic about getting an explanation. "We'll have our conversations with the supervisor of officials for the ACC here a little bit later this afternoon and I'm sure we'll get even less clarification."
Why not call the penalty in the first quarter bit then call it when the game is on the line? Was it the ACC officials taking care of one of their own teams? Would they have thrown the flag if it was FSU running the play? Probably not. They let the pushing and shoving go when the game isn't on the line and change the outcome when it is. Officials shouldn't directly change the outcome of a game. If they wanted to do things by the book why wasn't a penalty called on FSU cornerback P.J. Williams who took his helmet off right after the catch was waved off. Taking your helmet off in the field of play should draw a flag. I suppose they just missed that one.
"There's great disappointment, but they know that," Kelly said of his players. "You never want to let a game be decided by a referee. You want to control the game yourself, and what happened at the end was out of our control. We feel like we did the things necessary and we've got to be able to control finishes, and that means make a couple more plays.
Brian Kelly quotes from ESPN.com
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