Harbaugh Complaining About a “Fumble”
Jim Harbaugh opened his post game comments on Saturday night whinning and complaining about the interference call on the punt at the end of the first half. Here’s what Harbaugh had to say.
The punt, maybe I’ll be swayed to think differently after I see a replay, but from what I saw on the field, I still can’t get over that. That was a really bad call. Should have been a fumble, our ball, picked up, ran back for a touchdown. Did you guys see it differently? Maybe not. But that’s it.
Well Jim, when you watch the replay you will see that the ball NEVER even touched a Notre Dame player. It hit your player. The same player that was called for interfering with the fair catch. Sergio Brown did bump into Armando Allen, but that is irrelevant because neither Brown of Allen touched the ball. Rather, the ball bounced off the chest of your player so the only thng you could argue was that Notre Dame shouldn’t have been given the extra 15 yards.
Not to mention that even had Allen touched the ball it would have been considered a muffed punt and it could not have been advanced as I understand the rules. So… even if Allen had touched the ball – which he didn’t – the best case scenario for Stanford would have been their ball wherever it was recovered. They couldn’t have returned it for a touchdown as Harbaugh suggested.
So to answer your question Jim, yes, I saw the play much differently than you did. I hope when he addresses the media tomorrow he says something about being wrong and apologizes to the refs for that. The same refs that let his players get away with multiple late hits throughout the game including the one where a Stanford linebacker shoved Clausen back to the ground after he was clearly down after sliding during a run.
Frank Vitovitch has been Co-Owner and Editor in Chief of UHND.com since joining forces with Kyle Flavin in 1999. Since that time, he has written over 2,000 articles covering Notre Dame football, recruiting, and basketball. He also works with all staff and external writers on all articles published on UHND.com. Frank's love for Notre Dame football started at a young age watching Rocket Ismail give opposing coaches ulcers in the late 1980's. By day Frank works in marketing and holds a degree in Digital Media from Drexel University. Frank's work has been cited by online/print editions of NBC Sports, ESPN, and Sports Illustrated and has been quoted on air by ESPN's Collin Cowherd. He's conducted interviews with Notre Dame legends Rocket Ismail, Randy Kinder, Lee Becton, Reggie Brooks, Michael Stonebreaker, and Ned Bolcar among others over his 20+ years of covering Notre Dame football. He's also been published in the print edition of USA Today Sports Weekly and the USA Today College Football Preview multiple times. Other Published Works/Citations for Frank Three Reasons Notre Dame Will Beat Alabama - USA Today Notre Dame Suspends WR Kevin Stepherson, RB C.J. Holmes Indefinitely - Bleacher Report Notre Dame / Ohio State Fiesta Bowl Preview - Eleven Warriors Brace Yourself: The Fighting Irish are Relevant Again - Sports on Earth Interviews with the Enemy: A Q&A with Frank Vitovitch of UHND - Yahoo! Sports Five Good Minutes: Notre Dame Football Preview With UHND.com - BC Interruption Vicious Electronic Questioning with UHND - MGO Blog
Hey coach, did you seen anybody on the ND sideline throwing a hissy-fit last year when two of our TD’s were wiped off the board?
By rule the refs made the right call.Since the ball hit the Stanford man he impeded Allen from catching the ball.Hence 15 yd. penalty crybaby.
Harbaugh the bawler, jumping around like a baboon and throwing things? I am glad Standford is stuck with him, the good news is he had to leave ND’s stadium when the game was over.
Who can afford an emotional tsunami on the sidelines? Sure hope they have a strategic supply of “depends” in California, they might run out.
Jim is a competitor but has never controlled his emotions. That does not bode well as a leader of very impressionable 18-20 year olds. You can see the lack of discipline between pre-game mouth-offs to the national standings for penalties. You see him throwing things on the sideline, blaming refs for losing and dirty helmet-leading hits. I question if that is really the image that Stanford wants to represent its university. Someone will eventually tell him to tone it down and act responsibly. He seems better suited to coaching at a “football factory” where no one cares if players are in trouble and what image the team projects-places like Miami, Alabama, USC or Florida. He will eventually run amuck of Stanford.
Harbaugh, Complaining? never! its not like we saw that the whole game, stay on your own sidelines, quit throwing your stuff all around the place, and ESPECIALLY dont throw your stuff at your own players
A true Meatchicken man in the model of Llllloyd Carrrr.
I was at this game and saw the same play Harbaugh was whining about. I didn’t need a replay to see that it never touched an Irish player. Harbaugh has sure brought some class to this Stanford team. What a jerk. I can’t wait until we play them next year. I hope Weis runs it up.
I am so pumped up right now! CRANK ME UP! Respect. Clausen owned. F’ the haters/doubters on this site. You know who you are. Go Irish
Seriously? All I saw was a bunch of “####’S” on Card U. Jim H. what kinda of camp you wanna run?