A day later, Notre Dame coach Charlie Weis is talking about officiating
The game ended Saturday and Charlie Weis started barking at officials as they headed up the Michigan Stadium tunnel.
He wanted an explanation of the late game clock, which went from 11 seconds to nine after Michigan scored the game-winning touchdown in the Wolverines' 38-34 victory over Notre Dame.
"I actually asked that question, and they gave me an answer that I understand because it wasn't like I wasn't on top of it," Weis said during his Sunday press conference. "I didn't miss the two seconds now. What are we doing here? First it was one second. First it went from 11 to 10. Then I complained it went to nine. It went from 11 to 10 to 11 to nine.
"Maybe I shouldn't have said anything. Maybe we'd have one more second, throw a Hail Mary. Their answer to me was they thought that Theo (Riddick) tipped the ball in the field of play on the kick which would then start the clock. If he did, which I couldn't really tell whether he did or he didn't, so I'm going to take their word for it that that happened. So if he did and that's where the two seconds came from. Once again, maybe I shouldn't have complained and we would have had it would have been 10 instead of nine."
That wasn't the only problem Weis had with the officiating of Saturday's game. He still has an issue with the callback of Armando Allen's first half touchdown on a screen pass that was nullified on review because Allen apparently stepped out of bounds.
"I watched that tape a hundred times this morning, okay," Weis said. "Just like when I watched it when it happened, just like their two guys that were standing right on top of the play when it happened. From what I understand, the TV copy on top of it, I still haven't heard anyone tell me there's any evidence of Armando stepping out of bounds.
"The way I thought the rule is supposed to be, it's supposed to be conclusive evidence. I'm perturbed at that call."
He also seemed to indicate he felt the officials were flag-happy, calling a lot of holding penalties. And he also hinted that some of his players were punched in the face after plays during the game, things that would be personal fouls usually but not called Saturday.
Per his usual routine, he's sending plays to the Big Ten offices looking for explanations.
"I just send in plays. I don't make any formal complaints ever. I don't do it to anyone. I just send in plays," Weis said. "I'd say I'd like an explanation on these handful of plays. Just that handful is a little bit longer handful than it would normally be. It's not going to change. It never changes the outcome of a game. All you do is want an explanation, that's all."
Weis tried to couch his statements, though, because Notre Dame will have Big Ten officials working his game Saturday against Michigan State. Clearly, though, he wasn't happy.
"I have to be careful when I say this," Weis said. "But that game left a lot to be desired. I'm not blaming the officiating for the game."
Michael Rothstein covers University of Michigan sports for Annarbor.com. He can be reached at (734) 623-2558, by e-mail at michaelrothstein@annarbor.com or follow on Twitter @mikerothstein.
Comments
PrideLand
Tue, Sep 15, 2009 : 1:34 p.m.
Weis should not have went for 2 (not 1, but 2) deep pass plays on their final drive to run out the clock if he cared about 11 seconds. So, he has to blame the refs, because taking the blame for the loss could end his job!
justaxeme20
Mon, Sep 14, 2009 : 9:36 p.m.
You folks are tough....has anyone actually played or competed on this level? I thought it was a great game, especially in view of the fact it was just the 2nd '09 game for both teams. If it were a "blowout" who would care about individual plays, calls, etc... I agree with those who stated that the game was lost at the end and not won....but still it was one of the few recent collegiate games I watched from start to finish...yes, I've played in my share of games...once that was over, "spectating" just doesn't "get it" for me....but the game is in my blood.... Good luck to both teams in their continued '09 seasons.
scottyb029
Mon, Sep 14, 2009 : 5:39 p.m.
"I have to be careful when I say this," Weis said. "But that game left a lot to be desired. I'm not blaming the officiating for the game." Ya Charlie how about your game management and some of your play calling.....Explain that to the media...always looking in the wrong direction Charlie, oh and Allens Heel stepped on the line, I recorded the game and watched it over and over..remember pointing fingers....you always have 3 pointing back at you!! Michigan Rocked on Sat. End of story!!!!
UMthicknthin
Mon, Sep 14, 2009 : 5:19 p.m.
The whole world could see the mugging that was put on Graham, ND had a lot more that should have been called that weren't. I guess maybe the luck of the Irish just ran out. The only people I saw punching were ND players, and the showboating and taunting should have been called. He would have really been displeased if the refs would have called some of that. Watch the film Charlie.
DSGProdman
Mon, Sep 14, 2009 : 3:19 p.m.
Weis is complaining about the holding calls? He's out of his mind. I was screaming at my TV the entire second half. Brandon Graham was mugged on almost every play. Watch the film, Charlie. I couldn't understand why they weren't calling it. There was also an obvious hold on Roh right in front of the Michigan bench. Must be tough for Charlie to be in year five and lose to a transitional Michigan team that is seventy percent freshman and sophomores. I'm guessing this is the last time we face a "Charlie Weis" Notre Dame team.
DSGProdman
Mon, Sep 14, 2009 : 3:12 p.m.
Weis is complaining about the holding calls? He's out of his mind. I was screaming at my TV the entire second half. Brandon Graham was mugged on almost every play. Watch the film, Charlie. I couldn't understand why they weren't calling it. There was also an obvious hold on Roh right in front of the Michigan bench. Must be tough for Charlie to be in year five and lose to a transitional Michigan team that is seventy percent freshman and sophomores. I'm guessing this is the last time we face a "Charlie Weis" Notre Dame team.
Jon
Mon, Sep 14, 2009 : 1:42 p.m.
LAL(new york post staff writer)? You are out of your mind. You are obviously a Notre Dame luver and pathetic troll! Fatman was punked in the coaching department by RR, in fact he was schooled. Check out all the holding calls that were not called against ND, especially against Brandon Graham. It is beyond laughable. ND has no class, they taunted our fans, and got penalized, another example of poor coaching and an overload of arrogance! This team has nothing to be arrogant about, they have lost 15 games in the last two years prior to the start of the 09 season. Beating up Hawaii and Nevada is not the same thing as facing the athletes and passion of Michigan in the big house. The good thing is ND will fire "El Gordo" and hire a real coach who knows something about coaching. CW should go into sales, the con-job he perpetrated in South Bend in order to get this job was masterful> I hope the University enjoys paying this shyster the millions it will take to remove his odoriferous presence from the campus. GO BLUE!
wolver4ever
Mon, Sep 14, 2009 : 1:40 p.m.
In or out of bounds, the officals are human and they do the best they can but that is not what lost the game. I first down inteh 4th quarter or at least run the ball so UM has to use it's time outs. UM would not have had enough time to make that last drive. Charlie needs to look closer to home to find out what went wrong
bigblue#7
Mon, Sep 14, 2009 : 12:53 p.m.
If you watch the replay in High Def. you will see the white grass spring back up after he stepped on it!!!!!! They made the right call after Michigan had to call a timeout to get them to look at it. cry me a river ND.
tulsatom
Mon, Sep 14, 2009 : 11:54 a.m.
I agree 100% with Txmaizenblue. The refs are human but overall did a good job. If Weis and his Weis guys had made better playcalling, Michigan wouldn't have had enough time to go down the field and score the final touchdown. ND had better talent but Michigan wanted the game more and played harder.
Allin4michigan
Mon, Sep 14, 2009 : 10:59 a.m.
Did the Notre Dame players get punched in the same way Weis was slapped in the face by Sparty a couple of years ago?
aareader
Mon, Sep 14, 2009 : 10:50 a.m.
When it is stated it is not about money.... It ALWAYS is. Soooo When one hears "I'm not blaming the officiating for the game"....
FW Flyer
Mon, Sep 14, 2009 : 10:26 a.m.
TX, thanks for my laugh of the day. Any Grimace reference is classic, espeically when directed at Notre Dame.
michboy40
Mon, Sep 14, 2009 : 9:38 a.m.
Charlie's last qoute says is "is not blaming the officiating for the game"....hmmm, that's not what it sounds like to me. Also, he is inferring that speaking his mind will hurt him next week against sparty. This says a lot about why ND is where it is right now.
OkBlue
Mon, Sep 14, 2009 : 8:38 a.m.
I agree with fasteddie. Weiss knew Michigan was going to struggle last year and said he didn't to hear any Michigan excuses. Now look at him lol. I don't think the dude was out of bounds, but I'm crying in my coffee over it. He is not blaming officiating. HA! Just call him Wiess, The Excuse Maker!
Lal
Mon, Sep 14, 2009 : 7:39 a.m.
Clearing the officiating was a one sided game. It seemed like everytime Notre Dame had a big play, a yellow flag would come out or their would be a review. All the networks including ESPN said that the run back for a touchdown that was called out of bounce had no conclusive evidence to reverse the call. Then at the end of the game the officials ran off the field without an explanation and wouldn't dare face Coach Weis. Clearly this is an embarrasement to the Big Ten officiating crew. New York Post writer
NittanyFTW
Mon, Sep 14, 2009 : 6:41 a.m.
Welcome to Ann Abor.
KenCooper
Mon, Sep 14, 2009 : 6:20 a.m.
Gastric bypass gone bad - blame the doctors. Clausen's hair - blame his mother. Painful press conference coming soon - blame the AD. When your house won't sell - blame the realtor.
Navy MaiznBlue
Mon, Sep 14, 2009 : 5:11 a.m.
ND got "Notre Damed" on Saturday, and Weiss is mad about it. Not to say Michigan didn't deserve to win, but the breaks did go our way that day, karma is a very unpleasant lady some days!!
stevieboy
Mon, Sep 14, 2009 : 1:17 a.m.
I've said it before this is Weiss last year. He clearly showed that he didn't have good game mgmt at all. I mean how long does it take to call a play in from the sideline. I have never seen this many delay of games before. It shows that he was out coached because he was indecisive. He is way out of his league right now. Head coaching and Coordinating at the same time is not his forte. Which explains the delay of games. His team is clearly not diciplined neither because they were to busy taunting the crowd instead playing. There offensive line was clearly holding and grabbing the players by the neck because they were getting beat off the snap. The D-line may not have been stronger but they were quicker!
tomhagan
Sun, Sep 13, 2009 : 11:01 p.m.
PS: Charlie Weiss needs to get over himself and look in the mirror at a few things: 1) Those 4 holding calls...ND was VERY LUCKY that there were not more, many more. ND's OL was tackling BG and the rest of Michigan's OL all day. There could have been a dozen holding calls, including one in their end zone that should have been a safety. NDs OL stunk and could only tackle to get an advantage. That is a coaching issue. 2) Weiss needs to coach his players not to excessively celebrate. Michigan was MUCH more disciplined under Rich Rod. 3) Weiss needs to coach his KO return kid to not touch a ball that is rolling towards him. 2 seconds went off the clock AS they should. 4) Weiss is dirty to accuse Michigan players of being dirty. His players were just as dirty if not more. Check out the photos on mgoblue.com and you will see tons of dirty play by ND players, including the OL that is trying to rip BGs head off. Weiss sucks as a HC. Pure and simple. The fact that he is pointing fingers, making excuses and accusations is further proof that he lacks character too. It shows in his team's play.
Txmaizenblue
Sun, Sep 13, 2009 : 10:30 p.m.
Hey Grimace! How about focusing on your job - instead of calling out other people's job! Funny you should be complaining about 2 seconds, when you had the "golden" opportunity to run MANY seconds off the clock by running the ball instead of lobbing bombs when you were already ahead with about 2 minutes left to play. YOU LOST THE GAME, NOT THE OFFICIALS. This guy was the offensive coordinator on a Super Bowl team???
Blue52
Sun, Sep 13, 2009 : 10:19 p.m.
I reviewed the tape only 4 times and I could see that the heal of his foot covered the white line in both replays. I also noticed Cissoko getting the back of his head wacked by the forearm of # 72. This happpened in the south end zone after ND scored.
tomhagan
Sun, Sep 13, 2009 : 10:13 p.m.
Ironic that this is the guy who told an alumni group last year about "having to listen to Michigan's excuses" and a year later... he is full of them himself. I suppose that is what you do when you screwed up and your job is on the line...I dunno..
fasteddie2009
Sun, Sep 13, 2009 : 10:10 p.m.
Charlie was out coached big. GoBlue
Paul C
Sun, Sep 13, 2009 : 10:09 p.m.
I was at the game and I can't tell you how many times ND's line held our big old #55... arms around his neck and face that one could see from the stands. Weis needs to find an out for the loss... The ND are not happy about this one... RR has done in two years what Weis hasn't been able to do in five. All I can say is that it was a great game and that stadium was loud! Loudest I have ever heard it! Go blue! I will leave on saying Forcier gave us something special that game. What an athlete to be able to move the ball like he did on the final drive! Oh and that was Weis's second year in a row losing to our defensive coordinator... He was with Syracuse last year! "I-rish I was a wolverine!".
StarZone
Sun, Sep 13, 2009 : 10:06 p.m.
I actually agree with him on the called back touchdown. The overhead looked like he might be out, but the sideline view definitely looked inconclusive. Maybe they had a different angle in the review booth that ABC didn't show...
blusage
Sun, Sep 13, 2009 : 9:34 p.m.
I don't understand how a player can punch another player wearing a face mask in the face without it being noticed? How do even REACH the face without contorting your hand, let alone reach it with a fist?
tater
Sun, Sep 13, 2009 : 9:18 p.m.
What's even funnier about Weis is that Notre Dame gets so many homer calls that when the game is called down the middle he thinks he is getting cheated. Maybe if his players were more concerned with team play instead of taunting and individual demonstrations, ND would have won that game. RR outcaoched Charlie Weis; he won with a team that is two years behind ND physically. Whenever a UM player scored, he gave the ball to the ref and celebrated with his teammates. Whenever an ND player scored, he taunted and did a POC dance. That is a direct result of coaching, and a large part of why RR is a much better coach than Weis. Weis shouldn't despair, though; he could still beat RR in an eating contest.
tater
Sun, Sep 13, 2009 : 9:12 p.m.
Funny how "I'm not blaming the officiating for the game" means the exact opposite of what it says.