(Photo by Jonathan Daniel/Getty Images)
Charlie Weis must feel as if the walls are closing in on him.
Sure, his team is 2-1 and lost in the last 11 seconds to an undefeated and ranked opponent. Still, it somehow seems like the breaks are going against the Notre Dame coach.
The opening game was a breeze, and maybe falsely reinforced that the Notre Dame defense would be equal to its offensive counterpart in a 35-0 beating of Nevada.
Against Michigan, not only was the defense a sieve, but Weis' questionable coaching decisions down the stretch clearly factored into the Irish loss.
In Week Three, it took a lucky interception to prevent another Notre Dame fourth quarter collapse. Again, there were questionable decisions made along the way.
Notre Dame opened by tearing through the Michigan State defense like a bullet through tissue paper, scoring twice before breaking a sweat.
On Notre Dame's third possession, however, Weis decided to run two plays from the wildcat formation, breaking from everything that worked on the previous possessions leading to the first surrendered sack of the year on 3rd-and-25.
Quickly Michigan State gained momentum, and for the rest of the first half gained control of the game.
Luckily for Weis, quarterback Jimmy Clausen had another gargantuan game, and Michigan State made the big mistake and the big moment and allowed the Irish off the hook.
Just prior to Kirk Cousins finding Kyle McCarthy to seal the game, Weis' life must have flashed before his eyes. Cousins overthrew a wide open State running back in the end zone that more than likely would have sent the Irish to defeat.
That balls flight must have felt like an eternity for Weis. His very legacy could be hanging in the balance. He must have flashed back to everything odd that has happened in the last two games to bring him here:
Several phantom holding penalties, personal foul calls that both extended opponents drives and killed Irish drives, a dropped interception that miraculously landed in the arms of a receiver...
Mostly he had to be thinking of the play that ended stand-out receiver Michael Floyd's season.
Late in the second quarter, Floyd caught what appeared to be a go-ahead touchdown in the right corner of the end zone before falling out of bounds and landing hard, snapping his left clavicle.
Puzzlingly the referee near the play signaled "incomplete," and despite every video replay showing Floyd with possession of the ball and two feet in bounds—needing only one—before falling to the ground the call was upheld by video replay.
As the pass from Cousins floated to Spartan running back Larry Caper with no Irish defenders within 20 yards, Weis had to be haunted by the non-touchdown. Notre Dame settled for a field goal to pull within one at the half, and was holding on by only a three-point margin late in the fourth.
It seemed that at worst Michigan State would kick a game-tying field goal on its final possession. With the ghosts of a week ago still lingering, there wasn't a soul in Notre Dame Stadium that didn't believe that Larry Caper was going to haul the pass in for a touchdown.
Had Floyd's catch been correctly called a touchdown, the Spartans would have needed a touchdown to tie the game. Had Floyd not been injured, Notre Dame would stand a much better chance in a potential overtime period.
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