Kelly’s Challenge -- Notre Dame vs. Stanford

No one on the SAS staff noted the time of the Kelly Challenge.

No one on the staff taped the game.

Reprimands are in order and were issued.

The official Notre Dame play-by-play statistics do not include coach’s challenges.

Maybe they should.

We think it happened in middle of the first quarter on a referee ball-spot that gave Stanford a first down.

Are we wrong?

Kelly lost the challenge.  He lost a time-out.  He had no more challenges for the rest of the game.  Stanford was awarded a first down.

That’s not what is important.

College coaches get one challenge.

The unwritten rule, the conventional wisdom, the common sense, the smart coaching philosophy says “SAVE IT FOR SOMETHING IMPORTANT”

Here are the three examples of when most college coaches decide to challenge a call:

1. WHEN IT EFFECTS THE SCORE.

2. WHEN IT EFFECTS A CHANGE OF POSSESSION BY INTERCEPTION OR FUMBLE.

3. VERY LATE IN THE GAME WHEN IT EFFECTS A CRITICAL DOWN AND DRIVE.

Those that have Brian Kelly’s private e-mail, please pass this on to him.

GO IRISH. BEAT THE EAGLES