Fans Baffled By Late Hit Call That Extended Key Notre Dame Drive vs. Indiana

This was a close one.

Riley Leonard during No. 3 Notre Dame's CFP first-round game against No. 9 Indiana on Dec. 20, 2024. / Matt Cashore-Imagn Images

With 7:01 left in the third quarter of its first-round College Football Playoff game against No. 3 Notre Dame, No. 9 Indiana briefly had the Fighting Irish right where it wanted them.

On third-and-14 on the Hoosiers' 24-yard line, Notre Dame quarterback Riley Leonard was forced into an awkward rollout and stuffed for no gain—until the officials flagged Indiana defensive lineman James Carpenter for hitting Leonard out of bounds.

The call gave the Fighting Irish a free 15 yards—which they eventually turned into a 33-yard field goal—and upset Hoosiers coach Curt Cignetti.

Curt Cignetti was not happy with this late hit penalty 😳 pic.twitter.com/2fLPmL4AMi

— ESPN College Football (@ESPNCFB) December 21, 2024

Fans at home had much to say about it as well.

Former NFL defensive end J.J. Watt insisted that Leonard was still in the field of play when Carpenter hit him.

That was not a late hit.

The QB was still in play when he initiated contact.

Pretty clearly.

— JJ Watt (@JJWatt) December 21, 2024

A number of fans commented on how frequently officials ignore the letter of the law when judging late hits (though to be fair, some probably err on the side of safety).

IF YOU HAVE NOT TOUCHED OUT OF BOUNDS BY RULE YOU HAVE NOT BEEN HIT LATE OUT OF BOUNDS

How many times must we do this

— Matt Mitchell (@olboyunclemitch) December 21, 2024

Hard to have a late hit out of bounds when the player wasn’t out of bounds yet.

— Adam Lunt (@AdamLunt817) December 21, 2024

The word "soft" was thrown around.

Such a weak late hit call. So soft

— Jacob Infante (@jacobinfante24) December 21, 2024

Meanwhile, Notre Dame coach Marcus Freeman was none too pleased with Carpenter.

Marcus Freeman yelling at the Indiana player who hit Riley late out of bounds.

I love it.

— Mike Singer (@MikeTSinger) December 21, 2024

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