SOUTH BEND - It was an emotional roller coaster ride for Notre Dame coach Lou Holtz. And it only took a matter of seconds.

When Autry Denson ran a punt back 80 yards Saturday against Ohio State and cut the Buckeye lead from 29-16 to 29-22 with 3:35 left in the game, the Irish mentor was as excited as he has been in his 11-year tenure with the team.

But when the play was called back because of a holding call on Ty Goode at the beginning of the amazing run, he was probably as low as he has ever been.

"When Autry Denson ran the punt back, I don't know when I have been more excited," Holtz said. "When it was called back, all chances of winning the game were over. The better football team won this game, make no mistake about it."

When Denson was celebrating in the end zone with his teammates, Holtz took a look down the field for penalty flags; he saw none. He took a second look a few seconds later and saw the yellow hanky lying on the 20-yard line.

The play was nullified, and the Irish chances at a national championship with it.

"The mistake on the penalty was disastrous," Holtz said. "You can't have mistakes like that and win the big games. It seems like every time we break one, it breaks my heart late in the game. All we wanted was a chance to win the game, and it would have been interesting..."

There was no guarantee that the Irish could have still completed the comeback, down by six, but the unluck of the Irish continued to claim the team, who had been out of the national championship race in September the past three seasons. And another special team heartbreak (remember Rocket Ismail's punt return in the 1991 Cotton Bowl) cost Holtz and the Irish.

"If the punt return goes, you never know, but no excuses," he said."We are all hurt right now. I just hope we can handle it with some class and go on from here."

The win by the Buckeyes also turned around two tendencies as Holtz doesn't normally lose to another team ranked in the top five at home (going 8-1 in his career) and Buckeye coach John Cooper doesn't usually win the big game (1-5 in bowl games and no Rose Bowl appearances).

"It was a great victory for the Ohio State football program," Cooper said. "It doesn't get much better than this. There aren't too many teams that come into this environment and do this against an outstanding Notre Dame team."

Ohio State won this game up front, stopping the patented Irish running attack and opening up gaping holes on the offensive line behind All-American tackle Orlando Pace.

"I can't say enough about the offensive line," Cooper said. "I think we pretty much controlled the tempo of the game.

"Once we lined up and started to play with Notre Dame, I felt like we were as good as them, maybe better," he said. "You have to stop their running game or you are not going to win the game. Lou is going to line up and run the football until you stop them."

And Holtz knew from the beginning that it might be a long day for the Irish.

"That was the poorest warm-up I have ever seen our team have," Holtz said. "It wasn't right. I could sense something wasn't right."

And he was right. [[In-content Ad]]