Of Bye Weeks and Youngsters

In case you haven't realized it yet, Notre Dame has a week off before playing the Naval Academy, and that means an extra week to regroup and gameplan among other things. Weis had some interesting statements in his latest press conference found here, but for those of you who read too much during mid terms, the Nasties crew will try to summarize.

Weis has used the bye week in past years as a chance to talk to all of the seniors with a year of eligibility left, and this year is no different. Because student-athletes at ND must apply for a fifth year, Charlie wants to wait until his players do so before saying who's staying, but it sounded like Maurice Crum Jr. might be interested in playing another year, which is good news for Domers.

Now that the team is no longer bowl eligible, Weis says that he will begin working some of the younger players in more. Expect linemen Taylor Devor, Chris Stewart, and Thomas Bemenderfer to see some more snaps next week.

On some of the younger players: Weis praised Duval Kamara and Robby Parris for their development as receivers, but still issued some props to speedster Golden Tate, adding that he too is developing quickly. However, perhaps the most encouraging youngster has been running back Armando Allen. Charlie commented that for the first time, Allen has shown the speed in the game that he shows in practice.

Unless something dramatic happens in practice, Sharpley will get the nod against Navy. Weis said that it would be unfair to pull someone for losing against USC because "a lot of people lose to USC."

An increased emphasis on minimizing penalties seemed to pay off against the Trojans: the Irish were only flagged twice.

Trevor Laws is continuing his All-American year. His 66 tackles are not only the most on the team, but the most in the nation by a defensive lineman, but don't forget about another senior on the defense. I've been hard on Zibby at times this year, but he's been playing well the last few games, or at least well enough to be named a quarterfinalist for the Lott Trophy. Nice work guys.

Despite a poor performance on the field this year, the Irish have been tearing it up off the field in recruiting. In addition to five star WR Michael Floyd (video highlight), the Irish also landed RB Jonas Gray over the weekend. Experts expected Floyd to commit to Notre Dame, but Gray was somewhat of a shocker because he decommitted from Nebraska to select us. The craziest part is that he left Nebraska because they were having a bad season! Ranked as the top prospect out of Michigan and the 3rd best running back overall by rivals, this guy is a beast and is definitely a good pickup.

That's it from the Nasties crew for today. Go Irish.