Charlie's Nasties

IBG: the Aftermath of DRob

2010-09-16T19:30:00.005-04:00

Almost the entire emotional narrative that was the Michigan game can be retold through the quarterback position. There was the authoritative first drive by Crist before his bizarre injury. There was the flea-flicker by Reese followed by an obviously inexperienced Nate Montanta. The second coming! More points by Crist! But in the end, the talented Denard Robinson dismantled the Irish entirely by himself.

So where does that leave us heading into the weekend? Was it a game of flukes with a strange injury and freakish opponent? Or are the echoes being woken similar to those of recent rather than historic coaching regimes? We Never Graduate helps tackle the Michigan State week of the Irish Blogger Gathering.

1)Status check: How deflating was the loss to Michigan? I could argue that Crist's injury makes this loss both easier to swallow and even more maddening for Irish fans.

In two words, I’d say that loss was ‘soooooo deflating.’ Every offseason stirs up a lot of hype and high expectations, and last Saturday unveiled some ugly aspects of this year’s squad that might be hard for some to swallow:

•We have NO depth at quarterback. Many people said this during the offseason, but the point was proven last weekend.
•Theo Riddick has not come as advertised. A phenomenal player, Riddick has not shown promise in the slot yet, and he or someone else needs to step up to take pressure off the other receivers.
•We can’t run the football effectively. Well, at least not when the defense doesn’t respect our passing game.
•Notre Dame still lacks crazy speed. True, Robinson is special, but the inability to slow Robinson down offered more evidence that the Irish lack elite speed on defense.
•Worst of all, Brian Kelly isn’t perfect. Not kicking field goals and failing to adjust defensive schemes at key points in the game are mistakes that led to the downfall of the last regime.

2) How critical is this Saturday's game? Walk away 2-1 and the Irish can feel good about taking on a very able Stanford squad at home next weekend. Walk out of East Lansing with a loss..?

Sorry for all the negativity, because with all that being said, MSU offers the Irish a great chance for a bounce back win. Like I said earlier, Robinson is a special player, and MSU doesn’t have a quarterback capable of taking over the game with his arm and legs. Our defensive line and inside linebackers have shown enough skill to give me confidence that they can stop a pro-style offense similar to what MSU will be running Saturday, and if Crist can stay healthy, we will score enough points to get the W.

3) Why does the rivalry with Michigan State seem to get so little respect?

Firstly, it’s tough to hate everyone. USC has been despicably shady for the past decade, and Pete Carroll is just about as scummy a football coach as Lane Kiffin or Rich Rodriguez. Secondly, while MSU is a tough game every year, the Spartans have averaged exactly 6 wins per season over the last 8 years. Even when they won 8 and 9 games, they beat just 1 ranked opponent, failing to win the crucial games to get to a Big Ten championship. MSU and ND have historically had a great and intense rivalry, but recently these two reasons may explain why the rivalry doesn’t get as much respect as some others.

4) It's hard to draw too many conclusions from victories over Western Michigan and Florida Atlantic, but what do you expect this Saturday night in Spartan Stadium?

Notre Dame always plays Michigan State at a difficult time in the schedule. While the Irish have usually played two quality opponents and are coming off the emotional Michigan weekend, Sparty typically is building momentum after rolling a few cupcakes. As such, I am expecting MSU to come into this weekend with a lot of confidence and play Notre Dame tough and down to the wire like they do every year.

5) Best case, worst case, most likely: The Irish's record after the first six games.

Best case: 5-1. Why not?
Worst case: 1-5. You saw our offense without Crist…
Most likely: 4-2. Like I said in the season’s first IBG post, this is a reasonable record after the first six games. It would be tough to pick who the Irish might lose to, but with a six game slate as tough as ours to open up the season, it would have been remarkable to make it through without some bumps and bruises. If Notre Dame makes it out with 1 or 2 losses, the back end of the schedule is set up to allow them a fairly good chance of a BCS birth.

6) Let's leave Michael Floyd out of this for a second. What Irish player needs to step up and play better football?

I’m going to go with Theo Riddick. The kid is too great of an athlete to be as unproductive as he has in the first two games. As a slot receiver in Kelly’s offense (and with guys like Floyd and Rudolph to distract the defense) the guy should be able to make some plays. If Crist stays healthy, the development of a third wideout is perhaps the position where improvement can most correlate to success in the win loss column.

Hopefully the Blue and Gold pull out a much needed win this week... Go Irish!

IBG: Season Preview Edition

2010-09-01T09:27:00.005-04:00

At first glance, the future looks nothing but Kelly Green. There’s a proven winner blowing the whistle, All-American talent at several offensive playmaking positions, and competition and experience on the two-deep for the first time in awhile. Even off the field, talk of training tables and intense workouts on Longo Beach have fans excited to see an extra burst late in the season where the team has recently struggled.

…But Notre Dame just lost a near-Heisman candidate quarterback, a Biletnikoff winning wide receiver, two NFL caliber linemen, and their leading defensive tackler. It’s possible that the losses in the offseason aren’t too far from the talent drop-off that led Notre Dame to their worst season in school history. 2007 saw a new quarterback with a O-line experiencing turnover growing pains, and a defense that looked slow and even soft as opponents routinely pummeled the Irish.

So as Notre Dame leaves behind a forgettable decade of football, do fans have reason for optimism in 2010, or must we suffer through another 7-5 season of gridiron purgatory? UHND kicks off the 2010 season’s first week of the Irish Blogger Gathering to help us find out.

1. Name one offensive players and one defensive player you are most excited to see in the new systems and why.

With the majority of media coverage calling him the lynchpin of our season, Dayne Crist has to be the player to watch on offense. Thousands of fans are waiting to see how well the highly touted recruit was developed under Charlie Weis and how many points this gun slinger can put on the board with Kelly’s spread. On the other side of the ball, while our success may not depend solely on Manti Te’o’s performance, many fans are equally excited to see this doombringer wreak havoc on opposing offenses at an elite level… as only a sophomore next season.
2. What’s one reason you think Brian Kelly is the right coach this time. What’s one reason you think he might not be?

Fans have to like the plethora of experience that Kelly is bringing to Notre Dame as a head football coach. Achieving his level of success across three programs as diverse as Grand Valley State, Central Michigan, and Cincinnati is no easy feat. On the other hand, winning national championships in D2 is impressive, but Notre Dame isn’t a D2 school. Similarly, resurrecting two programs in CMU and Cinci to win conference championships is impressive, but Notre Dame isn’t interested in winning conference championships. Kelly is still missing the BCS win that Irish fans will be expecting… let’s hope he can get it.

3. A lot of people are labeling Purdue, Boston College, and Michigan State as toss up games. Considering Notre Dame beat all three of these teams during the disappointing 2009 season, do you consider these games toss-ups or games you expect Notre Dame to win?

After the first six games, the 2010 season should almost entirely be in the books. There are few schools in the country that open with a schedule of Purdue, Michigan, MSU, Stanford, BC, and 15th ranked Pitt like the Irish will this fall. Even though there aren’t any blow-me-away tough opponents, the fact that all teams are formidable enough to take down a top 25 makes it a grueling slate. Out of the three games listed, it’s likely Notre Dame will drop 1. But Notre Dame faces only Navy, Utah, and USC in the second half of the season (each with a cupcake the week prior to rest and prepare), so taking 2 losses in the first six games would not be a bad scenario.

4. What’s one reason you think Notre Dame could shock the world and pull of another 1964-type season? What’s one reason you’re concerned we might see more of a 1997-type season?

As stated in the answer to the previous question, Notre Dame does not face a blow-me-away tough opponent until facing what should be a beaten, battered, and bruised USC squad at the end of the season. Yes, there are undoubtedly tough games in the beginning of the year (I’m cringing thinking about what Pitts run game can do to us if we don’t get fast and mean on defense real quick), but if the Irish can get through the first six games unbeaten, there is no limit to how they can close out the season. But like I said, that opening schedule is gonna be a grind…

5. Which freshmen do you see contributing the most on the field this year (outside of TJ Jones – that’s too easy)?

Look for Prince Shembo to get some quality reps in at linebacker while athlete Danny Spond may take a Zeke Matta role on special teams this year.

6. Other than Dayne Crist (too easy again) who is the one player Notre Dame can least afford to lose to injury for any significant period of time?

Hopefully the UHND crew doesn’t jinx our season with this question, but I am going to go with Ethan Johnson. The depth at D-Line is a weak point on this team, and the other #9 is a force to be reckoned with. Let’s hope all of our players stay healthy.

7. 2010 Season Predictions
Notre Dame record: 9-3
Bowl game for Notre Dame with opponent: Just outside BCS games
Final ranking: 15
Opponent with the highest final ranking: Pitt
Notre Dame’s offensive & defensive MVP: Offense Michael Floyd, Defense Manti Te’o
Best opponent offensive & defensive player:
Offense: Dion Lewis (Pitt) Defense: Greg Romeus (Pitt)
Best opposing coach: Jim Harbaugh (Stanford)
Game you are most excited to watch: USC 11/27/2010
Game you wouldn't mind watching on DVR: F*** it, we’ll do em all live!
National Champion: Alabama
Heisman Winner: Terrell Pryor
Purdue game prediction: W 30-20

Conference Realignment and Notre Dame

2010-06-14T11:28:00.007-04:00

While everyone else in the world has their eyes fixated on soccer cleats and their ears tuned to the nonrelenting drone of vuvuzelas, talk of imminent conference realignment has recently been the point of focus for college football fans. It looks as if Colorado and Nebraska's exodus from the Big 12 has opened the flood gates to push more teams out of the conference. This morning, ESPN's Joe Schad reported that "the odds are very strong that the departure of Texas, Texas Tech, Oklahoma, and Oklahoma State to the Pac-10 is imminent," adding that Texas A&M is likely to join the SEC, leaving Kansas, Kansas State, Iowa State, Baylor, and Missouri in the dust.
So where does this leave Notre Dame? Does joining a conference make sense at this point? If not now, is there a possible scenario that would force the Irish away from independence? Is there any way to stop the stupid buzzing of those damn vuvuzelas?

It is obvious that decision making at the University of Notre Dame is always done with the overarching goal of doing what is best for the university. Fortunately for football fans, success on the gridiron brings in a significant chunk of revenue that is used to support many other university organizations. In addition to ticket sales, merchandise, and TV contract revenue, I have been told by members of the investment office that even donations can significantly be affected by the success of the football team. None of this should come as a surprise, but the point of this paragraph is to illustrate that Jenkins et al, acting in the best interest of the university, will try to put our football team in the best position for success when discussing conference realignment.

For the sake of simplicity, a successful football team is comprised of two elements: good coaching and good players. While developing a successful coaching staff merits its own conversation, attaining top players is something that can be more easily talked about. In addition to superior academics, Notre Dame sells itself to recruits with three pitches, all of which will be affected by conference realignment. Here, are the elements of our competitive recruiting advantage discussed in no particular order:

1. Playing a unique schedule: Being independent allows Notre Dame scheduling flexibility that would not exist if the Irish were in a conference. Storied rivalries such as USC, Michigan, and Navy can be routinely scheduled while still giving the Irish room to play storied programs such as Oklahoma or Miami in any given year. Offering recruits the ability to play across the country (or out of the country as is the case with the upcoming Navy game) and in unique venues (see Yankee stadium, the Meadowlands, and possibly Soldier Field) is something that teams in a conference simply cannot offer. For better or worse, ND commits generally don't have to worry about playing 1-AA programs either.

2. Unique program tradition: The four horsemen, the Gipper, and the House that Rock Built combine with many other elements to comprise Notre Dame's tradition. While it is tough to make an argument that any program's tradition is "the best," it can at least be said that ND holds a unique spot in college football's history. Joining a conference wouldn't necessarily take this away, but Notre Dame's tradition is rooted in its independence, and becoming part of a conference would certainly at least make the Irish more like everybody else.
3. Superior media exposure: A nationwide fanbase (partially brought about by national scheduling) and a unique program tradition have combined to give Notre Dame unparalleled national media exposure. An exclusive national TV contract guarantees recruits that their family and friends can watch any home game on TV, and media giants such as ESPN tend to give more time of the day to Notre Dame and its players than they arguable deserve at times. Joining a conference would strip Notre Dame of this privilege, taking away one of its key recruiting competitive advantages. When discussing the potential increased profitability of joining a conference, Jack Swarbrick has gone so far as to say "the finances are way down on the list of things [determining Notre Dame's independence]," and the intangible benefits provided by having an exclusive national TV contract are just one reason why the immediate bottom line is less relevant in this case.

It is of my opinion that joining any conference (as the current BCS landscape currently stands) would take away from all three of these recruiting competitive advantages. Notre Dame would have to compete with large state schools on the benefits of academics, class size, campus atmosphere, and the privilege of living in South Bend. With the recent lack of success of the football team, these criteria may not be enough to compete with top tier schools, and recruiting (and the success of the program) would likely suffer. Short term revenues brought about by joining a conference will likely be outweighed by the loss of future program revenues if the team falls into mediocrity.

That being said, dramatic shifts in conference realignment could lead to a different scenario. It is not unfathomable that the next few years could see the demise of the Big 12 and Big East conferences, leaving only four "super conferences."

Conference play among a 16 team conference could make it even more difficult for teams to play out of conference late in the season, making it difficult for Notre Dame to fill out a schedule with quality opponents. The ability to schedule nationally is somewhat diminished if it means ND is traveling to play teams like Iowa State instead of USC. ABC, NBC, CBS, and FOX would scramble for exclusive deals with the conferences, possibly leaving Notre Dame without access to a deal. And while program tradition rooted in independence is part of the Irish sales pitch, it would carry much less weight if it left the Irish without access to the BCS (or whatever form it will have by then). Joining a conference would cause some of our competitive advantages to take a hit, but sometimes it is necessary to make small sacrifices in order to avoid a more damaging blow.

Fans convinced that Notre Dame will perpetually remain independent may hear all of the conference realignment chatter as nothing more than a drone of vuvuzelas, but rest assured that Jenkins, Swarbrick, and co. are listening closely. If the future holds changes that will hurt the chances of success for our football program, don't expect the Irish to be left in the dust.

Memorial Day Stories

2010-05-30T12:02:00.004-04:00

The Nasties crew wishes everyone a happy Memorial Day weekend. For those of you that aren't too busy watching the 500 or already hitting the barbecue, here are some Notre Dame stories and links to keep you occupied:

The men's lacrosse team beat Cornell Saturday to advance to the program's first NCAA Finals appearance. After Cornell found the net on their first shot, senior goalie Scott Rodgers made save after save to keep the Irish in the game. Rodgers went on to make a career high 16 saves against 7 goals and was the prime reason that Notre Dame was able to pull out the victory. The majority of the offense was supplied by Neal Hicks (4G) and Zac Brenneman (3G) with Sean Rodgers, Grant Krebs, Adam Felicetti, Steve Murphy, and Andrew Irving each contributing goals of their own. Senior Trevor Sipperly was also instrumental in the win, controlling 10 of 21 faceoffs. Notre Dame will play No. 5 Duke in the finals Monday at 3:30.

Drafted only two spots away from the ominous spot of "Mr. Irrelevant," former Irish safety Chinedum Ndukwe figures to keep contributing to the Bengals this season despite Cincinnati's surplus in the defensive backfield.

Notre Dame athletic director Jack Swarbrick recently had an interview Darin Pritchett and Eric Hansen on WSBT during which he discussed the progress of Brian Kelly, the theories behind scheduling, and factors to consider when discussing Notre Dame's independence. NBC Sports has a summary write-up for those of you that don't have the time to listen to the 20 minute interview.

College football analyst Phil Steele recently released his preseason top 25, and Notre Dame was able to crack the list at number 16. Preseason polls are very difficult to take stock in. I personally think that they throw bias into actual rankings once the season starts and that they should be done away with. However, if the Irish can get off to a good start next season, they could potentially be helped by their ranking in some of these early polls.

Value Pick

2010-04-23T11:31:00.004-04:00

As I was taking in a dollar beer South Bend Silverhawks game last night, cell phones, iPhones, blackberrys, and blueberrys all around me routinely buzzed about every 15 minutes with text updates or ESPN draft apps. My geographically diverse set of friends were interested in the future of their respective teams, but the story that everyone was more collectively interested in was the future of former Notre Dame quarterback Jimmy Clausen.

After seeing Clausen slip out of the top 10, and soon out of the top 20, I was one of many people who were very surprised to not hear his name called at all on the first day. In fact, I completely discredited one CBS analysts' mock draft yesterday because he unrealistically had Clausen falling to Minnesota at number 30.However, don't expect Jimmy to wait long after 6:00 today. Teams such as Minnesota (34), Tampa Bay (35), and Cleveland (38) all need help at quarterback in the immediate future. Charlie Weis and the Kansas City Chiefs are a possible destination at pick 36, and don't discount the possibility of Oakland (39) or Buffalo (41) trading up to get in the mix.

Regardless of who ends up drafting Clausen, they will be getting a great value pick. The players drafted towards the bottom of the top 10 in last year's draft were hauling in about $20 million in guaranteed money whereas the no. 32 overall pick only inked $6.1 million. Plummeting out of the first round undoubtedly cost Jimmy some G's, but whichever team picks him up will be happy to do so while investing considerably less in him than Bradford, and hopefully the events of last night can serve as further motivation for Clausen as he starts his career in the NFL.

IBG: New Staff New... Spring?

2010-03-29T21:22:00.005-04:00

Welcome back to the least appropriately named Notre Dame blog on the net. Things have been slow at this site since signing day, but there's no better way for me to get motivated enough to write a post than to get a message from the Irish Blogger Gathering crew in my inbox. Subway Domer, who is quietly assembling quite the army of ND bloggers, is getting us ready for spring ball with another round of questions.

1. Notre Dame is looking at vast changes on both sides of the ball. Kelly will implement his version of the "Spread," which is run at an excruciating pace, and the Irish defense will, once again, make the transition from the 4-3 to the 3-4. Asking to pick one side of the ball that intrigues you the most would be a disservice to us all. Instead, list your biggest hope and your biggest fear for both the offense and the defense.

Offense: While Weis-era teams were seldom criticized for their inability to score points, my biggest hope about Kelly’s spread is that it actually transforms Notre Dame into the mythical video-game offense, where an eight year old should be able to pick up a controller and hack through the defense, rendering the punter as a forgotten position. Like many traditional fans, however, I am concerned that the spread may take away from the ability to control the ball. I know Kelly’s offenses have been able to run the ball well, but there were too many examples of our “explosive” offense blowing leads at the end of the game because we couldn’t convert on the 3rd and shorts. Feel free to run a high octane offense, BK, but make sure we can still grind it out during the close games in November.

Defense: My biggest hope is that the switch to the 3-4 will give our defense an identity. With the hiring of Tenuta, fans were convinced our linebackers were going to become, to borrow a phrase from my high school days, “hole fillers and runningback killers.” Unfortunately, questionable technique and assignment confusion combined to produce a relatively ineffective defense. More speed on the edge should limit our opponent’s ability to stretch the field, and an increased emphasis on technique will hopefully allow us to give up fewer big gains. The key to this transition will be the adjustment by the defensive linemen, and I fear that the Irish may lack the quality big-body depth needed for the ideal 3-4 personnel.2. The mainstream media, and ESPN in particular, have been riding Brian Kelly's jock for about a year now, and were collectively praying for Notre Dame to fire Weis and hire Kelly. Do you agree, or disagree with this statement? What changes in media coverage do you think we will see in 2010 and beyond?

I don’t think there could have been a better media scenario then Notre Dame hiring Urban, undergo three more intensely emotional 7-6 seasons finally culminating with a stress induced death of our coach. Besides illustrating that this is the most stressful job in the country, it would have fueled the “Notre Dame can’t compete” argument like never before, much to the chagrin of the media.

As for changes in media coverage, expect respectable journalists to increasingly cite Twitter accounts and facebook statuses as primary sources. GPS tracking imbedded in coaching staff gear will allow ESPN to report where head coaches are traveling at all times, and at least one Tiger-Woods-like scandal will surface as a result of this.

3. With new regime changes, players that were once lost in the muck sometimes find themselves in a situation to become key members of the team- or even starters. Identify one of those players that will be that "sleeper." Explain, in brief detail, why your guy will rise above and become the proverbial; CREAM. Oh yeah... it must be a junior or older to qualify.

Robert Blanton will likely start this fall, but I’m going to use him for this pick to because I think the changes in the defensive staff will allow key members of our secondary to make big improvements in 2010. From when he saw time as a true freshman in 2007, Blanton has shown that he has the ability to be an effective defensive back. Expect the junior to benefit from the new scheme, additional coaching, and another year of experience.

4. If you could change the Blue-Gold Game experience in any way- what would it be? Some years, the game can be quite boring and offer no real insight for the upcoming season. Are we all doomed to be underwhelmed every year, or can you make the change that makes spring ball slick like Rick on a pogo stick?

Start roasting three pigs.

5. EVERY coach talks about the importance of special teams, and says that they are a major priority for the team. Is there anything that Coach Kelly has done to back him up on his own statements? What phase of special teams would you like to see more improvement from?

I was pretty pleased with the kicking game last year, especially considering that the Irish were fielding freshman at both the snapping and kicking positions. The punt coverage team, who only allowed 8 of 45 punts to be returned, should be used to Kelly-level discipline already. The challenge for BK and Co. will be replacing Tate at the punt return position and figuring out the most effective combination of Goodman / Riddick / ? to put the Irish in position to score points on returns this season.

6. Last topics are a bit, off topic... A)With the arrival of Spring Football, comes a lot of "color" discussion. "The Shirt," is always a favorite subject of debate for Irish fans. What is your opinion of "The Shirt," and if you were in charge of it all- what would it look like? B) There is a lot of talk about the Notre Dame uniforms possibly being altered. What would you like to see, even if they aren't changed?

As far as the color, I’ve always been partial to green because most pale irish kids don’t look good in anything yellow or “gold,” and I feel like a green student section has a little more character than a generic navy. All that being said, I thought a student’s suggestion last season to buck the shirt trend and get the student body to dress in three different segments (green, white, orange) to form an irish flag would have looked real nice on the tele. As for my prediction for the color this year, I bet students will complain about it and then wear it.

I’m not too picky on the uniforms just because I can’t see them being altered to the point where they aren’t more or less the same as they are now. A few pin stripes here, a few block letters there, as long as its still blue and gold I’ll cheer for it.

Happy Signing Day!

2010-02-04T20:36:00.000-05:00

Welcome to Notre Dame signing class of 2010!

Recruiting Eve

2010-02-02T15:26:00.004-05:00

Even more so than any day in spring football, national signing day is the most exciting day on the offseason calendar. Good surprises can come few and far between, but landing a top recruit at the last minute (like Te'o last year) can have a large impact on a program. With that background, lets check out some of the storylines surrounding this Irish recruiting class:

RKGs:
Kelly emphasized the importance of recruiting the right kind of guys, stating in his first press conference that he will recruit players that "are mentally and physically tough, that will play for four quarters, and [that are] gentlemen off the field that we all can be proud of." In theory, these tough gentlemen sound pretty bad ass, but if there is one thing the last three coaches have taught me, it is to not get too wrapped up in words. Here are two examples:

"if you don't recruit every day, you've missed the boat" - Ty Willingham on the importance of recruiting

"You are going to have a hard-working, intelligent, nasty football team that goes on the field because the attitude of the head coach will be permeated through the players" - Charlie Weis on his motivational abilities

Up to this point, Kelly's staff has added six players to the current class, recently including four star athlete Danny Spond, but two seemingly superfluous quarterbacks and one 2 star TE have some fans wondering if an "RKG" is just an excuse to miss on blue chip players. Haters should give a little slack here; it is always difficult to put together a solid class on short notice. However, Kelly will need to showcase his ability to player develop if he doesn't want to run into problems three years down the road as Weis' last recruiting class wasn't that spectacular either.

Notre Dame vs. Stanford
An interesting subplot to the recruiting season has been between Kelly's Irish and Jim Harbaugh and the Stanford Cardinal. The two schools have been battling cross-country to nab recruits off one another; here is a quick rundown of the battle of drunken Tree against ND up to this point:

June 28th: 3 star safety Chris Badger becomes the first Stanford commit to defect to the Irish
October 18th: 4 star Tai-ler Jones decides he would rather have Dayne Crist tossing him the rock and decommits from Stanford
January 16th: 3 star OL/TE Tate Nichols becomes the first Stanford recruit stolen by Kelly's staff
January 25th: Notre Dame is dealt a tough blow when 4 star DE Blake Leuders follows his recruiting coach Brian Pollian to Stanford

This'll be easier if you just keep squatting, Jim

Hopefully no one on the current commit list feels like bolting for California tomorrow, but I don't feel comfortable calling this recruiting war over just yet.

Positions of Need:
As was previously alluded to above, there have been some concerns about which positions Notre Dame is offering and landing in the current class. With an injured Dayne Crist as the only scholarship gunslinger on the roster, QB was an obvious need this year, so I personally don't think bringing in 4 quarterbacks (1 of which will likely end up playing more of an H-Back) is a bad thing. Sure 1 (or maybe even 2) will end up transferring in a year as they fall down the depth chart, but with such a looming question mark behind Christ, it is probably better to have the numbers for now. Henderson is sitting high on most fans' wish lists
With a lot of inexperience on the two-deep, DE, DT, and OT are also positions that this class could use a little help at (think of 5 star OT Seantrel Henderson as being this year's version of a much larger Manti Te'o), but I personally think that the safety position has the biggest need of a recruit in this class. Beyond Harrison Smith (who is ideally more of a LB/S hybrid), Dan McCarthy and special teams ace Zeke Motta are the only 2 safeties on scholarship. Another safety recruit to compliment Chris Badger would significantly add to our safety depth.

Time to start crossing your fingers and making trips to the Grotto Irish fans. Signing day is tomorrow!

2 cents on the staff

2010-01-05T19:08:00.006-05:00

The university officially announced the hiring of Mike Denbrock (Tight Ends), Mike Elston (Defensive Line), and Chuck Martin (Defensive Backs) as the newest additions to Kelly's still forming coaching staff.
While 43 years of combined coaching has only given one of these guys time to learn how to (kind of) smile in a mugshot, there are a few things to get excited about with these guys (and especially Chuck Martin).

First, all three coaches have worked under coach Kelly (Dembrock and Marting at Grand Valley and Elston at Cinnci), so no matter what us crazy bloggers may say about them, Kelly at least knows what each should bring to the table first hand.

The press release focused on each coach's ability to recruit as well as their ability to player develop. Elston headed Cincinnati's Florida recruiting while Dembrock specialized in recruiting the West Coast while at Stanford and Washington. While neither the Bearcats or Huskies experienced much recent success on the recruiting front, Elston will have the opportunity to work with (and learn from) Alford, who is doing a great job in Florida. As for Dembrock, it has been reported that he will be visiting blue chip offensive tackle Seantrel Henderson in Minnesota today, so he will have a golden opportunity to impress the fans. Martin has been involved with recruiting almost exclusively out of the Chicago area for the last few decades, so he should be a good fit there.

Speaking of Martin, I'm pretty pumped to have him on board. After joining one of Kelly's first staffs as a defensive backs coach at Grand Valley, Martin went on to become the head coach and win 74 out of 81 games including two national championships. You have to love bringing a coach with that type of winning mindset onto the team, and if he can repeat his success from Grand Valley State at ND, I wouldn't hate it.

Best of luck to the new coaches - welcome to Notre Dame!

Initial Impressions

2009-12-23T16:09:00.005-05:00

After surviving another round of finals and thankfully wrapping up my Christmas shopping, I finally found some time to spit out a few thoughts on the new Notre Dame coach.

What difference a (head) coach makes: While not many leads for Kelly's first staff have surfaced, fans will notice that Kelly is much more detailed and methodical than perhaps Weis was when assembling his first staff. Rather than reaching for the big names, Kelly is more focused on finding coaches that are on-board with his coaching philosophy. Having many years of experience as a head coach, the assembly of Kelly's staff will be fairly different from that of the Weis era. Expect him to bring in a lot of familiar faces from his previous experiences as well as a few carefully selected people to help him adjust specifically to the Notre Dame culture.

Living in the lime light: There has been fairly unanimous agreement that Kelly has handled himself well with the media up to this point. Keith Arnold from NBC Sports recently pointed out how BK's decision to hold 2 separate media sessions illustrates his understanding of the media and what it can influence. Unfortunately, Charlie's Nasties was not invited to the internet reporters presser. For now I'll blame it on the blog name, but if I keep getting rejected from these private parties, I could turn this site into slander city.... so watch yourself coach.

I'm really glad that Kelly has been able to hit it off so well with the media because, frankly, it is demanded. At a school like Notre Dame, winning records are expected to be accompanied by a good public image. I'm not sure if an iron-fisted lock-jawed coach like Belichick or Parcells could makes things work here. Don't get me wrong, any particular style of coaching could work here, but unless a coach is able to communicate positively with the media, alumni, and fans, it would probably not lead to a lasting marriage.

Tough Gentlemen: In his opening press conference, Kelly told his players to take some time off over the holidays. I would advise them to take advantage of this break because from what I've heard, they are going to have a fun spring in Kelly's conditioning program. BK has put a very strong emphasis on his ability to develop players, and while a certain component of that is coaching, an equally important factor lies in the strength and conditioning programs.

I have confidence that this no-nonsense approach to conditioning should have a positive impact on the team. Everyone always references USC's full contact practices as an ingredient to their success, and I think Kelly will be moving closer to that model than Weis did.

RKGs: Kelly made an interesting comment that (paraphrasing) schools like Notre Dame can sometimes get caught up too much in the public opinion of recruits. The idea is that there is so much football talent nation wide, that a good number of players inevitably slip through the cracks of recruiting sites or that some players are positioned to play better in college than their high school resume indicates. Coach Kelly's performance on the recruiting front will be well documented (and likely criticized) over the following weeks, and I'm very curious about how this comment will work its way into ND's recruiting plan.

To draw on an almost completely irrelevant analogy, some of my best players in EA Sports NCAA Football have been 2 star players that, while being terrible at almost everything else, happened to be 6'6" and run a 4.4 forty. I know its a stretch, but you get the picture. Look for Kelly to reach on a couple recruits in order to get some qualities guys and hard workers into the locker room as well as to push his players in practice.

That's it for now. Eventually I might put up a poll for a new blog name or something like that, so start brainstorming now. Go Irish!

More Coaching Search News

2009-12-08T10:11:00.003-05:00

Whether you believe anything less than Meyer or Stoops will be considered a failure or that Jim Tressel would look better in a Blue and Gold sweater vest, if you believe anything ESPN's Joe Schad says, this week is probably going to be interesting. In the above interview, Schad says that he would be shocked if Notre Dame's coaching search wasn't over by the end of the week.

Blue-Gray Sky took attention to Brian Kelly's recent Twitter update, and with a reported interview also scheduled with Stanford's Jim Harbaugh this week, I might finally be able to start thinking of a new name for this blog.

Swarbrick on Weis / Coaching Search

2009-12-02T09:07:00.004-05:00

If the Notre Dame message boards aren't enough, espnChicago has plenty of interviews and rumors about our coaching search. Because I've been walking past George Smith on my way to classes since Monday, I thought I'd post his interview with Jack Swarbrick:

Wojo Rising

2009-11-29T09:24:00.005-05:00

Gene Wojciechowski and the ESPN crew are at it again. I know that these people are just trying to bring hits to their website and money to the bank, but some of the fantastic journalism surrounding the Notre Dame coaching situation is bordering on the inaccurate. Here's some commentary on the worldwide's most recent attempt to exploit a program that is no longer nationally relevant (by the way, how much press has the impeding coaching change at Michigan been getting lately?).

For starters, the obligatory jab at Weis while comparing him to Ty:

"Unlike Tyrone Willingham before him, Weis got a full five years to build his program with his own recruits, his own system and his own assistant coaches."

What disappoints me about this comment is that any Notre Dame fan can refute this claim with a stock rebuttal so commonly used that I'm not even going to waste space writing it. ESPN needs to recognize that the factors that kept Weis around for five years are so different than Ty (and really even Davie) that they don't merit being discussed.

Now another personal jab that merits a longer response:

"As an NFL coordinator, your constituency is your owner, your head coach and your players. At Notre Dame, that constituency stretches like a pair of Sansabelts, from school president, to athletic director, to administrators, to players, alumni, NBC, media and subway alums. I'm not sure Weis totally embraced that role. One of his final acts at Notre Dame -- cancel all media access to his players this past week -- was more fitting of Belichick than of a college coach. And then to slink out a back door …"

While Weis may have entered Notre Dame with these personality issues, most ND fans will probably disagree with the statement. The national media has chosen to keep the easy caricature of Charlie as the arrogant coach, but the truth is that by his third season, Weis began to make considerable efforts to become accessible to his fan base. From augmenting his busy travel schedule to include visits to many alumni associations, to holding autograph sessions for the student body, to creating a Twitter account, to changing his tone with the media, I feel that Weis has made a considerable effort to appease all of his constituencies. And as for sneaking away at the end of the Stanford game, can anyone really blame him? Hasn't this guy been dragged through the ugliest of media mud the last few weeks that he should be allowed to exit holding onto some dignity?

And to end the article:

"Swarbrick told me months ago he'll use a two-page checklist to assess the state of a Notre Dame program, but Weis knows better. His dismissal comes down to two letters, not two pages: W and L."

It's a nice conclusion; in fact, its a way better conclusion than the abrupt "Go Irish" that I usually end posts with. However, this is another gross over-exaggeration that underscores what Weis has done for the program. Dear ESPN, its pretty easy to write why Weis should (and probably will) be fired this week, but for feature article after the Stanford game, I find it irresponsible to only include Weis' shortcomings. Yes, Weis didn't win enough football games over the last three years, but throw the guy a bone for the talent he has been able to bring to South Bend, the improvements he's made to the offense, and the countless hours that he has given to the program.

Tough Stanford Loss

2009-11-28T23:29:00.002-05:00

Tough Stanford loss tonight. I thought everyone played hard except for a few boneheads out there. If this is the last Charlie Weis and Clausen game, it was an exciting one, and exemplary of their time together: Great offensively, but could not put a full game together. The only thing now is whether Tate joins them in the NFL or not... I think he'd be as good a playmaker as Percy Harvin, DeSean Jackson, or Steve Smith.

IGB: Goin back back to Cali Cali

2009-11-28T15:32:00.004-05:00

Just when the Domer Law Blog thought to have claimed the latest entry for this week's IBG, The Nasties crew published Sarah's questions from Bad Trade 15 minutes to kickoff. Here we go:

1. Take a second and go look back at your post from the first game, with all of its promise and optimism (or not). What is the single biggest difference between the team you thought we had at the beginning of the season, and the team that we've seen on the field that now sits at 6-5?

One of the questions in the first week of this season's IBG asked us to find an image to describe the season, and in hindsight, I still think my pic was appropriate, albeit maybe for the wrong reasons:

The picture inadvertently previewed the edge-of-your seat action that was this season. A bounce of the ball here, a better play in the redzone there, and Notre Dame could very well be undefeated (or perhaps just as easily be 2-9).

To answer the question though, the single biggest difference has to be the secondary. I understand that it is tough to cover receivers when the quarterback has all day to throw, but I did not foresee the tackling issues that our veteran secondary would have.

2. Clearly, even from Coach Weis' own comments, it appears that the conversation has shifted from "Will Coach Weis be fired?" to "Who will be his replacement?" With that in mind, I'd like you to answer the following three questions:
a. If we lived in a perfect world, and could lure any coach to Notre Dame, who would be your choice? (Please limit yourself to coaches actually alive and able to coach right now - yes, we'd all love to have Knute Rockne back on the sidelines.)

In my mind, there isn't one clear favorite, and I think that there are 2-3 coaching hires that could improve this football team. If I'm forced to pick, though, I'll land on Brian Kelly. I'm impressed with his ability to turn around programs like Central Michigan and Cincinnati (and I particularly like his ability to take the Bearcats to the BCS), but I'm actually most impressed with Kelly's ability to coach Grand Valley State to a 118-35-2 record during his 13 years as head coach. Especially with how the success of programs tends to ebb and flow (even for the powerhouses - remember USC in the 90s?), this consistent trend of domination is very appealing.

b. If you were the AD for the University, who do you think is the best hire you could actually pull off, and how would you do it?

I suppose the most prestigious get would be Urban, and I think their are two points to sell it. Firstly, lets congratulate how Urban has been able to turn around program after program and win multiple titles with the Gators. So early in his career, Meyer seems to have already accomplished everything a coach dreams for. There is another unmet challenge in South Bend. Coach Meyer, take on the challenge of resurrecting a once national powerhouse, that the entire nation now thinks has a competitive disadvantage, and returning them to glory. The second point would probably be about moving Meyer's family to the Bend as a way to stay close to them.

c. Prediction time - taking everything you know about the program, the AD, and the current coaching situations around the country - who will be the head coach for the University of Notre Dame next year?

Every day actually leads me closer to thinking that Weis may actually return. ND won't be able to get there hands on a Kelly, Johnson, or Meyer until after they coach their current teams through the BCS, and like Brady Quinn said, there are a lot of factors that contribute to having a bad season, and not all of them fall on the coach. I feel like if Jenkins and Swarbrick don't find someone they really like, then I think that they might not pull the trigger. I'm still going to throw my hat in the ring for Kelly, but if Weis ends up back at Notre Dame for one more chance, I won't be as surprised as most.

3. As the title of this IBG post says, there is still one more game to be played. And, in fact, it's a red-hot Stanford team that scores points in bunches and beat SC in the Coliseum 55-21. To say that our program is in turmoil at this point would be a drastic understatement. So, what do you think is going to happen this weekend? Do the players rally and play up to potential for their embattled coach, or come out and go through the motions trying to get this season behind them?

I will say that at +10, Notre Dame is a pretty good Vegas bet. Unless we're playing teams with a vast disparity in talent (one of whom #6 ranked Boise State took down 44-33 last night), the Irish like to keep things close. Look for our offense to spurt out some impressive drives among some head scratching stalls while our defense makes some big stops and gives up some big gains. In the end, though, I am unfortunately expecting Stanford to win.

4. Finally, with all of the disappointment and frustration and a lame duck coach, what are your plans this weekend for the game?

Plain and simple. Cheer, cheer for old Notre Dame.

Catchin up

2009-11-27T15:25:00.003-05:00

Sorry for the brief hiatus. I just couldn't bring myself to do write ups following losses to Pitt and UConn. While reflecting on why I didn't want to write the Duds and Studs issue for the Pitt game, I stumbled across this bit from Blue Gray Sky:

There isn't much to rehash in ND's ugly 27-22 loss to Pitt this past Saturday. It featured many of the same issues that have become all too familiar lately: a running game that disappeared, curious play calling, lackluster defense, questionable interpretations of "indisputable" by the replay officials, some amazing plays from Golden Tate, and ultimately a game that came down to the final drive, this time with ND coming out on the losing side of the ledger. And as the game wound down to the unsatisfying conclusion, Brent Musburger accurately noted that with the loss "the long knives are now out for Charlie Weis".

This quote seems to ring true after the UConn game as well. Whether it was because of untimely penalties, missed assignments, or questionable play calling, our star studded offense found itself stalling during critical times (which in the UConn game consisted of the entire second half). Tate has been getting praise all year, but at this juncture in the year, a team needs some other people to come up big when the team is struggling. Not to be all negative, I'll throw some props to kicker David Ruffer, who stepped in for an injured Nick Tausch and delivered in both games while getting Notre Dame its first touchbacks in years, and Ben Turk has found his groove as a punter, registering 47 yards per punt against UConn.

Now for my two cents about everything that has been going on the last two weeks:

On Clausen: I don't know about Tate, but Clausen is gone next year. He posed for pictures with his family after the game, he didn't return his jersey with the team laundry, and his parents have put their house on Angela on the market. Am I glad that he is going? Jimmy is an incredible football player, and his absence will be felt next season as Dayne will struggle getting acquainted as the starter with a green offensive line. However, it will (unfortunately) be refreshing not to have him around. The program needs his athletic ability, but all of the noise surrounding him is getting old.

On Weis: Thanks for those of you who inquired about the future name of this blog - it gives me some confidence that Charlie's Nasties won't die with the coach. That being said, I have no idea what will happen at the end of the season. On one end, our team has played down to all but two opponents this year, and losing three weeks in a row is inexcusable to the point that I think we should let him go now and spare his family the grief of another week of criticism and jabs from the media. On the other hand, this guy loves Notre Dame, works his freakin tail off, and scores well in all of Swarbrick's performance metrics except winning games.

I was able to find odds on who will replace Weis next season, but I wasn't able to find odds on whether or not Weis will be fired. I speculate that whatever this mythical number is, that it is probably overvalued because I do see a situation where Weis comes back. If Swarbrick doesn't think he can land a better coach, then as a business man I can't see him taking the risk while eating the rest of Charlie's contract. I could also see Jack using his performance metrics to justify keeping Weis based on his elite graduation rates and recruiting abilities.

You can't question this guy's effort. Remember how arrogant Weis appeared when we hired him? Well Weis cared so much about this that he consulted a professor at the University about how to better his image to the public. Have you seen the other coaches from the Belichick tree? How many of them would have created a Twitter page in an effort to be more open with their fan base?

That being said, this is an unlikely scenario. Notre Dame has blocked the tracking of its private jet used for coaching searches, Swarbrick has cancelled Weis' west coast recruiting trip, and even Charlie is acknowledging that his record will probably not be enough to justify keeping him as a head coach. If tomorrow's game against Stanford ends up being Weis' last , then I would like to say thanks for the long hours and hard work. Thanks for putting up with the media. Thanks for reminding us that Notre Dame can recruit the best of the best while maintaining our academic integrity. The last three years have not met my expectations from a win - loss perspective, but I thank you for your hard work and wish you the best of luck in the future.

Go Irish.

Marshmallow Time!!!!

2009-11-20T16:21:00.003-05:00

It's been 3 years of sitting in the student's section at the games where I got to see the seniors throw marshmallows at eachother. Come tomorrow, I can't wait to be a part of it. Some people will inevitably put gravel or pennies in their fluffy projectiles to make them go farther, and for that the ushers will try and stop anyone who look suspicious enough to throw one. Whatever, if I get kicked out of the stadium for throwing something two rows above me which feels like a light breeze to whomever I hit, so be it. And for those sitting in the section next to the seniors or those below them in the gold seats- tough. Get a hot chocolate and be thankful for the free toppings raining down on you.

Security is going to be tight, so until the magic moment, all marshmallows must be kept away from the ushers' eyes. Some ideas on where to stash them.

- the seat of your pants - conceals, fulls out those apple bottoms, and also provides a cushion for halftime

- stuffed into winter gloves- the temp is going to be on the warmer side tomorrow, but bring gloves anyway to pack full of marshmallows. My guess is that you can fit 12-15 in each hand.

- cowboy hat - tried and true method of concealing things, whether it be a hidden camera, or a bag of pillowy marshmallows

- duct taped to your chest - works for both guys and girls, get taped up like your going undercover in a sting operation, and then when they least expect it, unload a barrage on them

and of course...... prison rules if need be

Tomorrow's game is going to be fun no matter what. Hopefully we will win and do so in convincing fashion, but if we are down, come 4th quarter- there is going to be some interesting things being chanted towards Charlie's direction. GO IRISH!

Get the Moving Vans Started

2009-11-17T17:28:00.002-05:00

Herbstreit thinks decision is made and Weis knows as well....

My only thoughts on this matter are if he is a lame duck coach, thats fine. But if he loses either of the last two games, fire him or ask him to step down before the bowl game. Bowl games are rewards for coaches and teams who have played well in the season. They are showcasing those teams for fans and recruits with the hope of coming home with hardware. The players deserve to be there, but the coach does not if he can't find a way to win out with his job on the line.

Navy Duds and Studs

2009-11-09T00:33:00.007-05:00

I feel like with all of the negative fan criticism towards Weis stemming from the loss that I should add my two cents on how this loss affects Weis' job security before launching into the weekly Duds and Studs segment.

Effect: The defense is a major point of concern. Yes, we let Navy dominate us on the ground and let them score 23 points. However, even with a shutout against Nevada, our team is giving up 29 points a game, so the Navy performance can almost be viewed more as a continuing trend than anything new.

Cause: Everyone knows by now that Weis is an offensive coach, but as a head coach, he still must be held accountable for the defense. The poor performance of the defense this season leads me to believe that A) Weis does not understand defense enough to be a head coach, or B) Weis has not done a good job of hiring and promoting his defensive coaching staff

Effect: With two All-American receivers and a (former) Heisman candidate quarterback, our offense was shut out in the first half and managed only 21 points.

Cause: I am actually going to give Charlie a pass here. His offensive game plan lit Navy up for over 500 total yards, and we gained as many first downs as we did against a hapless Washington State. The missed opportunities while going 2-6 inside the red zone seemed to be more the fault of the players than the coaching. Weis is a damn good offensive coach.

Verdict: Weis has three games left, and he must win out to keep his job. Our last win against a ranked opponent was in 2006 against Penn State, and we were favorites in that game. Losing to Pitt next week would cement the idea that Weis' teams cannot win against anyone ranked higher than them, which is unacceptable. Losing to UConn or Stanford (both of which are having good years) cements the idea that Weis' teams play down to (on paper) inferior opponents, which is unacceptable.

Now for what I'm sure everyone really came to read:

Duds

Excise Police: On a weekend where there is so many football related issues to talk about, I'm not going to spend too much time here, but the same week Notre Dame sponsored an event for off campus students to learn how to live safely in the dangerous city of South Bend, the Indiana State Excise Police broke up a party thrown by my friends only to ticket 2 younger siblings that were visiting for the weekend. Great use of resources.

Sergio Brown / Robert Blanton / Harrison Smith: Our defensive backfield has had issues all season, but this was one of the more frustrating performances. I'm not sure if Sergio took one step downfield to stop the run as he was content catching the fullback after ten yard gains instead of proactively trying to hit someone. Blanton's showboating after big plays is really starting to irritate me. Against Washington State, he was able to tip down the only deep ball thrown at him, but his celebration seemed unwarranted considering that a better ball would have resulted in an 80 yard touchdown. Similarly against Navy, RJ was heavily lobbying that the receiver should have been down at the 1 after he missed an assignment that resulted in a touchdown; just get off the field and get the next play right. This paragraph is getting kind of long so I'll let Brawling Hibernian comment on Smith.
Remember Washington?: This time Notre Dame was unable to get points in the red zone as missed field goals and turnovers inside the 20 negated an otherwise stellar performance by the offense. Credit Navy for standing strong when it counted, but one, if not both of our turnovers, were more mental errors than great plays by Navy, so this blame really goes on the players.

Coaching: The offense was great, but the defense was hard to watch. We gave up 348 yards on the ground because our coaching staff was not able to make adjustments. Our DBs were not prepared to defend the one pass that hurt us. Most importantly though, is that down 2 touchdowns with 12 minutes to go in the game, our entire sideline looked like they would rather be sitting in an Accounting class. In the NFL, its hard to tell someone who's making millions of dollars a year to yell; in college ball, it should be easy, but yet not one of our coaches made an effort to motivate the sidelines during the game. Maybe the cliche of coming out flat was why we couldn't score in the first half or why we couldn't make stops when we needed to. To me, this is my single biggest knock on Charlie Weis' teams; it is too hard to get them excited unless the game is in its final minutes.

Studs

Clausen / Floyd: I have to put them in here for the stats. Jimmy ran off 452 passing yards and Floyd grabbed a game high 141 receiving yards to go along with his touchdown. Even though Floyd had a few big drops, you have to applaud the guy's ability to come back after an injury with such a big game. Jimmy almost found himself in the Duds column this week for his two turnovers and poor reads in the fourth quarter. This is probably overstepping my bounds as I don't know what was going on after Clausen's fumble, but I can tell you that it reinforced every negative stereotype about Clausen when he laid on the ground showing off his injury after the fumble.

Tate: 9 catches for 132 and a touchdown. Also made a great play on the onside kick to give us a chance to win. After Clausen missed on his fourth consecutive first down fade to Floyd in the fourth quarter, a student next to me lamented about Floyd's return, complaining that now less passes will get thrown to Golden.

David Ruffer: The kickoff specialist gave Notre Dame it's first touchback in a long time.

Bye Week: At least I didn't have to watch my Browns lose this weekend, too. If Notre Dame decides to cut ties with Charlie at the end of the year, the school might learn a lesson from the Browns, who have found a comfortable place in the cellar of the AFC North behind two former Belicheck coaches in Romeo Crennel and Eric Mangini (who we inexplicably hired after he was fired from the Jets). Our next coach should be proven, either with BCS appearances in college or with rings in the NFL. Notre Dame should be an attractive coaching job, and we need to stop trying to find the next breakout coach and make a hire with less risk.

That's it for the Duds and Studs segment. Go Irish! Get a freakin good win, please!

Photos from the AP.

IBG: Lots of Gold Helmets Edition

2009-11-04T23:02:00.011-05:00

I'm finally done with my overloaded first half of the semester, I've had a chance to travel the great state of Ohio over fall break, and after a fantastic Halloween last weekend, I have finally run out of scheduling excuses and must finally host an installment of the Irish Blogger Gathering. In addition to finally having some free time, posting for the Navy week seemed to make sense over here because our very own JY has two younger sisters attending the Naval Academy this year. So with that intro, let's jump into the questions.

I'll be linking other member's responses as they come in, so keep checking back to satisfy your mid-week Notre Dame fix.1. With all of the recent injuries, what scenario would you rather have? Option A: Dayne Crist out for the season, Trevor Robinson out indefinitely with an ankle sprain and Jimmy Clausen suffering week to week with turf toe OR Option B: All of the above players are 100% and Floyd is out for the year?

I'll be interested to hear everyone else's take on this, but I'm going with option A for two reasons. Notre Dame has not performed well in the red zone in Floyd's absence; Air Mike is able to use his 6'3" frame and superb hands better than anyone when he has little space to work with. While not having Crist available if Clausen goes down is a scary prospect, the second reason I'm picking option A is our depth at quarterback. Sharpley isn't going to win the Heisman, but he has gotten some quality playing time over the past few seasons, and if he had threats like Tate and Floyd to through to, I'm sure he would do alright.2. After experiencing our first neutral site game at San Antonio this week, it got me thinking about our upcoming off site game against Navy. What are your thoughts on playing Navy in Ireland in 2012? Should the 7-4-1 model take us abroad?

I was more focused on trading baseball cards and pursuing my inevitable career as a comic book artist in 1996 when Autry Denson led the way to a 54-27 victory in Dublin, but I can still say that the upcoming Dublin game is (gasp) a good thing. Firstly, this matchup speaks to the incredible versatility that Notre Dame has in scheduling; how many other Universities can offer recruits the chance to play ball in front of thousands of crazy football (the other kind) fans? Second, unlike in the NFL, college teams, and especially Independents, are afforded the opportunity of scheduling around big games. For the 2012 matchup, it looks like Notre Dame will open the season against Navy and then return home for a bye week before facing Pitt, likely avoiding the chance to have a 'let down' or 'looking ahead' or a 'we got screwed up by the time change' game. As for regularly going abroad, I feel like once a decade is plenty enough; these types of games should be special.

3. Navy's unique offense and personnel always seem to test the Irish in some ways that other opponents don't. What position matchup are you most looking forward to this weekend?

ND Offensive Line vs. Navy Defensive Line. The last two seasons, ND averaged 4.5 and 3.7 yards per rush, and this year I want to see us reassert some dominance in the trenches. Expect a healthy dose of Allen and Hughes while the offensive line flexes some muscle.

4. The Navy football stereotype is generally that the players are undersized and have less star power, but by emphasizing the fundamentals, minimizing mental errors, and playing as a team, they are always able to put up a fight. What position or player on Notre Dame's roster do you think could benefit from approaching games with this attitude?

We have been starting to see more of it lately, but I would like our defensive front seven, especially the linebackers, to play a little more like Navy. Against the run from a pure statistical standpoint, things have been bad, but they could be worse. With Tenuta's blitzes, though, it becomes even more important for the first defender to make a sound tackle because there might not be much help if he misses. Let's start bringing our feet, wrapping up, and driving through the ball! Te'o will lead the charge for improvement over the final stretch.If we can get these many bodies in the backfield every play, we should be fine
5. Everyone in the country saw that Navy took #6 Ohio State down to the wire in the opening week; how will the Midshipmen fare against the Irish? Predictions please.

Before losing to Temple last week, Navy looked like a very respectable 6-2 team, with their two losses coming on the road at Ohio State and at Pittsburgh, and they even put up 63 points against Rice. However, Notre Dame's fire power should be too much to match. My stat of the game is that Navy has not given up more than 35 points this season; look for the Irish to top that mark and beat Navy 38 - 13.

IBG Responses:

Domer Law Blog is excited for Dublin
One Foot Down is looking forward to some option football
Brawling Hibernian picks Option C

WSU Duds and Studs

2009-11-02T16:04:00.005-05:00

Here we go again...Duds

Young Special Teams: For the first time that I've noticed this season, freshman longsnapper Jordan Cowart had some trouble snapping the ball, which led to the blocked extra point. Cowart's snap may or may not have been the primary cause for Ben Turk's sky high 10 yard punt, but the other Aquinas special teams product also struggled. Similar to the difficulties Brandon Walker faced, the issue doesn't appear to be talent with Turk (he's only a freshman), but inconsistency has been a problem, and inconsistency is the last word you want to use when talking about special teams.

Injuries: With a 24 point lead halfway through the 3rd quarter, I have no problem leaving Jimmy in the game to let him try and get 1 more security touchdown before handing the game to Crist. Fortunately, Clausen's turf toe doesn't look to be bad as Weis said he could have continued playing if needed. Unfortunately, Crist suffered a more serious injury shortly after. "At first, we thought it was definitely really bad" said Weis, "now we're thinking it might not be as bad and we're waiting on the MRI." The worst injury, however, was to Trevor Robinson. I hope TRob can make it back soon, but from what I saw on the tape, an pretty solid ankle sprain (2-4 weeks) or a broken ankle (longer) don't look out of the question.Eric Olsen: Two personal fouls is bad. The second personal foul by itself didn't look that bad, but you have to figure the ref gave him some warning before that one. At the same time though, you have to love the aggressiveness from the offensive line. Watch the next time we complete a 15 yard pass; Paul Duncan and Chris Stewart will be there to pancake a DB 2 seconds after the ball gets there.

Studs

Duval Kamara: Duval, to put it mildly, had some consistency issues last season after exceeding expectations in 2007. With Floyd and Parris out, though, Kamara provided Clausen with some key outs when he needed it, registering 3 catches for 36 yards and a touchdown. Also with a key block on Tate's TD run, Kamara deserves a some credit for his performance this week.

A for Effort: Obviously you have to throw some major props to Mike Ragone this week. Its pretty easy to stand out on the field after a turnover, hang your head, and say "f it," but sprinting 95 yards to stop a 2 point play that (very likely) would have had no outcome on the final score speaks to the heart and pride that this team has. Another catch by Rudolph demonstrated the same effort (even though it was negated by a penalty) as he churned his legs for 10+ yards with 3 defenders on his back. And speaking of dragging defenders...

Robert Hughes: It seems like, for better or worse, Hughes specializes in beating down on lesser opponents. His stat line of 131 yards (5.5 ypc) and a touchdown downplay the tough running by 33. Allen got to rest, Riddick looked good during his time (9 carries for 51 yards and 3 catches for 24 yards), but this night belonged to Robert Hughes... haha TRICK - nice try Rob, but how could I leave out...

Golden Tate: A regular on the studs list, Tate lifted himself past Clausen in the Heisman (at least for me) with his performance against Washington State. With 4 rushes for 61 yards and a score, I'm questioning whether our best runningback on the team doesn't play wide receiver, but with plays like this, how can you keep him behind the quarterback? Maybe Floyd's return will finally let me stop writing about this guy every Monday.

Fun fact to send everyone off: the Irish are 15-0 when playing on Halloween, and USC lost this year... anyone think the AD should start scheduling that game asap?

IBG: How can I enjoy the game when all my exes live in Texas?

2009-10-30T20:37:00.005-04:00

Whiskey at One Foot Down had the questions this week. Enjoy, and Go Irish!

1. The 7-4-1 scheduling model has been the subject of much heated debate amongst Irish fans since it was first announced back in 2006. This week the Fighting Irish will play the first neutral site “barnstorming game” in said model so now is as good of a time as any to weigh in on the controversial subject. What do you think about a) 7-4-1 as a whole, b) the neutral site/ barnstorming game in general and c) specifically playing Washington State in San Antonio.

a) Don't like it. In theory, especially as a student that doesn't have to deal with a ticket lottery, the more home games, the better. However, the schedule greatly inhibits ND's ability to schedule meaningful non conference games (see Western Michigan). Seeing Utah should be alright, but even the Utes won't agree to multiple trips to South Bend for nothing in return, and with BCS conference schools hesitant to give up their TV contract money to NBC, the quality of opponents will only get worse.

b) Not a bad idea. Especially for alumni in Texas, for example, that cannot normally attend an ND without a great deal of travel. If its a good venue and a good team, it can be a great tool to keep ND prominent on the college football map. That being said, I would much rather prefer to reinforce our prominence by winning games instead of putting on side show tricks, which brings me to...

c) Bat S*** Crazy. Scheduling a terrible football team whose fan's don't travel to games in Washington does not make any sense. This game does not build tradition. This is the least attractive opponent to bring recruits to (at least Nevada was the opener). If we were able to play A&M or Texas Tech in the Alamo Dome, it would have been awesome, but it suffices to say that this matchup falls short of what the barnstorming concept encourages.2. I have personally had this game circled on the schedule for quite some time as the one “sure thing.” After the last few games I have really been looking forward to a drama free victory. As luck would have it I started looking at the Cougars more closely this morning and it appears that freshman quarterback Jeff Tuel went 28 of 42 for 354 yards and 2 TD’s in a losing effort against Cal over the weekend. With the Irish secondary still struggling to get it together what are the chances that yet another freshman signal caller makes this one way more interesting than it should be on Saturday night in San Antonio?

I'll go easy on the secondary here. Weis has a tendency in his game plans to find what a team does best and take that away from them. Against BC, the focus was on defending the run, and we shut them down pretty well. In fact, a majority of our opponents have had strong ground attacks relative to their passing games. With only 3 TDs coming from runningbacks this year, WSU will probably try to throw the ball, and expecting this, I think Charlie/Tenuta/Corwin will put the secondary in a better position.

3. Assuming that the Fighting Irish are able to take care of business and put this one away early what non-starters would you most like to see get some reps this week? Why?

Jonas Gray and Theo Riddick. Lets keep Armando healthy, and give these guys a chance to show off their legs. I would especially like Jonas to get some carries to work on his ball handling because this guy has the chance to be pretty good in a year or two if he can make the next step.
4. With the game being played on Halloween Night chances are that if you are not traveling to San Antonio you most likely have a scheduling conflict. Whether you are supposed to be at a party dressed as Fat Elvis, taking your kids trick-or-treating or just dealing with your doorbell ringing nonstop how do you plan to watch the game? If you are going what are you most looking forward to?

Fortunately as students living in South Bend, the focus will definitely be on football, and with the TV close to the door (if you are planning on robbing my house please ignore that last comment), it will be easy to dish out candy to anyone that stops by (which will probably be no one). Afterwards its time for the always fun costume parties, which I hate to say is what I'm most looking forward to. For everyone that couldn't make it to the game though, here's a picture of the band compliments of my dad who found a way to sneak to San Antonio.
5. Trick or Treat? Predictions please.

Like Whiskey mentioned, Washington State was perhaps the most guaranteed victory coming into the season, and Weis has two options: run up the score and impress some recruits, or take another game down to the wire, starting the search for the next head coach. I highly doubt that this game will be close though. Notre Dame wins 41-17.

Boston College Duds and Studs

2009-10-26T16:58:00.005-04:00

With five straight games decided by a touchdown and four come from behind victories, I think its safe to say that the student body is getting their money's worth for their tickets this year.

Running the ball 27 times against 39 passing attempts didn't do well to help us control the clock and put the game away, poor special teams coverage gave us bad field position, and our secondary digressed from their performance against USC, but we still won, and for now, that's good enough for me.

Sitting at 23rd in the polls, Notre Dame has arguably matched expectations (especially factoring in the loss of Floyd) to this point in the season with a 5-2 record, but there is much improving that needs to be done over the next two weeks to prepare for what is increasingly looking like a tough 3 games at #15 Pitt (7-1), UConn (4-3), and at Stanford (5-3).

Duds

Pass Defense: By this point in the season, our secondary has proven itself to be a major point of concern; we are ranked 117th nationally against the pass, and 3 freshman quarterbacks have had career days on us. This has inevitably led to some anti Corwin / anti Tenuta posts from the ND faithful. It was encouraging to see our front seven apply some pressure at the end of the game, and moving Harrison Smith to more of a nickle/backer roll helped some, but this needs to be improved for us to beat Pitt.

Robert Hughes: Hughes only got four carries, but thats about 3 more than he should have got. If Hughes or Alldridge are on the field, it should be in a fullback / dual halfback roll opposite Allen because Armando has proven to be the best back when healthy.

Red Zone: Like in the Washington game and the end of the USC game, the Irish continued to struggle with red zone scoring on Saturday, scoring a touchdown only once in four attempts. Tate's speed is somewhat negated by the short field, and Parris and Kamara have been unable to make the plays in the endzone this year. The problem with throwing the ball in the short field, though, also falls on Clausen. Jimmy has a tendency to stare down receivers in the three step game and often throws to a well covered first read. The solution? I know it won't work 100% of the time, but it would be nice to see a non-gimmick, hard nose running game from inside the 20 (or 1!).

Ben Turk: Notre Dame found itself on the wrong end of the field position battle in part due to poor kick coverage. However, it is obvious that Turk needs to do some improving, registering an average of 32.7 yards on 6 kicks (for comparison, my high school teammate, who wasn't recruited anywhere, had a net of 34 yards senior year). BC's Ryan Quigley was able to help his team out with a 42 yard average on 5 kicks (keeping in mind that he is kicking to Golden Tate) and a long of 56.

Studs

Manti Te'o: My friends used to jokingly ask whether we would rather take a bullet to the chest or get hit by Ray Lewis, the moral of the story being that there are good linebackers, and then there are linebackers that you are kind of scared to play against. Notre Dame hasn't had one of the latter in awhile, so it would be nice if Manti can continue his rapid development and start really taking some heads off.

Golden Tate: I try to mix up the players in this weekly post, but I can't seem to keep Golden off of the list. Hauling in a career high 11 receptions for 128 and Notre Dame's only two touchdowns, #23 was the game's most valuable offensive player.

Kyle McCarthy: The secondary has been struggling this year, but it is not because of Kyle McCarthy. With five interceptions so far this season (three of them meaning the difference between wins and losses), McCarthy gets my vote for game MVP.

IBG: Screamin Eagles

2009-10-22T12:29:00.003-04:00

Welcome to another installment of the Irish Blogger Gathering. The Brawling Hibernian hosts the questions this week. Enjoy.

1. Coming off a very difficult loss to a rival that has now beaten them eight straight times, Notre Dame faces another that's beaten them six straight. Can Notre Dame end the losing streak against BC or will the combined weight of the USC loss and recent history against the Eagles be too much to overcome? Explain.

Boston College will play Notre Dame close like they do every year, but Vegas is slotting the Irish as an 8 point favorite for a reason.BC is 0-2 on the road this year, and in their two conference wins (Wake Forest and FSU), the Eagles nearly blew the game by letting the opponent rally in the second half. However, this game is really more about Notre Dame than Boston College. After playing USC down to the last second (BC was blown out 48-14 by then #5 Va Tech), the Irish find themselves in a cliché “gut check” scenario. Will the players rally behind their coach and play like they did last Saturday? If so, the Blue and Gold should come away with a 2 touchdown win.

2. Not unlike Notre Dame's defense, BC's offense has been pretty erratic this season. While in their most recent win, they rolled up 480 total yards and scored 52 points; in their two losses, they've averaged 109 yards and 11 points. Which BC offense and which ND defense show up on Saturday? Why?

BGS ranked BC’s offensive line second behind USC’s, and that doesn’t bode well for Notre Dame’s defense. BC’s 1.5 sacks allowed per game (much better than ND’s 2.3) leads me to believe that ND’s weak pass rush will be unable to pressure the quarterback, and with BC’s trio of quarterbacks demonstrating the ability to protect the ball, an Eagle air attack could spell trouble for the Irish. Once again, though, it is worth noting that BC’s two abysmal performances have come on the road, so a big crowd in South Bend could throw them off of their game on Saturday.

3. Does anyone seem primed to have a Robby Parris-like breakout moment against the Eagles? If so, who is it and why?

I would like to see Armando Allen return to his pre-Purdue form. After sitting out the game against the Boilermakers with an injury, Allen has only accumulated 90 yards on 24 carries in the last two games. The lack of a ground game amidst our offensive passing inconsistency caused a 4-1 squad to limp to a 6-6 record last season, so as we begin the road to January, regaining a player like Allen will help us survive some of the unexpectedly tough games that will inevitably come up.

4. It's been an and up-and-down year for Boston sports. After a strong start, the Red Sox folded in the second half of the year. The Patriots, meanwhile, seem to be on the upswing after a 59-0 dismantling of Tennessee. For their part, Boston College has seemed as though their season could go either way. Ultimately, will the Eagles be the Sox or the Pats?

Currently sitting on top of the weak ACC Atlantic division, the Eagles will be in position to play for the ACC crown and a BCS berth. The remaining schedule include a tough MAC opponent in Central Michigan, and winnable games @ 3-3 Virginia, 4-2 UNC, and @ 2-5 Maryland. However, even if BC makes it to the ACC Championship game, they will likely be bested by a superior Coastal team like Ga Tech, Miami, or the same Va Tech team that spanked them 48-14 earlier in the season, so my vote is for Red Sox.

5. While most Irish fans refer to BC as "Fredo", tell me to which other cinematic character you would compare the Eagles.

Since 2004, Boston College has won 4 bowl games, had at least 9 wins every year, and hasn’t lost to Notre Dame. While they have failed to win the ACC during any of these years, I don’t think it is that much of a stretch to say that they have actually out performed Notre Dame, especially when factoring in their current 6 win streak over the Irish. So, while some ND fans view BC as an incompetent little child, I will give the Eagles some credit by comparing them with Tommy Boy. Viewed by many to be incapable, Tommy was able to overcome the odds and succeed despite his shortcomings. Hopefully this weekend will see BC demoted back to its current nickname of Fredo, but for now, lets think of them more like a fat guy in a little coat.

USC Duds and Studs

2009-10-20T11:25:00.007-04:00

Hello everyone.Notre Dame is on fall break, so I will be making my annual rounds of Ohio colleges with my roommates this week. My blogging may be a little more sporadic as I am technically “off the grid,” using pay-phone-computers to type sentences at a time as I hitchhike from city to city. As much as I would like to take the week off, though, I feel like I need to earn my salary by offering some thoughts on the USC game, so I’ll start by giving the Duds and Studs from the game.

Duds

Pass Rush: Barkley is going to be a special player, but a true freshman should not light up a defense the way he did on Saturday. Weis has done a great overall job of recruiting since he started coaching, but he has had trouble pulling in D-Linemen, and specifically D-Tackles. Having a Gerald McCoy or Omar Hunter in the trenches would help apply some pressure, but Hart and Tenuta need to find a way to get pressure with what they have.

Pass Blocking: A year after USC sent 10 defensive players to the NFL, the Trojans were still able to field a menacing pass rush. Clausen was brought to the dirt five times, but the bigger issue was that Weis continually had to keep a runningback in for protection instead of sending a player like Allen on routes.

Darrin Walls: While Blanton earned the dud DB award last week, Darrin Walls seemed to shoulder the most blame for the aerial beat down this week. With as mush experience as Darrin, has, one would expect him to better close on routes that he is leaving wide open, and he had a tough time bringing down USC’s big receivers as well.

Heart attack: With the way the past five games have gone, the mean age of Notre Dame alumni could very well drop 2 years over the course of the season. Out of all of the close games, though, it is worth noting that we probably had the best shot of winning against Michigan and USC. Down in a hole late against Washington, the Irish had no business shutting down the Huskies on 8 plays from the 1 yard line. Michigan State had a wide open receiver in the endzone for the win – that loss is more on them than us, and Purdue made us scratch and claw for a victory in West Lafayette. With Michigan, we failed to run out the clock. With USC, we (arguably) failed to manage the clock on what (arguably) should have been a scoring drive. A loss in the expiring seconds is always tough to stomach, but it’s even more difficult with a timeout on the board and a down to spare.

Studs

Trick Plays: There is more or less a consensus that if a team needs to use trick plays, then they are usually an inferior opponent. That being said, I felt that Weis did a good job of playing with what he had. The fake field goal kept the Irish from being on the bad end of a first half blowout, and even the Wild-Goodman served as a good means of keeping USC off balance. I’m not saying Charlie called a perfect game, but he did install some clever stuff over the bye week.

St. Ignatius: Speaking of the Wildcat, two former Wildcats had good games against the Trojans. Johnny Ryan came up with a critical sack in the closing minutes of the game that gave the Irish their chance to tie the game. Robby Parris might as well have been wearing the #3 this week; with 9 catches for 92 yards, Parris stepped up to prevent USC from locking down Tate and freezing the offense like they did a year ago. Saying that it was unfortunate to see Robby get injured (on a late hit) at the end of the game would be an understatement.

Golden Tate: With only 2 catches for 15 yards against USC last season, Tate may have boosted himself into All-American discussion with his play against USC this year. His 8 receptions for 117 yards and 2 touchdowns kept the crowd (and the team) in the game. I feel like this post is lamenting too much on what could have been, but can anyone even comprehend what this offense would be like with a healthy Floyd and Arrelious Benn at Clausen’s arsenal?

Tackling (!?): Going off the grid / into the wild / rogue / Get in the Bronco Shawn! has prevented me from rewatching the game, but it seems like our tackling improved against USC (3.7 YPC was better than I expected). Granted, we did not shut them down, and a few missed tackles led to some big plays that should not have been. Again, I stand to be corrected, but if this is true, then this is more evidence that the bye week was well spent. If the defense can build off of this performance in the coming weeks, we have a good shot of finishing with 10 wins.

Photos from the AP.

One Bright Spot from Saturday

2009-10-19T18:04:00.002-04:00

Saturday's defeat to the hated Trojans highlighted a number of the problems which have plagued the Irish this season. I usually blame poor tackling as the number 1 cause in my book. The defense stopped playing two-hand touch and played a decent game (one John Ryan even had a sack). I still need to watch the replay of the game on Universal HD sometime this week, but at the game it just seemed that the defense schemes on important plays (short yardage/3rd down) were just wrong. The guys on the field played their hearts out and came through again when necessary against a very talented team. But I feel that when a coach is known to use his tight ends vertically down the field in short yardage situations, the play should not be to leave them uncovered. All and all the team played whard, finally got a due turnover, and had multiple chances to send the game into overtime. There is nothing to hang our heads about that, and it was one of the more memorable games in my 4 years.

The Charlie's Nasties' recruiting desk correspondant known as "The Franz" first allerted me Friday that the speedy recruit Tai-ler Jones would be attending the game against USC, and was having doubts about his verbal comit to Stanford. Sure enough with a good performance Saturday from Weis's offense, and a fantastic stadium atmosphere during the game, the WR Jones changed his comittment to Notre Dame. This is an awesome pick-up for the Irish since his speed and elusiveness will complement well the other playmakers in the WR core, and it comes at the loss for his hometown Florida Gators, and the rising Stanford. Mark my words, Jim Harbaugh is going to build a very competitive program in the next few years, and the Cardinal will/won't be a pushover game.

And how much better did the student's section look this week with everyone just wearing green. Pick your favorite green t-shirt and wear it, and wow, it looks better than just about anything we've thrown out there in a while. Who knew that any real shade of green (not the 2007 shirt) would look better than a pasty/sandy gold shirt?

IBG: So You're Saying There's a Chance?

2009-10-15T18:27:00.005-04:00

Greetings all. Fall Break is right around the corner, and ND community has had a week to emotionally prepare for the game that will decide our season. A few (students? faculty? employees?) have been decorating the campus with images of encouragement heading into Saturday's showdown. Every public computer in the labs is sporting a new background sponsored by ND Gameday reading "Go Irish Beat Trojans," chalk on the sidewalks has been present until the recent wet weather, and on the way into the dining hall today, I walked over about 50 sheets of paper taped in front of the doors reading "Stomp USC." There is definitely a buzz around campus, but yet not one of the Observer news reporters picked an Irish win. So which one is it? Time for another round of the Irish Blogger Gathering to find out. Thanks to the OC Domer for hosting this week.1. The weather forecast for Saturday's game (as of this writing) has the high temperature in the mid 40's with some chance of rain (or snow?). What weather would give Notre Dame the best chance to beat USC? Why?

Over the past few USC games, the traditional answer would probably be a cats-and-dogs downpour mixed with sleet and flurries. However, I feel that our passing game is better than USC's passing game, and that our running game is not as good. That being said, I'm probably just rooting for the ground to be cold and slopping to slow down Joe McKnight, and the air will stay clear so we won't lose much on our passing attack.

2. Irresistable Force or Immovable Object? Notre Dame's offense is ranked #10 in yards (470 per game) and #27 in points (32.6 per game). USC's defense is ranked #6 in yards allowed (238.6 per game) and #4 in scoring allowed (just 8.6 points per game). In 2008 Notre Dame had just 91 total yards against USC. Will the Notre Dame offense be able to move the ball on Saturday? If so, how?

At this point in the season, the team stats are usually pretty skewed, for example, ND and USC both had stunning performances against Nevada and San Jose State, respectively, but they are perhaps weighted a little more heavily than they should be. That being said, the best defense ND has faced all year has been Michigan State, who is nowhere near the caliber of USC, and the sobering fact that 70% of our current roster has never scored a touchdown against the Trojans unfortunately points me towards the immovable object.

3. USC's offense is #22 in yards (430.6 per game) and #53 in scoring (28.8 points per game). Notre Dame's defense is #100 in total defense (403.2 yards per game) and #59 in scoring defense (allowing 23.8 points per game). Will the Notre Dame defense be able to slow down the USC offense? If so, how?

Short of a few incredible goal line stands, the defense has not shown much to make me think we will be able to slow the Trojan ground game. However, I would be content with letting USC pick up 4 yards and a pile of dust because if we prevent a big play, that will keep us in the game and give the offense a chance. The problem is in the passing game. Barkley is a true freshman and should make some mistakes if we are able to apply pressure, but our pass rush has been non existent, leading me to believe that USC will be able to attack by land and air.

4. In 2008, with Michael Floyd unable to play due to injury, Golden Tate had 2 catches against USC for a team-high 15 receiving yards. How do you expect Golden Tate to play against USC this year?

Tate is better, Jimmy is better, and (most importantly) the O-Line is better than last year. Combined with the emergence of Kyle Rudolph and Weis' creative ways of moving Tate around (he lined up as a fullback once last game), Golden should have the opportunity to make more plays than he did last year.

5. Jimmy Clausen has started to get some Heisman buzz. In your opinion, which Notre Dame player is the most deserving of Heisman attention, Jimmy or Golden Tate? Why?When Larry Fitzgerald was denied the Heisman a few years ago, I came to terms with the fact that the award no longer goes to the best college football player, but to the best QB or RB (who usually plays for the best team). I still think other position players can win, but it would take an abnormaly spectacular season for another position to win. So for now, JC should be getting more talk.

6. Overrated or Underrated. Notre Dame cracked into the AP Poll at #25 this week. Are they overrated or underrated at #25? Where would you put them in your poll?

Watching Boise State play last night causes me to scream underrated. I'm not saying that ND would beat the Broncos, but when a top 5 team goes on the road and barley beats an unranked team from Conference USA, it makes me cringe. So much of the AP vote is linked to media bias (such as preseason rankings, which are pretty much BS) and the strength of out of conference scheduling is not factored enough into the equation. Take Utah for example, who shocked everyone by beating Alabama at the end of last season. The AP placed the Utes one slot ahead of ND for beating Utah State, San Jose State, Louisville, and Colorado State - all by less than 2 possessions. I think it is much easier to play 10 easy games a year and get all the players hyped up for one or two really big games than to consistently face legitimate opponents week in and week out like the Irish do. If these flaws in the current system were better accounted for, I think ND would only be 1-2 slots higher, but the top 25 as a whole would look a lot different (sorry for rant).

7. USC Song Girls: Ambassadors of Collegiate Goodwill or Anachronism from a bygone era of oppressive sexist stereotypes?
8. Green Jerseys? There's a lot of "green" talk coming from campus this week, and it raises the question of whether the team will be wearing green on Saturday. Do you want to see the green jerseys or not? Why?

Personally, I feel like the program hasn't earned the jerseys since the 2005 USC game. If they wear them Saturday and we win, the jeresey-wearing will be (duh) justified, but ever since I've been at school, the green adidas moneymakers have somehow worked their way into games where we get blown out or play a clearly inferior opponent. I want the team to just go out and play hard for four quarters. Don't tell me how the team is really sure they are going to win, and don't give me the green jeresy bs. Just go out there and play like you mean it.
9. Name the next number in this sequence: -3, -20, -38, -35, _______. Explain.

-7. Unfortunately, the holes in our defense cannot allow me to pick an Irish win. If Barkley can't be forced into making 2-3 game changing freshman mistakes, or if our defense can't find away to play with the resilliancy of a goal line stand for the entire game, I think that the Trojans will extend their winning streak to a depressing 8 games over the Irish.

Washington Duds and Studs

2009-10-05T15:41:00.009-04:00

Last season, the Notre Dame vs. Washington game was one of the few games where Weis and Co. completely dominated every facet of the game. The 33 to 7 Irish victory was one of 12 Huskie losses last season, and Notre Dame was so dominant that Washington was unable to cross midfield until the end of the game. This year probably drew better TV ratings.For the past four weeks, the Irish have managed to keep everyone on the edge of their seats until the final whistle, finding a way to outdo themselves in comeback absurdity each week. Of course the irony is that when looking at the last three minutes of each of the past four games, its clear that Notre Dame had the best chance of beating Michigan, the one team we lost to.

On that note its time to begin another segment of Duds and Studs:

Duds

Brian Smith: The Kansas City product is the vocal leader of the defense, and he is putting up just over 5 tackles a game, but his tackling fundamentals still drive me crazy. A play before the goal line stand (in the 3rd quarter) exemplified Smith's improper technique: his athleticism and nose for the football proved true as he shot the gap and collided with the runningback 3 yards in the backfield. However, because he failed to wrap up with his arms and drive through the tackler with his legs, the runningback bounced off and turned the play into a 10 yard gain.

Robert Blanton: On the same play, Blanton got juked out of his shoes. More than that though, RJ had a rocky game in coverage, surrendering the 37 yard completion to James Johnson that set Washington up for the game tying field goal. Blanton is a tough kid with a good work ethic, so I have confidence that he can improve, but as of right now, it looks like McNeil and Gray are our two best corners.

Robby Parris: The senior made the most out of his two receptions with 46 receiving yards, but a key drop in the endzone puts him in my doghouse for now.

Red Zone Offense: Notre Dame's first 5 trips to the red zone resulted in 5 field goals. It's always dangerous to let a lesser opponent hang around until the end of the game, and when Notre Dame failed to score a touchdown until there was 3:00 left in the first half, it let Washington do exactly that. Not having the big targets of Floyd and Kamara hurts, but the Irish must find a way to punch it in if we want to have success.

Defense: 281 yards through the air for Locker, and 176 yards on the ground, including 136 yards on a 6.2 yard average by Chris Polk. The bye week is a golden opportunity to work on tackling and coverage fundamentals, and I hope that our coaching staff takes advantage of it.

Studs

JC: As you've probably read on ten other sites, Jimmy's performance against UW was good enough to make him the most efficient quarterback in the country through five weeks and earn him O'Brien Quarterback of the Week honors. For those of you keeping score at home, this is the fourth straight week that Clausen has found his team down in the fourth quarter and the fourth straight week he has responded with a touchdown drive. What suprises me most is that his 422 passing yards is a career high; the way Jimmy is airing it out I expect him to break that this year.

Tate: His 244 receiving yards is a game high among D-1 receivers through 5 games, and the mark is second in the Notre Dame record books. What I continue to like best about Tate though, is his ability to fight through and break tackles. Listed at 5'11" 195 lbs (yeah..right), this receiver is one of the toughest to tackle in the country.

Young Diesel: Even with Darius Flemming out, the young defensive ends Kapron Lewis-Moore, Ethan Johnson, and Kerry Neal all had big games. Kerry Neal had the key sack in overtime, and Johnson lit up Locker after a Clausen interception to cause a fumble. Like the offense from last year, the youth up front still yields to some inconsistency, but there are definitley bright spots. And speaking of tackling... did you hear that we have this kid named Manti?

Defense: 3 goal line stands and a jarring hit when the game was on the line. Yes the overall tackling is a concern, but since folding in the Big House, this defense has found a way to fight when its backs are up against the wall, and that fire under pressure is what will keep us in every game.

Nick Tausch: 5 field goals out of 5 red zone trips is much better than nothing. While I was frustrated that we couldn't score, I agree with Weis' decision to kick the field goals instead of trying to go for it. Anytime you get stuffed at the line 3 plays in a row, you're probably not going to power it in on 4th down anyways. Props to the freshman for giving us some consistency in the kicking game.

Photos from the AP

Thats it for now. Go Irish!

IBG: Wash on, Wash off

2009-10-01T09:47:00.003-04:00

Hey all. Subway Domer came up with some good impromtu questions this week, but before we get into another Irish Blogger Gathering, I'd like to throw some shameless props to this blog as Charlie's Nasties has reached 200 posts.

Sorry for that... now into the IBG:

1. Describe your worst nightmare coming true on Saturday. Can that nightmare become a reality?

Losing to Washington would be bad for a couple of reasons. First, it would obviously drop us to 3-2 on the season, but more importantly, it would be another example of Notre Dame struggling against (or losing to) a team that they should (on paper) beat by at least two touchdowns. Michigan State lost to Central Michigan, and Purdue lost to Northern Illinois, but for some reason, they took our team right down to the wire. Losing to a Huskie squad that lost at Stanford last week would not be a good thing.
While getting a win is always the most important objective, coming out of this weekend injury free would be huge. Clausen has already said that he won't be 100% until after the season, and without Armando Allen, our run game lacks big play potential.
So can it become a reality? Of course: Clausen and Allen are already banged up, and Washington beat friggin' USC! Let's just hope the Irish come out ready to dominate and can shut the Huskies down early.2. Can we all agree that Jake Locker will be the best quarterback that we have/will face all season?

A few IBG's ago, I picked Locker as the number one quarterback we will face, and I'm going to stick with that statement. BGS ranked Locker and Kaepernick as the top 2 QBs followed by USC's QB rotation. After watching two Nevada games this year (@ Missouri in some crazy Thursday night football a week ago), I would bump Kaepernick down a few spots (he has more interceptions, 4, than TDs, 2). Also, Michigan was ranked 11th out of twelve opponents in terms of quarterback strength, but after Forcier has led UM to a 4-0 start, I have to put him into at least the top 5. However, Locker's athleticism, arm strength, and (Tebow-esqu?) leadership skills cement him as the #1 in my book.

3. Replace two starters on both sides of the football for the Washington game. Who are they, who are they replacing, and why?

Offense: Trevor Robinson replaces 4 year starter Sam Young. #74 has been a staple of the ND line since 2006, but he has been a little disappointing as a senior with too many personal fouls and false starts for someone who is supposed to be a leader on the line. A game sitting out might help him get his head on straight (and I think T-Rob would do fine in the replacement role).
Defense: I would expect the IBG answers to be fairly unanimous in lobbying to move Brian Smith to the middle and start Te'o at the Will. Toryan Smith is on the short end of the stick here, but he is slow against the pass and is not seen in the pass rush. Smith's tackling against the run still worries me, but Te'o is one of the best tacklers on our defense (wait a sec, you're supposed to keep your feet under you when you tackle someone?), so the trade off there shouldn't be too bad.

4. Ty Willingham enters the stadium in the second quarter. What happens?

In the many interviews Swarbrick has had to face regarding Weis' job security, he continually references an evaluation process he conducts at the end of the season. Coaches are judged on wins (duh), but also a series of other criteria such as academic performance, trend of the program, and recruiting. Journalists are quick to point out the win loss similarities between Willingham and Weis, but I don't think it would be much of a stretch to claim that Willingham probably didn't do that great on portions of the review that Weis excelled in.
After watching Ty drive Washinton to a 0 win season, I think the nation has finally acknowledged that perhaps Notre Dame made the right move with letting him go, and if he shows up at the second quarter, I don't think much would happen outside of some obligatory face time on NBC.

5. Are you impressed with the improvement in the run game in 2009, or is it a figment of our imagination?

I'm impressed... as long as the run game is featuring Armando Allen. With over 100 yards per game, Allen is actually making me believe that we can ram the ball down (some) team's throats this year. While Hughes and Co. put together a good effort against Purdue, I still think that Purdue's because the Boilermaker's defense is so suspect that you have to file the performance under a similar bucket as Stanford and Duke in 2007 rather than a prequel to the highly anticipated (insert "lighting & thunder" cliche) tandem with Allen.

6. Who's hotter, Wendi Nix or Erin Andrews? Why. It your hottie a defensive or offensive player?

Gotta go with EA here. Maybe its just from the new NCAA game (the "...with Erin Andrews! Yes, Erin Andrews!" tagline is definitely creepy). I'm also not sure what to make of the offensive / defensive portion of the question, so I'll just have to go with special teams.

7. Predictions please...

Vegas has ND as 13 point favorites this game. The question is, do the Irish continue to play cardiac style, or does the team assert itself and let the fans have a good time while they coast onward to victory? In the words of Lee Corso (not to endorse anything he says or does...) "Not so fast! Notre Dame pulls out the win, but CLOSER than the experts think!"
Notre Dame: 31 Washington: 21

Purdue Duds and Studs

2009-09-28T23:41:00.005-04:00

Sorry again for the delayed post... I'll try to throw up general thoughts about the game, coaching, and etc. a little later this week, but for now I'll head right into the Duds and Studs:Duds

Big Plays: 2 of Purdue's 3 touchdowns came on plays of 35 yards or longer. The first score featured perhaps the worst tackling I've ever seen from this defense, and the second was a blown coverage that allowed Jaycen Taylor to trot untouched for a 38 yard score. Domer Law Blog sums up my feelings on the big plays given up on Saturday:

I think that everything you need to know about this team is summed up in this quote by Weis:

"You know, they (Purdue) had a couple of carries where they got yards, and then the rest of the carries I mean, they gained 56 yards on three carries, and they gained 11 yards on the other 14 carries. They had a 26 yard run, a 15 yard run and a 15 yard run, and they were really the only runs that were over ten yards, and the rest of it averaged less than a yard a carry."

So to sum up, if we wouldn't screw up a few times a game, we could be really good.

Pass Defense: Joey Elliott shredded the defense for 289 yards and 3 TDs, and our lone interception was on a 4th and 3 where an incompletion may have been the better option. Robert Blanton had eight total tackles on the night, but the overall production is still not there. A better pass rush will help, but we need our talented corners and safeties to start producing some turnovers and better cover the opposition.Injuries: Purdue may have been the "wounded animal" after losing at home to Northern Illinois the previous week, but even though Purdue came out and played a great football game, it is obvious that while Notre Dame may be able to play without Floyd, putting points on the board without Floyd and Clausen and Allen will be a struggle. Kudos to Weis for using some creativity, but we need JC and AA back at 90% or better if we want to get to 9 or 10 wins.

Studs

Golden Tate: Everyone is quick to point out Brian Smith's enthusiasm and leadership on defense, but I never hear the same about Golden on offense. This cat never goes down easy and always seems to know how to get past the first down markers when its third and long. With 5 receptions for 55 yards and 9 carries for 55 yards, the versatile Tate helped keep Purdue's defense guessing for most of the game.Front 7: Who would have guessed that our run defense would have been doing better than our pass defense by the fourth game of the season? The 2008 recruiting class of Ethan Johnson, Darius Fleming, and KLM is starting to mesh nicely with young gun Manti Te'o. The unit held the nation's second leading rusher Ralph Bolden to a season low 67 yards on 17 carries. Now if only this group could start getting after the quarterback...

Kyle Rudolph: Check out this line about our tight end and tell me he didn't merit the title of "Stud" for this week:

“Kyle looked at me and said ‘Jimmy give me the ball,”’ Clausen said. “I said, ‘You better get open and catch the ball,’ and he made a big play. After that, I gave him a big hug and said all that work in the summertime out in California paid off.”

X Factor(?): Call it what you want: grit, guts, or will to win. The magic ingredient that many fans have accused former Irish teams of lacking appears to be strikingly present in this year's squad. Whether it's players like Rudolph demanding the ball on the most important play of the game, Robert Hughes dragging defenders with him into the endzone, or Sergio Brown and Manti Te'o combining to sack Elliott to end the game, this team has simply refused to lose.

Jimmy Clausen: Speaking of refusing to lose, in the last three games, JC has found his team down late in the fourth quarter and responded with three touchdown drives. It makes sense that a player currently 5th in ESPN's Heisman watch list should find himself in the Studs category week in and week out. At this point, if the Irish find themselves less than 1 score down and on offense as time is running out, I think that we have a good chance of winning because of this guy.

Thats it for this week. Go Irish!

IBG: Better Late Than Never

2009-09-26T12:48:00.002-04:00

I usually try to get my Irish Blogger Gathering posts up by Thursday, but a few things came up (one of which may or may not have been an impromptu screening of Hellboy II) so I missed my deadline. However, a night game at Purdue gave me the extra time I needed to answer Frank's questions from UHND. Here you go:

1. The obvious question for the week, how does Notre Dame deal with the loss of Michael Floyd? What wide receiver steps up? How, if at all, does the offense change?

When Floyd went down, every Irish fan started having nightmares of last year when a respectable Irish offense went comatose without their young star wideout. Putting my emotions (mostly stemming from the loss to Syracuse) aside and looking at some numbers however, ND’s offensive efficiency (measured in a percentage of yards gained) dropped from 71.5% to 53% after Floyd left the game. Considering that 60% seems to be the benchmark for a good offense, and adding that Clausen and Armando were banged up, it looks like Notre Dame’s dip in offensive production will fortunately not be as severe as last season. Look for the veteran combo of Kamara and Parris to team up with Rudolph in replacing some of the production.

2. After seeing three games from Notre Dame in 2009 have your expectations increased, decreased, or remained the same?

Unfortunately, MSU put up a 60% offensive efficiency against ND, which is the highest opponent total in the last two years. Our inability to put pressure on the quarterback has decreased my expectations somewhat, and I think that my 10-2 regular season prediction will dip to at least 9-3 as a result.

3. The last two years against Purdue, a Notre Dame player has had their breakout game. In 2007 it was Golden Tate and in 2008 it was Armando Allen. Who do you think could have their breakout game against the Boilermakers this year?

Going on the road and potentially facing some bad weather, I think Notre Dame will still score points through the air, but I want to see the coaching staff mix in a little more ball control offense. With Armando coming off of a minor ankle injury, I think one of the backup runningbacks could take advantage of some extra carries. My breakout player is Theo Riddick.

4. How would you grade the three new coaches on this year’s staff based on the first three games?

As I mentioned in this week’s Duds and Studs post, I am pretty pleased with Alford and Verducci. The offensive line may have returned four of last year’s starters, but there has been a lot of position switching, and Verducci’s ability to manage this position flux while greatly improving the run and pass blocking gets him an A. Allen is running better than ever and protecting the ball, but Jonas Gray still has some work to do before I would feel comfortable putting him on the field, so Alford gets an A-. Hart is tricky because we haven’t been putting up great defensive numbers, but he doesn’t have the best talent pool to work with (lets be honest, John Ryan and Mo Richardson are no Pat Kuntz and Trevor Laws). All that being said though, I think our D Line does display better tackling fundamentals than our linebackers (which is scary), and I think the enthusiasm Hart brings to the table will lead to more improvement in the near future. He gets a B.

5. Your thoughts on Golden Tate’s stage dive into the Michigan State band? Was he trying to avoid running into the band? Was the whole thing intentional? Little of column A, little of column B?

From the experiences I’ve had with Golden, I’d have to go with 95% column B. And it was awesome.

6. How has your opinion of the Notre Dame schedule changed from how you felt about it in the pre-season?

I’ve spent this week ranting with my roommates about how the rankings system in college football is pretty flawed. Every year, perennial teams returning big names get over ranked. Think of Georgia last year sitting at preseason #1 because they were returning Stafford and Moreno, but even Georgia fans recognized that their returning talent on the offensive line would give them issues as the season progressed. I’m saying this because for all of the talk about Notre Dame having such as easy schedule, the Irish now have 3 ranked opponents on the schedule, and teams like Pitt are looking to crack the top 25 sooner rather than later. Especially with Washington pulling off a win over USC, I think you have to recognize that the schedule is a little tougher.

7. Should Jimmy Clausen be getting more hype for the Heisman?

JC has been playing great, but he needs to keep up his stratospheric numbers for the next few weeks. If Clausen comes out of USC averaging 3 TDs a game and maintaining his passer rating, the hype will definitely start coming.

I'm taking Notre Dame -7 @ Purdue tonight. Go Irish!

MSU Duds and Studs

2009-09-21T20:43:00.005-04:00

Duds

Pass Rush: ESPN described our defense as being in "code red crisis mode," and right now, I have to agree. Poor tackling and another lackluster performance in the secondary helped Michigan State throw for 305 yards (to put that in perspective, MSU only managed 316 total yards at home last week against Central Michigan). For now, I'll put most of this blame on the pass rush. Whether we sent 3 or 7, the defense was unable to record a sack; either our front seven is worse than everyone thought or the Big Ten is that much better.
Injuries: Jimmy got tangled up, Allen and Duncan also were slow to get up at times, and we lost this guy named Michael Floyd for (likely) the season. "You can never really replace Michael Floyd, a guy that caliber of player. "He's an A-flight player," Weis said. "What you have to do is put other people in position to go ahead and pick up some of that responsibility. Having some veterans in that mix certainly makes it easier to do that." UHND has some ideas of how ND might replace Floyd's production, but it will be an uphill climb for the offense without its best receiver.

Backups: Jonas Gray struggled with pass blocking on Saturday, and after seeing a few snaps against Michigan, Shaq Evans couldn't get himself on the field this week despite Floyd's first half injury. With injury attrition setting in, the backups will need to step it up.

End of Game Clock Management: Safety Kyle McCarthey described the last series as "freakishly similar" to last week's loss to Michigan. Part of the similarity was in Weis electing to throw the ball during the last series instead of running clock. Michigan State would have been less of a threat to score a game winning touchdown without an extra 40 seconds.

Studs

Armando: Allen has my vote for most improved player right now. Previously ridiculed for going down easily, #5 has shown the ability to consistently get the tough yards this year. His pass blocking is good, he's catching the ball out of the backfield effectively, and to borrow a Friday Night Lights line, he can throw the ball, too! (Play is at the 5:12 mark, sorry its the only one I could find).
#9s: Kyle Rudolph put up a career high 95 receiving yards and Ethan Johnson blocked an extra point that forced MSU to try and score at the end of the game instead of kicking a game winning field goal. With games like that, these two are giving Zibby jersey owners a good ROI.

New Coaches: Allen is looking better than ever, and a suspect O-Line from last season is providing good protection (3 sacks all year*) and good running lanes. Its about time to throw some props to Tony Alford and Frank Verducci, who have done a great job improving the offense.

Kyle McCarthy: Kyle is the only player in our secondary that tackles well, and his interception at the end of the game was the difference maker in the ball game. Every ND fan should be thankful that this athlete came back for a 5th year.Wildcat: On the one year anniversary of the Miami Dolphins using this formation to beat the Patriots, it looks like Weis has finally cooked up something close to a schematic advantage.

Sorry for the lack of intro / outro - busy busy. Go Irish! Beat Boilermakers!

IBG: They were who we thought they were

2009-09-17T09:48:00.009-04:00

Sarah over at Bad Trade had the questions this week:

1. Still trying to get the taste of last weekend's game out of my mouth, so let's start with something fun. With Sparty on its way into South Bend, give me your favorite memory of the ND-MSU series. I don't care what it is: John L. Smith losing it, the image of MSU guarding against nothing, an actual game memory, whatever.

This was probably going to be the first year that I didn’t link to this wonderful Michigan State postgame show, but with a question like this, I can’t help myself. Here you go.
2. Since 1997, Michigan State has won 9 of 12 games against the Irish. I view this as a classic case of Sparty having ND's number. What worries you most about Michigan State this weekend?

MSU’s O-Line returns three quality starters on the left side of the line including Freshman All-American guard Joel Foreman, and while the Spartans must replace their best linemen from a year ago, RG Jared McGaha (RS Sophomore) and RT J’Michael Deane (RS Junior) are the same age or even older than our young defensive front. Freshman runningback Caulton Ray is no Jevon Ringer (as evidenced by putting up only 122 yds and 1 TD against Montana State and Central Michigan), but Spartans have a way of stepping it up against the Irish, and our run defense will be a point of concern until proven otherwise.

3. Between my lingering bad feelings from last weekend and the history of this series in the last decade plus, give me a good reason or two or three to feel optimistic about a change in fortune for the Irish, because right now, I could use some optimism.

1. I'm throwing out the history for this question because this Irish squad has a knack for record breaking (bowl streak, most points scored @ Mich, etc) - the home team will finally win.
2. Our offense is sick nasty - the defense is still suspect, but we will put up 30+ week in and week out.
3. MSU's QBs shouldn't give us the problems that UM's did last week. Both put up good numbers over the past two games (7TDs no INTs), but they lack the footspeed to break big plays against our defense, who should be reinvigorated playing at home.

4. As it is my week, I get to address my current ND obsession. Have the last two games changed your opinion/reinforced your opinion re: Charlie in the box versus Charlie on the field?
Weis is an offensive coach, and from what I've seen this year, there isn't much to complain about on offense, so I think the climb in production is correlated more with the maturity of his players, not from where he calls the plays. Similarly, the lack of production on the defensive side seems to be a reflection of the youth and lack of talent, not schemes. Weis can call plays wherever he wants in my opinion.

5. If nothing else, I can count on one thing to look forward to on Saturday - tailgating. Anyone have a good recipe for me to try? I make no limitations on what it can be - a drink recipe, dessert, appetizer. So long as it can be made on a grill, camp stove, or ahead of time, I am happy to listen. The better the suggestion, the more likely you are to get invited to my own tailgate.

Walking Tacos: Pour chili into a bag of Fritos. Add sour cream and cheddar cheese as needed. Eat with spoon – a Dayton tailgate staple, this will give you that taco taste without the mess.

And if that is a little too tame for your tailgate try some:

Grimace: UV Grape Vodka and Mountain Dew – they call it a grimace cause that’s what it’ll make you do. Be careful though, you don’t want to end up like this guy I saw at the Nevada game.6. Finally, any predictions for the game? I encourage your predictions to involve something other than a final score, but otherwise, I make no suggestions.

The offense is going to keep doing what its doing. Tate is due for a big game, and Shaq will start seeing some more quality PT as Floyd is afforded the opportunity to take a few less snaps. Our defense will feed off of the home crowd and make a few big stops to quiet the MSU offense. Notre Dame takes this one 35-17.

NFL Irish Duds and Studs

2009-09-16T15:32:00.007-04:00

Notre Dame alum's had some ups and downs in the first week of the NFL season. So just for fun, here are the Duds and Studs from week 1:

Duds

Anthony Fasano: Per ESPN's AFC East Blog: In Sunday's opener, he caught two passes and fumbled them both -- one of them on the Falcons' 16-yard line.

John Sullivan: Replacing All-Pro center Matt Birk is hard enough, but having to face All-Pro Shaun Rodgers in week 1 may be harder. Sullivan showed Vikings fans that he still has some learning to do after being dominated by Rodgers Sunday, the low point coming when Sully was called for holding and still let up a sack.Brady Quinn: On the other side of the Browns / Vikings game, BQ got his first season-opening start with the Browns. While managing the game adequately in the first half, an interception and fluke fumble in the second half served as turning points in the game. On the bright side, BQ did lead the Browns on their first touchdown drive at home since Week 9 of last season (yikes!).

Studs

John Carlson: It looks like Carlson will be able to surpass his mark of 5 TD receptions last season. The ND grad hauled in six passes for 95 yards and 2 TDs in week 1.
Julius Jones: While Carlson led the Seahawks in receiving yards, Jones set the tempo on the ground to the tune of 117 yards at 6.2 YPC. Hopefully this is a sign of Jones finally getting the breakout NFL season Irish fans have been waiting for.

Justin Tuck: 1.5 sacks a game is almost the norm for this pro-bowler.

Victor Abiramiri: Perhaps the least likely out of all of these players to score a touchdown in week 1, Abiramiri aided in the Eagle's throttling of the Panthers by scooping and scoring on Sunday. Nice job Vick!

Michigan Duds and Studs

2009-09-14T16:08:00.004-04:00

The Nasties crew was lucky enough to score some tickets to the game in Ann Arbor Saturday, and to say the least, we were able to take in an exciting football game. Unfortunately for Irish fans, the game ended in a bad way, leaving ND stunned with a loss heading into the game against MSU next weekend. With that, we head into another Duds and Studs post.

Duds

Weis: I can't point the blame more at any one else for this loss. Allen was killing it, and Jonas Gray gets 3 carries for net zero yards and a crucial fumble. Worse was the clock management at the end of the game. I'm aware that Clausen may have checked to Tate's fade route and that if Shaq ran a better route, we would probably have won. However, it makes no football sense to take those risks when we can call three consecutive run plays (throw in a screen if you want to pass) and give Michigan's rookie quarterback no timeouts and short clock to drive the entire field. Kudos to Charlie for putting up a lot of points, but his clock management at the end of games boarders on the inept.Special Teams: Tausch missed his first collegiate field goal, and poor pursuit angles combined with a missed tackle gave UM seven free points on a kick return. I will be interested to see OC Domer's breakdown of average starting field position; I have a feeling Notre Dame lost this pivotal statistic Saturday.

M.O.E.s: To borrow a stat often used at Blue Gray Sky, major offensive errors killed the Irish on Saturday. Holding penalties and dropped passes jerked our offense to a stop. A missed blocking assignment aided in causing the Jonas Gray fumble, and Allen stepped out of bounds on what would have been a vital touchdown.

Defense: I tried to narrow this down into secondary and front seven, but the problems I noticed were largely the same in both. On too many occasions, defenders either took a bad pursuit angle to the ball, incorrectly played a route, or displayed the same poor tackling we saw against Nevada last week. If anyone wants to argue in favor of our defense, keep in mind that we just let a freshman quarterback complete 70% of his passes and average over 5 yards per carry.

Studs

Jimmy Clausen*: JC gets the asterisk here because if I find out that he checked out of a run to throw a deep ball to Tate, all of his statistics are shrouded by a terrible awareness decision. That being said, Jimmy has yet to throw a pick this year, and he would have probably put up more than 330 yards and 3 TDs if it weren't for some of the M.O.E.s mentioned above. The best aspect of Clausen's performance, however, was his ability to reinvigorate a stagnant offense that was 11 points down in the fourth quarter and put the team in position to win.

Michael Floyd: Michigan had no answer for Floyd on Saturday. Registering over 300 yards and 4 touchdowns in the first two games, this guy is a freak of nature. Fortunately, he should be back for MSU this weekend.

Armando Allen: With 139 yards on 21 carries, you wonder why Jonas or Robert were ever in the game. Allen showed speed to the outside, vision on the inside, and bounced off of would be tacklers for most of the game. After scoring the go ahead touchdown in the final minutes and following with a 2 point conversion run, Allen's penalty put an unfortunate damper on an otherwise spectacular game. It's unfortunate that such a minor hand gesture (I'm not even talking about the bird) could have such a large impact on the outcome of a game...Offensive Line: Allen and Clausen didn't do it all by themselves. The O-Line put together one of its better performances against a quality opponent in recent memory. 5.1 YPC against a team like Michigan is a solid effort.

Closing Thoughts:

Overall, I think our offense put together a good game. Key errors, however, kept the performance from being dominant. If ND can play smarter football on offense for the rest of the season, we should be able to move the ball well against our opponents. The defense, on the other hand, showed why most Irish fans listed our front seven as a weakness during the offseason. The youth up front was unable to make the proper reads and too slow to react. The veterans continue to move too slow (or in the case of Brian Smith, over pursue) to contain the opposition. This side of the ball must improve if Notre Dame wants to beat MSU or Pitt, let alone USC.

IBG: giver er, then you git UM

2009-09-10T18:13:00.006-04:00

Her Loyal Sons (who are definitely loyal in their hatred of Michigan) had the IBG questions for this week - thanks, domer.mq!
1) Being that you're a ND blogger, and thus follow a Catholic university's football team religiously and/or are Catholic yourself, you're probably very familiar with the notion that bad things happen to good people. For a concrete example of that, look to every Irish player, coach, and fan who had to suffer through the last 2 seasons. But never forget that bad things can happen to really rotten people too. For a really fun example of that, look to Rich Rod going 3-9 in his big debut season in Ann Arbor. Now let's mess with your heads a bit: Give me one very good reason why great things might happen to very bad people by explaining to me A) How and why Michigan (sucks!) might beat ND this weekend and B) How Michigan (sucks!) will compete for a BCS berth in 2009.

Although Notre Dame shut out Nevada, the Irish allowed 6.3 YPC to the feature back, and while considered a team strength heading into the season, the secondary did not play up to expectations against the Wolfpack receivers. Add into the mix that our tackling was inconsistent at best to fundamentally bad at worst, and it is easy to develop a scenario where a grind it out / dink and dunk UM offense could spring a big play or two and upset the 18^th ranked Irish on Saturday.

Outside of the matchup against ND, Michigan returns its three leaders on defense in rush end Brandon Graham (UM defensive MVP in 2008), Obi Ezeh at LB, and Donovan Warren at CB. Leadership in these three positions can maximize production out of newcomers. Michigan’s O-Line went through trial by fire in 2008, and now four starters return, and the youngest player on the line is a RS Sophomore. The freshman quarterback combination of Forcier and Robinson can both run (3.3 ypc not including Robinson's 60 yard outlier), and perhaps DickRod can figure out how to use the two together a la Tebow and Leak in 2006/2007. Lastly, all UM needs to do to reach the BCS is win the Big Ten, and with OSU struggling against Navy, perhaps this is their year.

2) After week 1, just as in 2008, the leading tacklers for the Notre Dame fighting Irish are both safeties: Kyle McCarthy with 7 and Harrison Smith with 5. DE Kerry Neal isn't even on the stat sheet, Brian Smith, while making 2 very big plays, didn't make a single other tackle, and Ethan Johnson had 1 tackle all game. Convince me that Michigan (sucks!) wont just run a "9 yards and a cloud of dust" offense against ND all freaking game.

UM’s O-Line in 2008 was similar to ND’s line in 2007, so theoretically, we could expect out of Michigan this year what our line produced last year. Also consider that their running quarterbacks each only averaged 3.3 YPC against Western Michigan’s vaunted defense and that Brandon Minor is banged up, and suddenly the scary spread offense doesn’t seem that bad. This game will come down to ND’s defense containing Michigan’s offense; without the benefit of the big play, I feel that we will keep the skunkbears from scoring more than we will.

ND must contain Robinson on Saturday
3) We've now got the concrete data of 1 game to bat around. Aside from any answers involving T'eo, tell me what position changes/depth chart engineering you hope to see the staff at least tinker with during the Michigan (sucks!) game.

I was curious about BGS’s tracking of the offensive line rotation and the use of our tight ends not named Kyle Rudolph. Rotating three linemen into the game should keep legs fresh and injuries to a minimum while using multiple TE sets will allow Weis to get back to his favorite formations from 2005/2006, granting ND full access to the sweet spots of the playbook. More than anything, I hope the coaching staff keeps this up.

How could I not include this picture?

4) The state of Michigan has decided that they've ripped off the Rudy soundtrack long enough and need a new advertising scheme to attract people to their state and support tourism. "Pure Michigan (sucks!)" is so two-thousand-and-late. Give me the new hotness. Give me your best new tourism slogans for Michigan (sucks!).

Michigan… Better than Detroit

5) Navy took tOSU down to the wire, Washington actually looked like a team that's coached to play football games, WSU put up some fight. After Week 1, do you now feel like the Irish '09 schedule is tougher or easier than you felt heading into last week? Why?

I really feel that the schedule is about the same. The majority of our opponents beat up on 1-AA patsy teams just like every other season, and teams like LSU and OSU, who are used to beating up on 1-AA teams to open the season, showed signs of struggle against more formidable opponents. I told my OSU friends all summer that they would understand that playing the Academies every year is harder than everyone thinks; Navy’s discipline (except for one unfortunate 2 point conversion) and hard work gave the Buckeyes more than they expected, and as a result, OSU was playing on its heels. The benefit that the Irish get when facing all three of these opponents is that Navy, Wash, and WSU do not have the entire offseason to prepare for Notre Dame, and as long as the Irish don’t get caught looking ahead, we should be able to pull Ws in all three games.

Duds and Studs: Nevada

2009-09-07T09:37:00.010-04:00

With Notre Dame recording its first shutout since 2002 and Jimmy Clausen producing the best D-1 quarterback ranking of the week, it seems that the Hawaii bowl was more of a prediction than an aberration, and at least for now, its good to be an Irish fan. Saturday really couldn't have gone much better; the tailgating was great on and off campus, Notre Dame (finally) dominated its opening opponent, and the Nasties crew even got a chance to spend some time with a Notre Dame legend:A passion for the Irish establishes some common ground between a Browns fan and a Steeler's Super Bowl winner
One thing to keep in mind while reading the first segment of Duds and Studs is that not all Duds are created equal. When I started doing this feature back in 2007, it was obvious to see the players that struggled, but even in blowout losses, I had the pleasure of picking one or two diamonds in the rough every game. Now, even in convincing wins, I am forced to highlight a few things the Irish could work on, so don't take it the wrong way.

Duds

Run Defense: One element that Weis has been preaching this offseason is the aspiration of attaining the sacred 4.6 YPC that BCS caliber teams achieve year in and year out. Nevada put up an impressive 5.3 YPC, and Notre Dame allowed starting pistol back Vai Taua 149 yards and an average of 6.3 YPC. Ryan still looks slow in lateral adjustments and Brian Smith had some issues breaking down and consistently making form tackles, which contributed to these stats. With Brandon Minor and Shoelace Joe Jackson coming up next week, Notre Dame needs to improve against the run.

The New Scoreboard: Not sure how much I like the new color graphics on the scoreboard. There was a particularly strange TechmoBowl-Like animation that gave me chills in the wrong way...
Secondary: Colin Kaepernick's 12/23 for 149 yards doesn't look great at first glance, but drops on multiple passes show that a shutout probably wouldn't have been possible if Nevada's receiver's brought their A game. Placing our secondary on the Duds list may sound harsh, but for all of the offseason hype about our DBs being a team strength, they came short of what I felt was expected. (Note: Weis may have had our DBs playing safe this week, and if this is the case, they probably shouldn't be getting this criticism).

Manti Te'o: Until ESPN's #2 overall recruit starts putting up 5 sacks and an interception every week don't expect me to be impressed.
Thanks to RocketShark for the last two imagesStuds

Jimmy Clausen: Notre Dame averaged 8.3 yards per play, the highest of the Weis era, and Clausen's decision making at quarterback significantly contributed to this achievement. Averaging 17.5 yards per pass attempt, JC was able to carve up this Nevada defense for four touchdowns and not committing any turnovers.Michael Floyd: You've probably read it everywhere else, but Floyd put on a heckuva show Saturday. To put it one way, Minnesota Slim touched the ball four times and was only tackled once, finding the endzone on each of his three other receptions en route to a 189 yard day.

Pass Blocking: BGS speculated that the Wolfpack's DE tandem of Kevin Basped and Dontay Moch might be the second toughest end combo the Irish will face this year. This makes the zero sacks (and few QB pressures) even more impressive. Now if only we could get this kind of production while run blocking...
Good Youth: It has been touched on elsewhere, but the past two seasons, freshman and sophomores have played more because of a lack of competition in the older classes than anything else. So it was nice to see couple sophomores, redshirt freshman, and true freshman get a few snaps because Weis wanted to get them experience, not because we needed them to win. The best part about the depth? Our starters are finally starting to practice against a pretty capable scout team.

That's it for now, Go Irish! Beat Wolverines!

Gotta get the predictions up before the opener...

2009-09-04T18:04:00.002-04:00

It’s always is difficult to use game by game predictions as a means of predicting a team’s final record. Looking at the Irish slate one game at a time, I think the majority of the country would pick Notre Dame to win every game head to head except for USC. The problem is that the odds that Notre Dame beats all 11 other opponents this year are probably a lot lower than the certainty of these head to head predictions might indicate.

Last year, my game by game predictions had Notre Dame finishing 8-4, but if I could have done a different format, they would have looked more like this:

SDSU: 1-0

Stanford, Washington, Navy, Syracuse: 3-1

Michigan, MSU, Purdue, UNC, Pitt, BCU: 3-3

USC: 0-1

This prediction, which is what I threw around with my classmates last year but didn’t post on the blog, put the Irish at a more reasonable 7-5 because it included some sort of inconsistency factor that I feel should be present for a team with a couple question marks. Everyone knew that Notre Dame had more talent than the bottom 5 team on the schedule last season, but Division 1 football is tough, and stringing together five wins against teams your supposed to beat can be a challenge for a team with a lot of inexperience.

ESPN’s Kirk Herbstreet said acknowledged last week that while many people are talking about Notre Dame’s soft schedule, there are a few games in addition to USC that could cause some problems, namely @ Michigan, MSU, and @ Pitt. If the Irish had a one game season against any of these three opponents, I would bet Blue and Gold every time, but I think this is the group of teams that combine to put at least one loss on the board.

Nevada, Washington, and WSU: 3-0

Purdue, Navy, UConn, Stanford: 4-0

Michigan, MSU, BCU, and Pitt: 3-1

USC: 0-1

So employing the grouping method, here’s my prediction for how Notre Dame is going to get to ten wins this year, starting with a close game against Nevada tomorrow. Go Irish!

IBG: Law of the Land

2009-09-02T15:38:00.005-04:00

The Irish Blogger Gathering is back for another season. Domer Law blog took the honors of starting us off this year. Here we go:

1. My season preview included music video footage for each position group. What song or video do you feel typifies this year's Notre Dame team heading into the season? Embed a youtube or other similar video if possible.

I don't know why
All the fiction of your sleeping
Doesn't visit you awake
I don't know how to get your storybook sunrise
To follow you above your cloudy day

May all your visions turn to gold
To have and hold

I decided to go with an unreleased Audioslave song, Turn to Gold. The songs lyrics take the listener into a time of uncertainty and anxiety as the protagonist attempts to rise out of his dark past into a promising situation, which is more or less what Notre Dame is trying to do this season. Also, the song says the word Gold a lot.

2. Post a picture that to you portrays the attitude of this year's team and discuss.

I struggled surfing around Google images for this question, but I finally landed on some version of the running man. The mantra this year is “Show me;” the players aren’t looking back at 2008, but are pushing themselves forward to excel in 2009.

3. What do you perceive as the team's biggest weakness heading into the season?

Even though it is a hugely complicated answer, I’m going to go with the running game. Notre Dame should be able to throw the ball well, defend the pass well, and should improve on special teams this year (I can't wait to see Theo Riddick return kicks). However, running the ball and defending the run have many question marks heading into the season: Will Allen emerge as a dominant back? How will the O-line handle the offseason musical chairs position switches? How will Verducci and Alford impact the running game? Can our young D-linemen play above their age? Will Hart be able to get his players to penetrate and make the big plays? I am more optimistic about our offensive running game, but the number of question marks make it a glaring weakness in my eyes until I see that they are answered on the field.

4. With the exception of the 1990s, Notre Dame has won a National Championship in every decade since the 1920s. What are the chances (a) that Notre Dame wins a championship this year, and (b) if not this year, when do you predict the next championship for the Irish?

A) Gotta go with a harsh 0% here. I still see us losing to USC, and even if we make it to the national championship game, the top teams (which will be starting Heisman winning QBs instead of true freshman) would be too much to handle.

B) Is there any other answer than next year? The offensive and defensive lines will still be a little weak, but everyone else should be back, so why not?

5. Nevada runs the Pistol offense, Navy the Triple Option, and Michigan the Spread Option. Which offensive scheme do you think is the most difficult to prepare for, and why?

I have always thought that while Weis may be an offensive coach, he has been ahead of the curve with understanding how to stop the various spread offenses in college football: get speed on your defense. Through recruiting, it is clear that the Irish have acquired LB speed at DE, fast speed at the linebacker positions, and quick, hard hitting DBs that can make solid tackles. Therefore, I would say defending the option attack, which takes place in the trenches, is probably a little harder for Notre Dame to prepare for because the slow developing plays are counterintuitive to what our defense was recruited to do: run and hit.

6. Is Colin Capaernick the best quarterback we'll see this year? If not, who is?

He’s got the numbers to back it up, but I’m going to go with Jake Locker of Washington. A dual threat quarterback like Capaernick, Locker is such a tough guy that when he injured his hand last season his coach played him on defense. I also feel that going up against teams like USC every year hardens a quarterback a little more than (not to slight the Bronco’s too much) Boise State. However, Capaernick is definitely in the top three quarterbacks the Irish will face this year and it will be fun to watch him on Saturday.

7. Prediction time. We have to get on the record before the season kicks off. Give me:
(1) Overall prediction for wins/losses.
10-3
(2) Projected bowl game and result.
Orange Bowl loss to Virginia Tech
(3) Predicted final ranking.
#9
(4) Best player on the team.
Sam Young
(5) Heisman trophy winner.
Tim Tebow
(6) National Champion.
Florida
(7) Prediction for Nevada game, including score.
Notre Dame wins in a shootout 37-24

Our UAV is ONline!

2009-08-28T14:55:00.002-04:00

Hey all,

While a summer drought is inevitable for any college blog, usually the Nasties crew tries to start picking it up during training camp after we have a chance to get back on campus, see some of the players, and watch coaches interviews. However, our battle with Comcast to get internet hooked up in our lovely South Bend house took a little longer than anticipated.

Fear not, though, because we are pumped and ready for another Irish football season. Keeping with Weis' theme of "Show me," I'll refrain from saying what to expect out of this blog in the coming months and focus my energy on getting some decent material up.

Go Irish!

Pedro vs. The Shark

2009-08-12T10:51:00.004-04:00

Tonite is the first game Notre Dame great and Cubs pitcher Jeff "The Shark" Samardzija will start. He has seen bullpen experience before, but he starts in place of the injured Zambrano (probally over reacting to a stubbed toe). And he will face none other than your WORLD CHAMPION PHILADELPHIA PHILLIES hot off an extra innnings shallacking of the cubs last nite. And who is Jeff squaring off against? Pedro Martinez. In his first start of the season, he hopes to bounce back from surgery and a general lack of enthusiasm from being with the Mets. Go Phils!!!

and here is something else which needs to be added along

Baseball Fantasy Camp with Ryan Howard and Jimmy Rollins - watch more funny videos

4 Reasons for Success that Aren't Being Talked About

2009-08-11T11:00:00.005-04:00

Over the long summer months where football news shows up less frequently than nice beer at a dorm party, there have been a number of articles predicting an Irish improvement from the 2008 season. These theories have mainly centered (especially in the national media) around a soft schedule combined with returning experience, but I'm going to try to make a case for success by pointing out a few other things:

Ready to go:

From extra practice to hitting the weights, the team seems to have put itself in the position to play great football this year.

Jimmy Clausen flew Golden Tate, Michael Floyd, and Kyle Rudolph out to his crib in Cali to run through the passing tree eight hours a day for an entire week. Critics have questioned Clausen's ability to step up as a leader, and this is one piece of evidence that suggests improvement in that area.

Its no secret that freshman are disadvantaged when playing against seniors, especially in the trenches, but Notre Dame should finally find themselves on the positive side of that mismatch. Weis said that over the 4 years his linemen have been at school, their numbers in the core weight exercises (bench, cleans, squats) have increased 50%. To put that in perspective, a freshman entering school benching 350 should be maxing out at 525 his senior year (which would still only be enough to tie Braxton Cave, who has allegedly bulked up this summer).

They will pumps the iron!

Depth Charge:

Over the past two seasons, a significant portion of the lineup was determined out of necessity (i.e. lack of options), and this year, we are finally starting to see the benefits of consistent recruiting pay off with some quality competitions in training camp. We have seven legitimate DBs, 3 full rotations of offensive linemen, and a good mix of linebackers, just to name a few. Beyond creating some good competition, this will help mitigate damages against major injuries this season. Even though the Irish are entering camp 100% healthy, having quality backups to fill the gaps once the inevitable attrition sets in should result in at least one more win than if the roster was top heavy with talent.

To Hell with the Committee:

2005/2006 saw an effective passing game mixed up with consistent running by one Darius Walker. In 2009, Charlie has made it very clear that Armando is the guy, and while Hughes and Co. may be mixed in, it should be more in a relief role than a 'lets surprise the defense' chess move. The combination of Allen at tailback with a blocking Aldridge should give Weis the schematic flexibility he wants without forcing him to show his hand. Last season, formations with Schwapp or Hughes in the backfield generally meant inside while Allen meant outside or pass. Now, for example, Aldridge and Allen can come out in a strong formation, Armando can motion out as a receiver, and Weis still has the option to 'Impound It' with #34.
Armando Allen will lead the Irish ground game in 2009
Spread it:

In the 2005/2006 seasons, Notre Dame aired it out with 3 quality receivers, but beyond Mo Sto, Shark, McKnight, and Grimes, the position talent fell off pretty rapidly. Pardon the phrase, but the Irish now have a stable of receivers, giving Charlie the option to really air it out if he so desires. Ignoring the steady hands of Kyle Rudolph, Notre Dame could put out a five wide set consisting of Tate, Floyd, Kamara, Parris, and Goodman - and even if some of these five fall short of expectations, a hungry Deion Walker and Shaquelle Evans should ensure that there are plenty of quality options.

25 Days until kickoff. Go Irish!

WE GOT PRINCE!!!

2009-08-06T18:56:00.002-04:00

We got Prince.......... Shembo

But ya, Prince Shembo, a nice LB recruit- and if you dont think I jumped at the chance of showing a picture of Prince serving pancakes, you are mistaken.

(Maybe a preview at the recuit in the NDH for breakfast)

Work has been tough now that its winding down for the summer, but the Nasties crew will be back to full force in the coming weeks with practice starting up.

Some Photos of ND in Summer

2009-07-15T19:58:00.005-04:00

Hope everyone is enjoying their summer, taking it easy, and gettin ready for the college football tailgate season through 2 a day grilling sessions and various pork product eating contests.

A few quick things....

Through my job this summer in DC, I have been thrown into alot of new situations meeting some higher up executives and what not, and one thing which the topic of conversation always go towards is ND football. It seems that everybody knows something about our program and has an opinion on it (mostly favorable) and can't wait to hear what a bigger fan than themselves has to say about the upcoming season even if they aren't big sports fans. This is something which I don't think Michigan can attest to on a national level.

Our buddy Rusty went through campus on the first week of July and took some pretty cool photos of the stadium and campus (****notice the green****). And with the first game some 6 weeks away it looks like it is going to be beautiful on campus, especially with the band going through the new Law School arch.

I guess we're gettin a new scoreboard cus this is the old one outside the stadium. If we end up with a Univeristy of Texas sized new one, I will miss the tradition, but happily embrace something that can be seen from space.

My favorite spot in town, Cheers Lounge, has again upgraded its facilities to include a signed jersey of the Bookstore Basketball team "Chris Brown's Greatest Hits" featuring Ryan Ayers. Some of you may remember the Cheers Lounge of last season, and although I loved that place, it was revamped over winter break and is now a very classy, very reasonably priced, very friendly place to go. Charlie's Nasties will surely be holding a gamewatch here come fall.

You stay classy ND nation.... and thanks for stopping by

Talking Bout.. Summer

2009-07-01T07:14:00.003-04:00

I apologize for the month long hiatus. Following a brief return to the great state of Ohio, I packed my bags and headed to the Windy City for the summer, where someone thinks it is a good idea to pay me for telling people what to do. The job has been rough on this blog though as being on the road Monday through Thursday combined with working without internet during the day (not like I have much time to write there anyway) have tapped into my expendable time that I normally use for covering the Irish.

June is normally a pretty dull month in terms of football news, but with Quinn battling for a starting spot, recruiting hitting a hot streak, and some good positions battles (finally) set to take place during offseason workouts, the summer of 2009 is off to a good start.

NFL Irish: The Browns completed their first set of minicamps last week, and from all of the reports I’ve read, it sounds like the team is going through some growing pains with another new coaching regime. Playing for his third Belichik-tree coach in Eric Mangini, Brady Quinn's accuracy in the short game may trump Derek Anderson's strong arm in the new, more conservative offense. Of course Quinn couldn't have hurt his chances of starting by wowing the new coach with his off season workout regime:

“[The weight room] was something that allowed me to propel to start when I was a freshman coming in at Notre Dame, as well as giving me an advantage in high school. Then as I've gotten to the NFL I noticed guys become limited by injuries, and a lot of injuries happen because guys don't take care of their bodies. So I've always prided myself on hard work and that's just extended into the weight room. It's something where, not only do I enjoy it, but I feel like it gives me an advantage over everyone else, because I work so much harder there and do the little things."

-Brady Quinn

I feel like too many of my previous posts have dealt with Quinn, so I'll try to mix in some other NFL Irish news as well.

Video of John Carlson talking up the next season in Seattle

Even with the departure of Matt Birk, Vikings center John Sullivan knows he still has to win the starting job in Minnesota.

...ok so when I had the idea of doing a small NFL Irish segment I thought I would be able to dig up more on the rookies (Bruton et al), but so far I haven't found anything, so I guess that will have to wait...

Recruiting: The last week has been full of Notre Dame recruiting news as the Irish have landed 4 verbal commits in the last 7 days. Highlights include QB Hendrix (who BGS points out will continue the tradition of easily memorable ND signal caller names) and 4 star DE Blake Leuders.
There are a lot of blogs that recover recruiting more in depth than the Nasties crew, so if you want to dive deeper into the new commits, I’m going to recommend a new site that I’ll soon add to the ND Blog section. The Daily Shillelagh (besides having a nice ring to it) keeps up on its implied promise and cranks out quality updates on a frequent basis.

Thats all the time I have for now - Go Irish!

Brady Quinn Head of the Class

2009-05-21T01:19:00.006-04:00

Here's an NFL.com video of BQ drawing up the 'College Route' (click image to play):

By the way, I'm a big fan of the pump up music that starts playing when Brady hits the white board - it really shows how psyched ND students get for mental challenges (thus why I drink an EAS Myoplex after every exam).

One of my favorite ESPN.com writers, James Walker who covers the AFC North, just released his top 7 position battles from the conference. Whether because of intense competition or lack of talent, my Brownies managed to score 3 of the top 5 spots. Of course, #1 is the annual QB derby in Cleveland. Here is what Walker had to say about the former Irish QB:

"Cleveland's offensive system under Mangini is being built around a power running game and an efficient and conservative passing game, which seems to favor Quinn."

Thanks for reading. Go Irish!

Tangled up in Spring

2009-05-03T12:29:00.004-04:00

A couple things I'm thinking about:

Congrats to Armando and RJ for taking home the spring game MVP honors. However, I think it is likely that only one of these players will step up to garner MVP type performance consistently this season. Looking at UHND's breakdown of past Blue Gold MVPs, a runningback has won the award since 2006, but none of these players (Travis Thomas, Junior Jabbie, Robert Hughes) has been able to translate a good spring into a great fall. On the other hand, the Blue/Gold MVP award has recently been a good predictor of success for young, highly recruited defensive players. Look for Blanton to team up with Walls for a great season in the Irish secondary.
All this focus on the running game sounds awfully familiar - remember about this time last year when Weis promised a power running game? The offense did pick up a lot of yards on the ground this spring, but our RBs only averaged 4.2 yards per carry; Weis himself said that number needs to be up to around 4.6 for us to be on par with the better teams in the country. Furthermore, those numbers may even be inflated with our interior defensive line and inside linebackers having little depth (and possibly less talent) compared to some of the teams we will face in the fall.

While it was nice to see Bruton get drafted to a place like Denver where he should have a shot a competing for playing time at safety, it was unfortunate that he was the lone Irish player taken. However, Weis has been working hard to get other seniors signed to rookie free agent contracts. His ability to give some of these players a shot at the NFL has to look good to recruits.
Speaking of the draft, ESPN's recent 2010 draft projections have Sam Young getting drafted 14th overall to the Bills. Hopefully Sam can have a great senior year and raise himself from his current stock as the 5th best tackle in his class.

Now off to do some work for finals, Go Irish!

Thursday Quote - Weis Likes Offense

2009-04-16T09:48:00.003-04:00

Straight from the Tribune:
As for who Weis will be rooting for Saturday, as the newly reinstated offensive coordinator, the Irish coach made it clear: the offense. "When I'm the head coach, I cheer for everyone," Weis said. "Not when I'm calling plays. I'm a sore loser. I don't want to eat hot dogs, OK?"

Plenty to watch for in the Spring game this year. The resurgence of Robby Parris and the emergence of John Goodman (and hopefully the return of Duval) are great stories to look for at the receiver position. I'm personally looking forward to seeing the extra gear that our defense has supposedly picked up, and after watching Duncan in one on one drills from yesterday, the run blocking should also be fun to watch.

Happy BlueGold - Go Irish! ...now off to work on a business case for the rest of the day...

Winslow Throwing QotW Layups

2009-04-09T09:03:00.005-04:00

The Dayton Daily News, one of my favorite papers to read for Browns updates, published some clips from a Sirius interview between ex-Brown Kellen 'I Don't Give a Hell' Winslow Jr. and Sirius personality Adam Schein:

Host Adam Schein: “Who is the better QB for the Browns this year? [Derek] Anderson or [Brady] Quinn?”

K-2: “I would say Brady Quinn. I love Derek Anderson. Great quarterback. It just didn’t work out. Brady Quinn is coming in, he has tremendous upside. Very calm, very mature and, I mean, give the guy a chance. What’s the big deal? I really don’t get it. This guy is coming in, he has worked his tail off. I bet you he is there working out right now. Just give him a chance. He is a leader, he is coming into his own. I really don’t get what’s the hard decision up there. My choice would be Brady Quinn.”

I breathed a big sigh of relief when the Browns didn't give up Quinn and a first rounder to grab a difficult Jay Cutler (good luck with that Chi-Town), and hopefully that non-trade will lead to Quinn seeing some serious PT in 2009. Granted he won't have anyone to throw to, but that's another story...

By the way - if you have an extra 25 seconds on your hands and can't figure out how to spend it, try checking Weis' new Twitter page. I thought it was pretty lame when I first heard about it, but for the effort it takes to read (none), its actually not a bad read.

For me, its back to the homeland this weekend to do the Easter thing. One week until Blue Gold, Go Irish!

Spring Fever

2009-04-02T14:47:00.005-04:00

Spring football is moving into full gear, and all around the country, schools that failed to post double digit wins in '08 are postulating why their team will be the team in '09. Looking back on the past two springs, however, Irish fans should know that positive projections in April don't always lead to a successful September.
That being said, it still feels good to hear good things about your team in the spring. Here are a few articles that are predicting some good things for the 2009 squad.

From Scout.com:

The defensive backfield looks to be as good as advertised.
Ethan (Johnson) is an elite talent. Enough said.
A person would be hard pressed to find a more impressive group of Tight Ends than the four on the Notre Dame roster.
This offense is good enough to win several games without utilizing the running game.

From BlueGraySky:

Barring injury, the current corps of receivers at Notre Dame will be remembered as, without question, the most prolific group in school history.
If you look at the postseason awards the past two years you'll notice that no Notre Dame player has even been named as an honorable mention All-American. That drought ends in 2009.

From ESPN.com:

"I'm not saying they are LenDale [White] and Reggie [Bush]. I think Robert could be better than LenDale. Armando has another gear, but I don't know if it's that Reggie gear." - Weis
But the possibility exists that after two years of saying goodbye to the BCS, it will be time for Notre Dame to say hello.

Enjoy the optimism. Go Irish.

Quote of the Week... Talkin bout Practice

2009-03-26T17:01:00.004-04:00

A few thoughts from all the Spring ball stuff thats been floating around with the start of practice this week.

I like what I've seen so far from the new coaches. Randy Hart has a very young group of defensive linemen to coach, and he hasn't been wasting any time. His drills involve a lot of energetic talking, a lot of rapid fire movement by the linemen, but most importantly, he is taking the time to correct technique. A spring a summer with Hart should have the trench men playing aggressive and off instinct.
Frank Verducci, while coming from the NFL (if you can call the Browns part of the NFL...), seems to have a good plan to mesh his coaching style with the college game. "The NFL is a more details game," Verducci explained to the media earlier this week, "whereas the college level is more about development." Adding that he hopes to teach linemen the details in a way that will "accelerate their development." What I like most about his coaching philosophy though is his expectations. Frank understands that the new techniques he is implementing may be new and mistakes may happen, but he is a guy that gets on people for repeat mistakes; that attitude will hopefully improve the consistency that Weis is hoping for this year.

My favorite coaching addition so far though has to be Tony Alford. As seen in the practice video, while the RBs carry the ball through routine agility drills, Alford is aggressively slapping at it, trying to dislodge it. The dirt on Alford coming in was that he is very intense about ball security, and while you can only tell so much from a 5 minute video clip, it looks like he doesn't plan on having his backs dropping the ball this year.

Furthermore, Alford seems to have already established a great relationship with his players, and he has instilled a mindset that will make them better. When talking to the media, Armando Allen was quick to point out how well his teammates have connected with Alford, but he also gave us this QotW gem:

"The difference between good and great is going out on the field and finishing plays. Not even in games, I'm talking about practice, walkthrough, its the little things for us." "We go out there everyday with the midset to grind, to do whatever we have to do to get better."
-Armando
That's it for now. Go Irish!

IBG - Still Searching

2009-03-18T16:16:00.006-04:00

After an extended absence from the Irish Blogger Gathering, the Nasties crew is jumping back into it today by responding to Subway Domer's questions.

1. Take your temperature. A) What sort of things are you looking for the team to work upon to help the 2009 season? Group improvements, players improvements, new fertilizer... whatever. As general a question as you will find. B) Same question, but instead of just the 2009 season- the future of the program as a whole.

I'm registering a comfortable 98.6 right now, and the first part of this question is too easy to answer because it has just about until last month for my temp to come down to normal after being forced to watch our run game in 2008. It was comforting to watch our pass protection improve from 2o07, but with a senior heavy line this fall I am expecting big things from our backs. James Aldridge just before he points at enemy linebackers, causing them to explode into blue goo.
As for the direction of the program as a whole, I would like to see a few scheduling adjustments - less of this weird 7-4-1 format and the addition of a few good non-traditional teams on the lineup (no, Washington State does not count). Fortunately it looks like Swarbrick is making some improvements on the latter.

2. It remains to be seen if I will be traveling to the spring game. My wife may have objections to yet another birthday of hers being used for a game that essentially doesn't count. (I know, I know- she just doesn't get it.) Don't you think it's about time that the spring game was televised? You know ESPN is dying to get inside that stadium for a live broadcast. I don't think it would interfere with the NBC contract, and if it does- why aren't they televising this?

Not sure why its not on TV, but if it was I would have a much easier time watching the game at PigTostle.

3. What position battle will be decided this spring? Which one will have to wait for summer/fall?

I really hope that the Left Tackle position is decided by spring. Turk had a helluva year keeping pass rushers off Clausen's back, and while he is the only starter we lose, I fear that it could be a big loss. It should be Paul Duncan's job to lose, but a definite replacement will hopefully be settled on by spring.
I think the void at safety from Bruton's departure may take longer to fill, especially with so many unique options. Depending on the schemes used by Brown/Tenuta we could either see Harrison Smith, Sergio Brown, or Ray Herring in center field, but after the first few games, I expect one of the three to make enough plays to win a majority of playing time. Here's my bet:

4. If you could change anything about the way spring practice/ Blue-Gold Game is done- what would it be?

Of course this depends on the available depth at each position, but I've always favored a true scrimmage format to the weird offense defense option where teams get points for first downs and punts.

5. Name your 5 favorite players and change their jersey number. Tell us why...

5. Michael Floyd - #3 to... #3. To paraphrase Demetrius Jones, no one who is a bust ever wears #3.
4. Brady Quinn - #10 to #19. I like the idea of following in Koszar's steps.
3. Julius Jones - #22 to... #22. My favorite number for the best back.
2. Justin Tuck - #44 to #0. For a DE that was a black hole, swallowing QBs... probably not legal, but that would be pretty sick.
1. Ronald Talley - #99 to... #99. Anything else just wouldn't work.

6. Last year two sophomore's won the MVP awards for the Blue-Gold Game (Harrison Smith and Robert Hughes). Predict who this years MVP's will be using the same criteria. (Same class- 1 OFF. & 1 DEF.).

Brian Smith and Golden Tate for sure.

Get Excited

2009-03-06T00:22:00.004-05:00

Quick quote of the week from Randy Hart about improving the defensive line:
"Football is twenty two people going out on the field in organized chaos. To be the eleven most excited people is the most fun."
Words of wisdom. Speaking of getting excited, the Nasties crew (my roommates and I) are taking a paid vacation (thanks Adsense) to Negril Jamaica, and we're getting ready to drive to Chi-Town in a few hours to catch our flight. Hopefully we can come back with a few good (and safe, legal, etc...) stories to share with everyone. But for now, happy spring break Domers, and good luck to the men's team in the Big East tourney!

Februtosis

2009-02-25T11:24:00.004-05:00

Hello to all the nasties fans out there that have been craving for a post to keep them moving until spring break and (hopefully) warmer weather reaches us in a few weeks. There's no real theme to this post, but here are a few Notre Dame happenings:

Bengal Bouts is in full swing right now; the semi finals were held last night at the JACC, although due to a lack of 200+ pound bodies to fill the heavyweight division, students were also treated to the big bruiser finals Tuesday, where Will "The Stimulus Package" Burroughs beat his good friend Kevin "I Left My 6-Pack in my Gym-Bag" Crepeau to win it. If you want a piece of the bouts in your own home, you can check out plenty of fights on the GooTube and can watch a preview for the upcoming Bengal Bouts documentary here.

In campus news, students are still getting shot around Club 23. Undergrads can at least take comfort that the South Bend Police force wasn't occupied trying to raid every student bar during the incident.
2010 DE commit Chris Martin eats children at the USC Rising Stars Camp. And you thought you were done looking at pictures of high schoolers...
If this recruiting cycle for football left you craving for more, the guys at the UHND blog put up a preliminary top 10 list of prospects that the Irish hope to land in the 2010 class, and there is also a post breaking down Notre Dame's biggest position needs in the upcoming recruiting cycle.
David Bruton was the only graduating member of the 2008 squad invited to the NFL combine, and he is doing his best not to disappoint. Bruton placed second among all safeties with his 4.46 40 and placed (or tied) for first in the vertical jump (41.5"), broad jump (11'0"), 3 cone drill (6.60), and 60 yard shuttle (10.96). Projected as a 4th round draft pick before the combine, these impressive numbers will hopefully boost his stock. Former teammate Chinedum Ndukwe's performance for the Bengals should also give teams another reason to draft an ND safety. I've also seen Mike Turkovich and Mo Crum predicted to go as early as the 4th with DE Justin Brown going in the 7th, but these are all probably optimistic. Best of luck to all Domers in the draft.
Lastly, the #8 Notre Dame Lax team off to a good start, notching a 13-8 win over Penn State this week behind a 4 goal, 4 assist performance from Neal Hicks. More impressive though, was their exciting finish against the 17th ranked Loyola Greyhounds in Atlanta, Georgia to start off the season. Senior Ryan Hoff put in the game winner off of a Grant Krebs feed to put the Irish up 10-9 with 5:29 left in the 4th quarter. Notre Dame takes on Dartmouth this Saturday at Loftus.

That's it for now. Go Irish! Beat Knights!

More on Recruiting... QotW

2009-02-05T20:03:00.005-05:00

I had a chance to watch Charlie's press conference about signing day. For those of you that didn't have a free hour, here are a few of the highlights:

Zeke Motta: Weis said Motta reminds him a lot of Harrison Smith in terms of his athleticism and tackling. When watching Motta's tapes, the thing I like most is his aggressive downhill pursuit to the ball carrier; this guy doesn't mess around. He should be perfect for a Notre Dame safety that has (perhaps unfortunately) been asked to help a lot in run support.E.J. Banks: While Banks will be playing DB for the Irish, he did run and throw for over 1,000 yards playing quarterback his senior year. I was a little surprised with how Weis addressed the possibility of Banks playing QB in his press conference because he didn't rule out the possibility. With Clausen and Christ preventing a QB from really being recruited this year, Charlie alluded to the fact that some players like Banks might work their way under center in special packages. After watching Banks' highlight reels, I say it's worth a shot to put him in 'Wild Leprechaun' a few times a year.

Theo Riddick: With a premier back the caliber of Cierre Wood in this signing class, Riddick has been overlooked by some. Weis even said that this class didn't need two RBs, but when you get the opportunity to pick up someone of Riddick's talent, you can't say no. As such, be sure of the fact that Riddick should see some touches in the next few years despite the immense depth at the position. Possible roles mentioned during the presser include being used as a speed back or working from the slot.
Special Teams: It seems odd to some for ND to offer 3 special teams scholarships in one class, but Weis defended his offers very well. He expects Cowert to be competing for a starting spot at long snapper this September. Having snapped over 370 balls in four years of high school without any errors, Cowert could bring stability to a position that, as Weis put it, "could have been the difference between wins and losses" last season. If that weren't enough, Cowert played for the same high school and punter Ben Turk, who in addition to being labeled as one of the country's premier punters, won two state titles in Florida. At the very least, these two shouldn't crack under pressure.
Kicker Nick Tausch will be a welcomed addition to this team as well - half of his kickoffs in high school went for touchbacks (an area where ND has greatly struggled). As a funny bonus story, Tausch's dad won a ring in the NFL as an offensive linemen, and Nick's brother (280 lbs) signed to play line for TCU yesterday. How one family produces two excellent linemen and a kicker, I have no idea.
Manti Te'o: I was floored that Te'o picked ND. In addition to the fact that he attended an awful Syracuse game (where it was snowing) for his official visit, I heard that teammates took the devote Mormon out to some crazy parties later that night, and on top of it all, I heard he told someone "There is no way I will play here." Just goes to show you what rumors are worth I guess. Weis apparently spent a lot of time introducing Te'o to all of the Mormon faculty and students, and in the end, Charlie said that the values of the Notre Dame family closely aligned with the values he had been brought up with, and that was a major factor in his decision.
The hype of his commitment hasn't only been limited to fans though, as Weis said that the majority of the team sent him congratulatory text messages on signing day.

That's it for now. Go Irish!

Happy Signing Day!

2009-02-04T19:08:00.005-05:00

After the success of last year's signing day photoshop, I thought it would only be appropriate to welcome the recruiting class of 2009 in similar fashion.
This year's image shows the commits in front of the War Memorial. With defensive hard hitters like Ty Stockton, Zeke Motta, and Carlo Calabrese, this class should be rock solid (...) in the front seven. Oh, yeah, we got this guy today named Manti Te'o this morning that is a pretty good defensive player, too. One of our commentors has already pointed out my poor prediction skills relating to Manti's commitment, so all I can do is apologize and be happy. Check UHND for the video of Te'o putting on the Irish hat this morning.

The offensive side addressed some important needs on the line with Zach Martin, Chris Watt, and Alex Bullard, and also drew in some sexy recruits in RB Cierre Wood and Shaq Evans.

Welcome to ND guys!

Hold your breath

2009-02-03T18:09:00.003-05:00

Normally, when I write something for this blog, I like to at least think that its not too close to the content of any of the other ND sites out there, but I couldn't help thinking that what OC Domer wrote today would fit equally well on my site:
"Look, I'll admit that new Irish O-line coach Frank Verducci is sort of handsome in a New Jersey way (if not in a SoCal way), but I'm tired of seeing his mug at the top of my blog, so I have to throw something up here."
Amen. Now lets move away from jokes about my lack of recent posting and move on to some football stuff.
While those iron city mutts were able to walk away with a 6th ring, I was at least able to take solace in the fact that Leinart won't get a ring before Quinn. One thing I disagree with OC Domer, however, was the best commercial. How can you beat this?

Signing day is tomorrow, and while that day always harbors a bit of anxiety for college football fans, I can't say I know enough about the recruiting situation to write much about it now (my one guess is that we don't get Teo), but I'll put something up in the next few days about duds and snubs or something. Have a good week - and for God's sake, Go Irish! Beat Bearcats!

Quote of the Week: Resurrection

2009-01-15T14:24:00.003-05:00

Try as I might to understand what's going on in Weis' head, sometimes I just inevitably end up falling short. The announcement of former O-Line coach John Latina's departure to make way for Frank Verducci surprises me; I'm not confused about the selection, but rather by the timing of this announcement.

Former Offensive Coordinator Mike Haywood was interviewing for head coaching jobs for awhile before he left, perhaps most notably when he was turned down by Houston last season. Keeping this in mind, I figured that Weis and Co. would be well ahead of the curve in selecting his replacement. In fact, I assumed that the candidate had already been chosen, but Charlie was waiting to introduce the new, revamped staff all at once.Now that Verducci's hire has been made public, it tells us that Notre Dame may not have a ready candidate to step into Haywood's role or into the D-Line coach vacancy left by Jappy Oliver. For all I know, contract negotiations may already be underway, but I'm still relatively surprised that this announcement came before we settled on an O-Coordinator.

Moving on to Verducci, though, it looks like he should be an improvement in the coaching staff. He seems to fit the classic definition of journeyman, working for four different NFL teams and taking two years off during a ten year stint, but you can't help but think that 30 years of coaching experience across D-1 and the NFL should serve him well. I like that he is reportedly an intense coach, and I like his excitement about his new job. Weis has always valued people that respect the tradition of the university, and that is where this week's quote comes from:

"I'm very excited for this opportunity and am grateful to Coach Weis," Verducci said. "Notre Dame is the one college job I pursued and is the only school I considered leaving the NFL for."

Welcome to Notre Dame, Frank. Now teach those hog mollies how to run block!

IrishSoonerGators

2009-01-09T10:57:00.004-05:00

As I was watching the BCS National Championship last night, I noticed not only that national championships are way more entertaining when Ohio State isn't playing in them, but that Notre Dame may be heading in the right direction.
What!? After a 3-9 season followed by a disappointing 7-6 campaign, how can you possibly compare the Irish to the best teams in college football? You might ask... Here are a few things I noticed while watching the game:

The turn-and-look offense: I found it interesting that both teams looked to the sideline before snapping the ball to determine whether they should audible from their current play, but I wondered if a matured Jimmy Clausen would be capable of making these reads himself next year. An offense adjusted at the line Peyton Manning style should help the Irish keep up the tempo while exposing weaknesses in the defense.
Both teams could hit: The first half of this game was filled with more bell-ringers than I could count. The defenses made sure that if they were going to give up yards, they weren't going to do it easily. Here I look back to players like Tommy Z, Abiramiri, and Cory Mays, who all could lay wood at Notre Dame. Now we should see players like Sergio Brown, Kerry Neal, and Brian Smith stepping up. With the defense so young, we have the potential to grow some real hitters by next year if...
Both teams had great strength programs: Percy Harvin is fast. Real fast. But he also benches 405, and OU's Chris Brown ran like lightning while being ripped like the Adonis (and he's the second string RB). This is one area where I think Notre Dame has trailed off recently. It may just be that all the players are so young, but I think Mendoza's lifting program has not been as affective as some of the top tier programs. With the coaching overhaul being revealed in the coming months, this will be one spot that I pay close attention to.
Notre Dame is targeting the right players: In one of the earliest editions of the Irish Blogger Gathering, Frank at UHND asked us to pick 1 recruit that we wished ND landed in each of the last three seasons, and my three were Gerald McCoy, Carlos Dunlap, and Omar Hunter. As a redshirt sophomore, McCoy was an All-American defensive tackle that was an absolute force last night, registering an interception in addition to his slew of tackles. Dunlap starts on Florida's nasty defensive line as a sophomore along with fellow almost-Irish-sophomore Justin Trattou, and if not for injury, we may also have seen Omar Hunter at the defensive tackle position for Florida last night. Bottom line: Notre Dame is targeting talent that is starting and contributing on national championship caliber teams. This should comfort those that worry recruiting rankings don't mean that much.
Playmakers make plays: One difference that I thought put Florida on top at the end of the night was the play of Tim Tebow and Percy Harvin (duh). Great teams have very good players at every position, but the best teams have 1 or 2 of those X-factor guys that can put the team on their shoulders and win the close games. I definitely see Tate and Floyd starting to fit this mold; there were multiple games where the team had given up but Golden kept laying his heart out on the field, and while Floyd is only a freshman, I see him moving in that direction also.

True, we might be more than a year off from competing on the level of Florida and Oklahoma, but keep in mind that we may not be too far off from turning a corner.

Irish Win Free Throw Battle, Take Down Hoyas

2009-01-05T19:04:00.005-05:00

With my fellow writer JY severely outposting me the past few days, I thought it would be a nice change of pace to watch the game with my laptop in front of me and do a pseudo-live-blog of the game. I don't think that I could give an accurate emotional summary of the game without throwing a few Bill Raftery quotes into the write up. These Onions! quotes will be bolded and italicized in an effort to capture as much zest as possible.
1st Half:

19:09 ND is trying to get their bad shooting against St. Johns out of their head, but two quick missed threes by KMac and Tory are a bad sign.
16:57 Tory Jackson gets a massive block. Jay Bilas says Tory "could be the best point guard in the Big East." He's done a great job of improving his offense this offseason
15:38 ND is being much more aggressive defending the rim as Hillesland blocks a shot. However, the players often continue not to box out on rebounds.
14:16 Nylon! By the point guard! Tory drains a floater off an Ayers assist.
11:20 Irish fail to box out and allow Henry Sims a dirty put back dunk that merits #3 on the Sportscenter Top Ten. Send it in!
10:34 Zeller comes off a screen to hit a 3 pointer with A little fortuitous kiss!
8:50 Harangody is playing like a mad man despite being in foul trouble. Gody comes across the middle with a pretty sky hook to put the Irish up one. Big Fella!
7:35 Talk about Rannggge! KMac decides to get ridiculous and nail a three from about 5 feet beyond the three point line. The guy is the biggest gym rat on the team, and it shows with shots like that.
4:59 Zeller juggles the ball on his way to the rim and finishes with A little rat-tat-tat-tat-tat.
4:01 Harangody makes a jumper to give him his 43rd straight game with 10+ points.
2:55 Announcers reveal the ESPN Big Monday schedule. Every game is between two top 25 teams. The Big East is either really good or really overrated.
1:27 Gody hits a jumper to move ND up 37-26. He scored the last 13 points of the half for Notre Dame.

2nd Half:
18:06 Bilas refers to Jackson as "Tory the Terrible." It's not quite as good as "Minnesota Slim," but I could see it catching on.
17:03 I think Hillesland is normally a good complimentary player on offense, but this game it looks like he is trying to do a little too much on offense; he already has two turnovers from poor dribbling.
16:48 Ayers drills a 3 (FillenItUp!) en route to scoring the next 8 Irish points, keeping the team in the game while Gody is on the bench with 4 fouls.
13:50 Nickledimae! Rafrety shouts some inaudible gibberish as Chris Wright reaches in on Tory Jackson in what would later be ruled a meaningless possession.
10:43 Gody steps back and swishes a jumper, prompting this gem: Soft, Deft, Delivery By the Big Fella! A little Beef on the Deck!
7:15 McAlarney hits his 4th three pointer by landing an impressive fade away (He Drills It!) to stretch the Irish lead to 10.
6:04 KMac hits his fifth three of the night on the next possession, but poor boxing out allows the Hoyas 2 offensive boards and a four point possession to keep them in the game.
4:07 Harangody throws down a dunk with such force that it almost gets John Thompson III T'd up.
0:32 Up to this point in the game, GU only converted 12 of their 23 free throw attempts, and Notre Dame, who has only shot 65% this year, had drilled 13 of 13.
0:26 McAlarney misses the team's first free throw on the front end of a 1 and 1, and paid for it by getting his eye cut on the next possession. Not wanting to wreck his other eye, he promptly made the final 2 to ice the game and extend ND's winning streak to a nation leading 44 straight games.

Dribbles:

With this win, Notre Dame has now beaten every team in the Big East at home during their win streak.
Zach Hillesland looks very ballin' with his black eye from the DePaul game. Also, check out his blog he has been writing for The Quad. Very good stuff.
Brey on his decision to play Harangody with four fouls with 15:17 left in the game: "He's a veteran now and I think he can play with fouls so I didn't want him to sit out too long. He did a great job of playing with fouls."
With Wake Forest beating BYU at home on Jan. 3rd, the Irish now have the longest active home win streak in the NCAA.

That's all for now. Go Irish!

Lack of Defensive Rebounding vs. St. John's at MSG

2009-01-03T18:10:00.003-05:00

"Thanks for Ayers and Zeller for at least dressing in those new road unis, it was the most productive thing they did all day."

This was said by our buddy Rusty after the horrible showing by the Irish in their 71-65 loss to St. John's Red Storm at Madison Square Garden today. The game was close for the entire game with neither team able to pull away. As was said throughout the game, it was an old Irish team vs a young upstart St. John's team. St. John's has only 1 senior on their team and relied on a young group of scorers to stay in the game. As with any young quick athletic team, they can use their athleticism to get good looks, get to the lane, and rebound against any team. Most times this does not produce wins unless its against a team playing without composure which is exactly how the Irish played.

Harangody played well and was fired up the entire game, but St. John's was able to throw enough pressure on him defensively to only hold him to 28 points. This number could easily have been doubled if their bigs did not play great. Numerous times Luke played like a man on fire doing everything to try and keep the Irish in this game. Many times it seemed as if he would jump into the scorers table and rip open his jersey Hulk Hogan-esque. Brey even had to bench him to try and cool off the hulk of a man.

The problem in this game wasn't a cold shooting night from Kyle McAlarney which will happen from time to time, but the lack of effort and production from Zeller and Ayers. Both guys can't create their own shot, but are rather catch-and-shoot type of players who are especially accurate from downtown if given an open look. We know this, and that's not the problem, but rather their apathy on the defensive end and when shots go up. St. John's sent 3 guys to the offensive and defensive glass on every shot and used their athleticism to get around apathetic Irish players. This is most easily shown when the Irish were on defense.

A shot would go up and it would turn into a volleyball contest of who could tap the ball around with both the offense and defense just trying to get their fingertips on the ball. This shows a lack of dedication to the fundamentals of rebounding, namely finding a guy and boxing him out. By simply throwing up a hand and jumping to tip the ball into open space, the Irish allowed St. John's superior athleticism to do the same. By doing this, the advantage goes to the offense since they don't even need to rebound the basketball, but by just jumping and tipping, the ball can go through the hoop which happened numerous times.

By playing zone a good portion of the game, the three baseline defenders are responsible for this and against the penetrating offense. With St. John's being a team with poor outside shooting, the Irish knew they were going to penetrate and their defense wasn't terrible in this regard. But when a team relies on penetrating, it means that there will be at least 3-4 rebounders when the shot goes up in the paint. The Irish got lazy rebounding against a team they thought they should beat and lost their first Big East game.

Two positive things to mention: The new black road uniforms are sick and definitely want to know if the bookstore could stock at least the shorts. The bright green piping and shamrock are pretty cool. Secondly, I think Tyrone Nash played well in the game, meaning he was calm and played with poise in his 12 minutes. He can be a valued contributor coming off the bench especially when our other guys get into foul trouble, and his two sweet assists show he is learning to trust himself better with the ball

Mmmmm Some Christmas Flying Pigs.....

2008-12-25T12:06:00.002-05:00

Wow, alrite I've got some crow to eat, what a game, it is truly a Christmas Miracle, everyone have an awesome Christmas, I'm up in Lake Placid going to do the luge and bobsled, lets get ready for new years!!!!

A Christmas Miracle

2008-12-24T16:56:00.003-05:00

A recent interview I had in a dream......

Charlie: Hey, did you want to go to the bowl game this year?

Me: Yea coach, that would be swell

Charlie: Ok well we're going to Hawaii and everyone will love it there, girls on the beaches, warm sand, fruity drinks, I cant wait for all of you to come?

Me: When is it again coach?

Charlie: Christmas eve so bring your whole family, and from all the swag they give us, that can be your christmas shopping?

Me: ..... ummm coach, I'm not on the team, I am just a student and just finished up a very tough month of classwork.

Charlie: Wait, hard classwork..... your not on the team are you?

Me: No coach

Charlie: Well, your out of luck, and btw so is the band.....

OK, we accepted a bowl (w/e I don't care either way) but to pick the Hawaii bowl on Christmas Eve, to reward a coaching staff and team with a free trip to Hawaii to play in Aloha Stadium. You know who else plays in Aloha Stadium, Pro-Bowlers from the NFL who had to earn their way there and not back into a bowl game at 6-6.

We choose to play a decent enough team on the far away from home, and not only is it away from warm South Bend, it is in Hawaii's hometown. And who do you think is going to be going to that game which is essentially another home game for Hawaii. I mean, don't students and followers of a Catholic college like Notre Dame usually celebrate Christmas and Christmas Eve? My only idea could be that Charlie didn't want anyone to watch the game in person or on tv. Without watching the whole USC game on tv and only seeing highlights, the carnage is much less gruesome.

ESPN posed a question today, "whether you thought that Notre Dame would finally win a bowl game and break their streak" and 72 percent of responses were no. Each and every state said no. I am hoping for our team to pull it out, but based on what we know about this team..... I don't see tonite going well, and karma isn't on our side. If they can't stay away from Cheers and focused in South Bend during the season, what do you think is going to happen when there are no classes, and only sunshine, fruity drinks, and women not in sweatpants. Merry Christmas

Back, for now...

2008-12-24T14:39:00.007-05:00

Have you ever been a member or a group or club and missed a series of meetings or events, and after the third miss, decided not to go to the fourth or fifth meetings because you wanted to avoid the awkwardness of having to explain why you've been missing?

I guess that's sort of what happened hear at Charlie's Nasties since the Boston College game. After an increase in school work was coupled with on-field performance I found difficult to write about, this blog has been put on the back burner. Kudos to everyone still writing the IBG posts - I've still been reading all things Irish, but the time to write kept finding away to escape from me.

Nevertheless, I felt that I should at least share a few thoughts about the bowl game against the Hawaii Warriors tonight. Naturally, BGS has a very in depth breakdown of the team we will be facing tonight. Here are a few observations about their roster:

Hawaii only has one starter (soph RB Kealoha Pilares) that isn't at least a junior. It absolutely amazes me that Notre Dame is still fielding so much youth (5 freshman have started this year) that it is still markedly younger than a Hawaii team that just graduated perhaps its best class in school history.
The matchup that might determine the game could very well be Hawaii's D-Line vs. the Notre Dame sled pushers. DE David Veikune has 9 sacks in the last six games and is projected by some to get drafted this spring. Couple that with two 300 lb tackles on the interior, and the Irish offensive line could be challenged by the Warriors, who are 11th in the nation in sacks this year.
I feel that our defense will match up favorably against Hawaii's run and shoot offense. Sports Illustrated wrote a great article a few months ago about the keys to stopping a spread offense, and it seems that the secret is to field a very rare and specific type of defensive players that are fast, agile, and capable tacklers. This has shown up in Weis' recruiting as he has been getting bigger, more physical CBs and quicker (and sometimes smaller) front seven players. Look for Harrison Smith to be all over the field in this game.

That's about as in depth as I can go into a game preview, but hopefully readers can find something worthwhile in there. Perhaps more interesting than any game preview, however, is the reaction to Notre Dame playing in this bowl game in the first place. Here are some bullet points on that:

On the decision to bowl at .500: I am aware that Notre Dame is used to holding itself to a higher tradition, and the thought of being rewarded for such a disappointing season doesn't sit well with some people. However, this young team needs this game not for the extra practices (I honestly don't think an extra 2-3 weeks at the end of the season does much), they need this game to change the momentum around before the offseason. Getting the bowl monkey off our back would help everything from recruiting to player moral; we need this win. Good call.
On the decision to bowl in Hawaii: From my understanding, there were a few lower-tiered bowls chomping at the bit to host Notre Dame and its large viewing audience, and the coaches asked the players informally if they preferred any of these bowls. Naturally, the players picked Hawaii. Here is where I have a problem because it does seem to turn the trip into a reward. This also seems to be a lose-lose from a football standpoint: if we win, we beat Hawaii. If we lose, we lost to Hawaii. Neither option is very appealing; it's no wonder the ever generous University offered students $45 tickets to this game. Bad call.
More on the decision to bowl in Hawaii: Besides the coach/player/football decision to go to Hawaii, this bowl choice has not seemed to make fans very happy. For the first time in history, the band will not follow the team to the bowl game, and in the current economy, it seems unlikely that many fans will either. One domer from Pittsburgh commented that instead of paying the $2,500 for a plane ticket, he would rather watch the game on a new High Def TV. As for the students, some of the better off upperclassmen are fortunate enough be able to vacation to Hawaii and watch the team, but I know too many Seniors that are financially unable to cheer on their team in person for their last game as students. Bad Call.
On playing on Christmas Eve: I don't like this date for two reasons. First, its proximity to finals means that the team either didn't get as much practice as they could have, or sacrificed study time to cram in football, neither of which is good. Second, the extraordinary time wasted on travel and time adjustment handicaps Notre Dame and leaves Hawaii unaffected. Bad call from a football standpoint. From a religious / fan standpoint, if Notre Dame doesn't have a problem playing bowls on Jan. 1, then I don't see a religious problem, and fortunately, in today's age of TiVo, Christmas Eve conflicts should at least be minimized. No call.

That's it for this short bowl preview. Thanks to all of the fans that have read and commented on this blog over the past two seasons. Merry Christmas, and of course, Go Irish!

IBG Back to the Past Edition

2008-11-12T18:57:00.005-05:00

This week's questions from Brawling Hiberian, a hysterical blog that readers should check out.

1. In the parlance of DJs, a "deep cut" is a song that wasn't released as a single and, generally, is not well-known. What Notre Dame victory is your favorite "deep cut" from the Irish catalog? In other words, what is your favorite victory that is not widely celebrated (i.e., not the "Snow Bowl" or the 1988 Miami game, etc.). Explain in much detail.
Think back to the start of the 2004 campaign, where Marcus Wilson and TT combined to produce a whopping 11 rushing yards on 21 attempts to open the season in a loss to BYU. My “deep cut” is the following game against 7th ranked Michigan. Two Brady Quinn interceptions and a stagnant first half offense had ND down 9-0 entering the 3rd quarter, and then freshman Darius Walker was given the chance to win the RB job. Walker excelled in the game, rushing for 115 yards and 2 TDs. Sadly, inconsistency would plague the remainder of the season, making this upset a little less enjoyable in hindsight, but then again, I don’t think I ever even saw ND win a bowl game, so this is my deep cut.
2. As much fun as it is rooting for our heroes, it can be just as enjoyable to trash those we consider to be villains. A few years ago, the great Irish blog, Blue Gray Sky, wrote a post discussing the biggest villains in Notre Dame history. That post focused on external villains. Today's question is, of those associated with the program, who is the biggest villain? This individual must have been a player, coach or administrator at ND who, through reckless acts of cowardice, stupidity or malice, damaged the football program. (Note: Ty Willingham is off the board)
How about Heisman trophy winner Paul Hornung, who after a disappointing 2003 campaign, proclaimed that, “We can't stay as strict as we are as far as the academic structure is concerned because we've got to get the black athlete. We must get the black athlete if we're going to compete." Notre Dame is not a very diverse campus to begin with, so this comment was particularly disappointing as it gave the media fuel to perpetuate the perception that the University has racism issues. A quasi-tangential effect of this comment is that perhaps if this comment hadn’t been made, Irish fans wouldn’t have had to put up with as much post-Willingham backlash. The most disheartening aspect of this comment is that such a prominent figure in Notre Dame history may be forever linked to the racism that the University has tried so hard to fight.
3. Falling in love is a wonderful thing. As Lt. Frank Drebin once observed, "you begin to notice things you never knew were there before; birds sing, dew glistening on a newly formed leaf, stop signs." Describe the moment that you knew that there would be no other; you were in love with Notre Dame.
When I read this question, I thought it was odd that I couldn't really come up with any spectacular or even specific moment. The closest thing to a 'moment' was probably sometime in the beginning of winter my Freshman year when I found my self on a late walk across South Quad on the way back to my dorm. The first real fresh snow had just fallen (and it was the big, slow, puffy kind, not the usual Midwest sideways sleet stuff), and the campus in general looked beautiful. Sure there are times when students complain about invasive construction (see: having to walk through a construction sight for two semesters to get to every single one of my classes), but when everything quiets down at night, the magnificent history and tradition of the University always seem to get me a little awestruck.

Kind of sappy, I admit, but you know it's true

4. Regrets, we've had a few but, then again, too few to ever let go of any of them. What game, or specific play, in Irish history turns your dreams into nightmares and haunts your every waking moment? Describe this moment and why you wish ND could have another crack at it?
Is there any better moment to pick than the Bush Push in 2005? With their only loss being an overtime shootout against MSU, Irish fans around the nation were foaming at the mouth to slay the Goliath that was the 2005 Trojans, and the crazy thing is that in the fourth quarter, we were actually winning. The most crazy thing? When the clock hit 0:00, we were winning! I guess that a certain immortality comes with the end of that game in the fact that the nation basically recognized that USC unjustly scored on the last play (whether it be from ball spot, untimely booth review, or push), but I would still have liked to see Notre Dame pull out that W. It would have given Weis a win against USC and possibly given the team a shot at Texas in the National Championship. I’m not sure how that squad would have done against Vince Young and a dirty Texas defense, but it probably wouldn’t have been any worse than the massive OSU losses in recent years. 5. With 79 consensus All-Americans and 48 inductees in the College Football Hall of Fame, it is clear that there have been many great players in the history of Notre Dame football. What was the greatest single season from a player that you ever witnessed during your Irish fandom? Be specific. Use adjectives.
Unfortunately, my football watching before I attended ND is almost entirely composed of the Davie/Willingham eras, which did not yield the All-America talent that some of the more senior members of IBG may be able to name. The easy pick for me would be someone from the ‘05/’06 teams, but I’d rather go with more of a ‘deep cut’ in ND’s all time sack leader, Justin Tuck. In a 2003 season that was generally pretty forgetful, it was memorable to see Tuck line up at DE every play and see who he was going to dominate on every play. 11 games later, #44 had tallied 13.5 sacks in the season, the largest single season number since Notre Dame began recording sacks in 1982. There was just something about the passion and intensity with which Tuck played the game that made him one of my favorite Irish players to watch.

Let's see some of this intensity! Go Irish!=

BC Duds and Studs

2008-11-10T21:34:00.007-05:00

Duds

Haywood: Jimmy was sick, hurt, and generally playing awful. When your QB is just barely completing 50% of his passes, including some terrible interceptions, it's probably a good idea to hand off to your runningbacks instead of hucking the ball 46 times (another example of ND losing when JC has 40+ attempts). While I was watching the game it seemed that our runningbacks were also ineffective, but Allen averaged 4 yards per rush and Hughes averaged 6. The problem is that Allen only got 6 carries and Hughes got 3! Can't we just see what happens if we give Armando 5 or 6 carries per quarter?

Weis: Speaking of Jimmy being sick and hurt, one has to wonder why he was in the game at all. Last season, against a BC team ranked 4th in the country, the veteran Evan Sharpley went 11/29 for 135 yards and a TD; not great numbers, but he didn't turn the ball over. Hopefully Weis' decision to resume the play calling duties will breathe some life back into our offense. And the last point on Weis, Notre Dame has averaged 12.6 points a game in the first half, but only 9.8 points a game in the second half; someone needs to teach these kids how to finish a game, and until then I think seeing an Irish comeback any time this year is an impossibility.
Special Teams: Holding calls on Jonas Gray, a block punt for the second week in a row, and a fumble by Tate on a punt return. Notice how the BC returner (although he looked like a total wimp at times) often waved his hand when it looked like he might have had room to catch? That's because he was in a game where neither offense could do anything, so his coach told him to make sure to secure the ball before trying to be the hero.

Latina: While I'm ripping the other coaches, I might as well keep going down the line (I know, sweet joke...). I believe that (especially when JC isn't on his game) running the ball more gives us a decent chance of winning, but the reason the coaches may not agree with me is because of the terrible inconsistency of the O-Line. For every 8 or 12 yard run, there is a play stopped at or behind the line of scrimmage. Whether this is due to a mental or physical error varies on play to play, but to have a line with 3 juniors, a senior (who is playing very well this season), and a very talented freshman, one would hope that a good coach could fix some of these problems by the ninth game of the season.

Studs

Defense: BC has only been held to under 17 points once this season (16 in a loss to GT), and discounting the pick six means that our defense was able to hold the Eagles to 10 points in Boston. Good individual efforts came from Brian and Harrison Smith (9 and 8 tackles, respectively), and Kyle McCarthy (unfortunately) had another impressive tackling day with 8. The secondary only gave up 79 passing yards on 9/22 attempts from Chris Crane; Brown and McNeil helped contribute to the 40% completion percentage with 5 combined pass breakups. As Her Loyal Sons so eloquently put, "Nobody would blame you if you held the ND offense down in their beds tonight and beat them with bars of soap in tube socks."

Asaph Schwapp: The 10 yard reception was one of the few exciting offensive plays that I can recall.

CJs Pub: Thank you for providing beer and a good burger to distract me for some of the game.

Brady Quinn: In his first NFL start, Quinn went 23/35 for 239 yards and 2 TDs (and no turnovers) in a loss to Denver. All is not well for my Browns in Cleveland, but at least BQ was able to give fans the performance they were hoping for. He was calm, cool, and collected in the pocket, used some mobility to make plays under pressure, and ran the offense relatively well - the only thing missing was the W.

Other Thoughts:

I would have put Clausen on the Duds list, but 1: I thought it would be a little repetitive, and 2: you have to appreciate someone that is willing to go out and play even when he is far from 100%. JC spent all of last season fighting a bad elbow and has recently been playing with a banged up ankle and the flu, but we haven't ever heard him give any excuses yet.

I often wonder why ND has 3-5 players that rotate in at the PR/KOR positions. To me, it makes more sense to get 2-3 guys all the reps in practice so that miscues (like Tate's) can potentially be avoided.

Did anyone else think it was funny that even after Quinn's first NFL start, he still had nothing to do on Sunday (ala the Subway commercial)?

Anyone talking about Weis getting fired after this season is rightfully upset, but probably not right. Keep in mind that this guy has been standing on the sidelines with a completely busted knee for a month, which (I think) should be somewhat commended. Also, Charlie's recruiting success has created a substantial exit barrier; do you think a first year AD would risk firing a coach at the expense of our incoming recruiting class (let alone young players on the current team that might leave with Weis)?

That's it for now. Go Irish. Beat Navy!

Irish Blogger Gathering: The “Saying A Lot By Asking Obtuse Questions” Edition

2008-11-05T11:04:00.004-05:00

This week's IBG questions come from Her Loyal Sons:

What photo of some member of the 2008 Irish squad doing something, anything at all, really, says all 1,000 words that need to be said about this team? OR, which photo of some member of the 2008 Irish squad doing something would tell 1,000 lies about this team if you only saw the photo and didn’t know better? (Double-secret word score bonus for answering both mutations of the same question)
DomerMQ wrote about the picture of Olsen growling over Michigan’s Mouton. At the time, the picture seemed to offer hope for Irish fans; our young players were beating down on a rival that had thumped us two years straight, and they were looking angry (in a good way) while doing it. In retrospect, I think this picture (courtesy of MS Paint Like A Champion Today) may say some things about our team:
A lot of ND fans got so pumped about the Olsen picture, but since the UM beatdown, our team has gone 3-3, showing a lot of second half softness in four of those games and only showing the same fire in wins over 3-6 Purdue and 0-8 Washington. So if ND is represented by this superhero-like picture of Olsen, it seems that our kryptonite comes from playing close games against above average teams, which doesn’t seem to make us much like a superhero at all.

Some of you may know that I (domer.mq) am a football stat geek. Which statistic do you think geeks like myself should really be paying attention to this season and why? (Can pertain to ND or CFB in general.)

Clausen’s 44 attempts last weekend gave my QB analysis chart another data point that supports one of my conclusions from the article: when Jimmy has more than 40 pass attempts, we lose. This stat may be most correlated with the running game, but not necessarily in terms of YPC. When we throw the ball a lot, opposing defenses tend to only rush 3-5 linemen and drop the rest into coverage, and JC has struggled when facing a lot of defensive players in the secondary, turning the ball over or displaying a low completion percentage. Until Clausen makes the next leap in his development, we should try to stay between 20-35 attempts if we can run the ball (with Allen!) with any success at all.

Give me the damn ball!
Seeing as how Boston College is nothing but an up-jumped program enjoying the luxury and soft Corinthian leather of an ACC schedule, which team from the current top 25 would you love to see this year’s Irish play this weekend in Fredo’s stead? Why? Do you think the Irish would win? Describe the game. Paint us a picture! I’ll get the popcorn!

First off, I would very much like to play (and destroy) Boston College this weekend because while they are not generally a great team, they have won five straight against the Irish, moving the all time series record to 9-8 in favor of the Irish. This game gives us an opportunity to distance ourselves from the Eagles, which I hope the team takes advantage of.
Not to dodge the question though, if we could play any team in the top 25 this week, it would be Ball State for me. Boring pick, you ask? Maybe, but when I went to the Purdue game last year, some trash talking fan claimed that Notre Dame was the worst team in the state of Indiana, saying with a thick West Lafayette accent, “You can’t even beat Ball State!” The sad thing is that the jumbo-tron-loving Boilermaker may actually have been right last year, so I would like to see Notre Dame thoroughly handle Ball State this year just to give me some peace of mind.
Just beat 'em already!
Let’s dispose of the gradient colors and subtle vagaries of college football for a moment and answer this question with one of the supplied, absolute answers and a blurb defending your pick. No waffling! The Question: Why is Notre Dame unable to put away games when leading going into half time? The possible answers: 1) ND Players all have a soft, nougat center 2) The Coaches don’t want to tick off potential future employers 3) God doesn’t think it’s classy to blow a team out 4) The ND Fanbase can’t really stomach blowouts any more than they could stomach a protracted land war in Asia. Remember, you must pick one and you must defend it with great vigor!

While I may be able to write a more humorous answer by responding to 2-4, I really do think that right now the problem is with the players. Sure the coaches may have hurt their chances by dampening their “strategic advantage,” but the fact is that when you come out flat and don’t execute, you aren’t going to have much success. Coming out flat doesn’t have much to do with a nougat center, but not being able to recapture control of the game after you give your opponent momentum does. Remember that picture of Olsen I mentioned? The Irish have shown a lot of positive nastiness when they have been in control of games, but when the game begins to slip away, the players visibly begin to lose confidence. As Weis said following the Pitt loss, the confidence should improve as the team wins a few close nail biters, thus hardening the nougat center into something more like hardened caramel.

Tennessee just began celebrating the career of Phil Fulmer today this week as he announced that he’d been given the opportunity to make it look like resigning was his idea. Certainly, this is a clarion call to ADs across the country to begin worrying over their tea that, should their current HC not work out, they wont get a shot at #s 1-5 on their candidate list. Tell us about an AD who may be looking at this move by Tennessee and acting a bit more aggressively towards a reduction in force of his current football staff now rather than later. And who might that AD be trying to seduce before Tennessee already has a “hand shake agreement” with the guy?
I’ve never been a big coach candidate follower (unless ND or the Browns are looking for one, which I guess has been fairly often over the last decade), so don’t put much into my answer here. If I had to pick one coach that is hot on the market, my knee-jerk reaction is Skip Holtz, who has displayed some great coaching capability by beating a few ranked teams with an understaffed ECU squad. I think that Holtz will have a couple offers to choose from after this season.

Pitt Duds and Studs

2008-11-04T00:06:00.007-05:00

Sorry for my Monday posts getting put up later every week... maybe I'll blame this one on daylight savings time. With that...

Duds

Weis/Haywood: To start off, here are a few fragmented stats about the run game:

Allen rushed for 45 yards on 7 attempts (6.4 ypc) over the first 3 series. Then, after the third series (3:44 remaining in the first quarter), Allen did not get a carry until after half time. Other ND backs averaged 2.8 ypc the rest of the 2nd quarter. After getting only 5 carries in the second half, Allen rushed for gains of 3, 2, 8, 7, and 7 in overtime.

I realize that we have three pretty good runningbacks on our team, but when your best back appears to perform best when he is in a rhythm, it might be a good idea to let him run the heck out of the ball instead of giving his carries to Hughes (who has been ineffective all year) and Aldridge (who is good in short yardage, but not as good as Allen otherwise).

As far as the decision to run an elaborate play action on fourth and 1, all I'll say is that we used to praise Weis for running those plays 2-3 years ago, but the fact that he had to take two timeouts to explain the play to his players should be evidence enough that it was not a good call.

Lambert: On a close breakup in the endzone that looked like it could have been pass interference, a student near me said "Its OK - that won't be a flag - if the ball was catchable, it would have been caught." That pretty much sums up the pass coverage Lambert has shown this season, and while he has been used as a run-support corner, he has been also recently been unable to breakdown and tackle receivers in the open field. The Sports Illustrated rumor mill predicts a few shakeups in the Irish starting lineup for the BC game, and I'll be surprised if this isn't one of them.

Clausen: Some people might disagree on this one; 23/44 for 271 yards and 3 TDs without turning the ball over is pretty impressive, but Jimmy's finish puts him soundly in my dud category this week. In overtime, Clausen was 2/7 for 15 yards and a sack. I also partially blame JC for the flat play in the second half; Clausen has shown the leadership to make his team play hungry and aggressive at times, but this fire was absent for much of the second half.
Inconsistent DBs: I thought that Raeshon McNeil overall had a pretty good game, and his two interceptions were excellent plays that stalled the Irish collapse, but McNeil was picked on when Pitt threw to him three straight times from the 10 yard line, with a Jonathan Baldwin touchdown coming on the 3rd attempt. I was startled that McCoy didn't get any carries then, but maybe (gulp) Wannstedt knew what he was doing...

The other DB is Harrison Smith, who is perhaps getting a little too much hate for his late hit penalty that extended Pitt's first scoring drive of the second half. I appreciate the intensity (and Smith continued to impress me the rest of the game), but there are some penalties that you just cannot commit, and drive extending, post play personal fouls are at the top of the list.

Studs

Bruton/McCarthy: The senior tandem combined for 31 tackles, and Bruton came down with an interception after landing on his head so hard that he couldn't get up for several minutes... and then he went back in the game to shut down Pitt in 3 straight OT series. Notre Dame fans should be praying for that McCarthy uses his last year of eligibility; taking two losses this big in the secondary would hurt a lot.

Tate/Floyd: Fortunately for Irish fans, these two are guaranteed to be around for at least one more season. Golden kept flashing big play ability, hauling in 6 receptions for 111 yards and a TD (including one ridiculously heads up circus catch), and Floyd looked unstoppable at times, getting his hands on the ball 10 times for 100 yards and 2 scores. What is somewhat disappointing is that only three other Irish players had receptions in the game (Rudolph - 2, Kamara - 2, Allen - 3). If Clausen's accuracy is going to improve to the 65% area, other receivers need to take advantage of the coverage these two are drawing and get open.

Brandon Walker: There are some people that jump to blame Walker for the loss because ND lost by three points and he missed his final field goal, but lets take a look at what this kid accomplished this weekend:

He got the Irish on the board with a no-doubter 39 yard field goal. In a close game, he was 3/3 on extra points, and when his number was called to keep Notre Dame in the game during overtime, he responded by kicking three straight field goals, including a 48 yarder. After kicking 1/7 to start the season, Walker has upped his field goal average to 53%, and he was 4/5 in perhaps the highest pressure game he has experienced.

The bottom line is that Notre Dame got the ball at the 25 yard line four times and could not score. That is what should be troubling fans, not the kicking game.

Other Thoughts:

It was a great idea for the grounds crew to wet down the field to slow McCoy for the second OT, although I think it was a little less subtle than growing out the grass for Bush in 05.

I was generally disappointed Pat Bostick was able to throw for the same yards per attempt (about 6.1) as Clausen... I guess average quarterbacks can do alright when they have a good running game to rely on...

In a somewhat unexpected announcement, Brady Quinn will be starting for my Browns Thursday night against the Broncos. As much as I have wanted Quinn to play, it seems strange that the coaches would choose such a short week to make the transition, but let's hope that he can take advantage of a porous Denver secondary and get his first NFL win. Check out this link to see how pissed ex-Browns qb Trent Dilfer is about Cleveland's decision to switch QBs at their fan's request.

Go Irish!

IBG: All's Hallow Edition

2008-10-27T16:50:00.004-04:00

Welcome to another edition of the Irish Blogger Gathering. Here at Charlie's Nasties we don't have much besides a few rag tag college kids to our name, but this week we have the privilege of hosting the weekly IBG segment. Seeing as perhaps the most college-friendly holiday lies at the end of the calendar for this week, the IBG questions have a little Halloween twist to them. Enjoy!

1. A loss to Washington would have been spooky, but we were able to pull it out. What was your favorite part of the victory?

After offseason promises of having a power running game, it was very fulfilling to finally see Notre Dame impose their will on another team by using an effective ground attack; Irish backs averaged 5.5 ypc and ND scored 3 times (if you count Tate as a back) en route to a 237 yard performance. The Huskies looked physically inferior on the other side of the ball, but then again, earlier this year Notre Dame struggled to move the ball against SDSU and Stanford, who arguably had the same disadvantage. To paraphrase Dennis Green, the Irish running attack 'was what we thought it was' last weekend; it was just very reassuring to see it.

2. Charlie's Nasties does a Duds and Studs segment to reflect on every game. Name one player/coach that could have done better against the Huskies and one player/coach that stepped it up.

Dud: Jimmy Clausen

I don't want to be too tough on Clausen, especially considering that Weis was obviously trying to keep the ball on the ground for much of the game, but it was a small let down to see Jimmy put up very modest numbers (14/26 for 201 yards) after setting personal yardage records in each of the previous three games. While part of me really wanted Clausen to mimic the 4 TD performance against UW that Brady had his sophomore year, the game seemed more like a small hiccup than anything serious. Expect a motivated JC to put up better numbers against Pitt. (Sidenote: for anyone that normally reads Duds and Studs, I rarely cop out and only list one person, but I thought the team played so well overall this week that I had to rely on help from other bloggers... check the comments of this article to see the other Duds and Studs this week)

Stud: Harrison Smith

OC Domer broke down a couple years worth of info from the Blue Gold game, and one of the conclusions was that the game's MVPs generally went on to have a good (if not great) career at Notre Dame. When Harrison got the defensive honors this year, I was a little skeptical, attributing his spring performance more to playing a special position (see Ronnie Brown in the Razorback) than skill that would translate to the rest of the season. However, Smith has played extremely well the last two weeks in pass coverage, run support, and QB rushing (2 sacks against UW), which basically means that I was completely wrong in my Blue Gold assessment. This guy has a knack for finding the football, and I hope that he can keep playing at this level for the rest of the year.

3. Halloween involves people abandoning reality for awhile to dress up and imitate something that they are not. Pick one Halloween costume with traits you would like to see from the Notre Dame football team the rest of the season.

Over the past few weeks we've seen the Irish show flashes of being a very good football team. The 124 yards of total offense given up by the defense was the best by an ND squad since 1996, Allen rushed for 134 yards against Purdue, we had 6 takeaways against Michigan, and Clausen threw for 347 and 3TDs against Stanford. Despite these and other great performances, however, I still haven't seen the Irish put together a complete game, so I would like to see the running game working well with the passing game, the defense matching the offense, and the special teams working well on top of it all. I want to see all of ND's players all playing well together, which is why I'm picking the superhero tandem of Batman and Robin, who always work well together to win. Alright, maybe a more intimidating picture would have really stuck the point home, but I think you get my drift.

4. When trick-or-treating as a kid, there always seemed to be at least one house that handed out apples. What aspect of the football team this year is the biggest apple in your candy bag (aka biggest disappointment)?

As mentioned in my response to question 1, I have been pretty disappointed with our running game thus far in the season, especially considering the talent we have at the position and Weis' preseason pledge to focus on that aspect of our game. It was not very comforting as a fan to see our 'power running' mindset fail to yield a 4.0 ypc rusher against San Diego State, MSU, or Stanford in our first 5 games, but Allen and Aldridge have been running hard recently, and the O-Line seems to be having more success as less zone blocking plays are being used. Hopefully this trend continues and the Irish will be able to look to their ground game when the weather begins to get worse over the next few weeks.

5. This year, October 31st is coincidentally also the opener for ND's Mens Basketball team (preseason against Briar Cliff). Say a few words about one player that will make have the biggest impact on the success of the team this season (apologies to non-bball fans, but I couldn't resist).

The great thing about this year's squad is that there are so many players with the potential to make an impact this season. Just to give you an idea, I'm really excited to see Jonathan Peoples and Carlton Scott play this year, and they likely won't even be in the top 6 or 7 in minutes. To answer this question, though, I'm going to pick Tory Jackson. Jackson has the best ability to penetrate from the half court set, and having the option to slash and dash to the basket will create some higher percentage shots when Harangody is struggling (so we don't have to go into the 3-point offense), and Tory's great passing game will result in a lot of great assists. I've also really enjoyed watching Jackson D up on some of the best guards in the Big East, and I think his perimeter defense will be key to shutting down some of the better teams.

That's all for this issue of the Irish Blogger Gathering. Make sure to check out Her Loyal Sons next week. Go Irish!

IBG: Tailgate Edition

2008-10-21T12:42:00.003-04:00

Welcome to another edition of the Irish Blogger Gathering. Bad Trade came up with this week's questions, so take some time to read their responses as well as the responses from other members of IBG (links in the comments section). Also, make sure to check out Charlie's Nasties next week as we get our chance to host the Gathering. Enjoy, and as always, Go Irish!

1. You're having some beers and brats outside Notre Dame Stadium, just chilling with friends. If you could have one Notre Dame player or coach drop by to share a drink, a brat and some stories with you, who would it be?

If I was choosing from the current team, the coach would probably be Tenuta. He’s got this crazy look in his eyes that, if nothing else, would be good for keeping the excise police away. The no-brainer for best player from this year is definitely Pat Kuntz. Tell me this guy doesn’t look like a good time:
2. What was your best experience ever with a tailgate party?

I had some good experiences last year traveling to Purdue, and Michigan, but it seems strange to trump a day of ND tailgating in favor of a day with one of our rivals. So instead I’ll go with the Boston College game from last year. The weather was nice, and the mingling with friends was fun as usual, but a bus full of amicable BC alums that puts this day at the top. Anyone can sit around a tailgate with friends and have fun talking football, but how often do you get to sip Hot Damn 100 out of a soup ladle with people you’ve never met before and happen to be exuberant fans of a rival school?

3. There are lots of great tailgate experiences around the country - what school's tailgate tradition do you most want to experience?

I actually haven’t heard of too many specific tailgate experiences (besides schools where the ‘experience’ is just drinking a lot), so from the very limited library of tailgating knowledge that I have, I’ll choose Purdue. Apparently, the rowdiest of the Boilermaker faithful gather at a local bar in the pre-sunrise hours of gamedays, clad in ridiculous costumes to pregame the tailgates in an even known as The Breakfast Club. Good ole’ fashion Kegs and Eggs is alright, but isn’t everything better when you get to dress up?
While I may not have too much tailgate experience under my young belt, I will get to take in what should be a very interesting experience in the couch-burning city of Columbus this weekend for the OSU / Penn State game, and if I uncover any unique tailgating experiences, I’ll be sure to share them.

4. Indiana decides that their drinking laws are far too un-draconian (I'm from Wisconsin. I don't understand these things like "kids aren't allowed in bars," "your parents can't give you liquor if they are supervising" and "no alcohol purchases on Sunday"), and drinking is now forbidden on Saturdays. The Excise Police stop by your tailgate, and proceed to dump out the liquor you were attempting to hide from them. What do they pour out?

Being a poor college student, this one’s easy. Maybe if we were feeling particularly classy, a handle of McCormick’s vodka would be confiscated, but the drink most likely to be found at our tailgate would be Ten High, the best price/value combination of whiskey that Meijer has to offer.
You know it's good when the bottle cap is a plastic twist off
5. OK, I couldn't leave it alone completely. How do you feel about the impending end of the Coach Willingham era at Washington?

Over the past 3 seasons at Washington, Willingham’s average signing classes have consisted each of 4 Four Star players, and 7.6 Two Star players. Weis’ classes during the same time period (keep in mind that one of these classes came during a historically bad 3-9 season) averaged 14.6 Four Star players and only .6 Two Star. Ty’s first two season’s at ND consisted of fairly decent recruiting numbers, but after the success of Stanford and the 2002 season faded, Willingham pulled in a miserable 2 Four Stars to 6 Two Stars in 2004. As for this season, Charlie is working on another Top 10 recruiting class while Ty currently only has 4 ranked commits for the 2009 class.
The moral of the story? You can’t win without talent, and keeping someone around for four years that recruits poor talent will often result in a few 0-6 starts. I have full confidence that the Irish will make it 0-7.

Clausen/Quinn Midseason Breakdown

2008-10-20T22:10:00.007-04:00

Last offseason, this site came up with a three part article attempting to draw some comparisons between the freshman seasons of Brady Quinn and Jimmy Clausen. I thought that while we're in the middle of a slow bye week, it would be interesting to take a look at where the two stood after the first half of their sophomore seasons. From this high-tech Excel breakdown, it looks like Clausen is throwing (on average) more passes at a higher completion rate. JC is throwing for more yards per game, but his passes are averaging less yards per attempt.

One thing interesting to draw from last season's comparisons is that during freshman year, Quinn was attempting more passes and throwing for more YPG, and this trend has appeared to flip this season. Also, while JC is throwing 2.3 TDs to BQ's 1.5, the pair are virtually even in TD/INT ratio with Jimmy at 1.75 and Brady at 1.8. Feel free to chime in with any observations you have from the data above, but the most interesting info I got came from looking at YPG and Attempts Per Game:
Both squads were 4-2 through 6 games, and I have gone through and marked the losses of both teams. You'll notice that there seems to be a weak positive correlation between pass yards per game and losing, and although it may not seem that significant in the above graph, the chart marking attempts per game makes it fairly obvious.

The magic number seems to be 40 attempts: stay at or under and the team winds, go above that mark and you're itching for a loss. The tricky thing here is that equating passing to losing is sort of a 'chicken/egg' situation (i.e. are you losing because you're passing, or are you passing because you're losing?), but for this season, I think it is decently easy to resolve that dilemma. Against MSU, Notre Dame wasn't passing because they were down early, they were passing because they absolutely could not run the ball. At North Carolina, Weis and Co. came out with guns blazing, throwing on 14 of their first 18 plays (and the other 4 plays were 3 qb draws and a sack).

The bottom line is that numbers are just numbers, and they can't really ever tell the whole story, but maybe this chart suggests that these quarterbacks are still too young to shoulder 40+ attempt responsibility. Maybe Weis needs to learn how to incorporate his three-headed RB team and improving run blocking later in the game (what if the first play in the second half of the UNC game was a run?). If the aerial assault is to continue in 2008, Weis and Clausen need to figure out a way of eliminating the increased interceptions that come with increased pass attempts, otherwise we could be in for more disappointing losses in the second half of the year.

The good news that comes out of this post is that Jimmy is very comparable to Brady through the first season and a half, with Clausen arguably out performing Quinn. After sitting on my couch watching Big Ten football all weekend, I can tell you that Irish fans under appreciate a sophomore's ability to throw catchable balls on every attempt. The future has the potential to be very bright for Notre Dame, let's hope that the team can find a way to crank up the light switch.

Go Irish.