Michigan Duds and Studs

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.

Duds and Studs: Nevada

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!

Back, for now...

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!

Miscellaneous

Having three papers due in a span of five days somewhat impeded my desire to write anything for a few days, but now that classes are done for the semester, and before I work up the motivation to seriously lock into finals studying mode, I thought I'd take some time to share a few thoughts about the sports world.

• Congrats to the four Irishmen drafted last weekend. Now I have a reason to watch Eagles games other than being able to listen to my roommate belt out their fight song; Trevor Laws will be teaming up with Abiamiri on the defensive line, and it will be exciting to see the birds pair of second round draft picks develop into a brutal stopping force. Another ND pair was made when the Seahawks drafted John Carlson to block for newly acquired runningback Julius Jones; this should be fun to watch just because Jones will likely be the feature back instead of splitting carries while Carlson should be able to make some plays downfield. Zibby will fight for a job in the return game, but he and Sullivan will likely be watching from the sidelines and learn from the experienced veterans at their position.
  
• Also, congrats to the ND players that signed contracts after the draft. Brockington and Jansen signed with the Bills and Packers, respectively, and Travis Thomas signed with his former teammate Brady Quinn and the Cleveland Browns. With Lewis, Wright, and Harrison at runningback, TT will not likely see any carries soon, but his hard work ethic should allow him to compete for a special teams spot.




• In other Browns news, this weekend's rookie minicamp will feature the team's 5 draft picks, 15 signed free agents, and 54 walk ons; apparently, the Browns invited any eligible football player who went to school in Ohio. I know that you need bodies to have a practice, but it seems a little odd to send invites to everyone at Oberlin College.




• On the hardwood, Mike Brey named the first recipient of the Skip Prosser Man of the Year Award last month. Besides earning the award, Brey also likely feels good about winning the battle over Purdue and Oklahoma State to secure Mississippi State transfer Ben Hansbrough. Psycho B will have to sit out a year, but the shooting guard brings depth and NCAA tourney experience that will help push Jackson and McAlarney in practice next season.

• In other roundball news, has anyone been watching the Cavs Wizards series? I'm not a huge NBA fan, but I can't help but wonder how the entire Wizards arena can boo LeBron every time he touches the ball; they even booed when he was helping Wizards player get up after they had been fouled. What is most surprising, perhaps, is that Papa Johns sponsored a 'Crybaby 23' shirt that was being displayed by several fans in last night's game. I doubt that the shirts will cause a very significant spike in D.C. sales, but I would be surprised if it didn't have a negative effect in the Cleveland area. I guess dropping 27, 13, and 13 while blowing out a team at home in an elimination game is a pretty good way to get them to shut up with the stupid smack talk.

• Lastly, for those of you that don't already check out NDLNA on a regular basis, there is a great rant from the Rock Report that responds to a New York Times article that basically labels Notre Dame as a strong arming bully for refusing to play a true home and away series against Rutgers in the upcoming years. The Rock's post does a nice job of throwing cold water over the Times' argument, but if you have the time for it, I also recommend reading the comments at the bottom of the Rock's post as there is some great stuff there.

Off to studying... Go Irish!

Brey / Bam Bam Interview

I already posted my thoughts on the upcoming ND WSU game, but for those of you that want an opinion straight from the experts, here's a copy of CBS's interview with Mike Brey and Luke Harangody that took place during halftime of the Duke WVU game today. If that isn't already enough to convince you to watch it, there's some great awkwardness near the end of the interview.

Go Irish! Beat Cougars!

Irish Down Patriots, Look Forward to WSU

Heading into Thursday's opening round of the NCAA tournament, the Nasties Crew had several concerns about the Men's team:

1. Notre Dame needs to play well on the road.
2. Harangody/KMac need help from a third player on offense.
3. The Irish need to take their opponent out early.

After hitting 6 of their first 8 three point attempts and starting the game on a 23-7 run, the Irish were definitely able to satisfy the 1st and 3rd keys to victory, and a strong performance by Ryan Ayers off the bench (12pts on 5-10 shooting) rounds out the trifecta. In addition to putting in a strong offensive performance, Notre Dame was able to showcase a little Big East defensive grit, holding the Patriots to 33% shooting and shutting down 2 of GM's 3 central players. And as long as I'm talking about good things from last game, it was great that Brey was able to give 3 freshman (Nash, Proffitt, and Abromaitis) some valuable tournament experience.
However, don't expect Saturday's game to go as smoothly; Notre Dame was able to take Vaughan (6'3") and Campbell (6'4") almost completely out of the game on Thursday night (combined 7 points on 2-19 shooting), but Thomas (6'7") was able to put up half of George Mason's points. Washington State plays two capable 6'10" forwards in Aron Baynes (10.5 ppg) and Robbie Cowgill (7.3 ppg), so the noticeable height advantage ND had against George Mason will be more neutralized. Notre Dame has done a decent job of collapsing the zone on big men (making it tough for them to score), but the size could be a factor in the rebounding game.
Also, while 62% of GM's scoring was accounted for by only three players, WSU spreads the ball around much more: 4 starters average double figures, and the team has a good combination of inside and outside scoring.
One element of the game that shouldn't change too much is the pace. George Mason scored an average of 69 ppg throughout the season, and Washington State averages a comparable 67 ppg. In a 68-50 victory Thursday night, ND proved that it can play a low scoring game, but it is definitely to their advantage if they can get out to an early lead and force WSU to play the uncomfortable role of catch-up.

Keep Dancing, Go Irish! Beat Cougars!

Tourney Time

Brey and the gang have been away from South Bend since Tuesday adjusting to the higher altitude in Denver; hopefully the preparation time will result in a win for the Irish, who will look to rid themselves of the bad taste in many of the player's mouths that resulted from losing in the first round of the tournament last year. It would appear that the Irish have a strong chance to redeem themselves; the South Bend Tribune posted an article that highlights the thoughts of some analysts who feel that ND can be a bracketbuster this year:

“I like Notre Dame going to the Sweet 16,” Sports Illustrated’s Seth Davis said on the CBS selection show.

“They’re a team at a 5 seed that can be very difficult to knock off,” said CBS lead college basketball analyst BillyPacker."

“One of the most dangerous teams in the tournament,” said CBS studio analyst Clark Kellogg.

However, Irish fans still have a few reasons to be worried heading into tonight's game.


1. Notre Dame has not played well away from home this season, even in neutral site games. Losses to Baylor and Georgia Tech in the Virgin Islands combined with a 5-4 away record in the Big East (5-5 counting the less than impressive outing in the Big East tournament this year) have shown that ND for some reason lacks the ability to bounce back from sloppy play if they start the game flat.

2. As teams begin to hassle Luke Harangody in the paint more, other players need to step up. Kyle McAlarney has been able to play this role very well over the season, but if ND can't get double figures from someone else on the roster, it creates the potential for a stagnant offensive outing.

3. Throughout the season, Notre Dame has occasionally struggled to assert itself on the defensive glass. Most recently, teams like USF and SJU have been able to stay in the game by grabbing timely offensive rebounds. Come tournament time, all that a team needs to do to win sometimes is to stay in the game, and allowing a lesser, smaller team like George Mason to hang around until the final two minutes is not something any Irish fan wants to see.

However, I like Notre Dame's chances against the Patriots tonight. One of the primary reasons for last year's loss to Winthrop was the inexperience of the team; Harangody especially seemed anxious, scoring only 4 points in a limited 17 minutes of action. Don't expect that from the team this year though. Bam-Bam is much more conditioned, and every starter has the added experience of playing in the tournament last year (and the one player that doesn't will be playing hungry from missing that chance).

Also, this isn't the same George Mason team that reached the Final Four two seasons ago. If the Irish can shut down the trio of Thomas, Campbell, and Vaughan (combine for 62% of GM's scoring and 55% of the team's rebounds), the Patriots lack the depth to compete with a team that can spread the ball like Notre Dame. George Mason also plays a much slower style (avg GM game has 132 points) of play than ND (avg combined score of 150), so if the Irish can get up early, there is a good chance that GM will have a hard time catching up.

I'll try not to jinx tonight's game with another Mike Brey quote of the week, so I'll just stick with mentioning that Purdue (wearing white) was able to beat Baylor (who was wearing green and yellow) when I was writing this post.

Happy Dancing, Go Irish! Beat Patriots!

Happy Signing Day!

Welcome to Notre Dame, recruiting class of 2008!

Merry Christmas

Fellow Domer Chinedum Ndukwe force-fed me a huge helping of humble pie for the holidays, picking off Derek Anderson twice en route to a Browns loss that will likely end their surprising season by shutting them out of the playoffs. O well, at least the Browns loss came at an Irish gain: Ndukwe also recorded 8 tackles in the Bengals victory.

Time for me to go to bed and wait for some Santa actions, but I couldn't help but leave everyone in Irish nation without a little ND holiday cheer (compliments of our friends of Keenan Hall).

Case of the Mondays

The first Monday fully removed from ND's football season has undoubtedly left some of our loyal readers in a head-pounding Duds and Studs withdrawal, so the crew thought that it would be helpful to post something today, even if it is just a vain attempt to fill a void that likely won't be satisfied until after the San Diego State game.

While perusing NDLNA, I came across a decent writeup by MSNBC.com analyst Eric Hanse, which points out some highs and lows of the season. Hanse found some silver lining in the season both in the play of freshmen nose tackle Ian Williams and wideout Duval Kamara, and the statistical improvement of the defense from 2006 to 2007 is also worth taking a look at. Regarding Kamara, BlueandGold.com came up with a cumulative playing time chart for the season, and #18 was able to log the most playing time for a freshman receiver since Rocket Ismail on the 1988 squad. It's worth noting the presence of underclassmen that are either at or near the top of their position; hopefully these young players can build off of the quantity of experience they were able to get this year and use it to better prepare for next season.

The Charlie's Nasties crew always tries to present a fair and unbiased opinion whenever possible, so in order to attempt to do so, I give you this article defending the Nasties crew's favorite scapegoat, John Latina. Our friends at the Irish Roundup offer several factors out of the realm of John's control that have negatively contributed to the offensive line's performance over the last three years, and the post suggests that Irish Nation should (like the case with Weis) hold off on passing judgement until he is given another year to redeem himself. In my mind, however, a good coach is able to fix the type of problems (missed assignments, inability to adjust to defenses) that have plagued the line this year, and I am still blown away that Chris Stewart went unnoticed and unused for the first half of the season. I mean, come on, looking at this picture, doesn't one player kind of, um... stick out as possessing some good physical traits for excelling at the right tackle position?


Anyway, the point is that a player shouldn't have to threaten to transfer to see some playing time. I know that sometimes players perform differently in practice than in games, but when the team opens the first three games struggling to net positive rushing yards, then there's not really any excuse for not giving the bottom of the depth chart some opportunity.

In other news, if you haven't noticed yet, the Nasties crew has finally sold out. Contract negotiations with Brugg and the Golden Boy have resurfaced and have been proceeding amicably up to this point, but it looks like the site is going to need to generate some revenue to put up with their demands. So if you like what you read around here, I encourage you to support us by checking out the ads in the right column of the page. With the holiday season fast approaching, it never hurts to find some nice ND apparel online.

This picture is seriously from one of the ad sites.

Lastly, a quick congratulations to the men's bball team for a nice win over Eastern Michigan last weekend. I have a film screening in the DPAC tomorrow night during the Kansas State game (which will be played at the Madison Square Garden), but you can bet that they'll be at least one laptop in the theatre pulling up a gamecast.

Go Irish! Beat Wildcats!

New Years

Coincidentally, the close of Notre Dame's football season lined up pretty well with the ending of the Church's liturgical year, and while the end of the 2007 campaign was accompanied with some discussion of the apocalypse, the optimism brought along with the start of a new season is refreshing, even though it comes at the expense of having to watch Top 10 segments void of much pigskin action.

However, there is no need to fear the complete absence of Notre Dame Football in the next few months: loyal readers can look forward to post-season recaps (grades, awards, and such) before very premature previews for next season (what better way to spend Christmas than completely breaking down the San Diego State defensive line?).

However, While this blog projects a gridiron image, the Nasties crew is also a proud member of the Leprechaun Legion, so especially in these months of slow football news, don't be surprised to see a few posts devoted to the hardwood. They say that a picture is worth a thousand words, and this picture (from und.com's photo gallery), along with it's caption, offers a fair summation of the Irish's most recent win over Patriot League foe, Colgate:




"Kyle McAlarney, starting junior point guard, prepares to shoot the ball as the Colgate coach yells at his players to play better defense."

No joke. That's the actual caption.

Notre Dame's 94-63 win on Monday marked the 23rd straight win at the Joyce Center, 1 W shy of the school record. With a win over an Eastern Michigan squad this Saturday, the Irish can finally start making history in a good way.

I'd also like to point out to those that haven't already noticed, Charlie's Nasties has now gone global, with readers from Panama, Ireland, England, Germany, Australia, and our friendly neighbors of the north. Check out the real-time map at the bottom of the site to see the last 1000 visitors in the U.S.

Go Irish. Beat Eagles.

Duds and Studs: The Last Hurrah

Congrats to the Fighting Irish for taking down the Cardinal in their last game of the 2007 campaign. The official box score was as follows:

Notre Dame: 35
Stanford: 14
Officials: -14
Duds:

ESPN: Electing to use the C-Team announcers to cover a more notorious game during rivalry week, ND was stuck with what appeared to be the J-Team, consisting of a field reporter with spray on hair and two announcers that couldn't help beating everything to death.

Announcer A: Look at number 20 for Stanford! That linebacker's all over the place!
Announcer B: I agree, if you had to take a guess for who made the tackle last play, you could say Clinton Synder and you would be right 90% of the time.
A: Clinton Synder is around the play almost 90% of the time.
B: He really is all over the place.
A: Well, B, that's because he was a 2 star recruit and he plays with more heart than 4 star recruits...

Officials: "The call on the field is reversed" seemed to be the most popular words out of their mouths, and the 'indisputable evidence' that overturned Grime's endzone circus catch might have caused riots if it became a deciding factor in the game. The primary reason these officials make the duds list, however, is that they failed to keep the game in control. There is absolutely no reason for the Notre Dame vs. Stanford game to escalate to FIU/Miami proportions. The drive where the announcer's son and his bash brother decided to headbutt Clausen after a play and de-cleat a stationary David Grimes after the whistle (respectively) could have resulted in ejections; labelling them as "off-setting personal fouls" was ridiculous. This foul play seemed to stem from Lambert's (even though it wasn't necessarily malicious or intentional) hit on Pritchard, and it was missing this call that really turned the game downhill for the officials.

Defensive Fundamentals: In a showing that made the Duke game look like a masterpiece, our defense seemed to forget how to take pursuit angles or break down when they were tackling. The preferred method of lunging at the feet of Stanford's players was able to quell a less than impressive offense, but it is obvious that Corwin needs to address this issue during the offseason.

O-Line: As opposed to positions like linebacker or defensive tackle, the problem at this position is that if one player misses an assignment, it usually blows up the entire play. Blitz-ford delivered as advertised and dished out 5 sacks on Clausen as well as creating several other pressure situations. To Weis' credit, he didn't mess around this game, pulling players in Lou Holtz fashion if they failed to properly execute an assignment. While Chris Stewart and Dan Wenger showed some promise, Sam Young needs to learn how to stop a speed rush; the opposing gameplan on him appears to encourage pinning back one's ears and sprinting around him. Fortunate for us, Young appears to have the talent and desire to correct this weakness.

Jim Harbaugh: I have to admit that I enjoy some of his outspoken nature, but could you imagine being Mrs. Pritchard and watching Harbaugh send your son back onto the field after suffering an obvious concussion? I think that he will have a hard time convincing parents to trust him with their children after that.


Studs:


Robert Hughes: Despite the Notre Dame v. Reggie Bush circa 2005 efforts by the Cardinal grounds crew, Hughes succeeded in becoming the first freshman to eclipse the century mark in back to back games since Autry Denson in the 95 season. It would have been nice to see him finish his two long runs, but it's becoming clear the Hughes likes his role as a feature back, turning 18 carries into 136 yards and a touchdown.

The D-Team: Darrin Walls, David Bruton, and Ian Williams join permanent resident Trevor Laws in this group. All performed well with Williams recording 6 tackles, Walls and Bruton providing good coverage, and Laws being Laws. The young outside linebacking duo of Kerry Neal and Brian Smith looked pretty decent as well.

Brian Smith says "Give me a low-five"

Duval Kamara: The late season Golden Tate, Kamara has proven to be ND's most consistent aerial weapon, however, Charlie could improve on mixing up his play calling to the #1 receiver. It seems like whenever someone catches a deep ball, Weis has to run 3 or 4 fly routes to him before reverting back to the out and slant patterns. Irish fans should be especially thankful for Kamara's consistency when considering the drop in production from Parris and the inconsistency of Grimes. While #11 is able to make a spectacular catch from time to time, his inability to haul in the gimme's could move him into the slot next season if he doesn't show improvement.

Tom Zbikowski: It was great to see Zibby back in his old form for his last game with the Irish. His punishing hits and momentum changing plays in the Stanford game serve as a reminder for what the Irish will be missing at the safety position next year.

Also, props to the Blue and Gold supporters that made it out to Palo Alto for the game; judging by the crowd noise, it almost sounded like a home game on TV. Good job sticking with the team throughout this struggling season. As former Irish head coach Gerry Faust said, "It won't be long before they're back on top again. Sometimes it's good to go through these things. It makes you stronger. The crucifixion has to come before the resurrection."

Go Irish. Beat Aztecs!

Stuff my Turkey with Natty

The Stanford Cardinal will be coming off of a bye week to face Notre Dame this weekend. At 3-7, this team has shown vulnerability (45-17 loss to UCLA, 27-9 loss to Washington), but has also managed to hang around long enough to drop some huge opponents in the PAC-10 (21-20 over Arizona, 24-23 over USC). Jim Harbaugh uses his plethora of receivers to mimic a pro style offense, and with 41 freshmen on the squad this year, the Christmas Trees might be on their way up in the next few seasons.

ND needs to watch out for the passing attack, but the deciding factor on who wins this game will likely be determined when the Irish are on offense. Ranked 11th in the country in sacks, Stanford ain't afraid to bring the heat with it's pass rush, frequently sending one or two linebackers on every down. As Weis mentioned in his press conference, "you don't have to guess if they're coming, cause they're always coming." While not quite deserving of a name like Blitz-Ford, the Cardinal defensive scheme could cause some problems for our green offensive line. Evaluating how ND picks up the pass pressure will give fans some idea of how much the O-Line has meshed at the end of the season.

Expect to see some Wenger and Bemenderfer at center with Sullivan listed as doubtful, and Hughes should continue to see some carries with Aldridge "still not at full speed." Pat Kuntz is not expected to play, still nursing a leg injury, but freshman Ian Williams has done a nice job filling in for him up to this point in the season.

Today's quotes are about two studs on the team from Charlie's November 20th press conference.

On Eric Maust's ridiculous rugby punt:

"There was no bigger play in the game than that play by Maust. You really have to be an athlete to do what he did. A, to catch the ball, but B, to be athletic enough to get the ball off and end up net punting 30 yards on a play really you could have lost 20 yards on. That was 50 yards of field position on that play there, solely due to him. No one else could we benefit that 50 yards to other than his athleticism on that play. "

On Laws potentially being named an All-American:

"Let's just go by the numbers. I mean, I don't see all these guys, what everyone does. When I do, it's just for a couple minutes of a game on Saturday night before I go to sleep. But if you just go by the numbers, the guy's getting nine, 10 tackles a game as an interior defensive lineman. That's phenomenal. Isn't like we're playing against crummy teams. Isn't like he's going against bad guys, and he's had numbers every week. Doesn't make any difference who we go against, he's had numbers every single week. It's tough not to at least have that argument. "

Sweet Potatoes or Yams? Nasties Thanksgiving Day Predictions:

Packers 17, Lions 24

Jets 10, Dallas 31

Colts 28, Falcons 14

There you have it Nasties, easy on the tryptophan. Beat Cardinal!

Of Pep Talks and Seniors

Notre Dame will begin the end of its football season with its last home game tomorrow against Duke, and several Alums tried to give the players some last minute motivation. Most notable are the speeches given by Lou Holtz and Mike Golic.

Holtz's official ESPN Pep Talk, which can be found here at Colonialhead's Irish Blog, emphasizes the importance of representing the university on every down:

"[Notre Dame] stands for intelligence, play smart. It stands for excellence; whatever we do, we do it with class. And it represents faith. You always have faith; you always have a belief you're gonna find a way to succeed."

Holtz also focused on a no excuses mentality:

"It's time to put Notre Dame back where it belongs. We have talent here, that's not the case. It's a matter of a commitment to excellence."

I strongly recommend watching this pep talk. It's easy to see that Lou has a little more emotion when his speech is being directed towards his former team.

Golic, who spoke at the pep rally tonight, also brought up the privilege of being able to play for Notre Dame:

"I played 9 years in the NFL, and was fortunate enough to be able to play in every stadium, but no tunnel gave me the chills that I got when I ran out onto Notre Dame Stadium."

Some may shrug this game off, a contest between two 1-9 teams, but the fact of the matter is that this will be the last home game for many Irish players that have excited us (positively or negatively) over the last few years, and the fans and student body owe it to those players to give them a good showing on Saturday.

The nasties crew will try to get a senior post up sometime soon, but for now, I'd just like to once again acknowledge the season that defensive end Trevor Laws is having. Per the folks at BGS, Laws currently has 98 tackles, which is good for the 33rd rank in the nation. To give you some perspective on the magnitude of this accomplishment: no other defensive lineman is ranked in the top 100.

Go Irish. Beat Devils.

Fire Weis?

While I was perusing ESPN.com when I was supposed to be listening to a lecture on Microsoft Access, I came across an interesting Gene Wojciechowski article about Charlie Weis and Notre Dame. The article wasn't interesting because it addressed the age old Weis - Willingham comparison, but because it talked about fans turning their backs on the coach:

"Notre Dame alums and fans feel empowered by the precedent set when Willingham was dismissed. [. . .] Some of them want a new coach."

Over the last week, Charlie undoubtedly took some heat (even from the Nasties crew) for (among other decisions) not kicking the field goal against Navy, but I have yet to hear any students on campus challenging his job position. The ND blog roll also appears to be responding the same way, by criticizing the coaching, but not necessarily the coach.

"Weis is going to have to live with the "Fire Charlie" chatter"

Even though this season is breaking all sorts of bad records (only two other Irish teams have lost 8 games in a season), I feel that our fan base has been smart enough to tough out this season knowing, not hoping, that things will get better quickly. The reason ND locked up Weis with a big contract so early is that when he is given the talent to work with, the results have been two BCS bowl bids, and once this current Irish squad develops in terms of skill and experience, fans expect nothing less than a perennial championship contender.

Wojciechowski also was critical of Weis' recruiting, basically saying that even though his classes have been ranked very highly, it doesn't matter because high school player rankings can be so wildly inaccurate. On this point, I'd like to refer this professional ESPN writer to the research done over at the Blue-Gray Sky, where over the summer, the boys reviewed the high school rankings of the current college seniors and compared them to their on field performance, and here are some of the conclusions they found:

• 30% of the top 50 seemed capable of playing in the NFL after only 3 years of school
• Only 10% of the top 50 were considered true "busts"
• Purdue's top 50 players seem to bust more than others (just a fun fact)

Also interesting was that the BGS team found that the hardest positions to evaluate were the offensive line and cornerback positions, so I guess that the ranking of the upcoming class could be somewhat skewed given that it contains 7 o-linemen and DBs, but the point is that a top ranking seems to be a decent predictor of college success. Oh, and by the way, the #1 ranked player of the 2008 class just set a single game rushing record in the NFL. I think his name's Peterson or something like that.

Up to this point, I haven't been sucked into comparing Weis and Willingham at all. Actually, I think this might be the first time I wrote the word "Willingham" in a post. But given that I am criticising an article that discusses him, I think I should at least say something on the issue. Well, I'm not going to, but I will point our loyal readers to a Huskie blog (link courtesy of Her Loyal Sons) so they can see how they are doing with our former head coach.

The ESPN article also includes a very good video of Mark May and Lou Holtz breaking down Notre Dame. Lou talked about how Notre Dame needs to get back to the fundamentals of toughness and good technique; Weis seems to have had some difficulty with this in the 07 season, and my only rational for it is that he is used to coaching experienced players, but not yet used to developing inexperienced players. One of May's criticisms was that Charlie has been unable to translate the recruiting rankings onto the field, so hopefully Chuck can prove him wrong as he learns how to better deal with youngsters.

Commenting on the loss to Navy, Lou referred to the 1987 team that lost in the Sugar Bowl, saying that that loss was able to fuel the team over the offseason and allowed them to go after the championship the next year. I personally believe that ND has faced enough "adversity" between getting walloped in its last two bowl games, getting hammered by USC in four out of the last five contests, and losing a record eight games this season, but if snapping the 43 year old winning streak against Navy ends up being the catalyst that leads to future success, I'll take it for now. This leaves us with the quote of the week:

"[losing to Navy] could be the best thing that happens to [Notre Dame]" - Lou Holtz

When life gives you lemons... Beat Falcons!

Happy Halloween

Nothing beats sitting in a three hundred person lecture class and watching people walk in wearing some festive attire. In engineering today, two students dressed in business garb complete with briefcases promptly strolled into the room during the middle of a lecture, and, pointing at a student in a red and white striped shirt, shouted "There's Waldo! Get him!" The student in the Waldo attire immediately dashed up from his seat and out of the classroom in order to escape his adversaries who followed in pursuit. Its stories like this that remind us all why the holiday is meant for tricks as well as treats.


Happy Halloween. Go Irish.