NFL Irish

Congrats to the ND players taken so far in the 2008 draft. Hopefully a few more Irish players can sneak in towards the end of the day, but for now, welcome to Sunday ball!

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.