WSU Duds and Studs

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?

Boston College Duds and Studs

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.

USC Duds and Studs

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.

Washington Duds and Studs

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!

Purdue Duds and Studs

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!

MSU Duds and Studs

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!

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!

BC Duds and Studs

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!

Pitt Duds and Studs

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!

UNC Duds and Studs

Duds

Lambert / McNeil: This was the first game where missing Walls has really hurt us. Lambert had a good breakup in the endzone, but for the majority of the game, our starting DBs failed to contain the UNC passing attack. I think that (especially against a QB like Sexton), we should use more press coverage; it is excruciatingly painful to see a Tarheel receiver catch a five yard hitch time and again only to turn it up field and break poor tackles from our cornerbacks.

DE/OLB: From what I could see, Johnny Ryan wasn't playing much at his DE/OLB spot, and while he is usually pretty ineffective, extra reps from Kerry Neal didn't seem to change anything. Justin Brown also looked slow to react at times as the front 3 (or 4) failed to shed blockers and allowed a pretty inexperienced quarterback too much time to throw.

Late Game Officiating: I almost left to get dinner during the overturned UNC 3rd down reception; I was convinced that there was no way the call would get over turned. I guess the refs were so disappointed with our 4th quarter scoring struggles (0 points with over 10:00 of possession) that they felt obligated to give us another shot. Also, regardless of what did or didn't happen at the end of the game, the refs did not do a good job of explaining it. I saw a ref signaling Floyd down and blowing his whistle. As we all know from the Broncos/Chargers game a few weeks ago, if this was the case then ND should have retained possession where UNC recovered the fumble (watch the replay - do you think Turkovich would have acted differently if he didn't think the play was over?). BUT, this point should be moot because the Irish got up to the line and snapped the ball before the refs stopped them and snapped it while a UNC has 12 men on the field. As I know as a Browns friend circa the Dwayne Rudd helmet rule, the game cannot end on a defensive penalty, so ND should have been given an untimed down... I realize that my writing tone must seem pretty upset about this, but to tell you the truth, I don't mind much because in the end, the Irish did not deserve to win based on their performance late in the game (and because of the botched call I mentioned that went ND's way)... What I'm more upset/confused about is that in a game where about seven plays were reviewed, why did no one look at Blanton's forced fumble?

Clausen: Before the team left for halftime, Weis said the most important thing to do was to come out and score to start the 3rd quarter because we couldn't afford another 3 and out like we had against Purdue... Another pick and a fumble allowed UNC back into a game that they were out of at halftime.

Studs

WRs: Not sure if Floyd takes the chance of fumbling that ball after his rookie year, but his 93 yards and TD make up for it. The Jordan-esque look Tate had in his eye for the entire final drive and his ability to change an interception into a big completion are two of the reasons why I love watching him play, and DUVAL (5 rec. for 58 yards) finally looked close to what he was last season. It is scary to think that all of these players are underclassmen.

Clausen: I don't want to be too harsh on Jimmy. Completing 65% of his passes and registering a career high in passing yards (383) for the third week in a row are almost enough to trump his turnovers, but what seals the deal to make me feeling confident about Clausen is the fact that he recovered from throwing a terrible interception in the 4th quarter to cover 60 yards of field in a minute and gave his team a chance to win. Look for JC to have a coming out party against Washington just like our last quarterback did.

Coaching: I liked the scheme of attacking UNC through the air and complementing it with runs as the game went on. I remember hearing the announcers say something like:

"It looks like Notre Dame can only throw against the Tarheels" followed by, "Now the Irish have come out running and are also picking up yards" and after a screen play, "Well now Notre Dame is just picking apart the defense all kinds of ways."

The game plan (at least offensively) gave us a chance to win.

Walker: It's always a little strange to give someone extra credit for doing what they're supposed to do, but 4/4 kicking (including a career long 42 yarder) will hopefully propel Walker into a strong second half of the season.

Tarheel Puns: How can you not like reading all of these story titles:

Achilles' Heel, Tobacco Road-block, Wheels Come Off on the Tobacco Road, Carolina Bruised...

Why can't I be more witty?

Now off to watch my Brownies in a Monday Night massacre probabilistic loss...

Go Irish!

Stanford Duds and Studs

Duds

Coaching: It was great to see the team respond to some of the smack talk coming from the Cardinal players. The result was an amped up unit that created 3 turnovers in the opening minutes and jumped out to a quick lead. Unfortunately, the coaching staff was unable to maintain this great energy late into the game. The Irish team that came out of the locker room for the third quarter seemed a little flat and deflated, and when Stanford was getting back into the game in the fourth quarter, backups were being subbed in at multiple positions. I understand the value of experience, but this team is so young that all of the starters still need experience. Lastly, everyone is aware of ND's kicking struggles, so what better way to get Walker's confidence up a little bit than giving him a 27 yard chip shot at the end of the game? Not only was it an easy attempt, but it would have eliminated any chance Stanford had of winning the game, putting them down 10 with no time left. Instead, a failed 4th down run by Aldridge was a slap in the face to an already demoralized Walker, and gave Stanford a chance to tie the game on a big play.

Special Teams: Walker had another tough day, but that is to be somewhat expected now. The reason the whole unit makes this list is that the coverage (other than Anello, who took some great pursuit angles to make tackles all the way across the field) was uncharacteristically weak. Particularly, the 38 yard punt return in the second half gave momentum to Stanford when we should have been putting them away.

LBs: Recording 5 sacks and 3 interceptions, the front seven had a very good day on the sexy end of the stat sheet, but missed tackles and poor pursuit angles allowed Stanford's two runningbacks to average 6.3 yards per rush, including a 13 carry, 100 yard day for Gerhart. It was fortunate that the Irish were able to get ahead quickly, otherwise the Cardinal ground game could have been used more often.

Studs

Pat Kuntz: When you rock a beater and jorts for your pep rally speech, you better back it up with a good on the field performance, and Kuntz was up for the challenge. With an interception, a fumble recovery, and a sack, this animal was a bright spot for the Irish defensive front.

Clausen: Completing 75% of his passes en route to a career 347 yards passing, JC continued to show why playing with a good haircut is better. Since the MSU game when Samson cut his locks, Jimmy is 49/75 for 622 yards and 6 TDs. Additionally, Clausen is finally starting to take over the team as a leader; it was pretty fun to see #7 pacing the ND sidelines and raising his arms (Father Doyle style) to amp up the players and the crowd.

Floyd: It makes it easier to throw for 347 yards when you're lofting the ball to a freak of nature. 5 catches for 115 yards has Darius Walker jersey wearers happy that double D's freed up the #3 spot.

Rudolph: Ragone missing the entire season had a lot of people worried about the depth at the TE position, but fortunately, Kyle Rudolph has stepped up in a big way the last two games. He is on the same page as Clausen, connecting five times for 70 yards and a score, but perhaps more importantly, his blocking has improved a lot since his struggles early in the season.

Allen: Armando's 9 rushes for 33 yards are average, but his involvement in the passing game (7 catches for 66 yards) elevates him into the Studs category this week. Scoring a TDs by the land and the air, it's exciting to see Armando using his improving field vision to attack holes as well as make moves in space.Notes: I think that this game was the closest our team has come to actually having a 'nasty' attitude in a couple of years.; the hard hitting and intensity really made Stanford eat their words, and it was fun to watch. It's been great to watch the development of the passing game; lining up Tate, Floyd, and Grimes with Rudolph and Allen running intermediate routes gives Jimmy 5 very good receivers to throw to. Sergio Brown hasn't been great in coverage this year, but he has some excellent play making ability. Add another forced fumble to his resume.

Go Irish! Beat Tarheels!

Purdue Duds and Studs

The economy may be tanking right now, but stock in the Notre Dame football team looks like its on the rise.

Duds

Pass Rush: As long as I've been writing the Duds and Studs article, I've never found it too hard to identify at least a few negatives out of a win, but this week showed a team that played just about as cohesively and efficiently as you can hope for coming off of the sloppy game against Michigan State. Sure Duval had another drop and Walker missed another field goal, but Kamara nearly hauled in a great TD catch (which I'm told was about as close to being an actual touchdown as Grimes' catch against Stanford last year), and Walker was 5/5 on PATs and knocked in his first field goal of the year (41 yards), so even those players showed improvement. Thus, I'm forced to focus only on one 'Dud' this week, which is our pass rush. Against a team like Purdue that is going to throw the ball as much as possible (55 attempts by Painter), Brown, Tentuta, and Co. should have had a grand time teeing off at the snap of the ball, but the Irish were still void of a sack. Hopefully this unit can also improve heading into next week against a Stanford team with a below average offensive line (...but a better conference record than USC).

Studs

Class of 2011 Early Admits: Jimmy Clausen put together his best game of the year, throwing for 275 yards and 3 TDs, but more importantly, JC was able to avoid turning the ball over. The Irish's ability to hold onto the ball all game was a big reason that we won. Armando Allen did his best to prove me and everyone else wrong by running all over the Boilermakers on Saturday; the 7.9 yards per carry and long run of 21 yards finally gave fans hope that Allen may finally be reaching the game speed that has been absent since his junior year in high school. Lastly, the third and last early enrollee of their class, Gary Gray, played a solid game in the secondary. Especially with Walls missing this year, Gray stepping up has helped the Irish more than he has been given credit for.

Other Young DBs: Another member of the sophomore class, Harrison Smith, also had a great day in the defensive secondary. With his speed an athleticism at the linebacker position, Smith gives Brown an nice Ace in the Hole to bring in against pass happy teams like Purdue and it was refreshing to see him take advantage of the opportunity. Freshman R.J. Blanton also provided the play of the game, housing a Curtis Painter INT for 47 yards to put the Irish on the board.

O-Line: After a slight hiccup last week, the much improved offensive line is back on the good side. The 5.0 yards per carry and 1 sack are pretty good numbers, but what I liked best was the 3/4 on fourth down conversions, two of which came on short yardage smash mouth runs.
WRs: Weis said after the MSU game that holding Grimes out would pay visible dividends against Purdue, and it looks like Charlie was right. Grimes looked good out of the slot, especially on his 31 yard 4th down TD reception. Floyd has been so impressive lately that Rakes has called an emergency meeting to find him a good nickname, and Tate continues to show diversity and consistency with his routes, hauling in his 3rd TD of the year on top of a 5 reception performance. Wack stat courtesy of the Observer: Golden's 367 receiving yards are the most through 4 games since Tom Gatewood in 1970. Freshman Kyle "call me Dallas" Rudolph also got into the mix on an excellent play action TD catch.

Other thoughts: Some people have knocked ND's recent recruiting success with complaints that the young talent hasn't transferred to the field. Looking at the plethora of young studs, hopefully this argument can be proven false in the next few games. After such a strong win against Purdue, I really hope the Irish don't suffer a letdown against Stanford this weekend. Toby Gerhart is a poor man's Jevon Ringer, and if ND isn't careful, he could have a Ringer-like day.

Until then, Go Irish!

MSU Duds and Studs

Diving right in...

Duds

Duval Kamara: Terrible route running almost made me put him on this list for the Michigan game, but a touchdown reception saved him. By all means, Kamara should be a go-to receiver this year. His height, speed, and strength combine to create what should be a huge mismatch problem for all secondaries, but poor route running, poor execution, and miscommunication have been the theme for his first three games. Clausen got credited for the two picks against MSU, but one of them came from Duval failing to out-jump a shorter DB on a risky, but in my opinion a pretty well thrown ball, and the other resulted from him failing to shorten his route to adjust to the corner blitz. Keeping that in mind, the line becomes blurred between who should have the INTs in their stat line.
Haywood/Weis/Latina: I know that all of these coaches break down countless hours of film (on our team as well as opponent's teams). I also know that these coaches also spend a good deal of time in person with the offensive line in practice. So how can coaches that know their personnel so well perceive such a glaring weakness (run blocking) as a strength? How can the offensive line get dominated play after play on run blocks, but the coaches continue to call exclusively running plays? Notre Dame's runningbacks picked up 30 yards on 15 carries during the game. Either the coaches need to adjust their blocking schemes, magically find much better run blockers, or admit that Notre Dame will not be a 'power running team' in 2008 and begin using the pass to set up the run.SBPD: Raiding nearly all student frequented bars to make sure bar tenders aren't serving underage? Fine by me. Allocating 5+ units for this task? Questionable, but still explainable. Taking the time to arrest (as in taking to jail, not ticketing) 40 students for drinking at a house party? Unless the students were rioting against the police, I find this one hard to explain. See JY's write up for more.

Brandon Walker: 0-3 in attempted field goals this year. Sure the team has had some problems with long snapping consistency. I don't care. My interhall football team was able to scrap together a field goal unit minutes before our game, and guess what? The one field goal we attempted was from about 40 yards out, one of our offensive linemen was kicking, and he missed... but I swear to you it was closer than Walker's was.

Studs

Tate/Floyd: No surprise here. These receivers have played their tails off all season. If other players could break a tackle like Tate did on his 3rd and 17 reception, I would like our chances much more this year. Floyd, despite his fumble, makes the list because he gave the extra effort on his TD reception that Duval should have given on his INT non-reception. The pair combined for 169 of the team's 242 receiving yards (70%), and Tate added a run of 24 yards. If that wasn't enough, MSU kicked away from Tate the entire game, which either says a lot about Tate, or very little about Allen.

Brian Smith: Another player who seems very comfortable in the Studs column, Smith played another solid game at linebacker, stripping Ringer for the only MSU turnover of the day.

Ethan Johnson: It looks like Notre Dame has found at least one freshman to contribute on the D-Line. Johnson looked at worst capable and at best disruptive during the game, logging two pass deflections from the defensive end position.

3rd Down Offense: The Irish entered the contest having converted only 6/24 (split evenly against Mich and SDSU) times on third down, but were able to perform considerably better Saturday, picking up the first 6 times in 13 chances. This stat was very encouraging, and shows that our offense isn't trying to keep the defense on the field the entire game.

Other Notes: Clausen played pretty well, completing 24 passes for 242 yards, but I would like to see a little more variety in his passing tree (i.e. less Grossman-esque fly routes). It still confuses me when the coaches put Allen in at RB when so far this season Hughes and Aldridge, while they haven't been great, have both been better than #5. I know that Yeatman probably shouldn't have been out drinking considering that a.) he just lost a winnable football game, and b.) that he is on probation, but keep in mind that the kid was just at a house party. Also, I haven't seen any reports about how much the kids had been drinking, so don't accuse him of throwing back a case when he could have been drinking much less. Otherwise, let's keep the home winning streak rolling.

Go Irish!

Duds and Studs Michigan

Just as Notre Dame was better than the 21-13 score over SDSU, they were worse than 35-17 over Michigan; UM had 6 turnovers, and while a few of the turnovers were the result of great plays by the defense, several of them were blatantly UM gaffs. These plays which Rodriguez referred to as 'unforced errors' may have skewed the score somewhat, but for now I'll definitely take a 35-17 rain soaked win, no matter how we attain it.


Duds


Michigan Coaching: Speaking of Rodriguez, did anyone get a chance to watch the post-game media session? Weis showed up with a 'blown up' knee, soaking wet, and still wearing all of his coaching gear. Rodriguez, appeared much later, issuing an apology to the press for taking so long to 'take a shower and get ready to leave as soon as possible.' I understand why he wanted to get out of South Bend so quickly following the loss, but keeping the media waiting in a damp smelly room for an hour is just another example of Rodriguez not understanding college football etiquette. Additionally, I'm pretty sure I could have performed Corwin Brown's job on Saturday; how hard is it to stop an offense that either runs: 1. HB off tackle or 2. play action pass? I realize that the team is still installing its new offense, but after 3 games, the playcalling seemed pretty bland.

Armando Allen: With Aldridge back in the lineup and Hughes looking like he did at the end of last year, Allen saw a huge drop off in carries last weekend, running the ball only twice for four yards and dropping the only pass thrown to him. Even returning kicks, the speedster managed just 9 yards on two attempts. Perhaps Weis limited his action because he thought UM's front seven was stronger on the outside and elected to pound it inside more with the bigger backs; let's hope he can eventually deliver on his big play potential.


Rush Defense: For the second straight week, ND let up a higher per carry average (3.8) than its offense was able to produce (3.3). If it weren't for UM fielding such a green offensive line, the McGuffie virus could have really run wild on the Irish. If you think that 131 yards on 25 carries is a big game for a running back, wait until next week when Notre Dame will have to face a running back with 3 more years of experience, a much better line, and NFL scouts willing to bet a first round draft pick on him.

Pops: I got my first prediction of the year wrong as I predicted an Irish loss in a low scoring game, but as consolation, I did write this in my Michigan preview:

"If the Irish are successful in this one, it will be due to ND’s defense drumming up come circa 2002 turnovers, and Michigan's defense surrendering one or two big plays on offense and special teams."and "Notre Dame’s best bet [at moving the ball] will be to stretch the field"


Also, Weis mentioned in his post game talk that the two main elements of ND's game plan were:

1. To air the ball out because Weis didn't think he could succede by 'nickle and diming' UM's talented front seven, and
2. Win the turnover battle. Weis was convinced that turnovers would decide this game.

So I'll accept flak for being too pessimistic, but at least give me the benefit of an asterisk on this loss.


Studs

David Bruton: Here's a write up from Blue and Gold that sums up the stellar play of the senior:

"the All-American candidate added two more big plays against Michigan when he foiled two Wolverine drives deep in Irish territory. The first was a forced fumble at the 5-yard line that helped Notre Dame preserve a precarious 28-17 lead that could have become 28-24. Bruton later added an interception at the 5-yard line that he returned 39 yards in a play he almost broke for a touchdown."
Asked about his knack for creating big plays, Bruton says that it is just a result of executing what he has been coached:


“Practice what we preach, especially in wet conditions, ripping at the ball.”


Mike Anello: An obvious snub from the Week 1 Studs list, the undersized but speedy walk-on had another phenomenal game, causing one fumble and recovering another on special teams. It was great to see #37 get some action at CB towards the end of the game; you can't argue that he didn't deserve it.


Golden Tate: The Tennessee native accounted for 86% of Notre Dame's receiving yards (127/147) despite only catching 4 passes. It was nice to see Tate have a big game against SDSU last week, but if he can keep this pace up for the rest of the season, I don't think an All-America honor is out of the question. Floyd also looked good again, drawing some key pass interference penalties, and opposing defenses better hope that both of ND's top receivers don't develop to their full potential, otherwise they could be in some serious trouble.

O-Line: For the first time since 2003, Notre Dame's offensive line kept the QB upright for consecutive games. This was expected against SDSU, but it still baffles me that Michigan's front seven was unable to sack Clausen on Saturday. Even a freshman got in the action as Trevor Robinson stepped in after Stewart left with a minor ankle injury. Because Robinson contributed to the zero sack total, his first appearance in Blue and Gold should be looked at as a positive, but he doesn't quite seem to be able to drive off the line like the Titan from Texas just yet. Hopefully Chris will be back for MSU.


Brian Smith: With two fumble recoveries, a touchdown, pass deflection, and a plethora of tackles, Smith gets the last spot in the Studs list this week; linebackers dream of having stat lines as sexy as this. Beyond the numbers, however, Irish fans should appreciate the fervor with which Smith plays the game. He is an emotional leader on a defense that dug deep and made plays when it had to against Michigan.

Other Notes: How awesome was Hughes' fake-right-go-right juke move that made a Wolverine defensive player actually fall over? For the second straight week, Weis elected to use play action passes in 3rd/4th and short situations. I thought the kicking game was good, especially considering the weather; Anello and Bruton aren't the only reason that opponents haven't been able to do much on kick returns. Finally, Kudos to Weis for handling his injury with such poise; watching him on the field and at his press conference reminded me of some of his better characteristics, like his devotion to his team and this university. Good luck on the recovery.

Go Irish!