NFL Irish Duds and Studs

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

Duds

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

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

Studs

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

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

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

Michigan Duds and Studs

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

Duds

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

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

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

Studs

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

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

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

Closing Thoughts:

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

IBG: giver er, then you git UM

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

How could I not include this picture?

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

Michigan… Better than Detroit

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

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

Duds and Studs: Nevada

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

Duds

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

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

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

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

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

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

Gotta get the predictions up before the opener...

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

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

SDSU: 1-0

Stanford, Washington, Navy, Syracuse: 3-1

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

USC: 0-1

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

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

Nevada, Washington, and WSU: 3-0

Purdue, Navy, UConn, Stanford: 4-0

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

USC: 0-1

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

IBG: Law of the Land

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

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

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

May all your visions turn to gold
To have and hold

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Our UAV is ONline!

Hey all,

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

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

Go Irish!

Pedro vs. The Shark

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

and here is something else which needs to be added along

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

4 Reasons for Success that Aren't Being Talked About

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

Ready to go:

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

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

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

They will pumps the iron!

Depth Charge:

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

To Hell with the Committee:

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

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

25 Days until kickoff. Go Irish!

WE GOT PRINCE!!!

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

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

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

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