ND - UNC

Was it the best of performances on the year? Not exactly, but a few things really are making me be optimistic for the rest of the season. Those being the offense and the play of special teams.

Brady Quinn had himself a very Brady-like day. 23/35 (65.7%), along with 4 touchdown passes, and a couple of scrambles on key plays. Brady is the best quarterback in the nation at managing a game, there isn't a doubt in my mind. Much to what Charlie Weis had to say in his Sunday press conference, he isn't afraid to throw the little 3 or 4 yard pass if the man down field is not open.

I was more than satisfied with the performance of the receivers than I have in past weeks. Samardzija set the all time Notre Dame touchdown reception mark, while Rhema McKnight added a pair of scores and John Carlson found the end zone as well. The receivers played very well all day and appear to be coming around at the right time.


The Special Teams played very well and very poorly at the same time. Zbikowski's punt return was the first of the season to go for six for the Irish, and he was literally a shoestring away from taking another back. I was upset about the kickoff return for a score, seeing the return man from UNC should have been tackled about three different times. Also George West's muffed punt didn't exactly please me. It was nice to see him be able to redeem himself later in the game when Coach Weis sent him back out there.

When Brady was hit out of bounds the usher of my section had to bring me a defibrillator to kickstart my heart. I'm going to be honest, I nearly shit my pants when I saw that.

I was very impressed with the way the Notre Dame players handled themselves throughout the game. UNC had 5 personal fouls in the fourth quarter while the Irish didn't retaliate with any. Kudos to the players and coaching staff. Also, I'm not sure if NBC caught this, but a player from North Carolina tried sprinting across the field during the shoving match after the Quinn episode. About 3 coaches on UNC did a helluva job containing him, and keeping him from getting out into the open, if anyone has video or has seen video and knows what I'm talking about, feel free to vouch for me.

The main thing I was disappointed in this weekend was the play of Terrell Lambert. It seems like one week he can be a life saver, then the next just act as if he is only going through the motions. I wish we could get a little consistency from him because his upside is very high. Defensively I thought the other defensive backs played very well and our pass rush was pretty solid most of the afternoon.

All in all, a good football weekend in the Bend as I saw the Irish improve to 8-2 (5-0 during DavieHam) when I have been in attendance. Now I have to figure out how the hell I'm going to watch the game this weekend, odds are I'll bust out the ole' radio and turn on WLS. If anyone knows about game watches in the Naperville area that you don't have to be 21 to attend, feel free to let me know.