What Thou the Odds

Brian Kelly Recruting: Better With Time

2009-12-12T17:09:00.000-08:00

Brian Kelly has guided Cincinnati to as many BCS games in three years as Charlie Weis did in five seasons at Notre Dame. He won't coach the Bearcats in the Sugar Bowl this season against Florida because of taking the Notre Dame job, he will spend the time working on this years recruiting class, trying to keep it in the top 15 nationally.

Many Notre Dame fans have been upset with the hiring of Kelly based on the fact he hasn't proven to be a great recruiter at this point in his career. Since taking over for Mark D'antonio for the 2006 International Bowl his current class which ranks 44th according to Rivals.com is the highest rated class he has had.

This is seen as bad in plenty of people's "Irish Eyes" but compare it to where his other classes have ranked and its reason for much optimism in South Bend.

A year ago Kelly parlayed a Big East Championship and Orange Bowl appearance into a class that ranked 60th. Prior to that he pulled in classes of 67th (2008) and 89th (2007) with the Bearcats. Good news here on two parts:

1. He has gotten better at recruiting over the years at a university where it is hard to attract talent. Sorry Cincy fans, you will forever be a basketball school.

2. He has won two consecutive Big East championships at Cincinnati with almost no talent in his upper classes. This years senior class (who was brought in by Dantonio) ranked 102nd in the nation. I don't care if the Big East is the weakest BCS conference, its still an excellent feat.

The more I read/research, the more hope I find in Fighting Irish football under Brian Kelly. He has a much greater recruiting base with the Notre Dame name alone and he develops talent much better than his predecessor at Notre Dame.

He's not Bob Stoops and he's not the current Urban Meyer, but he is pretty similar to the guy Urban Meyer was just before the University of Florida.

About That Stoops Thing...

2009-11-30T13:35:00.000-08:00

As much as Notre Dame fans want Bob Stoops, it doesn't sound promising the Oklahoma football coach will leave Norman for the Fighting Irish. In his teleconference today he stated the following:

"I intend to be at Oklahoma. Yes, that's what I intend to do," the Sooner coach said when specifically asked about the Notre Dame rumors. "I will never confirm or deny whether I talk or not talk to anybody, and I won't be interviewing for any jobs."

"What I'm saying is I'm going to be Oklahoma next year, so I can't be at two places at once."

Well, that about sums up that. The dream candidate (perhaps second dream candidate has essentially removed himself from consideration) has already turned down the Irish. How many more will do the exact same before the night is through?

Odds on favorite has to be Kelly in a runaway at this point.

Story from NewsOK.com

Weis Out/Stoops Claims to Be Staying at OU

2009-11-30T12:32:00.001-08:00

Charlie Weis was let go as Notre Dame's head football coach on Monday, ending a disasterous collapse over the last month in South Bend. Weis' finishes his career at Notre Dame after dropping his final four games and losing his previous ten games against ranked opponents.

The firing is no real surprise to the college football world, many expected anything less than a BCS berth would be reason enough for firing Weis this season. After putting up a 6-6 record in the regular season for the second year in a row the final decision for Athletic Director Jack Swarbrick seemed like a very easy one.

The rumors will now begin to fly as to who the next Notre Dame head football coach will be. Urban Meyer is the dream coach for the position, but why would he leave Florida? He said as recently as a week ago that he would be Florida's football coach for as long as they would have him. I wish for him but he has no real reason to come to South Bend.

Bob Stoops' name has been flying around as a candidate as well, Stoops has already told reporters in Oklahoma that he will be the head football coach at OU in 2010. A little more of a chance than Urban Meyer I suppose but the likelihood still far from great. (Rumor has it, no confirmation as of yet but Bob Stoops reportedly won't interview for the opening.)

Cincinnati's Brian Kelly is another name being thrown around, he seems the most likely of the bunch to take the job. He has won everywhere he has coached this far (Grand Valley State, Central Michigan, and Cincinnati), we will see what he decides if offered.

The next few days will be interesting and very important for the future of Notre Dame football. There have been three bad hires for head coach now in a row, there is a desperate need for a quality college head coach. Many will want to bring in a Jon Gruden type but I would prefer a college coach above anything else. For whatever reason, coaching at the collegiate level is different than in the pro's.

As of 4pm est there were no plans for Charlie Weis to address the media. A press conference with Jack Swarbrick and Rob Ianello is scheduled for 6pm est today. Reaction to that everything else to come in the coming days.

The official release from the university:

Weis will not be retained as Notre Dame football coach

University of Notre Dame head football coach Charlie Weis will not be retained, University director of athletics Jack Swarbrick announced today (Nov. 30).

“We have great expectations for our football program, and we have not been able to meet those expectations,” Swarbrick said. “As an alumnus, Charlie understands those goals and expectations better than most, and he’s as disappointed as anyone that we have not achieved the desired results.”

Swarbrick recommended the dismissal Sunday night to Notre Dame’s president, Rev. John I. Jenkins, C.S.C.

“We have established an evaluation process for all of our athletic programs that, in the end, results in a recommendation from Jack to me,” Father Jenkins said. “I accepted Jack’s decision and look forward to working with him on selecting a new head football coach who is the very best choice possible for the University and especially for our student-athletes.

“I am most appreciative to Coach Weis for his service to Notre Dame and our community. He and his family have my prayers and best wishes.”

Weis spent five seasons as Irish head coach from 2005-09, with his teams achieving consecutive records of 9-3 (Fiesta Bowl appearance) in ’05, 10-3 (Sugar Bowl appearance), 3-9, 7-6 (Hawai’i Bowl victory) and 6-6 in ’09 – for an overall 35-27 mark.

Swarbrick announced that Rob Ianello, the Irish assistant head coach/offense, wide receivers coach and recruiting coordinator, will assume responsibility for football operations until a new coach is hired. Ianello has spent the past five seasons on the Notre Dame staff and previously was part of football staffs at Wisconsin (1990-93, 2003-04), Arizona (1994-2002) and Alabama (1987-89).

The End

2009-11-29T00:41:00.000-08:00

45-38 in Stanford. Thanks for coming out, Charlie.

And Now To Our Regularly Scheduled Programming...

2009-10-03T22:47:00.000-07:00

I'm disappointed that I don't have this game on tape. Why you ask? Not because of the come from behind victory for the third week in a row (as nice as it would be to watch in the off-season), instead because of the the brain freeze by those at NBC Chicago.

I'm not the only one who saw this, both my sister and my old man sent me text messages from a-far, crying for an answer as to what was going on (in which I had no idea).

For those who don't know or are unaware, NBC Chicago cut out of the Irish victory on Saturday at a very unoportune time. As overtime began NBC got the ball rolling fine but right when Jimmy Clausen was set to take the first snap of the extra period, a message came across that NBC was joining their previously scheduled show already in progress.

Enter roughly two minutes of "Access Hollywood".

I don't care about John, Kate, or the eight children at any moment of the day, let alone when Notre Dame is in overtime. Instead of Irish football I had news of John and Kate coming across my TV, needless to say I was furious.

After the roughly two minutes (in which espn.com's gametracker wouldn't update and my AM radio decided to take the moment off), Golden Tate had put the Irish in prime position for a touchdown.

What is the first thing I see when the game comes back on? Golden Tate doing a sumersault, my only thought was he had to have fumbled from the angle he was falling in the air...thanks to NBC Chicago I barely even had an idea he made a reception.

The first play they actually show, Robert Hughes scores on a short touchdown run. Notre Dame eventually gets a stop on defense and wins the game, all that is right in the world shows up through my television with pictures of the events in South Bend.

How something like this happens today is unreal, with the money NBC invests in Notre Dame football you can bet that whichever coordinator at NBC in Chicago that called for or made the switch to Access Hollywood is having trouble sleeping tonight. Sadly, that person is likely not going to be collecting a check from the colored peacock again anytime soon.

For those who didn't see it, I can only hope a video of it shows up on YouTube before long.

Irish Welcome Washington

2009-09-29T21:22:00.000-07:00

Fresh off of an escape in Purdue last weekend, the Irish get set to welcome the revamped Washington Huskies to South Bend in week five of the college football season. Yes, this is a team that went 0-12 a season ago, a team the Irish defeated 33-7 on the road a season ago. However, its also a team that has already done something in 2009 that Notre Dame hasn't successfully done since 2001: Beat USC.

The Huskies are coming to South Bend fresh off a 34-14 loss at Stanford a week ago. In the loss the Huskies gave up 321 of the 424 yards allowed on the ground to the Cardinal, they have also allowed 250 rush yards against USC and 149 rush yards versus LSU during the year. Although in USC's case it didn't result in points, expect the Irish to follow the lead of these teams and come out trying to establish the run.

Unlike a week ago the Irish will be with Armando Allen this week. If he at all struggles or is limited in carries, Jonas Gray had an impact out of the backfield a week ago while Robert Hughes reintroduced himself to Fighting Irish fans. Through four weeks the Irish have rushed for 632 yards on 151 carries, good for 4.2 yards per carry, a yard better average per rush than from a year ago.

The Irish bread and butter of throwing the football will be tested on Saturday, Washington brings a strong pass defense and secondary to South Bend. Golden Tate is a playmaker as we have all learned, expect Charlie Weis to get the ball in his hands in creative ways once again this week. I do expect the Irish to come out with several more multiple tight end sets this week then we have seen early on. I fully expect Kyle Rudolph to lead the Irish in receptions on Saturday.

Duval Kamara did himself no favors a week ago with multiple illegal formation penalties. Shaq Evans also showed his green by costing the Irish a timeout when not knowing where to line up last week. No replacement for Michael Floyd has been found yet, I don't suspect the Irish find their go-to this weekend either.

Washington will be led by junior quarterback Jake Locker, a former five star recruit. Locker has had two years experience already and its starting to show as he's already thrown for over 1000 yards on the season. He has also added 74 rush yards with two touchdowns coming on the ground. He's an all around athlete, more along the mold of a Tim Tebow than a Tate Forcier, both of which are very successful spread quarterbacks.

Washington will attempt to establish the run like all teams against Notre Dame in order to pull the upset will have to throw the football with success. The running game of the Huskies is led by Chris Polk who has rushed for 316 yards this but is only averaging 3.8 ypc. Jake Locker is the second leading rusher on the team, as a whole they pick up 3.3 yards a carry but only 108 yards or so a week on the ground.

Steve Sarkisian brings a more successful passing game to Washington from USC as the new coach is having success throwing the ball already far beyond what Tyrone Willingham was able to do in Washington. James Johnson is the go-to receiver for the Huskies, he has 19 receptions, 220 receiving yards, and a touchdown. Locker will also look to Jermaine Kearse and Kavario Middleton who both have double-digit receptions.

The Irish enter Saturday's game as a 13 point favorite over the visiting Huskies. Sure Washington did beat USC but this is still a very flawed team coming to South Bend. The Huskies can't stop the run to save their lives, as long as Notre Dame doesn't get themselves into many third and longs they should be just fine putting points on the board.

While beating USC, the Huskies kept the Trojans from converting a third or fourth down the entire game. Sure USC was playing with a backup quarterback but their game plan was getting them into several third and longs, they also coughed the ball up one too many times.

The Irish appear to be getting healthier headed into their final game before a bye week. I expect a big day from Armando Allen as Charlie Weis comes in with a run heavy offensive game plan with the use of multiple tight end sets.

Prediction Time:

Nick (3-1): Notre Dame 28 Washington 17 (I had to change mine, Mark picked the exact same score as me originally and he got it to me first)

Mark (3-1): Notre Dame 31 Washington 20

Three to Visit South Bend this Weekend

2009-09-16T21:24:00.000-07:00

Louis Nix is one of three high school seniors making a visit to South Bend this weekend.

As the 2009 campaign continues into week three, three recruits will be on campus taking a look at Notre Dame. Of the three one is currently an Irish commit while the other two are made up of a Miami (FL) commitment and a defensive back who has Notre Dame listed as his only official visit currently scheduled for the fall.

David Amerson is a safety from Greensboro, NC. Many rumors have him close to commiting to North Carolina State but he is yet to have an official visit scheduled there this fall as Notre Dame is currently the only visit on his agenda. Plenty of fall left for him so I would expect that to change unless he commits this weekend, Notre Dame is one of the few schools listed as his "interests" that does not sit on the east coast. Amerson is listed as a 3 star prospect on Scout.com while Rivals.com gives him a 4 star rating.

Bennett Jackson has already given his word to the Notre Dame coaching staff and plans on attending the University next fall. Jackson is a 3 star wide receiver who chose Notre Dame over the likes of Iowa, Maryland, and Michigan State. Jackson commited to Notre Dame on June 7th this summer.

Louis Nix is a 4-star defensive tackle from Jacksonville, Florida and currently has committed to Miami (FL). He is listed as a "soft verbal" because he is still taking visits to other schools. I do not have a tip or anything of that nature but its obvious that he isn't entirely sold on Miami if he is willing to take trips to other schools for the time being. That's the way I feel whenever Notre Dame "verbals" take visits elsewhere and its how I feel when players like this check out South Bend. Notre Dame currently sits with only one defensive tackle in this years class so a shocking commitment from Nix down the road would go a long way with this class.

I don't know if any of the two players will commit over the weekend, it would be nice but considering the Irish aren't rumored to be frontrunners for either besides Jackson it doesn't seem likely. A strong showing from the team on Saturday would only help out with getting another verbal commitment, perhaps from Amerson or Nix.

Lucky Number 13 - Spencer Boyd!

2009-07-17T17:52:00.000-07:00

Spencer Boyd
5'10'' - 178 Lbs.
Cape Coral, FL
3 Star - Defensive Back
Notre Dame's 13th Verbal Commit

Notre Dame received their 13th commitment in the recruiting class of 2010 on Friday as Spencer Boyd gave word that he will be attending college in South Bend. Boyd made his commitment after there was much speculation that Notre Dame would end up his college choice.

The recruiting class now grows to thirteen as Boyd becomes the third defensive back to commit so far this season. He comes in as another three-star recruit, the same ranking given to fellow defensive backs Chris Badger and Lo Wood who have already given their word to Notre Dame for next year. He is also the second commitment to come from the state of Florida so far this year with Lo Wood being the other.

Boyd brings the fastest listed 40-time of any of the three defensive backs so far in this class as he was clocked at 4.56 seconds. He also checks in nearly twenty pounds heavier than Lo Wood as he tips the scale at 178 pounds.

What I have liked while watching Boyd in his highlight videos is that he can really pack a punch at the cornerback position. He isn't perfect size for a college cornerback but he does have the tools that will likely carry him a long way at Notre Dame.

In successfully recruiting Boyd to Notre Dame, the Fighting Irish coaching staff has addressed a severe need by bringing in now three defensive backs in this years class. After bringing in only one DB a year ago it was of utter importance to stockpile on them this year and it can safely be said that they are off to a good start but I would be shocked if at least one more defensive back isn't brought in this year.

Boyd shows that he is bound to make mistakes in his highlight video but has the speed to be able to make up for those at the high school level. Sure he is a three star recruit just like the other two defensive backs in this years class but from what I have seen I feel that Boyd has the greatest chance to make a major impact in the defensive backfield of the three.

Welcome to Notre Dame, Spencer Boyd!

Daddy Says!

2009-07-15T14:46:00.001-07:00

The Irish continue to bring in numbers in this years recruiting class as it seems that Spencer Boyd is headed to South Bend. Boyd's announcement was supposed to come at some point on Friday and still probably will, but according to The News Press in Southwest Florida, Boyd's father claims he will choose Notre Dame:

“We’re all stoked,” Scott Boyd said. “We kind of wanted him to choose Notre Dame all along.”

You can read the entire story here if you like: Cape Coral High's Boyd to verbally commit to Notre Dame

This will be Notre Dame's 13th commitment if the story is indeed true and Boyd will become the 3rd defensive back in this years class as he is set to join fellow Sunshine-Stater Lo Wood and Utah product, Chris Badger.

Once again, Spencer Boyd himself has not yet said anything regarding the situation and at times that can be important. Everything does seem to be pointing the way of the Fighting Irish however since this story broke.

I won't break down Spencer just yet for you, I'll wait until he gives his offical commitment but once again, it seems like he's South Bend bound.

Irish to Gain Cornerback?

2009-07-15T00:17:00.001-07:00

Spencer Boyd, a three star prospect from the Sunshine State has announced that he will make his verbal commitment on Friday. The good news for Notre Dame is that the Fighting Irish find themselves to be a finalist for his commitment along with rival Michigan as well as the University of Georgia.

The glass is half empty:
Boyd was quoted as saying he is very close to Wolverines head coach Rich Rodriguez and that he likes the size of the University of Michigan. If a bigger school is something he craves, Notre Dame is not going to be his place. He also noted that he would be able to play early at Michigan.

The glass is half full:
Boyd is yet to make a visit to Georgia and its pretty rare that a player commits to a college without ever actually stepping foot there. He was also quoted as saying he "had that feeling" when he was on Notre Dame's campus. He also noted that he would be able to play early at Notre Dame as well.

I don't know which way I lean in predicting where Boyd will end up. If the Irish get him, great...if not, its not the end of the world. Obviously it is nice to see players choose Notre Dame over the likes of Michigan and Georgia when it comes down to it but don't confuse yourself, this isn't a Jimmy Clausen or Manti we're waiting on here.

Boyd has not yet mentioned a time or setting for his announcement this Friday, I'll let you know if I hear before then.

Irish Get Lo Lo Lo Lo...

2009-06-26T23:30:00.000-07:00

Lo Wood
5'10'' - 160 Lbs.
Apopka, FL
3 Star - Defensive Back
Notre Dame's 8th Verbal Commit

After the way this week started it seemed that Notre Dame's recruiting class of 2010 was headed for the gutter. Chris Martin was gone and so was any shot at a top-25 class according to many of you message-boarders out there (you know who you are). However, the last two days have gone Notre Dame's way in the sense that they picked up a quarterback as well as now two more defensive players, one being Blake Lueders and the newest being Lo Wood, a defensive back from Florida.

It is tough to tell what head coach Charlie Weis and company are going to expect Lo to bring to the table when he arrives in South Bend. Nobody was expecting a commitment from Wood this weekend but a suprise visit to Notre Dame's campus on Friday prooved otherwise.

I would be lying if I were to tell you that Wood is an elite recruit that was stolen right out of SEC country because he really isn't. He is going to take time to turn into a starting corner for the Irish, one look at his overall size will tell you everything you need to know. His height and arm length are there but he needs to get stronger.

Only weighing 160 pounds right now, Wood can be strong for his size but could afford to put on more than a couple of pounds. His speed is alright but nothing that is going to demand attention when placed around other superb athletes. He clocked in at 4.58 in the forty yard dash while also putting together a 4.3 shuttle time. He changes direction quickly but will need to cut that forty time down a hair still.

The Irish failed to pick up and defensive backs in the 2009 class so it seems that Lo will likely be called upon to have a pretty solid chance at a starting roll down the road for Notre Dame. He's not going to be a lock-down corner like we expect to see from guys like Darrin Walls or Gary Gray but he is still going to possess the speed and size to compete, lets just hope he will be able to put on some muscle before he arrives on campus in a year.

Blake Lueders is Irish

2009-06-26T22:42:00.001-07:00

Blake Lueders
6'5'' - 250 Lbs.
Zionsville, IN
4 Star - Defensive End
Notre Dame's 7th Verbal Commit

I wonder what Blake Lueders biggest concern when deciding which school he would attend was. Campus lifestyle? Weather? Winning tradition? Chance to be a legend? How about academics? All you have to do is look at the finalists that Lueders chose Notre Dame over on Thursday to find out that this young man realizes that at least in his house, academics come before football.

The other finalists you ask? Northwestern, Boston College, Wake Forest, and Stanford. All four schools are obviously amongst the elite when it comes to academics so it was nice to see a young man have such a desire to prepare himself for the post football life and not worry about the glamour of college athletics for a change.
So, he's obviously a smart guy but what can Blake Lueders do on a football field that will make me happy that he chose to attend Notre Dame? Here's a quick rundown:
-6'5'', 250 Lbs.
-Plays middle linebacker in high school, expected to be a defensive end in college
-Product of Zionsville High School in Zionsville, Indiana

Here's what I see from Blake Lueders in his future at Notre Dame:
He's not the all-star defensive line recruit in this class, that belongs to Chris Martin who made it public that he is sticking with his commitment to Notre Dame towards the end of this week. Lueders will not likely be the dominant pass rusher that so many expect Martin to be, I don't really see Lueders fitting into the Irish's defensive plans in his first two years on campus. It will take time for him to make the adjustment from playing middle linebacker to high school to learning a new position at Notre Dame.

With that said he sounds like and appears to be an outstanding athlete. His size is going to work to his advantage as he is listed at 6'5'' and 250 pounds. Couple that with a 4.79 40-yd dash time and you can expect big things from him down the road.
The fact of the matter is that learning a new position is very difficult to do at any level, especially the division one level. With that said, I expect to see Blake competing for a starting job and turning into a very formidable defensive end by his junior year at Notre Dame.

Irish Land their VooDoo Child

2009-06-25T09:42:00.000-07:00

He's here, here at last. That's right, the Voodoo Child himself, Andrew Hendrix picked Notre Dame as his college choice this morning after talking things over with his parents. Hendrix becomes Notre Dame's sixth commitment in the class of 2010.
A little background on the prospect himself:

Andrew Hendrix - QB, Moeller HS, Cincinnati, OH (yes, same school as Gerry Faust)
6'3'', 220 Lbs. - 4 star recruit accoring to Rivals, 3 stars per Scout

A few people have tried to compare him to Brady Quinn in articles and on some of these "oh-so-genious" Notre Dame message boards. Quess what? Just because he is a white quarterback from Ohio does not mean he is Brady by any means so get over that idea now. The only similarity is the spread styles of offense they both ran in high school.

He comes from a pistol offense which requires a lot of moving outside of the pocket and running the ball himself or throwing on the run and seems to do it particularly well, see for yourself...

So there he is, commit #6 of the class of 2010, quarterback Andrew Hendrix.

-Also for anyone who cares, und.com has tickets to both the Nevada and Washington State games available for purchase today, just a kind heads up.

Harangody Back at ND

2009-06-16T20:26:00.000-07:00

Cool Hand Luke Returns

For those of you who thought Luke Harangody was bound for NBA greatness and never going to play a game for the Fighting Irish again, you were wrong. After testing out the NBA routine, working out for a few different teams, Harangody has decided that staying in college is not such a bad idea after all.

I'm not going to say that this is a great move either way for #44. What I do know is that his lack of defensive ability would have severely hurt his potential minutes on an NBA court next winter. He has proved that he can score in the Big East and grab absurd amounts of rebounds. However, he needs to be more of a defensive threat if he hopes to play in "the league" for any extended amount of time.

I'm not bashing Luke Harangody, the kid is one helluva college basketball player who has been as good as any in the Big East over the past two seasons. His body size puts him at an extreme disadvantage for a big man in the NBA in terms of being able to back down opponents and score the same way he does so often in Big East play.

The good news for Fighting Irish fans is that in the Big East even you are able to get away more with some of the flaws that NBA souts see in Harangody's game and that next year should be another outstanding offensive campaign for the Fighting Irish forward.

Along Awaited, Lesser Known Post Season Awards

2008-12-16T15:46:00.000-08:00

Everyone knows this past Saturday that the most famous individual award in athletics was handed out, that of course being the Heisman Trophy. Sam Bradford, the sophomore quarterback of national championship bound Oklahoma walked away with the hardware, keeping Tim Tebow from being becoming the second player ever to win multiple Heisman's.

As you may remember (those of you who have followed in years past), here at WTTO we hand out the lesser known post season college football awards, so here it goes for 2008...

Eric Crouch Cup - Worst Throwing Quarterback

Top 4
1. Threet - MICH
2. Williams - ILL
3. Davis - IND
4. Bacher - NW

Faust-Ie-Ham - Worst Coaching Performance

Top 4
1. Tubberville - AUB
2. Weis - ND
3. Stewart - WV
4. Richt - UGA

Lance Harbor Award - Most "Catchy" Name as a Quarterback

Top 4
1. Dan LeFevour - CMU
2. Tim Tebow - UF
3. Chase Daniel - MIZZOU
4. John Parker Wilson - BAMA

Gordie Lockbaum Award - Heisman Finalist with Zero Chance
Awarded each year to that one finalist who you know will not win college football's biggest individual prize, past winners include the likes Darnell Autry of Northwestern, Randy Moss of Marshall, and Alex Smith of Utah. Unlike the other awards, this one is always clear as day. All knew coming in that with Oklahoma battling Florida in the national title it was a two horse race and that Colt McCoy, although being WTTO's pick, had the smallest chance of winning.

tOSU Sad Family Award - Home Loss that Hurt the Most

New to the award platform this year, this award goes to that team who's loss at home stings the worst. Named for the family shown to the left who was left in tears after Texas defeated tOSU in Columbus in 2005, it was a tough challenge to pick a winner in 2008.

Top 4:
1. Toledo 10 @ Michigan 7 - A bad season for Michigan turned horrible here.
2. Ole Miss 31 @ Florida 30 - So long perfect season, a national title berth keeps this from #1.
3. Oregon 65 @ Oregon State 38 - Rose Bowl Bound? Not so fast, Beavers.
4. Syracuse 24 @ Notre Dame 23 - First ever school loss for the Irish to an 8 loss team...ever.

There they are ladies and gentlemen. Be sure to stay tuned as this bowl season we will offer yet again more projections, reactions, thoughts, and stupidity. Until next time, happy holidays all.

Communicating with the "Charlie Must Go" Clan

2008-11-22T05:30:00.001-08:00

After dealing with so many people who feel that Charlie has to go, that every little damn thing is his fault I have finally found a way to communicate with you people I think...and its really not as hard as I originally thought...

Publish Post

ND/USC - A Week Early???

2008-11-21T22:53:00.000-08:00

This weekend may prove to be a very important one when it comes down to the Notre Dame/USC rivalry in the next few years with three players currently deciding between schools making trips to South Bend. Sure the teams do not play for another week but this weekend features an opportunity to take dead aim at the Trojans recruiting class of 2009 with both linebacker Manti Te'o, safety Byron Moore, and fullback Tyler Gaffney making official visits to South Bend this afternoon.

Manti Te'o is amongst the most highly saught after defensive recruits in the nation, earning a five star rating from both Rivals and Scout at the middle linebacker position. Te'o is being recrutied by nearly every college in the nation and has taken a visit to UCLA and has also attended two of USC's summer camps. Besides Notre Dame this weekend, Te'o is expected to visit the likes of Stanford and BYU as well as USC before he chooses a school so unless he is overly wowed by South Bend in the middle of November, don't expect a commit here this weekend. The Irish have been able to land some of the biggest names on the offensive side of the ball in recruiting wars the past few years but Te'o would be the first 5 Star recruit Charlie Weis will have been able to bring in on the defensive side of the football.

Byron Moore, a former UCLA commit and current commit to USC will be on Notre Dame's campus this weekend as well as he has recently sought after the Irish instead of the Irish going after him. Moore plays in the same district as Irish WR Commit Shaquelle Evans and the two sound like decent friends. After Evans committed to Notre Dame it was Moore who actually called Notre Dame, hoping to get noticed by the Irish. It payed off as Evans will also be on campus this weekend and don't think Charlie Weis wouldn't like to steal one of USC's charmed recruits right out from under him. To me Moore seems to have a real interest in Notre Dame and if the Irish are to see a commit this weekend it would most likely be from him.

The third and final high school senior visiting the Golden Dome this weekend is Tyler Gaffney, one of the most highly touted fullbacks in the nation. Gaffney also lists Stanford and USC as schools he is considering to attend. The Irish have been somewhat disappointing in what Asaph Schwap has brought to the table after playing now in his fourth year and would definitely like to get a fullback in whom they may have more confidence in to do a bit more. Gaffney is averaging over 10 yards a carry for Cathedral Catholic High School in San Diego this year as he has scored 30 touchdowns. With a visit already set for Stanford in January I feel it will likely go very close to National Signing Day before Gaffney decides where he will call home the next four seasons.

Also on campus will be juniors Corey Cooper (ATH), Kyle Prater (LB), and Chandler Whitmer (QB).

GO IRISH, BEAT ORANGE

Bowl Projections, Meaningful Ones

2008-10-27T19:00:00.000-07:00

For what its worth here's how I see the post-season shaping up. Just projections for now but by projecting what happens the rest of the season, I came up with this while thinking in advance...

BCS

National Championship:
Texas vs. Alabama
Unbeaten SEC and Big XII Champs

Fiesta Bowl:
Oklahoma vs. USC
This could attract a viewer or two...

Rose Bowl:
Penn State vs. Oregon State (Pac 10 Champs)
Joe Pa gets pissed yet again over the lack of a playoff, and just wait those of you who are shocked to see the Beavers

Orange Bowl:
FSU vs. West Virginia
How did the Orange get so unlucky with the teams it draws?

Sugar Bowl:
Florida vs. Ohio State
Payback for the Buckeyes...or not

Non-BCS but Still Decent:

Outback Bowl:
Minnesota vs. Vanderbilt
Who would have ever thought this was possible?

Cotton Bowl:
Georgia vs. Oklahoma State
Can you be disappointing with one loss so far? Ask Georgia, this is counting on them losing Saturday against Florida and OK State's losses coming against Texas and Oklahoma

Gator Bowl:
Notre Dame vs. Virginia Tech
The ACC is a crap shoot and 2nd place projects to someone else each week, Notre Dame is a pretty safe pick

Capital One Bowl:
Michigan State vs. LSU
You know that team speed thing? Tune in and see how much of it the Big Ten lacks

Just a projection for now and likely forever...

ND right about Willingham? You don't say...

2008-10-23T23:12:00.000-07:00

"Everything Notre Dame warned us about, everything they told us about this guy has turned out to be true"

Go figure.

Go Irish Beat Huskies

How Bad is Washington's D?

2008-10-22T11:11:00.000-07:00

How Bad is Washington's Defense?

When looking ahead to this Saturday and trying to think of what Charlie Weis and Notre Dame's game plan may consist of, its difficult to come up with much of an idea on anything because when you look at statistics, Washington is horrible all around.

The idea of running the football is a great one when it works but for Notre Dame that has been a major problem once again in 2008 as the offense is yet to be able to do so outside of the Pitt game. This could be a week where Notre Dame really gets the running game going based on the fact they are playing a horrendous run defense. How bad you ask?

Washington ranks 115th in the nation in run defense, allowing 232.8 yards a game on the ground.

So its simple right, just pound Hughes and Aldridge and get Armando some carries to spread things out a bit right? Well not so fast. That's because the Huskies improve rankings wise in the passing game but still:

Rank 98th in the nation in pass defense, allowing 250.17 yards a game through the air.

Ouch. So what will Charlie do, let Jimmy have the chance at a field day against the Huskies and air it out all evening long? Or will he stick with the ground attack? Or both?

Washington ranks 117th in total defense, allowing 483 yards a game and 40.7 points per contest.

When Notre Dame scheduled the Huskies a few years back the Irish thought they were getting an admirable opponent, as Washington was in the midst of eight straight bowl appearances. Turns out the Huskies turned into a cupcake, something nobody outside of South Bend saw coming when Willingham was brought in.

The only worry I have with this game is the team headed on a long plane ride west. So far this year teams who have traveled from the west coast to the midwest or vice versa have not fared well (Ohio State at USC, Michigan State at Cal, Cal at Maryland, etc...). What also concerns me is that under Willingham the Irish always came out at home jacked up and beat a team who was better than them (2004: Michigan, 2003: Washington State, 2002: Michigan) and I worry about that happening out west this year.

And by worry I mean maybe for a drive or two Washington looks like they belong on the same field as Notre Dame. Ladies and gentlemen, this one for all intensive purpose should be a romp.

Irish 44 Huskies 17

What I Say About What You Say, Poll 1

2008-10-19T21:57:00.000-07:00

It seems as if all you out there, including myself, want to see the Irish win a bowl game in 2008. Obviously there are ups and downs in whatever happens in the second half and end of this years campaign but on the first poll conducted here on WTO, 92% of you answered you would rather see the Irish win a mediocre bowl game (Ex. Independence Bowl) than to lose narrowly in a Non-BCS New Years Day Bowl (Ex. Gator, Cotton Bowls), or get destroyed in a BCS Bowl (The only "non bowl-win" votes were for this option).

So what good comes of any of these events playing out?

Winning a Mediocre Bowl Game (The Boston College Route): (92%)
It is fairly obvious that Notre Dame is a very average team this year. Winning a bowl game would stop all the ESPN references to the bowl losing streak and all the jokes sad on a seemingly daily basis by Notre Dame bashers. How would it help the team? I would expect just the fact that you end the season on a high note, beating another above .500 team to close the year builds confidence going into 2009. When you have a team as youthful as Notre Dame, confidence can mean the worlds difference. After stumbling through 2007 and winning the Independence Bowl a year ago, look at what Alabama has been able to do; Notre Dame may not be as far away from that as some think.

Putting up a Solid Fight but Losing New Years Day, Non BCS Game: (0%)
This would show yet again that Notre Dame can play with slightly above average teams but it would do nothing in showing that Notre Dame is going to be a serious title contender any time soon. A scenario that plays out like this would be solely a remake of the UNC game from this year, very possibly against an ACC team in the Gator Bowl. Although a Gator Bowl matchup could be very winnable for the Irish, nothing is accomplished with this if the game is not won, no matter how close it was.

Getting Blown Out in a BCS Game: (8%)
In all honesty I feel there are teams out there that Notre Dame can compete with in the BCS in 2008. The bad news? Its highly doubtful that the Irish would draw any of these teams if Notre Dame were to somehow get into a BCS game in '08. Utah, Boise State, Big East Champ (TBD), and the ACC Champ (TBD) are all teams that Notre Dame could very much compete with or even beat. However with the chances of playing one of these lower teir BCS teams would be pretty slim and instead the Irish would yet again be placed against a much more capable BCS team with a blowout being likely. This does nothing for confidence, momentum, nor does it make potential recruits think the Irish are any closer to becoming a powerhouse once again. This would be worst case for me, I feel that getting killed on national TV after being where ND has been of late would be that much more reason for off-season ridicule.

Personally I just want to see the bowl losing streak snapped. There is no doubt in my mind that Notre Dame will win at least two more games (one coming this Saturday) and be bowl eligible. I prefer the Irish get a matchup in which they are not overmatched like they have been in recent memory and in only because they are "Notre Dame" ('07 Sugar Bowl, '01 Fiesta, '95 Fiesta, etc..). An evenly matched opponent is what Notre Dame needs, not necissairly the spotlight of New Years Day or beyond.

Whether it were to happen in Jacksonville in the Gator Bowl like many experts expect or in the Sun Bowl on the afternoon of New Years Eve, the Irish must win a bowl game this year, no "if's", "and's", or "but's" about it, this has got to stop, I agree with all voters in saying Notre Dame just needs a bowl win this year, no matter where it comes from.

I was Seven.

Be sure to check out the latest poll asking "Who is Notre Dame's worst coach of the past twenty-five years?", posted above, to the right.

Sorry haters, Charlie is not included.

Basketball School Only No More, Irish Prepare to Travel to Chapel Hill

2008-10-08T20:48:00.000-07:00

It was two years ago when Notre Dame was in the midst of a BCS season and North Carolina was right at the bottom of the ACC. Two years later the roles have changed as Notre Dame hits the road for only the second time in 2008 this coming Saturday, this time against a potential BCS team, as crazy as it sounds to say. Butch Davis has done a great job at UNC and credit him in turning the program around.

Notre Dame has shown growth offensively, specifically in the passing game where quarterback Jimmy Clausen has had career games in each of his last two contests. How will Clausen fare this weekend in Chapel Hill? Tough to say because he will be facing a defensive scheme that he is not used to seeing.
North Carolina will likely not be going after Clausen which is a changeup compared to what Clausen has seen this year. Sure the Irish have only allowed only five sacks so far in 2008, but Clausen has been blitzed fairly heavily as well. Instead of looking for immediate openings due to the forthcoming blitz Clausen will have to not get overly anxious. It will also be up to the offensive line to not allow the defensive front of UNC to get to Jimmy. Despite only getting to the quarterback six times this year North Carolina has forced 12 picks, something Notre Dame must avoid in order to win on Saturday. Leading the way in the defensive backfield for UNC has been Trimane Goddard who is responsible for four interceptions and 22 tackles. Mark Paschal has pulled in two picks himself while the other six interceptions have been brought in by six separate Tar Heels. Its important that if Clausen does make multiple mistakes that his wideouts in Floyd, Tate, Grimes, and company not only make plays but also play pass defensive and knock away potential interceptions when necessary.

Statistically North Carolina has averaged 200 yards allowed through the air while just under 150 a game on the ground. This defense has talent but as long as the Irish are patient and don't fall victim to the turnover game, the offense should be fine in continuing to put points on the scoreboard. Running the football will be key against this defense since they won't likely be sending linebackers or safties too often, it's up to the offensive line and running backs to take advantage.
Notre Dame will catch a break defensively where North Carolina is stuck with their second string quarterback from the start of the season, Casey Sexton. A week ago Sexton threw for only 117 yards but much of that is due to the fact North Carolina led from early in the first half and was able to run the football.

Two of the biggest playmakers on the field this weekend have the same last name. Notre Dame of course brings Golden Tate, the playmaking wide reciever to the table while North Carolina counters with Brandon Tate. The latter Tate is one of two excellent wide outs for North Carolina (16 Rec, 376 Yds, 3 TDs) who is accomponied by Hakeen Nicks who is just as daunting of task to try and cover (24 Rec, 412 Yds, 4 TDs). It can be argued that this pair is the best group of wideouts Notre Dame will see in 2008 so David Bruton and company please come ready to play.

The running game of North Carolina is no great shakes, especially after seeing the powerful running scheme that Stanford brought to Notre Dame Stadium a week ago. Former Notre Dame verbal, turned Tar Heel commit on Signing Day '07 Greg Little leads the Tar Heels with 223 rush yards on the season. Shaun Draughn has only two thirds the carries as Little but averages a yard more per carry with 4.7 per. After seeing a strong running game a week ago I expect Notre Dame will be able slow down these two.

What scares me in a game like this is how important special teams will be in the outcome. Obviously the Irish kick/punt coverage has been a strong point during the season. However, the times Notre Dame has been pressured in the punt game they have either had balls deflected or come very near to having them blocked. That won't fly this weekend as UNC is coming off a game where Bruce Carter blocked three punts himself in route to a blowout win over UConn and former Irish quarterback Zach Frazer. Notre Dame let a team back into the game last weekend due partly due to bad special teams play when Brandon Walker had two chances to wrap things up and failed in both. Jay Wooten is by no means great but gives the Tar Heels an advantage in special teams by converting 4/6 field goals this season with a long of 43.

Prediction Time:

Man Oh Man...At the start of the week I had extreme doubts in the Fighting Irish coming into this weekend. "Is Notre Dame back?" is a question many of us have heard the past week with the 4-1 record but not really a "marquee win" as the pollsters love to see. Can it change this weekend? The rest of the Notre Dame fandom may think I'm nuts in saying this but here it goes...

Notre Dame 28 #22 North Carolina 24

And no, just in case this actually happens it doesn't mean the Irish are a top-20 team.

Brain's Bowl: ND (3-1) vs. Stanford (3-2)

2008-10-02T11:03:00.000-07:00

Coming off an impressive second half showing against Purdue which made the Irish 3-1 on the young season, Notre Dame welcomes the Stanford Cardinal to South Bend this Saturday afternoon. Coming one week before the Irish visit Chapel Hill, and likely their toughest opponent before USC, this turns into an immediate trap game for the Irish in my eyes. So, what does Notre Dame have to do on Saturday to be ensure a 4-1 record when they travel to North Carolina next week?

In order to win Saturday the Irish will have to slow down the Cardinal running game, something Notre Dame failed to do in their only loss of the season at Michigan State. Stanford is just as much run-dominated as MSU, but the Cardinal lack the talent MSU offered. Toby Gerhart will get the bulk of the carries for the Cardinal as he enters this weekend with 74 carries for 421 yards this season, an average of 5.7 per. Stanford will also look to Anthony Kimble who enters with 248 rush yards on the season and an average of 5.3 yards per rush. Simply put, Stanford is going to try and use the run to beat Notre Dame and keep the game as low scoring as possible. It will be up to the defense to be able to answer the call and stop Stanford. Force them into third and longs, obvious passing downs because:

Led by quarterback Tavita Pritchard (61/108 for 691 yds, 4 TD, 4 INT) do not expect to see the Cardinal relying on their passing game to win the game. Pritchard is an average college quarterback at best and will cough the ball up under pressure, so I would like to see a score or two set up by way of the interception on Saturday for Notre Dame. Get to Pritchard and make him make a mistake or two, its bound to happen...again.

The wideouts Stanford brings to South Bend are not quite as talented as the grouping we saw a week ago from Purdue, but they bring more depth at the position. Ryan Whalen is the go-to receiver, but four other receivers (Doug Baldwin, Richard Sherman, Tony Gerhart, and Austin Gunder) all have eight or more receptions. These wideouts will leave a mark if not taken seriously, but are a very average group that the secondary should be plenty-able to handle.

On offense we will likely see Notre Dame attempt to run the ball as they try to find the same success they had in the second half of the Purdue game. Armando Allen enters the weekend as the number one tailback after his coming out party last weekend. Let's hope this wasn't a one time thing for 2008 and that Allen can begin to be counted on to pick up yards. A week ago he wasn't trying to be fancy, just using his speed and outrunning defenders. Depending on whether or not the offensive line shows up to play the same way, Allen and company may be in for another big day on the ground, Stanford has allowed over 3.5 yards per rush three separate times already this year, going 1-2 in those games. As usual, Robert Hughes and James Aldridge should also see carries.

What about the passing game of Notre Dame - how will it effect the outcome of Saturday's game? Any time you have playmakers left and right like Notre Dame has in Tate, Floyd, and Kamara, expect them to be a major part in the contest. Arizona State was able to pass the ball all over the field against Stanford and won going away. This week we will use the run to set up the pass and see close to the same results, I have to figure. Stanford does not offer the same kind of athletes that Notre Dame does in the position matchup here and, if given time, Jimmy Clausen could be in for another big afternoon.

Notre Dame enters this weekend with the best kick coverage in the nation, in large part because of the play of everyone's favorite grinder, Mike Anello. Sadly, the field goal unit is amongst the worst statistically. The good news is that Brandon Walker made a field goal to put the Irish up by three possessions last week. Let's hope that helps his confidence and carries over to this week. Aaron Zagory enters Saturday as a true weapon on special teams for Stanford as he has been good on 6 of 7 field goals this season. Give the edge to Stanford there.

In order to win Notre Dame can't get caught looking ahead to North Carolina next weekend and I am scared to death of this occurring. If the Irish are able to not entirely stop, but simply contain the running game of Stanford, it should be a runaway. If not, the Irish may be in for a scare.

I expect to see Notre Dame struggle defensively in much of the first half before they find success in slowing down Stanford. However, I do not see any way that Stanford slows down Notre Dame enough to win it at the end.

Nick (4-0) Says: Notre Dame 39 Stanford 27

Sidenote: Anyone else want to see David Grimes catch a touchdown pass to make up for last year's BS that occurred out west?

ND vs. PU - A Battle of 2-1's

2008-09-24T13:56:00.000-07:00

Like the shirt? Get yours here!

By Nick Shepkowski

A year ago we remember the match up in which the Irish waited until they trailed 23-0 before showing any signs of life in West Lafayette. That game was a coming out party of sorts as Golden Tate emerged on the scene with a touchdown on three receptions for over 100 yards receiving. As the story goes, we all remember that it would take until week one of 2008 to hear from Golden in such a way again.

When the Boilermakers enter South Bend this Saturday they will be led under the Golden Dome one last time under the reigns of head coach Joe Tiller. Tiller, who will retire at the end of the season became Purdue's all-time winningest coach last week, passing Jack Mollenkopf. Tiller looks to finish his career against Notre Dame right at the .500 mark as he enters Saturday 5-6 all time against the Fighting Irish, but only 1-4 in South Bend. Often under appreciated, one can not argue that Joe Tiller has put Purdue football back on the map after a rough start to the 1990's.

The Boilermakers come in fresh off of a come from behind win against familiar foe, Central Michigan. Trailing by one with under two minutes to go, Kory Sheets took a handoff 46 yards to give Purdue their second win of the season. What must Notre Dame do in order to keep Purdue from leaving South Bend with a 3-1 mark Saturday? Lets take a look...

The Purdue offense enters dangerous as usual, led by very possibly the most pro-ready quarterback in next years NFL Draft, Curtis Painter. Painter may not have the same kind of weapons around him like he has in years past but is still a dangerous quarterback who will not let the hectic Notre Dame blitz get in his head. Painter is coming off of an impressive 27/36 showing against Central Michigan where he threw for 261 yards and a touchdown. One negative of Painter so far this fall, his interception total matches his touchdown total with three a peice. Don't worry too much about him fleeing the pocket, but when Notre Dame blitzes it will be important they get to him in a hurry because he will make them pay if they fail to.

Kory Sheets carries the bulk of the weight in the Purdue run game as he enters leading the team in touchdowns with six, and two of them coming one week ago. Personally I would like to see the Irish slow down Sheets and make Painter beat them. I'm not saying Painter is a bad quarterback by any means as I have already stated how pro-ready he is, but his receivers this year aren't quite the receivers of previous Purdue teams.

Kevin Smith, Greg Orton, and Desmond Tardy are Painters go to guys, all averging over 50 yards a game this season. On third down and long Irish fans be weary as these will be the weapons of choice, don't expect any of these three to be the reason Purdue may walk out victorious on Saturday, if they do it will because of Kory Sheets.

The inability to run the football killed multiple drives early on in this past Saturday's game against Michigan State. This is a game where there should be no excuse for the Irish to not be able to run the football effectively. If they fail to there will be nobody to blame besides themselves.

Purdue enters this week having major problems stopping the run. A week ago Central Michigan was able to spout off just under four yards a carry for the entire afternoon against the Boilers. Previous to that, Oregon ran all over the Purdue defense in a game they averaged 7.1 yards per carry on their way to a 306 yard day on the ground. As I stated, expect Charlie Weis and Notre Dame to try and use the combination of Robert Hughes, Armando Allen, and James Aldridge. If Notre Dame can't run the football against Purdue then I am scared to see what the rest of the season brings in this department.Although Purdue is better against the pass than they are the run, they have still had troubles this season in stopping teams through the air. The Ducks of Oregon aired out right at 200 yards of passing offense while Central Michigan's Dan Lefevour threw for 291 yards a week ago. The defensive line is the strong point of the Purdue defense but if the Irish line can give Jimmy Clausen time, much like they did against Michigan, expect Clausen to have a big day if the running game fails.

Remember the game plan against Michigan which was to try and use playaction early on to take advantage of the weak secondary of the Wolverines? Expect the exact opposite this Saturday. I fully expect to see Notre Dame come out and try to pound away at the Purdue defense on the ground, then setting up a playaction deep ball. Then again, if the Irish have success running they may not stop either.

Special teams on both sides of the ball will be an exhibit in what not to do this Saturday. Both Purdue and Notre Dame enter this weekend with subpar field goal units. Sadly the edge probably does go to Notre Dame in this department as they have at least covered kicks slightly better than Purdue to this point in the season. I hope this game does not come down to field goals because it could last until eternity if it did.

I would like to see a few things from the Fighting Irish this Saturday that would let me breathe easier and be able to expect a win.

1 - Stop a Third and Long...Please!
Each opponent has converted a third down and long this season and wound up getting points as a result. It would be nice to see the Irish not allow a Purdue first down this weekend when they give the Boilermakers over seven yards to get.

2 - No Dumb Penalties...Enough said but I'll say more!
A week ago we saw Sam Young get called for a personal foul while the Irish were setting up show in their first possession of the game. It may not have directly amounted in points for Michigan State but it killed any hopes of Notre Dame picking up a third down and did not help in the field position battle. Its a little thing but it goes a long way at the end of the day.

3 - Turnovers...Must win this battle!
The last two weeks Notre Dame has been given a free lesson in winning the turnover battle. Michigan was obviously for the better and MSU for the worse. Win the turnover battle, convert turnovers into points and 9 out of 10 times you win the game.

4 - Let Golden make a play!
Golden Tate has emerged as legit playmaker on this offense. There aren't a whole lot of go-to guys like this on Notre Dame for the time being. He's a weapon and a proven go-to guy so far this season. When he gets touches good things happen, so make sure he gets the ball in his hands.

Prediction Time:

The Irish run game takes steps in the right direction while mixing in some long passes along the way as well. After seeing amongst the best running games in the nation a week ago Notre Dame slows down Purdue in that aspect...

Nick (3-0): Notre Dame 27 Purdue 21

Notre Dame Road Show: Irish Travel to Take on MSU

2008-09-17T21:39:00.000-07:00

Two years, its really been that long? It seems like just yesterday I was sitting by my computer in my dorm room, listening to all the things in the world that went wrong for the Spartans in East Lansing by none other than Mike Valenti. In a way, that was a turning point for MSU as they struggled the rest of the season and replaced John L. Smith with Mark Dantonio after 2006. Needless to say, its been a change for the better in Spartan-land.
The Fighting Irish of Notre Dame hit the road this weekend for the first time in 2008 as they enter East Lansing in hopes of improving to 3-0 on the year. Fresh off of a 35-17 victory over Michigan, the Irish must improve on a few aspects of the game if they hope to pull an upset as they enter as 8.5 point underdogs to a 2-1 Michigan State team.

When Michigan State has the Ball:

Irish fans meet Javon Ringer.
Remember him? Hes the guy who has been tormenting the Irish for the past decade or so it seems when its really only been the past three seasons. He will enter Saturday just shy of 500 rushing yards with a total of 498 as he runs for just under five a carry at 4.8 yards per attempt. Simply put, stop him or even slow him down and the chances of pulling out a win in East Lansing sky rocket.
What is concerning about the fact that Ringer is the go-to man offensively is how the Irish performed last week against Sam McGuffie of Michigan. Only a freshman, McGuffie was able to scrap off 131 yards on twenty-five carries. Ringer is bigger, stronger, faster, and more experienced than McGuffie so the Irish defensive front will have no choice but to improve before this weekend.
Michigan State fans were very high on Brian Hoyer entering this season after he showed potential in his first season as the starting quarterback a year ago. Unfortunately for Spartan fans, Hoyer has struggled through the first three weeks of 2008, completing only 44% of his passes with just one touchdown thrown. The good of Hoyer? He's thrown just one pick so far in 75 attempts. It's obvious what this means Irish fans - make Michigan State put the ball in the air. Be able to do so and the Irish should be in business.
The Irish will also find a very capable deep threat in East Lansing this Saturday with Mark Dell. He has been the go to man for the Spartans in passing situations as he has hauled in over a third of the teams 36 receptions with thirteen of his own for 320 yards. BJ Cunningham is thrown to about half as much, but has still pulled in eight catches, averaging 17.4 yards per reception. Sure the stats with this are a bit intimidating, but remember, Hoyer's percentage of completed passes and know that getting pressure on the quarterback will be key. If the Irish can "make" him make a play instead of "let" him make a play they should be okay in pass defense.
To sum up the defense as a whole this weekend, I feel the Irish should do all in their power to control the running game and take their chances against Michigan State's passing game. Hoyer hasn't seen quite a defense like Notre Dame's so far this season. Do I mean the Irish bring that great of one to East Lansing? No. I mean what Notre Dame's gameplan consists of, which is blitz, blitz, and blitz again for the most part. To a quarterback that has not seen it before or at least - this season, this can reek havoc, expect the Irish to try and use that to their advantage in obvious passing downs.

When Notre Dame has the ball:

We saw Jimmy Clausen come alive in the fourth quarter against San Diego State and keep the momentum going into the first half against Michigan. Obviously, the weather and score of the game changed the Notre Dame gameplan for the second half, but the key stat to me from one week ago was the number 3.3. The Irish entered with a struggling running game and faced one of the best front-seven units in college football with Michigan, a team that was allowing right at one yard a carry against opponents entering last Saturday.
The Spartans bring a defense to the game Saturday which struggled very much against Cal in week one. Allowing 467 yards of total offense that day, as Michigan State struggled to find a way to slow down the Bears. I hope to see good weather this Saturday in East Lansing because this is a game where I feel the Irish are capable of throwing the ball around once again.
Coming off of last week it is easy to say this, but against Michigan State, I feel that it will be crucial for Notre Dame to get an early lead and to not turn the ball over. Golden Tate has been the go-to guy so far when the Irish have needed a play and for the most part he has come through for the Irish in 2008. The defense of Michigan State has allowed big plays this year, there is no reason why the Irish shouldn't be able to break one or two again this week.
Michigan State brings in talent, but a lot of question marks still lie in their defense where experience is not there in most respects. I feel that this game is going to turn into a shootout to some degree based on both teams defenses.
Notre Dame is facing a front-seven which is not nearly as talented as that of Michigan was. What does that mean exactly for the Irish? Success in establishing a running game as well as the ability to give Jimmy Clausen time to throw the ball down field. I would be surprised if the Irish offense can't put at least 24 points on the board this weekend.
Looking at special teams, that of Notre Dame's has come on very strong this season. Last week there were only two real mishaps, one when Armando Allen fielded a ball that was going out of bounds and gave the Irish poor field position, the other when a third quarter punt was partially deflected. Other than that special teams came up huge for Notre Dame, keeping Michigan deep in their own territory, something they need to do to Michigan State again this week.
I'll be honest, before writing this article and researching Michigan State a bit more, I did not like the Irish's chances too much in East Lansing. However, if Notre Dame can catch a couple of breaks and be able to do the things I talked about they should be in it late in the ballgame and we all know anything can happen then.
Unfortunately, I feel this week will be a bit of a hiccup for Notre Dame as Javon Ringer will prove to be just too much to handle.

Michigan State 34 Notre Dame 28

WWR 2.0

2008-09-14T22:08:00.000-07:00

A few short years ago the campus of Notre Dame was blessed by the presence of the likes of Maurice Stovall, Jeff Samardzija, and Rhema McKnight, forming WWR (Weis Wide Receivers) 1.0 . My fellow followers of football under the watch of Touchdown Jesus, a new core of receivers has shown its face on Notre Dame's campus and in my eyes looks to be even better than the aforementioned names. That's right, Duval Kamara, Michael Floyd, and Golden Tate will not only equal what Stovall, Shark and McKnight offered, they will be better.
How scary this young group of wide outs has to be for opposing defenses can't be fun to think about. We saw flashes in the pan of what Kamara can do in a jump ball situation against a cornerback in the endzone, with notable catches against Navy last year and Michigan this past week. Need someone to go to in one-on-one coverage? Kamara is amongst the best in the business in the college today, as a sophomore.
What Jeff Samardzija was able to do in a Notre Dame uniform is unbelievable considering how unknown he was a very short time before bringing on his stardom. Samardzija is the kind of receiver I expect to see Michael Floyd be one day. As a freshman Floyd was shown the awareness and leaping ability you expect to see from a veteran, not a player who has now seen the field in only two career college football games.
Michael Floyd already does many things very well but has time to get even that much better. Floyd has shown his ability to go up for a jump ball much like Kamara is able to do, but he also shows the ability to run away from defensive backs just like we saw from Samardzija. Already seeing valuable playing time as a freshman, expect Floyd to turn into amongst the best wide outs in the nation before his tenure under the Golden Dome is complete.
The biggest play maker of the youthful group so-far in 2008 has to be none other than Golden Tate. Whether it has been a late fourth quarter drive where the Irish face an obvious passing down while needing a first down, or in a surprise deep fly route, Golden Tate has continued to impress early in 2008.
When Tate came onto the scene against Purdue last season he seemed like he was plenty capable of running a fly route but what scared me was how he struggled in getting open if he wasn't trying to run right by a defender. It is safe to say that Tate has figured out how to go about doing just that.
Whether it was being a key cog in two fourth quarter drives against San Diego State or the receiver of the third touchdown in the win against Michigan, Tate has turned the corner. Not only has he improved in his ability to run routes, he has become the best route runner on this Notre Dame team. He has caught on very quickly, learning proper separation techniques that are even more key because of his lack of height compared to others.
Notre Dame fans have cried about not having anyone to throw the ball to since the departures of Samardzija and McKnight at the end of 2006. The wait is over folks and WWR 2.0 is currently in development and will be much better than its original in due time.

The Greatest Moments Captured by ESPN

2008-09-09T22:29:00.000-07:00

If you're looking for a greatest games type thing then you are in the wrong place and can move along now if you like. If you are looking for priceless things seen on the worldwide leader in sports, more commonly known as "Fuck-Ups" by ESPN in things that were shown that should not have been shown or just someone speaking a way they shouldn't be, then you're in the right spot.

Number 5: "Two for One"

...Not only is a certain part of the male body drawn with a telestrator but listen closely shortly after that mishap. Awkwardness, anyone?

Number 4: "Rick has No Idea"

...Was it staged or does Rick Majerus have no idea what he just said? Whatever the case Steve Lavin has a priceless reaction.

Number 3: "Lee Corso is a What?"

If you have to play it back a few times but look in the background and notice why some SEC fans are proven to have functioning brain cells.

Number 2: "West Fucking Virginia"

Short and straight to the point. Well done, sir. If a camera man or producer didn't lose a job over this one I'm shocked.

NUMBER 1: "HAND-JOB MOUNTAIN"

Oh I bet mom and dad are oh so proud of their youngsters. Did the idea of a blanket ever cross either of their minds?

Don't agree with me about these five or have one to add? Let us know about it by right away by posting a comment below.

Close Calls that Still Hurt...A lesson in Notre Dame History

2008-08-20T22:49:00.001-07:00

Close calls and what might have been is a good way to put what Notre Dame has gone through since their last National Championship title in 1988. Sure there were close calls along the way, plenty of them. They could have played for a title a year later had they won in the Orange Bowl. Who can forget a week after beating #1 FSU, the loss that occurred at home against Tom Coughlin and Boston College?

2000 was the year we saw Notre Dame come back onto the map (albiet a short time) in the college football ranks. An overtime loss against Nebraska then kept the Irish from chasing what could have been a national title game appearance. Sad, but actually true if you go back and look at that season.

Lets take a look back at heartbreaking Notre Dame losses over the past twenty years and see which ones really were the worst.

1989 vs. Miami
Many expected Notre Dame to repeat as National Champions in 1989 as they entered the season #2 in the nation, behind only the Michigan Wolverines. After defeating UM 24-19 in the Big House the Irish soared up to #1 in the nation. What stood between them and another national title though were the Miami Hurricanes, the defending champs the Irish had to knock off in South Bend the year before.

Although this game did not come down to a last second play it showed the Irish they were not the best team in the nation that year. Miami cruised to a 27-10 win in the Orange Bowl and finished the year as National Champs. Although it was not as heartbreaking as other Irish losses, it was still a day that Irish fans can look back at and just wonder.

1991 Orange Bowl vs. Colorado
1991 has two offerings for the Irish, one coming on the first day of the year in the Orange Bowl against Colorado. Although Notre Dame entered the game not capable of winning a national championship themselves in all likelyhood, they still had the opportunity to defeat the Buffs and keep them from being the champs. Well, long story short the Irish were held in check by the Colorado defense throughout. Trailing 10-9 late in the game there is no way Colorado would kick to the Rocket...right? This pains me to post but why not, its still a hell of a run back.

1991 vs. Tennessee
In 1991 the Irish seemed primed for another title run before the Tennessee Volunteers came to South Bend and started off the game down 14-0 before most fans in the stands even blinked. The Irish continued to pile on, gaining a 31-7 advantage at one point in the matchup. However the Vols came storming back and defeated the Irish 35-34 as Reggie Ho missed a last second field goal that would have won the Irish the game.

The Irish would have had to have other things work out which did not in order to gain a trip to the title game in 1991 but this loss still pains Irish fans to think about to this day. The loss sent the Irish in a downward spiral that set up the dramatic Sugar/Cheerios Bowl game against Florida.

1993 vs. Boston College
The Irish were championship chasers once again in 1993 and gained the #1 ranking after defeating previous #1 Florida State in South Bend. All Notre Dame had to do was beat Boston College and they were headed to Miami to face Nebraska and play for the national title. That's all they had to do and what happens?

A defense that held Heisman Trophy QB Tommy Ward in check for the most part a week before goes out and gives up 41 points to BC. The Irish lose 41-39 and settle for date in the Cotton Bowl where they in turn beat Texas A&M for a second year in a row.

This is the first Irish heartbreak I remember watching first hand. I was seven years old and to this day can't describe what happened that day. Notre Dame had no answers defensively for most of the afternoon while Tom Coughlin and Glenn Foley had all of them. Thinking of this kick will prevent me from being able to sleep tonight.

Since that day one can argue the Irish have not made a serious run at a national championship. Although it is safe to say they were not the best team in the nation any of the years since then it is fair to say they have had their title opportunities if one thing or another went just slightly different.

2000 vs. Nebraska
Not a whole lot was expected of the Irish in 2000 but after beating Texas A&M convincingly they found themselves in the top 25 with number one coming to town. In a game where the Irish cashed in on Special Teams they found themselves tied late with a chance to win the game.

Instead Bob Davie and company decide not to risk anything and to play for overtime. Nick Setta steps up and gives the Irish the lead once again, sure. However, Eric Crouch leads the Huskers right down field and into the endzone.

I was not watching this game at the time, instead was in a car headed home listening to the whole thing. As a freshman in high school I knew Davie was wrong for sitting on the ball and to this day I feel the same way.

2000 vs. Michigan State
Two weeks later the Irish traveled to East Lansing looking to move to 3-1 and improve their rankings. A game that was back and forth until the end, Notre Dame losses on a touchdown pass over the middle that goes for big yards.

I may be wrong but I remember this play occuring on a fourth down. At the end of the year this loss did not matter, it didnt prevent Notre Dame from a BCS game or a national title but it was an extremely tough pill to swallow nonetheless.

2005 vs. USC
October 15, 2005 will be a day I will never forget. The atmosphere of Notre Dame that day was unmatched and there was just the feeling in the air something was different on that afternoon. Early in the game both teams trade a few scores before Tom Zbikowski brings the house down with a punt return for a touchdown to put the Irish ahead (I specifically remember nearly passing out during this play).

The game goes on, both teams convert 4th downs in their own territory. Late in the game with the Irish trailing Brady Quinn scores on a keeper and the Irish are one stop away from the upset of the century.

First two downs are an incomplete pass and a one yard gain. 4th and 9, no timeouts for USC who is trailing 31-28 at the time. That's when Matt Lienart and Dwayne Jarrett hook up on a perfectly thrown ball to keep hope alive for the Trojans.

Shortly after the Irish hold USC and time winds out on the scoreboard with ND winning 31-28. After order is restored on the field Pete Carroll is seen signaling to his team to get to the line and spike the ball. Instead Lienart takes the ball on a sneak and gets some extra help from Reggie Bush to find the endzone.

34-31, USC Wins. As mentioned earlier in this article, I am still pained in this loss and it was the toughest pill to swallow of any that I have ever had to when it comes to my team and losing.

So that's that for that. What do you think, which one of these losses was the worst for you since the Irish last won a title? Do you have a loss not mentioned that you feel is deserving? Go ahead Irish fans, let me know how you feel.

Notre Dame '08: It Starts up Front

2008-08-05T00:36:00.000-07:00

It seems idiotic to even imply that Notre Dame could be the biggest surprise team in 2008 but the statement alone makes everyone realize how far it is the Irish have fallen. One year ago they were coming off of back-to-back BCS appearances and seemed primed for the spotlight for years to come once again. However, 3 wins and 9 losses later they enter 2008 looking to gain back some of the respect that was lost on the national level a year ago.

So what does Notre Dame have to do to at least get back to a bowl game? What do they have to avoid to make a sure a repeat of 2007 does not occur? Its pretty simple with Notre Dame in '08, the Irish need to get back to the basics and that starts up front.

Jimmy Clausen will never come within shouting distance of All-American status and Robert Hughes and the rest of the Irish stable of running backs won't reach their full potential if the offensive line does not improve. If we learned one thing towards the end of last year it was that Notre Dame has more talent on their roster than a 3-9 record should have. However, the offensive line was amongst the very worst in the game. If that does not change then the results in the win column will fail to as well.

Rightfully so there are a ton of questions marks about this offensive line. Irish fans wish it was as simple as a years more experience means that the line will be that much better but the truth of the matter is that it does not work that way. Sure the experience may help but to what degree? Time will tell.

On the line Notre Dame will see its anchor back in Sam Young.

The former 5-Star recruit will be playing right tackle this year and will be counted on heavily in giving Jimmy Clausen more time to throw while also opening up running room for the Irish backs. Young was a pleasant surprise his freshman year of 2006 but '07 saw him take a step back. Young getting back to his form at right tackle in 2008 will be key for Irish success.

Joining Young on this years offensive line are expected to be Paul Duncan, Michael Turkovich, Dan Wenger, and Eric Olesen from left to right, with Young being the RT. This has turned into an older and more experienced group for the Irish, both something that will be helpful for 2008. Like I mentioned before though, experience will not matter if these guys did not gain anything from last years debacle.

What needed to be done is that the Irish offensive line learned from mistakes they made last year. The coaching staff needed to learn what they may have done a poor job with while working with the O-Line a year ago.

Nobody knows yet what the Irish offensive line may entail in 2008. They could be the reason the Irish disappoint again or they could very well be the reason Notre Dame flies in under radar on their path back respectability. As far as I am concerned, this is the only important question Irish fans need to ask themselves about for the time being.

If the line has not improved from a year ago there is no need to worry about the development of Jimmy Clausen or the skill of the running backs on the roster. Without an offensive line these young men will not prosper on the football field and will not have to be worried about to make plays because they once again will not be able to.

Only if the offensive line is improved should Irish fans begin to even have doubts about what happened to the skill positions of Notre Dame last fall. If the line gets better and Clausen and company still struggle, then you can begin to question player development at those positions. However, without an offensive line it is impossible to be critical of the rest of the offense, including the play calling because it does not have a chance when the line doesn't hold up its part of the bargain.

About Frickin' Time

2007-10-07T18:16:00.000-07:00

The Irish outlast UCLA and finally, finally, finally, holy freaking hell, finally get their first W of the season. Was it pretty? It seems like the answer to this is no but in all honesty I didn't see one down of this game. Being in college and all and having to broadcast The Battle for the Little Brass Bell took away from my Irish-watching Saturday night.

Announcing for a 3-2 DIII team coupled with not having a functioning VCR leaves me with the Ga-Tech debacle as the only game I have seen from start to finish for Notre Dame this year. With everything being read however I am left with plenty of questions...

1) Why no vertical passing game from Jimmy Clausen??
-Seems to me from everything that I have been able to read that the team runs the same offense when both Clausen and Sharpley are on the field. When then may I ask does Jimmy not attempt the deep ball? Whatever happened to John Carlson and his seem routes that were so effective last year and why have they not been used in '07?

2) Was the defense that good last night?
-Honest question. I have heard that the performance last night is what a 3-4 defense is supposed to look like and by giving up just six points it was obviously effective. Remember Ben Olson was injured though, how big of difference would he have made?

3) Is the progression of the offense enough to make this an elite offense in the years to come?
-Seems to be the offensive line is playing better as of late. Are they developing as we expected or is this simply what happens when you play a few of the weaker fronts? Is Jimmy for real, will he be the Saviour that we were lead on to believe he would be? Sure Armando has as much speed as anyone but will he ever be able to maneuver around a defender?

That's all I have for now. BC this week, time to have a role reversal and have us ruin their potential title dreams...wait, "BC" and "title dreams" in the same sentence? That's gotta be a misprint. Midterms this week which means procrastination and much blogging...go irish.

Golden Tate

2007-10-02T19:17:00.000-07:00

Rhema McKnight with hands.

Playoff Debate

2007-10-02T18:19:00.000-07:00

A playoff would be crazy in college football, especially after watching this weeks slew of upsets. As my often outspoken suite mate often tells me, "Bite My Ass!".

There is no need for a college football playoff. If there was a playoff, someone please tell me the significance of what happened late in Gainesville on Saturday night. What meaning would Colorado upstaging Bob Stoops and Oklahoma have? Would the fact that South Florida ousted the favored Mountaineers even matter?

The answer to all these questions is a simple n-o. The fact of the matter is that each week plays the role of a round by round playoff in college football. There is no need to mess with this. What do you know, right now the two teams that everyone has slated as the two best in the country would be set to play each other in the national title. Think of Ohio State/Michigan last fall and all the hype that surrounded that game. Would there have been any hype whatsoever around this game between unbeatens in the final week of the season? None at all. Likely the stars would have sat out with both coaching staffs knowing each others futures were safe in the fact both would be in a playoff.

A playoff would ruin college football, it would make what happened this past weekend painfully meaningless. It would not make for a crazy playoff, it would simply take away from the regular season, a regular that is bar none the most exciting of any major sport.

Clausen or Sharpley?

2007-10-02T17:48:00.000-07:00

Question on many Irish fans minds right now. Should it be the wonder boy JC, or should it be Evan Sharpley under center for the Irish against the Bruins. Depends what exactly you are looking for if you are Notre Dame. I feel very adamant that a two quarterback system does not work unless you have QB's with two extremes (passing and rush ability). Obviously Demetrius Jones may have presented the Irish with the option to at least try running the ball with the QB but his passing was beyond a joke.

So stick with Jimmy or go with Sharpley who is yet to start a game? Coach Weis today announced as long as JC is healthy that he is the guy. I will admit that I am quite the fan of Evan Sharpley but I feel this is the right move.

As much as it hurts to say, the Irish really have no hope for this year. In order to reach a bowl game even you have to ask them to beat at least one top 10 team as well as win in the Rose Bowl this weekend. We can hope but reality has to set in that this is not likely to happen whatsoever.

I would like to see JC throw the ball down field a little bit more than we have seen. The only difference I see between him and Sharpley right now is that Sharpley shows a little better ability to step up in the pocket and fire the ball down field. JC still seems to prefer escaping the tackle box and having to either throw on the run or take it himself. Although he is more fleet of foot than Brady ever was, Jimmy is by no means a scrambler.

This is something that is only going to come with time for Jimmy. Anyone remember Brady's line his freshman year? Refresher...

Brady Quinn 157/332 15INT 47.3 Comp.% 1831yds 9TD
JC(Thru 5 games) 57/94 3 INT 60.6 Comp.% 474yds 0TD

Tough to compare numbers, Brady obviously was less hesitant to throw the ball down field his freshman year. Will Jimmy Clausen turn into what Brady Quinn was? Time will tell. I do feel however in order to have a big time quarterback, he has to be given time to learn by trial and error now. Having Clausen on the sidelines if he is healthy is not going to do this team any favors besides for the short term. At most, maybe Sharpley is one win better than Clausen the rest of the year. I'm not sure about you, I'll trade a win or two from here on out this year for an All-American type quarterback in a year or two.

West Virginia

2007-09-20T22:11:00.001-07:00

At least there is some humor in the world of college football that can still make me smile these days. That and the fact that Kirk Herbstriet feels pretty confident that the Irish will be back in a real short amount of time.

Ty is a better coach than Charlie

2007-09-13T17:49:00.000-07:00

Ask anyone, Ty is obviously a better coach than Charlie Weis. Weis can only win with Ty's players, forget the fact that nearly every main contributor on the Notre Dame team this year is in their first real year of big time contribution.

Ty beat a bad Syracuse team and won against a Boise State team that was rated highly only because of their success last year. For those that say Ty is such a great coach, talk to me in 5 weeks...after the Huskies drop 5 games in a row to Ohio State, USC, UCLA, Oregon, and Arizona State. I'm not exaggerating, Arizona State is the only one of the five games I could see Ty winning.

Has Charlie Weis done perfect at Notre Dame? No. The offensive line has looked terrible in the first two weeks, nothing more can be said for them. Lowest rated running game in college football, they have talent up front, the offensive line is just not getting the job done.

One thing that I do disagree with Weis in is the fact he has failed to really make the field vertical yet this year. Two plays the Irish really threw the ball downfield so far this year, one from Evan Sharpley to David Grimes, with Grimes just being overthrown against GaTech and the other being from Jimmy Clausen to Golden Tate on a play that was actually completed against Penn State, but negated because of holding.

I would like to see Charlie and the offense test the Michigan secondary a little more this weekend. Appalachian State showed success with it and Oregon had a successful day throwing the ball as well. Usually the pass game is used to compliment the run game...this week I feel this may have to change.

If I were a coach, which I stress I am not, the offense should come out with four receivers against the Wolverines this weekend. Spread them out, take away their ability to blitz...or at least minimize it. USC is the only team with as good of defense as the Irish faced in both week one and week two.

I feel you go to a shotgun set and spread the receivers out and good things are bound to happen. Spread the linebackers out and open up running holes a little bit better. These are little things that have not been done by Notre Dame this year and that is what I question. The offensive line has dropped the ball more than any other contributor to the Irish team...why not take the pressure off of them a little bit?

Darren McFadden

2007-08-11T16:25:00.000-07:00

Today Darren McFadden's mother made it clear to the world that her son will not return to Arkansas for his senior season. Forget the fact he hasn't played a down of his junior season yet...

I'm not big on a player declaring for the draft before his regular season even starts. Makes no sense to me. What happens if there is an injury and he's no longer capable of everything he was at one time? I'm not wishing this on him, just stating that I think he went about this the wrong way.

If I were one of McFadden's Arkansas teammates this would drive me nuts. Seems to me that McFadden cares more about the big bucks than he does his college career. Funny how he told his mother "He told me [Friday], 'Mom, I'll be through in December...". I guess that means Darren doesn't plan on his team making a New Years Day or better bowl game.

Of course I do not either but just oddly quoted. How will McFadden fare this year? In all honesty I have trouble believing he will come anywhere near replicating last years performance. Much of the Hogs O-Line is gone, good luck Darren because you are going to half to make most of your yards on your own this year, something you didn't have to worry about a season ago.

Heisman Winner? Doubtful. I would actually be shocked if he's a finalist for sports most coveted individual award come December.

What Makes Notre Dame Special

2007-08-10T15:17:00.000-07:00

Recent events with Steve Spurrier have made me more proud than ever to be a fan of the University of Notre Dame. When a coach comes to Notre Dame they know that things aren't going to be made special for them and not just any player, no matter the level of talent will be able to be a Golden Domer.

When it comes down to it do you want your team to be full of thugs that rarely attend class, are far from model citizens and win or be a team with average talent at best but have a roster full of athletes that you would be proud to call your son?

As much as I did not like Bob Davie or Tyrone Willingham, they put what was most important to me first. That is the athletes life they were dealing with. It can be said that Charlie Weis "gets it".

You never saw Davie or Willingham going after players that make the school look bad. You saw a lot of good people go through the Notre Dame football doors when these two men were on campus. The same can be said for what Charlie has done now as well, as you hear stories of Weis getting on recruits cases because their grades in high school aren't good enough. These are kids he isn't even going to coach for sure.

Rumors had it that Urban Meyer would have taken the job at Notre Dame had he been able to lower academic standards for athletes to get in. Congrats Urban on winning a National Title at Florida. I am not arguing that he is not a great coach because he really is. However I just feel Notre Dame prides themselves on being different from everywhere else and it makes me proud to say I'm a fan of the institution.

Another case that sticks out to me is that of Friday Hand. Hand, the Irish defensive end who was arrested by an undercover police officer in a prostitution ring a short time ago was immediately suspended and isn't expected to see the practice or game field anytime soon. It seems to me that when players get in trouble at most other schools, cutting playing time is the last thing that any coaches wish to do.

Take Rashon Powers-Neal's case in 2005. After being arrested for a DUI he did not see the field again that season, a season off to a very promising start after he scored three times against Pitt.

So many players aren't suspended for their actions and I feel that this is where many NCAA Coaches drop the ball. Its not only the coaches duty to turn out a good football team in my personal opinion, its also their duty to try and distribute quality young men.

I feel Notre Dame does a great job of that compared to most other places. Every time I hear about a player from another school being charged with a crime and not being punished severely by his coach it just makes the Golden Dome shine that much brighter to me.

Big Ten

2007-08-10T13:28:00.000-07:00

Is the Big Ten still an elite conference? Many say not like it used to be anyway and for the most part you can't argue it. When you look at what the conference did last year at the top in bowl games, its embarrassing. On New Years Day Michigan was still claiming they should be playing Ohio State in the National Title and in the process were run off the field by Southern Cal. A week later Ohio State who held the number one ranking all season couldn't even celebrate a touchdown the right way as Florida looked like world beaters in a 41-14 drubbing.

Good but not great is how I see the Big Ten this year. A few very talented teams but how they compete on the national level instead of just in conference will be a test once again this year. It seems that Wisconsin and Michigan both could be title game contenders, but can they play with the SECs and USCs of the world? Only time will tell.

Players to Watch:
Offensively everywhere you look people will tell you how great Mike Hart, Chad Henne, and Mario Manningham are as well as anything to ever wear the Maize and Blue. Don't get me wrong, all three are exceptional players but my preseason Big Ten Offensive MVP is P.J. Hill of Wisconsin...

As a freshman last year he went over 1500 yards while averaging 5 yards a carry and scoring 15 times on the ground. Oh, and 0 fumbles in over 320 touches.
This year Hill will come back with four of his five offensive linemen in front of him. Grant it the third overall pick in the NFL Draft, Joe Thomas is gone, but the core of a solid offensive line is still there. Couple that with a new quarterback and expect Hill's numbers to only go up. After Wisconsin defeats Michigan in Camp Randall, Hill will clinch a trip to New York City as a finalist for the Heisman Trophy.

Other than the Michigan boys and Mr. Hill things are a blur at best offensively in the Big Ten this year. Remember the names Dorien Bryant (Purdue) and James Hardy (Indiana) as both will have huge years catching the football.

On the defensive side of the ball is where the Big Ten makes up some ground against the rest of the nation. Wisconsin brings a team that is loaded on defense into the conference this year with much back from a squad that surrendered just 12.1 points a game last fall. DeAndre Levy, and Jonathan Casillas will anchor the outside linebacker roles but a lot will be asked of Elijah Hodge as he will be the Mac-backer for the Badgers. The secondary will be a little younger but expect big things from them as the season wears on, also the defensive line for Wisconsin will be amongst the best in all of football.

Defensive MVP you ask? None other than James Laurinaitis of The Ohio State University. The man's an animal, we can leave it at that. 115 tackles last season as a sophomore, Laurinaitis gives Columbus reason for hope this coming year. He will be asked to do a lot for a team that losses most of its star power, but behind Laurinaitis you will see the Buckeye D mature quickly during the year and make a New Years Day bowl game.

How They'll Fall:
1. Wisconsin - Loaded D and a great run game make things much easier on a new quarterback.
2. Ohio State - Supposed to be a down year but the defense has time to mature in the first half before showdowns at Penn State, against Wisconsin, and in the Big House three of the last four weeks of the season.
3. Michigan - Lloyd Carr is still coach, therefore expect disappointment. Until he wins a meaningful game (Notre Dame last year can be argued, however he followed it up with losses to OSU and USC) I can't consider the Wolverines a true Big Ten title contender.
4. Penn State - A team I was very high on at the end of last year just keeps impressing me less and less. Some off the field issues this off season didn't do Joe Pa any favors and a tough schedule could leave the Nittany Lions with four regular season losses.
5. Iowa - All the highly touted recruits from Kirk Ferentz have to kick in eventually...don't they?
6. Purdue - Offense will put up points but can they stop anything?
7. Illinois - Very young but very talented. The team will improve much as the year goes on but a bowl berth may finish just out of reach.
8. Indiana - Sad story with coach Terry Hoeppner this offseason, not only a great coach but even a better guy from everything you hear. A program headed in the right direction has just too much to overcome this year.
9. Northwestern - Not much to work with gives the Cats another losing season.
10. Michigan State - Team headed in a downward spiral and not much veteran experience on top of it.
11. Minnesota - If football were a contest determined by off the field issues then Minnesota has a legit case at being your preseason number 1. Its not and the Gophers will not win a conference game.

There is how it will go. Other predictions I might include would be Michigan losing to Wisconsin and Ohio State as well as their bowl game and Lloyd Carr getting axed. I also don't expect the Big Ten BCS luck to change this year, a few good teams won't be enough to beat a SEC or Pac 10 Champ.

Previews Galore!!!

2007-08-10T13:16:00.000-07:00

I know you have all been waiting very anxiously for this and here it is...20 days until the first Thursday of the year and 22 days until September 1st. Time for some previews.

During the next couple of days expect previews for the SEC, ACC, Big Ten, Big Twelve, Big East, and Pac-10. We'll start things off however with my first top 10 of the season. Anything after the top 10 is really pointless to me so we will keep it at 10 for now. Read later entries for reasons why teams are ranked where they are...

1. USC
2. LSU
3. Wisconsin
4. Texas
5. Florida
6. West Virginia
7. Va Tech
8. Oklahoma
9. Ohio State
10. Georgia

As I said, conference by conference previews to come. Also expect some Heisman Hopefuls and all that fun stuff...including bad youtube videos from various gameday campuses this coming fall..

Its good to be back and its really good to be just three weeks away now.

Mr. Quinn?

2007-05-16T12:32:00.000-07:00

The biker is somewhat surprising, I would have guessed the cowboy.

I'm Back

2007-03-12T02:51:00.000-07:00

While I was gone plenty happened. I apologize, I am a college student after all and with an unpaid internship going on and a lot of class work for a change it has been hard for me to get on here on a consistent basis, or at all even. But since I have been away plenty has happened.

Corwin Brown is the new defensive coordinator, seems to have a good track record. As for a Michigan guy taking over an important coaching position, it will be different getting used to but at least we might have a hint of a secondary now.

Recruiting came and went, another top 10 class but not a whole lot on the defensive side of the ball. It should be interesting to see what Coach Weis can do with this class. I was also disappointed to see a few bail outs on Signing Day but what can you do? Enjoy North Carolina Greg Little.

Basketball has also consumed me the last couple of months. I know I'm late but congrats to Colin Falls for setting the Big East record for career three pointers. Quite the feat, also congrats to Mike Brey for being named Big East Coach of the Year this past weekend. As you all know the Irish were picked to finish eleventh in conference this year in the preseason coaches poll. Fourth in the regular season was a solid showing with a near upset of Georgetown in the conference tournament semi's.

This past afternoon was Selection Sunday. Combine it with the first day of the tournament and it is right there with New Years Day for my favorite day of the year, sports related anyway. The Irish drew a #6 seed where they will play Winthrop. Are you kidding me? The Big East was regarded by most to be the toughest conference in college hoops this season and the Irish finished fourth in it. The Irish should have been in contention for a #4 seed, I thought a #5 was a safe bet. Instead they draw amongst the toughest mid majors and a #6. Not real sure how this happens, especially when you look and see the likes of Virginia, Va Tech, Maryland, and Tennessee. The Irish had a stronger case than all of these teams for a #5 seed and were flat out screwed by the tournament selection committee.

That's all for now, finals tomorrow morning. Can't wait for this term to be done and to go on spring break...in Coal City, Il.

Army All American Game

2007-01-06T12:13:00.000-08:00

Now on NBC I am watching the Army All American Game. I tuned in thinking that this would be much like the pro bowl with sugar coated defenses and very boring offenses. I also didn't expect to see much hitting.

I was wrong. Grant the West is blowing out the East but I feel reassured that the Irish are in good hands. A few years ago we were lucky to get one or two players in this game, now we have at last count, 8.

I know its a high school all-star game so to say but I enjoy this day. Watching it has made me feel a helluva a lot better about things than I felt at about 10:15 Wednesday night. It would be nice to see a couple linebackers or defensive linemen dawn the interlocking ND on their heads but with what I have seen so far I can't complain.

41-14

2007-01-03T22:34:00.000-08:00

Where did it all go wrong? After a well played second quarter, with 1:44 to go in the half the Irish looked as if they were onto something. They hadn't allowed any points in the quarter and fought back to tie the game at 14 after trailing 14-0 to start off the ballgame. That is when things got ugly.

Real ugly.

LSU marched down field and scored just before the half to put the Bayou Bengals ahead 21-14 and they never looked back. They came out guns a blazin' in the third quarter and the Irish were lucky to hold them to a pair of field goals. Two more second half scores made it a 41-14 ballgame and thats how it finished.

"Where do we go from here?" is a question that will be asked.

What unemployed looks like

In all likelihood I feel that Rick Minter has coached his final game at Notre Dame. On defense Notre Dame does a very bad job of disguising blitzes and the defensive backs are out of position too much. Those both showed tonight. To an extent you can blame the players but there comes a time when you have to question who is running the defense. It was as if they had no idea what was coming at them, not real sure why because LSU didn't run that complex of a defense.

Can't put all the blame on the defense either, offensively in the second half the Irish looked miserable. Recievers dropped too many balls, offensive line didn't play their best game, and Brady had seen better evenings as well. A lot will be gone next year, we will have to wait and see what the rest of '07 has to bring.

Many will say that Charlie Weis is yet to deliver a top notch win at Notre Dame and they are completely correct in that assessment. I am not going to jump all over him and call for his head though. I am guilty of drinking a little too much "Notre Dame Kool-Aid" as you all call it. I apologize. However look what has happened under the Golden Dome in the past two seasons. A combined 19-6, with five of those losses being against top 5 teams in the nation. He doesn't lose games that he is supposed to do, a credit to him. Maybe all Irish fans alike are guilty of expecting too much, too early.

Two BCS bowls in a row, sure Notre Dame gets a break on bids when it comes down to it, but its a helluva way from a combined 1 BCS bowl in 8 years and its a better to be playing in New Orleans on January 3rd than in Bank One Ballpark before the New Year. Give Weis time. Next year doesn't look the best on paper but only time will tell. Even after tonights shalacking, there is not a doubt in my mind that the Irish are headed in the right direction and will be a force to reckon with as long as Weis is there.

Thank you seniors, what you were able to contribute to this team in your four years is remarkable. It ended biterly, but you have a lot to keep your heads up about.

BCS Wrap

2007-01-03T14:04:00.000-08:00

As asked for, heres my Rose Bowl (and other New Years Day Bowls) wrap up.

Obviously, the most important football related event took place in the Rose Bowl. That is shown above with the song girl who forgot her spankies. The investigation of which song girl it was continues on Deadspin as you read this...

Sidenote: Those sweaters get hotter every time I see them. If you put Rachel Bilson in one it would be the hottest cheerleader imaginable.

The Big Ten had an impressive day on New Years Day with Penn State upstaging Tennessee along with Wisconsin holding off Arkansas. In both of the games one thing was more obvious to me than anything. How much more physical the two Big Ten teams were than the SEC teams. Sure the Vols and Razorbacks showed at times how much more team speed they had, I won't argue that. However they physicalness of the Big Ten was just too much in both cases.

The Rose Bowl was a different story however. What we saw in the morning and early afternoon games was turned around 180 degrees in the Rose Bowl. You could tell that USC's defense was just too much for Michigan. The Wolverines were outplayed really from the middle of the second quarter on, which made Lloyd Carr's record in big games during the 21st Century something like 2-13. Dwayne Jarrett also showed off why he will be the first reciever taken in next April's NFL Draft, and the most questionable celebrations after big catches (being patted down, slowing down before endzone, and tossing ball on opponents chest). Needless to say, Michigan was a disappointing.

The night ended with one of the craziest damn games you will ever see. Spending $1.99 for the condensed version of this one on ITunes is amongst the greatest investments you will ever make.

I'll admit that I was a Boise State doubter, when Marcus Walker ran the pick back I was more than sure the game was over. Whoops. However, before you beg for a playoff make sure you are aware that the Broncos #9 rating in the AP and Coaches polls would not have allowed them to be in an 8 team playoff.

Last night was the least exciting of the BCS games so far this year. I was hoping for a Wake Forest win but it wasn't meant to be. The Big East has two consecutive BCS victories, so much for taking away that berth that everyone was so set on doing two short years ago.

Tonight the Irish take on LSU in the Allstate Sugar Bowl. I'm still confused about this game because for as long as I can remember it has been the Nokia Sugar Bowl. Allstate is making my head spin.

Nonetheless the Domers go into tonights ballgame as the obvious underdog, +8.5 as of 5 pm to be exact. News has come of a few LSU players being suspended for the first quarter/half for missing team curfew. How much of a difference will it make?

To me the Irish must be on the attack early. Slow starts against Michigan and USC doomed them earlier in the year. Get out to a quick start is a must for tonight. If that does not happen I do not like the Irish's chances.

Keep a watchful eye on Rhema McKnight tonight. He struggled with several drops on key plays in both the Michigan and USC losses this year. If he can get the butter off his fingers the Irish offense will without a doubt fair better. The defense, as is obvious, must make a few stops. Way too many big plays this year. If they allow the big plays that they did against Ohio State last year ND could be in trouble.

With a surprisingly good day from the defense and a strong Rhema McKnight output, I would expect an Irish upset as the midwest shows the southeast once again how football is really meant to be played.

Enough Already...

2006-12-26T15:23:00.000-08:00

Charlie is not going anywhere, I really wish people would understand this. Sure I know that the New York Giants position will be open since Tom Coughlin will be fired in roughly seven days, but read here.

"Everyone knows I'm staying here until they fire me or I die"

Why can't anyone go about trusting the word of Charlie? I really do not understand it. He has given his word over and over again. He is not going to the Giants, I am not in the least bit concerned that he would take an NFL job. Listen to what he says, the man will be here until fired or until he dies.

Now I know that some ND fans look at this site and have brought up the question to me in the past, "What has Charlie Weis really done at Notre Dame besides bring them back more on the national scene?"

With players he didn't recruit he has fielded two consecutive BCS teams. Say what you want about whether or not this team should be in a BCS bowl, 9-3 and 10-2 sure is a better position to be in at the end of January than the 6-5 and 5-6 regular season records of Tyrone Willingham his last two seasons.

I was guilty of saying this team was good enough to win the national title at the start of the season. Sure the offense was once again just about as good as any in the nation, but the defense just was unable to develop. I don't think you can blame Charlie Weis for Notre Dame being 10-2 this year, with blowout losses to Michigan and USC.

Charlie put the Irish in position to be in both of those ballgames early on and had the Irish made one or two plays in each of them, they are entirely different outcomes. Call me crazy, but its the truth. With really one group of highly touted recruits on this and last seasons squads (this years seniors), he has taken the Irish to back to back BCS games. Thats something that only USC and Ohio State can also say about the last two seasons.

Don't fret, he's staying put.

2-0

2006-12-21T23:15:00.000-08:00

I have predicted two games in a row correct. Thats something I am pretty confident that I did not do this entire regular season. BYU looked pretty good tonight, I was expecting a lot more from Oregon. The Ducks disappointed, I thought their running game would keep them in it but when you fall behind early, you don't have many options but to start passing.

Without a doubt the Ducks did showcase the ugliest helmets I think I have ever seen in college football. They may want to consider revising the helmet rules over at tHRB because on paper this helmet sounds nice. Instead it is hideous.

Things continue on tomorrow with the R+L Carriers New Orleans Bowl. The New Orleans Bowl used to always kick off bowl season, instead this year it is the third bowl game. Rice vs. Troy is the matchup and their is one reason I am going to watch this game...Jarret Dillard. 5'11'', 160 pounds is all there is to this young man, but he did catch 82 balls for 1176 yards and 20 touchdowns this season. I don't know what you can expect to see from him in the bowl game though because he did celebrate his 21st birthday on Thursday.

Rice started off the season slow, losing their first four before winning 7 of their final 8 games, including their last 6 to get to 7-5 on the year. Troy very nearly knocked off Florida State (not saying much) in Tallahassee this year but were killed by Nebraska in the only other real game they played this season.

I expect Dillard to come out and play well in his showcase game of the year. Only time he will probably ever be in front of national TV in college, I really do think he will perform and the Owls leave the Big Easy victorious...

Rice 27 Troy 17

Las Vegas Bowl/Desmond Howard

2006-12-20T13:26:00.000-08:00

One for one in predicting bowl games this year after TCU layed down a whooping on NIU last night. Tonight we move to the Pioneer PureVision Las Vegas Bowl between BYU and Oregon.

Oregon was a team that had somewhat high expectations coming into this year, they were able to upset Oklahoma earlier in the season (even if it was on a bogus call), but faltered down the stretch, losing their last three ballgames. They play a high-powered BYU offense which will be led by QB John Beck who passed for 3500 yards this year and 30 TDs to only 6 picks.

Oregon brings a decent offense into the game as well, averaging just over 26 points a ballgame. Teams have been able to pass on Oregon this year and that is what BYU prides themselves on. Ill take BYU and the over...

BYU 31 Oregon 27

In other news, Desmond Howard is a moron. Purely, a moron. See here...

I can't wait to see that Texas/Cal matchup either Desmond. In fact, I'm gonna go play a game of NCAA '07 since thats the only place it will be happening. Gotta love the fact he's taken such great advantage of that Michigan education.

On with the Games!

2006-12-19T12:32:00.000-08:00

It seems like I have played more battleship and "naval command" on yahoo than anything lately. I'm on break from college and college football has taken a break, unless you count the DII and DIII playoffs. Finally, after two weeks of no college football, games begin again tonight. I really should not be this excited for the San Diego County Credit Union Poinsettia Bowl, but I am. Northern Illinois is set to take on TCU. You look at it on paper and it should be a pretty good matchup.

Statistically the two teams look to match up very well, however don't expect this one to be too much of a game. Teams all over the MAC were able to slow down Garrett Wolfe the second half of the season. Expect TCU to do the same.

The Horned Frogs were a team that I thought could make a run at a BCS game at the start of the season. They didn't hold up their end of the bargain however. TCU is averaging 10 more points per ballgame than NIU is. The Huskies have played a little tougher schedule but don't expect them to pull out a win in this one...

TCU 31 NIU 17

Lesser Known Awards

2006-12-09T17:59:00.000-08:00

This past week college football handed out all of their most prestigious awards, including the Maxwell and Heisman amongst others. Ballots have been counted over and over again and WTTO is ready to announce the winners of its 1st annual college football awards...

WTTO Award Winners

Eric Crouch Cup:

The Eric Crouch Cup is awarded each year to the worst throwing quarterback in division 1 college football. Really not a race at all this season as it was actually unanimously awarded to Reggie Ball of Georgia Tech. Ball couldn't complete a 5 yard stop to his tight ends and is also the entire reason Calvin Johnson appears to be so good...Because Ball is so bad. In a surprise, Ball actually received a sweep of 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place on numerous different ballots.

Faust-ie-Ham:

This award goes annually to the worst coaching performance of the year, named for Gerry Faust, Bob Davie, and Tyrone Willingham. Multiple coaches recieved votes in this one but only one can win the award. In a very narrow margin, likely because the midwest split votes between Kirk Farentz and John L. Smith, Mack Brown of Texas became the first coach in history to win "Coach of the Year" one year and a "Faust-ie-Ham" the next.

Lance Harbor Trophy:

Named for star quarterback Lance Harbor who lost his scholarship to Florida State after injuring himself in Varsity Blues, the Lance Harbor Trophy is given on a yearly basis to the quarterback in Division 1 college football with the fakest sounding name. Very tough competition this year as both Tyler Palko and Colt McCoy gave it a run for their money, but Nate Longshore from Cal was announced as the winner. Many believe McCoy fell victim to being a freshman and automatically losing many votes based on that fact alone. As we see, Longshore snuck by in the slimest of margins...

And finally...

Gordie Lockbaum Award:

The Gordie Lockbaum Award goes to the Heisman Finalist each year that really has no chance to walk away with the award. Past winners include amongst others: Alex Smith, Tim Couch, Randy Moss, and a personal favorite of WTTO, Darnell Autry.
This years winner was a very tough choice. Everyone knew coming in that Troy Smith was going to walk out with the Heisman, so realistically we could have two winners. That's not the way awards work though, they never are split. Darren McFadden may have wound up in second place, but everyone knew going into tonight that he had less of a chance than Brady Quinn to actually walk out with the award. Therefore Darren McFadden wins the 2006 Gordie Lockbaum Award.

All Hair Recruits

2006-12-06T16:40:00.000-08:00

Inspired by The House Rock Built, I proudly present to you the first annual:

High School All American Bad Hair Team

Offense

So we start of the first annual "High School All American Bad Hair Team" by looking at the quarterback position. What would the QB position be without some controversy on who gets the starting nod? Jimmy Clausen (left), the Golden Child as some refer to him as sports the "Surfer Dude" style while not to be forgotten Stephen Garcia sports the Trucker look. Its tough to say who should be the starter, but being from the Midwest I think Garcia sporting more of the "Blue Collar" look, gets the spot.

Muhammed De'Reese (left) and Noel Devine (right) make up the backfield for this years squad. De'Reese sports the "Confused Fro" look while Devine prefers the Edgerrin James look. Suprisingly there was not a lot of competition for the two spots open in the backfield. Probably the weak point of this year offense.

This year there was one common theme when going after targets to throw to, Dreadlocks. Leonard Hankerson, Alphonso Bryant, and Eric Brooks get the art of "locks" down to a T. Although there isn't a whole lot of veriation in this year class at the WR/TE position, they are the type of haircuts that have withstood the test of time and are always a safe bet.

"Big Uglies" brings on a whole new meaning this year. This is far and away the the worst hair on the offensive side of the ball this year. Tackle Phil Loadholt (left) looks like he got electrocuted, while I am pretty sure Ernest McCoy (second from left) has some kind of nest growing atop his head. Center Garth Gerhart and right tackle Grant Cook try a lot of the same look by going with the "Curly Blonde Thing" and Chaz Ramsey rounds out this years line with a thick set of dreads. With a line upfront that looks like that I feel confident taking on anyone, even Weird Al.

Defense

Occasionally you get a group of players that seem to raise their level of performance because of those, or in this case, one around them. Only one real stand out on the front four this year. Rae Sykes and Jabaal Sheard (left) are average at best at the defensive end position. However on the interior defensive line, Marvin Austin appears to be the star of this years class. Joseph Barksdale finishes off the front with a not so original afro, but Austin's hair really takes the cake. I don't really know how to describe it, besides maybe an explosion on top of his head.

The linebackers on this years team have it all. Jordan Campbell (left) does his best impression of Troy Polamolou with the long hair while the worst dye-job I have ever seen on a football player goes to Austin Panter (center). Austin Stafford then finishes off this years group of backers with none other than the dreadlocks, something we haven't seen yet.

The defensive backs on this years squad love their hair and a lot of it at that. Safety Jordan Bernstine sports the headband with his dreadlocks while Marshall Jones has one of the largest afros in this years class. The corners on this team have more of the same with the dreadlocks. Justin Grant seems to have the thickest dreads in this years class while Al-Majid Hutchins comes in a close second to Austin Panter for worst dye job on the team.

That wraps up this years team. Dreadlocks are the obvious "Weapon of Choice" by this the players on this years team. We'll see what this talent turns into at the next level. I'm also scared to see what Marvin Austin's hair might be like after he spends a year or two at FSU or Miami.

Matt Simms is a Douche

2006-12-05T14:54:00.000-08:00

Simply put, Matt Simms is a douche. Any relation to Phil or Chris? Yeah, Phil is the father and Chris is the brother. I really don't know how else to put it, though. A guy goes and wins a state title and makes his opponents feel like crap. Hey now Matt, I'm not sure if you noticed that high school sports can at times be the pinnacle of students being able to taunt. Its where most students and athletes are actually friends and not so much only adequatenesses. Instead of celebrating the win with your teammates, you went to rub it in the face of your opponent. Good thing daddy and big brothers success didn't let things get to your head at all. Have fun at Louisville, tool.

Beads Bowl

2006-12-05T13:23:00.000-08:00

Add a new "bowl" to the short list that the Irish have played in. "Snow Bowl" and "Cheerios Bowl" have their newest acquaintance, the Bead Bowl. Yes I'm aware of the whole reason Mardi Gras takes place and I have also learned that LSU has the highest population of Catholic students than any other school in the nation. However this only seems appropriate.

Sugar Bowl

2006-12-04T01:36:00.000-08:00

So to the Sugar Bowl go the Irish where a battle is to be had with the LSU Tigers. LSU is a solid team that I really do not know a whole lot about. However I do know that they are beatable. They lost to Auburn 7-3 and lost to Florida 23-10. They do have a couple of impressive wins, those being at Tennessee (although not impressive to me, Sagarin has them #10 is his ratings) and their latest being at Arkansas.

So far the Irish have been called a big underdog in this one. I can understand the underdog label, especially seeing how we have performed in big games this year. However outputs of 3 and 7 by LSU make me believe that this offense is shaky at best. Furthermore, it took the Bayou Bengals overtime to get by Ole Miss on November 18th. I'm really in question about how good this team really is. Sure I put them #4 in my end of the season poll, but I'm almost thinking that might be a bit high. I'm not sold on the SEC being that much better than any conference, and the Tigers struggled mightily to get by in it this season.

I will start to break this game down in the days and weeks to come. Just a forwarning to anyone going down to the easy though, be ready to very quickly get sick and tired of this:

Top 25/BCS Prediction

2006-12-03T04:13:00.000-08:00

Since its the end of the regular season, a top 25 instead of just ten...

1. Ohio State
2. Florida
3. Michigan
4. LSU
5. USC
6. Louisville
7. Wisconsin
8. Oklahoma
9. Notre Dame
10. Arkansas
11. Boise State
12. Auburn
13. Virginia Tech
14. West Virginia
15. Rutgers
16. Wake Forest
17. Cal
18. Georgia Tech
19. Texas
20. Nebraska
21. Texas A&M
22. BYU
23. Boston College
24. Oregon State
25. TCU

The BCS Bowl Games are announced tomorrow. A lot of things can happen, as discussed earlier, will Florida jump Michigan? To any Notre Dame fans relief, the only other at-large teams eligible for a BCS Bowl are Virginia Tech and West Virginia, at least it should be that way by the way things are looking. So basically the Irish are in the BCS, get ready for the haters to complain about that one, even though when you break down the rules there is nothing wrong about this at all. Now lets talk about where everyone will be playing...

National Title:
Ohio State is already there, will Michigan join them or will it be Florida leapfrogging the Wolverines? Really hard to say. Whichever happens will effect the other bowl games in a big way. I just am not sure Urban did enough crying to get the Gators to pass Michigan.
Ohio State vs. Michigan

Rose Bowl:
With USC losing to UCLA, the Trojans title hopes went out the door. However they already did lock up the Pac 10 and will be in the Rose. With the Rose losing tOSU to the title, they will quickly pick up LSU, keeping from a rematch they would have if they selected Notre Dame.
LSU vs. USC

Sugar Bowl:
This one will be tough. Florida could very easily still go to the title game. If they do not, they go to the Sugar since they were the SEC Champ. If they do go to Glendale then then the Sugar has two spots that go to whoever they want. Since it seems doubtful the pollsters will go Florida's way they will be here and likely play Notre Dame.
Florida vs. Notre Dame

Fiesta Bowl:
This one really seems like the easiest to predict. Oklahoma won the Big XII and gets the automatic berth here while being out west the Fiesta Bowl committee would likely be the best bet to snatch up Boise State.
Oklahoma vs. Boise State

Orange Bowl:
Wake Forest and Louisville both won their conferences and are BCS bound. ACC Champ automatically goes to the Orange (Wake) and there is no room anywhere else for Louisville to be.
Wake Forest vs. Louisville

Theres mine, yours any different?

USC/BCS Shakeup

2006-12-03T03:12:00.000-08:00

Trojans Blow Title Shot

Watching USC lose today did not hurt me at all. Surprise, surprise. Seeing the Trojans miss out on the national championship game and also witnessing yet another idiot song-girl celebrate an opponents score made me smile from ear to ear. Now I am just growing old of USC fans making excuses.

For Pete's sake, if the grass is longer on the field, it not only slows your team down but it also slows your opposition down as well. Someone needs to break that to USC fans though, I have never heard a group of fans make more excuses for a loss, honestly.

With this loss the BCS just got that much more complicated. So does Michigan get a rematch in the national championship now or does Florida go to the title? I've been saying all along that Michigan had their chance at the championship already and missed out by losing at tOSU. Florida went the year losing just one game in the toughest conference from top to bottom.

I wasn't a real believer in Florida for a long time and even after tonight I'm still not. However I honestly feel that they deserve a shot to play for the national title. On paper I don't feel that match up well with tOSU, but thats why they play the games. Michigan already had their chance, let the SEC Champs play for the title.

Top 10/BCS Predictions

2006-12-01T12:53:00.000-08:00

Has been a little slow after the loss to USC, took a few days for me to come out of hiding. As I said before, so heres my top 10...

1. Ohio State
2. USC
3. Florida
4. Michigan
5. LSU
6. Wisconsin
7. Louisville
8. Boise State
9. Arkansas
10. Oklahoma
11. Notre Dame

Irish fall quite a bit, however I will say this for them. Both of their two losses were blowouts, but really it wasn't the other team (Michigan and USC) necessarily making the plays. Don't get me wrong both of them played well in their wins but it was as much on the Irish for not playing well. I mean against Michigan if the first drive of the game doesn't result in a pick-6 and if Rhema catches the 4th down pass on the first drive of the game against the Trojans, both are entirely different ballgames. What I'm trying to say is that 47-21 and 44-42 aren't necessarily fair representations of this team.

Everyone else seems to be projecting the big bowl games this January so here goes my shot...

Orange:
Georgia Tech vs. Louisville

Fiesta:
Oklahoma vs. Boise State

Rose:
Michigan vs. LSU

Sugar:
Notre Dame vs. Florida

National Title:

Ohio State vs. USC

More SC

2006-11-22T07:03:00.000-08:00

Is USC really as great as they're being out to be? I honestly don't think so. Grant it the Trojans are much like the Irish in that they play down to the level of the competition on a pretty regular basis. However Notre Dame's three close calls this year that they escaped were against Georgia Tech (Possible ACC Champ), Michigan State (always close), and UCLA (major turning point of season).

When we look at USC they barely escaped with wins against Washington State, Washington, and Arizona State before finally losing at Oregon State. I believe as little in margin of victory as one possibly can, but come on. You would figure one time in a month that this team would have shown up and played to their full potential. Maybe they really aren't as good as they're being made out to be as little as ESPN would like to think so.

Daily Dose...

2006-11-20T12:38:00.000-08:00

"This past Saturday night, USC faced the most talented offensive team it will face this year (yes, Notre Dame is not as talented as the Bears). "

That was taken from WeAreSC.com. Don't believe me? Look for the article here yourself. I was unaware that Cal had such a great offense. I'll hand it to Marshawn Lynch, but let's face it, nobody in the Pac 10 plays defense. Just look how outstanding the Bears played in Rocky Top this season.

I really hope that the Trojans think they are just going to roll on Saturday Night. In case they didn't get the memo, Ty Willingham isn't coaching the Irish anymore. Instead he's at Washington, and he came within the last play of the game of beating the Men of Troy this season.

With a loss at Oregon State, and wins just sneaking by both Washington and Washington State, the Trojans are a damn beatable team. I'm tired of hearing how much better than the Irish the Trojans are. You watch ESPN and they're basically writing us off, not really giving us a chance in this ballgame. I guess we'll just have to wait and see.

What does Pete Carroll have to say about it you ask?

BCS Update

2006-11-19T16:13:00.000-08:00

Interesting that Michigan does not fall a spot in any of the polls. Do I agree with it? Not necessarily, and heres why.

Michigan is the second best team in the nation right now, but they have had their chance to beat #1 and were unable to do so. Since Michigan already had their chance, the winner of the SEC or USC deserve their shot at things. What makes Michigan more deserving of a national title berth than USC? Or Florida? Notice I did not say Notre Dame. I feel they are more deserving than the Irish because of the head to head outcome (if I didn't say this than I would no longer be able to complain about 1993). However Michigan had their chance at the Buckeyes. Until Florida, USC, and Arkansas all lose again I feel the Skunk bears should have to take their number and wait in line for a rematch.

Now to my weekly top 10...

1. Ohio State
2. USC
3. Florida
4. Michigan
5. Notre Dame
6. Arkansas
7. Louisville
8. LSU
9. West Virginia
10. Wisconsin

Ohio State showed me that they are deserving of the #1 ranking this weekend, I don't really expect any argument, unless you're a Boise State fan. I ranked the rest of the teams based on their deserving of the national championship berth.

USC right now has the best case I would have to believe. They have "impressive wins" over Cal and at Arkansas. Now they still have games against Notre Dame and at UCLA, two games I'm not so sure about for the Trojans, but if they run the table they should be #2.

Florida would have an impressive resume as well if they run the table. Winning the SEC Conference is a lot to say in itself, and then also having a big win over Western Carolina. I guess LSU could have been a better example there.

Michigan does not deserve to be in the national championship game any more than either of these two teams. They had their chance against Ohio State and came up just short. If Michigan fans want to complain about things if they don't get a rematch in the national title don't come crying to me. Instead bring it up with that defense your prided yourselves on all year, that defense that allowed over 500 yards of offense this weekend.

In other news Troy Smith basically wrapped up the Heisman Trophy this weekend. He proved himself to me this weekend and I will admit that he is more deserving of the trophy than Brady Quinn. Probably a good thing for Quinn's future, seeing nearly all Heisman winners have been busts in the pros in recent year. I am sure Brady won't be too upset with being the #1 or #2 pick in April's draft and a multi-million dollar signing bonus to go along with it. Not a bad consolation prize, Mr. Quinn.

We'll get to my predictions of how the BCS will turn out later on in the week.

Simply Said...

2006-11-19T10:26:00.000-08:00

It's USC Week.

OSU/Michigan

2006-11-18T16:50:00.000-08:00

So I just got done watching the fourth or fifth "Game of the Century" of this century and it was pretty close to living up to the expectations. The two teams played and in all honesty, Michigan just didn't deserve to win. They didn't capitalize off of turnovers like they did against the Irish, and then allowed over 500 yards offense. Still a solid game though. However, when going to the bathroom after the game I noticed something that looked very familiar, like I had just seen it on the TV or something...

Could it be????

I would like to think that the one on top is what less pieces of crap call home.

Senior Day

2006-11-17T23:52:00.000-08:00

In my Irish history books (which dates back to roughly 1991 if you're wondering) I do not remember a class of players that went through so much in their four years under the Golden Dome. They came in as Ty Willingham's first real recruiting class and had a lot of hype around them.

In their freshman seasons expectations were high at Notre Dame but Willingham and his staff did would became a custom during his three year run and that is underachieve. Take a team that was in a New Years Day Bowl one year, and finish with a 5-6 record the next. This was also the year of embarrassing losses at home to Florida State and USC. This year was awful from the start but for some reason I was optimistic coming into '04.

Those dreams were quickly dashed as BYU took it to us the first week of the season. That showed how effective Ty Willingham was at Notre Dame, putting up a lonely 10 points on the offensive side of the ball while Preston Jackson returned a pick for a score. This year featured an upset win against Michigan the next week, where we were able to see what can happen when Brady is allowed to air it out a little bit. Embarrassing losses at home to Pitt and BC summed this season up as it was luckily Willingham's last in the Bend.

Then came last year. After it seemed like nobody wanted the Notre Dame job it really looked like these young men were going to be left for dead. Instead Charlie Weis came in with these players with what was called no talent, and was dubbed by the national media as a team that would be lucky to make it to a bowl game. I would like to think that the team did a ton of growing up over this off season and really found out what Notre Dame football is all about. It was great to see us have a Heisman Trophy contender once again as well as a berth in the BCS.

Then this year started off with high expectations, only to see our dreams of a national title taken away in week three against Michigan. However with this team growing week in and week out, they are well within reason to think they have a chance at a National Title Berth. Its hard to believe but the four years with these young men is just about up.

When they run out of that tunnel for the last time tomorrow I honestly might shed a tear. I am young myself, but I feel like I have watched this specific group of boys mature into men. Maybe its because they are just about the same age as me and I remember like yesterday, being at the Blue/Gold game in 2003, standing around the Joyce Center with the likes of Brady Quinn, and Tom Zbikowski before they were who they are today. Seeing these kids, almost on an orientation day so to say, then going through the same thing myself a year later. I realize that I'm getting older too. I don't know. All I know is that it is going to be a long time until we have another class go through Notre Dame and go through what this class went through.

Congratulations on finally returning the Irish to Glory. Good Luck Class of '07, its been a hell of a run, and it sure isn't over just yet.

Irish 44 Army 10

BuckNuts

2006-11-17T23:06:00.000-08:00

width="425">Its official. I hate Ohio State fans more than any fans in the country. Good lord, this guy epitomizes everything that is wrong with tOSU. The only word he knows to say is the "F" bomb. Impressive Columbus, must be that stellar vocabulary they teach in your schools. You may call Michigan fans dumb, and I may not think the most of them, but you make them all look like Einstien buddy.

RIP - Bo Schembechler 1929-2006
-Good luck telling God how much you hate Notre Dame while looking him in the eye.

Who do I Want to Play?

2006-11-16T10:17:00.000-08:00

There are really two teams I would love to see in a bowl game, but I don't really think either is going to happen. Florida and Michigan would be the two teams, but I'm not so sure that either will happen.

I want to play Michigan for the fact that they came into Notre Dame Stadium and flat out embarrassed the Irish. Are they the better team right now? You can't really argue that but we are better than we showed in that game and I would like to get some respect back for it. However we would have to be in the National Title game in order for this to occur.

The Gators are the other team that I would love to see in a bowl game. If Ohio State/Michigan is a very close game a rematch could take place in the national title. That would set the Gators up to be in the Sugar Bowl if they won the SEC Championship.

If there was anyone else that I would really like on this list it would be Texas. I have said they were overrated since day one of the football season and I would love to see Brady Quinn march the Irish offense all over their overhyped D. This is just about impossible seeing as long as Texas finishes the year Big XII champs, they'll be in the Fiesta Bowl most likely playing an unbeaten Boise State team, who they would likely murder.

Other than those three there really isn't a team I would really like to play. There would be some interesting match ups, say Arkansas for example. Mitch Mustain against the coach that didn't really have a spot for him. Ohio State, but there is really no chance of that seeing they will be in either Pasadena or the National Title.

Whatever the case, it looks like we're in good shape for the BCS, win or lose against SC. Until next time, I'm keeping my fingers crossed that the planets align and we somehow get that spot in the title game against Michigan.

Carlson Out

2006-11-13T13:12:00.000-08:00

Its been reported that Tight End John Carlson will miss the remainder of the regular season. Carlson has turned a lot of heads this year, replacing Anthony Fasano. Marcus Freeman will pick up most of the load with Carlson out, while Konrad Reuland and Will Yeatman currently are listed right behind him on the depth chart, so expect to see both of them against Army and USC the next two weeks.

Carlson had 46 receptions for 621 yards and 4 scores this season. Coach Weis didn't rule out the possibility that John would be back in the bowl game saying, ‘’I'm being practical saying it’s a long shot that we’ll have him back for USC,” said Coach Charlie Weis, “but we’ll have him back for whatever game we end up playing at the end of the season.'’

Bad break for the Irish but I don't the loss will hurt as much as some may expect. Freeman doesn't have quite the same ability to be as much as a throwing target as Carlson, but he is a solid blocker.

Playoff

2006-11-13T00:10:00.000-08:00

So my roommate turns 21 today, happy birthday to him. But that's not the reason for this post.

"Maybe we will win a game this year"
Is what is written under Omar Jenkins in my calendar from 2005. Clever, shmucks.

Instead the shmuck on the left made a rather intelligent point when discussing the college football playoff system today. He's a Michigan fan over the past 3 years we have very nearly come to blows the second week of September.

However he made a very good point earlier this evening. If the NCAA were to instill a college football playoff it would take away from the game. And I quote him by saying "Ohio State/Michigan would mean absolutely nothing if there was a college football playoff".

He couldn't anymore right. Honestly, if there were a playoff this game would be just like the NFL is in the final weeks of its season. All the stars would be on the bench making sure they didn't get hurt in a game between two teams with their playoff lives assured.

So Kudos to him for being one of the seemingly less and less people that agree with me that college football does not need a playoff system.

In other news I feel confident that my "ND Wall" has taken over the "Big House Corner" in our room. See for yourself...

It's a miracle that one of us hasn't killed the other, Happy Birthday.

Top 10/Heisman

2006-11-12T22:28:00.000-08:00

Well, I got bashed for saying that Louisville wasn't the third best team in the nation after beating West Virginia last week. I guess I'm the idiot, I apologize to you all. I also apologize for blowing smoke up all your asses about how Rutgers knock them off this week.

Anyway, a weekend full of upsets and realignment in my top 10. Without any further a dew...

1. Michigan
2. Ohio State
3. Notre Dame
4. USC
5. Arkansas
6. Florida
7. Rutgers
8. Louisville
9. Wisconsin
10. Wake Forest

Wow, talk about a shakeup. I have some explaining to do so here we go with that...

-Michigan over Ohio State, as I explained last week I feel Michigan has done more to deserve the ranking than tOSU has this season. Without preseason rankings, this is what all polls would show.

-Notre Dame #3? I know I have them jumping over Florida but my reason for that is Florida does not look like a real title contender right now. Major problems getting by South Carolina this week. Notre Dame struggled early in the year against lesser opponents and has gotten better, Florida has seemed to struggle more as the year has progressed.

-Arkansas comes sailing up the charts, up 3 spots from last week. Sure Tennessee was a beat up, but the Razorbacks are getting better as the year goes on. Had they not lost to USC in week 1, I would have them over the Trojans as well.

-Rutgers 7th. If they win out I will tell you that they deserve to be in the National Championship game. We'll discuss that if it happens now, they still have to travel to Morganstown to finish the regular season. For now they are just better than Louisville.

-Wisconsin. Wow. Wisconsin I thought could surprise some teams this year, based soley on their defense. I thought the Badgers made a smart move with the coaching change this year, but I didn't expect things to go quite this smooth. A Wisconsin team with their only loss being in the Big House deserves to be in the top 10.

-Wake Forest. Yes, I am aware that the ACC is down this year but you have to give credit where credit is due. Wake has come from nowhere and is within one play in the Clemson game of being unbeaten right now. I think they are a notch below most of the rest of the top 10, but still worthy of a top 10 ranking.

Heisman:
The Heisman Trophy can be won or lost this weekend as Ohio State hosts Michigan. If Troy Smith plays well and the Buckeyes win you can pretty much inscribe his name on the coveted award. However if he falters (which he very well might do), Brady Quinn will have a golden opportunity next week to showcase himself against USC.

I am bothered that Mike Hart is not being brought up at all for the award. ESPN.com has Colt McCoy and Colt Brennan rated above him in their Heisman poll this week, something I really don't understand. Maybe its because Hart is not as flashy as other backs, but in my opinion hes one of the four or five best offensive players in the college game today, as he has shown this entire season while rushing for 1300+ and 11 scores...and not fumbling once.

Could it be?

2006-11-12T14:14:00.000-08:00

We went into this weekend ranked #9 in the nation, with most teams having three games left in their seasons. A ridiculous amount of things would have to happen in order for the Irish to get a national championship berth, its not possible. I even laughed to myself whenever I would hear an announcer say that Notre Dame still has BCS Title hopes.

Well, I have to say after yesterday that the Irish hopes are not looking all that faint. If Notre Dame wins out (Army, @USC) and Florida loses one game (Western Carolina, FSU, SEC Championship) then Notre Dame will be #3 in most of the polls. Michigan and Ohio State battle next week and it will be hard for one of them to maintain their position in the polls coming off of a loss. It rarely happens and I somewhat have trouble believing that the BCS would put their championship in the hands of one conference.

Really seems like it could be a very sweet end to the season after it started off so poorly.

Air Force

2006-11-11T09:15:00.000-08:00

It looks like the snow/sleet is going to hold off later on in Colorado Springs today which should be good news for the Irish offense. We shouldn't have to rely as much on the running game today as would have had to been bad conditions.

I keep trying to tell myself that we should roll in this one because its Air Force. For some reason we just have never really been able to blow out the Air Force Academy, no matter how much better of a team we have had. This week I just keep thinking about how they came within a two-point conversion of upsetting Tennessee in Rocky Top.

I expect this afternoon to be quite a bit like when we played Navy two weeks ago. The Air Force offense is good, but after seeing it for two or three possessions, it is a lot easier to defend. I expect our defense to be able to do that and slow down the Falcons running game sometime starting in the second quarter.

Offensively, Erik Ainge was able to throw for 333 yards against Air Force earlier this year, while completing 24 of 29 passes with 3 scores. Erik Ainge is no Brady Quinn and the Tennessee receiving core is nowhere near the talent level of Samardzija, McKnight, and Carlson. Brady should have a pretty big day as it appears he's finally getting going after the past few weeks.

On defense the Irish will stack the line against Air Force, probably having 8 or 9 guys in the box on most occasions. Also I would expect to see Shaun Carney, the fleet footed quarterback for AF be spied most of the afternoon, because he can be lethal if he gets outside the the tackles.

I think both teams will exchange a couple of scores early on but I really expect the Irish to pull away in this one in the second half.

ND 38 Air Force 17

Irish Sign 2

2006-11-09T22:53:00.000-08:00

So the Irish have shown that they're alive and well in recruiting after the last two days, signing two recruits in Emeka Nwankwo and Greg Little.

Nwankwo could help fill in for the loses on the offensive line. Most likely won't compete for a starting job as a freshman but will benefit from a year or two in the program before he really contributes. He doesn't come in with as much hype as others in the class will come in with, but is from the same county as Irish freshman Sam Young. We will see what Nwankwo turns into, obviously he has some talent as Auburn, Florida State, and Florida among others were all chasing him.

Greg Lee comes in after declaring last month that his race was down to Notre Dame and North Carolina. After he realized UNC didn't want him for basketball he chose ND. Lee seems like a football player that can play any position he desires to when you see him. He plays running back, wide out, and linebacker now. Perhaps another Travis Thomas in the making? We shall see. For now I'm happy that both these young men chose Notre Dame.

Just too bad for Arrelious Benn. The star high school reciever from Washington DC chose the Illinois Fighting Illini as his college football choice today. I hate to bash a kid making a decision, because he's 18 years old and maybe for what he's looking for, Illinois is just a better fit. However, I just hope he realized how Ron Zook compares to Charlie Weis when it comes to preparing college football players for the NFL.

Rutgers/Louisville

2006-11-08T23:43:00.000-08:00

Last week everyone made a huge deal about the Louisville/West Virginia game. This week, Louisville may actually have a tougher task at hand though. They travel to Rutgers this Thursday night, in a game they must win in order to keep their national title hopes alive.

Louisville winning this game would mean more to me than their win last week against WV.

First off the Cardinals are coming off an emotional high. Very few teams are able to win huge games in back to back weeks. We saw it with Florida earlier in the year, defeating LSU at home one week, but then traveling to Auburn and falling seven days later.

Rutgers actually plays defense, allowing just over 9 points a game. As long as Rutgers doesn't let Louisville get off to a quick start, this game should go just about to the wire. Without falling behind early, it will enable the Scarlet Knights to give Ray Rice the ball and we saw last week how Louisville was at stopping the run.

With that said, can Rutgers really win? Are we really talking about Rutgers being a possible BCS/National Title contender? Good lord, this really does seem like something out of a dynasty in NCAA.

Remember that Rutgers didn't play last week, and has had nearly two weeks to get ready for this game. Did I just talk myself into picking the Scarlet Knights?

I'm afraid so. Louisville's national championship dreams end here...

Rutgers 23 Louisville 19

Solid back? Yes. Heisman? Don't push your luck, Jersey.

So Nice to See You

2006-11-06T15:32:00.000-08:00

Is a higher power trying to get me to be an OU fan or what?!?!

ND - UNC

2006-11-06T11:34:00.000-08:00

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.

Gatorade?

2006-11-05T22:39:00.000-08:00

What exactly does Temple put in their Gatorade coolers? I know some teams change the pace a little bit from time to time and put water in the cooler, but according to this guy, the Owls try something else. Maybe this is why they hadn't won in 20 games...

The quote comes toward the end of the clip, but try not to skip over the blocked punt. Its pretty god damn ridiculous as well.

Just thought I would also throw in my two sense about Temple sharing the Philadelphia Eagles facility for home football games. You might want to consider renting out a local high school, I have a feeling it might be a little cheaper and actually appear to be half full.

This Week

2006-11-05T12:41:00.000-08:00

Not the biggest of games this weekend, but still another solid week in the college football world. Atop the rankings Ohio State's offense didn't put up as many points as they were expected to against Illinois, but they did hold the Illini scoreless. At a first glance Michigan will look to have appeared to struggle against Ball State, but most of the Cardinals points were scored late in the game against a second string defense. These are still the best two teams in the country.

How good is Louisville?

They allowed 540 yards of offense against West Virginia. Let me repeat myself, 5-4-0, five hundred forty. Yes. That many and they still won. They have a great offense but a very shaky D. A top 5 team? Their record alone gets them the #3 ranking in the AP Poll this week, but I honestly feel that they can play with 3 teams in the top 10: #10 West Virginia (they beat), #9 Notre Dame (because of defensive miss-matches), and #5 Auburn (because of their one dimensional offense).

Is Ohio State worthy of a unanimous #1 ranking?

In all honesty, if you don't come out with rankings until this week in the year, I feel that Michigan would be the #1 team in the nation. Ohio State beat an over hyped Texas team and a disappointing Iowa team. Grant it they have blown out who they were supposed to blow out, but as for this year I have been far more impressed with the Wolverines. Michigan has a just flat out nasty defense and have the most impressive win of the year so far. However, since tOSU started #1 and have not lost, all pollsters will leave them there.

Hold off on putting Troy Smith's name on the Heisman Trophy...

What exactly has Troy Smith done to win the Heisman this year? He manages the offense for the #1 team in the nation. He has been good, yes, but not head and shoulders above everyone else? Beware though Troy. Brady Quinn and Mike Hart are looking in your eye in your rear view mirror. One slip and depending on how Hart does against Ohio State and Quinn does against USC, one of those two may very well walk away with the coveted trophy.

Weekly Top 10:
I'm changing the top of my poll now. As I said previously, Michigan has shown me more this season than has Ohio State. Therefore...
1. Michigan
2. Ohio State
3. Auburn
4. Florida
5. Notre Dame
6. Louisville
7. USC
8. Cal
9. Arkansas
10. Texas

There Longhorns. Congrats, you made my top 10. Where's West Virginia? Oh yea, they got killed destroyed and didn't win like many of you guaranteed to me. At least we don't have to hear them bitch about not getting a shot at a national title anymore.

You can make the case the Louisville should be higher and it is a solid debate. I just feel that still the majority of the Top 10 would take them down in head-to-head matchups.

That's all for now. If you see my roommate, give him a hug. He opened a sports book account this weekend and things haven't gone as planned so far.

WV/Louisville

2006-11-02T23:46:00.000-08:00

As stated before, Michigan or Ohio State will win easily in the national title if matched up against the Big East Champ. Good lord. Louisville's run game is damn good, not good enough to compete with Michigan or Ohio State though.

Having to out slug your opponents can only get you so far. In order to win a national title, you have to have an above average defense at worse. Louisville doesn't come anywhere near that. Their defense will not keep them in the game against Ohio State or Michigan. That is if they can get by Rutgers next week.

Everyone all of a sudden thinks the Big East deserves a lot of credit for having two top 5 teams. Well guess what, neither deserves to be there. I'm just happy that Louisville went out and proved my right tonight. I think I'm one of about 8 people outside of the Bluegrass State that actually had the Redbirds as the better team, with or without Michael Bush.

John Carlson

2006-10-30T21:51:00.000-08:00

Before this year a lot of people looked at Notre Dame's offense and thought a lot about, with good reason. However, if one question was brought up, it involved what kind of production the Irish would get at the tight end position with Anthony Fasano leaving early for the NFL Draft.

I didn't feel it was the smartest of moves by Fasano, but he has done alright in Dallas for a rookie playing behind Jason Witten, one of the best tight ends in the NFL. John Carlson really did not have any hype coming into the year, with much reason. Before this season he had career numbers of only 13 receptions for a grand total of 87 yards and one touchdown.

Its safe to say he has been a pleasant surprise this year, as he has as good of numbers as just about any tight end in college football. Also, remember he has more receiving yards than a certain Samardzija fellow so far through the season.

I know he doesn't seem to be that flashy at the position, but numbers indicate that he's as good as any in college football this season. Could it be possible to see him as a finalist/winner of the John Mackey award? Also let me know what you think of his potential draft status. With every other team seeming to draft a tight end on the first day last season, there really isn't as much of a need for tight ends this coming spring. However, there also isn't going to be a lot at the position to choose from, so would Carlson likely go on day 1?

That's all in the future, for now I am just pleased with the way John has gone out and played. He's caught key passes all season; without him against Michigan State, the game is a loss for sure. Here's to a guy on the offense that won't get as much press as the others, but definitely deserves to.

Holy Temple!

2006-10-29T21:31:00.000-08:00

It's over, all over. Finally, after 20 straight losses, Temple defeated Bowling Green 28-14 on Saturday to snap the losing streak.

Somewhere Bill Cosby is bathing in JELLO.

That's Kinda Gay

2006-10-29T21:27:00.000-08:00

Pay attention to what is said here, especially right about the 27/28 second mark. I have a feeling someone might be getting in a little bit of trouble.

Top 10

2006-10-29T19:23:00.000-08:00

This week's top 10. Doing an entire top 25 is just too hard for me. I can't judge a correct top 25 by respectfully seeing all the teams play, therefore a top 10 is a helluva lot more manageable.

1. Ohio State
2. Michigan
3. Auburn
4. Florida
5. Notre Dame
6. Tennessee
7. Louisville
8. California
9. USC
10. Arkansas

No Texas. No West Virginia. Either of these teams have done anything to prove to me that they deserve to be in the top 10. West Virginia can be contained by simply forcing Pat White to throw the ball. Syracuse was able to do it for a while, get a real team out there like Michigan or Ohio State and it will be all night long. The Mountaineers as I said before, will struggle to have 14 pts on tOSU or Michigan.

Texas has yet to show me anything either. Beat an Oklahoma team who is down, barely escaped against Texas Tech and Nebraska. See the prior post for more about them.

Who Benefits most by USC's loss?
I think in all honesty, the Big East champ. Is West Virginia or Louisville honestly the second best team in the nation? Not a snow balls chance in hell. But one should be unbeaten at the end of the regular season and will most likely be the opponent for Michigan/Ohio State on January 8th.

It should also be noted that I feel Notre Dame is stung the most by the Trojans loss. The Irish really wanted and needed USC to be unbeaten when the teams meet in Notre Dame's regular season finale. Now, even though USC is the same team they were one week ago, Notre Dame will not get a quality win for beating the Trojans on the road.

Texas and Others...

2006-10-29T17:39:00.000-08:00

Now why when Texas has to rally late in a game to win against an unranked team (that lost to Colorado, mind you) do they move up in the rankings, but when Notre Dame does it, they fall a few spots? I am aware that USC lost so that is reason for the Horns to move past the Men of Troy. However, this is two weeks in a row that Texas has struggled to get by. Don't tell me that Nebraska is that great of a team either, look what they did this weekend against Oklahoma State.

Now what do I think will happen with Texas the rest of the way? A very favorable schedule as Texas A&M is the only ranked opponent they will face until the Big XII Championship game. Perhaps they will face Nebraska again, but even if they do Texas will still win the Big XII, granting them a berth to the BCS.

Winning the Big XII would seal the deal for Texas to go to the Fiesta Bowl, as that is where the Big XII Champion will go. Who will they face? It will be an at-large qualifier to the BCS. With the Fiesta Bowl having the last pick in At Large teams this season, that will most likely be Boise State.

The Broncos should finish up the season unbeaten, as Nevada is their toughest opponent still to play. Boise State is an alright team, don't get me wrong. They however are not among the college football elite. As overrated as Texas is, the Horns should still blow Boise State out of the water, making the Longhorns appear a helluva lot better than they really are.

BITE ME!

2006-10-26T23:16:00.000-07:00

That's exactly what happened last week in Neyland Stadium. I have a new found respect for UT after reading the following on ESPN.com

Smokey IX, Tennessee's bluetick coonhound mascot, has been accused of biting an Alabama player before last week's game at Neyland Stadium.

Crimson Tide receiver Mike McCoy fell on the 3-year-old dog during pregame warmups after jumping out of bounds for a pass near where Smokey was standing with the cheerleaders.

What the dog did next is up for some debate. Alabama coach Mike Shula says Smokey bit the player. Smokey's owner says he didn't. As for Smokey, he only howls.

My question immediately is, why can't more mascots be like that? I don't want this loveable icon that kids can associate with my school. I would much rather have something that intimidates my opponent.

Is there something wrong about that? I truly don't think that there is. Make my place intimidating to hell to come play at, beginning with my mascot.

This Weekend

2006-10-26T22:52:00.000-07:00

This weekend pretty much sucks for College Football. One matchup between ranked opponents as it will be Missouri hosting Oklahoma.

Talk about two teams on the fall. Missouri looked excellent a couple of weeks ago, but with a loss in Aggieland two weekends ago, this team was exposed. They will catch a break that Adrian Peterson will not play, but I still don't think I like their chances. Going with the 1.5 pt dog in this one...

Oklahoma 24 Mizzou 20

Notre Dame travels to Baltimore to take on Navy this weekend. 42 in a row for the Irish but this one still concerns me. We have not been able to stop the run this year and, well, Navy kind of likes to run the ball if you couldn't tell. However, the Irish will come into this one with a chip on their shoulder I think. Offense was embarrassed last week against UCLA, needing a last minute touchdown to seal the deal. I think the offense will come out firing, but who knows what to expect defensively for Notre Dame. I would bet on an early score or two by the Naval Academy before the Irish defense eventually slows them down.

Notre Dame 31 Navy 14

And the game of the week is one that I will be broadcasting. Unranked North Central College enters with a 5-2 record while Augustana (24 recieving votes) enters with a 5-2 mark, both losses however coming against non-conference opponents. Its supposed to get nasty out this weeekend...Sleet, snow, rain. Not good for a team with that lines up in the shotgun each down. Augustana will embarrass a Cardinal defense that can't stop the run.

Augustana 28 North Central 10

Who the hell are these teams you ask? I go to school at North Central and will be broadcasting the game live at 2:00 PM Saturday. Listen to me live if you like on WONC.

Clemson

2006-10-26T22:33:00.000-07:00

Clemson was a team that I was talking about in the last poll, when I was complaining (justifiably so I might add) about Notre Dame falling in the rankings. A few people have brought up the fact that Clemson had an easier team defeating Georgia Tech than the Irish did. I tried telling them that this doesn't necessairly mean that Clemson is better than Notre Dame. Did they listen?

I doubt it.
Virginia Tech did the Hokie Pokie all night tonight, running Clemson right out of Blacksburg. Now I'm aware that James Davis did not play, but the Tigers just aren't that good. The ACC is down this year, way down. Noone in there deserves to be in the top 10.

I guess it's too late to come up with a poll for last week from 1-25, so let's just go with a quick top 10 here.

Nothing changes at the top, 1-3 are pretty solidified, until one is beaten, this won't most likely change...
1. Ohio State
2. Michigan
3. USC

The next set is the ND/SEC region of my top 10...
4. Auburn
5. Florida
6. Notre Dame
7. Tennessee
I feel that Auburn is still the best out of these teams, their beating of Florida giving them the nod just ahead of the Gators. Notre Dame ahead of Tennessee? The Vols looked shaky against Alabama (as ND did against UCLA) but also with a tough road ahead, expect another loss or two for Rocky Top.

Rounding out the top 10...
8. Cal
9. Louisville
10. Arkansas
Cal took abuse for a tough loss week one at Tennessee, since then they have been lights out. Just make sure to look out for them and Marshawn Lynch in golf carts...

Louisville has struggled a lot lately and I am becoming less and less impressed with them each week. Arkansas is just kind of there, but you can't argue what they have done. Sure a lopsided defeat to USC to start off the year, but a win over Auburn makes them worthy of a top 10 spot in my book. Tough road ahead for them as LSU and Tennessee still sit waiting.

Why no Texas in the top 10? They are one fumble away from having a second loss. I was not that impressed with Nebraska, and entirely disagree when I'm told they are back as a power in college football. You're time will come Huskers, but right now you're still a notch down. And so is Texas.

2006-10-24T20:50:00.000-07:00

Margain of victory is an absolute joke. Are you telling me that looking at the difference in scores between common foes means which team is better than the other? I really hope you said no.

Just a quick example here. Michigan beat Notre Dame 47-21 way back in September. Notre Dame beat Penn State the week before that, 41-17. Michigan just beat Penn State 17-10 a few weeks ago. Because Michigan doesn't have a loss but the Irish do, that means that Michigan keeps their rank ahead of the Irish and deservedly so. According to so manys theories that the margain of victory shows who a better team is, you people are idiots. Look no further than the 2002 Ohio State Buckeyes. Rarely a game didn't come down to the final few minutes and they wound up being national champs.

I'm trying to figure how Notre Dame continues to drop in the polls myself. Tennessee plays the exact same kind of game against Alabama that the Irish play against UCLA, but the Vols jump over ND. Also Florida has the week off and jumps the Irish. Kind of hard for a team that doesn't have a game to impress me more one week than one that goes out and wins a tough game.

And to those that think Notre Dame is making all their opponents look great. I couldn't disagree more. UCLA is a solid defense, and with most of these games coming against the Pac-10 where offense is all that seems to be game-planned for, its more impressive of a defense for me.

Go on, hate the Irish, but they will be in the BCS for the second year in a row this season. Can't wait to hear you all complain when that happens.

Top 25

2006-10-19T11:32:00.000-07:00

So I forgot to do my Top 25 this week, real smooth, I know. Anyway, here we go with this weeks which really should have been up on Monday at the latest. Before you go on and look, let me remind you that I will never punish a team for losing to a formidable foe. Now barely sneaking by a joke opponent, thats reason for a loss in the polls.

1. Ohio State
2. Michigan
3. USC
4. Auburn
5. Florida
6. Notre Dame
7. Tennessee
8. Louisville
9. Cal
10. Clemson
11. Georgia Tech
12. Texas
13. LSU
14. Arkansas
15. West Virginia
16. Oregon
17. Wisconsin
18. Boise State
19. Nebraska
20. The State College of New Jersey
21. Boston College
22. Oklahoma
23. Texas A&M
24. Missouri
25. Pittsburgh

Quite a difference from last week, I know. One might immediately notice how far West Virginia fell, and that is because I actually saw them play an entire game for the first time all season today. It's a good thing that they play all Big East opponents because a team with any talent whatsoever on defense would shut the Mount-me-men down entirely. Honestly, spy White so he can't get out of the pocket and run blitz the hell out of them to slow down Slaton. Pat White will lose any game he is forced to throw the ball in, trust me. Inside of me I really want to see West Virginia lose a game that they should probably win, but another part of me wants to see them match up against an actual defense like that of Michigan or Ohio State. 14 points might be a stretch to what they put on the scoreboard. The same goes for Louisville. They could barely sneak by Cincinnati, if they make it to a BCS bowl, also a team whos offense will be shut down entirely.

Also I gave some love to the SEC this week, although the three teams from there in my top 10 all have one loss. As I said last week, Auburn would, and did beat Florida. Theres not a doubt in my mind the better team won that game. Right now I feel that Tennessee is playing the best football in that conference, but with a loss at the hand of the Gators its impossible to rank them ahead of Florida or Auburn.

The rest stayed quite a bit the same. Also, I apologize to the State University of New Jersey. I doubted them and they went out and destroyed the Naval Academy. Maybe they are actually a little better than I gave them credit for. Live it up Scarlet Knights fans (if your kind actually do exsist), Greg Schiano will be in Coral Gables next year.

And finally, I am really hopping on one teams bandwagon as the year has gone on. I thought that the Wisconsin Badgers defense was going to be solid this season, but I really felt that their lack of offense would hurt them. John Stucco and PJ Hill have really stepped up, making the Badgers a shoe in for a New Years Day bowl this year with the favorable remaining schedule they have this year. Is it possible for a conference to have 3 BCS representitives? We may find out.

Coach Weis

2006-10-18T22:01:00.000-07:00

"Everyone knows I'm staying here until they fire me or I die. I'm here for life."

-- Charlie Weis

Interesting quote, Coach. Does this mean you don't plan to retire? It will be neat to see how this plays out in the future. With Weis being 50 that would mean 29 years until he reaches JoePa's age. This past offseason Kirk Herbstreit made the comment that Notre Dame had what will turn out to be its worst season under Weis' tenure. So potentially losing a BCS game is the worst we will do in 29 years at least...I might be exaggerating things just a little bit but that wouldn't be too bad.

However a friend of mine did leave me a letter. I guess someone didn't get the memo about the newest manlaw:

"Thou shall not call the the oppositions head coach fat or their starting quaterback gay. Both are unoriginal and make you sound and look like an idiot."

Hilarious. No, really it is.

UCLA

2006-10-18T08:55:00.000-07:00

The Bruins come a calling this Saturday in their first trip to South Bend since I've been alive. UCLA is just the kind of team that Charlie Weis has loved to matchup against during his tenure at Notre Dame. They have an average offense, nothing striking really about them. Instead their defense is what will be the difference maker. Not because of how it is great, but because it is much like ours when it comes to preventing the big play.

Last week Oregon was able to simply march down the field against the Bruins. Does this mean I think Darius Walker will be the key to the Irish win on Saturday? Not neccisairly. Maybe expect him to be a key, but not the key this weekend. I would expect offensively that the Irish will have near a 550 yard day while lighting up the scoreboard for somewhere in the 40's.

Charlie Weis has had two weeks to prep for this game, something that apparantely comes with hosting a team from Los Angeles. Expect the Irish offense to strike early and often in this one and the game to play out much like the battle against Penn State did.

Trying to be "That Guy"

2006-10-17T11:12:00.000-07:00

One of my strange hobbies is going to thrift stores. Maybe not A+F or AE, but dammit I love these places. My favorite part of the last one I was at was some of the jerseys I was able to find...

#77 Brad Culpepper Tampa Bucs Jersey

A ten year vet of the NFL who had stints in with the Bucs and Bears. Also an alum of Florida. Always remember to associate Culpepper with that awful offensive line of the Bucs back in the Dungy Days when the offense was unable to do a damn thing.

-Did not purchase, not a Bucs fan otherwise maybe this would have been one that would have interested me a bit more.

#39 Curtis Enis Chicago Bears Jersey

Oh Curtis. You were supposed to an answer to all the Bears problems at running back. You were going to make us Bears fans forget about the mistake that was Rashaan Salaam. Well done Curtis. I think its safe to say that you're more famous now for changing your number from 39 to 44 than for any accomplishment with the Bears that you had.

-I failed to purchase this one for the simple reason that the numbers were just too faded in order to cough up the three dollars it would have cost me. Had the jersey been in a little better shape then it would have been all mine.

#4 Shawn Kemp Cleveland Cavaliers Jersey

Why did you have to be a youth size 10-12? Dammit. This was a once in a lifetime find. When do you ever find the jersey of the man who likely fathered the most children in NBA history. Then its not even from the team he was prominent all through the 90's on, a reason that the jersey was even a better find.

I only wound up purchasing one jersey this past Saturday. It came from a college football player that was a stud when I was in fourth and fifth grade. Yes, he may be guilty of upsetting the Irish in week one of the 1994 season, but I have let that go. God dammit, this guy has gone on to win multiple academy awards since then.
Yup, I'm talking about Darnell Autry. The Heisman finalist from Northwestern. I know, that doesn't really roll off of the tounge too terribly easy, of course "Big Ten Rose Bowl Representitive Wildcats" doesn't exactly flow nicely. Whatever the case I was damn proud of my find. Bitter jealousness ate me up when one of my friends had this as a kid and I did not. Good news, for my next Jersey and Sneaker Night, I already have my wardrobe picked out...

That and I also can go to a Chicago sporting event now and be one of "those guys" you always see wearing a jersey from about 10+ years ago that makes your eyes water at first sight.

Kirk Herbstreit

2006-10-17T10:08:00.000-07:00

I may hate Ohio State. Yes, ESPN is the only real 24 hour sports station on TV, but I have my moments that I really dislike them too. If you were to mix the two though, somehow something remarkable comes of it...

The man who could have been the illegitimate father of half the state of Ohio residents between the ages of 13-17 now if he had so desired. Never have I agreed with a man about college football more. He's honest and to the point and not a "homer" like so many others in the business. Never have I agreed with someone more then when this happened on Thursday Night Football last week (thanks, Deadspin).

Why do you dance when on the road and down by 17? I agree with you entirely Kirk, I don't care if the game is supposed to be fun. You don't owe anyone an apology for your outburst, you at least have a pair of testicles unlike your partner from Colorado.

Brawl

2006-10-16T10:15:00.000-07:00

What happens when you put Miami's football team out on the same field as a bunch of players that we're smart enough to get into Miami of all places to play football?

Wow. The Canes of the 80's appear to be back and in full force...Besides that whole being good thing.

31 Players (13 UM, 18 FIU) have been suspended as a result of this. My goodness, and Will Smith makes that place seem like somewhere great to go.

Video Game comes to Life

2006-10-15T20:41:00.000-07:00

So yesterday was apparantely a few teams time to do their best NCAA '07 impressions. In two upsets that I thought were only possible in the popular video game, Georgia lost to Vandy and Indiana upset Iowa. Does this make any sense to anyone? I know Iowa was banged up and I've been calling Georgia overhyped all year, but still. Come on Hawkeyes, the Hoosiers lost to the likes of Southern Illinois this season.

Classiness

2006-10-10T11:55:00.000-07:00

You guys have been giving me a hard time in that you feel I think that every school outside of South Bend, Indiana is classless. There are plenty of schools besides Notre Dame that I have respect for, it just happens to be that so far on Notre Dame schedule this year, we are yet to come across any of those teams.

Army-The biggest scandal this school has ever faced was when players were caught cheating on a test...Oh yeah, they were thrown out of school. Nothing but the upmost respect for the Black Knights

Navy-I honestly can't think of any drama that the Naval Academy has drawn besides how they do not tolerate homosexuals. Little known fact, during World War II the Naval Academy actually kept the University of Notre Dame open by sending many midshipmen to school in South Bend.

Air Force - Anyone see a theme yet? The biggest thing that Air Force has ever done is when their coach made a statement about about how race affects the speed of an athlete. Outside of that I have all respect for them as well.

Indiana - The only problem with the Hoosiers is that they had Lee Corso as a coach in the 1980's. My favorite story of him of course being when he was leading Woody Hayes 7-0 in the first quarter one year and he called a time out to take a picture of his team huddled in front of the scoreboard that read "Indiana 7 Ohio State 0". I'm fairly sure that the final score ended up being somewhere in the 40's-7 in favor of tOSU.

Northwestern - The Wildcats don't have the richest of traditions in college football but they run a good, clean program...Outside of the Gary Barnett days.

Tennessee - Phil Fulmer and the Vols have been a stand up program since Fulmer arrived on the scene. You never hear about Tennessee in recruiting violations or anything like that.

Okay, that's just the tip of the iceberg. Vanderbilt, Wisconsin, Iowa, and whole heck of a lot more are on the list. Maybe I'll make a 1-119 rankings one day of teams I like to teams I can not stomach in order.

My Top 25

2006-10-10T09:57:00.000-07:00

Not that it really matters, I've decided to start my own top 25, feel free to let me hear about it.

1. Ohio State
2. Michigan
3. Florida
4. USC
5. Louisville
6. West Virginia
7. Tennessee
8. Notre Dame
9. California
10. Auburn
11. Clemson
12. Texas
13. Georgia Tech
14. LSU
15. Iowa
16. Oregon
17. Georgia
18. Boise State
19. Missouri
20. Arkansas
21. Oklahoma
22. Nebraska
23. Va Tech
24. Navy
25. Wisconsin

Yes, I truly do feel that the two best teams in college football happen to be from the Big Ten. Why not Florida you ask? I still am not entirely sold on the Gators. Both Ohio State and Michigan have gone on the road and absolutley beat the hell out of a good team. Florida really should have lost to Tennessee and LSU lost the game more than Florida won it this past weekend.

Other questions in my poll would possibly be West Virginia being ranked behind Louisville. With Brian Brohm set to comeback I feel that the Cardinals are a little bit stronger than the Moutainmen. We will all see on November 2nd in what promises to be a good one.

Other than that the only two other things I can see people gripping about in my poll is the fact that Texas is #12 and that Navy is included in it. Let me explain my thinking. Texas was a bit overhyped coming into this season, that is the only reason they remain in the top 10 in the current AP and Coaches Polls.

Navy is the other team that I can already hear people saying is not worthy of a top 25 bid. Hold your horses now. The Midshipmen are 5-1 and their only loss is coming to Tulsa by one point. They host Rutgers this week and expect the dream season of the Scarlet Knights to hit a bump because Navy is on their way to yet another bowl game.

Florida Gators

2006-10-09T10:50:00.000-07:00

Go Ahead. Do It. Pencil in the Florida Gators for a national championship berth. By watching ESPN this week its what everyone is ready to do. Do the Gators make up an excellent football team? Yes.

However I was not that impressed with what I saw this weekend from them. LSU didn't show up to play and it showed. If Jamarcus Russell doesn't fumble the ball on the goaline, the Bayou Bengals go up a touchdown and the game is entirely different. However that is not what happened and momentum went in the favor of the Gators in a big, big way.

Looking at Florida's remaining schedule, two or three losses by the end of the regular season is not an exaggeration. Urban Meyer's boys travel to Auburn this weekend, a place where Arkansas just owned the Tigers on Saturday. Does that make Auburn bad though, I do not think so. They fell victim to overlooking Arkansas, looking ahead to the showdown with Florida.

Now I do not feel that Florida will lose three games in the regular season but they won't go unbeaten either. Chalk a loss up this weekend for them in the Jungle. I'm still not quite buying them as a national title team.

Week 6 Recap

2006-10-09T10:33:00.000-07:00

A week six recap. This past week, believe it or not, there were sporting events played that didn't involove the Yankees losing and that also didn't involve teams from the SEC.

Two teams stood out to me this week more than any other two, call me crazy but the Florida Gators are not one of these teams. I thought that LSU kind of lost the game at The Swamp more than Florida so much won it.

I instead was impressed with two teams that played each other in week one, Cal and Tennessee. Tennessee is within one play of being unbeaten right now, with that loss coming to Florida. The Vols fell behind early but were able to come back and just romp on the Dawgs. Erik Ainge is really turning into a solid quarterback and the Tennessee offense is beginning to look explosive. The defense kind of had an off week if you look at the points Georgia was able to put up. However two of these scores came on special teams while one score was set up on a turnover in Tennesse's territory. Take away 17 of Georgia's 33 that they put up and thats only a 16 point output. Not that bad of a job by the Vols D.

Cal is the other team I was very impressed with this weekend. The way Oregon was playing coming into this one I really thought that the Ducks had a legit shot to win the game. I didn't see them getting blown away like they did. After getting blown out by the Vols in week one teams kind of forgot about Cal. This team is dangerous and is going to give USC all they can handle when the matchup comes around. ..

I was also disappointed by Oregon, who for the first time in school history did not have the ugliest uniforms on the field during a game.

No More Tears

2006-10-08T21:56:00.000-07:00

I'm really starting to get sick of the Oklahoma Sooners. A classless school that just complains. Well guess what OU...You contributed to the best video that I saw this weekend...

Stanford

2006-10-05T11:56:00.000-07:00

Plain and simple, Stanford is just downright bad. They give up an average of 37 points a contest and they have only played one team in the top 25. Chew on that for a while, the scoreboard Saturday will show an Irish run away, but how will Coach Weis and the Irish go about doing it?

Anyway that they really want to. Teams have shown the ability to both run and pass the ball against the Cardinal this season. Navy is the only team with truly lopsided numbers in one of the categories, but then again that is Navy for you.

Last year Jeff Samardzija had huge numbers along with two touchdowns against Stanford. Expect more of the same this year as the Irish run away with this one and just perhaps put a 50 on the board.

Thanks Dad

2006-10-04T22:03:00.000-07:00

Okay, so its apparantely video day on What Thou the Odds but this one is too interesting to pass up. If you see your kid fall victim to an extremely cheap and late hit, what would you do?

Overreact without realizing its part of the game?

Stunning

2006-10-04T20:25:00.000-07:00

And the award for best blocked kick of all time goes to...