Irish Welcome Washington

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

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

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

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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