Domer Sports Report

Wanted: A Few Good Writers!

2012-01-02T10:31:00.002-05:00

We are looking for a few writers for Domer Sports Report. If you are interested in joining a good Notre Dame site please contact me (Mark). You can email me at mkallen3@yahoo.com. We are looking for writers who are interested in any topic regarding Notre Dame sports.

Thanks and Go Irish!

SaturDame Southern Cal 10-22-11

2011-10-22T23:03:00.003-04:00

GEORGE ATKINSON Y'ALL (I had to move that to the top. Cause it was awesome).

The end of the game was disgusting. What are you saving your timeouts for? The defense is openly trying to strip the ball and get it back. There is no difference in losing to SC by 1, 14 or 21. Who cares? At least pretend you care about getting the ball back.

Matt Barkley >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> Tommy Rees. Everyone knows that.

Not getting Michael Floyd the ball.

Remember that PI call on Michael Floyd. Yeah, me neither because it didn't happen. Which is trash.

Crist fumble.

Jonas Gray Everthing.

Cierre Wood likes dancing too much. Whoever let him see the Footloose remake gets fired.

Robert Woods is good. I hope I don't have to see Barkley to Woods next year or my Thanksgiving dinner will be awful.

Gary Gray has decided no one will beat him to the endzone ever again. No matter where the field position is Gary is going to give them as much as they need.

WHY IS LO WOOD COVERING ROBERT WOODS?

Robert Blanton won a battle with a FB that kept ND in the game.

Hendrix was THISCLOSE to tying the game. THISCLOSE.

Tyler Eifert is super good, glad he got the ball. Eventually.

Sorry I haven't posted one of these in a while. But the Pitt game was terrible and the blowout wins didn't say much.

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SaturDame Aaron Lynch's Coming Out Party 9-17-11

2011-09-21T20:49:00.002-04:00

So apparently Aaron Lynch is going to play a lot against less mobile quarterbacks.

I hope Cousins felt privileged to get beat up by the freshman.

George Atkinson. The Third. Incredible ball skills. (Decided by twitter).

Thanks to @ndeddiemac for allowing me to witness the game first hand.

Gary Gray turned his back on a pass in the second quarter and all I heard in the stands were shouts of "TURN AROUND" myself included.

An 18 point win over the number 15 team in the country. That's refreshing.

Two plays away from a 3-0 start for the second year around. Less refreshing.

Robert Blanton is a man. That guy has really stepped his game up.

I don't know the perfect time to run a fake field goal but I'm guessing less than optimal conditions are: against a team you beat with a fake field goal the year before, anytime Louis Nix is on the field and you want to run a play near the middle of the field and after calling a time out.

I liked the John Goodman that always fair caught and never fumbled more than the John Goodman that runs backwards and fumbles.

Cierre Wood continues to impress.

Five possessions went unused by the offense which explains the "lack of offense:" KR TD, QB sneaks after Dantonio's Dumbass Decsion, QB sneaks to set up the field goal, Goodman's fumble and VICTORY FORMATION.

Michael Floyd.

On Tai-ler Jones's touchdown every down field receiver was open. Every one. And that was a helluva catch and throw.

Freshmen everywhere and contributing.

Wouldn't mind seeing Robby Toma a little more.

Tommy "Turnover" Rees. Is that official yet?

Everyone in the stadium had the same feeling on Goodman's fumble and it wasn't positive.

Ishaq Williams out ran every player on the field looking to block someone and then got cheapshotted by failed QB Keith Nicols after Blanton's pick.

So running the Wildcat at Robert Blanton is the new throwing screen passes toward Manti?

Beat Pitt.

SaturDame How Denard Broke My Heart 9-10-11

2011-09-13T15:11:00.003-04:00

What just happened?

When a team is in desperate need of a break Notre Dame just shows up and allows it to happen.

The awful zone coverage on the pass before the final ND touchdown is only the fourth worst coverage mishap of the game.

I really think Denard Robinson should be returning kicks for Michigan. Yeah, injury blah blah blah, get the dude in space.

He still isn't a good passer, he might be adequate just because the defense has to be worried constantly about his ability to run.

Gary Gray played the worst game by a defensive back I can remember. I don't understand how he constantly face guarded, illegal in college football and not very effective.

It's pretty cool how Denard can throw a back shoulder pass on every play. And they're so high in the air.

Michael Floyd all he does is everything.

Tommy Rees is going to make damn sure someone catches his passes, he doesn't even care what jersey they're wearing.

I kind of wish Michael Floyd had caught the invisible pass Tommy tried to throw to him.

His was an amazing fumble but not as amazing as Michigan's fumble for a touchdown.

The run game on plays that weren't third and short is really good.

It was really cool that Michigan has one of the best players in college football and they took a knee with 1:40 left in the half.

Besides the turnovers Tommy played really well. Which means he didn't.

The offensive line was really pretty good. Third and short running plays being the exception.

I really like you Tyler Eifert.

Fever Dog Dan Fox played really well.

All but one of Michigan's passing touchdowns were passes that the defender didn't see.

Cierre Wood and Jonas Gray everybody. Nice games by both.

If this team stops shooting themselves in the feet they could win a couple of games.

Although by now they're shooting themselves in the thigh Plaxico style.

Hey, David Ruffer made a field goal.

Love Kyle Brindza kicking off. Now if they would just give him a chance to punt. Although he's supposedly slow getting them away. Combined with the long snapping issues that might be a problem.

A fully confident Michigan State team on Saturday. Great. Although if they've seen their pro combat jerseys that will dampen their spirits a bit.

Beat Sparty.

SaturDame USF 9-3-11

2011-09-03T22:11:00.003-04:00

That is literally the longest game I've ever watched.

I don't understand naming a starting QB if you're only giving him one half of football.

I do however understand the switch, so maybe he felt Dayne Crist still needed some more confidence which means you start Tommy.

Kyle Brindza for everything.

You guys, ND finally had a 100 yard rusher under Brian Kelly.

I love when defensive players never look for the ball in the endzone. That's probably my favorite type of defending.

Michael Floyd is amazing at offense. But we knew that.

Really glad Theo Riddick is (attempting to) return punts. Literal game changer.

Loved the emotion from Tommy Rees as he threw a game clinching interception into everyone ever.

I don't have much to say about the defense. They played well, but missed chances to turn the game around.

Really wish Floyd would have jumped for that onside kick.

When you get the ball a yard and a half away from the endzone as opposed to three yards away on a two point conversion and your running back has been pretty damn good, you might want to at least run a play action pass or actually run the ball. Just a thought.

If Floyd lets go of the hold in time and Wood scores, Crist never throws the pick and who knows what happens. Literal game changer.

What happens to Golson if Rees is the QB? Because Rees is the QB. Do we have another QB competition next year that Rees loses?

Brian Kelly sure does get fired up.

So the field looked awful, I think it's Swarbrick trying to get less complaints about Field Turf.

The Jonas Gray fumble never should have happened, but the refs should have blown their whistles as forward progress was stopped.

Guys, USF might be really good.

Rematch in the BCS?

I think that's it. The game took too long for me to keep everything memorized. See you next week after a night game in Ann Arbor is a whore.

Twitter

Is It Easter Sunday?

2011-08-23T14:04:00.004-04:00

Because Crist is back as Notre Dame's starting quarterback. In a press conference today Brian Kelly announced that the team had sundae's on Sunday to celebrate the end of training camp. He then announced that Dayne Crist would replace incumbent Tommy Rees to begin the season (in two Saturdays. I'm actually surprised it was this difficult of a decision for Kelly, but I'm glad that it was because Dayne Crist has been injured in the past. Kelly feels that all four quarterbacks are good enough to play which is a bit different from last year. Hopefully Everett Golson redshirts (or surpasses Andrew Hendrix) and we can spread out the quarterbacks a bit as it doesn't look like a new QB will be coming in February.

Other depth chart moves; Dan Fox is starting ahead of Carlo Calabrese, but this might have more to do with running quarterbacks the first two weeks and Carlo's lack of being fast. Jamoris Slaughter has regained the starting safety spot from Zeke Motta.

9 more days until South Florida. Hopefully post explosion before then. We'll see.

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SaturDame: 2011 Season Preview

2011-07-31T23:43:00.007-04:00

My third attempt at writing one of these.

A win over USC (thanks Ron Johnson), a beat'em down of Miami in the bowl game and a bonanza on National Signing Day, things appear to be looking up at ND. A coach, with National Championships on his resume along with BCS Bowls, has taken actual control of the program unlike Charlie who just thought he had control. He is building a program that may need a year or two to win Notre Dame's 12th National Championship, but weirder things have happened, right?

The team is led on offense but binge touchdown scorer Michael Floyd and on defense by an All-Everything candidate in Manti T'eo. The defense could be as good as any in the country and the offense should be much improved with Cierre Wood and Theo Riddick breaking out this year. I think the QB is less important in the Kelly offense than in the Weis offense (as we saw when Tommy Rees went 4-1 last year). The second year in the system is probably a bigger deal than who actually is the starter ( I was Team Hendrix, just because I wanted to blast Voodoo Chile after TD passes).

The schedule doesn't feature many teams that would be up for playing road games in the SEC without a return engagement but it doesn't feature many (possibly any) teams that will be playing in a BCS bowl game.

S03 SOUTH FLORIDA 3:30pm NBC

Mobile QB. Return of a Skip. Blow out win. At least he looks like a football player.

S10 @ Michigan 8pm ABC/ESPN

Mobile QB that doesn't tie his shoes. First night game at the stadium ever. Old people not used to staying up late. I don't think Brady Hoke is a magician and ND owes this team a couple. Win by 10. Hopefully they don't score too fast, again.

S17 MICHIGAN STATE 3:30pm NBC

Then comes the most beloved QB in college football because he gave a speech that featured the word "p-r-i-v-e-l-e-g-e" 2,500 times. And his drama queen of a head coach. A fake field goal. Ugh. Still mad bro. Win by 7.

S24 @ Pittsburgh Noon ABC/ESPN

A match-up with former ND offensive coordinator Mike Haywood who is the new Pitt head coach. Wait, what? Okay then, a re-match with Todd Graham the former Tulsa coach. You might remember him. You may also remember this play, from the last time ND visited Heinz Field. Notre Dame wins by 18.

O01 @ Purdue 8pm ABC/ESPN

Purdue has been decimated by being Purdue. Notre Dame wins by 3 touchdowns.

O08 AIR FORCE 3:30pm NBC

First trap game on the schedule. Also Air Force is good. And triple option. Notre Dame wins by 4.

O22 SOUTHERN CAL 7:30pm NBC

Guess who is coming into this game with a loss in the series? Two is a streak, right? Matt Barkley might be the 2nd best QB ND faces this year, but I don't think it's enough. ND wins by 10.

O29 NAVY 3:30pm NBC

Brian Kelly is not losing to Navy two years in a row. But coming off the emotion that is USC means this game is close into the second half before winning by 14.

N05 @ Wake Forest TBA

Blowout win that 30,000 fans will see in person. Notre Dame by 40.

N12 MARYLAND (FedEx) 7:30pm NBC

This is a game that scares me, it's basically a home game for Maryland and they have a good QB. Also Randy Edsall knows how to beat ND. ND wins by 6.

N19 BOSTON COLLEGE 4pm NBC

Notre Dame is taking control of this series. Like they should. Lots of BC kicker and Ty Willingham green jersey game highlights. But all for naught as ND wins by 14.

N26 @ Stanford 8pm ABC/ESPN

The most probable problem game on the schedule. On Thanksgiving Weekend. In California. Against a player that should be a Heisman Finalist. UnLucky. Stanford spoils an undefeated season by 10.

11-1 and BCS game. Probably in the Sugar Bowl or the Orange Bowl as Oklahoma will be playing Alabama for all the Tostitos.

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Go Irish. Beat Bulls.

Carleton Scott to the NBA

2011-05-08T21:37:00.004-04:00

Scott has decided to not come back for his fifth year as a member of the Fighting Irish. This leaves Notre Dame with just Scott Martin and Tim Abromaitis as returning starters. The Irish lose two of their top three rebounders from a 27-7 team and will have to replace them with bench players or freshmen. Eric Katenda a 3 star 6'9 recruit is the most likely to replace Scott with Jack Cooley (I'm guessing) replacing Ty Nash.

SaturDame: Spring Game 2011

2011-04-16T22:03:00.001-04:00

Unlike last year I did not attend. I didn't even watch on my TV, I watched the stream on und.com. But I picked up enough to make some notes.

Dayne Crist and Tommy Rees are not the QB's Brian Kelly is looking for.

Andrew Hendrix and/or Everett Golston are the future of Notre Dame football. But I fear for Everett health if he's going to remain that small.

On punts Notre Dame elected to enforce the John Goodman rule, all fair catches no returns.

Aaron Lynch is either amazing or the ND offensive line needs a lot of work. I hope it's the former.

Cierre Wood with no fumbles is going to be the best RB that shows up in Notre Dame games this year (I mean opponents don't have a better RB (Denard Robinson is a QB, so far)).

John Goodman made a heck of a catch on his touchdown catch, he gave himself a ton of room to land and Golston made a sick throw, as well.

Have I mentioned Aaron Lynch yet?

The kicking game has some competition, even with mulligans on extra points.

I expect Kyle Brindza to be the punter, unless BK is holding him back for a redshirt.

Is there anything better than Brian Kelly yelling at mo-hawked Robby Toma? "You're not fast, you're not tall and that haircut's not very good. So catch the ball."

The offense would be sick if they had a superstar receiver out there...

Lo Wood's future is so bright he's going to need a tinted visor.

Manti T'eo didn't make any tackles. WHATSUPWITHTHAT?

I know, he didn't play on defense.

In summation:
Andrew Hendrix is really good and fits the system.
Everett Golston is tiny but good.
Cierre Wood is awesome. His sideways, backward juke (1:14 in the link) in the Western game is one of my favorite plays of last year.
The defense is going to be awesome next year.
I'm really trying to calm myself down about predictions for the upcoming season (undefeated going into Stanford?).

And a trailer for the upcoming season.

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Brey Is Who We Thought He Was

2011-03-29T15:14:00.003-04:00

Mike Brey tricked me, I bought into this team and him as a coach because he had stopped comparing his team to the Irish of the 90's. He called for this team to play in the Big East Championship game. He called for a deep run in the tournament. At the half against Louisville in the Big East Semi-Finals everything looked great. Then Mike Brey started talking to the team at halftime and everything fell apart. I have no idea what Brey said in the locker room, but I can only hope that it isn't something he ever repeats to anyone. A 14 point lead seemed like it should be safe and a game on Saturday night at Madison Square Garden was 20 minutes away. Then Louisville remembered that this was Notre Dame basketball and the Wu-Tang Clan could write a song replacing Wu Tang Clan with Notre Dame and Ain't Nothing with Is Something in the title and they wouldn't be that far off.

With multiple football coaches being fired in the previous decade for mediocrity there is no reason to accept it from the basketball team. Every once in awhile Notre Dame makes a run at a conference title and falls just short. Then they fall short of expectations in both tournaments. Then nothing happens. The Purcell Pavilion fails to fill because people smarter/saner than me know better than to designate time/money to go to games and care about this team. I'm sure they want the best for the team and they still root for the Irish hoopers, but they know what's coming at the end.

Now, I don't want to take to much away from a regular season that was as good as it was. A Big East Player of the Year award and a Coach of the Year award show that as well as anything. A preseason tournament win with wins over Georgia and Wisconsin, wins over Gonzaga, UConn (twice), Louisville, and Pitt on the road. They were winning all the close games and blowing out most of the teams they should, but the losses also had something in common they were all double digits on the road. The team that went undefeated at home had issues on the road. This probably should have been a warning sign for the post-season, when no games are played at home.

Will I root for the team and care about wins and losses next year? Of course I will, but there will always be a lingering doubt about the coach until he proves me wrong. Maybe having players in the Brey system for 4 or 5 years isn't a good thing because they become to much like their coach. He has beaten one team from a major conference in the NCAA tournament and even after that win was a blowout loss to Arizona, his only trip to the Sweet Sixteen and that was in 2003. Four trips to the NIT in the last eight years (including a loss at home to Holy Cross), double digit losses in all but three of his seasons. Contending for a Big East championship every couple of years isn't good enough for me and it shouldn't be for Notre Dame. Thankfully there's always ice hockey. Frozen Four anyone?

Notre Dame Awards

2011-03-10T00:58:00.004-05:00

Congratulations to Mike Brey, the Big East Coach of the Year (and rumored National Coach of the Year) and Ben Hansbrough, Big East Player of the Year. As well as Tim Abromaitis winning the Big East scholar-athlete award for the second time in as many years. Also thanks to Mississippi State for running a selfish offense that pissed Ben off and made him transfer.

Mike Brey. I think I'm sorry.

2011-03-08T01:16:00.003-05:00

So, I'm not a huge fan of Mike Brey, I'm not shy about this, earlier this year I tweeted that I wouldn't mind switching the men's and women's coaches at ND. Coach Brey has attempted to prove me wrong and I'm not going to go all Drew Sharp and take responsibility for his success*. Brey thinks it's better to recruit players that will grow into their roles and redshirts players in order to have one of the oldest teams in the Big East every year. I have called out his use of redshirting Abromaitis and still think he did it wrong, he should have lost his freshman year and not his sophomore year. Having Abro for his sophomore season was probably the difference between that team being in the NIT and the NCAA tournament. Prove me wrong!

Harangody getting hurt last year was the best thing to happen to Brey, he realized he had to coach differently without his star and now he is able to switch schemes depending on the opponent. The fact that it took him 10 years at ND to figure this out is a bit befuddling, but what are you going to do. His coaching this year has been phenomenal as Notre Dame doesn't lose close games which is opposite of his team in 2005-2006. The NIT team that lost to Michigan to end their season, lost 10 games by less than 5 points (including twice to Michigan) and all of their wins were by more than 5 points except two (IPFW and Wofford).

With 5 seniors on this team and 3 of them back next year, I hope for more of the same from the Irish, with Eric Atkins the only underclassmen for next year we'll probably see a freshman get Atkins-like minutes next year. But this is about this year, and what a glorious year it's been, beating everyone but 5 teams? A completely unexpected turn from a team that lost it's two best players from last year. Ben Hansborough is way better than I thought he could ever be, probably the Big East player of the year, Eric Atkins doing enough to show that his future at ND will be bright. Tyrone Nash is the most underrated player on this team, doing enough every game to be the difference and that 3 pointer he hit was wondrous (Free Ty Nash). The only real disappointment is Scott Martin as he has been called by Mike Brey "the best offensive player I've coached." A two year lay-off is tough to overcome (Dayne Crist anyone) and I expect big things from Martin next year. I still wonder if Everett Golston will actually play basketball at ND, he says he wants too, but if Andrew Hendrix doesn't win the job (I expect he will) then Golston may have his hands full with football.

Mike Brey has coached brilliantly this year, although his move with Ben Hansbrough against UConn left a lot of people scratching their heads. And then blaming Hansbrough brought rushing back memories of poor Mike Brey decisions. Yes, we could laugh about it, because they won, even joke about how Hansbrough and Brey did it on purpose to show the other players they could win without Ben. Mike Brey has built a team that can win in the B(ig)EAST but before I jump fully aboard the band wagon I need tournament results, Dominion and Winthrop, Ole Miss and Arizona are still memories I'd love to replace with a Final Four run or at least Elite Eight and the Notre Dame seeding should bare those expectations out. I'm still in disbelief that this team is in the running for a ONE SEED.

So Mike Brey, I apologize, sort of, for now. Win two games in MSG and three games in the tourney and I'll admit that, for this year, I was wrong. Then do it again next year. And keep doing it. The bar has been raised by Brian Kelly, and his team went 8-5, Notre Dame expects excellence and you need to keep delivering it.

*Drew Sharp is a Detroit columnist that called out one of Izzo's MSU teams, I think it was the team with Ager, Brown and Paula Davis. When that team advanced to the Final Four Drew wrote a column about how his column calling out the Spartans was the reason they advanced so far... Seriously. Luckily for Drew he writes for the same paper that employs the liar Mitch Albom thus making him only my second most hated writer at the Free Press.

New Territory

2011-03-07T14:08:00.003-05:00

In my 25 years of existence, I never had moments like I had this past Saturday.

First there was the Notre Dame - UCONN game. With a fairly comfortable eight point lead and just over eight minutes left, Mike Brey decided to put Ben Hansbrough in the game with four fouls. Ten seconds later Notre Dame's best player and emotional leader was back in the bench with his fifth foul. I received a text from my buddy a few seconds later, "Uh oh, ND is screwed! At least they locked up the 2 seed in the Big East..." Being the over optimistic super fan, I decided to berate that friend with a text condemning his pessimistic attitude and also telling him that our correspondence during the game was now over. I simply don't allow that negative energy in my presence during times like this, even if that negative energy was present via text message.

Next thing I know, led by Kemba Walker, UCONN went on a 13-0 run to take a five point lead. That's when conflicting thoughts started racing through my head. "You've got to be kidding me! Same old Notre Dame. Wait, this team is different, we'll get this. Hold on, I've read this book before. Screw it! WE GOT THIS!" I knew I was definitely in new territory because I knew this team was different than in years past. This isn't a team that is demoralized by runs anymore, this isn't a team that lets things bother them, like losing their best player and leader. Notre Dame proceeded to go on a 9-0 run and take a four point lead. But while the Irish had chances to close out the victory, missed free throws allowed UCONN to stay within striking distance. With a three point lead, UCONN came down with seconds remaining and for the first time I can remember it was another team fumbling the ball in the closing seconds with a chance to win the game, because ND forced the ball out of the UCONN's best player's hands.

This victory was all about a team. Kemba Walker scored over half of UCONN's points and his teammates didn't know what to do when he passed the ball when the Huskies had a chance to tie to the game with seconds remaining. When Ben Hansbrough, who had been en fuego, fouled out. I think there was a shock right away, and Notre Dame stepped up. Not just one player, but the whole team. Eric Atkins played composed and took care of the ball. Scott Martin, Tim Abromaitis, and Carleton Scott all hit shots, and Tyrone Nash took the game over by passing, shooting, playing D. Nash was truly the MVP of the game. That was just on the offensive end, on the defensive end the Irish managed to stop the run and make big stops as the game went on. Not letting UCONN take another lead.

When the final buzzer sounded I was more relieved, proud, and excited for a Notre Dame team than I have ever been. This team just keeps coming up with ways to win like I've never seen an Irish team to do before.

Moments later I made my way to the elliptical to watch the Villanova-Pittsburgh matchup. I was on the elliptical to try to get rid of this Buddha belly and to also calm my nerves while I watched a game that would decide if Notre Dame would earn a share of their first ever Big East championship (unless you count the 2001 Big East West Championship, which I don't). Never before have I watched a Nova-Pitt game so intently, and genuinely caring who won the game. Of course, that team was Nova.

Jay Wright actually had a good gameplan for Nova. He was going to use the Mike Brey formula for beating Pitt, the "Burn" offense. Unfortunately for Villanova, and for me, they don't have the shooters or the offensive efficiency to do that. I don't think I had ever screamed at a game so much that I didn't have a team in. However, this was the first time since the Bulls dynasty that I had a team with a legitimate shot at some sort of championship. So there I was, screaming at a Pitt-Nova game, with hopes of that first Big East Championship. Of course, since the basketball gods hate me, Nova eventually succumbed to a very good Pitt team. Giving the Panthers the outright Big East regular season championship. Stupid Villanova.

As the day turned into night I started to regain my optimism with the basketball gods. Purdue suffered a big upset at the hands of Iowa and then UNC upended Duke. That's when I started thinking, "Notre Dame has a shot at a one seed!" I don't think that thought has ever, in my life, crept into my brain. Then something amazing happened. ESPN pundits confirmed my feelings that I thought might have just been crazy. Notre Dame did have the chance to be a one seed in the NCAA tourney.

So, just in one day I experienced more firsts than I ever have with Notre Dame basketball. I hope as the next couple weeks come with the Big East and NCAA tournaments that we can experience a couple more firsts.

Irish Basketball Thoughts

2010-12-08T15:32:00.003-05:00

At the beginning of this college basketball season, the belief of many talking heads and Irish basketball fans alike was that Notre Dame would surely suffer due to the loss of All-American forward Luke Harangody and do-everything point guard Tory Jackson. Well, eight games into the season those beliefs have been put on hold for the time being because of the emergence of tough, balanced, defensive-minded (yeah, you read that right) Notre Dame team.

How has Notre Dame stormed out of the blocks for their best start since the 1973-74 season? In my opinion, there are three aspects where Notre Dame has greatly improved.

Under Mike Brey the Irish have been known as a team with a high-scoring offense and an apparent indifference to the defensive side of the ball. Now? While the Irish can light up scoreboards with the best of them still, they are getting key stops and doing so when shots aren't always falling. In an Old Spice Classic game against Cal over Thanksgiving weekend, Notre Dame shot 1-20 from three point range. In years past this would have spelled doom for Mike Brey's squad. This game, Notre Dame responded by giving up only 5 points in the first half to a more athletic Cal team (and gave up only 44 for the game). This hasn't been something we've seen in the Mike Brey tenure.

How has Notre Dame changed this mindset so quickly? When looking at Notre Dame's lineup, you won't find uber-athletes or many physical specimens. But Notre Dame does have length. Notre Dame's starting lineup boasts heights of 6-3, 6-8, 6-8, 6-7, and 6-8. They bring guards off the bench who are 6-4 and 6-1, and a big man that is 6-9. While they lack superior height on the interior, the length at the 2 guard and the small forward can be very difficult to deal with and will be beneficial in Big East play. The past couple years we have started two guards that have been under 6 feet, which posed big matchup problems on defense. Now, the tide has turned and we are a matchup problem for someone else.

Another reason for the defensive turnaround is toughness. While we may never see another player as tough as Tory Jackson in a Notre Dame uniform, the teams didn't have an overall toughness when he played. Ben Hansbrough, Ty Nash, and Carleton Scott really set the tone for this squad and you are seeing it throughout the whole team now. This actually is a nice lead into my next point.

Another reason Notre Dame has been able to get off to this great start? Rebounding. I think this is a toughness issue as well. The Wisconsin game was one of my favorite games in recent memory. In recent years, this was a game Notre Dame would have lost by giving up an offensive rebound and getting frustrated with the pace of the game. Notre Dame embraced the pace and out-toughed Wisconsin. Late in the game with the score tied Ben Hansbrough missed a free throw, but Tim Abromaitis was able to get position and get an offensive rebound and a put back to give Notre Dame the lead after being down double digits in the second half.

Notre Dame has had some GREAT rebounders in the Brey tenure. This team has no GREAT rebounders. However they are a great rebounding team. Everyone attacks the glass. It's not Luke Harangody, Ryan Humphrey, or Troy Murphy grabbing every rebound. It's Carelton Scott getting one and then Ben Hansbrough, and maybe Scott Martin get's the next one. Rebounding is a total team effort from this squad. When looking at the box score from the Wisconsin game I couldn't help but smile. Every single starter for the Irish had at least 6 rebounds, with Abro leading the way with 9. Not saying we will get 6 rebounds from all five starters every game but this is definitely something that should help us throughout the season.

Lastly, Notre Dame has offensive balance. Gone are the days of standing around on offense watching Luke Harangody, Russell Carter, Chris Thomas, or Chris Quinn go to work. Notre Dame has scoring threats at all five positions and they aren't afraid to share the ball. All five starters average double figures and they are once again in the upper-echelon of the country in assists per game. Teams can't go into games keying on one player offensively because they options are numerous for this Irish team and everyone is unselfish enough to not have to dominate the ball every night. (Not saying that Gody and others we selfish, I just think the offense was always catered to their skills.) The Irish are versatile. They can play sow, they can play fast, they can win in the pain and they can win on the perimeter. So go ahead, try to stop one guy or make them play a certain way. They can beat you a lot of ways.

With all of this said, Notre Dame has not played the toughest of schedules yet. While Georgia, Cal, and Wisconsin were all tough tests, the Irish will face much stiffer competition in upcoming games, including tonight against Kentucky in Louisville. Hopefully we will see these new trends continue as the competition gets tougher.

On to Kentucky

Tonight, Notre Dame faces a young and athletic Kentucky squad coming off a defeat at the hands of a disappointing North Carolina team. Kentucky's athleticism will be a tough test for Notre Dame. I think we will see the Irish employ a zone against Kentucky's dribble-drive motion offense, utilizing their length and forcing the Cats to beat them with outside jumpshots.

Kentucky will put a lot of pressure on the Irish defensively. We could see freshman Eric Atkins more time at the point to take pressure of Hansbrough and because he is a better ball handler. We may see Mike Brey implement the "Burn" offense to slow the game down and limit Kentucky's possessions.

My Completely Bias and Optimistic Prediction

ND 71 - UK 65

My First Post - - Basketball Burning Questions

2010-10-12T11:26:00.005-04:00

Greetings, Irish fans. As you've probabably figured out by now, this is my first post. I recently saw the Domer Sports Report was looking for writers and jumped at the chance to write about the teams I have been following since I can remember. First, a little about me. I have been a sports fanatic my whole life. I have especially been keen on the Fighting Irish. I played football through high school and basketball through two years of college. I am currently a high school basketball coach. I plan on posting for both football and basketball, but will probably lean more to the basketball side due to my better understanding of the game.

Enough about me, lets get started.

With the football season beginning it's second half and upcoming games against some less-than-stellar competition, I figured I would take a look at the approaching basketball season. I have read all of the preview articles and see the same questions over and over. I wanted to take a different approach, so here are some questions I have leading up to the season.

Can the Irish be as good, if not better, without Gody?

If anyone has consistently read some of the work of Bill Simmons they more than likely have heard of The Ewing Theory. This theory goes back to when the New York Knicks seemed to play better without their star, Patrick Ewing, in the lineup. Late last season, when Luke Harangody was sidelined with an injury for five games, Notre Dame lost two straight games before proceeding to win three straight games without their star. This was the beginning of what turned out to be be a six game win streak that turned the Irish from barely on the bubble to an NCAA tournament team.

When the three game sequence was completed, my phone was abuzz with emails and text messages referencing the Ewing Theory and how much better the Irish were without their star, Gody. Being the domer that I am I quickly scoffed at all remarks and said they were just stepping up and playing better.

Was that the case? How did the Irish win without their star player? We won't know for sure until this year. Looking back, I don't think it was an addition by subtraction sort of deal (Notre Dame would win three more games with Gody in the lineup). In my personal opinion, I think players who weren't asked to do much before started realizing they could actually score, and maybe got a D1 scholarship for a reason. One of the reasons I think Notre Dame struggled with Gody in the lineup was the offense would become stagnant. After Harangody's breakout sophomore year it seemed as though the offense was give the ball to 44 and watch him go to work. I think you can looking at the 2008-09 season becoming a dissappointment for this very same reason.

Gody's injury forced other Irish players to be more aggressive on the offensive side of the ball. Carleton Scott, who left the team for a couple days and was said to be considering a transfer, became a a solid scorer and offensive rebounder. Tim Abromaitis stepped up his scoring and became the go-to-guy in crunch time. Tyron Nash became a physical presence on the boards and and in the post. Jack Cooley and Mike Broghammer stepped up and became viable options in the post, when called upon. Lastly, Tory Jackson and Ben Hansbrough were solid in the backcourt, taking care of the ball and hitting shots when needed.

With that being said, the biggest reason for the late season emergence of the Irish may have been Mike Brey. For years under Brey, Notre Dame has been all about up-tempo, high scoring offense, and maybe play a little defense here and there. (Sounds like recent years of Irish football, really) Brey slowed the pace down and instituted a "burn" offense The slow burn offense consisted of good ball movement and working the shot clock, making the defense work for 30 seconds or so before making their way back on offense.

While the "burn" may have benefitted the Irish greatly, Brey's best work may have come on the defensive side of the ball. I'm not sure Brey did anythng spectacularly different on defense, other than shifting his focus to it and realizing that they may need to stop someone to win meaningful games. The "burn" offense limited Notre Dame's defensive possessions, but I think you saw a much grittier defensive team that cared about getting stops.

So were the Irish better? Yes. Did it have anything to do with Gody being out? Probably only from a mental standpoint. Can the Irish be better this season? It really depends on the above factors. Will Scott and Abro continue to improve their scoring? Will the youngens in the frontcourt continue their progression? Will Brey finally learn that defense will win him more games? The answers to those questions will probably be big factors in how this season goes.

Will Mike Brey use his bench?

For any Irish basketball fan, one of the biggest complaints about the Brey tenure is his unwillingness to use his bench. Brey rarely goes more than seven or eight deep, and depends on his starters to log major minutes, which may be reason for some of the late-season collapses during his time in South Bend.

Last season, with Harangody's injury, Brey was forced to use his bench. Is it a coincidence that the winning streak started around that time? This year Brey has one of the most experienced and talented lineups we've seen in South Bend since the days of Matt Carroll, Chris Thomas, Danny Miller, Torin Francis, and Chris Quinn.

Abromaitis, Hansbrough, Nash, and Scott all started at some point last year. Joey Brooks, Cooley, and Broghammer all received meaningful minutes in spurts. If Scott Martin (sat out last year with injury) lives up to expectations he should be a quality contributor, if not a force, for the Irish. Mike Brey went as far as to call him the most talented offensive player he has coached. Brey also has high expectations for Eric Atkins, an incoming freshmen. Many expect Atkins to start at the point from day one.

The pieces are there, will Brey exit his comfort zone and decide to use more of his players?

Is Mike Brey the man for the job?

One reason I decided to start writing this blog was to have a place to vent, if need be. One of my favorite past times is talking ND sports with my mom. Over the last few years, my mom enjoys making fun of me because it seems as though I annually flip flop on my opinion of Brey.

Let me put my opinion into perspective. I am 25, I can only remember watching bits and pieces of the Digger Phelps era. I remember the doldrums of the John Mcleod era. I was there for the short-lived jubilation of what many thought was a resurgence under Matt Doherty. Lastly, I have been here for the up and down years of the Brey era.

I couldn't have asked for more from Brey's first three years: two 2nd round appearances, and a Sweet 16. I guess where I went wrong is I expected more. However, what I got was 3 straight NIT appearances. Not just NIT appearances, but NIT's with players like Chris Thomas, Torrin Francis, and Chris Quinn when many expected deep NCAA tourney runs from the Irish. The next two years, we returned the NCAAs with Harangody, Kurz, Jackson, and McAlarney leading the way. Once again, I expected more progress after this. What did we get? Another NIT appearance followed by another first round exit. This NIT appearance was especially frustrating, because the Irish once again had Final Four aspirations leading up to the season.

Brey seems to be at his best as an underdog. Looking back at most of his NCAA appearances not much was expected. When you look at his NIT years, much was expected from most of those squads. Is brey simply incapable of coaching with a target on his back? Or have those teams been overrated?

I like Mike Brey. As a person, he is one of the best in the business. As a coach, he is not bad by any means, (he has built Notre Dame into one of the more successful Big East teams over the last 10 years), but is he the coach to get Notre Dame to the next level?

While negative at some points, I have been a big Brey supporter, mainly because I can remember the McLeod years vividly. He has done some great things for Notre Dame. I want Brey to succeed and take ND to the next level. Will this year be the year? I think they have some pieces in place to to be a potential second weekend team in the NCAAs. Whether the Irish will do something with their season or not will depend heavily on Brey.

Help Wanted - Writers

2010-10-11T00:13:00.001-04:00

Love the Fighting Irish? Would you like to write for this site? We are looking for writers who have the timne to post consistently. If interested, email me at mkallen3@sbcglobal.net.

Thanks!

Mark

What Do You Say We Drop The Hammer On These Punks...?

2010-09-24T16:59:00.007-04:00

We will win this game.

I guarantee it.

There are 2 conditions to this guarantee.

1) We are turnover free.

2) We don’t give up any big plays in specials teams (long returns, blocks etc.)

That’s it. The rest will take care of itself.

I did not anticipate feeling the feelings I’m feeling about this week’s game against Stanford.

The Notre Dame section of my brain took the equivalent of a sledge hammer to the temple last weekend, and the dull fog carried over until Wednesday when I became capable of emotionally processing the Irish after 3 games.

After running through a few things I felt had to be addressed in my post Wednesday, I found myself driving home from work listening to the Dome and Domer podcast and getting very antsy.

It dawned on me that we have a tremendous opportunity this weekend to completely flip the momentum of this season by beating the cardinals. As dark as I and the rest of ND nation felt last Saturday night, there is still a chance to get what we all so desperately need.

A quality win.

A win against a top 25 team

A win we are “supposed” to lose

A 9-10 win season.

Respect.

Thanks to Stanford’s lopsided scores in their first 3 games (thanks even more to Harbaugh being a call-time out-up-40-to-ice-the-opponents-kicker dirtbag) the bandwagon is chugging nationally. Everyone loves Stanford and Luck and marvel how they have “taken on the personality of their head coach” blahblah.

This all plays in our favor b/c the better Stanford is perceived the greater the victory will be.

So I have asked myself why am I getting so ridiculously fired up/anxious/excited about this game? I get fired up/anxious/excited about every game….but this is ridiculous-USC levels.

I think b/c there is such an urgency to get the taste from last week out of our mouth, and I know we have what it takes. Plus I do not like Jim Harbaugh approach to himself, life and football. He needs to be taken down a peg or 4.

Positions vs. Position Breakdown

OFFENSE

Quarterback – Edge Stanford

Luck is fine quarterback. He has a strong enough arm (though far from the strongest) and can move his 6”4’ frame fast enough to be considered a threat (He is not a running quarterback though, he is stiff and can’t avoid tackles). What makes him truly good is his intelligence and accuracy. He is one of those valedictorian guys (true) who is just born smart and the coupling of this with above average accuracy for a college quarterback, you can see why so many are high on him.

That being said, the only leg up on Crist he has is an extra year of playing experience. Crist is sharp in his own right and has a stronger arm and comparable poise/moxy/awareness. He is not as fast as Luck, but is plenty mobile. This time next year when his accuracy gets to the next level we will be talking about a possible Heisman much like Luck is being talked about this year.

Running Back – Edge Irish

It is well documented how Stanford has spread the carried out to 8 backs at times to compensate for the departure of Toby-one-kanobi. They have skill and athleticism, but none are above a “B”. The primary reason for their terrific yards per carry is the lack of competition and one of the best offensive lines in the country. None of them can dominate and consistently make people miss/break tackles to the point where they keep any defenses up at night. Of course with their offensive line it doesn’t really matter.

I would argue that Notre Dame’s 4^th string tailback is better than anyone Stanford has. I am and have always been a Huge Hughes fan (the misuse of his talent throughout his career is a topic for another post) and have also watched every snap Stanford has played this year. Without question we have better backs.

Wide Receiver – Edge – Irish

By far their best receiver is Whalen who is out for this game. He is the clone of Blair White, Michigan States starter from a year ago and simply catches everything, knows how to get open and has underrated athleticism. Owusu has the juice but is not a pure receiver and is one game back from a moderate knee injury. Baldwin is a veteran who up until this year has not played a whole lot and is a lot like David Grimes…and David Grimes was not very good.

I don’t think I even have to justify ND’s personal b/c that would be redundant.

Tight End – Edge – Irish

We have Kyle Rudolph and you have Conrad Reuland.

Offensive Line – Edge – Stanford

Now ND ‘s line has played exceptionally well, especially considering it has 3 first time starters. But Stanford’s line is very good, like top 5 in college football good. They are all about 6’5” 300lbs and they are all upperclassmen. They move people and do it with an attitude.

That being said, their one weak link is right tackle where they have a senior who is a 1^st time started with very little playing experience outside of this season. He is a “C” player at best and can be exploited.

DEFENSE

D-Line – Edge – Irish

This is close, but I give the nod to I am Williams and Co. b/c both units have been equally productive but the Irish have a higher ceiling talent wise.

Stanford’s best D-Lineman is Sione Fua their nose and he is legit. All three of them are seniors and play solid.

Williams, KLM and Ethan are more athletic and have played well this season. I must add that they have in no way played as well as they are capable and can potentially dominate

Linebackers – Edge – Push

The Irish have struggled getting off blocks in the run game and generating a pass rush. Although Fleming “flashed” against MSU, he nor his fellow backers have yet to play up to their potential and have overrun their gaps on too many occasions for me to give them the nod.

Stanford backers are led by 2 way super-hero Owen Marecic who is rarely out of position and brings a physical presence. They also have Shane Skov, a young talented player with some athleticism who had his first action of the season against Wake and played alright. He is very block able however once engaged.

Secondary – Edge – Irish

With Slaughter back this week (maybe the most talented safety on either team) ND gets the advantage. Stanford returns 3 starters from last year, but last year they got torched. Walls and GG are both better than anyone Stanford has.

SPECIAL TEAMS – Edge – Stanford

With bother kickers and punters cancelling themselves out, it comes down to coverage and returns. Stanford has Owusu who I think took 3 to the house last year on returns and is the prototypical return man (think Tamarick Vanover….god I loved watching him).

With Kelly publicly putting Cierre “on notice” I would not be surprised if he rips one this weekend. And don’t sleep on John Goodman. He can fly and not just for a white guy…his track times in high school were high 21’s in the 200 which is legit.

So that leaves the final “score” ND–6 Stanford-4

Now here is the thing. Any respectable follower of college football will point out that despite what Nolan Ivers think, it is obvious that Stanford is far superior to ND. They have the 3^rd ranked offense and I think 5^th or 6^th ranked D. On top of that they have the #1 ranked D against the pass.

So obviously the Sum is greater than the parts.

Well they played Sacramento State who is awful even for a I-AA school, then UCLA which is without question the worst offense I have seen this year (5 fumbles didn’t help), and then a Wake Forest team running the triple option (and running it poorly I might add).

You flip the schedules of these 2 teams and damn I would love to see the results.

But that is stupid talk b/c you can’t do that and thus far ND has turned the ball over and given up big plays against 2 good teams while Stanford has played flawless against truly bad teams.

Now I think ND c an flat outplay Stanford if they eliminate the self destruction….but the real reason I think they win this game is b/c I have a feeling. Now this feeling is not totally ethereal, bur based on everything I have heard in every interview of every coach and every player. And that feeling is…

Enough is Enough.

A team/program can only take so much pain before something snaps. Now it can be a bad snap (see 2009) or a good snap, and I think the good snap snaps on Saturday. I think the pain they have endured turns into outright violent rage that will for once and for all put its foot down and say No More.

I think they are primed to fuckin lay the wood this weekend and put together a performance we have all been waiting for.

Its gonna be fun to watch.

p.s. I am well aware that this line of thinking has been thought before only to deepen the darkness in all ND fans hearts after a gutbusting loss. I don’t care, and this is why I am a fan.

One Hand Clapping: My First Ever ND Football Post

2010-09-22T15:44:00.003-04:00

These are my first public thoughts about Notre Dame football. I have run a mailing list comprised of 15 or so friends who I email regularly with info/commentary about the Irish, but have shied away from blogging or even commenting (on other blogs) due to a number of reasons no one cares about and don’t matter.

So I would like to thank Mark Allen here at ND Sports Report for posting the “Writers Wanted” post and inadvertently nudging my over the edge into the dense world of the ND blogosphere.

I was waiting till after our inevitable wins over Michigan’s schools to pen my first post on a high note, but instead I am compelled to write today out of frustration.

Ok, enough with the bullshit.

MSU

I am 29 years old. This means I have witnessed some god awful losses to Michigan State in my lifetime (Charles Rodgers you bastard). There is just something about our games against them that always makes me weary. And no game has ever sucked the life out of me so violently than this year’s game.

That being said, I hate them almost as much as USC. When that scumbag Eric Smith planted their flag at the 50 of ND Stadium in 2005 something inside me snapped and to this day I have no respect for him or that entire program…in fact, even though I know it is ridiculous, if I meet anyone who is either a graduate or fan of that school, I assume there are scumbags on some fundamental level. I know this is not the case but I think it anyway (it could be the case I haven’t done enough research).

To the game…

Overall I have loved every word that has come out of Brian Kelly’s mouth since he was hired (I also loved every word out of Weis mouth but that is for another time). As someone who has spent a lot of time playing with good and bad coaches, I felt like he was the perfect anecdote for ND football’s problems.

With that said, he has made 2 calls that are 100% wrong.

1^st was not kicking the field goal at the end of the half against UM. Not to re-hash a very hashed subject, but there is no debate about that call. You kick the field goal. Every time. End of story. Anyone who thinks otherwise is wrong and it is to frustrating and inane to get into the actually “argument” b/c there is no argument. If you think otherwise…better luck next time.

And the fact that BK said he never even considered kicking it is either A) a lie or B) a really really troubling statement.

The 2^nd call was going for it on 4^th down against MSU in the 4^th quarter. I don’t care if Jesus Christ himself signals you a call from heaven, you don’t go for it there. Not some of the time, not maybe….you punt the ball every single time. Again this is such basic football I feel stupid even justifying the punt. But even if you didn’t have a young inexperienced quarterback, and even if you weren’t on the road, and even if your defense wasn’t playing well at the time or you were on the 50 instead of your own 40-something….you still punt every time.

Unless you are a bad coach. And this is where things get dicey.

Call it cognitive dissonance or just call it pure confusion, but there is something incongruent with the way BK has represented himself and his coaching style/football philosophy and the way he has coached in games that has left me truly stupefied.

This has been said already by others, but if you are truly trying to win the game, not make a “statement”, you do not make some of the decisions BK has made (including the 4^th down @ MSU).

And you know what, that 4^th down was a perfect play call. Floyd and Rudolph crossed at the snap and Big Mike was sitting 4 yards up field WIDE the heck open. The outside backer completely ignored him and jumped Rudolph immediately. Unfortunately Dayne decided to throw it to Rudolph as soon as he broke the huddle.

Even if he had hit Floyd for the 1^st it still would have been a 100% bad call (although I would have been happy as shit).

Now there has been debate about other calls made by BK that are legit. For example I did not have a problem with him going to overtime against MSU instead of trying to get a field goal. Given the field position, the inexperience at QB and our defenses momentum, I had no problem with that call.

And in case you were unaware, we had the fake field goal covered assignment wise. They did not “catch us sleeping” but Harrison Smith and Carlo got tangled up and couldn’t keep their feet. Assuming their exhaustion (especially Smith’s) I’ll toss that up as stuff happens.

As far as the play clock and the phantom clipping call and receiver forced out of bounds no-call, I’ll say this… I don’t want to hear it. ND fans (actually all fans, but especially ND) do not realize their ridiculous bias that filters everything they see. I know we have gone through an extreme rough 15 years or so, with some terrible calls not going our way, but if you tracked it, their has been many many calls that have gone our way. In the end there is no football karma that is against us and to suggest otherwise disrespects the integrity of the game (when we win is it b/c of karma or b/c we earned it?). Does everyone forget the absolute GIFT MSU handed us last year? Cousins missed the back out of the backfield wide open then threw a brain dead pick when all they needed was a field goal for overtime. We should have lost that game.

I was going to go on about my thoughts about our entire team and look ahead to Stanford, but I realize this is already to long. So I will cover that stuff in another post tomorrow most likely.

Final thought of my virgin voyage into ND blogging…

I read everything, literally everything that is published about the Irish. So it goes without saying that I have great familiarity with all the blogs and writers out there. I just want to say that I have the utmost respect for those writers/sites that share my interest in ND football. I would say a big factor in me delaying the decision to start writing about the Irish is that most of what I think/feel is already articulated somewhere out there on the internet.

That being said, I still feel there is room for one more voice.

I was born a Notre Dame fan thanks to my father and have had an unconditional love for ND football for my entire life. I don’t buy jerseys or have a ND welcome mat or anything, but I truly feel like I am watching family every Saturday.

I played for just over 10 years before hurting my neck my sophomore year of college (keep your head up when tackling kids) and have logged more hours watching football than I can admit without feeling embarrassed.

I hope to provide some insight and perspective that related directly to what happens on the field rather than the perception of what happens on the field which is so common.

Tomorrow I will talk about how Stanford is not as good as you think.

Help Wanted - Writers

2010-09-08T16:06:00.003-04:00

Domer Sports Report is looking for someone who loves The Fighting Irish and would like to write for the site. This is a good site. We want to keep it going for a long time. If interested, email Mark at mkallen3@sbcglobal.net.

Go Irish!

SaturDame: Purdue 2010

2010-09-04T21:39:00.003-04:00

A win by the Irish was expected and necessary. Also, it was never really in doubt. Sure, the Weis nerves came back when Purdue cut the lead to eight, but this team closed the game out well.

Only two penalties all game. I love teams that don't make the game harder on themselves than it already is.

Dayne Crist does not have the same touch on his deep balls that Jimmy did. It's probably just rust but it's something he needs to do work on. Just giving Floyd, Rudolph and Jones a chance at a ball could be the difference in some games. Brian Kelly gave him a lot of short routes and he completed almost all of those.

Armando Allen looked like a different player out there.

Cierre Wood looked Vierre Good. Probably should have seen the field last year, but I'm sure Brian Kelly appreciates the extra year he gets with him.

David Ruffer did not fade after earning the kicking gig. A touchback and three field goals including one that put the game out of reach.

Manti T'eo's hits sound different when he lines someone up, I think it happened twice today. Need more of that.

Darrin Walls played an outstanding game, changing the momentum with the early pick and making tackles as well.

Can Rudy2.0 get a pass thrown to him at once a quarter? Is that too much?

The Dash scores a touch down in his first game. Tai-ler Jones appears to fit in nicely.

Michael Floyd is still Michael Floyd on jump balls.

The defensive line made more than enough plays, well the starters did. Thought the interception before the safety would be a game ender.

I liked Brian Kelly taking responsibility for the safety, by saying that they have to coach the line better. Very few coaches teach their team not to block people on a running play is all I'm saying.

The grab by Floyd on third down that enabled the team to run out the clock, was an awesome reach back for a poorly thrown ball catch.

I will happily never see Ryan Kerrigan in college again. Monsterish, have fun Big Twelven Quarterbacks.

Would like to see Theo Riddick get some more chances in space.

Carlo Calabrese had a good game in his first start at ILB.

Going to be interesting next week, with Michigan beating a supposedly pretty good UConn team handily. The biggest game under Brian Kelly is the next one, at least the first 6 weeks of this year.

Underdog Games of 2010

2010-08-19T19:16:00.003-04:00

Trying to look at the schedule from non-rose colored glasses is always tough for a fan. Can Notre Dame go undefeated? They probably can, but it's very unlikely this year. There are certain games that are tougher than others just based on the scheduling. I've gone into the last couple of seasons with big expectations and having been disappointed both years, I'm trying to even my expectations out.

Michigan State (East Lansing)
Going on the road for the first time under Brian Kelly, playing a rivalry game for the third week in a row, and playing maybe the best passing QB, Kirk Cousins, they'll play all season. This is Michigan State's first tough game of the season and maybe that helps ND out, but the Spartans should also be able to play very vanilla in their first two games and win easily, so maybe we'll see a new version of the 2007 fake fumble. If the schedule worked out better for the Irish I think this would be a middle game, but I think the Spartans might be able to beat up a team that has to play into the fourth quarter to put away it's first two opponents.

Pittsburgh (Home)
Dion Lewis and Jonathon Baldwin are maybe the best RB-WR combo the Irish will face all year and covering a 6-5 wide receiver is hard enough when you don't have to worry about an All-American type running back too. Pitt has won two games in a row in the series, and those games were close enough that maybe being at home under Brian Kelly would be enough to swing the game into a toss-up. Except the schedule steps in again, and places Pitt at the end of a hard six game open to the BK era and immediately following a road game at Boston College. It just seems like to much to soon for the Irish.

USC (Coliseum)
The same old, same old. Another very good, young QB, Matt Barkley and he has plenty of weapons to use. Notre Dame finally has the edge in coaching as Lane Kiffin is kind of the bizzaro Brian Kelly, in that he keeps losing games and getting hired at better jobs. I think the Irish are probably one year away from ending the streak but I expect this game to be the first close game in LA since 1997 when SC won by 3.

I can see Brian Kelly being able to win one of these games as he's a better coach than all three opposing coaches and winning games you're not supposed to used to be something that happened for the Irish. Maybe I should re-read Resurrection as it might apply better to Kelly's first year as opposed to Weis' last.

Purdon't is almost here. Can't wait for the 4th.

The Tweeners 2010

2010-08-09T23:06:00.006-04:00

These are the games that could go either way, Brian Kelly must split these games as a worst case scenario while escaping with only 1 loss would set up a good first season (as long as they win the 5 games that I think they should). I don't think there is a Michigan pick in the bunch (one that arguably fits better else where) but we'll see.

Stanford (Home)
One of the best games, well most exciting, games of 2009 will be without the three standout offensive stars of the game in 2010 (Gerhart, Tate and Clausen all left early). This year Stanford will be passing more with sophomore Andrew Luck at QB. They will also start a soph at running back either Stepfan Taylor or Tyler Gaffney. Former Domer Konrad Reuland is a TE along with Coby Fleener while their starters at wide out are also split with a sr. and a jr. in Ryan Whalen and Chris Owusu. Another Irish transfer kicks for the Cardinal in Nate Whitaker. Owusu doubles as a KR and tied a Pac-10 record with 3 KR TD's last year. The defense is switching to a 3-4 and both starting DE's from last year have moved to outside line backer. The defensive backfield returns 2 or 3 starters from last year as one of the returnees lost his starting spot after getting injured. Without Gerhart you'd expect the running game to struggle but they return 4 Ofensive Linemen and their defense will take some time to adjust to the 3-4, unfortunately I think about the 4th game is when both sides will figure things out. I'm expecting a back and forth battle and the fourth quarter will decide this one.

Boston College (Chestnut Hill)
Another close game from last year that should be the same way this year. Mark Herzlich is expected to be as close to 100% as he can be this year and BC shot themselves in the foot last year with five turn overs. They return their sophomore qb Dave Shinskie, RB Montel Harris, a Flutie at WR and 4 of their starting offensive linemen. The defense returns 4 players that have started in the past on the line and 5 starters at LB with Herzlich back. They only return 2 starters in the DFB so that will probably be the weakest part of what should be a good to great defense. I don't have a good feeling about this game, but I expect it to be close and probably low scoring.

Navy (East Rutherford)
The Midshipmen return a sleeper Heisman candidate in Ricky Dobbs and their version of the option has given ND fits recently. The full back is the workhorse in this offense and SR Vince Murray appears ready for the work, Marcus Curry and Gee Gee Greene are the slot backs. The offensive line features 4 upper class men but having only 3 line man to cut could hurt their offensive game plan. The strength of Navy's defense should be their back field where they return 3 starters which is good because they lose 6 players from the front 7. I expect a grind it out game with Navy chewing clock as The Irish try to score as fast as possible which could equal some mistakes by ND's defense.

Utah (Home)
The team that probably sneaks under most Irish fans radar but that could change after their first game of the season, at home against Pitt. Their starting QB is Jordan Wynn a sophomore that was expected to red shirt last year until they needed a spark to beat Wyoming last year, he remained the starter for the rest of the year. They have to replace a lot in the receiving core but they have two SR running back's that should help the offense. They return 5 DL that started last year which is hard to do when you lose two starters. The line backers are very inexperienced but should be up to to speed by November and their DFB has only one player that started full time last year. I expect a game that is decided in the second half, but we'll know more after both teams have played Pitt.

These are the games that will swing Brian Kelly's first year and I think the BC game is probably the toughest of the four with Stanford a close second.

Notre Dame vs. Texas Again

2010-08-05T07:26:00.006-04:00

The Irish and the Longhorns are close to agreeing to a 4 game contract starting in 2015. This is a scheduling I can get behind. While I like playing (and beating) Purdue, Texas is a huge step up and the best opponent The Irish will play those four years. USC is not going to be as good under Lane as they were under Pete, Pete built a great program no doubt about it, but Lane as long as he is there, (under 5 years if you ask me) the program will settle into a team that wins the Pac-10? once in awhile instead of every year. Texas will be THE PROGRAM outside of the SEC for as long as Mack Brown wants it to be.

The hit by Bryan Westbrook is still one of the best hits I've ever seen and the two games in the mid-nineties are great memories I have of an ND that wasn't scared to play anybody. That didn't include Tulsa and Western Michigan, Army is a historical match-up that I don't mind but shouldn't be an annual game by any means. I like that The Irish play Michigan, Navy, Michigan State and USC every year, if you include Purdue, BC and Pitt in annual opponents it's hard to schedule under the current 7-4-1 schedule. I wouldn't mind going to a 6-5-1 in the future but I don't think Swarbrick is interested in more road games (somebody has to pay for the non-revenue squads to go to South Florida). Notre Dame is dropping Stanford and I fear that they are going to schedule a weaker opponent in their place.

I prefer the toughest opponents we can schedule and I think the Big Ten is going to have openings in November now that they are going to a Championship Game in December. Hi, Wisconsin/Iowa/Nebraska/Penn State/Ohio State would you care to play a home and home? How about a 4 game series with two home games (one each) and two neutral site games? UConn/South Florida/West Virginia/Cincinnati would also be interested I imagine. The Big 12 outside of Texas is going to need some good non-conference games as well so say hello to Oklahoma/Oklahoma State/Texas Tech/Texas A&M welcome them to South Bend under the same agreements.

The Irish should not be playing Western Michigan and Tulsa under any circumstances, even trading them in for lesser teams from BCS conferences isn't a terrible idea. Oh, hi, ACC, Virginia Tech/Florida State/Wake Forest/Georgia Tech/Clemson could probably find a way to sneak ND onto their schedule. The SEC houses multiple teams that would enhance any teams schedule while Alabama/Georgia/FLORIDA/Ole Miss/LSU have not shown a real interest in playing road games out of conference, putting The Irish on their home schedule should be enticing enough for them. If ND is going to play non-BCS teams, how about BYU or Boise State? Build on the Utah game as well.

Play the best, beat the best. I think this is how ND became ND. They should continue this. A schedule featuring SCUofM, MSU, BC, USC, Navy, an SEC team, a Big 12? team, another Pac-10? team, however many Big East teams we have to play and wildcards of another ACC team, another Big Ten? team, or an extra Big East team should be who ND plays.

Texas and Miami should be just the beginning on future schedules, not something to fall back on.

Who They'll Beat 2010

2010-07-27T01:52:00.002-04:00

A series of three sets of predictions, we'll start first with the game I expect the Irish to win. With only the spring game underneath the coach's belt, it is hard to get a feel for this team. Of course, I was expecting 9 wins minimum the previous two years, so maybe the less knowledge the better.

Purdue (Home)
One of the few teams on the schedule that had a worse record than Notre Dame (5-7), although they also had one win better than any in the Weis era, beating Ohio State. They return an All-Big 10 wide receiver in Keith Smith and add a QB that started his freshman year at Miami, in Robert Marve. A torn acl for Ralph Bolden leaves the Running Back situation a question mark and there are numerous holes in the defense, including filling all four defensive back spots.
-Notre Dame 38 Pudue 13

Western Michigan (Home)
A that lost 4 games in the MAC and went 5-7 overall, finished third in the MAC West last year. They will be lucky to finish similarly this year which means the Irish should win big.
-Notre Dame 56 WMU 7

Tulsa (Home)
Another team from a non-BCS conference, who had a 5-7 record last year that comes to Notre Dame Stadium. They return their leading passer and rusher from last year in Texas transfer QB G.J. Kinne. Last year they lost close games to Boise State (28-21), Houston (46-45) and UTEP (28-24). The offense should be much improved with four returning wide receivers including Damaris Johnson one of the most explosive players in C-USA.
-Notre Dame 45 Tulsa 24

Army (Yankee Stadium)
Another 5 - 7 team from last year. Army should be improved from last year as they have 16 returning starters. Playing them after Navy makes adjusting to the option easier (which is why ND should play them before Navy) but it's still a completely different defense then The Irish will use the rest of the reason. Army's QB Trent Steelman was their first freshman starting QB in the modern era and while no Ricky Dobbs is a good option quarterback.
-Notre Dame 42 Army 10

Michigan (Notre Dame Stadium)
Why not list all the 5-7 teams from last year. I don't expect Michigan's defense to be any good especially after losing Brandon Graham so another big offensive game is expected. Tate Forcier and Denard Robinson are back at QB and are joined by true freshman Devin Gardner, who was one of the top QB recruits in the nation last year. The rest of specialty players are new to the starting line-up outside of TE Kevin Koger. On defense they return Obi Ezeh and that's about it, but they should still improve as they continue to adjust to the Rich-Rod 3-3-5.
-Notre Dame 35 Michigan 24

Those all the guarantee games, I'm willing to make and putting Michigan on this list scares me just because of last year. 5 wins or bust for The Irish you heard it here first. I'll be back with my coin toss games and scare tactics games.

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What EA Sports Thinks of ND's Team

2010-07-08T02:09:00.003-04:00

A breakdown of the ratings that EA Sports has assigned to the Notre Dame roster on their upcoming release of NCAA Football 11. Not that these ratings are actually based on real life people. That would be wrong. All ratings come from EA Sports Teambuilder website.

QB's (C)

Dayne Crist (SO) is rated 83 Overall (OVR). He has a Throw Power/Accuracy (TPW/TAC) of 92/86 and Speed/Acceleration (SPD/ACC) 68/62. His injury rating is 76 while Awareness (AWR) is 70.

Andrew Hendrix (FR) is rated 74 OVR, with TPW/TAC of 87/86, and SPD/ACC of 88/71. AWR is 40

I'm guessing Luke Massa (FR) is QB #8 but it could just as easily be Tommy Rees (FR) a 65 OVR with TPW/TAC of 80/80 and SPD/ACC of 78/89. AWR is 40.

Nate Montana (JR) makes the cut as a 59 OVR. TPW/TAC of 77/74 and SPD/ACC of 65/68 and AWR of 45.

Much like the actual football team, the video game team needs Dayne Crist to stay healthy to be good/great.

RBs (B)

Armando Allen (SR) is a 90 OVR, with SPD/ACC 95/96, AWR of 89, Catching (CTH) 75 and Elusiveness (ELV) of 92.

Robert Hughes (SR) is an 83 OVR, SPD/ACC 85/90, AWR of 72, Break Tackle (BKT) 80, CTH 72.

Theo Riddick (SO) is in the game at RB and is a 77 OVR, SPD/ACC 88/85, an outstanding Stamina (STM) rating of 97 and CTH of 68.

Jonas Gray (JR) is a 75 OVR, SPD/ACC 85/83, nothing else stands out and a CTH of 67.

Cierre Wood (SO) is a 75 OVR, SPD/ACC 93/87, STM of 94, ELV of 79 and a CTH of 68.

Cameron Roberson (FR) is a 74 OVR, SPD/ACC of 90/90, STM of 96 and a CTH of 65.

Bobby Burger (SR) is in the game at FB a 69 OVR, SPD/ACC of 70/74.

With Theo Riddick actually a WR, which roster editors will attend too, the RB depth isn't as good as it is in real life. I expect Cierre or Jonas to break out this year, in that order.

WR's (A-)

Michael Floyd (JR) is the highest rated of all the Fighting Irish at a 97 OVR, SPD/ACC of 90/96, AWR 90, STM 98, INJ surprisingly is at 88, CTH is 92, while his Spectacular Catch (SPC) is 94.

Duval Kumara (SR) is 85 OVR, SPD/ACC of 88/88, CTH of 84, STM of 99.

Shaq Evans (SO) is a 82 OVR, SPD/ACC 97/83, CTH 78, STM 96, and an AWR of just 55.

Deion Walker (SO) is an 80 OVR, SPD/ACC of 95/90, STM of 98, CTH of 74 and an AWR of 56.

Tai-ler "DASH" Jones (FR) is a 77 OVR, SPD/ACC of 88/97 CTH of 80, STM of 94.

Daniel Smith (FR) is a 69 OVR with SPD/ACC of 96/80, CTH of 70 and STM of 95.

Bennett Jackson (FR) is a 68 OVR, SPD/ACC of 87/90 and a CTH of just 68.

Notable absences include John Goodman and Robbie Toma.

The receiving depth and talent in real life is much better that represented in video game form. John Goodman is poised for a Treme like breakout and DASH should fit into this offense better than Shaq, Toma and Deion did as rookies.

TE (A-)

Kyle Rudolph (JR) is a 90 OVR with SPD/ACC of 82/86 an 80 BTK and 88/87 CTH/CIT (catch in traffic).

Mike Ragone (JR) is a 82 OVR, SPD/ACC of 84/85 and CTH/CIT of 79/76.

Tyler Eifert (FR) is a 73 OVR, SPD/ACC of 80/75 and CTH/CIT of 72/71.

I like the relative depth at TE and Rudy 2.0 is a stud who I might have to win a Heisman with.

OL (C+)

Left Tackles
Matt Romine (SR) is 79 OVR, with a 78 Pass Block (PB) and 76 Run Block (RB) and a 80 Impact Block (IB).

Lane Clelland (JR) is a 74 OVR, with 80/75/89 PB/RB/IB.

I think they left Matt James in the game. RIP.

Left Guards
Chris Watt (SO) is a 83 OVR with 82's across the board.

Braxston Cave (JR) is 74 OVR with 80/80/79.

Mike Hernandez (JR) is a 72 OVR with 75/75/72.

Centers
Mike Golic Jr. (SO) is a 81 OVR with 78/78/80.

Jordan Cowart (SO) is a 72 OVR with 75/75/70.

Right Guards
Trevor Robinson (JR) is an 80 OVR with 80/85/85.

Tate Nichols (FR) is a 73 OVR with 77/78/77.

Alex Bullard (SO) is 73 OVR with 78/85/78.

Right Tackles
Taylor Dever (JR) is an 80 OVR with 87/87/83.

Zack Martin (SO) is a 70 OVR with 77/74/69.

Offensive Line is the biggest question mark on this teams offense in real life so the corresponding stats aren't a surprise. Dayne Crist will be rolling out a lot to stay safe in video games.
Defensive Line (B-)

Defensive Line (B+)

Left Ends
Kapron Lewis-Moore (SO) is an 81 OVR with 79 SPD, 80 Strength (STG), 82 Power Move (PM), and 78 Tackle (TKL).

Emeka Nwanko (JR) is a 72 OVR with 62/85/85/78.

Christopher Skubis (SR) is a 66 OVR with 77/72/60/70.

Right Ends
Kerry Neal (SR) is a 79 OVR with 81/74/65/80.

Kona Schwenke (FR) is a 64 OVR with 80/68/60/65.

Defensive Tackles
Ian Williams (SR) is an 86 OVR with 65/85/73/86.

Ethan Johnson (JR) is an 84 OVR with 76/86/85/76.

Louis Nix (FR) is a 76 OVR with 68/85/84/79.

Brandon Newman (SO) is 70 OVR with 58/77/73/78.

Hafis Williams (JR) is a 77 OVR with 68/74/74/70.

Sean Cynwar is a 63 OVR with 59/76/70/72.

The Defensive Line has a couple of very good players and a couple of players that could make a huge leap this year. There is enough depth that switching out players due to fatigue shouldn't be a huge drop in talent.

Linebackers (B)

Left Outside Line Backers

Darius Fleming (JR) is a 78 OVR with 84 SPD, 82 ACC, 80 TKL, and 86 Pursuit (PRS).

Dan Fox (SO) is a 76 OVR with 79/85/79/67.

Justin Utopo (FR) is a 73 OVR with 87/80/75/75.

Right Outside Line Backers

Manti T'eo (SO) is an 89 OVR with 86/85/88/94.

David Posluszny (SO) is a 73 OVR with 81/70/76/79,

Kendall Moore (FR) is a 70 OVR with 83/80/79/72.

Middle Line Backers

Brian Smith (SR) is an 86 OVR with 85/86/86/ and 82 Hit Power (HTP).

Prince Shembo (FR) is a 73 OVR with a 83/82/81/78.

Anthony McDonald (SO) is a 73 OVR with a 79/84/77/74.

Carlo Calabrese (SO) is a 66 OVR with 78/88/77/65.

Brian Smith and Manti T'eo are the two standouts at line backer with Prince Shembo having a great chance to grow into a player that's as good as his name.

Cornerbacks (B+)

Robert Blanton (JR) is an 86 OVR with 92 SPD, 95 ACC, 76 TKL and 93 Pursuit.

Gary Gray (JR) is an 85 OVR with 96/88/73/94.

E.J. Banks (SO) is a 75 OVR with 94/90/67/68.

Lo Wood (FR) is a 68 OVR with 90/88/68/79.

Spencer Boyd (FR) is 67 OVR with 90/88/65/74.

They seem to have left Darrin Walls out and in his place is a guy who I have no idea who he is. Even after scouring through the roster. Without Darrin Walls the Irish still have two very good cover corners and should be able to play with even the best wide receivers.

Safeties (C-)

Free
Jamoris Slaughter (SO) is an 80 OVR with 90 SPD, 95 ACC, 72 TKL and 88 PRS.

Dan McCarthy (SO) is a 77 OVR with 90/86/75/89.

Derek Roback (FR) is a 66 OVR with 82/89/66/70.

Strong
Harrison Smith (SR) is a 78 OVR with 90/82/82/89.

Chris Badger (FR) is 70 OVR with 88/85/77/70.

With no Kyle McCarthy to take charge in the defensive back field this could be a bad year for the safety. Harrison Smith might be the biggest question mark on the entire team, he needs to know what he's doing at all times.

Specialties (B+)
Nick Tausch (SO) is an 89 OVR with 92 Kick Power and 89 Kick Accuracy.

Ben Turk (SO) is an 84 OVR with 89/82.

The kicking game looks like a strength in virtual games, so winning field position battles should be easy.

Return Rating
Shaq Evans 90
Michael Floyd 94
Armando Allen 88
Robert Hughes 87
Cierre Wood 90
Tai-ler Jones 88
Deion Walker 82
Daniel Smith 85
Robert Blanton 81
Dan McCarthy 82
Jamoris Slaughter 90

This is the base Notre Dame roster so all your complaints can go straight to EA. I'm just the middle man. Their are some very, very good roster editors out there who will fix Notre Dame (and those other teams) up. If you're interested in a game some time my 360 gamer tag is NDeezlo.

Game officially comes out Tuesday although some stores have begun selling them early so you might be able to find one this weekend.

Who's Next? 5-7-10

2010-04-30T18:30:00.003-04:00

A recruiting round-up following spring practice.

Commits:

Kyle Brindza, Kicker, 6-2 195, Canton, MI. Most important he plays his home games in the same high school stadium I played mine, although for a school that didn't exist while I was attending (wanna know how to feel old?). A junior on path to graduate in June and is interested in skipping his senior of high school to attend Notre Dame in September. He brings touch backs into the conversation on every kickoff. He also punts which could be big if Eric Maust decides to play pro baseball and Ben Turk is the only returning punter. Possible nicknames "20" or "Human Touch Back" or "Gus".

Brad Carrico, DE, 6-6 255, Dublin, Ohio. The first commit for the 2011 class came from the state of, you guessed it, Ohio. A position of need as defensive line is seen as a weak point at this point. He also had offers from Cincinnati, Illinois, Purdue and West Virginia and comes from the high school that gave Notre Dame Chinedum Ndukwe and Brady Quinn. Any nickname suggestions?

Matthias Farley, Ath, 6-1 195, Charlotte, NC. Mostly being recruited as a wide receiver, the Irish coaches Bob Diaco and Chuck Martin have convinced him that corner back is a better place for his talent, and maybe a quicker road to the field. He caught 37 passes for 900 yards and 12 touchdowns in his only year of organized play, passing up soccer for football ala Shane Walton, although he chose it a little bit earlier than Shane. I'm thinking something Chris Farley related, "Black Sheep" or "South Bend Ninja" possibly "Dirty Work"

Jarrett Grace, ILB, 6-4 235 Cincinnati, Ohio. A player that Brian Kelly and Company began recruiting while still with the Bearcats and finished with him committing to the Irish during the festivities for the spring game. Chris Berman would suggest we call him Jarrett Grace "Kelly" so lets no do that. I like Jarret "Say" Grace

Ben Koyack, TE, 6-5 230, Oil City, PA. Another spring game visitor that committed this pasat week. He must have seen something he liked with Kyle Rudolph and Mike Ragone catching multiple passes in the spread. He chose ND over Ohio State, after trimming his choices to two, and continues the run of talented pass catching tight ends in South Bend, started oddly enough by Greg Olsen... I have nothing good here, maybe Ben "Not a Canoe" Koyack. But I don't like it.

Conor Hanratty, OL, 6-4 305, New Canaan, CT. The son of Terry Hanratty, who played QB on the 1966 National Championship team and committed after conversations with Brian Kelly over spring game weekend, his first time meeting the coach. Conor had double digit offers including Florida State and Clemson. "Honey-baked" Hanratty

Matthew Hegarty, OL, 6-5 285, Aztec, New Mexico. Matt is interested in enrolling in January and has he'll be joining the coaches in recruiting for the Irish. He is a U.S. Army All-American who will not be playing the dreaded hat game during the break in the action after committing this past week. "Six Eyes"

Jordan Prestwood, OL, 6-6 265, Plant City, FL. An early April commitment from Jordan seemed to kick off a run on offensive lineman for the Irish. He also had offers from Alabama, Auburn, Florida, Tennesee and USC among others. "Right Direction"

Tony Springman, Ath, 6-6 257, Fort Wayne, IN. Another spring game Saturday commit, Tony joins former high school teammates Tyler Eifert and John Goodman at Notre Dame. The Irish have Tony pegged as a defensive lineman, where his speed and quickness should give him an advantage over offensive lineman. Someone named Springman does not need a nickname.

They have offers out to a Pro-Style QB Justin Worley and Dual-Threat QB's: Bubba Starling, Marquise Williams, Braxton Miller and Kiehl Frazier.

Running Backs that have offers are: Aaron Green, Justice Hayes, Malcolm Brown, Mike Bellamy, Demetrius Hart, Savon Huggins and Jameel Poteat.

Wide Receivers and Tight Ends that have gotten offers from the Irish are: DeAnthony Arnett, Victor Blakwell, Phillip Dorsett, Rashad Greene, Charone Peake, Devin Smith, Ja'Juan Story, Ray Hamilton, Troy Niklas, Austin Seferian-Jenkins, Kelvin Benjamin, Davaris Daniels, Hakeem Flowers, Richard Rodgers, Evan Spencer, Dan Tapko, Nick Vannett, Kasen Williams, and Jay Rome.

Offensive Lineman that have received offers are: Brendon Austin, Brey Cook, Michael Bennett, Watts Dantzler, Cyrus Hobbi, Cyrus Kouandjio, Aundrey Walker, Jay Whitmire and Antonio Richardson.

The Irish have offers out to Defensive Lineman: Sterling Bailey, Ray Drew Ishaq Williams, Brennan Scarlett, Clay Burton, ANthony Chickillo, Aaron Lynch, Giorgio Newberry, Jermauria Rasco, Chris Rock, Stephon Tuitt.

Linebackers we could see in the future that have offers are Rob Hankins, Montese Overton, Denzel Perryman, James Vaughters, Anthony Wallace, Stephone Anthony and Trey DePriest.

Defensive Backs that have offers include Jalen Brown, Blake Countess, Doran Grant, Josh Turner, Quincy Aldridge, Eilar Hardy, Lyndell Johnson, Chris Jones, Wayne Lyons.

These players don't have set positions but they do have offers from the Irish: George Atkinson III, Rodney Coe, Christian French and Brandon Phelps.

SaturDame The Spring Game 10

2010-04-25T01:09:00.003-04:00

A reverse was the first play of the Brian Kelly era and it was effective. Armando "Double A" Allen flipped the ball to Michael "Pink" Floyd who gained a first down.

The offenses combined for 744 yards, which was to be expected since the defenses ran a simplified version of the game plan.

That number is more impressive after the 2nd half featured 12 minute quarters and a running clock (due to the weather).

The offensive showcase featured many players that will probably not be heard of again including Pat Coughlan, walk on running back who ran for 80 yards and a touch down.

Dayne Crist will only get better (hopefully) but looked a little rusty and didn't move as much as he should in the fall.

Nate Montana should be a good back-up until Tommy Rees, or others, are ready.

The running back battle between Jonas Gray and Cierre Wood was fun to watch, Cierre broke a 44 yard touchdown run (1 of 2) and was almost immediately followed by Jonas breaking off a 38 yard score.

Tai-ler "Dash" Jones, Shaq Evans and Deion Walker all appropriated themselves nicely in the offense.

Kyle Rudolph and Mike Ragone made multiple nice catches in traffic.

The shovel pass appears to be a staple in the offense and Armando should be able to pick up some yardage.

The place kicking needs a lot and I mean a lot of work. Multiple missed extra points and a horrible field goal attempt brought that to the forefront.

The no-huddle offense was a lot of fun to watch (even though it took the people sitting around me nearly the whole first half to realize it was even going on).

I'm expecting a lot of rotating of receivers in the fall and not just to keep players fresh, but because there is a plethora of talent there (thanks Charlie).

Duval Kumara, who used to hold some freshman receiving records, showed glimpses of that talent again.

There isn't much to write about the defense in a game like this but they got some interceptions and made some hits that were loud.

I can't imagine Brian Kelly being unhappy about the offenses having to deal with the rain and it wasn't awful for the fans, although umbrellas seem rude in the stands.

Of course it rained, I was at the game. I was also at the Washington game last year, downpour at halftime, and the Syracuse game the year before, freezing cold and sitting in snow. So if you're going to a game next year try to make it one that I'm not at. I don't remember the weather at the Air Force loss in the 3-9 season but it probably wasn't good.

A trip to South Bend is never a bad thing, and I got to introduce my sister (MSU grad) to the stadium and somehow she only bought two things in the gift tent, which I'm sure her husband appreciates.

Purdue can't get here fast enough. My sister referred to this game as a tease and I agree.

My Golden Tate Seahawks jersey will be ordered soon.

Stats.

Notre Dame Recruit, Matt James Dies

2010-04-02T23:52:00.002-04:00

Link to the article on Cincinnati.com

Thoughts and prayers go out to the family and friends.

Always Irish.

Notre Dame Basketball

2010-02-22T16:58:00.003-05:00

Often an afterthought in the 1990's, the John MacLeod era produced minimal stars and no NCAA tournaments. Matt Doherty had one season on campus and went 22-15 with a trip to the NIT finals before North Carolina came begging. Mike Brey brought a Duke pedigree, and mid-major success to Notre Dame. The problem it seems is Mike Brey also brought a mid-major mindset to Notre Dame.

Advancing to the Sweet Sixteen is a huge deal for mid-majors while at Notre Dame it should be accomplished more than once every 23 years. Making THE TOURNAMENT should be a near annual thing in South Bend and there should be little doubt instead of watching Selection Sunday with crossed fingers every year. Mike Brey seems to have built teams that would win in the MAC and the Mountain West, but struggle against teams in the Big East. Even that is arguable since losses to bad teams have become commonplace the last few season (Loyola Marymount, Seton Hall at home this year, at St. Johns last year and at Seton Hall and Rutgers this year).

To compare Mike Brey to a football coach is to compare him to Bob Davie probably. Bob snuck into a BCS game where they got embarrassed, Mike snuck into the Sweet Sixteen and got embarrassed by Arizona. His basketball teams seem to not know how to win close games and with the players he recruits are regularly in close games. His reluctance to play freshman leads to sophomores barely being ready to play in the Big East. Harangody forced his way into the line up and Tory Jackson benefited from a marijuana suspension for KMac. He wasted Tim Abromaitis' sophomore season to a red shirt because he wasted his freshman season with minimal minutes. Does anyone really think Abromaitis wouldn't have been the difference between last years team being in THE TOURNAMENT as opposed to being in the NIT.

Jack Swarbrick may have waited a year to long to change his football coach and can't wait any longer with his basketball team. The expectations surrounding next years team will be as low as they get, perfect for a new coach. Young players and players that have gotten minimal minutes will surround Abro, Ben and Nash, hopefully a new coach will spring life into a program that is danger of falling back into the 90's disaster. Mike Brey sprung to his own defense by comparing his team to the worst ten years of Notre Dame basketball. That screams to me of desperation and trying to save his job. Mike Brey would be better served as a head coach of a mid-major where making the tournament is a big deal, if Notre Dame isn't careful they are close to becoming that school.

Top Ten Moments of 2009

2009-12-03T00:12:00.002-05:00

While everyone else is worrying about who will replace Charlie I figured I'd write about the good things of his last season. Yes, there were actual good moments in this disastrous 6-6 season. I tried to only use plays I could find isolated on youtube... Honorable mentions to the punt return, Golden Tate bouncing Taylor Mays to the ground as he scored, Michael Floyd's 80 yard touchdown against Nevada and the first touchdown of the season by Kyle Rudolph.

10. Two point conversion against Michigan. The Boise State Statue of Liberty play. It worked to perfection, the bobbling of the football by Armando Allen only adding to it. While losing to this Michigan team is unforgivable this play was spectacular. If only Charlie had run the ball at the end of the game instead of throwing passes, this team could have been 7-5.

9. Golden Mary against Washington State. Easily the most explosive member of the Irish since Rocket. The young man will be mentioned again on this list. This play would be much higher if it wasn't at halftime of a game against the Cougars.

8. Kyle McCarthy and Harrison Smith combine for a game winning explosion of a hit. Beating Washington in miraculous fashion and I can't pin down a play from the multitude of goal line stands to put here. The defense came up big in the overtime period and allowed the Irish to still think they were good.

7. Kyle McCarthy wins the Michigan State game. Another game winning play by Kyle, this time with his hands instead of his shoulder. Also the last time the defense shows up on this list. Beating Michigan State is third on my list of must win games following FUSC and SCUofM. Thankfully we got one of them this year.

6. Robert Hughes two point conversion against Washington (full game highlight). This play allowed the Irish to force an overtime and was an awesome use of team work as well. The offensive line wouldn't quit and forced HUUUUUUGHES into the end zone.

5. Rocket Ismail at the USC pep rally. What a great job of firing people up. Just an awesome job and what every pep rally needs. Even with the loss to FUSC I still watch this at least once a week.

4. Dayne Crist to John Goodman. A glimpse of the future. The best pass Crist has ever thrown and maybe the best pass by a Notre Dame quarterback all year. Goodman pulling away from the defensive back is almost as impressive as the pass itself.

3. Kyle Rudolph wins the Purdue game. A great job of sealing off the defensive player and stealing a game. Another perfect pass from Jimmy. Perhaps this play would have worked at the end against FUSC.

2 (tie). Michael Floyd's non touchdown against Michigan State and his touchdown against Stanford. This plays are very similar except one was ruled a David Grimes touchdown and the other surprised a Stanford cheerleader. A great job by Jimmy of moving around and being able to throw a pass where only Mike can catch it.

1 (tie). Golden Tate touchdown and the band dive against Michigan State and scoring his third touchdown against Stanford. Everything about this play is perfect. A great toss by Jimmy, a great catch by Golden and a perfect celebration. It also scored the winning points. The picture of Golden Tate hovering above the band has been my desktop picture since I found it. Against Stanford it's just amazing that no one can trip him up and just count the players he runs by on this 80 yard 30 yard touchdown catch and run.

I just don't want 2009 to be remembered only for Charlie's demise. There were great things happening (mostly offensively) but tons of plays that should be remembered for years to come.

Breaking News: Charlie Weis Out as Head Coach

2009-11-30T15:17:00.003-05:00

Perhaps the worst kept secret in sports over the past week or two, Charlie Weis will not coach a sixth season under the Golden Dome. Weis finishes with a worse winning percentage than both Bob Davie and Tyrone Willingham, he also dropped his final ten games against ranked opponents.

No real news on the front of who will replace Charlie next season, there have been strong speculations that Bob Stoops of Oklahoma is interested in the job while Brian Kelly of Cincinnati claims he would walk from Cincy to South Bend for the job. Then there are the hopes of a fanbase that for some unforeseen reason Urban Meyer would leave his post at Florida.

Students and staff of the University were notified by e-mail of the firing, you can read the official release just below. A press conference is scheduled for later today in South Bend where Rob Ianello will be introduced as the interim coach and Jack Swarbrick will address the media. More to come here at Domer Sports Report as news breaks, we'll have instant reaction throughout.

Official News Release:

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).

SaturDame Night Live Stanford 09 Weis Out

2009-11-28T19:34:00.004-05:00

It's supposed to be a parody of the song Wipe Out, not of the term white out. I'm ripping Simmons off, I'm aware.

7:25 Chris Martin is rumored to have committed to Florida, Omar Hunter style.

8:01 You are looking live. Love me some Musberger. Bet he took the Cardinal.

8:02 Herbie confirms that Weis is out.

8:03 They finally mention Stanford's team. Over/under on Toby Gerharts rushing yards is 300. I originally had it at 500.

8:13 Kick off is returned to mid field, not a good start. Kyle McCarthy makes the first tackle of Toby Gerhart, that is no surprise. T'eo makes the second tackle, also not a surprise. A stop on 3rd and short, by T'eo and they force a punt. A surprising start, nice job defense.

8:16 Jimmy his eye black and black eye make their appearance. Theo Riddick playing for injured Armando fumbles and the defense is back on the field, defending the red zone. Where was Robert Hughes?

8:17 Gerhart gets his third carry, well on his way to 50. Scores his 24th touchdown on his 5th carry and 3rd in a row on the drive. 7-0

8:24 Riddick doesn't fumble the kick return, offense gets a penalty for illegal motion. The wide receivers on this team commit more penalties than any team I've ever seen. Brent is giving the points with the Cardinal this game and just explained why. Incomplete shovel pass and a punt. Stanford turns the punt over, maybe Brent can explain that fumble away because of the Harbaugh speculation.

8:27 Third offensive series, fade to Tate, he should have caught that. HUUUUUGHES picks up the first down on third and short. Play fake TD TATE. So good. Brent never called the score. 7-7

8:33 Brent calls Sharpley Shipley, obviously wishing he was in Austin with Colt. What a catch, lucky his feet aren't any bigger. Here comes Toby. Williams gets a pass knock down. SERGIO BROWN with a great blitz and gets Pritchard in the back field. Weird substitution from Harbaugh. Another stop by the defense forcing a field goal attempt. Nate Whitaker transferred from Notre Dame? I don't remember that name at all. Did he lose out to Brandon Walker? 10-7

8:42 Montana (the state not Nate) gets a shout out for their come from behind win in the college football playoffs today. Herbstreit pretends as though he's never heard of a college football playoff.

8:43 Rudy 2.0 makes an appearance, Jimmy avoids a blitz finds Hughes for a first down. Golden Tate is a clone of Carolina Steve Smith. Hughes drags defenders like he's Golden Tate. Great play call from Weis, fake sneak, fire the ball backwards to Riddick and awesome down field blocking by Golden. Then a tremendous Mike Floyd push off/TD catch. AWESOME SHOW SO FAR.14-10

8:53 Herbie assures everyone that Bob Stoops has not been contacted by anyone about any job ever.

8:57 The Gerhart train starts rolling again after a kick off out of bounds. How many freshman quarterbacks can one team play in a season. Cardinal get called for a hold and can't convert a third and 20, must not have watched the BC tape. Another field goal. 14-13

9:03 The number five play of the last 30 years was Kordell Stewart to Michael Westbrook to beat the Wolverines and it sounds like Brent had U of M in that game. That play doesn't get old. Ever. HUUUUGHES is pounding people, I think the Pac-10 might not play defense. Which resembles a team I root for. Third and short and a qb sneak... I don't think it was that short Charlie. Good time out Charlie, jeez. I love using time outs for no reason. HUUUUGHES it or lose it. Theo "Huckstable" Riddick is so quick and quite a change up from Hughes. Everybody that ND puts back there can kick field goals this year... WAZZUPWIDTHAT? 17-13

9:17 Gerhart goes for 17 and then 8 putting him up near 70 for the game. I love when Lisa Salters goes to interview somebodies family member and refers to them as dad or mom, it's so authentic and professional. Pressure is being put on the quarterback today, when did the Irish start doing that, forced a punt.

9:22 Stat comes out that Weis is 20-0 when he out rushes the opponent and 16 and 26 when out rushed. That stat makes sense. Floyd just made the best play a defensive back has made all season, oh wait he was playing wide out. Personal foul against Stanford extends Notre Dames drive. The next play is bomb to Tate for a touchdown. 24-13. Perhaps Weis should have been fired every week (@herloyalsons).

9:27 Another short kick off and on the next play Luck completes a 20 yard pass to inside the ND 40. 3rd down and 8 converted down to the 2. Gerhart stood up by T'eo. NICE! Third down an inch away... Fullback gets in 24-20. 11 seconds left in the half, plenty of time for a Golden Mary. Nope just a kneel down. I'll take it.

10:00 Second half starts with a Golden Tate reverse for 20ish yards. Love actual reverses. Wildcat turns into flea flicker for Clausen TOUCHDOWN FLOYD!!!! Wide. Open. 31-20

10:06 The crappy kicking off works as the returner had his knee down when he got possession at the 20. The Gerhart show is off and running again. Stanford runs a reverse, Brent calls it an end around... End around is direct hand off to a wide out or slot, reverse is hand off to the back who then gets it to the wide out. Ughh it's so simple. Luck breaks out of the pocket picks up a first and goal. Touchdown Gerhart bowling people over. 31-27 These teams defenses are offensive.

10:16 Great screen pass. The Big Uglies get out in front and block for HUUUUUUUUGHES. Riddick would have scored on that play. Watching Toby Gerhart baseball highlights, I don't think I've seen any Golden Tate baseball highlights this year. Chris Stewart just took out Teo Riddick with a helmet to helmet hit, somehow avoided the flag. Bomb to Tate barely overthrown... Punt time.

10:22 Harrison Smith just made a big hit on Toby Gerhart after a pretty good play action. His best hit since the penalty against Pitt last year... Blitzing on third and long is awful, thankfully there was a hold on the play and we re-do third down. HOW DO YOU NOT COVER THE HEISMAN HOPEFUL? Gawdawful. Stanford ran a flea flicker of their own, they are stealing Notre Dames play calls and running them a series or two later. No Gerhart on 3rd and 7 and Stanford runs the ball anyway, ND was due to stop the toss play eventually. Fourth quarter and a four point lead... Haven't had a lead going into the fourth since WSU.

10:34 Another field goal for Stanford 31-30. A close game, very surprsing. Brent explains that Stanford Cardinal is like Syracuse Orange. Not the tree/fruit but the color.

10:38 Bomb to Tate draws a pass interference flag. The fans of color disagree. Heard Kamara's name for the first time today as he blocks for Floyds first down. Another pass interference this one on Floyd and much more obvious. Brent pointing out that Clausen likes to run his mouth to the opponent. GOLDEN TATE IS AMAZING!!!!! OH. EM. GEE. 38-30

10:46 After a penalty on the TD allows the Irish to kick off from the 50, the couldn't force a touch back and allowed a return past the 30. AWFUL. One play later Gerhart is at the Irish 37. A PA waggle on second down picks up the first down. T'eo just missed a pick. Harbaugh is going for it on fourth down, he just announced two downs to the Luck. Let's see if he sticks to it, yep, this a Weis like decision... Fourth and four. Halfback pass touchdown. Musberger and Herbstreet couldn't see the player catch a pass. AWFUL ANNOUNCING. Also the line judge never ruled it a touch down. Going for two. 38-38 KMac got burnt on the td and the two. oof.

10:58 Riddick takes the kick out of the end zone and is stopped pre 20. Hughes picks up nine on first and Weis hasn't wasted any time outs yet. Quick swing to Mike for the first. Same play other way. Paul Duncan makes his first reception picks up 6, Weis is calling passes off defensive players to his tackles now. Schematic advantage. Third and two. Stanford gets a stop. Could be the ball game right there.

11:04 Musberger calls Harbaugh a Meechigan man. Gerhart carrying people or running them over. First down at mid-field. Taylor is the change of pace back that is doing a very nice job. Third and medium, big play here. Watch the heisman hopeful. This is a blitzing down. I mean for normal people. Tenuta thinks every down is a blitzing down. STOP HITTING GERHART UP HIGH. What are they thinking? Another third down pick up. Should have let Gerhart score on that play. Game over. Notre Dame forced to let Gerhart get another touchdown in order to get the ball back for Jimmy, Golden and Mike.

11:16 From the 20. Sack. Final time out. This team can not block at the end of games. Sam Young completely baffled that the ball was snapped. Tate catches a hail mary at mid field. 38 seconds left. Tate again out of bounds, just moved the ball 60 yards in two plays and 15 seconds. Tate again out of bounds, 25 seconds left. Sacked again, gotta get back to the line. 7 seconds left and a spike. Fourth down. Incomplete. 6 and 6. Bye Charlie.

Gerhart was very impressive. Harbaugh gets his first win against the Irish. Did Stanford students just rush the field? That game was exactly what this season was.

If Jimmy leaves, which I expect, there will be no scholarship quarterbacks in spring practice due to Crists injury. Think about that. SEEYA CHARLIE.

Bring me Bob, Brian, Chris or Gary. Urban in a dream. Let's move on to Gody's final season. What? They lost to Northwestern? Umm, how's the hockey team?

Clausen Involved in Bar Scuffle

2009-11-24T00:03:00.003-05:00

According to multiple soures, Jimmy Clausen was the victim of a couple of punches thrown by an irate Notre Dame fan on Saturday night/Sunday morning outside of a South Bend restaurant. The event took place hours after the Irish fell at home to UConn on Senior Day, also very likely Clausen's final game at Notre Dame Stadium.

From the sounds of it Clausen was there with some members of the football team as well as with his family. The incident allegedly started after the irate fan made comments to a coed that was accompanying Jimmy.

Clausen is believed to be fine to play on Saturday at Stanford and no police reports were filed over the matter. Most believe Clausen to opt out of his final year of eligibility to enter the NFL Draft this coming spring where many expect him to be amongst the first quarterbacks selected.

End of an Era in Notre Dame Stadium Saturday?

2009-11-20T21:50:00.002-05:00

When Charlie Weis came to Notre Dame I bought what he was selling. I bought that Notre Dame was going to out work others on the practice field and in the weight room. I bought that within years the Irish would be that perenial national championship contender we all wished they would be. Unfortunately that has not been the case under the Golden Dome.

What we have gotten is a football team loaded with some of the most sought after high school talent. That football team that for the second year in a row has fallen hard on their faces after a somewhat promising start.

The loss in week to in Ann Arbor looks worse by the week, as does the loss to USC, and the upset at home to Navy. This was supposed to be the year Notre Dame made it back to the BCS, instead its a year where the GMAC bowl is now more likely.

Saturday may be the last time we see Charlie Weis coach a game in Notre Dame Stadium. His attitude made many call for his head early in 2007 when the Irish were in the midst of a 3-9 campaign. I stood by Charlie Weis then.

Last year when the Irish blew two possession leads to North Carolina, Pittsburgh, and Syracuse I stood by Charlie Weis and thought it was just the growing pains of a freshman and sophomore dominated team.

This year is another story. The Irish redzone offense has become a laugher, struggling mightily to find the end zone the past two months. The defense hasn't stopped a thing. Heck, outside of a Golden Tate punt return a week ago the special teams have even turned into a joke.

Does it all fall on Weis? No, in fact I still see a way where he could one day be a legitament head coach in college football. His offenses work, execution has been a whole other issue.

At this point it would take a minor miracle for Charlie Weis to keep his job as the head football coach at Notre Dame. After five years, even I who gave Weis far more time than most feel the same.

Notre Dame welcomes UConn in a game that could be the last for many at Notre Dame Stadium. Senior day was a poor showing a year ago with a blown lead to Syracuse, this year UConn comes a calling.

This could possibly be the final time we see not only Charlie Weis but Jimmy Clausen, Golden Tate, and Armando Allen at Notre Dame Stadium. When all of them came into the University of Notre Dame we thought we were headed for glory, instead we went straight towards mediocrity and stayed there.

UConn is no slouch, much like Notre Dame they have played a schedule full of nailbitters. Yes they come in 4-5 overall but the 5 losses are by a total of 15 points. Play poorly and this one will likely be another loss for the Fighting Irish.

UConn likes to throw the ball with quarterback Zach Frazer, the same guy who was once seen as the possible "future" at Notre Dame. Frazer has thrown 6 touchdowns to 13 picks on the year and eclipsed 1300 yards passing. Not the most feared passing game around but the yardage numbers as a whole for UConn rank them in the top 40 in the nation.

Jordan Todman heads the running game for the Huskies, he has 826 yards on the ground and 12 touchdowns this year, Andre Dixon has carried for 730 yards and 7 scores.

UConn on defense allows roughly 23 points a game. Not a ton by any means but enough to make you worry as a Notre Dame fan due to the redzone inabilites of the Irish of late and their mistake-prone defense.

The Huskies pass defense ranks in the 70's for yards allowed a game, expect perhaps Jimmy Clausen's final game at Notre Dame Stadium (all speculation) to be amongst his finest.

I fully expect the Notre Dame offense to put up lots of points on Saturday. Next week won't be easy but many of these players want to go out with a bang. Because of the inability to stop the run the defense will keep UConn in this game.

I supported Charlie Weis for a long time but this will be his final win as the head coach of the Fighting Irish.

Nick (8-2): ND 27 UConn 24
Mark (8-2): ND 31 UConn 24

Saturdame Pitt 09

2009-11-16T15:51:00.002-05:00

Really, that was a fumble. Really?

Golden Tate is amazing, if he comes back next year he will have a chance at Rocket like stardom.

Notre Dames score at halftime of the last 4 games, besides Washington State are 7, 13, 0, 3. Nice schematic advantage.

Another stupid offensive line penalty.

What was the game plan exactly? It seemed like Weis was a nine year old kid on his X-Box just randomly picking plays hoping they would work.

The interception on the pass to Floyd was an awful pass that should have been thrown.

What's the deal with wasting time outs early in halves?

Why didn't Charlie send the punt team out immediately after Jimmy's incompletion? With over two minutes on the clock and two timeouts punting is the right call. Instead he uses a time out lets the booth look over the play and then steal the ball.

Michael Floyd has to make that catch on third down, the drop was indefensible.

Can the offense please wake up in the first half at some point this season?

Brian Kelly or Gary Patterson or Bob Stoops. Now. Brian Kelly is my choice though.

I saw Kyle McCarthy miss a tackle, I've now seen everything.

The punt return by Golden was scary good, I say he's not allowed to fair catch any more punts.

Did Notre Dame really give out scholarships to a freshman kicker and punter and then not use them at all? Awesome.

Notre Dame Faces Must Win in Pittsburgh

2009-11-09T23:02:00.004-05:00

A week ago there was chatter of Notre Dame going 10-2 in the regular season and reaching a BCS game. Those chatters have been silenced with the 23-21 defeat at the hands of Navy in Notre Dame Stadium, now the calls for the head of Charlie Weis gain even more steam.

The Irish travel to Pittsburgh this weekend, ironic enough probably the site of Charlie Weis' biggest win to date which was his very first at Notre Dame. A loss to the Panthers (8-1, 5-0 in Big East) and Notre Dame's hopes for the Gator Bowl may even appear to be dead with the likes of Connecticut and Stanford still on the schedule. It truly hurts to mention those two as major scares at this point in the season but sadly facts are facts.

What needs to happen for the Irish to take a win from the Panthers in Pittsburgh this weekend? Two things especially come to mind, both have cost the Irish big time in all three of their losses this season.

1) Stop the Run

Run the ball and the clock runs, we saw a week ago how valuable each possession is when a team controls possession like Navy was able to do. Pitt offers perhaps the best offensive freshman in the nation in Dion Lewis as the true freshman has put 1139 yards and 12 TD's this season. He has averaged 5.61 yards a carry and been a major problem for opposing defenses. If the Irish don't get a better showing from Ian Williams and Ethan Johnson then we have seen the majority of this season then it will be another long day at the office for ND. I really hope to see the Irish use primarily a 4-3 defense and perhaps a 5-2 at times and take my chances with less blitzing.

2) Convert Red Zone Chances

Early in the season it was obvious to all that Notre Dame would walk away with points anytime they got inside their opponents 40, let alone the red zone. The Irish wasted red zone by leaving loads of points on the field against Michigan, USC, and Navy this year. A week ago against Navy the Irish put up a 0-spot in the first half after 3 trips inside the Navy 25 yard line. That would be suicidal against Pittsburgh on Saturday. If the Irish don't get in the end zone when they drive the ball deep they will not win the game.

The Pitt Panthers as a team are a 38-31 loss to North Carolina State away from being in the national title hunt. Obviously this isn't a slouch of a team, what else do they have to offer besides the ability of all-world freshman Dion Lewis?

The offense is run first but too much commitment to the run is going to burn the Irish without a pass rush. Bill Stull has thrown for 1879 yards on the season with 17 TD's to only 4 INT. His favorite targets include 6'5'' sophomore Jonathan Baldwin (35 rec, 698 yds, 4 TD) and Dorin Dickerson, a senior tight end with 39 grabs for 450 yards. Dickerson is Stull's favorite red zone target as the senior has pulled in 10 touchdown receptions.

On defense Notre Dame is going to have to find a way to get Jimmy Clausen time to throw the football. I don't want to see the Irish going strictly downfield like they often do but intermediate routes will play a huge factor in the outcome. Pitt gets great pressure on the quarterback, leading the nation with 39 sacks on the season. Greg Romaus leads them with 7.5 sacks while Myles Caragram and Adam Gunn each add 5.

The Panthers pass defense ranks 38th in the nation as they allow 204 yards a game. Notre Dame must get Clausen time or find success in screening the ball to its backs because throwing downfield won't be a great possibility.

This is a game that Charlie Weis and the Fighting Irish must have. A loss very possibly ends the Irish's hopes of the Gator Bowl and sends them to even a lesser bowl game. A win keeps the hope for Jacksonville alive and the dream of a 10-win season (with a bowl victory) existent.

We will see an emotional Irish team on Saturday night the defense doesn't do enough.

Prediction time:

Nick (7-2): Pittsburgh 27 Notre Dame 21
Mark (7-2): Pittsburgh 31 Notre Dame 27

SaturDame Navy 09

2009-11-07T20:45:00.002-05:00

The end of Charlie Weis should have been last year. Maybe the Irish don't get Manti T'eo, maybe they aren't 6-3 right now (8-1), maybe this team doesn't die inside the red zone. I don't know, it seems to me that we enjoyed that Hawai'i bowl a little too much, and thought that a win was a win no matter what this year. Is this a bad Navy team? No, in fact this might be the best Navy team Weis has faced. However, that isn't an excuse, this Navy team doesn't have anywhere near the amount of talent ND has, that's why they run the triple option. It's an offense that is hard to adjust too for defenses, that's the point of it. That being said the Irish held them to three touchdowns, I think everyone expected this Navy team to score at least 21 points. No one expected the Irish to struggle offensively. Whether it's Nick Tausch finally looking like a freshman, or Mike Floyd blocking on a pass that is thrown directly to him, the offense is at fault for this loss. Perhaps I should have saved my red zone inefficiency joke for this team instead of using it for Michigan last week.

Chris Peterson, Brian Kelly or Gary Patterson? Someone else? There will be a new coach in South Bend next year, if only because of the home schedule... Have you seen it? The new coach should be able to cake walk to 9-3.

How does Navy get those last two sacks only rushing 4?

Mike Floyd looked rusty, all the more reason to get Golden Tate the ball IN THE FIRST HALF.

I don't understand why Jimmy loves the fade pattern isn't a slant or an out route a better play in the end zone?

Did you see Golden catch the pass that didn't happen in the end zone with one hand, Willie Mays style?

Running the ball with Robert Hughes should have dominated the play calls. A huge dude running behind a huge offensive line against a small defensive line. Am I missing something?

The defense actually stepped up and got the offense the ball back at the end of the game, that might have been the most shocking development of the whole game (besides the offense imploding).

Can someone explain why the kicking only sucks in games when we need it to be good...

A TOUCHBACK ON A KICK OFF!!!! Is that allowed?

Harrison Smith gets the Eric Olsen award for stupid penalty of the day.

How did Notre Dame lose to Michigan?

I don't feel good about the Pitt game or the Stanford game, it's probably for the best.

"Nine and three isn't good enough" Charlie Weis.

Notre Dame Hosts the Naval Academy

2009-11-05T20:35:00.004-05:00

Two years ago Notre Dame's 44 game win streak against Navy was broken in Notre Dame Stadium as the Midshipmen pulled the upset of the Irish in triple overtime by way of the triple option. This Saturday should not have the same end result and I don't anticipate that it will come down to the final moments like we have seen in so many games with this Irish team in recent memory.

The 19th ranked Irish welcome Michael Floyd back to the fold as he will play for the first time since September 19th when he broke his collar bone against Michigan State.

The offense for the Fighting Irish should roll once again, I am curious to see how Jimmy Clausen targets Golden Tate now in comparison to how he did previous to Floyd being injured. Tate has emerged as one of the most dangerous threats in college football, having Floyd will allow Golden and Kyle Rudolph to each lose some of the extra pressure they have had to deal with recently.

Navy is not a slouch coming to South Bend but they are far from a powerhouse, either. They took Ohio State to the max earlier this season before falling late in the Horseshoe but this is the same team that lost to Temple a week ago. The Midshipmen have to win at least one more game before reaching bowl eligibility with a 6-3 overall record due to playing a 13 game schedule this year. They are yet to have a week off this season and had won five straight previous to the Temple loss last week.

Vince Murray leads Navy with 638 yards on the season while quarterback Ricky Dobbs leads the team with 16 rushing touchdowns. Navy is obviously a run first team, they rank 3rd in the nation as they put up just under 280 rushing yards a game.

Don't expect near those numbers this week for Navy, I don't anticipate the bigger line of Notre Dame compared to most of Navy's opponents to have much of a problem slowing the Navy offense. If Navy wants to stick around with the Irish they will have to use playaction passes well again, much like they did against Ohio State this season and against Notre Dame a year ago.

The Irish have weapons to throw to as we all know and with Michael Floyd back, Charlie Weis will want to use his toy he hasn't had in a month and a half. Notre Dame has a chance to make this game a blowout early by running the football due to the size difference in the teams lines. Notre Dame is averaging over forty pounds more per player on the line, Navy will have no choice but to stack the line if they hope to slow down Armando Allen who returns again this week.

Once Navy stacks the line it will be open season on the secondary of the Naval Academy. The Midshipmen have allowed only 178 yards a game through the air, I fully expect that number to increase with the respect Navy will have to give the Notre Dame running game.

This game shouldn't be close, it should be a game where Notre Dame fans can breathe easier late in the game compared to what has happened most of the season.

Expect Manti T'eo to have another strong showing as this is the kind of offense he can feast on with his style of play. Also expect Ethan Johnson and Ian Williams to step up and have one of their stronger outings on the year.

On offense, I would be shocked if the Irish don't try to welcome Michael Floyd back with a touchdown reception.

Prediction Time:
Nick (7-1): Notre Dame 41 Navy 16
Mark (7-1): Notre Dame 34 Navy 20

Enjoy a clip from 2007 that shows the true uniqueness of this college football "rivalry":

SaturDame Wazoo/Halloween 09

2009-11-01T00:24:00.004-04:00

I didn't give this game my full attention because of the sporgy going on around it, did anyone see Tennessee in black jerseys? They ruined Halloween.

I hate writing the same things about Golden Tate every week, actually that's a lie, I love writing the same things because that means he is performing fantastic feats.

Golden Tate may steal Jimmy Clausen's Heisman Trophy.

Duval Kamara is trying to convince Jimmy he is worth a couple of targets when Mike Floyd comes back and is doing a pretty good job.

No Armando Allen and no Robby Parris, no big deal. Robert Huuuuuuuuughes was pretty dominant.

Seriously, did you see that touch down run by Golden Tate? I think he may have adamantium on his skeleton...(Tim Tebow dressed up as Golden Tate Saturday night)

Golden Tate is also the first five foot ten guy to be expected to come down with every jump ball.

Dayne Crist finally showed off his arm with that laser to John Goodman, who then pulled away from the DB as well. Hopefully Dayne will be okay at least Evan Sharpley came back.

How about the hustle from Mike Ragone after the blocked extra point, ridiculous. I was kind of hoping to give up another two point play after the safety last week though.

How does Nick Tausch make every field goal and miss three extra points? I'm aware that they are blocked but how does that not happen on the field goals?

Robert Blanton made a spectacular catch on the interception.

Eric Olsen needs to control himself, it's getting old. Also cut your hair (that's for my mom).

Theo Riddick and Jonas Gray showed some game.

How about that WildCat running game. I also think Golden wanted to throw the ball to Jimmy in the endzone...

Finally stopped a freshman QB from putting up huge numbers... Also the Cougars started a freshman at LT that weighs 240 pounds, those two things may be connected.

Ben Turk rebounded from his near backwards punt and had a sweet coffin corner kick.

USC and Michigan got blown out. Also after that Indiana Iowa game I think all instant replay officials went to Purdue.

Follow me on twitter. You can also follow these Irish tweeters.

Notre Dame vs. Washington State...in San Antonio!

2009-10-31T18:55:00.003-04:00

It has already started off to be a good weekend in San Antonio for the Fighting Irish of Notre Dame as they picked up a commitment from defensive back Toney Hurd, Jr. on Friday. Saturday night brings on one of the least anticipated Fighting Irish contests in recent history as they play in the Alamodome against Washington State.

Neat for those in Texas, sure. For those who like to take in a weekend in South Bend, this is one that can't be spent there yet count as a home game in every other regard. What to expect in the coming hours from the Alamodome?

Washington State is a very talent-deprived college football team. They rank in the bottom twenty of nearly every defensive category, Notre Dame should have no problems moving the football.

Expect the Irish to come out throwing the ball more than usual early on. Notre Dame will be without Armando Allen this evening and Robbie Parris sounds like he won't be able to go, either. Robert Hughes will get the bulk of carries for ND while we should see plenty of Jonas Gray as well.

This is a game that Notre Dame should blow out the competition. Its not that I'm looking past Washington State, its the fact that in all regards the Irish have much more talent.

4 of 7 times this season the Cougars have allowed more than 30 points in a game. In two more they have allowed 38 and 39, Notre Dame will put up points, look for Charlie Weis to try and help Jimmy Clausen and Golden Tate out in the area of postseason awards. He will try to let those two both make plays tonight not only to win, but to pad some stats along the way.

Weak preview, I'm well aware. Needed to get something up and had a very very busy week, please don't hate me.

Prediction Time:
Nick (6-1): ND 48 Washington State 7
Mark (6-1): ND 38 Washington State 13

Happy Halloween!

SaturDame BC 2009

2009-10-25T23:57:00.003-04:00

Beating Boston College is a huge relief. It feels like something that should happen every time.

Kyle Rudolph misses Michael Floyd more then Jimmy Clausen does.

Robbie Toma is a surprise right?

Kyle McCarthy as good as he ever was. Let's hope Dan is at least half as good as his brother.

Did anyone see the end of the Iowa Michigan State game? Iowa used all four downs to go for and get the win...

Armando Allen is a consistent if not spectacular back.

I could have sworn I heard Chris Tucker from Friday after Robert Hughes got hit on the fourth and goal play.

Golden Tate is making a case for his own invitation to New York.

Perhaps Notre Dame should make all their baseball players try out for the football team.

Manti T'eo just makes things happen, he's so much fun to watch.

The run defense actually seemed like it was good this week instead of just benefiting from the awfulness of the pass defense, although that helped.

How good was the last touchdown pass from Jimmy? I didn't think that pass was making it past the line backer.

These close fourth quarters are barely fazing me now, I think I'm getting used to them.

So this is what it's like to have a reliable kicker. I like it. Slick Nick Tausch.

Duval Kamara played his best game since his freshman year, more of that please.

The lack of turnovers on offense is nearly as big a deal as causing the turnovers on defense.

That was an atrocious first half, worst of the season at least offensively.

Robby Parris is everything a football player should be.

Eagles, Possible Let-Down Stand in Irish's Way

2009-10-22T00:18:00.007-04:00

A lot of things have happened since the fall of the year 2000. Notre Dame has gone through two head coaches while a third continues to sit on the hot seat many Irish fans have designated for him. The world saw George W. Bush get elected and serve two full terms in the White House, the tragic events of September 11, 2001, and the Space Shuttle Columbia disaster.

Heck, the Fighting Irish football team has even beaten USC since the fall of 2000. One thing that hasn't happened since then? Notre Dame has not beat the only other Catholic School in division one college football, Boston College, since November 11, 2000. I was a freshman in high school and saw it with my own eyes that day in South Bend. For those wondering, I have since graduated high school and college and have grown nearly a foot while packing on far too many pounds since then.

Boston College is not nearly as talented of team as Notre Dame is in 2009. This game will be huge in telling how Notre Dame will be in the second half of the season. If they start it with a bang then the BCS is still a strong possibility, if the Irish have major issues or fall against BC, that will be just about all she wrote for Charlie Weis as Notre Dame's head coach.

Many have talked about how poor Boston College has played at times this year, specifically a 48-14 defeat at the hands of Virginia Tech two short weeks ago. As poor as the Eagles have been this is still a team that sits in the drivers seat when it comes to who will represent the ACC Atlantic Division in the Conference Championship Game.

The Eagles bring great balance to South Bend this Saturday, averaging 326 yards of offense a game with 155 coming on the ground and 171 through the air. With the consistent weak showing of the Irish secondary, expect the defensive backs to be tested yet again.

Freshman Dave Shinskie will do the quarterbacking duties for BC, he has passed for 815 yards and 9 touchdowns this season. The freshman has also shown great maturity, throwing only 4 interceptions while playing in all 7 games for Boston College this far.

Shinskie will target Rich Gunnell and Colin Larmond, Jr. who have combined for 39 receptions, 628 yards, and 7 touchdowns. If Notre Dame's secondary fails to show up like has so far this season, it will be yet another game the Irish will have to outscore their opponents instead of bury.

Boston College should also be given respect in the running game as Montel Harris has rushed for 756 yards and 10 touchdowns this year. He could very well be this team's offensive MVP in 2009 but don't expect him to be the go-to-guy on Saturday, BC will try and beat the Irish where Notre Dame is most susceptible.

Boston College has been blown out of the water twice this season, once a 25-7 loss at the hands of Clemson and the other the 48-14 defeat to Virginia Tech. Don't get me wrong, Notre Dame will score their fair share of points this Saturday but this will go down to the wire yet again because of the inept Irish defense.

Yes I expect Jimmy Clausen to have another banner afternoon on Saturday but expect to see more from the running game than we saw a week ago. Grant it USC has perhaps the best run defense in the nation, Boston College has a very average run defense, ranking 39th nationally. The top half yes, but still closer to "average" than "very good".

Linebacker Luke Kuechly leads the Eagles with 69 tackles. The good news for Jimmy Clausen and Notre Dame is that the pass rush for BC has struggled this year, picking up 10 sacks so far in 7 games, no player has more than 2 sacks for Boston College.

I don't feel that Boston College can stop Notre Dame when the Irish have the football. I fully expect Charlie Weis to come out running the football early but he won't be afraid to let Jimmy pad his numbers, either. BC will have major matchup problems with Notre Dame's talented targets and if BC at all commits too much one way they will be burned severely the other.

For whatever reason this game scares the hell out of me. Boston College enjoys ruining things. They ruined 1993, they ruined the magical start to 2002, they were responsible for at least contributing to ruining Tyrone Willingham's career at Notre Dame in 2004, they can add to the pile by ruining Charlie Weis' hopes of getting Notre Dame back to the BCS on Saturday.

They can do that but they won't. Irish in another squeaker...

Nick (5-1): ND 38 BC 34

Mark (5-1): ND 34 BC 27

SaturDame... USC 09

2009-10-17T20:38:00.006-04:00

You have to isolate Rudy2.0 at the end of the game.

Remember the Purdue game, run that play again. TWICE!!!!

The running game was virtually non-existent.

John Goodman has to throw a pass out of the WildCat otherwise there is no reason to have him there.

Jimmy did what he had to do in the second half, but the first half was empty.

The defense finally showed up in the fourth quarter.

I knew what USC was running on almost every big play they had. How does Tenuta not know that.

Why is the defensive backfield not able to cover anyone?

Let alone a tight end?

Golden Tate still awesome.

Kyle Rudolph needs the ball.

The offensive line was plainly awful in the first half or three quarters of the game.

On a day when every opponent played well this was the day for the Irish to step up. (Washington late)

Figuring out when Manti T'eo takes his mission is going to be a big deal.

I don't want to hear any what if's about Michael Floyd.

I don't want to hear about twelve seconds either. I'm already sick of it.

John Tenuta is not helping things. At all.

This team seems like they will play a close game with every team ranked from #5 to #65. I don't think that's a good thing.

I'm disgusted with the losses to rivals but I don't think Weis' job is at stake right now.

The End of The Beginning

2009-10-15T13:57:00.004-04:00

Ryan Williams, Domer Sports Report

Notre Dame Football
Commentary

After all is said and done at about 8pm this coming Saturday night, the future will be clear. Charlie Weis’ internship will be over. No more excuses of youth, no more excuses of inexperienced coaches, no more excuses about lacking team depth. When Notre Dame defeats Southern Cal this weekend the turn will be complete. The process that Charlie Weis, the alumni, the fans, and everyone associated with Notre Dame football started four years ago will be back on track. The painful Beginning we have all endured the last four years will be over. It will then be time to build again. Build a name, build a reputation, build a dynasty.

Our detractors say we cant live in the past. It is time to build a present. A here. A now. It is time to put Notre Dame back on the map where she belongs. In the elite heap at the top. It is a call to arms for all. The coaches, the players, and I think to an extent, most importantly the fans. It has been said as of late that playing in South Bend offers no home field advantage.

It has been said that Notre Dame stadium is full of an older generation that is content sitting on their hands to watch football. This is unacceptable. Have you ever seen a game at “The Swamp” or the game this past weekend at LSU? There is no sitting. I equate it to the famous line by Tom Hanks back in the day, “There is no crying in baseball”. Well “There is no sitting at big time college football games”. Implore your fellow fans to stand and cheer and put as much effort into the game as we are asking our young men on the field to. No matter their age. And if they are too old, tell them you are sincerely sorry, but you are about to go nuts. And scream and clap and stomp like your life depended on it.

I’ve been told before to calm down because there is more to life than football, and that is true. But not on a Saturday in South Bend. Football is Life. That’s how I’ve always known it and that is what we need to get back to.

Saturday Showdown: USC Comes A-Calling!

2009-10-15T13:00:00.006-04:00

We circled October 17th on our calendars immediately following Notre Dame's thrashing of Hawaii in the Hawaii Bowl last Christmas. Saturday is the day that Irish fans have been looking forward to all season, a day we will learn just how far Charlie Weis and his crew have progressed.

Everyone is aware that Notre Dame has dropped 7 in a row to Pete Carroll's USC Trojans, only being within striking distance late once in those games. A year ago the Irish dropped a 38-3 contest in the Los Angeles Coliseum, a game Notre Dame didn't pick up a first down until the second half. All signs point to the Irish getting prepared to get run out of their own building, right?

Notre Dame sits as a ten point underdog as I write this, that down a bit from the nearly two touchdown spread the game opened up as earlier in the week. How big of an obsticle stands in the way of an Irish victory on Saturday?

Notre Dame Defense vs. USC Offense:

We all know the struggles the Irish defense has had this season, stopping the run will be the biggest concern on Saturday. The Irish rank in at 100th overall in team defense, allowing 403 yards per game. On top of that they have been giving up 29.75 points per game since shutting out Nevada in week one.

USC brings a very strong running team to South Bend, averaging 208 yards on the ground per game so far (good for 17th best in the nation). Matt Barkley, despite being a freshman has been no slouch, putting up 958 pass yards in his four starts this season. The only game he missed was on the road against Washington, the only game USC has lost so far this year.

Barkley has led USC to a come from behind victory in Ohio State this year, a game that kept USC unbeaten at the time. Barkley has gone 63/107 this year with three touchdown passes and two picks.

Joe McKnight and Allen Bradford lead the USC running game that has been the USC bread and butter this year. McKnight has scored six touchdowns while going for 473 yards, Bradford also has a touchdown and 183 yards on the ground this year. The biggest thing for Notre Dame will be slowing down USC on the ground this week, if they can't do that then this will not be much of a game.

The Trojans are also no slouch throwing the ball, putting up 222 yards per game through the air. Barkley will look to Damian Williams as his go-to guy, Williams has 24 receptions for 359 yards and a score this year. Joe McKnight often catches passes out of the backfield and USC will use Stanley Havili with regularity as well.

I am aware how bad the Irish pass defense will be but Pete Carroll is smart enough to make sure the Trojans use their strong point, not only the Irish weakness. Slow down the run and Notre Dame will be in business, I will take my chances against a freshman quarterback on the road (even if he has already won in Ohio State this year).

Right now Kyle McCarthy leads the Irish with 49 tackles. Part of it is the scheme, sure, but if he leads Notre Dame in tackles on Saturday it will mean USC running backs are constantly getting to the second level and picking up 4 or 5 yards with regularity. If Kyle McCarthy leads Notre Dame in tackles by a wide margain on Saturday, the Irish will be in bad shape.

Notre Dame Offense vs. USC Defense

This is where the flash of the game will be seen. Notre Dame's high powered offensive attack with the punishing defense of USC. Can Charlie Weis crack USC? The Trojans bring a team full of superstars on defense, the Irish will not be able to score with quite the same ease we have seen them do so far this year.

USC has allowed just 238 yards a game this season, over 150 yards less than the Irish have surrendered. The Trojans don't lack talent star-power on defense, even in a year after they lost the likes of Brian Cushing, Clay Matthews, and Rey Maualuga who are now getting great playing time on NFL rosters. Despite that this defense is still superb.

We have all heard of Taylor Mays by now, the star safety has 28 tackles and an interception for USC but what other stars do we have to be on the lookout for this Saturday?

Nick Perry leads USC with 6 sacks, the defensive end is having a standout season for the Men of Troy. On the other end Everson Griffen has added 4 sacks and 17 tackels total. Linebacker Michael Morgan has 9.5 tackles for loss which is good enough for 7th best in the entire nation.

We all know what Notre Dame has done with the football this year, whether its Jimmy Clausen's hopeful Heisman Trophy run or the new-found running game that has escaped the Irish for some time now.

Notre Dame doesn't have the same advantage in one-on-one matchups against USC like they have had against most of their opponents this season. USC has a star-studded field on defense and Charlie Weis has his work cut out to try and figure out a way to put up enough points on a team that has only allowed 3 touchdowns all season.

I expect to see some Wildcat formation this weekend but don't expect it anywhere near as often as we saw against Purdue. The Irish may try and get to the line quickly and shift to this set, just to try and create confusion with USC.

The jist of Notre Dame's offense will be in finding Armando Allen through the air and Golden Tate on shorter routes, giving him a chance to catch the ball on the run. USC has better tacklers than Washington had two weeks ago but this will very likely be the best chance the Irish have to put together scoring drives, find the teams biggest playmaker and find him enough to open up the threat of Kyle Rudolph.

Prediction Time:

This is a huge game for both teams, if USC can run the table they may have a chance to still play for a national title. Notre Dame is looking to get back to the BCS for the first time since 2006, this win would put them in great position to do just that.

It won't be easy, I don't suspect a shootout either. Notre Dame will change their defense to try and force the Trojans to throw more and beat ND through the air. I don't expect Jimmy Clausen to have a great game, simply because almost nobody would at the collegiate level against this USC defense.

Logic tells me that until Notre Dame can stop someone, they won't be able to compete with best teams in the nation. My heart tells me this is the week Jon Tenuta steps up the scheme and figures out a way to slow the Trojan running game and Charlie Weis finds holes up and down the Trojan defense and ND wins going away.

As much as I hate to, I have to go against my heart...

Nick (4-1) Says: USC 31 Notre Dame 14

Mark (4-1)Says: USC 27 Notre Dame 17

Saturdame... Husky Edition 10-3-09

2009-10-05T13:20:00.002-04:00

HUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUGHES!!!!

Golden Tate seems pretty good.

The defense was so good on the goal line because they didn't actually have to wrap anyone up, they just had to stop their momentum.

That being said three goal line stands is a bit ridiculous. Hopefully that's a turning point for the season.

I understand Jake Locker taking the sack in overtime in order to get away from the loud noise of the student section, but it didn't quite work out.

Steve Sarkisian and Locker did a terrible job of running the clock down after the touchdown got reversed. They were snapping the ball with plenty of time on the play clock.

Charlie Weis has done a great job of getting Golden Tate the ball and making the defense react to him instead of him reacting to the defense.

Not a bad job by a freshman punter in a terrible weather condition in his first game.

Field goals aren't going to cut it against USC, but it's nice to know that three points are nearly guaranteed every time Nick Tausch lines up.

Kyle McCarthy sure can hit somebody.

The cornerbacks are not as good as advertised.

Robby Parris and Shaq seem to have moved past Duval Kamara, even if Charlie claims it's because of his knee.

Rudy 2.0. Bigger, faster, stronger. Kyle Rudolph could probably help Mike Brey in the off-season.

I don't understand roll outs near the end zone. Grouping all the receivers together in a small area seems like disaster waiting to happen.

Manti T'eo sure knows how to make an impression.

Were the officials testing out calls they never make just to make sure they still work?

If Washington doesn't get the gift touchdown from Clausen I don't think the game is close.

Kyle McCarthy should have intercepted the ball at the end of regulation, but I guess that's why he plays defense.

I got a kick out of Golden Tate firing his gloves to the Washington sideline because they were wet after making the bobbling catch in the third quarter.

Bring on the bye week... oh and USC.

Irish Rally to Golden Victory over Washington

2009-10-04T00:05:00.005-04:00

"What Tho the Odds Be Great or Small, Ol' Notre Dame Will Win Overall"

It isn't supposed to be this hard to win a game, is it? For the fourth week in a row a Notre Dame game was decided in the final minute, this time in overtime as the Irish upstaged Washington 37-30 in South Bend. As well as Notre Dame played late, lapses nearly cost them a win against the Huskies.

We all saw the game, many will argue that Notre Dame didn't deserve to win. Perhaps many think that because the lack of red zone scoring the Irish had on Saturday, leaving plenty of points off the scoreboard. However, the defense stepped up and made six consecutive stops inside the five yard line that allowed for an eventual victory.

My main thoughts from the game:

Golden Tate is a playmaker and a half. He may not have the same NFL potential as Michael Floyd does when healthy, but with the ball he runs hard enough with his body leaving little chance to get two hands on, leaving him very hard to bring down at the college level. Without him the Irish lose this afternoon.

Jimmy Clausen has turned into amongst the most clutch quarterbacks in the country. Sure, his latest comebacks have been against Purdue and Washington but they are comeback victories against BCS conference teams that have kept Notre Dame's dreams of the BCS alive.

Robert Hughes has been the greatest surprise to me over the past two weeks. 8 carries for 70 yards today, including the game-winning touchdown. We also can't forget his two point conversion late in regulation, without that this game doesn't see overtime. He has made us quickly forget who Jonas Gray is...for the time being.

The Notre Dame defense stepped up and made major plays down the stretch to give Notre Dame a chance. With that said, Washington running quarterback sneaks without a running back in the backfield was an awful idea by the Huskies. Sure we complain about the "Bush Push" but reality is that penalty is never called, Sarkisian should have given his quarterback a bit more of a chance at the end zone late.

Golden Tate is a playmaker (see above) but he is going to get a taunting call by the end of the season if his celebrations on first downs are kept up.

This game turns out entirely different without the wet-field. Despite throwing for 422 yards, the wet field/rain got the best of J-C in the first half, keeping his and Notre Dame's first half numbers at a minimum.

Golden Tate had 275 total yards today...think about that for a moment.

Tenuta's defense made a stop when they needed to at most, keeping Washington out of the end zone late, twice. However, they struggle with disguising the blitz. Its easy for an untrained football eye to tell where pressure is coming from, let alone college quarterbacks/coaching staffs.

Robert Blanton one day be a star at Notre Dame but he had a rough afternoon on Saturday.

2-10 on third down today for the Irish, not as bad as USC did against Washington but bad enough to nearly cost ND a win. That number must be better against USC if the Irish hope to pull an upset.

Charlie Weis chose to play more conservatively and not attempt any fourth downs today after taking heat for failing a fourth and long a week ago.

Manti T'eo is starting to show why he is going to be a very special player at Notre Dame. He and Brian Smith had excellent performances.

Was anyone else watching through NBC in Chicago? At the start of overtime the crew for some reason went to a black screen with the peacock on it for two minutes before coming back to the game, only to leave it for two more minutes in order to air part of Access Hollywood. In that time the Golden Tate overtime reception took place, coming back from Access Hollywood all I saw was Tate doing a summer-sault during a replay, I thought for sure he had fumbled as NBC Chicago cut away. Someone likely lost a job over that...

Two weeks to get healthy/ready for USC before the Trojans come-a-calling. USC hasn't allowed a passing touchdown in 2009...time for that to change!

Your thoughts on the game? Feel free to comment here or check out the Domer Sports Report Message Board where Notre Dame talk takes place at all hours of all days!

Irish Set to Welcome Washington

2009-09-30T01:11:00.003-04:00

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

SaturDame...

2009-09-27T12:19:00.005-04:00

Brian Dascenzo, Domer Sports Report

Notre Dame Football
Commentary

Quick hits from the Purdue game...

Did the running game seemingly get better without Armando Allen?

I think that talks about Purdue more than anything.

Jimmy Clausen is pretty, pretty good.

Dayne Crist got some meaningful snaps which could become necessary if Clausen can't get better.

Jimmy on one leg is better than Dayne right now.

The defense still hates tackling.

Darrin Walls needs to knock the fourth down pass down and not intercept it. Cost the team 20ish yards of field position.

Purdue bailed the Irish out by not kicking long field goals and missing the fourth down conversions.

Golden Tate is very good, the last thing I remember him doing in the Wild Cat was tackling Armando against Nevada.

Charlie did a great job of game planning around not having Armando.

Jonas Gray and Robert Hughes were very good in replacing Armando and Riddick is this close to returning a kick.

The tackles did not play their best, at least I hope that wasn't their best.

The wide receivers did not step up for the Floyd absence. Unless you count Kamara lining up wrong multiple times, although I guess he was noticed this game...

The third quarter is still an issue, even though they held the ball for 12 minutes. No points in the quarter almost led to a disaster.

If Charlie really was planning on spiking the ball with 36 seconds left that is a terrible decision. Thankfully Purdue bailed him out, although I think it might have been a fake spike play because that is the only thing that makes sense.

If I never have to see Todd Blackledge and Brad Nessler discuss food for four plays in a row I'll be a happy guy.

Tenuta adjusted the defense, I think. It's still a bend and don't break scheme. They did shut down Bolden though.

Nessler has regressed almost as much as Juice Williams.

A win is a win is a win, but I'd like to be able to breathe during the fourth quarter this week.

Follow me on twitter.

Irish Set to Battle Boilermakers

2009-09-23T12:03:00.004-04:00

Stand by Ar-man, and tell the world you love him...

Notre Dame is an eyelash from being 1-2 on the season after barely getting by Michigan State this past Saturday in South Bend. If you are an optimist you will say they are an eyelash from being 3-0 after being just one more first down away from victory in Ann Arbor. One thing I fully assume for this Saturday is that Irish fans won't have to sit through the duration of the second half chewing on their finger nails due to nerves caused by the game.

Losing Michael Floyd does no favors for the Irish, with his quick start to 2009 the national media has been all-over calling him a future first round pick in the NFL draft, something I have been saying since signing day well over a year ago. The hurt that this injury puts on this offense will not show its head this weekend however as the Irish will get off the bus running the football against Purdue and continue to do so until the Boilermakers adjust their defense.

Plain and simple, the Boilermakers can't stop the run. Notre Dame has some issues themselves but nowhere near as bad as Purdue has an issue with stopping the run in 2009. So far this year we have seen Akron, Oregon, and Northern Illinois average 181 yards per game on the ground against the Boilermakers this season, expect that trend to continue.

Armando Allen had a coming out party of sorts a year ago when Purdue traveled to South Bend, he put 134 yards on the ground while averaging 5.0 ypc. To that date, it was his best performance in a Notre Dame uniform. Expect another big game from the running backs this weekend as well.

Jimmy Clausen has moved his way up the ESPN Heisman rankings, checking in at fourth this week. He loses his favorite target in Michael Floyd but don't expect this to slow the passing game when the Irish deem it necessary to throw. The oh-so-present run threat will keep Purdue cheating up until they are burned on a deep ball, perhaps even afterwards.

Jason Werner leads the Purdue defense, expect the Irish to throw and run away from where he lines up on defense, much like they threw away from and ran away from Greg Jones of Michigan State a week ago. So far on the year Werner has 6 tackles for loss, a sack, and an interception. He happens to be a playmaker but is the exception to the rule for Purdue on defense.

The Boilermakers have given up an average of 32.3 ppg this year, I don't see the Irish having a major hurdle to jump over to reach that. This will easily be the best offense Purdue has seen to date, don't think Notre Dame won't make that a known fact by the end of the evening.

To Purdue's credit they have put up 36.3 ppg this year in three contests. Ralph Bolden leads the Boilermaker charge as he has rushed for 421 yards on the season while reaching the endzone 4 times. He currently holds a 6.8 average yards per carry, a number Notre Dame looks to bring down. The passing game is what Purdue offenses have become famous for but stop the run on Saturday and it turns into a very long evening for the Boilermakers. A big game from both Ethan Johnson and Ian Williams as well as a little help from the linebackers will be needed.

Joey Elliott will be doing the quarterback duties for Purdue on Saturday night, he has a strong arm but has had trouble in decision making this season, already throwing five interceptions three games in. His favorite targets are Keith Smith and Aaron Valentin who have combined for 33 receptions and have each scored a touchdown in 2009.

Purdue will be playing with a sense of urgency after falling to Northern Illinois in West Lafayette a week ago. Expect the Boilermakers to come out swinging, perhaps a trick play or two on their first series even.

At the end of the night it will however be another win for Notre Dame in a game that shows how far off track the two programs currently are with each other.

Predictions:

Nick (2-1): Notre Dame 38 Purdue 20
Mark (2-1): Notre Dame 42 Purdue 24

In the meantime, enjoy what happened when Notre Dame traveled to Purdue four years ago. Just happened to stumble upon this earlier, thought everyone would enjoy looking back on a very enjoyable night.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=js6RbB1fARw

SaturDame...

2009-09-20T03:22:00.005-04:00

Brian Dascenzo, Domer Sports Report

Notre Dame Football
Commentary

I've changed the name of the article just because I can.

Quick hits from the State game.

Armando Allen continues to grow as a running back and is even being trusted to take snaps late in games.

Michael Floyd isn't going to play against USC until his junior year (knock on wood).

The catch rule in the end zone has to be looked at and changed. A touch down should end the play, a late hit should not affect a catch that has already happened.

Golden Tate, remember him? He's still awesome even with a drop or two.

Charlie didn't shy away from throwing late in the game even without his best receiver.

The defense, outside of Kyle McCarthy, can't tackle. Plain and simple.

Jimmy Clausen grew up these last two weeks, especially this week. Leading the team while hurt and having to arm pass most throws today showed a toughness I don't know that we'd seen.

Jonas Gray got Clausen killed by not blocking either of two blitzers.

Big 11 officials know what conference they come from.

Missed extra points are unacceptable... unless it evens out and you kill a long field goal.

Wins are better than losses. Not to go out on a limb.

Charlie still gets too cute during play calling. I don't know if he out thinks himself or what but there are plays every game that I just can't believe he called.

I can't believe Charlie Jr. is 16.

Duval Kamara is going to have to step up or get out. It's make or break time Duval.

Mike Floyd needs a nickname that doesn't involve his injury proneness. Something like G.O.A.T.

Kyle Rudolph, meet the limelight.

The offensive line is about to get abused by Charlie, I think the run game is going to get used a bit more these next two games.

I still don't understand how MSUCKS only ran for 105 yards without a sack against. It seemed like every time they ran it went for at least five yards.

Remember the field goal that slammed against the upright? Me, too.

The look ahead to ND curse hit Purdue this week as they lost to Northern Illinois. Or Purdue isn't very good (remember MSUCKS lost to CMU last week?).

Blitzing on every down and not getting sacks doesn't make any sense.

Blitzing on 3rd and long doesn't make sense at all.

I'm questioning Tenuta, sorry, but I remember what he did to ND in 06 and 07 and this isn't it.

The biggest (errr second biggest) play by the defense was a defensive lineman chasing down a running back from behind on a screen pass. This shows positives (speed) and negatives (no one else could make the tackle).

Shouldn't the non-KMac defensive backs make plays? Not you Ray, no one knew you were on the roster.

Can someone explain Pat Haden and Tom Hammond's insistence that Cousins' pass into Ray Herring was a great show of poise?

I hope MSUCKS planted a flag after their Montana State win, because they just lost their home away from home. I think Notre Dame goes back to dominating this series 3 out of every 4 as a worst case scenario, you know like Michigan does to their little brother...

Follow me on twitter, and cheer, cheer for old Notre Dame.

2009 Battle for Megaphone Speaks Volumes

2009-09-15T23:39:00.008-04:00

This was supposed to be a game where both Michigan State and Notre Dame proved they were back. One was supposed to be sitting pretty at 3-0 with the other at 2-1 after this weekend. After each falling in week one we know that won't be the case, now each team looks to stay above the .500 mark in seasons that were supposed to mark major turnarounds for both squads.

What's worse, losing at home to a directional school from your own state or falling at one of your biggest rival's stadiums when you are the only ranked team in the match up...and your rival was 3-9 a season ago? Easy to say Notre Dame lost to the tougher team but both losses sting the Spartans and Irish respectively.

Despite being an eleven point favorite in Vegas, the Irish have dropped six straight meetings in South Bend to Michigan State. Bob Davie, Tyrone Willingham, and now Charlie Weis have all gone winless at home versus the Spartans. Here's what the Irish need to look out for in order to stop the streak.

Michigan State has a solid run defense, but another weak secondary. I don't expect anything out of the norm from whats been shown the first two weeks. The trifecta of Floyd, Tate, and Rudolph remains key for the offense. Opening up a passing game and allowing Armando Allen room to run. I am not usually a fan of pass-first offenses, but the heavy threat of passing has been the biggest key to why Allen has had a strong start to the season running the football.

Greg Jones is the major play maker on defense for the Spartans. The reigning Big Ten defensive player of the year has 29 tackles two games into 2009, that's good enough to lead the conference again at this point.

Jones and Michigan State are extremely strong in the run defense, that's why I expect Notre Dame to come out throwing the football. Opponents have averaged only 2.2 ypc vs. MSU this year while they've put up over 6 yards per pass attempt (225 ypg), easy to see why I expect Jimmy Clausen to come out firing again on Saturday.

The Spartans come into South Bend still looking for a full-time replacement to Irish-killer and current Tennessee Titan, Javon Ringer. Caulton Ray has compiled 122 yards on the ground and been the only Spartan to score running the football this year. Larry Caper has also seen 13 carries for less success but its safe to say the running game isn't the same as it has been in recent years for Sparty.

Michigan State enters Saturday still using two quarterbacks, all reports make it sound as if Mark D'Antonio isn't really feeling the need to name an exclusive starter just yet. Kirk Cousins has thrown for 347 yards and 4 TD this year while former Oklahoma recruit Keith Nichol has added 3 TD passes himself. Both are yet to throw an interception but it must be noted that Cousins has nearly a 20% higher completion percentage while attempting nine more passes.

Blair White is the target of choice for both quarterbacks Notre Dame will see on Saturday. White is the only Spartan with double-digit reception numbers so far (12) and has 2 TD receptions to boot. BJ Cunningham has 117 receiving yards on the year for MSU as he has also taken 2 catches for scores. On offense I see the Spartans trying to run the ball the majority of the afternoon as long as the score of the game allows them to.

Neither of the quarterbacks that the Irish will see threaten to do quite what Tate Forcier was able to do last Saturday in Ann Arbor. If d-linemen from Notre Dame kept their feet instead of constantly diving, Forcier doesn't do half the things he did. Credit the kid for making plays but don't let yourself think it was only him, the lack of defensive discipline helped the freshman quarterback out a ton.

Notre Dame will blitz the middle very much on Saturday, trying to make Michigan State throw the football. The Irish play well against the pass as long as they get a pass rush, like any team the secondary breaks down when the quarterback isn't being pressured. That is a key this Saturday for Notre Dame, get pressure up the middle and they will be in business.

The combination of Ethan Johnson and Ian Williams is huge for me on Sunday. Michigan State has talent at quarterback but not a lot to throw to, if Notre Dame can force them to pass it will catch up with the Spartans. If not then the Irish will be headed for 1-2 and a long fall.

This is an absolute must win for the Fighting Irish and Charlie Weis this weekend. I don't agree with an 11 point line that the Vegas oddsmakers have put out but this is a redemption game for Notre Dame. Not that it isn't for Michigan State but playing on their home field and without a conference affiliation, the Irish have more running on Saturday's end result.

I expect struggles early to move the football for the first time this season, perhaps even falling behind again. I do feel the home field comes back and saves the Irish in this one as they squeak by to 2-1. Its a must-win for Charlie and Company and they pick up the win.

Nick (1-1) Says: Notre Dame 31 Michigan State 27
Mark (1-1) Says: Notre Dame 34 Michigan State 24

Post your Saturday prediction on the Domer Sports Report Message Board! Remember, awards will be given out at the end of the year so stay with us all fall long for plenty of Notre Dame football chatter!

Preview Written By: Nick Shepkowski, add me as a friend on facebook or follow me and my random Irish thoughts on Twitter!

Grant Becomes Third Verbal For 2010

2009-09-10T14:48:00.004-04:00

Mark Allen, Domer Sports Report

Notre Dame Men's Basketball
Recruiting

It came down to between Notre Dame, DePaul and Providence. Then, Jerian Grant took a visit to the University of Notre Dame. Grant went home, talked it over with his parents and brother and committed to Mike Brey and the University of Notre Dame. He had seen enough to make his decision.

Of course, there were other factors on Notre Dame's side. One influence was the "DeMatha factor". Does the name DeMatha Catholic ring a bell? It should. Notre Dame once had a pipeline there and continues to have connections. Former stars such as Sid Catlett and Adrian Dantley went there. Current Notre Dame coaches Mike Brey and Rod Balanis are graduates of DeMatha. And, of course, there is the high school teacher who continually plied Grant with the history of the DeMatha - Notre Dame connection.

If you are looking at stats, Grant's will not jump out at you. The 6-4, 180 pounder averaged 7 points, 5 rebounds and 5 assists per game. Those stats might be a bit deceiving. He played for the seventh ranked team in the nation and they were loaded. DeMatha finished 32-4.

Grant's ratings with the various recruiting services are much better than his stats. Rivals has him as a 4 star and the 92nd rated player overall. Scout has him a 3 star, but the 35th rated player overall. In addition, Grant is the son of a former NBA player Harvey Grant. So, the pedigree is there.

Grant, a shooting guard, becomes the third verbal commitment for the class of 2010. He joins Maryland recruit Eric Atkins. Atkins is a Rival 4 star and the 58th rated recruit. He is also friends with Grant. 6-6 Illinois shooting guard Alex Dragecivich rounds out the three verbals.

Brey has one more scholarship to give out for 2010. There is no doubt who is high on his wish list. It is 6-8 forward Tobias Harris out of New York. Harris is a 5 star recruit by both services. He is also a top 10 rated player by each.

Return to Relevance for Notre Dame/Michigan Rivalry

2009-09-09T12:04:00.007-04:00

Both Notre Dame and Michigan started their seasons on the right foot this past Saturday with home blowout victories. The Irish defeated Nevada 35-0 while Michigan blew out Western Michigan 31-7 in week one. Both teams started on the right foot in seasons they hope to turn heads and regain national respect on the football field.

Michigan is powered by a two headed monster at quarterback between Tate Forcier and Denard Robinson, both freshman who were brought to Michigan by Rich Rodriguez. Forcier is the throwing quarterback (13/20, 179 yds, 3 TD vs WMU) while Robinson is in as a run-first threat (2/4 for 18 yards passing, 11 rushes for 74 and a touchdown vs WMU). Both quarterbacks are freshman and didn't see pressure from Western Michigan like they will see from Jon Tenuta and the Notre Dame defense this Saturday. Because of this added pressure and inexperience at the D-1 level I fully expect to see multiple turnovers by this combo on Saturday, I also don't expect to see Robinson be quite the threat he was against Western Michigan just because the overall speed of Notre Dame's defense isn't even comparable to WMU's. Nick Sheridan should also see time for Michigan at some point but don't expect much put on him.

The target of choice for Forcier will be Junior Hemingway who took in five receptions for 103 yards and two scores this past weekend. Kevin Koger was responsible for the other touchdown reception for the Wolverines on Saturday.

In the passing game don't expect Michigan to be throwing deep like they did on Western Michigan. The speed of the secondary (or lack there of) allowed Michigan to throw deep with much success this past weekend, however watching the ball that Forcier throws it still takes a while to get to his WR's. Quicker safeties and corners will feast on Forcier all season if this continues to be the game plan of the Wolverines. Expect Michigan to throw into the flats and over the middle of the field Saturday, I can promise Notre Dame won't be getting beat on the deepball against Michigan.

Carlos Brown has emerged as the biggest running threat for Michigan early this year, he had 10 carries for 54 yards last week, also pulled in a catch for 14 yards. Brown has come on strong for Michigan after getting only 35 touches in all of 2008. Kevin Grady and Michael Shaw will also get touches out of the backfield for Michigan.

Michigan's offense will be to try and attack Notre Dame up the middle due to the amount of yards Notre Dame gave up there a week ago (Vai Taun 114 yards on 18 carries). Part of that was due to the amount and style of blitzing ND was doing, the other part is likely that this part of the defense isn't its strong suit.

The Wolverines will also attempt to the quick hitters to receivers because of the blitzing by Notre Dame. Tate Forcier and Denard Robinson will have to think a lot more on the fly than they had to a week ago against WMU a week ago, for that it plays into Notre Dame's favor. As long as the Irish keep contain when Robinson is in the game I am not terribly scared of his legs and would love to see him have to throw the football.

How Notre Dame will Attack on Offense:
Michigan's secondary was responsible for two interceptions a week ago and held the pass heavy Broncos to 263 passing yards a week ago (73 were on one play, late in the game). Charlie Weis and company know that the Irish's strong point is their passing game, especially after seeing what Jimmy Clausen was able to do with Michael Floyd a week ago.

Michael Floyd will attract extra defenders coming off his huge performance in week one, I expect the Irish to use Golden Tate in a bigger role this week. We should see routes where Tate uses his speed and awareness to catch the ball on shorter passes while in full stride. The Irish will try and get these plays towards Tate to go for big yardage, hoping Michigan will then have to lay off of Floyd a bit.

Also by getting Tate to run shorter routes over the middle it will cause a movement in linebackers, expect to see a miscommunication at least once that allows for Kyle Rudolph to get big yardage on a play. The Notre Dame passing game is downright scary and we will see that shown again this week.

The only thing that scares me this week is that Michigan was great against the run a week ago as WMU only put up 38 yards on 24 attempts (1.6 ypc). Notre Dame won't be this bad running the ball but I'm not expecting the running game to be a game breaker, either. James Aldridge is out and Robert Hughes will play in his spot at fullback on Saturday. Expect the Irish to run many screens and Armando Allen and Jonas Gray, this to try and free up space later in the game between the tackles.

To me Notre Dame has too much experience matched with talent to fall against Michigan this weekend. You can tell in watching the Wolverines that they will have moments in the sun in 2009 but they will have growing pains along the way. The overall youth of this team will cost them some games this season but they are headed in the right direction, no question about it.

Domer Sports Report Predictions:
Nick (1-0): Notre Dame 35 Michigan 20
Mark (1-0): Notre Dame 24 Michigan 14
Brian (1-0): Notre Dame 38 Michigan 21
Steven (1-0): Notre Dame 27 Michigan 14

Go Irish, Beat Skunkbears!

Nick Shepkowski works as a producer at 670 The Score in Chicago as well as a co-host of the Big Ten Network Football Podcast (right column on link). Random ND Fandom Fact: Nick has seen three ND/Michigan football games (2004, 2006, 2008) and the Irish are 2-1, he will not be in attendance on Saturday.

Blowout Victory Amounts to 15th Commit!

2009-09-07T22:09:00.004-04:00

Plenty of heads turned when the Irish defeated Nevada in convincing fashion on Saturday, perhaps none more important than that of Cameron Roberson. Roberson, a four star running back from Newbury Park High School in California gave Charlie Weis his word on Monday, making him the fifteenth commitment in the class of 2010 for Notre Dame.

The Irish appeared to be the leader heading into the weekend as they were listed as Roberson's only visit to be taken in 2009. Roberson becomes the fifteenth commitment in the class and the third 4-star offensive commitment in this year's class (per Rivals.com rankings). He joins quarterback Andrew Hendrix and TE Alex Welch, both Ohio products.

Roberson rushed for 1,452 yards with 18 touchdowns as a junior in high school. He added an additional 279 yards receiving and 3 scores when getting thrown to.

Roberson is the first running back to commit to the Fighting Irish in this class, very possibly the last as well. He has an extremely impressive initial burst of speed, that's something that's tough to judge fully until he is seen against other D-1 talent.

Welcome to Notre Dame, Cameron Roberson!

Saturdaze...

2009-09-07T02:44:00.006-04:00

Brian Dascenzo, Domer Sports Report

Notre Dame Football
Commentary

This is basically a breakdown of what I saw on Saturday. You may have gotten a preview on twitter if you follow me....

I love Jimmy Clausen tucking the ball and running for yardage when no receivers were open on the first play from scrimmage.

Michael Floyd looks gigantic and he lost no speed. In short he is a freak and will be a first round pick in the NFL.

Kyle Rudolph looks like a bigger version of Michael Floyd, he just needs to be a better blocker.

Golden Tate fell down throwing a block and still blocked two guys on Mike Floyd's second touchdown.

Armando Allen is still not as good as he will be.

Jonas Gray looks special.

Theo Riddick is very quick, I think he will be the best returner since Joey Getherall.

Nick Tausch will end his career at Notre Dame as the all time leading scorer.

Mike Anello acts like he didn't break his leg.

Kyle McCarthy is a great example for his little brother.

The corner backs did not show their potential at all.

I love defensive line men that wear unusual numbers. KLM and Ethan Johnson in-particular.

*Manti T'eo is one half of the best jersey value you can have.

Ethan Johnson is going to benefit from sharing a jersey with Kyle Rudolph. (Rudy 2.0)

Blitzing is the norm not the oddity.

Duval Kumara was not noticed.

A more then welcome back to Darrin Walls.

Tom Hammonds is a terrible play by play guy. I would prefer Joe Buck's emotionless play calling to him.

*Armando Allen is the other half.

Nevada's run defense was only good last year because their pass defense was so bad.

The Colin Kaepernick being recruited by ND for baseball made for a cute story, his team made it seem like his future was in baseball.

Michigan is a better test then Nevada, I wasn't sure about this before Saturday.

*You can support Notre Dame and this site with the store on the right side of the page or this link.

Irish Nearly Perfect in 35-0 Opening Win

2009-09-06T00:04:00.005-04:00

Early, often, and all afternoon. That's the way the Notre Dame offense approached its season opener against Nevada on Saturday in South Bend and they walked away with an impressive 35-0 victory in the process.

Jimmy Clausen and Michael Floyd connected for three Irish scores on the afternoon while Kyle Rudolph and Armando Allen each also found the end zone. Nevada put together a decent drive to on their first possession but were held in check by the Notre Dame defense the majority of the afternoon.

Jimmy Clausen got things going early on as he found Kyle Rudolph on a post route midway through the first possession. The touchdown pass capped a 12 play, 67 yard drive that put Notre Dame in front six and a half minutes in.

Nevada started the following possession and began cruising downfield before a sack on Colin Kapernick did the Wolfpack in. Richard Drake in turned missed a 38 yard field goal for Nevada, the Irish responded quickly with a nice drive put together with multiple solid runs by Armando Allen. Michael Floyd made it 14-0 on the first play of the second quarter on a 24 yard touchdown reception from Jimmy Clausen. Floyd split the safeties beautifully and put the Irish up two scores.

Nevada needed to respond their following drive but were instead held to a three and out. Two plays later it was again Clausen finding Floyd, this time for seventy yards and another Irish score.

Goodnight, Wolfpack.

The teams traded possessions a couple of times before the Irish took control with 5:51 remaining in the first half. Leading by 21 Charlie Weis gave a steady dose of both Armando Allen and Jonas Gray before the drive was capped off with only 1:59 remaining in the first half on a one yard touchdown run by Allen.

28-0 at halftime, things couldn't have gone much better for the Irish.

Charlie Weis called a pretty vanilla second half as the Irish put it on cruise control. The one major highlight of the half was another connection between Clausen and Floyd, this time for 88 yards. Clausen and Floyd each picked up their two longest completions/receptions of the day on the two long touchdown passes.

Nevada threatened the shutout midway through the third quarter but running back Vai Taua fumbled on a pitch that would have scored a touchdown. Instead it was Kapron Lewis-Moore jumping on the loose ball and Notre Dame held the shutout intact.

All in all a successful afternoon for Notre Dame, your tell-all stats:

Jimmy Clausen: 15/18 for 315 yards and 4 TD.

Turnovers: Nevada 3 Notre Dame 0

Rushing Yards: 178 yards on 41 attempts (4.3 ypc) against what was supposed to be a solid rush defense.

So its 1-0 for now and time to get ready for the Michigan Wolverines, a 31-7 winner vs. Western Michigan in the Big House on Saturday.

Recruiting Trail: This Weekends Visitors

2009-09-03T14:41:00.008-04:00

Four Star Recruit Sean Parker at a workout. Parker is will be on campus this weekend as Notre Dame tries to get him to choose the Irish over other major powerhouse programs like Florida and USC.

Three prospects will be in attendance this weekend as Notre Dame opens up the 2009 campaign against the Wolfpack of Nevada. Of the three, one is verbally committed to the University of Notre Dame already while the other two have Notre Dame on their short lists.

Justin Utupo committed to the University of Notre Dame on July 6th of this year. At the time Utupo was the tenth commitment in the growing class and remains one of three commits at the defensive end position for Charlie Weis this year. At the time of his commitment there was hope in Irish Country that he could get one or two of his high school teammates in Jesse Scroggins (5 Star, QB) and Dion Bailey (4 Star, Safety) to commit to the Irish as well, unfortunately those two have since committed to USC.

Cameron Roberson, a three star running back has an offer on the table from Notre Dame and his trip to campus this weekend is his only planned trip of the fall thus far. Notre Dame is listed in the running for the Newbury Park, California product along with the likes of Arizona, Northwestern, UCLA, and Washington.

The third player making a visit this weekend is Sean Parker, a four star safety from Nathaniel Nerbonne High School in Harbor City, California. Parker as listed as the fifth best safety in the national class and will be a prized commitment for whichever school ends up with him. As you would likely guess, the top programs like Florida, Georgia, Oklahoma, Stanford, UCLA, and USC are all considered very much in the running for Parker's duties.

Maybe an extremely impressive showing by the Irish on Saturday could get a verbal commit from one of the two who are yet to make a decision but I really wouldn't count on that this early in the season. As of now there are ten more visits scheduled for this fall but that number is sure to change and likely in a short amount of time. Thoughts on the visit day or on the recruiting class in general? Be sure to post a comment here or check out the Domer Sports Report Message Board where Notre Dame discussion is always going on.

Nick Shepkowski is an avid Notre Dame fan who has followed the blue and gold longer than any other of his favorite sports teams. He currently works at 670 AM in Chicago as well as at the Big Ten Network, also located in the Windy City. Random Notre Dame fandom fact of the post: Notre Dame Football is 11-3 in games attended by Nick but the men's basketball team is winless in three attempts.

Top Five: Games This Season

2009-09-03T13:24:00.002-04:00

This should be a recurring theme from me. Every week or two I'll do a new top five list with contributions from the staff. This weeks is about which games this season you're most excited for.

Honorable mention: Nevada, if it wasn't Nevada the first game of the season would be on the actual list. I'm having a tough time forgetting the San Diego State game from last year but I'm still trying to quell expectations of a blow out, as you can see in the prediction thread on the message board.

#5: Boston College Oct. 24th. The Mark Herzlich cancer story makes it harder to hate BC, but they somehow beat an evenly matched Irish team last year 17-0. This is a game that could serve as a barometer as to how good the Irish are following what should be a battle with SC (more on that later).

#4: Michigan Sept, 12th. I don't expect much from Wolvey this year, I have a sneaking suspicion that Western is going to beat them. I have a hatred for the team from Ann Arbor that is unmatched for any team in college football and I look forward to this game every year. Without a coach in Ann Arbor I think the Irish romp and the calls for RichRod of Death's head picks up even more. Plus, I'll be on a pseudo camping trip with a bunch of friends with most of them rooting for U of M.

#3: Stanford Nov. 28th. This could be the game that stands between the Irish and a BCS game. Jim Harbaugh the former Wolvey QB who I believe has been disowned by his college for calling out the fact that some athletes have bad degrees (never mind that any degree from U of M is a pretty good degree). I expect an improved Stanford team and an improved Irish team to battle it out much like in Charlie's first year.

#2: Michigan State Sept. 19th. Another home state team, but this is one I root for on occasion. Most of my friends went to State and the first Notre Dame game I went to was at Spartan Stadium. It's about time Notre Dame wins at home against Sparty and Charlie backs up the talk of never losing to MSU again. Without Hoyer and Ringer Sparty has to much to replace this early in the year.

#1: USC Oct. 17th. The game that tells us how good the Irish actually are. A team that has thrashed the Irish for three years in a row and Pete has only lost to the Irish once. This is the year to jump on a freshman QB (if he's still starting at that point) and a mostly new defense. This is the game that Charlie needs to be able to point to from a competitiveness stand point to keep his job. See Lloyd Carr versus Ohio State.

Mark Allen's

5.Stanford - For me this is political. I despise Stanford. I will not forget the anti-Catholic stuff the band did nor how liberal the school is. I also am sick of the ND administration saying they are an "aspirational peer"!

4.Pittsburgh - We had them beat, 17-0, last season and let it slip away. The Panthers are a quality team on paper. A win on the road would be a big win.

3.Michigan State - They have beaten us in 6 straight at Notre Dame Stadium. A win would be a huge step for this season.

2.Michigan - True, Michigan might still be rebuilding. But, this is a rivalry game. to win on the road at the "Big House" would be a big win.

1.USC - We have been smoked three games in a row by 31 points each. This game, should we win, would announce that the Fighting Irish are back.

Clashmore Mike's

1. Nevada (the season begins!)

2. Michigan (the only team I hate more than USC)

3. Mich. State (haven't quite gotten over planting the flag...)

4. USC (no explanation needed)

5. Boston College (it's time to put Little Brother in his place)

I should be live tweeting during most Irish games so feel free to follow me.

Notre Dame Vs. Nevada - Opening Weekend in South Bend

2009-09-01T03:11:00.014-04:00

Written By:
Nick Shepkowski

Finally. It's as simple as that for not only Notre Dame but college football fans in general. This Thursday offers an appetizer to opening weekend with Saturday being the full course meal. The Fighting Irish of Notre Dame start their campaign with a 3:30 EDT kickoff against the University of Nevada in South Bend.

It is the first meeting between the two schools, for those unfamiliar Nevada had an electric 2008 where they went to their fourth straight bowl game with an appearance in last season's Humanitarian Bowl against Maryland.

To know the Wolfpack, you must know their quarterback, Colin Kaepernick who alone was responsbile for supplying the Wolfpack with just under 4000 total yards a year ago, 11oo of those yards came on the ground. Kaepernick is the first of several mobile quarterbacks the Irish will face in 2009 but he also could very easily be the best of the mobile ones. Also helping in the running game will be Luke Lippincott who missed all of 2008 with a leg injury, he did however put up 1420 rushing yards in 2007 to lead the Wolfpack.

Kaepernick and Lippincott will line up together in the pistol formation which allows the quarterback to receive the snap quicker than in the regular shotgun set. As a result the defense must react quicker to things and because of the proximity to the line of scrimmage often times play action and counters set themselves up in this formation.

Throwing the ball Kaepernick put up 2849 yards a year ago while tossing 22 touchdowns to only 7 interceptions. Some good news for the Irish comes with the fact that Kaepernick's two favorite targets from a year ago have graduated leaving the Wolfpack with many questions in the passing game, don't expect Nevada to try much of passing until they are absolutely forced to.

I expect to see the Irish come out playing their base 3-4 defense with the defensive backs in straight man-to-man coverage until they are proven incapable of doing so. The talent differential in the passing game both ways tilt to the Irish, expect Corwin Brown and John Tenuta to do everything they can to get Nevada to have to pass the football. Man defense with an extra man sneaking in towards the line of scrimmage is an excellent way to do just that.

Defensively the Wolfpack have their issues, especially in defending against the pass where they had the worst pass defense in college football last season, allowing 311 yards through the air per contest. If you are wondering, Central Michigan had the second worst pass defense statistically as they allowed 287 yards a game, a whopping 24 yards less than the Wolfpack. Nevada wasn't bad against the pass last year, they were downright awful.

You know what that means...Jimmy Clausen, find your targets and get ready to feast, right? The last time Clausen was seen in actual game action he was busy carving a WAC defense and having a career afternoon in the Hawaii Bowl. That should be the case again here but I am not sure how much the Irish will want to have to use the aerial attack in the Nevada game.

Don't get me wrong, Notre Dame has more talent than Nevada and will be able to score at will through the air. I do feel that Charlie Weis and company will be interested in trying to establish a running game early on. Imagine what Clausen and Co. would be able to do if a running game is established and Nevada begins to even hint at slowing it down, the Irish will then attack over top.

I fully expect Notre Dame to come out running and see what they have going on in the running game. Will the Irish be able to run the ball down the throats of Nevada? We shall see in time but keep this in the back of your mind for the time being, Notre Dame's starting offensive line checks in averaging 6'4" and 316 pounds per starter. Nevada's defensive front? 6'3" and 261 pounds is your average. Don't think for a minute that Charlie Weis won't try and exploit this differential.

As I stated before, the more the Irish run the ball well the more Nevada will try and play men up in the box. Well, that's when Jimmy will take over as his targets in Golden Tate, Michael Floyd, Duval Kamara, and Kyle Rudolph should be far too much for the Wolfpack to handle.

Nevada will move the ball early on before the Irish figure out how to properly defend against the Pack. In this game I like the scoreboard to be lit up a lot and the Irish offense to really shine, something we failed to see a year ago in the season opener against San Diego State.

My prediction: Notre Dame 41 Nevada 21 with Armando Allen getting the game ball.

Other DSR Staffers Picks:

Mark: ND 41 Nevada 20 (This wasn't discussed between the two of us, great minds just happen to think very much alike)

Steven: ND 28 Nevada 14

Brian: ND 41 Nevada 20 (See comments after Mark's prediction...)

Reminder, if you are interested in getting in our Domer Sports Report message board pick 'em go ahead and head to our message board and sign up for an account if you haven't already. Simply post a prediction in the proper thread during each week and we will track how close everyone is throughout the course of the season. Who knows, the winner just may get something pretty cool at the end of the year!

GO IRISH, BEAT WOLFPACK

-Hoping to be there on Saturday...

Nick Shepkowski is an avid Notre Dame football fan who lives and works in the heart of Big Ten country as he holds a job at the Big Ten Network in Chicago. He also is a radio producer at 670 The Score in Chicago. Random Notre Dame fanhood fact: First ND game attended was in 2000 against Stanford which was also Irish legend Matt LoVecchio's first start at QB for the Domers.

Charlie Weis’ Fork in the Road: How Will History Repeat Itself?

2009-08-31T12:35:00.004-04:00

Clashmore Mike, Domer Sports Report

Notre Dame Football
Commentary

The summer-long conversation regarding the fate of Notre Dame head coach will soon be over. Unfortunately, most of the discussion on this subject, from the television sports channels to internet bloggers, has offered more heat than light. In less than a week, the Irish will tee it up against the University of Nevada in Notre Dame Stadium. Charlie Weis’ legacy may well be decided in this very first game. Notre Dame and Coach Weis are at a fork in the road, and which direction they go will soon be known. Will it be mediocrity? Or the proverbial “Return to Glory?”

The Spanish philosopher George Santayana said "Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it." This goes for institutions as well as individuals, and throughout the history of Notre Dame’s football program, many of the same mistakes have been made, then corrected, then made again. It’s a lesson for those with short memories, those who believe that the program’s recent decade of mediocrity is a new phenomenon, and that Notre Dame’s best days are behind her.

We all know about Knute Rockne, the legendary coach who not only set the bar so high for the Irish, but also with his celebrity, his marketing savvy, and his winning percentage (still the highest in the history of the game), created Big Time College Football. But with his death in 1931 there began a cycle of feast or famine for Notre Dame Football that continues to this day.

Rockne was followed by Elmer Layden, who coached from 1934 to 1940. Layden was one of the legendary “Four Horsemen,” but as a coach, especially following Rockne, his teams were a disappointment. His best year was 1938, when the Irish went 8-1. Otherwise, six or seven wins out of a nine game season was about average. Not bad, but for Notre Dame, not good enough.

But soon Irish eyes were smiling. Under Frank Leahy (1941-43, 1946-49) Notre Dame won four National Championships. Some Irish Faithful may think it blasphemous, but Frank Leahy was Notre Dame's greatest coach. His winning percentage of .864, was just under that of Knute Rockne’s.

But as Leahy’s success grew, the University began feeling self-conscious about what might seem to be an over-emphasis on football, and the football coach. This wasn’t new…during the heyday of Rockne, the feeling that the colorful coach was beginning to eclipse the educational and spiritual mission of the school was growing. However, Rockne died before it came to a head. Not so with Leahy. The administration began to restrict the coach’s scholarships and power, and eventually forced him out.

What followed was a decade of mediocrity. From1954 to 1963, the Irish underperformed. First was coach Terry Brennan, followed by Joe Kuharich. Neither was a success. Fans grieved and detractors gloated that Notre Dame’s success was history. Done. They were “irrelevant.” (Sound familiar?) Then came Ara Parseghian.

Resurrection Reviewed

2009-08-22T16:33:00.011-04:00

Brian Dascenzo, Domer Sports Report

Notre Dame Football

Book Review

Resurrection is the latest book by Jim Dent, author of Junction Boys and Twelve Mighty Orphans. The book revolves around the 1964 Notre Dame football season and Ara Parseghian's first year as head coach. It is more than a book about a football season. It is the story of a college football Goliath recovering from the slingshot attack.

Jim Dent did hours and hours of interviews with the main characters of the book and it shows in the depth of the stories. Dent's storytelling goes into Tom Coughlin playing a part in Tony Carey getting kicked out of school, why Nick Rassas spent the summer before '64 at a Wyoming farm and how a Heisman Trophy winner didn't have a letter jacket to wear to the dinner in New York. Dent brings up the fact that most of the Notre Dame stories have to do with big-time winning and how this isn't his style. He had been searching for a Notre Dame story to write when he was asked to speak at Notre Dame during the summer of 2008 and he says that "the story found him."

He uses the '64 season as a way to explore the history of Notre Dame football. Discussion of Leahy's Notre Dame career and how that led to Father Hesburgh becoming sick of his school being referred to as a Football Factory. The rantings and ravings of the players about Joe Kuharich not knowing to do with all the talent on his roster. It also shows how Ara was doing more with less at Northwestern then should be asked of anyone.

This book tells the story of one of the few times that Notre Dame was a true underdog story. I recommend this book to anyone interested in college football not just specific to Notre Dame fans. Enjoy.

To purchase this book at a discount, click on the image title below.

Irish Land Their 14th!

2009-08-06T20:52:00.002-04:00

The Irish recruiting class of 2010 gained another body on Tuesday as Prince Shembo of Charlotte, NC gave the University of Notre Dame his word. The 6'2''/232 pound defensive end chose Notre Dame over his other finalists of Tennessee, Virginia, Virginia Tech, North Carolina, and North Carolina State.

Shembo becomes the third defensive end to commit to this recuriting class and the eighth defensive commitment so far. He joins Blake Leuders and five-star prospect Chris Martin at the defensive end position in this class.

In eleven games last season Shembo racked up 86 tackles with 9 sacks. He added a pair of interceptions and fumble recoveries as well.

Rivals.com ranks Shembo as their 14th best defensive end in the class of 2010 while giving him a 4-star rating. He possesses excellent strength with his bench press max being listed at 325 pounds while he was able to put up 545 pounds on the squat rack. At this point it seems that his leg strength is far ahead that of Lueders who only maxed out 470 pounds on his squat.

The class grows to 14 with the addition of Shembo with a lot of work remaining needed to be done. With Shembo giving his word, Rivals.com now ranks Notre Dame 9th overall in the nation, just ahead of both Michigan, Stanford, and USC.

Welcome to Notre Dame, Prince Shembo!

Men's Basketball Gets Second 2010 Verbal

2009-08-05T13:33:00.004-04:00

Mark Allen, Domer Sports Report

Notre Dame Men's Basketball
Recruiting

Alex Dragicevich remembers watching his favorite team on television as a boy. He also knew that, as soon as he received an offer from that team, his recruiting was over. On Tuesday, Notre Dame coach Mike Brey received a verbal commitment from Dragicevich.

Dragicevich becomes the second verbal for the incoming class of 2010. He joins 6-0 point guard Eric Atkins.

Dragicevich is a 6-6, 180 pound shooting guard out of Northbrook, Illinois. Last season, he averaged 21 points and 6 rebounds per game. He shot 35 percent from 3-point range.

He saw his stock rise at the recent AAU performance in Las Vegas. Initially, he was being looked at by mid-majors. But, the offers came rolling in from the bigger names. Notre Dame won out over schools such as Oklahoma State, Xavier, Rhode Island, Utah, Loyola-Chicago and Miami of Ohio.

Mike Brey compares Dragicevich to a former Irish player. That player is Colin Falls. Fans might remember that Falls, a sharpshooter, set records in the Big East Conference as well as owning the record at Notre Dame for all-time 3-pointers made. His size might make one remember another Irish great, Matt Carroll.

Dragicevich will make his official visit on a very popular day. It seems like every player the Irish are recruiting in football, let alone, basketball, will be in town that day. That day is October 17 - the day of the rivalry game between Notre Dame and USC.

The Calm Before the Storm

2009-07-31T13:45:00.002-04:00

Clashmore Mike, Domer Sports Report

Notre Dame Football
Commentary

It is the last week of July. For football fans, this is the deep breath before the plunge. All across the country training camps are getting ready to open...soon, but not just yet. The Irish report in 10 days.

I was on the Notre Dame campus this past week. It was a beautiful early evening in high summer. Despite the peace and stillness, the echos were there, stirring, getting ready to wake up in just a few short weeks. Summer students coming and going. A few football fans shopping in the bookstore. The faithful praying in the Basilica, or in the sacred space of the Grotto. It served to remind me what we really play for. Domers understand it, but many of our opponents never will.

We ND bloggers have spent a long summer analyzing the team, the schedule, the new coaches, and predicting how the coming season will play out. Some of us have also spent time answering an unending stream of animosity from those that hate the Fighting Irish. (If I read one more article about why ND needs to join a conference I'll be sick...) But this is all just marking time.

Soon, the speculation will end. Our lads will strap on the gold helmets, the band will play the Fight Song, we'll tee it up, and a new chapter in the History of Notre Dame Football will be written. Has the team turned the corner? Will Coach Weis take us to a BCS bowl? Will the Irish regain their historic position in college football?

We'll know soon. The wait is unbearable! Go Irish!

ND Fans Want Championships, Not Necessarily High GPAs

2009-07-23T14:17:00.009-04:00

The Staff, Domer Sports Report

Notre Dame Sports
Editorial

Recently, Domer Sports Report posed a poll question. The question was what would you rather see from ND sports programs? An overall team gpa (grade point average) of over 3.0 or a winning, National Championship program, but a gpa of under 3.0?

The results were astounding, given the outward, permeating attitude from within (the administration) and, maybe, from without (fans, observers, media and detractors) Notre Dame. A whopping 66% responded that they would prefer to have a National Championship program, while 33% preferred to have a team gpa of over 3.0.

What does all of this mean? Well, most of it is subjective. It is open for interpretation. But, here is how the staff of Domer Sports Report sees it:

Nick Shepkowski:

To me there its not even a question anymore on if the University of Notre Dame should slightly lower academic standards and not have as "classroom smart" of a football team if they can get that much closer to a national title on the football field. There are certain things that get under my skin as a Notre Dame fan and this one may take the cake on my list. Sure Notre Dame has tougher academic standards than other schools but when it comes to football players, the difference really is minimal.

Notre Dame does not hold its student athletes to as tough as standards to get into the school as they do their everyday students. If you can catch or throw a football well, or even tackle or block well then your chances of getting into Notre Dame go up an incredible amount. Year in and year out there is an extremely large percentage of future football players who are allowed admittance to the University of Notre Dame, only because of their athletic ability.

I would not be bothered if the University was to slightly lower standards and allow more potential players into Notre Dame. The majority of football players already get an exception when it comes to test scores and GPA's, why shouldn't all of them?

The only problem I would potentially have with lowering academic standards is if Notre Dame turned into a "Thug-U" like Miami of Florida did in the 1980's and early 90's. If the coaching staffs got to know the kids they were recruiting it would be simple to eliminate these problems before they were ever admitted to the University of Notre Dame.

Once again, I do not care what the team GPA of the Fighting Irish is. This magical number of 3.0, I would have finished below the mark in my four years of college. Does it mean I'm an idiot? Getting multiple jobs offers in my field before graduation from college would imply otherwise. I don't care about how smart someone is in a classroom, just like in sports there is life beyond that as well.

If a potential athlete seems to have a promising enough future where they would likely be seen as a "productive member of society" and not have a past of battery or abuse or any problems with that, why not admit them to the University? I don't care if someone has an ACT score of 19, does that make them a bad kid? No, what does is how they act as a person. Talking to teachers, principals, coaches, and even
those in the neighborhood would quickly get an answer to if someone has the proper fit to be allowed to attend the University of Notre Dame, even if it does end up making the Fighting Irish a less "classroom smart" team.

Brian Dascenzo:

I don't think there is a huge issue if the team doesn't have a 3.0 GPA. Everyone knows that Notre Dame is a tough school academically. The National Championship on the other hand is a huge deal and changes the program infinitely. I don't know that we need to lower the standard that much if at all. It is harder to get great athletes that are also smart but we know that it isn't impossible to recruit smart football players to Notre Dame.

If players can't handle the courses at Notre Dame (with or without all the help they get) the issue arises of them transferring or taking semesters off and missing football season. Being smart is necessary in South Bend and having smart players shouldn't be detrimental to winning, it should help. The National Championship is something that should be thought of consistently at Notre Dame while "no one" cares if the team GPA slips to the 2.5-2.9 area. Winning solves a lot of things but Charlie and the Weisettes were able to recruit even during the two year debacle they just dealt with.

Ryan Williams:

I, personally was surprised at the results of the poll. Myself and most of the Notre Dame fans, alumni, and overall supporters of the University that I know realize that Notre Dame is a first rate educational institution first and foremost. The athlete can never come before the student at Notre Dame. Now, am I saying that the bar must be a 3.0 GPA? That is the tricky part of the question. I almost think a different number should be used. Maybe team graduation %. A guy may struggle in a couple courses here and there, which would bring his GPA down, but if he buckled down and put the work into it needed to graduate in four years I would call his education a success even if he didn't maintain a 3.0 GPA. Would I be mad if Notre Dame won a National Championship but finished with a team average 2.8 GPA? No I wouldn't. Would I be mad if Notre Dame won a National Championship and only graduated 80% of the players on that team? Yes. Notre Dame is the only college out there who has been on the elite end of both the academic and athletic spectrum. And the only program that has done both at the same time. In 1988 Notre Dame won the football National Championship and was also awarded The Academic Achievement Award which is given to the Div. 1-A school that records the highest graduation rate of that years class.

So, in closing, do I believe that the line in the sand must be a 3.0 GPA? No I don't. But Notre Dame must never sacrifice education for athletic accomplishments.

Clashmore Mike:

What this poll says to me is the decade of mediocrity is weighing heavy on the Irish faithful. One of the distinguishing characteristics of Notre Dame sports is taking the concept of "student athlete" seriously, weighing the first word in that phrase as heavy — or heavier — than the second one. This simply can't change. To do so would undercut the very nature of the university.

But, you might say, 78% would lower the academic bar to get a championship, so why not? Because it isn't necessary. For years, scores of commentators — Paul Hornung himself to ESPN "experts" to anonymous bloggers have said ND needs to lower its academic standards to attract better athletes. This was particularly frequent during Coach Willingham's tenure. (Unfortunately, the real problem was simply Ty was a lousy recruiter...) The two most recent recruiting classes by Weis show that top athletes can and will come to Notre Dame. And when talent comes, so do wins. And eventually, so do championships.

Mark Allen:

Recently, Mike Brey wrote on his Twitter site that Notre Dame's basketball team had achieved a 3.1 team gpa for the last semester and were over 3.0 for the year. He punctuated it with an exclamation point. Does Mike Brey "get" Notre Dame? Well, in my opinion, that depends on the point of view. From the current and recent past administration at Notre Dame, as well as the academics, he gets it. From the Notre Dame fans' point of view, as well as the "subway alumni" he does not.

There is a difference between reality and what the academics would like. Let's be honest, Zach Hillesland's high grade point average is nice. But, is it the main course or the side dish? I maintain that it is the side dish.

The reputation of Notre Dame is two-fold: high academic standards and athletic success. But, which came first? It is obvious that athletic success came first. Academics, while admirable, is the gravy.

Notre Dame is fun to root for. Most of the time, they do it right. They admit students of high moral character who also have good academic backgrounds. I am not advocating lowering standards to allow more athletic success. Success can be achieved, in my opinion, both, academically and athletically.

Ask yourself this question. Which numbers are remembered more? The 2008-09 men's basketball team gpa or 1966, 1977 and 1988 (football National Championship seasons). Enough said?

Commitment #13, Spencer Boyd!

2009-07-17T21:12:00.005-04:00

As was widely speculated, Spencer Boyd gave his verbal commitment to the University of Notre Dame on Friday afternoon, choosing the Fighting Irish over Michigan and Georgia. Boyd becomes the 13th commitment for the Domers and third that will make up Notre Dame's defensive backfield in the future.

Boyd is listed as a three star recruit from Cape Coral, Florida. It was there that he compiled 30 tackles and one interception as a junior in 2008. He also carried the ball 102 times for 620 yards and 6 scores but will be used only on defensive by head coach Charlie Weis.

Tight Ends coach Bernie Parmalee was responsible for the recruiting of Boyd as he continues to show his strength in recruiting the most southeastern state in the nation. Parmalee has also successfully recruited the likes of Armando Allen, Emeka Nwankwo, Ian Williams, Zeke Motta, and Jordan Cowart to the University of Notre Dame. Parmalee continues to have four more targets from the Sunshine State listed in his name on Rivals.com, all four having a four star ranking.
Back to Boyd, he brings a tad bit more size to the Irish secondary as he currently weighs 18 more pounds than counterpart Lo Wood. Although I can't guarantee it, with Boyd having a slightly quicker 40 yard dash time, I suspect the strength of Boyd is a hair greater than Wood's as well.

Boyd's commitment moves the Irish into 10th place overall in the current rankings of the class of 2010. Stanford remains the only regular on the schedule ahead of Notre Dame, coming in at 8th overall. Once again, its tough to make a whole lot of sense of where teams are ranked in these type of things until more of the "elite prospects" make their announcements.

Enjoy Spencer Boyd's highlight video from his junior season at Cape Coral High School. From all of us at Domer Sports Report, welcome to Notre Dame, Spencer!

Article Written By:
Nick Shepkowski
Bleacher Report
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Why I Don't Want Urban

2009-07-15T23:37:00.005-04:00

Brian Dascenzo, Domer Sports Report

Notre Dame Football
Editorial

This has nothing to do with Urban Meyer as a coach, that would be stupid. This has to do with where Notre Dame football is right now and what would be best for it. It has to do with the last two years and most of the years between Holtz and Weis. It has to do with not wanting a do-over on rebuilding and not wanting to lose underclassmen who bolt because of a system change again, although this time they might be pushed out by Urban instead of leaving of their own accord.

I want Notre Dame to be successful under every coach, I get sick and tired of losing, I get fed up with not being competitive with USC or Michigan and not being able to beat Michigan State. I want Charlie to succeed, I need Charlie to succeed. The last two years have to mean something to this program other then a waste.

The turning of inexperience to dominant is what I want to see. This is the programs last chance with who is in place, I believe Swarbrick would have made the change last year if Charlie couldn't talk a good game. I need to see it in action rather than just hear about it.

The offense will probably be a pass dominant issue again, whether it's because of Armando Allen and Robert Hughes not being able to carry the load or Michael Floyd, Golden Tate and Kyle Rudolph (among others) just exploding for 150 yard games each consistently and that would seem to fit Weis' gameplan.

Notre Dame has to succeed next year because this is what we have been waiting for. As fans we are willing to look past the last two years (kind of) if this year means great success. As a fan who has seen the teams Notre Dame has lost too in person get worse and worse (from the Dowdell led Spartans to Air Force during the 3-9 debacle to Syracuse last year I personally have hit rock bottom) it has to be for something.

I have a belief in Notre Dame football that is insane, there is little reason to believe in Charlie. Sure, he's had some great recruiting classes and he turned a 6-7 team into back-to-back BCS teams, but there are questions about all of it.

Winning with Ty's players (wish Ty would have brought in players his last one and a half classes like he did the first two) or not being able to develop the players that came in during his first one and a half classes (one of those shared with Ty).

This is the show me year, Custer's last stand as you will or else we are looking at starting over again, and the cupboard won't be bare. Instead, people will be looking for Urban immediately but his contract isn't up until 2013 so the next coach will have Urban watch even worse then Charlie does. Tommy Tubberville could probably withstand that and build a program but could a less experienced coach like Brian Kelly? I don't know and the I don't know future could be worse then the Charlie past/present. Here's to hoping Urban isn't necessary to fix the last 12 and that the answer is right beneath our noses.

Follow me on twitter @dascenzo and see my thoughts on sports that don't involve UND at my blog.

Moore Makes it a Dirty-Dozen!

2009-07-12T17:03:00.004-04:00

Notre Dame's recruiting class of 2010 grew by one more on Saturday as linebacker Kendall Moore gave word of his verbal commitment. Moore is the twelfth prospect to commit to the growing class but only the fifth to come in with a ranking greater than three stars by Rivals.com (Scout.com ranks Moore as a 3-star prospect).

Moore comes from Raleigh, NC where he is getting for his third and final season on the varsity roster at Southeast Raleigh High School. In his two previous seasons he has a combined 230 tackles and six sacks. He also caught thirty passes last season, good for seven touchdowns but he will be used exclusively on defense at Notre Dame.

Moore is listed at 6'3''/232 lbs with a forty time around 4.6 seconds. He has also squatted 500 pounds and bench pressed 320. Room to grow but a great starting point in his strength.

Moore chose the University of Notre Dame over several southeastern schools but Florida State and North Carolina State sound like they were the closest competitors for his commitment. As of now it is not certain whether Moore will play on the inside or outside but he will remain a linebacker when he makes his way on campus.

Notre Dame now has 12 commitments and is currently ranked as the 9th best class in the nation according to Scout.com. There is still a lot of time left on the recruiting trail for the class of 2010 and the Irish remain a player in the game for several top ranked recruits. Keep it locked on DomerSportsReport as we will break it all down for you along the way.

Welcome to Notre Dame, Kendall Moore!

Article Written By:
Nick Shepkowski
Bleacher Report
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Irish Gain 10th and 11th Commitments

2009-07-08T21:53:00.005-04:00

Notre Dame has received their tenth commitment in a growing class as Justin Utupo has given his word to the Fighting Irish staff. Utupo doesn't come to South Bend with a ton of praise from the national recruiting sources but he did choose the Fighting Irish after getting offers from all over the land, including Oregon State, Oklahoma State, Utah, Colorado, and BYU.

Utupo becomes the third defensive end in the class, joining Chris Martin and Blake Leuders. He stands 6'2'' and weighs 240 lbs. Of the three commitments at defensive end, Utupo comes in as the lowest rated by the national sources.

Utupo may offer something that most other commitments/recruits are not able to do before they take a class at Notre Dame. Utupo is the high school teammate of both blue-chip quarterback Jesse Scroggins and 4-Star safety Dion Bailey at Lakewood HS in California.

Scroggins seems to be headed to the SEC in the form of a Gator, Vol, or to Southern Cal. Bailey on the other hand lists Notre Dame high on his list with USC, Tennessee, Washington State, and Southern Methodist all also included on that short list. I'm not saying its going to happen but it sure would be nice to see.

Utupo picked up six sacks as a junior at Lakewood High while also being responsible for 70 tackles on the year. He joins the growing list of 3-star commits for the 2010 class of Fighting Irish.

Welcome to Notre Dame, Justin Utupo!

The Fighting Irish of Notre Dame can now add an eleventh name to the list of 2010 commitments as Tommy Rees of Lake Forest, Illinois gave his word to head coach Charlie Weis this week. Rees becomes the eleventh commitment as well as the second at the quarterback position for the class of 2010, joining Andrew Hendrix of Ohio.

Rees was not a highly touted recruit nationally but did receive offers from Tennessee, Stanford, Bowling Green, Central Michigan, and Miami (Ohio). As he gave his verbal commitment he stands 6'3'' while weighing in at 192 pounds.

I have doubts that Rees is ever going to be the "next great thing" amongst Irish quarterbacks. Per rivals rankings, this is the seventh of eleven verbal commitments to have a ranking of three stars. It is starting to seem that this class of new Fighting Irish may not have the same star rolls in the future but are used more to add depth to a team that loses likely 24 scholarship positions after January.

Even if Rees is able to simulate what the oposition is going to do by running scout team in the future it is good to add to the class. Don't expect him to compete for a Heisman like most quarterbacks that commit to ND but still...

Welcome to Notre Dame, Tommy Rees!

Irish Class Grows to Nine

2009-06-30T12:40:00.004-04:00

On Monday the Fighting Irish picked up their ninth commitment in the recruiting class of 2010 when former Stanford commitment Chris Badger made a visit to campus thanks to the work of defensive line coach Randy Hart. Badger was quoted as saying he was "blown away" by what he saw on his visit to Notre Dame and was surprised how quickly he was able to change his mind on Stanford.

Credit is owed to one of the Irish who is yet to play in an actual game as Manti Te'o was very helpful in recruiting aspects. Both Te'o and Badger are Mormon and attended a church service together over the weekend, something that sold Badger on the University.

Badger becomes the second defensive back to commit to the Fighting Irish with the other being Lo Wood and occurring just days ago. After bringing in zero defensive backs in the 2009 recruiting class it is of utter importance that the Irish do well there this year. With both Lo Wood and Chris Badger now commited the Irish are off to a solid start at the postion. Both players are touted as three star recruits so adding both more numbers as well slightly more touted players would be ideal in Notre Dame's case.

Although the 2009 recruiting class failed to pick up any defensive backs the 2008 class is shaping up to be very solid at the position. Robert Blanton has shown signs of brilliance in one year on campus as he had a pick-6 against Purdue as well as what was called an "outstanding game" by Charlie Weis against USC. Dan McCarthy and Jamoris Slaughter were both also in this class but did not see any game action in 2008.

Badger has a body size of 6'0'', 178 pounds while his forty time is listed at 4.65 seconds. For comparisons sake Lo Wood checks in at 5'10'', 165 with a forty time of 4.58. Badger will be a safety for the Fighting Irish in the future. His videos show him to be outstanding against the run while be able to deliver the big hit on recievers.

Welcome to Notre Dame, Chris Badger!

Jimmy Clausen: Bust After Only Two Years?

2009-06-29T18:21:00.003-04:00

Ryan Williams, Domer Sports Report

Notre Dame Football
Editorial

Is Jimmy Clausen a bust or is he a maturing superstar? I will save my opinion for the comment section and let you, the reader make the call.

Clausen's sophomore stats looked like this: 268/440 60.9 percent for 3172 yards, 25 TDs, 17 ints, 132.49 rating.

Let's take a look at the second full season of some of the more high profile QBs of the last five years.

Let's start with a couple Heisman Trophy winners.

We all know of Tim Tebow's accomplishments. He has been one of the biggest game-changing players at his position. He seems to be able to put his team on his shoulders and will them to victory. See Tebow's speech after Ole Miss loss last year. Tebow's sophomore year was phenomenal. It was his Heisman winning year. His stats on the year read like a one man show.He completed 217 of 317 passes for 3132 yards. He threw 29 touchdowns and only 6 interceptions. He also rushed for 833 yards and 22 TDs. This gave him a ridicules passer rating of 177.8.

How about Matt Leinart? Leinart's third year in the system but second as a starter was a National Championship winning year for USC. It was also Leinart's Heisman Trophy winning year. Leinart completed 269 passes out of 412 attempts for 3322 yards. He threw 33 tds with only 6 interceptions. He had a well above average 156.5 QB rating.

Those two are examples of the best of the best. Now let's take a look at a couple mere mortals.
Mathew Stafford had a very good collegiate career. Good enough to garner the first overall pick in last years NFL draft. Stafford’s sophomore campaign netted him a completion percentage of 55.7 by completing 194 passes out of 348 attempts. He threw for 2523 yards with 19 TDs and 10 interceptions which netted him a rating of 128.9.

And last but not least lets compare Notre Dames own Brady Quinn. Brady’s sophomore season saw him complete 191 passes out of 353 attempts for 2586 yards. He had a completion percentage of 54.1 Quinn threw for 17 TDs and 10 interceptions which led to a passer rating of 125.78.

These are strictly individual accomplishments and take into account none of the value of the surrounding team they played on.

Clausen is bested in every category by the two Heisman Trophy winners. He bested the other two QBs in every category with the exception of the interceptions.

So I ask you: Bust or Maturing Superstar?

Irish Class Continues to Grow, Welcome Lo Wood!

2009-06-27T02:09:00.006-04:00

In what has turned into a very good week for Notre Dame on the recruiting front, defensive back Lo Wood of Apopka, Florida took the Irish coaching staff by surprise on Friday afternoon when he showed up unexpectedly to announce his verbal commitment to the University of Notre Dame.

Wood becomes the eighth verbal commit for the Fighting Irish in the 2010 class, a class that has nearly doubled in size over the past two days. As late as the morning of this past Thursday rumors were flying that Chris Martin was not going to end up at Notre Dame after all and that many on message boards felt that this years class would be lucky to crack the top 25 when it is all said and done.

Don't get me wrong, there is a ton of work still left to do for the Irish but at least things are seeming more on track with where they need to be compared to where they seemed to be headed just a few short days ago.

So who exactly is Lo Wood and football wise what is he going to be able to do at the University of Notre Dame?

Wood comes in listed at 5'10'' and weighing 160 pounds, "room to grow" is how we will put it with him. His height is about where you expect a solid cornerback to be at this level but he will have to add some muscle before he gets any playing time for the Irish. His forty time is listed at 4.58 seconds and although there is plenty of room to improve, its a solid starting point.

Wood chose the Fighting Irish over rival Michigan with many from Michigan thinking that Wood was leaning their way until just recently. From everything I have read and heard, Corwin Brown is what made the difference in getting Wood to come to Notre Dame.

With the talent the Irish have started to bring into the secondary it is seeming more and more that all defensive backs will have to battle in order to get on the field. Wood has decent enough size and enough speed that he should be in the mix for playing time in the future, just don't expect a lot out of the gate with all the talent Notre Dame already has in the defensive backfield. Here is what I was able to find videowise on Lo:

Welcome to Notre Dame, Lo Wood!

Written By:
Nick Shepkowski
Bleacher Report
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Irish Recruiting Class Grows to Seven!

2009-06-26T16:42:00.003-04:00

Shortly after Andrew Hendrix committed to Notre Dame on Thursday afternoon, the class of 2010 grew by one as Blake Lueders gave his word to head coach Charlie Weis.

Lueders is a 6'5'', 250 pound middle linebacker from Zionsville, Indiana and chose the Fighting Irish over other top-notch academic schools Northwestern, Boston College, Wake Forest, and Stanford.

Lueders plays middle linebacker at Zionsville High School but is expected to move to defensive end once he arrives in South Bend next summer. With Lueders now joining Chris Martin in the class of 2010, the defensive end position is becoming a very strong point.

At 6'5'' we will see Lueders have the body frame to be a potentially great defensive end, his athletic ability will factor in to be a major plus for the position. I wouldn't expect an instant impact from him once he arrives on campus but after a year or two at the position he will likely turn into a bright spot. There is no question that the Irish have struggled in having a consistent pass-rush in recent years and the way the defense is shaping up, this may not be an issue for that much longer.

Blake Lueders, welcome to Notre Dame!

Written By:
Nick Shepkowski
Bleacher Report
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Irish Land Ohio QB!

2009-06-25T13:17:00.004-04:00

Welcome to the class of 2010, Andrew Hendrix of Moeller High School in Cincinnati, Ohio. After the Irish lost out on Nick Montana a few weeks back it was Hendrix who became very important for the Irish to lock down in the class of 2010.

A few facts on Andrew Hendrix:
- 6'3'', 220 Lbs. - Room to grow
-Listed as a pro-style quarterback, ranked as the 11th best in the nation by Rivals.
-Comes from the pistol-offense in high school, shows ability to throw on the run and take ball down to pick up yards on his feet.
-Must add strength and some speed if he hopes to be able to run much in college.
-Arm strength not great but accuracy looks to be superb for a high school senior to be.

It doesn't appear to me that Andrew Hendrix is likely going to be considered by any to be the best quarterback in the nation or anything along those lines. He's solid but not outstanding. However, put great talent around him like the Irish seem to be doing and he may just look that much better.

Hendrix was recruited to Notre Dame by Ron Powlus and becomes the sixth commitment to the class of 2010, you can catch up learning about the other five right here. Care to see Hendrix at his best during his junior year?

Welcome to Notre Dame, Andrew Hendrix!

Written By:
Nick Shepkowski
Bleacher Report
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Notre Dame's Biggest Game of 2009

2009-06-25T00:35:00.007-04:00

It seems like Notre Dame fans all over the country feel that 2009 will be a success not if the Irish go 11-1 and end up in a BCS game but instead, if they are able to beat USC for the first time since 2001. Beating USC would go a very long way in showing that Notre Dame is back, something they have been trying to prove for far too long in Fighting Irish Country. Is the battle on October 17th the most important game on the schedule for the Irish in 2009 though?

With the way the college football gods lined up the the 2009 season schedule, October 17th could turn into the most important regular season weekend of the season. If Florida is to go unbeaten like so many expect, then USC and Notre Dame as well as Texas and Oklahoma could be playing elimination games for the other berth in the national title if all four teams remain unbeaten up to that point.

"If" is the keyword in that entire last paragraph for the Fighting Irish. If the Irish prove many of their supporters right by not laying an egg against Nevada in week one. If Charlie Weis can pick up his second win in three tries in the Big House against the University of Michigan on September 12th. If Jimmy Clausen and company can avenge their first defeat of the 2008 campaign by getting by Michigan State in week three in South Bend.

Over the course of time and into the future, yes, USC does in fact weigh more in possible recruiting battles that may face the Irish down the road and a win over the Trojans would show signs that a corner has been turned much more than a win over Michigan State would do. However, for the success that many envision the Irish having in 2009, a win over the Spartans on September 19th is a must.

A win over MSU could swing momentum to the BCS. A loss could mean very bad news for ND.

How important is this game for an Irish team who should be growing as each week gets scratched off the schedule? Notre Dame hasn't defeated Michigan State in South Bend since before any current player was a teenager. If the Irish get by the Spartans and improve to 3-0 then the BCS will seem like a very likely end result to the 2009 campaign for the Fighting Irish. Lose and the end of the Charlie Weis era in South Bend may be upon us.

Based on talent and experience levels there is no reason that Notre Dame shouldn't enter this game 2-0 and really, they should exit it 3-0. For some odd reason though, Notre Dame beating Michigan State in South Bend has turned into rocket science for the Fighting Irish.

In 2007, it was a young Irish team that hung with Michigan State for a short amount of time before falling. In 2005, it was an Irish team which wound up in the Fiesta Bowl that fell to the Spartans in OT after trailing by as many as three touchdowns. 2003 would have been a win...had the Irish gotten in the end zone a time or two instead of settling for three Nick Setta field goals, all from within 35 yards. 2001 was another case of the Irish forgetting to get in the end zone in a 17-10 defeat at the hands of a Michigan State team that featured Charles Rogers and TJ Duckett.

Outside of 2005, every year the Irish have lost at home to Michigan State, the season has turned into a quick downward spiral. We all remember 2007 where we saw the Irish finish with only three wins. Other cases?

2003: 22-16 Loss, second of three straight defeats and six losses in seven contests during the season - No Bowl Appearance
2001: 17-10 Loss, second of three straight to start season, before finishing only 5-6 on the year - No Bowl Appearance
1999: 23-13 Loss, third straight for the Irish after winning in week one vs. Kansas - No Bowl Appearance
1997: 23-7 Loss, Second loss in a row, finished regular season 6-6 after starting 1-4 - Independence Bowl: 27-9 loss vs. LSU

Bad things tend to happen when Notre Dame loses to Michigan State in South Bend. Sure, in 2005, they were able to bounce back and still make a BCS game, but in every other case over the past decade the Irish have either missed a post-season bowl berth altogether or just barely sneaked in. If the Irish get by Michigan State on September 19th then it should be full steam ahead to the BCS. If they don't?

Charlie Weis will be making his farewell tour the rest of the 2009 season from the Notre Dame sideline.