Do you know who the top-rated high school recruit in the nation was last year? According to ESPNU, it was Matt Barkley of Newport Beach, Calif. Blond. Charismatic. Quarterback. Perhaps you've heard of him.
Do you know who was rated No. 2, right behind Barkley? Linebacker Manti Te'o of Honolulu.
With junior Jimmy Clausen at the helm and sophomore Dayne Crist backing him up, the Fighting Irish have more than fulfilled their southern California-bred quarterback quota for the next few seasons. But, wow, what a difference a stud 'backer such as Te'o could have made in the Irish defense this season.
He what?!? When? Really?
Through four games of his freshman season the 6-foot-2 Hawaiian has seen limited duty for the Irish. Te'o has six tackles and it seems as if he has barely been on the field for more than six plays. The question is why.
It may be comparing pineapples and oranges here, but could it have been any less complicated for Barkley to step in to the starting role of quarterback at USC than it would be for Te'o to start at one of three linebacker slots for Notre Dame? To earn the starting job at USC, Barkley had to beat out two upperclassmen: Mitch Mustain, the former Parade Magazine/Gatorade/USA Today national high school player of the year, and Aaron Corp, a former Parade All-American (granted, Corp technically beat out Barkley in August until he suffered a leg injury, but the gig is Barkley's now).
Te'o, thus far, has been unable to supplant, much less even usurp half the snaps, from any one of a trio of linebackers who are not about to make you forget Ned Bolcar, Wes Pritchett and Michael Stonebreaker .
Don't know if you've been paying attention, but the Irish have not exactly been a naut of jugger defensively this season. Notre Dame ranks 94th in total defense (i.e., yards allowed) and 106th in pass defense. Their two leading tacklers are their two safeties, Kyle McCarthy and Harrison Smith, who have combined for 63 tackles. Compare that figure to the total posted by their linebacking trio -- Darius Fleming, Brian Smith and Toryan Smith -- who have accumulated 42.
Toryan Smith, the senior Mike linebacker whose playing time would be the most likeliest to suffer the more Te'o saw action, has just three tackles in Notre Dame's past two games. That's the same total as special teams player Zeke Motta, a true freshman, has over that span.
Part of the problem is that the Irish have played Te'o, a Mike linebacker in high school, primarily on the outside. A Will or Sam linebacker spot may be less cerebral, but it is not Te'o's comfort zone, either. Watching Te'o attempt to rush the passer on a blitz from the outside is akin to watching one of the runts from 101 Dalmations search in vain for a vacant teat. Put Te'o in the middle, though, and his true Tasmanian Devil self emerges. It was Te'o, blitzing from an inside linebacker spot, who put the hit on Purdue quarterback Joey Elliott 12 yards deep in the backfield on the Boilermakers' final play.
Then again, it matters less where Te'o plays than that he plays.
"I think one thing we need to do both in practice and in games is just play him more," Irish head coach Charlie Weis said Sunday night when asked where Te'o is most comfortable playing. "The only thing, when you have a young linebacker you'll go through some growing pains, but I think that you'll see him just playing more."
Growing pains? Purdue's final touchdown was a pass to a wide-open running back in flat who scampered 38 yards to paydirt without any Notre Dame defender being within ten yards of him. On Sunday night Weis acknowledged, without naming names, that a linebacker had blown the assignment on that play. I may be wrong -- have yet to see the replay -- but I am reasonably certain that Te'o was not in the game then. Translation: He wouldn't have done any worse.
(We don't quite know what Te'o thinks of this entire situation, by the way. Freshmen are not made available to the media at Notre Dame.)
The media is allowed just 45 minutes of practice viewing weekly, so our perception of player strengths is limited. However, even when watching the most fundamental linebacker drills, Te'o has an amped-up motor. It isn't exactly Mike Tyson versus the rest of the heavyweight division circa 1987, but it's only a matter of degree.
A broken collarbone will keep Notre Dame's most dynamic offensive player, Michael Floyd, off the field for the remainder of this season. What is keeping its potentially most dynamic defensive player off the field? You know those "In Case of Emergency, Break Glass" signs? The Irish desperately need a playmaker on their front seven with quarterbacks Jake Locker and Barkley himself next up on the schedule.
It's time to break glass, Charlie. Time to break the glass ceiling on Te'o's potential.
Comments (Page 1 of 1)
unleash 'em
I've been waiting for the unleashing of him for 4 games.
should had stayed committed to usc
Charlie Weis sucks...
Never was committed to USC.
Agreed. Bet we see him Sat. against Wash. and he'll have a couple tackles for loss and a fumble recovery.
been a spark plug so far in the limited time on field lets go Irish!!!!!!!!!!!
when i ran track in high school, i had a fat coach like weis, i said this fat man is gonna teach me how to run track? when hes a fatazz,well i ran in two meets i came in third both times, but one thing i remember what he told me after that meet ,when i was at track pratice he said ,,jesse let the demon out of you ,you have a demon, after that i knew he knew i had it,after that i won the next 8 track meets in the 440 yard dash,maybe weis should tell his players let the demons outtttttttttt, am not a notre dame fan. but maybe it will hit his players like it hit me when my coach told me,let the demons out .