Gameday South Bend: Another Heads-or-Tails Finish

FanHouse writer John Walters is living in South Bend during this pivotal season in Notre Dame history. Check back daily for his dispatches from South Bend.

SOUTH BEND, Ind.-- Update: I think we've found Notre Dame's best unit: Its red-zone defense.

When does giving up 3 points in the final five minutes of a game feel like a victory? You just saw it.

I've only seen the replay of the "roughing the snapper" drive once, but that's the most egregious call I've yet seen this season. Someone, please explain. U-Dub's drive, by the way, clocked in at 9:31.

A dude is holding up a sign to the press box that reads, "Now under review, the integrity of the Pac-10 and Big Ten refs."

Except I think these are Big East refs.

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Nick Tausch just kicked his fifth field goal of the afternoon--tying a school record held by two others, Craig Hentrich and Nicholas "Irish" Setta. That' s great for Tausch, but potentially ruinous for the Irish.

Notre Dame has had first-and-goal from the 2 and from the 7 this half and have twice had to settle for field goals. Bad.

Meanwhile, Notre Dame is playing its fourth consecutive game where it finds itself trailing in the 4th quarter. That's no way to live.



SOUTH BEND, Ind.--The Irish made an amazing goal-line stand, stopping Jake Locker on QB sneaks from the 1 and closer. U-Dub went for it on 4th down, and the play was eerily reminiscent of the 2005 "Bush Push" play except that Locker had no tailback to literally have his back.

Enormous momentum shift, as a U-Dub touchdown would have made it 31-19 Huskies entering the 4th quarter. Charlie Weis is walking some kind of tightrope the past four Saturdays. Let's see what the Irish do with this second chance.

Meanwhile, fantastic effort by U-Dub's Chris Polk on the previous series. He broke two sure tackles by ND LB Brian Smith, and it's Smith who's hurting.



Update: Clausen has gone over 300 yards passing with 7:42 left in 3rd quarter, and Tate is at 205 yards receiving. First 200 yard receiving day since Mo Stovall vs. BYU in 2005.

SOUTH BEND, Ind.-- Granted, it has not been a good past few days for exploiters. Letterman's and Erin Andrews's come to mind.

But U-Dub, on its opening drive of the 2nd half, just gave a textbook course on how to exploit Notre Dame's lack of depth and experience in the linbacking corps. They overloaded the wide side of the field with wideouts and forced Brian Smith to run sideline to sideline in coverage. His tongue must be hanging out about now.

Meanwhile, on at least two plays either Sergio Brown or Manti Te'o had no idea where to line up in coverage. U-Dub should keep on doing that until the Irish clue in.


Update: On 1st play of second half Clausen hits Golden on a quick crossing pattern, not unlike his 2nd quarter TD, and Golden outraces Huskies for a 77-yard gain down to the 2. Longest reception of the junior's career. He has more than stepped up for Michael Floyd.


SOUTH BEND, Ind.-- I'll make it quick:

1) Put in Crist and see how he does.

2) Take away Clausen's sacks (he is -35 on rushing yardage) and the Irish have rushed the ball 13 times for 84 yards, which is 6.5 yards per carry. Against the nation's 106th defense against the rush. Run the ball more.

3) Manti Te'o has five sacks at halftime, which is tied for most among the Irish (and two more than the man he replaced, Toryan Smith, had the previous two games). Doubt you'll ever see him as a sub again.



While Jimmy Clausen's lone interception was entirely not his fault--it was Armando Allen's--the final four Irish drives of the first half have persuaded me that it's time to see a little Dayne Crist at QB.

Clausen looks very uncomfortable if he has to move in the pocket at all. Two or three times in the first half he has simply dived forward once forced to change direction more than once. The Irish will get the ball to begin the second half. In a relatively low pressure situation such as that, they may wanna give Crist a shot.

U-Dub kicks a 40-yarder to end the half, leads 17-16.






Jimmy Clausen just made his worst mistake of the season. The Irish faced a 3rd-and-7 from their own 30 and called a screen to Armando Allen, who was just extremely well covered.

Clausen attempted to loft it over Allen's head, and in so doing, tossed a lateral. The lateral was picked up by Desmond Trufant, who took it in untouched.

Three plays later, Golden Tate bails out JC...broken play, Golden got separation over middle, JC found him, and then he broke 3 tackles en route to a 67-yard TD. When Tate means business, he is tough to tackle.

Update: Nick Tausch just kicked his third field goal of the game, of 34 yards.

Also, Annie Lennox would like to inform you that here comes the rain again.

Finally, if you're wondering about Notre Dame's linebacking corps, they've basically decided that they're in Nickel. It's a 4-2-5 for the most part, with Sergio Brown in as the fifth DB. I approve, as Sergio is a playmaker. Brian Smith and Manti are manning the inside linebacker positions.




SOUTH BEND, Ind-- He's a Nick (ba-da ba ba) Tausch/He's a mighty mighty...

Yes, it's the Nick Tausch/Brick House sing-a-long.

Tausch just converted his second field goal of the game, and 7th in a row since missing the first of his career at Michigan. To put that into perspective, the Irish were 14 of 24 on field goals all of last season. And two years ago, in the annus horribilis that was '07, they converted just six field goals (13 attempts) all season.

SOUTH BEND--On U-Dub's latest drive, the Irish played true freshman Zeke Motta for one play. Motta came in on 3rd-and-9 and blitzed. U-Dub got the first down on the play.

Also, Ian Williams has joined Toryan Smith on the bench. The Irish moved Kapron Lewis-Moore over to defensive tackle and brought in John Ryan to join Kerry Neal as an end.


SOUTH BEND, Ind-- The Irish defense has now allowed the opponent to score on the game's opening drive in consecutive weeks. If I'm not mistaken, the Irish won the toss in both games and chose to defer.

Steve Sarkisian has his Huskies do the "Jump Around" a la Pete Carroll before the kickoff team heads onto the field.

Parris is starting (I swear, Charlie reads my blog). Reverse to Golden on first play goes for 31 yards, and maybe a TD if Sam Young were faster. Longest rush of Golden's career.


SOUTH BEND, Ind.--Manti Te'o starting at Mike linebacker for the Irish (Called it!). On U-Dub's first play from scrimmage, he got the tackle. On U-Dub's second play from scrimmage, he causes a fumble that Robert Blanton recovers (this play under review).

Fumble overruled.

On the flipcard, Te'o is listed as a backup Will LB and Toryan Smith as the Mike.




SOUTH BEND, Ind.-- Minutes before kickoff. Up here in the Notre Dame pressbox they have over-sized framed photos of every Sports Illustrated cover the Irish have ever appeared on for football.

So here's an interesting note: The last time the Irish appeared on the cover of SI in a non-preview issue was September 30, 2002. We just passed the seven-year mark on the drought.




I counted, and since the first ND gridder appeared on the cover of SI (Paul Hornung in 1956), the Irish have appeared on the cover 23 times, again, excluding preview issues or theme-type covers. The seven-year cover famine is the longest Notre Dame football has endured since SI launched in 1954.
And that drought won't end this week. Likely not in two weeks, either, even in the event of an upset of USC.

Here come the Irish out of the tunnel...


Irish win the toss, defer law school 'til 2011. Or something like that.
For reasons not explained to us, U-Dub second-leading tackler E.J. Savannah is not starting this afternoon.


SOUTH BEND, Ind. -- Walk on campus during game day at Notre Dame this season and you're likely to run across a few men and women clad in green blazers, none of whom (I'm fairly certain) have ever won the Masters. They are hospitality ushers, Notre Dame's answer to the Wal-Mart greeter.

Besides being hospitable and able to direct any visitor to the Grotto in seven seconds or fewer, they also will remind you, if you're an alum, of your former R.A. I spotted a middle-aged couple attempting to enter the South Quad around noon, each of them carrying a beer in a plastic cup. The hospitality usher kindly but firmly told them that they could not walk on campus with the brewskis. Try doing that in Baton Rouge.



Raise the Woof!

A rundown of Huskies besides quarterback Jake Locker (a future No. 1 overall pick in the NFL draft, according to Todd McShay on this morning's "College Gameday") worth knowing:

No. 3 James Johnson, WR: True frosh leads the team in catches and is the youngest of 13 siblings. Like Notre Dame's Michael Floyd, Johnson's first catch on the collegiate level went for a touchdown.

No. 7 Cody Bruns, WR: Sophomore wideout holds the Washington state prep records for receptions (310), touchdowns (72) and receiving yards (5,178).

No. 79 Ben Ossai, LT: Big Ben stands a Sasquatchian 6-6, 335 pounds, but he is not quite as large as...

No. 70 Morgan Rosborough, RG: Somehow this senior stands 6-6, 379 pounds but is listed second on the depth chart.

No. 66 Daniel Te'o-Nesheim, DE: This day, at least, he should be the best Hawaiian-bred defensive player named Te'o on the field. This will be the senior's 42nd consecutive start.

No. 74 Alameda Ta'amu, DT: Sophomore goes 6-3, 348 pounds and is the reason that Irish center Eric Olsen joked that he wanted teammate Chris Stewart to be moved to scout team nose tackle this week (Stewart is Notre Dame's largest player).

No. 9 Donald Butler, ILB: Huskies' leading tackler.

No. 57 Trenton Tuiasosopo, ILB: You cannot have a true U-Dub squad without at least one Tuiasosopo. The senior was shelved for his true freshman season in '05 following a bicycle accident.

No. 22 E.J.Savannah, OLB: Interesting story. Savannah was the Huskies' leading tackler in 2007, and then academic issues and the dreaded "off-field issues" (which usually involve either the police or a dame or both) caused him to leave the program last season. Savannah was not suspended, he just left. New coach Steve Sarkisian came in and adopted a "clean slate" policy and now Savannah is back and the team's 2nd-leading tackler.

No. 5 Matt Houston, OLB: Worth mentioning because after U-Dub beat USC, writer Jeff MacGregor cracked that "Jake Locker sounds like a Seventies detective show". Guess what, Jeff? "Matt Houston" was an early '80s detective show.

No. 35 Tripper Johnson, S: Played eight seasons of minor-league baseball, where he hit .265 and didn't show the type of power to earn the nickname "Round". This is his first season playing, and while his age is not given, he must be at least 25 or 26.

No. 6 Desmond Trufant, CB: Younger bro of Seattle Seahawks Pro Bowl CB Marcus Trufant.

No. 17 Erik Folk, PK: Folk hero, after kicking game-winner versus 'SC.Younger bro of Dallas Cowboys kicker Nick Folk.

No. 49 Danny Morovick, LS: Father, Dan, played on USC's 1978 national championship team.

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SOUTH BEND, Ind. -- Notre Dame is not going to be lucky two consecutive seasons. U-Dub QB Jake Locker is no hurt Locker today as he was last year. The Irish easily won 33-7 with Locker in absentia last October in Seattle. That victory pushed the Irish record to 5-2 and was the last true feel-good moment the team experienced in the continental U.S. of A.

The Irish were 3-1 in September with a trio of heads-or-tails outcomes. The way this season's schedule works out, Notre Dame plays four games in each month. And so my question to you, Irish fans, is this: If you could be assured today that the Irish would go 3-1 each month of this season, for a 9-3 record overall, would you take it?

Would you go all Charlie Weis and say, "Sign me up"?

Reason I ask is that Saturday's game is no gimme. And USC visits next. Oh, and by the way, I don't know if you watched but Pitt went on the road last night to Louisville and played 52 Pick-up with the Cards, 35-10. And Stanford looks quite solid.

Which reminds me, hear me now and listen to me later, girliemen, but I'm saying here and now that Michael Floyd will be back for the Stanford game. I have no inside info, but it's a 6-to-8-week injury, and the visit to Palo Alto will be 10 weeks out from the day that Floyd broke the clavicle. And the fact is that the Irish will really, really need him that day. And the redshirt point is moot.

Saturday, and I imagine Bob Hammond and Pat Haden will note it at the outset, the Huskies brought the weather with them. It is damp and cold, and right smack in the middle of what is usually the most glorious fortnight of weather in the Midwest (or Northeast, for that matter) all year long. Put it this way: On a scale of 0 to 10, with 10 representing Indigenous Peoples Summer weather and 0 representing the weather they get on Deadliest Catch, I'd put today at a 2. At best a 3.

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Fantastic half-page ad in Friday's edition of The Observer (the Notre Dame student daily). It reads simply, in large letters, "Dear Golden Tate, We'll be sure to catch you anytime you score a touchdown! Love, The Band of the Fighting Irish."

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Locally here in the Michiana area, as it is known, the biggest gridiron story of the weekend already occurred. On Friday night Mishawaka High School defeated Penn High School (alma mater of Irish backup center Braxston Cave, by the way) , their "rival" in name only, 26-10.

Why so huge? Penn, besides being the top-ranked school in the state of Indiana, had beaten Mishawaka 35 straight times dating all the way back to 1980. The Kingsmen (Penn) also had a 153-game win streak in conference dating all the way back to 1985. The game was televised locally and I have to give Irish alum Chuck Freeby some dap here, because he called the game and did an excellent job. Much less chortling in the booth in the game's waning moments than in the ESPN booth on Thursday night for the Colorado-West Virginia game (and, yes, that's a shot, but that trio gets a little too frat-boyish when the leash is loosened).

The Cavemen -- second-best nickname locally, after the Jimtown High School Jimmies -- were led by 5'9", 165-pound blur Cortez Lee at quarterback. Lee rushed for 230 yards and three touchdowns on 32 carries. I was sorta hoping the South Bend Tribune would run with the headline "Cortez The Killer," but maybe there aren't all that many Neil Young fans out there.

Think about it, though, from a Penn or Mishawaka player's perspective. You're 16, 17 years old and playing in a rivalry game that has had the same outcome for more than twice the length of your lifetime. You can imagine how much drama that added to the game, not to mention the 8,000 fans who were there on a cold and rainy evening.

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The Irish, by the way, may hope that outcome was not an omen. U-Dub is 0-7 all-time against Notre Dame.

Worth noting that the four "experts" on the sports staff of The Observer who pick the games every week have chosen the closest outcomes yet for today's game in their final scores. I'm reasonably certain that through four games each of the four have always picked the Irish to win. Usually, though, at least one picks them to win by a touchdown or two. However, the events of the past three Saturdays have sobered them up.

For today's game managing editor Bill Brink has it 31-24, Irish, adding, "I'm terrified of Jake Locker. I'm terrified of Steve Sarkisian." Associate sports editor Michael Bryan sees it 31-28, Irish. Sports editor Matt Gamber has it Irish, 31-27. And associate sports editor Sam Werner, who appears to be going for the Paul Duncan look, has it 28-27, Notre Dame.

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