For Irish, Finally Just a Game

FanHouse writer John Walters is living in South Bend, Ind.during one of the most pivotal seasons in Notre Dame history. Check back daily for his latest dispatches on the Irish.

SOUTH BEND, Ind. -- Washington State. What's the angle, you say? The Cougars have no manner of a long win streak versus the Irish a la Michigan State, USC and Boston College. There's no Ty Willingham connection a la Washington, no in-state pride a la Purdue. There's no season-opener anxiety, as with Nevada and there's no good-old fashioned mutual loathing, as with Michigan.

It only took eight weeks, but the Irish happen to be playing ... just a football game.

Sure, there's the neutral-site home game angle, the Halloween angle, and -- who are we kidding? This is a chance for the Irish to go Santa Anna on their overwhelmed foe, to have greater than a 10-point lead for the first time since Purdue, for Jimmy Clausen to put up big numbers and for a number of inexperienced players to get some air time. It has been almost two years since Dayne Crist threw his last touchdown pass, and strangely enough he aired it out at the Alamodome in the U.S. Army High School All-American Game.

Who caught it? Michael Floyd.

You won't see Floyd in action this weekend, but I expect Crist to christen his touchdown pass total as a collegian against the nation's third-worst pass defense.


Rankin' File

The top and bottom national statistical ranking that the Irish and this week's opponent, Wazzu, currently have:


Fighting Irish ... .No. 4 in Turnover Marging (+1.43 per game) and No. 117 in Pass Defense (282.43 yards per game)
Cougars.... No. 50 in Net Punting (36.51 yards per punt) and No. 120 (or last) in Sacks Allowed (5.0 per game)


Washington State is in the bottom 10 nationally in 10 different statistical categories:


Rushing Offense.......116th (72.57 yards per game)
Total Offense.........111th (293.71 ypg)
Scoring Offense.......116th (15.14 ppg)
Rushing Defense.......114th (215.43 ypg)
Pass Efficiency Def...113th (155.17)
Total Defense.........119th (499.57 ypg)
Scoring Defense.......115th (37.0 ppg)
Pass Defense..........118th (284.14 ypg)
Sacks.................112th (1.0 pg)
Sacks Allowed.........120th (5.0 pg)


In addition the Cougars have been outscored 112-3 in the first quarter this year or, as Charlie Weis put it, "They've struggled some in the first quarter." In short, even the Irish will find it difficult to keep this one close. My pal Alex Flanagan, NBC's pulchritudinous sideline reporter, will have her work cut out for her in the second half.


For the record, O'Lantern is not a common Irish surname

Notre Dame is 14-0 all-time on Halloween. Its most recent trick-or-treat triumph transpired 11 years ago, a 27-3 home win against Baylor. I don't recall it, either.


Making the Dome Their Home

Although Notre Dame has never played in the Alamodome, their de facto home this Saturday, 35 players on their roster played in the U.S. Army All-American Bowl that is staged there annually. It appears from my research that no current Cougars are alums of the Army All-American Bowl.

And in case you are wondering, since this is being called a home game (and NBC is airing it), no, Officer Tim McCarthy of the Indiana State Police will not be flying to San Antonio. However, according to inveterate Irish associate athletic director John Heisler, McCarthy will record a driving-under-the-influence message that will be played before the start of the fourth quarter.

In Your Face

Weis had a good quote when asked about the propensity of freshman linebacker Manti Te'o to "run through" the player he is tackling. "I used to like linebackers who would run through somebody's face," Weis said. "That's what Manti does."

Charlie Goes Griswold

Do you remember how much time the Griswold family lingered at the Grand Canyon enjoying the scenic vista in "Vacation"? Well, it appears Weis and the Irish will do even less sight-seeing in San Antonio. When asked by a San Antonio-based writer if he had a trip planned to the Alamo, Weis replied, "I have a trip planned to my hotel room."

If you know the layout of San Antonio, by the way, that hotel room is likely within a quarter mile of the Alamo. Weis also said that if any of his players are out on the Riverwalk past 10 p.m., "then we have a problem."

Notre Dame's Junior Varsity

A few words about the Irish junior varsity, aka. St. Thomas Aquinas in Fort Lauderdale. Earlier this week Aquinas running back Giovanni Bernard verbally committed to the Irish (ND's 17th verbal commit. Notre Dame already has four Aquinas alums on its roster (offensive tackle Sam Young, guard Dan Wenger, punter Ben Turk and snapper-of-length Jordan Cowart) and now they are hoping to add, besides Bernard, three more. Those would be cornerbacks LaMarcus Joyner and Cody Riggs and center (short-snapper?) Brandon Linder, who is No. 1 on the Florida Sentinel's Florida 100 list.

Like the Irish, the Aquinas football team dons gold helmets. Unlike the Irish, the Raiders have been utterly dominant the past half decade. Named national champions by USA Today last season, Aquinas has won the past two 5A state championships in the Sunshine State as well as 31 consecutive games.

The Raiders' coaching staff dwarfs that of the Irish and has greater star power. While Weis heads a staff of 12 coaches (two of them graduate assistants), Raider head coach George Smith, now in his 33rd season, is in charge of a staff of 16. The Irish have former NFL players Bryant Young (graduate assistant) and Ron Powlus on their staff. Smith has former NFL great (and possible future Hall-of-Famer) Cris Carter coaching up his wideouts and former Auburn safety Otis Mounds working with the cornerbacks.


The Guile of Giles

Not exactly sure what stunt Boston College defensive tackle Austin Giles pulled (it wasn't the type in which he criss-crosses with the defensive end on a pass rush) at the end of Saturday's game that so riled Irish center Eric Olsen, but it was probably legal. As Weis explained Sunday, "I think we were kneeing on the ball and the guy (Giles) over the right guard went full speed. There's no rule that says the guy can't go full speed on the last play, but you're kneeing on the ball to end the game right there, and I think that you never can say there's an unwritten rule to not go full speed, but I think everybody was kind of sticking up for our right guard on that one."



Also, there is a chance that the Irish watched a replay of this incident involving Giles and Clausen from last year's game. Clausen had just tossed an interception that would be returned for a touchdown. Watch closely at the beginning. Clausen narrowly avoids a beheading. Think, too, how quickly Giles was thinking to consider going right for Clausen just a moment after the ball is picked off.

Legal? Unnecessary roughness? Depens on your vantage point, I suppose.


From Q & A to BBQ

At the end of Tuesday's presser Todd Burlage of Blue and Gold Illustrated wondered if Weis ever fires up the grill that is visible on the spacious second-floor deck of the Gug. Weis allowed that it does get used, more so in the spring, and that his assistants never turnd down a free meal.

Burlage set up Weis perfectly, inquiring if Charlie might be so inclined to, should the Irish "win a BCS game," grill up some burgers for the media. Charlie chuckled, thought about saying something else, then shrewdly replied, "You're on, Todd."