Stanford, Calif. -- How does Charlie Weis sell this evening's contest with Stanford to his players? My guess is that he tells them to treat it as their bowl game.Think about it. Even if the Irish do head to a bowl (only possible if they beat the Cardinal), they would likely not head to a destination with better weather than they have here. They certainly would not face a more imposing opponent than the Cardinal. And they would receive more national attention than playing in prime time on ABC with Brent and Herbie doing the honors.
Unless Notre Dame behaves out of character this evening, it's hard to forsooth anything but a Stanford win, and big, tonight. The Irish under Charlie Weis the past three seasons are not known for:
1) Holding running backs below their rushing average.
2) Winning on the road
3) Winning in November
Then again, the Irish have yet to lose to the Cardinal under Weis (4-0). Earlier this week Charlie noted that Stanford is the lone annual opponent the Irish have not yet lost to in his tenure (chances that Jim Harbaugh has noted that same fact to his players: 100%)
Tonight will be a fascinating study in character, not of Weis, but of the players in the gold helmets. Do they have anything left in the tank emotionally after the previous three weeks, particularly last week? Or do they have some previously undetected mental fortitude that they will unleash this evening?
We shall see.
My apologies for the pessimism, but here are some numbers to keep in mind tonight. The most points ever allowed by the Irish are 58, in Gerry Faust's swan (dive) song at Miami in 1985. The most yards rushing ever allowed by the Irish were 303 by Tony Dorsett in 1975, and on only 23 attempts.
If the Cardinal were to hang 59 on the Irish this evening, Jim Harbaugh's team would have posted the most points ever scored against both USC and Notre Dame in those schools' histories in just the past three weeks. And with a true freshman quarterback, Andrew Luck, under center.
Down on the field during warm-ups, former Irish tight end Konrad Reuland is chatting up current Notre Dame left guard Chris Stewart. Reuland, by the way, is listed third on the Stanford depth chart for tonight's game.
For the benefit of those who do not read my tweets, I wondered earlier whether Stanford's scout team QB this week donned a tinted helmet visor. And if you are wondering, no sign of Jimmy Clausen, helmeted or helmet-less, on the field yet.
Comments (Page 1 of 1)
john walters. hmmm. as the minutes pass i cant help but think how insightful your posts were early in the season and how boring, drab, and relatively uninsightful they have become as the season wanes. i would think with you being the author of a post titled "daily domer" you would have more aspiring and interesting articles then those you would read elsewhere on the internet and paper written by every sports "reporter" out there. you really have gone further downhill then the irish's season.