NCAA Football FanHouse http://ncaafootball.fanhouse.com NCAA Football FanHouse http://www.blogsmithmedia.com/http://ncaafootball.fanhouse.com/media/feedlogo.gif NCAA Football FanHouse http://ncaafootball.fanhouse.com en-us Copyright 2009 Weblogs, Inc. The contents of this feed are available for non-commercial use only. Blogsmith http://www.blogsmith.com/Familiar Sinking Feeling Strikes Irishhttp://ncaafootball.fanhouse.com/2009/11/07/under-weis-notre-dame-sinks-again/http://ncaafootball.fanhouse.com/2009/11/07/under-weis-notre-dame-sinks-again/http://ncaafootball.fanhouse.com/2009/11/07/under-weis-notre-dame-sinks-again/#commentsFiled under: ,


SOUTH BEND, Ind. -- South Bend is suddenly every sailor's favorite port-of-call.

Navy beat Notre Dame for the second time in as many dockings at Notre Dame Stadium, a defeat that left the Fighting Irish (6-3) and their head coach lost at sea with three games remaining. A BCS berth has been torpedoed, as has at least one Heisman candidacy. A second consecutive 7-6 season is not out of the question as inquiries about whether head coach Charlie Weis can properly inspire his team, and whether this team will be his next season, once again arise.

"We kind of felt like we had them in a perfect storm," said Navy coach Ken Niumatalolo, whose team did everything right in the sense that they did nothing wrong. "Just [Notre Dame] looking to the postseason, very, very good Pitt team coming next week, and it's us coming."

This wasn't McHale's Navy. This was Navy, the program that beat the Irish here two years ago, ending a 43-game/year losing streak to the Irish, and came within a Hail Mary pass of beating the Irish last year.

This 23-21 defeat was inconceivable? Hardly.

The better-coached team won. Navy, a team that plays all-out from snap-to-whistle, defeated Notre Dame, a squad that plays with blithe indifference until the straits are dire. You didn't need to know the difference between John Paul Jones and John Paul, pope, to realize that the Irish were in trouble after just six plays. By then Notre Dame had already lost a fumble and Navy quarterback Ricky Dobbs had already gained 24 yards on three carries.

The Irish came out flat. Yet again. And that is on the head coach, Charlie Weis.

"I definitely thought it felt flat, not sure why," said Irish wideout Golden Tate who, like his teammates, played one helluva fourth quarter. Wake up the echoes? Wake up the Irish. It's the same story every Saturday.
Follow Us on Twitter Friend Us on Facebook
That air of indifference preceded the game. Because it was Navy on the schedule, NBC wanted to air the national anthem, which it never does. To accommodate the Peacock, both teams ran out onto the field and then stood around for two extra minutes staring at their shoelaces while NBC sold you soap. The Notre Dame marching band stood on the field in silence, the William Tell Overture playing in their heads twice.

That sense of "What are we waiting for?" permeated the Irish the entire first half. Navy, a team of consummate discipline and effort, paid the delay no attention.

You heard it all week around here, from every player or coach who spoke: Navy never takes a play off. "Navy is the type of team that is going to come in here and not be intimidated," safety Kyle McCarthy said Wednesday, "and play hard and play for 60 minutes and probably more if it needs to be."

What type of team are the Irish? Notre Dame is the type of team whose offense can go an entire game without punting, whose Heisman candidate quarterback can set new career-highs for both passing yardage (452) and completions (37), whose two future NFL wideouts can each catch at least nine balls and a touchdown ... and still lose.

In fact, the Irish played catch-up all afternoon. Navy pitched a first-half shutout for the first time against the Irish in 35 years and led at intermission 14-0. There were, to quote the title of Weis' tome, no excuses. Navy did everything on offense that the Irish had prepared for. As for talent, there is likely not one player on the Midshipman's two-deep chart whom the Irish would recruit. So how do you explain it?

"It's our mantra," said quarterback Ricky Dobbs. "The three H's: Stay hungry, stay humble and stay healthy."

Notre Dame's three H's might be hospitality, hubris and heart. Hospitality, because the Irish have now allowed the last three service academies who have visited to win here. Hubris, because on too many plays their arrogance outshined their ambition (more on that in a moment). And heart because, say this much for them, they never do give up.

It is the hubris, though, that could be both their downfall and their coach's. It was apparent before kickoff that Notre Dame's passing attack, with Floyd returning from his broken collarbone hiatus, was unstoppable. It was also apparent, as Weis had said during the week, that the Irish would have to "maximize possessions."

What happened? Clausen connected on his first 10 passes. Still, with Notre Dame in this wonderful groove, Weis inserted a Wildcat play on the first possession and ran a toss sweep to slow-footed Robert Hughes on first-and-goal at the 2 on the second possession. Both plays lost yardage. The Irish scored not a point on either possession.

In fact, Notre Dame advanced into the red zone six times on Saturday and came away empty four times. Twice, freshman kicker Nick Tausch, who entered the game having converted 14 field goals in a row, missed. And twice Clausen turned the ball over, each time on bizarre plays.

The Irish committed just enough errors to throw the game-and their season-away. Clausen's fumble at the one-yard-line when he was knocked senseless at the end of a nifty 8-yard scamper ("I'm not going to get into the details," he said, "just that he made a good play, caused a fumble") was the first. The second involved the QB who completed 73% of his passes hitting favorite target Michael Floyd in the numbers -- except that it was the number on his back.

That errant pass bounced off Floyd's spine and into the arms of Navy's Ram Vela, the same player whose superman leap at Evan Sharpley led to a sack on the infamous 4th-and-8 here two years ago. At the end of the play Clausen, the same guy who'd been knocked silly just minutes earlier, was called for a late hit.

Another mistake. The kind that Navy does not make.

Less forgivable than any of that was the Irish defense. Navy junior fullback Vince Murray, who looks like an extra from "Pleasantville," steamrolled the Irish for 158 yards on just 14 carries. The fullback. Running up the gut.

"When you're playing against Navy ... everyone has to do their jobs," said Weis. "And I think that it starts inside out. And inside out means the first thing you'd better do is take care of that fullback and not let him get some easy yards."

Which is exactly what Murray did. If Vince Murray can gallop for 158 yards against Notre Dame, what will Pitt's Dion Lewis and Stanford's Toby Gerhart (223 yards on Saturday) do? And if the Irish cannot beat at least one of those opponents -- and why even assume Connecticut is a lock? -- where might a 7-5 Irish squad be spending the holidays?

Weis is nothing less than advertised: A brilliant offensive strategist whose passing attack hums. There was never a doubt that the Irish would devour yards against the Midshipmen this afternoon -- they never punted in 2007, either. But when the yards got tough, Navy's "want to" was simply more apparent.

As Weis left the field, the Notre Dame band struck up the "1812 Overture," the tune that has come to be associated with the Irish head coach dating back to the days of Lou Holtz. The boos from the student section were audible and afterward Weis was asked about his future.

"That comes with the territory," he replied. "It comes with the territory. You know, the sad thing about it is that that's this job every week. It's a week-to-week deal."

As Weis said that, a man seated in the back of the room with a bottle of Gatorade tried to suppress a cough. Probably the beverage had just gone down the wrong pipe. Still ... it was athletic director Jack Swarbrick.

Familiar Sinking Feeling Strikes Irish originally appeared on NCAA Football FanHouse on Sat, 07 Nov 2009 21:17:00 EST . Please see our terms for use of feeds.

 

Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | Comments

]]>charlie weisjimmy clausenram velaJohn WaltersSat, 07 Nov 2009 21:17:00 EST Live Blog: Navy Sinks Notre Damehttp://ncaafootball.fanhouse.com/2009/11/07/live-blog-notre-dame-navy/http://ncaafootball.fanhouse.com/2009/11/07/live-blog-notre-dame-navy/http://ncaafootball.fanhouse.com/2009/11/07/live-blog-notre-dame-navy/#commentsFiled under: ,

daily domerSOUTH BEND, Ind -- Sunshine and Flowers. Two words not normally associated with South Bend in November are primary elements in today's game between Navy and the Fighting Irish. Outside the weather is sublime--and unseasonal--as an Indian Summer sky looms overhead with temperatures in the mid-sixties. This is the kind of weather you'd hope to have in a bowl game much less the first week of November in the Midwest.

Taking it all in from a front-row seat will be Arizona high school senior Marquis Flowers, a 6-foot-2, 195-pound safety/OLB type who is making an official visit. The Phoenix native is also considering USC, UCLA and Arizona's two Pac-10 schools, Arizona and Arizona State. Translation: he loves the weather at home (who wouldn't) but he might be willing to leave for the Irish. I am done forseeing the importance of weather on a visit after the Manti Te'o signing, but certainly today's clement climate cannot hurt Notre Dame's chances.

The other big story--the biggest story, in fact--is the return of Michael Floyd. On a day that was made for 7-on-7 drills, Irish quarterback has to be thrilled to have both Floyd and Golden Tate at his disposal. This will be interesting.

So buckle up, everyone. Enjoy the game and if you feel inclined while reclined, join me on the tweets.

Twitter Updates, Live From South Bend

follow me on Twitter

Live Blog: Navy Sinks Notre Dame originally appeared on NCAA Football FanHouse on Sat, 07 Nov 2009 14:57:00 EST . Please see our terms for use of feeds.

 

Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | Comments

]]>John WaltersSat, 07 Nov 2009 14:57:00 EST Ram Vela Stars as 'The Fugitive'http://ncaafootball.fanhouse.com/2009/11/06/ram-vela-stars-as-the-fugitive/http://ncaafootball.fanhouse.com/2009/11/06/ram-vela-stars-as-the-fugitive/http://ncaafootball.fanhouse.com/2009/11/06/ram-vela-stars-as-the-fugitive/#commentsFiled under: ,

Ram VelaSOUTH BEND, Ind.-- Six months before Ram Vela's notorious sack of Evan Sharpley in the 2007 Navy-Notre Dame game, the Midshipmen linebacker was sacked himself ... by the Secret Service. At the White House.

Each spring the team that wins the Commander-in-Chief's trophy (the unofficial round-robin tourney between the Air Force Academy, Army and Navy) is invited to the White House for a reception. In the spring of 2007, Vela (No. 34 above) was a freshman who had not seen any varsity action the previous season.

"I hung near the back of the line as we approached the security gate," Vela, a 5-foot-9, 193-pound outside linebacker, recalled on Thursday. "I hadn't played so I didn't feel as much like I deserved to be up near the front. I was back with some of the higher-ranking officers, the Commandant and even the dean."

When Vela made it to the gate, a female agent looked him over and spoke into a radio, "He's here."

"About two seconds later another agent appeared," Vela said, "and asked me to step aside. I was trying to recall what I had done wrong. Unpaid parking tickets? I didn't know."

It turned out that there was a fugitive on the FBI's Most Wanted list who not only was the same height, weight and age as Vela, but even had the same name.

"They asked me where I was from and I told them 'San Antonio'," said Vela, who this time next year will begin his five-year commitment to the U.S. Navy as a surface warfare officer on board a ship. "Born and raised there. Lived there my entire life."

The fugitive was from Minnesota. To this day Vela has no idea if his doppelganger has been apprehended. He has returned to the White House twice, however, without incident. His teammates, however, have since dubbed him "The Fugitive".

As for his sack on Sharpley on fourth-and-8 in the final minute of regulation, a play on which he leaped over Armando Allen, Vela recalled, "I was just trying to make any play that I could. Earlier in the game I'd missed a sack on a fourth down. I came in and the quarterback stepped up and completed it to the tight end for a first down. I just wanted to redeem myself."

That he did. Vela's sack essentially forced overtime, in which the Middies were able to defeat the Irish for the first time since 1963. As for Saturday's contest, Vela sees a lot of similarities between the Irish offense and Navy's defense.

"They're a much different team as a product of their development," he said. "There's a lot of juniors and seniors and they've grown up together. Same with our team. Guys on our defense, we've been together three years."

Ten of Navy's eleven starters on defense are upperclassmen and most were starters last year as well. The only underclassman in the group, defensive end Jabaree Tuani, may be the most talented player on the unit (does this at all sound familiar to you?) Vela understands that even though all three teams that Navy (6-3) has lost to have at least seven wins (Ohio State and Temple are 7-2 while Pittsburgh is 7-1), too many fans still consider them a doormat. I asked Vela if that outside perception surprises him.

"It's more disappointing than it is shocking," he said. "But hopefully we can keep surprising people."

Receivers Receptive to Floyd
"Fresh legs!"

"Ol' fresh legs!"

The Irish wideouts were in a frisky mood on Tuesday, no doubt happy to welcome back to the fold sophomore Michael Floyd (one more in the fold means a lower frequency of practice reps, you see?) Even though he plays the "Z" receiver position, Floyd is the X factor for Saturday's game with Navy. Charlie Weis, when asked what Floyd adds to the offense this weekend, replied, "He's got fresh legs. He looks very spry."

Tate, by the way, plays the "X" receiver position in the Irish offense.

C.C. Sabbath-ia
That's C.C., as in Clausen and Crist. It seems as if we've made that leap into people, this reporter included, attempting to read the tea leaves on a daily basis concerning the Irish quarterback situation in 2010. At Thurdsay night's informal presser, Weis registered a slight amount of irritation at the supposed certainty of prognosticators concerning Clausen's future.

"Trust me, they don't know because I don't know," Weis told us. "I will use my resources in the NFL (to advise Clausen as to where he would be drafted). Normally scouts, they don't write up juniors but in this case ..."

Weis added that he'd likely obtain the same type of information regarding draft potential for No. 23 but cautioned, "There's a lot of football yet to be played."

As for Crist, who is to have surgery to repair the torn ACL in his right knee today in South Bend, Weis reminded that the sophomore QB's injury was not as catastrophic as Tom Brady's ... or even Weis'. "When I hurt my knee, it was the ACL, the MCL and the PCL," said Weis. "Dayne's prognosis is much better. Four to six months. Come spring, he'll be able to do seven-on-seven drills. He'll want to do more, but we'll hold him back."

Weis said that when Crist begins his rehab, he will put his latest protege in touch with his legendary one. "I'll put them in touch for rehab," said Weis, "because that's what they'll have in common."

Asked if Crist's rehab will include near-daily rounds at Bel Air Country Club, a guest appearance on "Entourage" and TLC from a Brazilian supermodel, Weis smirked. "I don't think Gisele's sister is coming here," he said.

Special Special Teams Play
Irish special teams coach Brian Polian was asked about Mike Ragone's rundown of Washington State safety Chima Nwachukwu following the blocked PAT on Saturday. "One of the all-time effort plays I've ever been a part of," says Polian, who as a youngster was on the sidelines of Super Bowl XXVII to see Don Beebe's legendary rundown of Leon Lett. "For a tight end to run down a skill guy ..."

Polian said that after Nick Tausch's kick was blocked, he thought the play was over. He looked down at his clipboard to make a note and then "I picked my eyes up and just saw Mike, well, he hawked him down. After the play I just went over and hugged him and said, 'That was awesome.'"

By the way, if you want to feel old, Polian noted that the names Don Beebe and Leon Lett do not register with his players.

Even though the season is only two-thirds done, it has been quite the bizarre year for special teams plays involving the Irish -- especially when you consider that none of those players involve a punt or kickoff return for a TD by the Domers. We asked Polian to recount his most curious plays of the season thus far:

1) "Guess you'd have to begin with a false start by the kicker on a PAT (vs. Michigan State). Never seen that before."
2) "The fake field goal versus USC was pretty cool, and the fact that they were still complaining about it the following week was pretty cool, too." (Please note: Chance that Pete Carroll will devise a trick play to avenge that ruse for next year's game in the Coliseum, 101 percent.)
3) "The designated fake field goal versus B.C. where we score except that an O-lineman holds a safety (let's be real -- Lane Clelland practically tackled him) when all he had to do was get in his way. You only get a couple chances all season to pull off a play like that."
4) "An onside kick bouncing backward (after first traveling the requisite 10 yards; versus Michigan State)."
5) "A frosh kicker making 14 field goals in a row, which is kind of special around here."

After that last item, Pete Sampson of Irish Illustrated asked Polian if he'd ever been around a kicker who had a greater field-goal conversion percentage than PAT conversion percentage. The boyish Irish coach chuckled at that. For the record, Tausch is 14 of 15 on field goal tries (93.3%) and 24 of 27 on PATs (88.8%).

Stann's the Man
You know the line about how Superman has a poster of Tim Tebow on his bedroom wall? In that same vein, Chuck Norris, he of the legendary "Chuck Norris Facts" (e.g. "Chuck Norris destroyed the periodic table because he only recognizes the element of surprise"), could hang a photo of Brian Stann in his home.

Who is Brian Stann? He's the kind of man most little boys want to grow up to become when they are six years old. The Dalton, Pa., native played linebacker at the U.S. Naval Academy between 1999-2002. Afterward he accepted a commission with the U.S. Marines and soon after was deployed for the first of his two tours of duty in Iraq. Stann, whose chiseled features make him recruiting poster material, saw intense combat while securing a bridge over the Euphrates River in northwest Iraq. At one point in a firefight his platoon was surrounded 360 degrees by enemy fire. All 42 men under Stann's command returned safely home and for his valor he was awarded the Silver Star.

If only his story ended there. The ultimate warrior is now a professional mixed martial arts fighter. In his fourth pro fight, then under the World Extreme Cagefighting banner, Stann knocked out opponent Miguel Cosio in a WEC-record 16 seconds. Stann, who is stationed at Camp LeJeune, N.C., has since moved on to the UFC. His career record is 7-2 and his unique background has even landed him on the Howard Stern show.

For anyone still unimpressed, Stann proposed to his longtime girlfriend, Teressa Ruspi, then a Philadelphia Eagles cheerleader, at the 50-yard line of Lincoln Financial Field on New Year's Day, 2006, following a Redskins-Eagles game (one year and one day before Ian Johnson of Boise State pulled the same stunt).

Brian Stann. A real-life action figure.

Ram Vela Stars as 'The Fugitive' originally appeared on NCAA Football FanHouse on Fri, 06 Nov 2009 14:47:00 EST . Please see our terms for use of feeds.

 

Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | Comments

]]>brian polianbrian stannjimmy clausenram velaJohn WaltersFri, 06 Nov 2009 14:47:00 EST Daily Domer: Pax de South Bendhttp://ncaafootball.fanhouse.com/2009/11/05/daily-domer-pax-de-south-bend/http://ncaafootball.fanhouse.com/2009/11/05/daily-domer-pax-de-south-bend/http://ncaafootball.fanhouse.com/2009/11/05/daily-domer-pax-de-south-bend/#commentsFiled under: ,

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 dispatches on the Irish.

SOUTH BEND, Ind. -- When it comes to team bonding, victory is the greatest adhesive. These Irish are a tight bunch, and Charlie Weis conceded on Tuesday that "going through all those tight games at the end of the game has bonded the team even more."

The Irish have won five of their past six, and that one loss came down to one play. Or four. Or a mismanaged final 35 seconds (cue Glenn Frey's "Get Over It"). Whatever. The 6-2 record and the Alcoa "Fantastic Finishes" have certainly done more to unite this team than a trust-fall exercise. However, there is something else at work here: character at the top of the roster.

If you have ever been part of a team in which your best players were far from your top character guys (I have), you know how long a season that can be. At Wednesday's captains presser center Eric Olsen was already seated but quarterback Jimmy Clausen, who ordinarily shares the table with him, had not yet arrived (Clausen was obviously out having his Hummer waxed). I asked Olsen about the lack of off-field drama this season as Clausen entered the room. Clausen went to take a seat beside Olsen just as the senior from Staten Island replied, "We don't really have many drama queens," and then shot his QB a look of mock disdain. The Heisman candidate QB grinned.

As moments go, this was quite telling. There's a beer ad currently running in which the idea is proffered that the ultimate sign of acceptance and/or friendship is when your friends mock you (followed closely, of course, by their ponying up to buy you a pint). To see Olsen teasing the coach's pet openly says a lot about how close those two are (as does the way Clausen leaps into Olsen's arms after a TD pass). You cannot imagine this moment taking place two years ago -- granted, there was far less to celebrate -- and I cannot think of too many players who would have felt courageous enough to have teased BQQB in public back in 2005 and '06.

It's the Jimmy Clausens and Golden Tates of the world who get named Maxwell Award semi-finalists (quickly, 16 players are so designated and the list is whittled to three on November 23. Future foes Dion Lewis [Pitt] and Toby Gerhart [Stanford] also made the cut) and deservedly so. But it's guys such as Olsen, safety Kyle McCarthy, special teams captain Scott Smith, linebacker Brian Smith and offensive tackle Sam Young who have forged the most cohesive unit of the five that Weis has yet assembled here.

Before the season I prognosticated, though no one was listening (and why would they? I was waiting tables in Manhattan at the time), that this season 1) the Irish would have a devastating passing attack, 2) the "experts" would regret not having a single Irish offensive player on their preseason Heisman or All-American lists and 3) would look a lot like 2005.

After eight games the Irish, as they were in '05, are 6-2 with a chance to earn (emphasis on that word) a BCS bowl berth by going 10-2. That record, by the way, would mean that the '09 Irish had equaled their victory total of the previous two seasons combined. Whatever happens, should Clausen return next season (not out of the realm, by the way), a lot of people will look at the returns of Clausen, Tate (possibly), wideout Michael Floyd, tight end Kyle Rudolph, linebacker Manti Te'o and others and automatically assume the Irish will be even better.

If there's leadership. What will be neglected in the equation is how much Notre Dame will miss players such as Olsen and McCarthy.

The 2005 season was satisfying for Irish followers because the team competed, they were fun and they all appreciated the success based on where they had come from just a year previously.

The 2006 team should have been better, but they were not. They were not as close, either: too many rock stars. And part of the blame there rightfully falls at the feet of Weis, the "60 Minutes" profile head coach who was just as guilty of allowing success to go to his head.

It'll be interesting to see how the Irish handle the success of this season in '10. Will they be the type of team that leaps into each other's arms when they do something spectacular? Or will they be the type who celebrate the way Tate did after his extraordinary catch at the end of the second quarter in the Alamodome? We'll see.

Spring Backward

I do not have the foggiest whether Clausen goes. Most of my press box peers consider him gone, but I see the camaraderie between Clausen and Tate (if Olsen were only a junior he'd scare Clausen into not leaving, of that I am positive) and the smiles that were never there his first two seasons and I am not so sure. Clausen is going to be wealthy man in the following decade, but he'll never be able to purchase a senior year of college with Tate, Floyd and Rudolph catching his throws.

We'll see.

What we do know, though, is that should Clausen depart, the Blue-Gold game may as well be canceled. Who would play quarterback? John Goodman?

Clausen and Sharpley would be gone. Dayne Crist would still be recovering from his ACL surgery. Perhaps one of the two quarterbacks who have verbally committed to the Irish --Tommy Rees of Lake Forest, Ill., or Andrew Hendrix of Cincinnati -- could enroll in January. Still ...

If Clausen were to leave, the 2010 Blue-Gold game would be even less compelling than the 2007 edition (Junior Jabbie was the offensive MVP that day).Perhaps it would be better off as some derivation of a reality show. How about "Golden Versus ..."?

Clausen said yesterday that he is 15 credits (i.e. five classes, i.e. one semester) shy of earning his degree. Clausen, a sociology major, needs five more classes, only one in his major and four electives, to graduate. He is on schedule to graduate next May if he chooses to take five classes next semester.

Ragone

Players were still buzzing on Wednesday about Mike Ragone's Don Beebe impersonation at the Alamodome on Saturday. After Washington State's Toby Turpin blocked Nick Tausch's extra point try after a first-quarter touchdown, Cougar safety Chima Nwachukwu fielded it and raced in the opposite direction for an easy deuce. That's when Ragone did his own rendition of an "Animal Planet" doc on the predators of the Kalahari.

"For me, that's my favorite play of the year so far," Scott Smith said. "You see Mike, he didn't even know the kick was blocked until the corner picked it up and was 10 yards in front of him. You just see him, Kyle Rudolph also, just turn around. I mean, there's really no other way to put it. Mike just hawked that guy down."

"We saw the play in meetings," Kyle McCarthy said. "Everyone just kind of went nuts. We were giving Mike high fives and stuff, just congratulating him. That was a heck of a play. I didn't know Mike was that fast. He impressed me."

Did Ragone know he was that fast?

"He definitely knew he was that fast," McCarthy said. "He's always been trying to tell us, but now we believe him."

Show Team QB not a Slow Team QB

A few weeks ago Weis said that they don't even bother naming a "Show Team Player of the Week" award any more since Evan Sharpley, the fifth-year, third-string quarterback, would win it by a landslide each week. This week, because of Crist's torn ACL, Sharpley has been promoted to second-string and cannot play on the show team. Which is somewhat serendipitous since, because Navy runs a triple-option attack, he would not be in the role of scout team QB, anyway.

This week the scout team (scout team, show team, it's interchangeable) QB is Kyle McCarthy's little (in age only) brother Dan McCarthy, a sophomore safety. Both McCarthy brothers were option quarterbacks at Cardinal Mooney in Youngstown, Ohio.

Sea Legs

The Midshipmen have led the nation in rushing the past four years and are vying to become the first school to ever do so five consecutive times. Currently the Middies are third, averaging 279.78 yards per game on the ground. They trail Nevada, the national leader, by a little more than 40 yards per game (319.13). The Wolf Pack opened their season in South Bend, where they were held to a season-low 153 yards rushing.

Don't Bet On It

The Irish are 11 1/2-point favorites in Saturday's game, which (hallelujah!) starts one hour earlier. Kickoff at 2:42 p.m. The Midshipmen have covered the spread nine consecutive times in South Bend dating back to 1991. Just trying to help, pardner.

Daily Domer: Pax de South Bend originally appeared on NCAA Football FanHouse on Thu, 05 Nov 2009 12:08:00 EST . Please see our terms for use of feeds.

 

Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | Comments

]]>jimmy clausenJimmyClausJimmyClausenJohn WaltersThu, 05 Nov 2009 12:08:00 EST Daily Domer: Naval Gazinghttp://ncaafootball.fanhouse.com/2009/11/05/daily-domer-naval-gazing/http://ncaafootball.fanhouse.com/2009/11/05/daily-domer-naval-gazing/http://ncaafootball.fanhouse.com/2009/11/05/daily-domer-naval-gazing/#commentsFiled under: ,

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 dispatches on the Irish.

SOUTH BEND, Ind. -- While scouring the Navy roster on Wednesday afternoon, I came across the name Aaron Santiago, a sophomore slotback from Hawaii.

Santiago? The Navy? A tropical island?

"Did you order the Code Red?!?"

"You're goddamned right I did!"

As it turns out, Aaron Santiago is one of more than just a few good men on the Midshipmen roster. For example, how many other Irish opponents have a pair of high school valedictorians on their two-deep chart? Inside linebacker Tyler Simmons (54), who is second on the team in tackles with 53, was the valedictorian at Washington High School in Goldsby, Okla. Sophomore reserve right tackle John Dowd (68) also graduated No. 1 in his class from St. Peter's Boys High School in Staten Island.

No Irish opponent's roster is as loaded with overachievers and interesting folk each season as is Navy's. Besides those noted above, here are some others (in case Messrs. Haden and Hammond have yet to do their homework, though I imagine they have):

Ricky Dobbs (No. 4): The quarterback leads the nation in touchdowns scored (16) despite missing nearly two entire games. Dobbs, who is African-American, was born on January 31, 1988, which was also the day that Doug Williams became the first and still only African-American QB to win a Super Bowl (for the Washington Redskins).

Tyler Lynch (8): Freshman quarterback with some mighty impressive bloodlines. One great uncle is former Notre Dame linebacker Jim Lynch, who won the Maxwell Award as the nation's best player in 1966 while helping lead the Irish to the national championship. A second great uncle is retired Admiral and former Naval Academy superintendent Tom Lynch, who played center on the Roger Staubach-led Navy teams of the early 1960s.

Gordy Law (10): Another freshman QB, Law was the quarterback and team MVP at Berwick High School in Berwick, Pa. That is also the alma mater of Irish quarterbacks coach Ron Powlus.

J.J. Cosh (13): I find the fact that this slotback's dad, Chris, is the defensive coordinator at Kansas State less intirguing than the fact that this Cosh was born in Oshkosh, Wisc.

Ram Vela (34): More on him later today, but the 5-9, 193-pounder may be the most diminutive starting linebacker in major college football. You'll remember Vela as the Middie who leap-frogged Armando Allen to sack Evan Sharpley on that decisive fourth-down play in Navy's 2007 win in South Bend. He's also perhaps the only player in America whose first name is identical to his school's mascot.

Cameron Marshall (48): This 6-6 senior defensive end is the tallest, the oldest (26) and the most awe-inspiring player on the roster. Marshall served four years in the U.S. Marine Corps before entering Annapolis. He enlisted one day after 9/11 and served two tours of duty in Iraq, achieving the rank of sergeant. While about 7 percent of the brigade is prior enlisted, Marshhall is the only such Middie on the football team. When Navy opened at Ohio State, Marshall led the Middies onto the field carrying an American flag. A terrific story on Marshall was written earlier this season by Camille Powell of the Washington Post.

Ross Pospisil (51): The Middies' leading tackler (65) and most aggressive player, this linebacker is actually the son of a preacher. His father, Scott, is a pastor in their home town of ... (wait for it) ... Temple, Texas.

Jeff Battipaglia (61): At 6-4, 256 pounds, Battipaglia must be the smallest starting left tackle at the FBS level. His dad, Joe, is a Wall Street market strategist who frequently appears on CNBC.

Josh Cabral (65): Freshman offensive lineman whose mother, Susan Stapler, was part of the first Naval graduating class ('80) to include females. She was also a captain of the volleyball team for two years.

Eric Douglass (71): This Oklahoma native has played against Irish reserve offensive lineman Matt Romine every year since the third grade. Navy's media guide Romine is designated as Douglass' "arch rival." I wonder if Romine is aware of this. Or if either one of them was given a five-star rating by ArchRivals.com.

Jabaree Tuani (98): The only underclassman starter on Navy's defense (pictured above), this defensive end was named the ECAC Freshman of the year last season (that comprises all the BCS schools on the Eastern Seaboard from Boston College to Virginia Tech, including Penn State). Tuani was also the first African-American to be named class president in the history of the Brentwood Academy, a prestigious private school in Tennessee.

Daily Domer: Naval Gazing originally appeared on NCAA Football FanHouse on Thu, 05 Nov 2009 10:32:00 EST . Please see our terms for use of feeds.

 

Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | Comments

]]>Jabaree TuaniJabareeTuaniJohn WaltersThu, 05 Nov 2009 10:32:00 EST Daily Domer: Crist Out, Floyd Backhttp://ncaafootball.fanhouse.com/2009/11/03/daily-domer-crist-out-floyd-back/http://ncaafootball.fanhouse.com/2009/11/03/daily-domer-crist-out-floyd-back/http://ncaafootball.fanhouse.com/2009/11/03/daily-domer-crist-out-floyd-back/#commentsFiled under: , , , , ,

SOUTH BEND, Ind. -- Crist will come again ... in four to six months.

Notre Dame learned the fates of both back-up quarterback Dayne Crist and wide receiver Michael Floyd on Monday and the results were mixed.

Crist, a sophomore who went down in the fourth quarter of Notre Dame's 40-14 win against Washington State, learned on Monday that he had torn the anterior cruciate ligament of his right knee. Floyd, who broke his left collarbone against Michigan State in the season's third game, was cleared to play.

On Tuesday, Notre Dame coach Charlie Weis confirmed that Crist, who had an MRI on Monday, had torn his ACL and that he would have surgery on Friday. Weis said that the Irish staff consulted "the guru in Alabama" (Dr. James Andrews) and that the prognosis was for a four-to-six month rehab. That likely keeps Crist out of spring football.

"I know one thing," Weis said, concerning Crist's return. "We'll be conservative."

As for Floyd, a CAT-scan on Monday convinced doctors that he should be cleared to play. Weis reported that Floyd was "hootin' and hollerin'" (suddenly No. 7 is Slim Pickens in "Blazing Saddles?") at the news and was in no mood to keep it to himself.

"No. 7 [Jimmy Clausen] texted me a few minutes later," Weis reported. "I think No. 7 might have been as happy as No. 3 [Floyd]."

What this all means is that the nation's most potent passing attack outside the state of Texas (take your pick) will be at full strength for the first time since Ann Arbor. You will recall that Floyd started against Michigan State but that he'd just received 15 stitches in his right knee seven days earlier.

And while Clausen himself still has vestigial turf toe troubles, this Irish offense is more lethal than before. That's because Golden Tate has taken his mojo to a previously unrealized plateau in Floyd's absence the past six weeks.

Asked if Tate would have become the rock star that he has in Notre Dame's past five games had Floyd been healthy, Weis replied, "You'd have to lean towards 'No.' "

The facts are these: Floyd caught five touchdown passes in three games for the Irish and at the time Weis was asked if he might be the greatest wideout in school history. And in his absence Tate has become a bona fide first team All-American candidate, even a Heisman candidate (SI.com's Gene Menez lists him at No. 3 this week behind Alabama's Mark Ingram and nose tackle Ndamukong Suh of Nebraska).

With Floyd and Tate on the field together, well, Clausen just became a much better quarterback.
As for JC's back-up and successor, prospects are more opaque. One wonders just how quickly Weis did, or will, put the redshirt freshman in touch with his former pupil, Tom Brady, who suffered a season-ending ACL tear last year. Also, does Crist's injury have any impact on the decision Clausen will make in the coming months about declaring for the NFL Draft? If anything, it adds clarity to the prospect of an entire season being forfeited in one play ... and the prospect of diminishing value in the eyes of NFL scouts.

The headache begins for Charlie Weis. This week he will promote Evan Sharpley, the most gifted passer currently teaching ninth grade geography in America, to second-string. Sharpley, a fifth-year senior, is teaching full-time at local Adams High School as he works toward his teaching certificate. According to Weis, he needs to find a way to skip his final period of the day now in order to be back at the Gug in time for film sessions. Perhaps Crist could substitute teach?

Anyway, Sharpley moves to No. 2 while John Goodman, who played both wideout and quarterback at Bishop Dwenger in Fort Wayne (and who recently said that he considers himself a better quarterback than wideout) will move to third string while still taking most of his reps with the receivers. It was Goodman, after all, who caught a beautifully thrown pass from Crist for a 64-yard touchdown Saturday ... the lone TD pass of Crist's career.

One commenter on an Irish message board suggested that Sharpley start against Navy. What's the worst, asked someone whose memory does not extend more than two years, that could happen?

The problem, obviously, is next year. Does Clausen return? If he does the Irish passing attack will be sick. If he does not Weis will, for the second time in four years, break in a new starter who is both an underclassmen and coming off off-season surgery. Sharpley will be gone. Should Clausen go, the Irish quarterback prospects will be a fragile Crist; a possible prodigal son in Nate Montana (who was on the team in '08 and is currently at Pasadena City College, where he is 31-of-88 with two touchdowns and five interceptions; Clausen's completion percentage, 66.9 percent, is higher than Montana's passer rating, 62.29); and verbal commit Andrew Hendrix, a 6-3, four-star recruit out of Cincinnati Moeller High School.

Weis said that when Floyd was cleared to play yesterday, he told his brilliant sophomore that only two votes went into the decision as to when he would play: his and Floyd's. "And you know which way I'm voting," Weis laughed.

If it were to come down to a similar two-vote decision as to whether Clausen stays or goes (and it won't, but if it were to), Weis might want to replace his favorite band (Bon Jovi) with one of his college contemporaries, Chicago. "If you leave me now ..."

Daily Domer: Crist Out, Floyd Back originally appeared on NCAA Football FanHouse on Tue, 03 Nov 2009 17:23:00 EST . Please see our terms for use of feeds.

 

Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | Comments

]]>John WaltersTue, 03 Nov 2009 17:23:00 EST Daily Domer: Crist Alrighty?http://ncaafootball.fanhouse.com/2009/11/02/daily-domer-crist-alrighty/http://ncaafootball.fanhouse.com/2009/11/02/daily-domer-crist-alrighty/http://ncaafootball.fanhouse.com/2009/11/02/daily-domer-crist-alrighty/#commentsFiled under: ,

The first words out of the mouth of Charlie Weis at his Sunday evening presser concerned the injury status of sophomore quarterback Dayne Crist. "Well, Dayne is going to get an MRI tomorrow," Weis said of the second-string QB who was 2-of-6 versus Washington State, but who did toss a 64-yard TD pass, his first, to classmate John Goodman. "We're cautiously optimistic that it's not as bad as we originally thought it was. But, you know, we're keeping our fingers crossed on that one."

Although his surname is pronounced with a short "i" (as in Ruth's Chris Steakhouse ... because that was the simplest example, right), the combination of that spelling and the Catholic identity of the school that he attends has scribes and editors alike anxiously awaiting Crist's return. So to speak. One witty wag on the beat texted me Sunday as to whether the presser should begin with the query, "Body of Crist?"

It's a big day for MRIs at Notre Damey. It's not just Crist. Michael Floyd is also disappearing into the machine some time today. No doubt the results of their tests will be the opening question in tomorrow's presser.

Will Crist's results be "gospel" (literally, "good news") or not?

Meanwhile, Crist-ians take note that Saturday evening was a second coming of sorts for the California native, as well as for the apostolically named wideout Goodman. The last time each played in the Alamodome, nearly 22 months ago in the 2008 U.S. Army All-American Bowl, was the last time Crist threw a touchdown pass and the last time Goodman caught one in a game. And both feats aired nationally on NBC.

Crist, by the way, hooked up with future Irish teammate Floyd that day. Goodman's TD pass was tossed by future Ohio State quarterback Terrelle Pryor.
Follow Us on Twitter Friend Us on Facebook
Irish In Lane One

The college football season may be a marathon, but the best way to compare the schedule of the Irish to most ranked teams is to think of a 400-meter sprint. Just as that race has staggered starts, so too do the schedule strengths of teams vying for a BCS bowl.

Most national contenders play their weakest competition in September, before their conference schedule begins.

No. 1 Florida hosted FCS school Charleston Southern on Sept. 5 and No. 2 Texas host Louisiana-Monroe that same day, for example. The Gators and Longhorns are lining up in Lanes 7 and 8. They appear to be far ahead of Notre Dame coming out of the first turn.

Then you hit the backstretch: October. This time of year, the final turn, the Irish are heading in the midst of the softest part of their schedule while schools such as USC and Oklahoma State are in the midst of their toughest run. So as we come into the final straightaway, the Irish, Trojans and Cowboys are all 6-2. Which is not to say that the Irish deserve to be mentioned in the same breath as anyone in the Top 10. They do belong in that second 10, though, or will if they keep on winning.

Last week they were No. 23 in the BCS rankings and this week are 22nd. They need to be among the top 14 schools to be selected to a BCS bowl game and whether we believe they deserve it (cough, cough, 2007 Sugar Bowl), they will be chosen because no school is a better television draw.

"If you keep on winning and teams ahead of you keep on losing, you're going to keep on moving up," Weis said Sunday. "That's just a fact. I guess we probably moved up four spots in one [poll], and six in another, and all we did was play one game. So I think every week it's going to be like that because you get down to the crunch time and there's always going to be teams ahead of you that play other teams that they're going to end up losing to."

It doesn't matter in which lane you start in the 400, after all. It's where you happen to be when the winner breaks the tape.

The Freshman 14

Someone needs to tell Irish kicker Nick Tausch that the adjustment to college life is difficult. Returning home to his native Texas on Saturday, the true freshman booted his 13th and 14th field goals of the season. That makes 14 in a row (following a miss in his first collegiate attempt at Michigan), which broke the school record for consecutive field goals converted.

Tausch is on pace to tie the school record for most field goals in a season, in fact. In 1986, John Carney, who amazingly enough is still employed in the NFL, made 21 field goals (albeit in 11 games). With two-thirds of the Irish schedule complete, Tausch is two-thirds of the way to 21 with his 14, although he now heads into the most difficult weather conditions of the season for three of Notre Dame's final four games.

Also, Tausch, who is 14-of-15 (93.3 percent) is on pace to break Carney's season accuracy record of 89.5 percent, set in 1984 when he converted 17-of-19. Worth noting: Carney, who lived across the hall from the Daily Domer, was not offered a scholarship until after that record-setting '84 season.

Hail Mary, Full of Tate

 Domers of a certain age no doubt noticed that the two most miraculous touchdown grabs of the weekend (with apologies to Florida's Riley Cooper) were caught by Golden Tate and Tim Brown (the latter of Rutgers). Tate's 50-yarder was as unique and ridiculous as you'll ever see, as he out-leaped and out-muscled three different Wazzu DBs for the ball. My favorite part of the footage, besides the catch itself, comes at the 1:09 mark. Leprechaun Dan Collins signals touchdown long before the referee does.

Movin' On Up... In Pass Defense

The Irish were admittedly putrid in pass defense after seven games, ranking 117th in the nation and allowing true frosh Matt Barkley (USC) and Dave Shinskie (BC; yes, I know he's 25) to put up 380- and 279-yard games on them, respectively.

The Irish should crack the top 100 (hold your applause, please) by the time they arrive in Pittsburgh November 14. Washington State's Jeff Tuel, also a freshman, completed just 12-of-23 for 104 yards on Saturday. And this week the Irish take on Navy. In their last two games, The Middies have averaged one completion.

Clarifying

Last week, I wrote a pair of twin columns as to why, if I had to hazard a guess, I believed that Jimmy Clausen would leave school after his junior season and Golden Tate would remain. Let me be perfectly Obama, I am not at all endorsing the idea of Clausen going. Or the idea of him staying, for that matter (See, I'm overly diplomatic as well as clear).

That's his choice, and it all depends on what his values are. Which is not to say that his values are flawed if he chooses the NFL ... or to remain in school. To some of us there's a certain priceless aspect to being a senior quarterback at a school that, if you remain, will be ranked No. 5 or better in the preseason (and where you can attend mass without even leaving your dorm!).
"My plan is for [Clausen] to graduate next year after another heck of a season for us. But we'll see how that goes."
-- Charlie Weis
To others there's a priceless aspect about owning a Mercedes 350 convertible (GPS included) before your 24th birthday and having Merrill Hoge discuss your upside.

The point is, it's up to you. It's not up to some middle-aged sportswriter. Few things irritate me more than when a sports radio jock whose most compelling choice is sausage links or bacon proclaims, "He has to go (pro)."
No, he doesn't.

Sam Bradford did not make a mistake by returning to Norman. He may have cost himself money, but he didn't make a mistake. The mistake would have been doing the opposite of what he felt that he should do.

As for Captain Comeback, on Sunday Weis gently launched his "One more year!" campaign when asked if Clausen would be academically able to graduate by the end of his junior season (Clausen, you recall, began school in spring semester of 2007). "My plan is for him to graduate next year after another heck of a season for us," Weis said. "But we'll see how that goes."

The Lost Symbol?

If you find yourself ensconced in Dan Brown's latest thriller, "The Lost Symbol", and if you've ever made a visit (or a couple hundred) to the Hesburgh Memorial Library, then you may want to take another look at First Down Moses. The manner in which the patriarchal Old Testament's right hand is pointing skyward is a key plot component of the novel. Then again, Moses may just be declaring where Brown's work currently rates on the New York Times best-seller list.

Daily Domer: Crist Alrighty? originally appeared on NCAA Football FanHouse on Mon, 02 Nov 2009 17:00:00 EST . Please see our terms for use of feeds.

 

Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | Comments

]]>John GoodmanNick Tausch John WaltersMon, 02 Nov 2009 17:00:00 EST Don't Expect Clausen to Have Senior Moments at Notre Damehttp://ncaafootball.fanhouse.com/2009/10/30/dont-expect-clausen-to-have-senior-moments-at-notre-dame/http://ncaafootball.fanhouse.com/2009/10/30/dont-expect-clausen-to-have-senior-moments-at-notre-dame/http://ncaafootball.fanhouse.com/2009/10/30/dont-expect-clausen-to-have-senior-moments-at-notre-dame/#commentsFiled under: ,

Brace yourselves, Irish fans: The quarterback, he ain't coming back.

The Double D was in the midst of a 17-hour journey between South Bend and Eugene on Thursday (perhaps I just should have driven?), so it missed Charlie Weis' post-practice presser with reporters.

One of the subjects Weis broached was what has become everyone's favorite parlor game around the Gug: Will Jimmy Clausen return for a senior season? "We're not even going to address the subject until the first week in December," my man Brian Hamilton reports Weis saying on chicagobreakingsports.com. "We've already addressed the fact that we're not going to address it. So we're just worrying about the next five games, starting with Washington State. First of all, let's see how we play. But we'll revisit it then."

Whether No. 7 would be a topic of indecision me molesta (i.e., "Should I Stay or Should I Go?") has been obvious for some time. Lately, though, the prospect that his good buddy No. 23, Golden Tate, might also enter the NFL Draft after this season has also become -- as some Irish fans might phrase it -- cause for concern.

"Golden has another set of encyclopedias, because we're dealing with baseball, too," Weis said. "Golden and I had a long talk in the summer before the season. We went over football, baseball, this year, next year, we covered a lot of territory. And we also decided we would revisit it in the first week in December, after the season had played out."

Irish fans undoubtedly would love both No. 7 and No. 23 to play their senior years. They would argue that, after such humble beginnings when both were thrown into the fire as freshmen -- Clausen was sacked nearly 50 times while Tate, a converted running back, only knew one route and caught just six passes all season -- it would be poetic to see them lead the Irish to a BCS bowl and for one, if not both of them, to be invited to the Heisman ceremony. And none of that, based on what we've seen the past eight weeks, is impossible.

My gut feeling? No. 23 stays. No. 7 goes.

Clausen leaves for the following reasons: 1) The fresh-in-our-minds lesson of Sam Bradford. 2) The failure of other high-profile quarterbacks such as Colt McCoy, Jevan Snead and Tim Tebow to evolve this season. Some would even say all three have regressed. 3) Because he very well could be the first quarterback chosen, and 4) He's ready.

About a month ago I asked Weis, "What does Jimmy still need to learn to earn his 'football diploma'?" Weis understood the nuance of the question precisely, and his response was effectively that Clausen is close. Currently, Clausen is No. 2 in the nation in passing efficiency despite playing on a bum toe and despite being without arguably his most dangerous weapon (Michael Floyd) for more than half the season. He has thrown 16 touchdown passes versus just two interceptions and neither pick was the product of a bad read or a poor throw. Both were as much, if not more, the receivers' fault.

In short, even without the ability to be nimble or mobile -- not that he's ever going to be Jake Locker in that regard -- and without his top playmaker (it seems sacrilege even to type that in the wake of what Tate has done), Clausen has been the best quarterback in the nation this season.

The money will never be greener. And next season the offensive line loses three starters. That fact is the reason that Clausen will hear the name "Sam Bradford" ad nauseam the rest of the way. The Oklahoma quarterback won the Heisman Trophy in 2008 and, in ESPN draft expert Todd McShay's first 2010 mock draft in May, Bradford was his No. 1 overall pick.

The Sooner offensive line broke in four new starters this season, though. In the first half of the season opener against BYU, Bradford sprained his throwing shoulder badly. Five weeks later he played his only complete game, versus Baylor, and then the following Saturday aggravated the injury in the first quarter against Texas (on a play that looked eerily similar to the BYU hit, by the way).

Bradford is tall, athletic, brilliant and uncannily accurate as a passer. But now he has durability issues. It would seem incomprehensible to anyone who departed planet Earth any time before August and just now returned, but Clausen could be selected ahead of Bradford should both come out in April.

Again, it's just my gut, but this is why I think Clausen was so upset following the USC loss. He's a southern California kid with a lot of buddies in the Trojan locker room. He sorely wanted it on his resume that he'd beaten USC, just once, and he also realizes that if he completes one of his final three passes against the Trojans, the Heisman Trophy is all but his.

And now Clausen is supposed to decide whether to risk a Sam Bradford redux versus the prospect of beating USC, winning the Heisman (even though he still has a chance to do so this season) and perhaps playing for the national championship next season? No. 7, as he walked off the field wearing his helmet and occasionally spewing out an epithet to no one in particular, but simply out of frustration, was coming to grips with the reality that something that was right there in his grasp may be forever out of reach.

Charlie Weis is a college coach, but he is also a bottom-line NFL guy. Weis will do nothing to appeal to the be-true-to-your-school sentiment when it comes to this decision.

Clausen had three years as Notre Dame's starting quarterback. And so will fellow southern Californian Dayne Crist, who is currently a sophomore (as Weis said earlier this week, "Everyone else calls them redshirt freshmen, we call them sophomores." Potatoes, po-taht-oes, Charlie).

The Heisman is still on the table. If Clausen can lead the Irish to victories at both Pitt and Stanford, if they can go 5-0 the rest of the way with him putting up numbers similar to those he's posted so far ... then at worst it'll be between him and McCoy. By the way, if Clausen has anything less than 400 yards passing and four touchdowns playing inside a dome against the worst defense he has seen all season Saturday in San Antonio against Washington State, I'll do Mark May's laundry. Also, Floyd will likely be back for Pitt and Stanford.

Enjoy Clausen while you can. Remember the Alamodome. Remember the six straight weeks in which Clausen led the Irish back from a fourth-quarter deficit with a go-ahead touchdown pass (save the USC game, which was ironically the greatest comeback he engineered). Remember that he still has yet to throw a second-half interception.

And when it ends? I just hope that when Jimmy -- who has handled the scrutiny that goes along with being the Irish QB exceedingly well the past two years (he had to answer a stretch Hummer question as recently as Wednesday) -- departs, the last sight is of him being driven down Notre Dame Avenue in that same Hummer, his head poking out of the sun roof, a grin from ear to ear, as he gives every media person who ever questioned him a "How do you like me now?" glare.

Don't Expect Clausen to Have Senior Moments at Notre Dame originally appeared on NCAA Football FanHouse on Fri, 30 Oct 2009 16:00:00 EST . Please see our terms for use of feeds.

 

Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | Comments

]]>jimmy clausenJimmyClausenJohn WaltersFri, 30 Oct 2009 16:00:00 EST What's in the Cards for Golden Tate?http://ncaafootball.fanhouse.com/2009/10/30/whats-in-the-cards-for-golden-tate/http://ncaafootball.fanhouse.com/2009/10/30/whats-in-the-cards-for-golden-tate/http://ncaafootball.fanhouse.com/2009/10/30/whats-in-the-cards-for-golden-tate/#commentsFiled under: ,

We've already gone over Jimmy Clausen's potential plans for next year. As for Golden Tate ...

It was only eight weeks ago -- one day after the Nevada game -- that a reporter asked Charlie Weis if Michael Floyd could be the best wideout in Notre Dame history. Weis quickly replied, "I think Golden would argue with you."

At the time it seemed like lip service. Today, it seems prophetic.

When is the last time the Irish had a player with this much swagger as No. 23? Okay, Jeff Samardzija (who, like Tate, also played baseball for the Irish). If Tate remains at Notre Dame for his senior season, he will break every career receiving record that Samardzija set just three years ago.

If you spot Tate in street clothes he does not look impressive. Solidly built, yes, but not rippling. If you were to draft players simply by how they look in shorts and a T-shirt, you'd pick Floyd before him. You might select Duval Kamara first overall. You might even select Deion Walker or Shaquelle Evans ahead of Tate, not having seen a frame of game film. And if you went by coif, you'd surely take Robby Parris ahead of all of them.

No matter. When there are 80,795 people (or more) watching, Golden Tate is your man. Would Clausen have 16 touchdown passes without Tate as a target? No way. In almost every game he has played this season (certainly against Boston College, USC, Washington and Michigan State), Tate has turned a Clausen toss into six points when nobody else with the possible exception of Floyd could have done so.

Too, he plays with a style that has been altogether absent (again, with the exception of Samardzija) in South Bend since the heyday of the Holtz era. Diving into the band against Michigan State. Hurdling over a Purdue defensive back. When a fade route fell incomplete against USC two weeks ago, Tate tumbled head over heels into the first row of the Trojan marching band. As he rose, the 5-11 Tate hit a drum as if to say, "Get this outta my way."

A day later, when Weis was informed of Tate's latest incident with an opponent's band, he said, "Did he? Good."

Also, go back and watch Tate's second touchdown catch against USC. He takes a full-on blast from designated assassin Taylor Mays, but it is the USC safety who crumbles to the turf. Tate bounces off the blow and into the end zone, still on his feet. He shoots the 6-3, 225-pound future top-five pick a quick glance as if to say, "Is that all?"

None of which answers the question, Will Tate stay or go? The dyed in blue-and-gold reasons he would remain are manifold:

First, Tate simply loves college more than Asher Roth. When the Irish win, Tate dons the leprechaun's cap as the team joins in to sing the Alma Mater. He talks often about "partying with the fans" after a Notre Dame victory. There's baseball -- he is the starting left fielder for the Irish -- which means that he is excused from the drudgery of spring practice. Next season he'd likely be a captain and he'd also be the team's unquestioned rock star. The attention that Clausen has received this season would be mostly his.

What else? With Floyd lining up on the other end of the line of scrimmage, Tate will see fewer double teams. His numbers alone may not be as impressive, but he is smart enough to realize that a trio of himself, Floyd and tight end Kyle Rudolph will give the Irish the most potent passing attack in college football.

And it may actually mean something to Tate who, again, had never played wide receiver before matriculating at Notre Dame, to hold all of those school reception records.

All of that said, Weis and others will advise Tate based on two criteria: 1) Where he'd go in the NFL Draft and 2) Whether he wants to pursue baseball further so as to have the Samardzija option following his junior season on the diamond.

Tate -- nor Floyd, for that matter -- was not even on the Biletnikoff Award watch list to begin the season (memo to the Biletnikoff folks: call me next time) and now he is one of 10 finalists. The guess here is that NFL scouts would select Cincinnati's Mardy Gilyard and Minnesota's Eric Decker (both seniors) ahead of Tate. Jordan Shipley of Texas, because of his superb kick-return ability, would be in the mix as well as Georgia Tech's Demaryius Thomas (good size at 6-3) and LSU's Brandon LaFell.

Also, NFL teams would have to decide where to line up Tate. He runs fades and go routes for the Irish, but they might see him more as a slot receiver due to his height. A latter-day Wes Welker.

No. 23 has had an All-American-worthy season thus far, but he emerged from relative obscurity. Were Tate to return he would possibly be a preseason All-American (along with current Georgia sophomore A.J. Green).

It's funny. After the loss at Michigan people were actually grumbling about Tate's dropped catches. And then Floyd got hurt. If Floyd had never broken his collarbone, would we be discussing the possibility of Tate leaving after this season? Perhaps, but I doubt it.

My guess is that Golden Tate will keep Golden Domers smiling for another season. And not just them. Tate has elements of Derek Jeter to him: as widely and intensely as the team that he plays for is loathed, it is rare to find someone who has the Tate hate. He just plays too hard for even rival fans to dislike him.

Golden years? There's likely still one more ahead in South Bend.

What's in the Cards for Golden Tate? originally appeared on NCAA Football FanHouse on Fri, 30 Oct 2009 16:00:00 EST . Please see our terms for use of feeds.

 

Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | Comments

]]>golden tateGoldenTateJohn WaltersFri, 30 Oct 2009 16:00:00 EST Domer: Beating a Dead (Trojan) Horsehttp://ncaafootball.fanhouse.com/2009/10/29/domer-beating-a-dead-trojan-horse/http://ncaafootball.fanhouse.com/2009/10/29/domer-beating-a-dead-trojan-horse/http://ncaafootball.fanhouse.com/2009/10/29/domer-beating-a-dead-trojan-horse/#commentsFiled under: , ,

Daily DomerFanHouse writer John Walters is living in South Bend, Ind.during one of the most pivotal seasons in Notre Dame history.

SOUTH BEND, Ind. -- USC beat Notre Dame. I get it.

The Trojans were the better team on October 17. There was no "Bush Push" chaos on the final play from scrimmage. In fact, USC made a do-or-die defensive stop after what might have been the game's last play or, as Pete Carroll said three days later at his Tuesday press conference, "It was nice to beat Notre Dame twice."

The game never seemed as close as one that hangs in the balance in the final seconds, even though it actually did. It never had the feel of 2005.

I supply that preface because what I am about to write will likely stoke some of the commentariat to post "Get over it" below or to give me a Blake Ayles double-deuce salute. That faction exists and that's fine. However, I write this for any fan who is wondering why the media who cover the Irish--and we are not insignificant in number, only in purpose--have not given the game's final 35 seconds more scrutiny. I know that if I were a fan, as opposed to being a pressbox squatter, I'd wonder why it was being relatively ignored.

Yesterday I watched a replay of the NBC telecast on Hulu for a story about USC safety Taylor Mays and before long I was Jim Garrison poring over the Zapruder footage. Two things struck me. First, how cool is Hulu? I was able to watch the entire game in under 39 minutes. Second, what a colossal missed opportunity for the Irish.
Granted, you can say that they should never have even gotten that opportunity.

If Everson Griffen does not get flagged for showing off his biceps to the USC Song Girls...

If Taylor Mays does not get flagged for two personal fouls in the fourth quarter...

If Matt Barkley's pass does not ricochet off his receiver's mitts and into Gary Gray's arms...

If someone in a Cardinal helmet, and not Armando Allen, had recovered John Goodman's fumble in the open field.

But all those breaks went Notre Dame's way. Then, after first Golden Tate and then Parris each made as impressive a catch as either has in their careers, the Irish were just eight yards away from a game-tying touchdown. After having trailed by 20 points to the nation's then No. 2 defense with 13:33 to play.

The Irish had four fresh plays, 35 seconds and one timeout to gain eight yards. Except that they didn't.

When center Eric Olsen snapped the ball back to Jimmy Clausen on the ensuing play, there was 0:15 on the clock. Clausen toss fell incomplete and Trojan defensive lineman Malik Jackson was flagged for roughing the passer. That infraction moved the Irish half the distance to the goal line, but now only nine seconds remained.

Notre Dame had squandered 26 of its final 35 seconds (74.2 percent of its remaining time) on first down.

Besides, the flag on Jackson was inconsequential. It may have even been detrimental. Notre Dame's pass-first offense would have been better off it the receivers had more space in which to work. Particularly against a defense as fast as USC's. Remember that the Irish had first-and-goal at the four at Purdue and needed four plays, and a nice box-out by Kyle Rudolph, to score the game-winning touchdown.

You know what happened from there. An incomplete jump-ball pass to Rudolph (he tipped it to himself and made a nice grab, albeit out of bounds...just a few feet away from where Michael Floyd had caught a ball out of bounds and broken his collarbone four weeks earlier) that took five seconds off the clock. An incomplete slant-in to Tate that eroded another three. And a quick out to Kamara, who slipped, as NBC's Tom Hammond notes that

"Kyle Rudolph was wide open in the end zone", and the game is over.

USC wins. Again.

Afterward, Eric Hansen of the South Bend Tribune broached the timing issue with the second question of Charlie Weis' post-game press conference. "There was a bunch of time that clicked off after the penalty," Hansen said. "Did you think about calling timeout there?"

"No," Weis said. "We knew how many plays we were going to be able to get off right there. We knew what plays we were going to call. We probably could have gotten it off a couple seconds earlier. With that one second we had at the end of the game, that was about the number of plays we were counting on having in that sequence right there. Kind of figured out what we were going to do. Just didn't end up getting it done."

Weis was strangely sanguine in his answer. On the other hand, he had just emerged from a locker room of deeply despondent players and coaches. No doubt he was pretty bummed out, too. Maybe he just did not feel like assessing blame, or taking it, at that moment.

Here, though, is where even a nimrod sportswriter can go Unfrozen Caveman Lawyer on the Robot Genius. There is absolutely no decided schematic advantage in having 15 seconds in which to run four plays as opposed to 35. None. The sudden shortage of time most likely affected the play calls. For example, the Irish might have run a Wildcat, but with only 15 seconds to play, they could no longer afford to go with a slow-developing roll-out or sweep. They couldn't even afford to have Clausen roll out more than once.
The Irish were able to run four plays in that final 15 seconds only because three of them were quick-hitters. Against a defense with superior athletes such as the Trojans', the Irish might have had a better chance on a broken play. They just couldn't afford to run one, though, due to time restrictions.

Clausen, too, was dismissive of the fact that the offense threw away 20 of its final 35 seconds. "No," the quarterback said when asked if he'd lost track of the time, "I saw the clock the whole time. We were trying to get plays in and out, trying to do as much as we could at the time."

Maybe the Irish never score even if they do manage the clock properly. USC's defense is that good. We'll never know. And even if they do score, do they go for two ("I was going to use my last timeout to make that decision," Weis said) and convert or do they take on Pete Carroll in overtime? Either way, I like USC's chances.
So maybe this is much ado about nothing and I could have put my time to better use by raking someone's leaves the last hour or two. Then again, think of all the Irish stood to gain by coming out on top that day. They could be 6-1 right now and in the top ten in the BCS rankings. Captain Comeback would be the Heisman front-runner and his Domer legacy would rank up there with Montana's and Ismail's.

USC had the game in hand. And then the Irish had a chance to steal it (thanks in no small part to Golden Tate who, by the way, when you go back and watch the game on Hulu--39 minutes!-- you'll notice was rarely actually tackled). And at the very moment it seemed as if they might end the Trojans' seven-game win streak, the Irish inexplicably allowed twenty of the game's final 35 seconds to run off the clock.

When the game ended--the second time-- the Irish still had one down and one timeout left to burn.

I will never understand nor will I accept the explanation that this is what the Irish wanted.

Both on and off the field this season, Jimmy Clausen has been a class act. To be honest with you (to employ his favorite clause), I cannot believe how far he has come and how fast. I'm rooting for him the way you root for anyone who plays the game with courage and skill and--to employ the most over-used sports adjective of the past three months--poise.

Clausen's a winner. And he's very smart between the goalposts. So I wonder...if I am reviewing the final 35 seconds of the USC game in my head this thoroughly, how much more so must he be? Given all that was at stake that day? And given that, each and every day it looks less and less likely that he will spend another autumn in South Bend?

Domer: Beating a Dead (Trojan) Horse originally appeared on NCAA Football FanHouse on Thu, 29 Oct 2009 08:58:00 EST . Please see our terms for use of feeds.

 

Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | Comments

]]>John WaltersThu, 29 Oct 2009 08:58:00 EST For Irish, Finally Just a Gamehttp://ncaafootball.fanhouse.com/2009/10/27/for-irish-finally-just-a-game/http://ncaafootball.fanhouse.com/2009/10/27/for-irish-finally-just-a-game/http://ncaafootball.fanhouse.com/2009/10/27/for-irish-finally-just-a-game/#commentsFiled under: , ,

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.


Follow Us on Twitter Friend Us on Facebook
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."

For Irish, Finally Just a Game originally appeared on NCAA Football FanHouse on Tue, 27 Oct 2009 19:00:00 EST . Please see our terms for use of feeds.

 

Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | Comments

]]>John WaltersTue, 27 Oct 2009 19:00:00 EST Daily Domer: A Heapin' Dish of Sunday Leftovers From Boston College Winhttp://ncaafootball.fanhouse.com/2009/10/25/daily-domer-a-heapin-dish-of-sunday-leftovers-from-boston-coll/http://ncaafootball.fanhouse.com/2009/10/25/daily-domer-a-heapin-dish-of-sunday-leftovers-from-boston-coll/http://ncaafootball.fanhouse.com/2009/10/25/daily-domer-a-heapin-dish-of-sunday-leftovers-from-boston-coll/#commentsFiled under: ,

SOUTH BEND, Ind. -- If you happen to be a Notre Dame fan or alum, you probably have a friend who either attended or is a fan of Boston College. You may want to go easy on the smack talk today. Yes, the Irish defeated the Eagles 20-16 on Saturday to end B.C.'s six-game win streak in the series (the Irish head-to-head mark versus their Catholic brethren is now 10-9).

On the other hand, B.C. very nearly beat the Irish with a first-year head coach (Frank Spaziani, who looks like a cross between Dennis Farina and Uncle Leo) and a freshman quarterback (Dave Shinskie). Their leading tackler, linebacker Luke Kuechly, who had 14 tackles, is also a freshman.

And their premier player, 2008 ACC Defensive Player of the Year, Mark Herzlich, is sidelined for the season as he undergoes cancer treatment.
Sure, the Irish were without Michael Floyd. And apparently Duval Kamara was winded after halftime due to all the stationary bike pedaling he did during the opening half. It was a win for the Irish, and they'll take it. But this particular edition of their holy war was little more than a standoff.

A.P. Poll Dancing

The Fighting Irish are the unofficial Katy Perry "You're in then you're out" team of the season, as far as the Associated Press poll is concerned. The Irish appear in the 25th position this week, marking the third different time this season they have appeared in the A.P. poll. Notre Dame made its debut at No. 18 before the loss at Michigan, whereupon they fell out of the poll. Four weeks later, while the Irish were sitting at home eating cheeseburgers, they reappeared at No. 25. Whereupon they lost to USC. Whereupon they once again vanished.

On Saturday they defeated Boston College to move to 5-2 (all five wins versus unranked teams) whereupon they reappeared Sunday at No. 25. It appears the A.P. pollsters have as tenuous a handle on the Irish's identity as the rest of us do.

Golden Tate, Warrior

With his career-high 11 receptions on Saturday, Golden Tate announced that Jeff "Shark" Samardzija's single-season receptions record is in jeopardy (actually, all of his school records are at Tate's mercy). Shark caught 78 passes in 2006 and Tate, who's No. 10 in the nation at 7.43 receptions per game, has 52 grabs with five games remaining.

Last week Tate, who plays centerfield for the Irish baseball team, recalled when Shark spoke at the baseball banquet last spring and abused him. "He said, 'You may catch more passes than I did,'" Tate recalled Samardzija saying, "'but you'll never look as good as I did doing it.'"

I'm not so sure about that. Samardzija, by the way, is the school's all-time leader in catches (179), touchdown catches (27) and receiving yardage (2,593). If Tate remains healthy and -- yes, I'll say it -- does not turn pro after this season, he will shatter all three marks. With a minimum of 17 games remaining on his slate, the junior from Tennessee has 116 catches, 19 touchdown grabs and 2,058 receiving yards.

The Fourth-and-Goal Stop

Robert Hughes, who is no featherweight, was K.O.'d on his unsuccessful fourth-and-goal bid by B.C. safety Marcellus Bowman. "I don't know if he got knocked out or knocked silly right before the goal line," Notre Dame head coach Charlie Weis said. "Did you see, (Paul) Duncan was helping him off the field."

Lone Star State Stop

When Notre Dame visits San Antonio on Halloween night, it will be their first journey into Texas in more than eight years. The last time the Irish played in that recruiting bed of heat was September 29, 2001, a 24-3 loss to Texas A & M in College Station (of course, quite a few current players on the Irish roster have played in the Alamodome for the Army All-American Game).

Since that loss to the Aggies at Kyle Field, the Irish have visited eighteen different states. Try guessing them. I'll post the answer at the bottom.

Olsen's Ire

On Sunday Weis explained what set center Eric Olsen off on the final play of the game. As the clock hit 0:00, the Irish senior was yelling very un-Catholic things at Boston College defensive tackle Austin Giles. According to Weis, Giles went full speed on the final play at "our right guard" (Trevor Robinson) and while, as Weis granted, there is no rule against going full speed on even a kneel-down play, Olsen took exception to it.

When I happened upon the contretemps, the interesting thing was that Olsen was truly irate. Giles was smiling.


Which reminds me, for anyone keeping score, no Boston College players flipped off Irish fans posing for photos on-field during pre-game warmups. At least none that we know of yet.

Strange Appearances, the Freshmen Edition

Roby Toma in Notre Dame's opening offensive series. Zeke Motta in Notre Dame's final defensive series.

ND's Most Impressive Stat (and it's not Jimmy Clausen's No. 2 rating in passing efficiency)

Through seven games, the Irish have only turned over the ball five times. They have thrown three interceptions (two by Clausen, only one his fault, in 230 attempts, and one by Crist) and lost two fumbles in 248 carries. ND's five turnovers ties them with Air Force for second fewest in the nation. Undefeated Cincinnati, which has committed only four turnovers, is tops in that category.

As for frequency, the Irish have run 494 plays (excluding punts or field-goal attempts), which means they turn the ball over on average once every 99 plays.

Not-so-Strange Appearances, the Freshman Edition

Manti Te'o atop the tackles list. Te'o, who had nine stops Saturday, has led or tied for the team lead in tackles in each of the three games that he has started.

White Men Can't Jump, Football Edition

Because everything turned out copacetic, Weis was in more of a mood to be jocular regarding his quarterback's lack of jock-ability. When asked about Clausen's less than lofty leap toward the pylon early in the fourth quarter Saturday, the CW said he told Clausen, "Any athletic quarterback in the country would have scored that touchdown."

In his defense, Clausen on Saturday night wondered where the block that Golden Tate should have thrown him was. Tate actually did interfere with his man -- it was shades of the penultimate play of the Bush Push game on that one -- but another Eagle intercepted Clausen in (and I use this term extremely liberally) mid-air.

Speaking of Mid-Air

Anyone know whether Harrison Smith has landed yet from that fake by Shinskie on which he bit?

"He's a Nick (ba-da bow-bow) Tausch!"

Don't mind me, I just have difficulty saying the name of Notre Dame's freshman kicker without thinking of Earth, Wind and Fire's "Brick House". Tausch connected on field goals of 37 and 34 yards Saturday, giving him twelve consecutive field goals without a miss. The school record of 13 was set by Mike Johnston in 1982. Kicking indoors next week, the Plano, Tex., native could very well tie and/or set the record in his quasi-homecoming game.

Young is Getting Old

Pardon me if I jinx it, but if he stays healthy right tackle Sam Young will eclipse the school record for career starts with 49 in Notre Dame's home finale versus UConn on November 21st.

18 States

The answer: Arizona, California, Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Indiana, Louisiana, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Utah and Washington.


... Only 355 days until Western Michigan.

Daily Domer: A Heapin' Dish of Sunday Leftovers From Boston College Win originally appeared on NCAA Football FanHouse on Sun, 25 Oct 2009 19:30:00 EST . Please see our terms for use of feeds.

 

Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | Comments

]]>John WaltersSun, 25 Oct 2009 19:30:00 EST Irish Walk High-Wire in Win, Againhttp://ncaafootball.fanhouse.com/2009/10/24/irish-walk-high-wire-in-win-again/http://ncaafootball.fanhouse.com/2009/10/24/irish-walk-high-wire-in-win-again/http://ncaafootball.fanhouse.com/2009/10/24/irish-walk-high-wire-in-win-again/#commentsFiled under: ,

SOUTH BEND, Ind. -- Boston College head coach Frank Spaziani referred to his team as a "high-wire act".

What does that make the Fighting Irish?

Notre Dame went Wallenda again on Saturday, defeating its Catholic university nemesis 20-16 in a game whose outcome was not decided until Brian Smith's interception with 1:38 remaining. That makes six consecutive games decided by seven or fewer points by the Irish, a school record. Tight-rope walking is all the Irish know.

As the sun disappeared behind the library mosaic of Touchdown Jesus, his arms, we now believe, held aloft in frustration as if to ask, "Not again?", Boston College was just 27 yards away from a game-winning touchdown. Notre Dame was practicing its insidious form of deja voodoo yet again.

Who knew that NBC could air repeats of football games? Yet again the Irish found themselves trailing in the fourth quarter of a game, as they had against Michigan, Michigan State, Purdue, Washington and USC. Yet again the game hung in the balance with less than two minutes remaining. And yet again the Irish leaned heavily on their talented trio of playmakers: quarterback Jimmy Clausen, wide receiver Golden Tate and safety Kyle McCarthy. If not for those three, the most popular Irish name on the Notre Dame campus right now might be Brian Kelly.

Ever since the Irish lost in the final seconds at Ann Arbor -- clearly their 35-0 rout of Nevada in the season-opener was an illusion -- people have been asking just how good the Irish are. The answer: no better, nor worse than their opponent that week.

One Saturday the Irish are only as good as the unranked one-win team (Purdue) that forces them to convert a fourth-down touchdown from four yards out. On another Saturday they're nearly as good as the sixth-ranked one-loss team (USC) against whom they are unable to convert a fourth-down TD play from four yards out. Boston College entered Notre Dame Stadium 0-2 in road games this year, having lost by an average of 26 points in the two losses at Clemson and Virginia Tech. It also had not scored a point in the first three quarters of either of those two games. Yet, B.C. led when the fourth quarter began and not an exacerbated soul among the 80,795 was the least bit surprised.

"The story of our season, the game coming down to the last five minutes," said Tate, whose nifty 36-yard touchdown catch with 8:12 remaining provided the game-winning margin. "We're keeping people at home and making sure they continue to watch the game."

The Irish are downright formulaic in that respect -- Charlie Weis may script the first 20 plays, but Dick Wolf must script the last 20. Clausen has now thrown exactly one fourth-quarter touchdown pass in each of the last six games and not one interception after halftime (he has also now missed on a third-and-long pass to his right when the Irish had the lead -- and a first down would have iced it three different times). Tate's grab was the third such fourth-quarter touchdown reception during this streak. McCarthy's interception on Boston College's penultimate drive was his second of the second half, fifth of the season, and third huge play (including his hit on U-Dub's DeAndre Goodwin and his pick of Kirk Cousins of Michigan State) in the waning seconds of an Irish win this year.

"Coach Weis says he's getting old and tired of it," said Clausen. "I'm getting old and tired of it, too."

The game itself was as enigmatic as Notre Dame. It was, to quote Spaziani's malapropism, "a microorganism" of the 2009 Fighting Irish. Boston College sophomore tailback Montel Harris entered having gained a school-record 264 yards one week earlier and having never fumbled in 362 career carries. The Irish defense held Harris to 38 yards rushing and forced him to cough up the pigskin three times in just 22 carries.

"(The defense) was excellent in the run game," said Weis, and he is correct. The defense also allowed B.C. freshman quarterback Dave Shinskie, who only two weeks ago at Virginia Tech was 1-of-12 passing for four yards, to go Matt Barkley on them, gaining 279 yards through the air. Barkley, the USC frosh, averaged 20 yards per completion a week ago. Shinskie completed 10 passes of 20 or more yards.

Still, the final pass Shinskie completed was to Notre Dame's middle linebacker, Smith. And so the Irish, college football drama queens, at last ended the six-game win streak and decade-long humiliation fest foisted upon them by B.C., or "Backup College". Ever since this streak began in 2000, Domers have attempted to sate themselves against their Catholic rivals by pointing to the supposed academic discrepancy between the two schools. Sample jibe: "What do Boston College and Notre Dame students have in common? They all got accepted to Boston College."

B.C., however, will always have 1993 and 2002, years in which they ruined a perfect season by the Irish in November. And for that reason this rivalry between two schools of the same faith is as chippy as any in which Notre Dame finds itself. On the game's final play, when Clausen took a knee, Eagle defensive tackle Austin Giles apparently took a cheap shot at Irish center Eric Olsen. As the clock struck 0:00, Olsen had to be restrained from Giles but he was barking, "You're the worst (bleepin') player in college football! You're a (bleepin') piece of (bleep)."

It was probably just a coincidence that Olsen, a captain, was whisked away without talking to the media for the first time all season.

Clausen attempted to salute Boston College wideout Rich Gunnell, who was brilliant with 10 catches for 179 yards and a touchdown, after the game when he was in the midst of an on-camera interview. Gunnell went all Jim Harbaugh on Clausen, who sure seems to get little in return for his postgame attempts at bridge-building.

"I guess he was just a little frustrated," Clausen reasoned.

Frustrated, that's the way fans who keep waiting for the Irish to deliver a good pummeling to their opponents seem to be. That should come next week in San Antonio, when the Irish face the most abysmal team on their schedule, Washington State. They should win by at least eight.

Weis, at least publicly, seems blithely unconcerned with his team's margin of victory. When one out-of-town writer observed to the fifth-year head coach that "quite honestly, (your defense) looked pretty lost out there half the time", Weis replied, "Well, let's see, we gave up 16 points, right?"

"Yeah."

"Well, usually give up 16 points on defense, you're usually going to win."

True. There's already been so much suspense this season, let me spare you some if I can. The Irish will win, as easily as they are able to, their next two games against Washington State and Navy. That'll make them 7-2 and armed with a healthy Michael Floyd when they visit No. 20 (and soon to be ranked higher) Pittsburgh on November 14. Until then, you can relax. You've got 20 days until the next high-wire feat.
Follow Us on Twitter Friend Us on Facebook

Irish Walk High-Wire in Win, Again originally appeared on NCAA Football FanHouse on Sat, 24 Oct 2009 23:02:00 EST . Please see our terms for use of feeds.

 

Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | Comments

]]>John WaltersSat, 24 Oct 2009 23:02:00 EST Go Catholics! Notre Dame-Boston College Live Bloghttp://ncaafootball.fanhouse.com/2009/10/24/go-catholics-notre-dame-boston-college-live-blog/http://ncaafootball.fanhouse.com/2009/10/24/go-catholics-notre-dame-boston-college-live-blog/http://ncaafootball.fanhouse.com/2009/10/24/go-catholics-notre-dame-boston-college-live-blog/#commentsFiled under: ,

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.

Daily DomerSOUTH BEND, Ind. -- Four touchdowns?!?

Earlier today on ESPN Gameday Lee Corso predicted that the Irish would take down their Catholic nemesis, Boston College, by four touchdowns. Not so fast, my friend.

Vegas has moved the Notre Dame line down progressively this week, from 10 points to 7-1/2. I don't know exactly whom to believe--the bookies or Corso--but I do know that the Irish have trailed at halftime in three of their past four games. And that they've trailed in the second half in every game this year except the season-opener at Nevada.

You probably want to know about the weather. Nastiest of the season so far, although the rain is little more than a drizzle. However, it's windy and it feels about 40 degrees out there. Not a few fans have broken out their hunting gear a couple weeks early to fend against the cold.
Seen out and about last night: former offensive tackle Ryan Harris, now a starter for the undefeated Denver Broncos, is in town as it is their bye week. Also spotted Chris Zorich and former hoopster Tom Timmermans while doing "field research".

I'll be here all day on the old Twitter. Which reminds me of a good line that Desmond Howard got off this morning: "Kellen Moore has enough time in the pocket to send out a tweet."

Be back at kickoff.

Twitter Updates, Live From South Bend

follow me on Twitter

Go Catholics! Notre Dame-Boston College Live Blog originally appeared on NCAA Football FanHouse on Sat, 24 Oct 2009 13:22:00 EST . Please see our terms for use of feeds.

 

Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | Comments

]]>John WaltersSat, 24 Oct 2009 13:22:00 EST Daily Domer: The Hangover Effecthttp://ncaafootball.fanhouse.com/2009/10/23/daily-domer-the-hangover-effect/http://ncaafootball.fanhouse.com/2009/10/23/daily-domer-the-hangover-effect/http://ncaafootball.fanhouse.com/2009/10/23/daily-domer-the-hangover-effect/#commentsFiled under: ,

SOUTH BEND, Ind. -- As late as Tuesday, the "Kill USC" chalk sign could still be seen on the sidewalk outside The Gug (can a chalk outline be its own chalk outline?).

The campus was quiet, all the students except various fall varsity athletes having made the week-long exodus for fall break. Players caught up on sleep and hopefully coaches who arrived to work at 3:50 a.m. the previous week did, too.

Everything and everyone around campus, with the notable exception of the brilliant mid-October fall colors, seemed drab. Somber. Zombie-like.

It was not exactly the opening scene from The Hangover around here, but it was darn close around.

"Any time you lose a tough game, it's going to take a while to get yourself back to just kind of feeling normal," senior captain Scott Smith said on Wednesday. "I know after the game, kind of into Saturday, on Saturday night, Sunday, even Monday, I was still pretty crushed, because I knew that was my last time, that was my last time being in a game like that against USC."

The Trojans rolled into South Bend last weekend with a seven-game win streak against their rivals and departed with an eight-game streak. Now Boston College, which annually is more amped up for this Catholic rivalry than the Irish ever seem to be, roll in with a six-game win streak against Notre Dame.

It's not often you get a second chance at exorcism, and just seven days later. The question is, have the Irish put last week behind them? As bizarre as it may seem to some, will they enter Notre Dame Stadium emotionally flat on Saturday?

Last season, the Irish returned home to South Bend with a 5-2 record having won easily in Seattle and, in their minds at least, having put their season back on the rails after a squandered opportunity at North Carolina. They blew a two-touchdown halftime lead at home versus Pitt, eventually losing in four overtimes, and never psychologically recovered until the Hawaii Bowl.

Their first game after that Pitt loss was at Chestnut Hill. "It was a rough game," safety Kyle McCarthy conceded Wednesday. "I don't know what it was. But, you know, the whole game kind of seemed a little bit down."

The Irish defense actually played well that night, allowing just one touchdown drive. Still, the offense was awful and the embarrassment, in a nationally televised, prime-time game, was palpable. The Irish slunk off the field after the 17-0 loss to the jeers of "Where's your heart?" from the Boston College crowd.

So, it's a year later. Notre Dame is coming off another emotionally devastating home loss and here comes the Catholic little brother who, since 1993, has owned the bragging rights in this rivalry. And like USC last week, the Eagles will bring their most inexperienced roster, headed by a rookie head coach, in years and with which to take on the Irish.

And so the question becomes for this team that endured emotional bedspins in the wake of last Saturday's defeat, does Boston College represent the hair of the dog?

"I don't think we really have a choice but to get over it, you know," said center Eric Olsen, the player who was plowed seven yards backward by future first-round pick B.J. Raji in last year's loss at B.C. (no single play was more representative of the second half of the '08 season). "I mean, Boston College is another rival, just like USC. They're a hard-nosed team. They're going to play to come out and punch us in the mouth the first snap. We can't have a hangover from this loss at all."

They can't. And they shouldn't. But will they?


2010 Schedule Finalized

If you're planning an autumn wedding next year, you'll make the least amount of enemies if you set the date for November 6. That's the first open date on a featherbed-soft schedule in which the Irish will only play 25 percent of their games in an opponent's home stadium (that just may be the kind of factoid that will persuade Jimmy Clausen to return for his senior year).

Also, the Irish play what I believe is a record five non-BCS conference opponents: Western Michigan, Navy, Tulsa, Utah and Army. And the Irish face that quintet in succession before heading west for the season finale at USC.

Here is the schedule:


September 4............PURDUE
September 11...........MICHIGAN
September 18...........at Michigan State
September 25...........STANFORD
October 2..............at Boston College
october 9..............PITTSBURGH
October 16.............WESTERN MICHIGAN
October 23.............Navy, at the New Meadowlands Stadium in East Rutherford, N.J.
October 30.............TULSA
November 13............UTAH
November 20............Army at Yankee Stadium
November 27............at Southern California


The late addition opponent is Western Michigan (not exactly the non-BCS Bronco team fans would most clamor to see the Irish play). Notre Dame and Western Michigan last met in 1920, when the Irish won 41-0 in South Bend. Oddly enough, that game marked the last time the Irish played a school currently residing in the Mid-American Conference.


Weis and Herzlich

A nice little story around here, although it received little national play (of course, because Charlie did not come off poorly), is the budding friendship between the Irish head coach and the Boston College middle linebacker, last year's ACC Defensive Player of the Year, Mark Herzlich.

Herzlich, as you likely know, is sitting out this season while undergoing cancer treatment (a rare form of cancer, Ewing's Sarcoma, was discovered in his femur). As Weis related the story on Tuesday, when he learned of Herzlich's condition last spring he phoned the Boston College athletic director, Barry Gallup, whose son just happens to play for the Irish. Weis asked Gallup if it would be okay if he were to contact Herzlich.

The two communicated, but Weis did not leave it at that. Through phone calls and text messages the two have kept in constant touch ever since. My man Brian Hamilton had a terrific story on the friendship in the Chicago Tribune earlier this week.

Before the story ran Hamilton asked Weis what led him to reach out to Herzlich. I'm paraphrasing here, but Weis' response was basically that he reaches out to a lot of people, it just doesn't get publicized.


B.C. Notes

Facts to bore your friends with while standing in your panchos as you tailgate Saturday:

--Dating back to 2004, Boston College is 23-1 in non-conference games. The only loss came to Vanderbilt last season in the Music City Bowl, 16-14.

--The Eagles are 5-2 despite relying heavily on underclassmen. Quarterback Dave Shinskie is a freshmen, albeit a 25-year-old who a year ago was pitching for the AA New Hampshire Fisher Cats. Sophomore tailbacks Josh Haden and Montel Harris are BC's "1-2 Punch", both because they're the team's two leading rushers and they wear the Nos. 1 and 2, respectively. The team's leading tackler is freshman weakside linebacker Luke Kuechly.

--How vital has Kuechly been to a team that is without its defensive star of a year ago, Herzlich? The freshman from Saint Xavier (aka "Saint X") in Cincinnati has 69 tackles, while the Eagles' next-leading tackler, strong safety Marcellus Bowman, has just 33.

-- In their only two road games and, not coincidentally, only two losses, BC has been outscored 53-0 in the first three quarters. The combined stats for the two first halves at Clemson and at Virginia Tech: zero points, 0-12 on third downs, minus-two yards rushing and three yards passing.

--The series is tied 9-9. As you know, Boston College has won the last six games between the only two major Catholic schools that play FBS football.

--Shinskie, the pitcher turned quarterback, was drafted just four spots (118th, as opposed to 114th) below Red Sox closer Jonathan Papelbon in the 2003 MLB draft.

--B.C. has the largest offensive line the Irish will face this season. The average size of an Eagle O-lineman is 6-6, 305 pounds, led by 6-8, 322-pound right tackle Rich Lapham.

--According to the BC media notes, the two most-applied to private institutions that play FBS football are Notre Dame's last and next opponent. USC is No. 1 (and 3rd overall behind NYU and Boston University) and Boston College is No. 2 (and fifth overall after USC and then Cornell). The other FBS schools on the top 10 overall list are Stanford (No. 6) and Northwestern (No. 10). The Fighting Irish are not on that list. According to BC, 30,845 high school seniors applied for admission and 2,250 freshman are enrolled.

--Last year the Eagles led the nation in interceptions with 26. Clausen had the worst game of his career against the Eagles last season, tossing four picks in 46 attempts (or twice as many as he has through six games this season). This year BC has only picked off five passes through seven games.

Daily Domer: The Hangover Effect originally appeared on NCAA Football FanHouse on Fri, 23 Oct 2009 15:13:00 EST . Please see our terms for use of feeds.

 

Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | Comments

]]>John WaltersFri, 23 Oct 2009 15:13:00 EST Fighting Irish Receive Mid-Term Gradeshttp://ncaafootball.fanhouse.com/2009/10/22/fighting-irish-receive-mid-term-grades/http://ncaafootball.fanhouse.com/2009/10/22/fighting-irish-receive-mid-term-grades/http://ncaafootball.fanhouse.com/2009/10/22/fighting-irish-receive-mid-term-grades/#commentsFiled under: ,

Before every Notre Dame football game NBC, ABC or ESPN needs to issue a "viewer discretion is advised" warning. Fighting Irish football, circa 2009, can be hazardous to your health if 1) you have a weak heart, or 2) you're Michael Floyd.

After a misleading 35-0 win to open the season versus Nevada, the Irish have since played five games in which the winning score either was made or could have been made in the final minute or in overtime. Laptop jockeys in the press box have long since learned the folly of attempting to write a lede before heading down to the field in the final five minutes.

Meanwhile, the ever-popular "How hot is Charlie Weis' seat?" parlor game continues. If you're charting its temperature, it went from hot (recall the "coaching internship" billboard above the Linebacker Lounge?) to comfortable to scalding (passing the ball on second and third downs at Michigan), reverted to refreshingly cool for a few weeks, briefly shot up to third-degree burns level (down 34-14 to USC early in the fourth quarter) and now seems, once again, to be snug.

Contingent, of course, upon Saturday's outcome with Boston College. Here now, a look back at the first six games of the 2009 season.

Offensive MVP: Golden Tate, WR

After Michael Floyd caught three touchdown passes in the season-opening win versus Nevada, Weis was asked whether the sophomore might eventually go down as the greatest wide receiver in school history. Without missing a beat Weis replied, "Golden would argue with you."

With 41 catches at the season's midpoint, Tate is ahead of Jeff Samardzija's pace for most receptions (78) in a season, but that statistic only scratches the surface. The former high school running back is Jimmy Clausen's "Get out of Jail Free" card, hauling in fourth-quarter touchdown receptions against Michigan, Michigan State and USC. He had two crucial catches in the game-winning drive at Purdue and one Cirque-du-Soleil grab in the game-winning drive against Washington. And his final catch versus USC, in which he braced the ball atop his helmet with two hands while a USC defender attempted to pry it loose, well that, as Trojan coach Pete Carroll himself observed, "was big time."

The top Tate trait, though, is his joie de vivre. Whether he is swan-diving into the opposing trombone section, hurdling over a Purdue defensive back, or attempting to dive into the end zone from the 5 yard-line, Tate has fun. He is that rare (only?) Notre Dame gridder that even the school's haters both respect and appreciate.

The kid who as a freshman knew only one route ("Go!") and made six catches all season is now being compared, by Carroll, to Lynn Swann for his ability to make plays. Clausen will likely be the one invited to the Heisman ceremony, and he may deserve it. But in the wake of Floyd's absence, no Domer has been more Golden.

Best wide receiver on the squad? Maybe not. Most valuable offensive player. Definitely.

Defensive MVP: Kyle McCarthy, SS

The fifth-year captain made key fourth-quarter interceptions at Michigan and against Michigan State, but no one on the Irish defense is a surer tackler or makes more of them. Generously listed at 6-1, 210 pounds, McCarthy is not the big hitter that his predecessor, Tom Zbikowski, was, but he is a human lasso. With a team-high 54 tackles, McCarthy is on pace to become the first defensive back ever to lead the Irish in tackles two consecutive years.

Most Valuable Freshman: Manti Te'o, LB

He made a tackle on his first collegiate play and in both starts has led or tied for the team lead in tackles both games. A tsunami in shoulder pads.

Honorable mention: Nick Tausch, who has converted 10 of his 11 field-goal attempts.

In honor of Don Meredith (the man who coined the phrase "If 'ifs' and 'buts' were candy and nuts, we'd all have a merry Christmas) we present the what-if extremes of 2009 thus far:

The Irish are 6-0 if ...

1) Jimmy Clausen and Shaquelle Evans connect on that third-and-10 sideline route in Ann Arbor.

2) Kyle Rudolph catches the jump ball against USC before his side touches the turf out of bounds.

The Irish are 1-5 if ...

1) Kirk Cousins does not overthrow a wide-open Larry Capers in the end zone.

2) The fourth-and-goal pass to Rudolph in West Lafayette fails.

3) Washington ever develops a short-yardage offense.

Hit of the Season

McCarthy and Harrison Smith revive the (archaic Happy Days reference alert) Malachi Crunch on the final play of overtime on U-Dub wideout DeAndre Goodwin.

Runner-up: Manti Te'o's freshman-mixer blast on USC quarterback Matt Barkley.

Three Things to Feel Good About ...

1) The Irish held Nevada, the nation's leading rushing offense, to a little more than half (153 yards) its average yardage on the ground (292) per game.

2) Clausen, playing without his go-to receiver half the year, is second in the nation in passing efficiency. His TD:INT ratio is 7:1, whereas Tim Tebow's is 4:1 and Colt McCoy's is less than 2:1.

3) Notre Dame threw two touchdown passes versus USC, whose defense had not allowed one through five games, and scored more points (27) against the Trojans than their previous three opponents, all Pac-10 teams, combined (25).

Three Things to Feel Not So Good About ...

1) The Irish are rated 117th in pass defense despite having faced four quarterbacks who are first-year starters.

2) Three of Notre Dame's four leading tacklers are defensive backs (McCarthy, Harrison Smith and Robert Blanton).

3) Three of the four wins were of the late fourth-quarter, come-from-behind variety versus unranked teams who sport a combined record (minus the games against the Irish) of 9-9.

Streak Broken

Michigan State's six-game win streak in South Bend dating back to 1993, the longest of its kind.

Streak Not Broken

USC's eight-game win streak against the Irish, the longest for the Trojans in the storied rivalry.

Unsung Heroes

Center Eric Olsen, moving positions as a senior and becoming the unquestioned leader of a much improved offensive line. Defensive end Kapron Lewis-Moore, who went immediately from redshirt to season-opener starter and is now second on the team in tackles for loss and tied for first in sacks. Wideout Robby Parris, who has been nothing but clutch, even if he spent the first three games collecting dust on the sideline.

Strangest Development

True freshmen Nick Tausch and Ben Turk wrest the place-kicking and punting duties, respectively, from upperclassmen Brandon Walker and Eric Maust. Long snapper Jordan Cowart is also a freshman.

Strangest Statistical Anomaly

Notre Dame has outscored its opponents 68-33 in the second quarter of games. In the other three quarters combined, the Irish are minus-five in points.

Single-Payer Option

Michael Floyd suffered game-ending injuries in two of the three games in which he appeared. Both times Floyd was out of bounds at the moment he suffered his injury.

Best Impersonation of Boise State

Clausen slips a handoff to Armando Allen Statue of Liberty-style for a two-point conversion late in the fourth quarter at Michigan.

Worst Impersonation of Boise State

Irish fail to score on three straight plays from the 4 yard-line in the waning seconds against USC.

You-Tube Sensation Moment

The post-whistle punch to the jaw Olsen received courtesy of Michigan's Jonas Mouton. Referees missed the quick punch (Olsen, when asked about it, said, "I have no idea what you're talking about. No comment.") but the Big Ten suspended Mouton for one game.

Quotable

Olsen, on his reaction to Clausen injuring his toe and having to leave the game against Michigan State: "I'm sure all of Notre Dame Nation was terrified, but I looked up into the student section and all the females seemed to be excited that Dayne (Crist) was coming into the game."

Weis, on Clausen having provided a self-diagnosis of his injured toe following the Michigan State game: "Dr. Clausen?"

Carroll, in his opening remarks for this week's press conference: "It was great to beat Notre Dame ... twice."

Fighting Irish Receive Mid-Term Grades originally appeared on NCAA Football FanHouse on Thu, 22 Oct 2009 13:20:00 EST . Please see our terms for use of feeds.

 

Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | Comments

]]>John WaltersThu, 22 Oct 2009 13:20:00 EST ACC Notebook: FSU Needs Victorieshttp://ncaafootball.fanhouse.com/2009/10/22/acc-notebook-fsu-needs-victories/http://ncaafootball.fanhouse.com/2009/10/22/acc-notebook-fsu-needs-victories/http://ncaafootball.fanhouse.com/2009/10/22/acc-notebook-fsu-needs-victories/#commentsFiled under: , , , , , , ,

It has reached this point at Florida State: panicking Seminole fans are searching for victories.

At 2-4, FSU and head coach Bobby Bowden need to find four more victories in their remaining six games to become bowl eligible. That challenge starts Thursday night in a nationally-televised game at North Carolina. The Seminoles close October against North Carolina State and tangle with Clemson, Wake Forest, Maryland and Florida in November.

FSU has played in 27 consecutive bowl games dating back to 1981, when the Seminoles went 6-5.

With all that's going on at FSU surrounding its porous defense, injuries and the emotional debate surrounding Bowden's future, the Seminoles' best-case scenario might be the program's second 6-6 regular season in four years. FSU beat UCLA in the 2006 Emerald Bowl to avoid its first losing season since 1976, Bowden's first in Tallahassee.

Bowden says FSU's struggles are not a secret.

"We'll go out there and stop a team, and stop a team, and stop a team and then whoop," Bowden said in reference to the Seminoles' defensive lapses.

"So if they ever get that squared away we'll be a pretty good ballclub. Another thing is, nobody's crushed us. We haven't been blown out. We've been right down to the wire with everybody, which maybe with one play less for them or one play more for us, we could be up at the top."

Both the Seminoles (2-4, 0-3 ACC) and Tar Heels (4-2, 0-2) are looking for their first ACC victories of the season. It's actually an intriguing matchup, considering FSU is No. 1 in the conference in offense and last in defense, while UNC is No. 1 in defense and last in offense.

The Thursday night game is also the first of its kind at Kenan Stadium.

Follow Us on Twitter Friend Us on Facebook
"It's a big challenge for us and we have to execute and play as well as we can if we want to be successful," FSU quarterback Christian Ponder said. "It's a heck of a challenge and it's something that we can show up and shock the world and make a statement because it's a Thursday night game and it's the only game on. So we have an opportunity but a heck of a challenge."

Bowden, who has indicated he'd like to return to coach in 2010, believes FSU's season-opening defeat to Miami has haunted the Seminoles. The game wasn't decided until the final play, when Seminoles receiver Jarmon Fortson was unable to catch a low pass in the end zone for the win.

"I think the old expression that Lombardi said, that winning breeds winning and losing breeds losing and once you've lost, you have got to get your kids to have a positive attitude," Bowden said.

"With us, we've been in every ball game. Every game we've been in has come down to the last three or four minutes. If we score, we win. If we don't score, we lose. Against Miami, we're on the two yard line with a first down but the time caught us and we couldn't get in anything but two plays. Then we missed a touchdown in the end zone that would have won it.

"That might have changed our whole season if could have won that darn ball game."

And if you are wondering about Bowden's retirement plans, he continues to drop hints. The latest one Bowden gave that he will not slip quietly away after this season came in a radio interview he gave Wednesday to an AM station in Raleigh, N.C.

Bowden also told host David Glenn of Sports Radio 850 "The Buzz" that he will not discuss his exit strategy because he doesn't want a highly publicized countdown to the end.

"I know I am in the last years - I say plural - of my career," said Bowden in a transcript of the interview available on ACC Sports Journal.

"My days are numbered. I did not want to say, 'Well, I'm going to leave at this time.' I already know when I'm going to leave. And [coach-in-waiting] Jimbo Fisher knows when I'm going to leave. He and I have talked about it."

ON THE ROAD

Boston College has Notre Dame's number.

The Eagles have won six straight against the Irish, including the last three at storied Notre Dame Stadium. If Boston College prevails, the senior class will graduate having gone undefeated against the Irish.

The bad news is BC is 0-2 on the road this season, falling behind early and never recovering at Clemson (25-7) and Virginia Tech (48-14).

"It is very complicated," BC coach Frank Spaziani said in at attempt to explain the Eagles' road struggles.

"Early in the year we weren't where we are now so that attributes to it. It also depends on the opposition and how they play against us can also factor in. Everything is new to this team because we are so young so we have to learn from it and move
on."

YOUNG GUNS

The two youngest head coaches in the ACC will meet Saturday, when Clemson plays Miami.

Clemson's Dabo Swinney is the youngest head coach in the ACC at 39. He will turn 40 on Nov. 20, the day before Clemson meets Virginia in the final home game of the year. Miami's Randy Shannon is the second youngest head coach at 43. He won't turn 44 until Feb. 24.

If history is any indication, the showdown could generate some gray hairs. The last two games between the teams were decided in overtime. Clemson won at Miami in one overtime in 2004, while the Hurricanes won at Clemson in triple overtime in 2005.

UM is in the driver's seat in the ACC Coastal Division, while the Tigers continue to search for consistency. A win over the eighth-ranked Hurricanes would represent the highest-ranked team Clemson has defeated since the 2004 (end of 2003 season) Chick-Fil-A Bowl, where Clemson defeated No. 6 Tennessee.

"We are in the middle of a division race so at this point it is like a playoff every week in this conference," Swinney said. "We are trying to just stay in the hunt and get better as a football team. We have our hands full. This is a good team we are getting ready to play."

HISTORY LESSON

The Duke Blue Devils, off last week, will try to put together back-to-back ACC wins for the first time since 1994 when they face visiting Maryland on Saturday.

Duke, 3-3 overall and 1-1 in the ACC, says it hasn't lost any momentum from its biggest win of the season, a 49-28 victory over North Carolina State nearly two weeks ago. Thaddeus Lewis completed 40 of 50 passes and finished with a career high 459 yards. Meanwhile, the Blue Devils defense held the Wolfpack offense scoreless in the second half.

Duke and Maryland haven't met in five years.

"Kids don't see much past now, past today, so all they know is that Maryland's had a difficult start," Duke coach David Cutcliffe said.

"But when you put on the tape, they see that Maryland's a good football team. You really don't have to convince kids once they see tape. They've seen enough tape to know what a good team looks like and what a bad team looks like. Maryland is a good team."

ACC Notebook: FSU Needs Victories originally appeared on NCAA Football FanHouse on Thu, 22 Oct 2009 11:26:00 EST . Please see our terms for use of feeds.

 

Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | Comments

]]>Bobby BowdenBobbyBowdenJim HenryThu, 22 Oct 2009 11:26:00 EST Daily Domer: Plenty of Time to Talkhttp://ncaafootball.fanhouse.com/2009/10/20/daily-domer-plenty-of-time-to-talk/http://ncaafootball.fanhouse.com/2009/10/20/daily-domer-plenty-of-time-to-talk/http://ncaafootball.fanhouse.com/2009/10/20/daily-domer-plenty-of-time-to-talk/#commentsFiled under: ,

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 dispatches on the Irish.

SOUTH BEND, Ind -- It's fall break at Notre Dame, which means that the football team has the campus all to themselves. And that the coaching staff have the football players all to themselves. "No [time] limit this week," Charlie Weis said at the weekly Tuesday high noon presser. "When school's not in session there is no time frame, so this is a good time. This is a good time for being a football coach because the players are around a lot more now."

Today I'll have the highlights both from Charlie's press conference and also from interviews with offensive players, who were made available to the media at 1:15PM CT as opposed to after practice (circa 7PM), as they would be during a school week. I'll begin with the players.

Wide receiver Robby Parris

Parris, who had nine receptions in 2008, had the same number of catches versus USC on Saturday. He made two of the three most difficult catches of the contest for entirely different reasons. The catch on the fake field goal was hard because he had almost too much time to ruminate on it. The fourth-and-10 catch was difficult because he got drilled but hung on. We asked Parris about both.

On the fake field goal: "You're so open, you want to make a move, you want to run with the ball before you catch it. Before the play, they told me to do your best as an actor. I'm standing on the line of scrimmage and I saw all eleven of their guys rushing the kicker and I thought, This is actually going to to work. My heart started beating faster and faster.

"As soon as [holder Eric Maust] released it, [Taylor] Mays already had a full head of steam," Parris recalled. "Me outrunning a guy who has the angle and a 4.2 40 to the end zone ... I actually thought I'd gotten in, but I guess I stepped out."

On his final catch: "In the last second before the play [Jimmy Clausen] audibled to me," said Parris. "I was shocked that he threw it to me. You have so much going on in your head--catching passes is more mental than it is physical-- and I knew I was going to get hit. It says a lot about your character when you hang onto a ball like that."

On the play, Parris was sandwiched by a pair of USC players and his helmet came off (for the second time that afternoon), but he did not suffer a concussion. He suffered some minor injuries to his right ankle, knee and hip but Weis said that he is healing "remarkably well". X-rays were negative and Weis said that Parris "might be able to be used even as early as the game this week."

Parris missed the second half of his senior season in high school after dislocating his right hip and he allowed that "it definitely crossed my mind" to quit football then. "But that's what I do," he said, "I play football. Plus, I really couldn't pass up a free education."

Follow Us on Twitter Friend Us on Facebook
When someone reminded Parris that, with hits such as the one he took last Saturday, there is still a price to pay, he smiled. "It helps the pockets," he said. "Your body kind of pays the price."

Did his parents dissuade him from playing again? "My parents like watching me play," said Parris who, hands down, has the best rock-star coif on the team, "even more than I like playing."

Parris has often found himself left out of the rotation at Notre Dame, first waiting behind Jeff Samardzija and Rhema McKnight and more recently behind Michael Floyd and Golden Tate. But as this season has shown, the kids is clutch. And though he only has 55 career receptions, the 6-3 senior has not given up thoughts of an NFL career.

"It's kind of crazy now that I'm a senior," Parris said. "Every week I see guys I played high school with, or lined up against, on starting lineups of NFL teams."

He mentioned wideouts, contemporaries from his Ohio prep days such as former Michigan receiver Mario Manningham (New York Giants) or former Buckeyes Brian Hartline (Miami Dolphins) and Brian Robiskie (Cleveland Browns), who are now on NFL rosters.

"A lot of it," concedes Parris, who has lost a step since his high school hip injury, "is getting in the right system. I'm not the guy you're going to throw fades to. I'm better in the slot, as a possession receiver."


Offensive guard Chris Stewart

During Weis' Sunday evening coach's show, host Jack Nolan asked tailback Armando Allen which teammate you'd most likely find in the library. Allen replied Chris Stewart. The largest man in an Irish uniform (6-5, 330 pounds), Stewart graduated cum laude with a degree in history in just 3 1/2 years. I asked Stewart, who still has a year of eligibility remaining after this season, his future academic plans.

"I want to go to law school," the Spring, Texas, native said, "get my JD and then my MBA. I'm not sure how that's all going to work out with football."

Stewart will take the GMAT, for business school, in December. He plans to take the LSAT in February. He could be the first Irish gridder, at least in my memory, to start for the football team while attending law school."


Wide receiver John Goodman

 A standout quarterback and wide receiver during his prep years at Bishop Dwenger in Fort Wayne, Goodman never played as a freshman last season. He got his first career start versus USC. On Notre Dame's second play took a shotgun snap and raced 13 yards. It was the longest Irish rushing play of the day. Goodman talked about the patience he has displayed and the excitement of playing against USC.

"Leading up to the game, I told a few people here and there that I'd be playing more," said the 6-3 Goodman. "I only told my family that I was probably going to be starting. It's not like I posted it on Facebook."

I asked Goodman if fellow Hoosier Jeff Samardzija, who rarely saw the field before his junior year and then went on to post the most prolific receiving stats in Notre Dame history, inspired him as he sat last year. "It definitely inspired me," Goodman said, "because he is truly a great player. He didn't make a start here until his junior year and he became one of the greatest receivers in the country.

Goodman, who made a key reception on the final drive but then fumbled it [Armando Allen recovered], said, "My eyes got real wide on that."

On whether he prefers that he is both a wide receiver and now also a quarterback in the Leprecat (okay, the term is growing on me): "I think I was better at quarterback than as a receiver back in high school," said Goodman, who as a senior at Dwenger made current Irish frosh Tyler Eifert his top target.

Goodman did not attempt a pass out of the Leprecat versus USC. Because it is said that he has a stronger arm than either Jimmy Clausen or Dayne Crist, he was asked if there are any pass options in his Leprecat package. "I can't elaborat on it," Goodman smiled, then added, "but I'm all for it."

Daily Domer: Plenty of Time to Talk originally appeared on NCAA Football FanHouse on Tue, 20 Oct 2009 18:41:00 EST . Please see our terms for use of feeds.

 

Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | Comments

]]>John WaltersTue, 20 Oct 2009 18:41:00 EST Irish 'Fighters' in Need of a KO Punchhttp://ncaafootball.fanhouse.com/2009/10/20/irish-fighters-in-need-of-a-ko-punch/http://ncaafootball.fanhouse.com/2009/10/20/irish-fighters-in-need-of-a-ko-punch/http://ncaafootball.fanhouse.com/2009/10/20/irish-fighters-in-need-of-a-ko-punch/#commentsFiled under: ,

Charlie WeisFanHouse 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 dispatches on the Irish.

SOUTH BEND, Ind. -- Fight? Yes.

Might? We're waiting.

"Anyone who doesn't realize the fight that's in the Fighting Irish is missing the boat," Notre Dame coach Charlie Weis said following Saturday's 34-27 loss to No. 6 USC. "If you haven't watched the last five games, I mean, it's every week the same thing."

The last five games?!? The last two years. As Saturday's nail biter proved yet again, Notre Dame football is the most compelling prime-time network drama that does not involve forensic evidence. What it also reaffirmed, what we've long believed, is that the Irish have a penchant for playing to the level of their competition. Johnny Drama, meet Charlie Drama.

Beginning with the 2007 season finale at Stanford, Notre Dame has played twenty games. Fourteen of those contests have been cliffhangers, even though only three of the opponents (No. 22 North Carolina and No. 5 USC in '08, and No. 6 USC on Saturday) were ranked at the time.

Let's erase the six games, or 30 percent of the sample, that were over at halftime. In a pair of 2008 losses, at unranked Boston College and at No. 5 USC, the Irish trailed by double-digits at the intermission and never narrowed the gap. On the other hand, the Irish led Michigan, Washington, Hawaii and Nevada by at least 11 points at the half and only widened the margin in the second half. The Wolverines and Wolf Pack did not score after the break and only the Warriors scored in the third quarter.

Four dominant performances in a twenty-game stretch for the Irish. And again, only three of those opponents were ranked.

Follow Us on Twitter Friend Us on Facebook
Now, about those other fourteen games, or 70 percent. In all but one game -- the 2008 win versus Purdue -- the margin between the two sides was a touchdown or less. In all but two games -- Purdue and, one week earlier, Michigan State -- the team trailing by a touchdown or less in the fourth quarter had the football. That is to say, in twelve of those fourteen games one fourth-quarter play could have changed the outcome.

What is it that Weis' favorite New Jersey musician says? "Whoa, oh, livin' on a prayer!"

The Irish, it so happens, are 8-6 in those games. For every jig-worthy, good-til-the-last-dropped-pass win the past two years against Navy or Washington, there have been mind-numbing losses to Pittsburgh and Syracuse and Michigan. Exciting? Sure. Impressive. Hardly.

Granted, the Irish were still a callow, adolescent team in 2008. They failed to put away North Carolina, Pitt and Syracuse even though they had double-digit leads against them late in the second quarter or afterward. Win those three games, finish the regular season 9-3, and the word "buyout" would have never entered any trustee's vernacular last November.

And this season, playing half their games minus the services of their most gifted player, Michael Floyd, only the most cynical observers would question the team's heart. The Irish have only led by as much as ten points twice, against Michigan State and Purdue, and while blowing those leads, they salvaged those games.

Then again, why haven't the Irish been able to build anything greater than a 10-point lead against the unranked likes of Michigan, Michigan State, Purdue and Washington, three of whom are playing a first-year starter at quarterback?

Where is the killer instinct on a team that, every Saturday except last, emerges from the tunnel with a decided advantage in talent? USC, on the road and behind a freshman quarterback, albeit a precocious one, stepped out to a 20-point lead against an Irish team that should have been as motivated as any Weis has ever led onto a field.

Why don't the Irish do that?

A lot of people compared Saturday's final score (34-27) to last year's (38-3) and concluded that the Irish have closed the gap between themselves and the Trojans almost as swiftly as Taylor Mays closed the one between himself and Robby Parris on that fake field-goal pass.

Not me. I saw a USC team that was arrogant and reckless and this season, at least, does not have enough talent to get away with it. I saw an Irish squad that had a few warriors as opposed to "a bunch of fighters", as Weis noted afterward. I saw a team that needs a few more Tates and Te'o's, though those two were by no means the only death-or-glory types that suited up. But the Irish need more. And Weis, whose work ethic and knowledge are laudable, needs to light a fire under this team that has too often been absent since, well, 2005.

It remains his greatest shortcoming as a coach: his inability to develop a killer instinct within his team.

Does anyone work longer hours than Weis, who was arriving at the office last week at 3:50 a.m.? Doubtful. Does anyone absorb information more efficiently? No. I believe wholeheartedly that Weis has his players' respect, and I could not always say that. But is he able to inspire them?

It has to start this week. The Irish begin a three-game stretch against unranked Boston College (5-2, but 0-2 away from Chestnut Hill) and Navy (5-2) at home, and in between versus abject Washington State (1-5) in San Antonio. And, really, if the Irish want to be taken for anything more than a better-than-average unranked team -- which, at the moment, is exactly what they are -- they need to crush this trio.

They need to play like the Irish of '05 that led 35-7 at halftime of Weis' debut, at Pitt. They need to play like the group that, after that season's heartbreaking home loss to USC, won each of its next four games by at least 20 points. Show me Irish, please, that somewhere in your arsenal you have a knockout punch besides the one you throw at glass-jawed WAC teams.

http://xml.channel.aol.com/xmlpublisher/fetch.v2.xml?option=expand_relative_urls&dataUrlNodes=uiConfig,feedConfig,localizationConfig,entry&id=515420&pid=515419&uts=1256059784
http://www.aolcdn.com/ke/media_gallery/v1/ke_media_gallery_wrapper.swf
Latest College Football Photos
Students gather around a candle vigil for Connecticut football player Jasper Howard in Storrs, Conn., Monday, Oct. 19, 2009. Howard, 20, of Miami, a junior and starting cornerback, and a second person were stabbed during a fight early Sunday after someone pulled a fire alarm during a dance at the UConn Student Union, police said. (AP Photo/Jessica Hill)
AP
FR125654 AP

Latest College Football Images

    Members of the University of Connecticut's football team share stories about their teammate and friend Jasper Howard around a candle vigil at the spot where he was killed outside the Student Union on campus in Storrs, Conn., Monday, Oct. 19, 2009. Twenty-year-old Howard, of Miami, a junior and starting cornerback, and a second person were stabbed during a fight early Sunday after someone pulled a fire alarm during a dance at the UConn Student Union, police said. (AP Photo/Jessica Hill)

    ASSOCIATED PRESS

    A candle vigil is displayed at the spot where Connecticut football player Jasper Howard was killed outside the Student Union on campus in Storrs, Conn., Monday, Oct. 19, 2009. Twenty-year-old Howard, of Miami, a junior and starting cornerback, and a second person were stabbed during a fight early Sunday after someone pulled a fire alarm during a dance at the UConn Student Union, police said. (AP Photo/Jessica Hill)

    AP

    Kentucky quarterback Randall Cobb (18) finds the end zone around Auburn defensive back Daren Bates (25) during an NCAA college football game on Saturday, Oct. 17, 2009, in Auburn, Ala. (AP Photo/Butch Dill)

    ASSOCIATED PRESS

    Arizona State receiver Chris McGaha celebrates his game-winning touchdown against Washington during the second half of an NCAA college football game Saturday, Oct. 17, 2009 in Tempe, Ariz. Arizona State won 24-17. (AP Photo/Matt York)

    ASSOCIATED PRESS

    Arizona State's William Sutton (90) and James Brooks (34) celebrate their team's win over Washington during the second half of an NCAA college football game Saturday, Oct. 17, 2009 in Tempe, Ariz. Arizona State won 24-17. (AP Photo/Matt York)

    ASSOCIATED PRESS

    A documentary is being produced on the Wichita State plane crash in Colorado from almost 40 years ago. The Star met with Howard Johnson, from left, father of one of the victims, Ron Johnson; one of the survivors, David Lewis, and the roommate of Ron Johnson, Gerry Gleissner. (Allison Long/Kansas City Star/MCT)

    MCT

    A documentary is being produced on the Wichita State plane crash in Colorado from almost 40 years ago. The Star met with the parents of one of the victims of the crash; Howard, left, and Virginia Johnson. In the background is a picture and helmet of their son Ron Johnson. (Allison Long/Kansas City Star/MCT)

    MCT

    A documentary is being produced on the Wichita State plane crash in Colorado from almost 40 years ago. Wichita State football player Ronnie Johnson, shown in family photograph, was 21 years old when he and 29 other people were killed. (Courtesy Johnson family/Kansas City Star/MCT)

    MCT

    Members of the University of Connecticut's football team share stories about their teammate and friend Jasper Howard around a candle vigil at the spot where he was killed outside the Student Union on campus in Storrs, Conn., Monday, Oct. 19, 2009. Twenty-year-old Howard, of Miami, a junior and starting cornerback, and a second person were stabbed during a fight early Sunday after someone pulled a fire alarm during a dance at the UConn Student Union, police said. (AP Photo/Jessica Hill)

    AP

    A candle vigil is displayed at the spot where Connecticut football player Jasper Howard was killed outside the Student Union on campus in Storrs, Conn., Monday, Oct. 19, 2009. Twenty-year-old Howard, of Miami, a junior and starting cornerback, and a second person were stabbed during a fight early Sunday after someone pulled a fire alarm during a dance at the UConn Student Union, police said. (AP Photo/Jessica Hill)

    AP



Three games before the November 14 contest at Pitt, who should be ranked. A loss in any one of these games is, at this point in Weis' tenure, completely unacceptable. Even a game that is in doubt in the fourth quarter should be cause for alarm. These dates need to be more than simply wins; they need to be WAC jobs.

Listen, I'll be honest. There are entirely too many Domers I know who are bringing their iPods and portable televisions into wedding services and receptions because the Irish cannot take care of business before 6:30 p.m. Those dining out on cuisine fancier than buffalo wings are having to cancel their reservations. My friends, they're tired of the drama. They're sick of cliffhangers against Cliff Clavens.

And they're not alone. Last week someone asked left tackle Paul Duncan how his bye weekend went. "It was nice," Duncan replied, "not to have a knot in my stomach at 7 p.m. on Saturday night."

You and all of Domer-dom, Paul.

Irish 'Fighters' in Need of a KO Punch originally appeared on NCAA Football FanHouse on Tue, 20 Oct 2009 13:05:00 EST . Please see our terms for use of feeds.

 

Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | Comments

]]>charlie weisJohn WaltersTue, 20 Oct 2009 13:05:00 EST Blanket Coverage: Bet on Vegashttp://ncaafootball.fanhouse.com/2009/10/19/blanket-coverage-vegas-knows-champions/http://ncaafootball.fanhouse.com/2009/10/19/blanket-coverage-vegas-knows-champions/http://ncaafootball.fanhouse.com/2009/10/19/blanket-coverage-vegas-knows-champions/#commentsFiled under:

Florida GatorsThirty years ago, in the midst of the college football season, Sports Illustrated ran a cover in which it posed one player from each of the five most prominent remaining teams with perfect records (Alabama, Florida State, Houston, Nebraska and Ohio State). The headline read, "Who's Really No. 1?"

Inside, the author, Douglas S. Looney, revealed that oddsmakers in Las Vegas put their stock in a sixth team: USC.

The Trojans' record was stained by an inexplicable tie to an unranked Pac-10 opponent, Stanford (Does any of this sound familiar?), yet Looney noted that Jimmy "The Greek" Snyder and Mort Olshan, publisher of The Gold Sheet, had USC as their prohibitive No. 1.

"We feel USC would be favored over any team in the country if the game were played right now," said Olshan.

Cutting to the chase, those Trojans, featuring such all-timers as Marcus Allen, Ronnie Lott and Anthony Munoz (as well as that season's Heisman Trophy winner, Charles White) wound up facing No. 1 Ohio State in the Rose Bowl. John Robinson's team, a 7-1/2 point favorite, beat the Buckeyes, but undefeated Alabama, playing in the Sugar Bowl, won the national championship.

The point is, Vegas knows. Vegas always knows. Let someone else follow the AP poll or the coaches' poll or the BCS standings. But in Vegas, there's too much money to be lost by being wrong.

So who does Sin City like? Here are the current odds on the top five teams, according to VegasInsider.com, with their season-opening odds in parentheses

Florida -- 6/5 (2/1)

Texas. -- 5/2 (11/2)

Alabama -- 3/1 (15/1)

USC -- 5/1 (6/1)

Boise State -- 25/1 (75/1)

As you can see, all five programs have lessened their odds since September 1st, with the Tide becoming five times a surer thing than they were before they beat Virginia Tech. Boise State has decreased their odds by a factor of three.

Looming like it's 1979, though, are the Trojans and their Tebow 2.0 quarterback, Matt Barkley. The freshman may not have Tebow's "Braveheart" streak, but he is every bit as precocious and charismatic and, hey, is already a better passer. The greatest impediment facing Barkley's Trojans has a lot to do with the old Woody Allen adage: "Ninety percent of success is just showing up."

Follow Us on Twitter Friend Us on Facebook
If the Longhorns remain unbeaten -- big "if" there -- it will be nearly impossible for USC, No. 4 in the BCS rankings, to pass them. But should Texas falter the door opens wide for the one-loss Trojans. And with Pete Carroll's history in Pasadena in January (yes, we remember Vince Young), you'd have to think that USC versus either SEC contender would be, at worst, even money.

ATL= All (Virginia) Tech Losses

With its 28-23 loss at Bobby Dodd Stadium, Virginia Tech is now 0-for-Atlanta this season. And 5-0 everywhere else. The Hokies lost their season-opener to No. 1 Alabama inside the Georgia Dome and on Saturday lost at Georgia Tech, located a mile or so north up I-75.

In the event that Frank Beamer's team does advance to the ACC championship game--believe it or not, Virginia (Yes, Virginia!) is atop the Coastal Division -- the good news is that it takes place in Tampa. The next possible visit to the ATL for the Hokies, though, may just be the Chick-fil-A Bowl, which always takes an ACC school.

Boise, Oh

We hear it most often from the SEC precincts concerning Boise State's credibility. The line goes something like this, "Why don't you schedule an opponent with claws?" Great question, although it may be a case of nobody with claws desiring to have anything to do with Chris Petersen's Broncos.

Yes, the Broncos did venture to Athens, Ga., four years ago (pre-Petersen) and got shredded by the Dawgs, 48-13. It was worse than that score. But that was then. Do the Broncos, No. 4 in the BCS rankings, belong in the BCS championship game should two of the three schools above them lose? In short, are they one of the two best teams in the nation?

No. Why? The Broncos allow too many points (21.25 per game over their last four games) and too much yardage. Still, it's worth noting that sophomore quarterback Kellen Moore is now No. 1 in the nation in passing efficiency. More impressively, Boise State has now played six games, or 360 minutes, and in all that time they have trailed just 4:25. That happened last Wednesday after Tulsa ran a halfback option pass -- straight out of Petersen's playbook -- for a 53-yard touchdown midway through the first quarter.

On the ensuing drive, Boise not only scored but made a two-point conversion. Why did the Broncos go for two, down 7-6 in the first quarter? Because they could.

What the Hail Mary?

Chris McGahaYou will never see a more wide-open wideout on a Hail Mary pass than Arizona State's Chris McGaha was versus Washington. The Sun Devil wideout had missed practice all week with the flu, and had yet to catch a pass when he lined up in the right slot at midfield with 0:13 remaining and the score tied 17-17 in Tempe.

McGaha ran a go route and well, no one in the Husky secondary followed. McGaha only had 141 career receptions before the play, so one can understand how easy he was to ignore.

Folks in the Grand Canyon state may consider this justice, as one week earlier the Huskies beat Arizona on what is now being called the "immaculate interception".

Tracking Your '08 Heisman Finalists

It ain't 2008 any more, and nobody knows that better than the three quarterbacks who visited New York City last December.

Tim Tebow was sacked six times and committed four turnovers in No. 1 Florida's narrow 23-20 win against Arkansas. Colt McCoy's best play was his touchdown-saving tackle after tossing an interception in Texas' 16-13 win against Oklahoma and as for his counterpart, Sam Bradford, he reinjured his right shoulder on a takedown eerily similar to the one that took place versus BYU. That play, too, occurred in Dallas.

What Atlanta is to Virginia Tech, Dallas is to Bradford.

Speaking of deja vu...

Just like in 2005, USC converted a dagger-to-the-heart pass on 3rd- or 4th-down for 60-plus yards against the Irish when Anthony McCoy got behind the secondary. That play, as with Matt Leinart's 4th-and-nine pass to Dwayne Jarrett four years earlier, led to the game-winning touchdown.

Here's the kicker: Pete Sampson of Irish Illustrated notes that the Notre Dame defender who dragged down Jarrett and McCoy from behind on both plays -- and not with ease -- was wearing No. 22. In '05 it was Ambrose Wooden and on Saturday it was safety Harrison Smith.

Minne-snow-ta

Unless they're making snow angels, recent Friday afternoon walk-throughs cannot be much fun for Minnesota. Seven inches of snow blanketed Happy Valley on the eve of the Golden Gophers' visit to Penn State. The week before, an inch or so of snow fell on the Twin Cities on the eve of Minnesota's home game versus Wisconsin. With two outdoor home games awaiting them in November followed by a season finale in Iowa City, Minnesota's snow days are not likely behind them. At least they were wise enough to schedule that visit to Syracuse on Labor Day weekend.

Wide receiver Eric Decker, by the way, has not acclimated to the climate (or perhaps opposing defenses have learned how to key on him). Decker had 43 catches in his first five games (8.6 per game) but has just four catches in his last two.

Tough Times in Terre Haute

 Last week Indiana State head coach Trent Miles decided to remove the decals from his Sycamores' helmets to remind his players of the importance, in his words, of "team over self". One can understand Miles' gesture, as Indiana State entered its game with Illinois State with the nation's longest losing streak, 32 games. Alas, it did not work as the Redbirds rolled to a 38-21 win over their FCS foes and extended the Sycamores' winless drought to 33 games. At Indiana State, "33" used to be a magic number, not a tragic number.

Stay Classy, Trojans

Courtesy of Deadspin, here's USC tight end Blake Ayles performing a "knucklehead" move during pre-game warm-ups in South Bend.

Dr. Phil, you're needed in Columbus

It may be that the best thing about Terrelle Pryor being at Ohio State, at least for Buckeye fans, is that at least he isn't in Ann Arbor. It isn't all Pryor's fault, last Saturday's upset to a Purdue squad that had lost five straight, but we haven't seen chemistry like this since Michael Jackson smooched Lisa Marie Presley at the MTV VMA's.

The sophomore dual-threat quarterback's highlight moment, through 20 games, likely remains the fourth-quarter touchdown pass that he caught in January's Fiesta Bowl loss to Texas. Where to they go from here in Columbus? Hard to say, but you watch Pryor's body language and you see that he's a thousand miles from happy. And not just last weekend.

http://xml.channel.aol.com/xmlpublisher/fetch.v2.xml?option=expand_relative_urls&dataUrlNodes=uiConfig,feedConfig,localizationConfig,entry&id=515420&pid=515419&uts=1255983760
http://www.aolcdn.com/ke/media_gallery/v1/ke_media_gallery_wrapper.swf
Latest College Football Photos
Texas Tech's Brandon Sharpe (92) swats down a throw by Nebraska quarterback Zac Lee (5), as Nebraska's Ricky Henry (74) and Marcel Jones (78) block Texas Tech's Colby Whitlock (93), in the first half of their NCAA college football game in Lincoln, Neb., Saturday, Oct. 17, 2009.(AP Photo/Nati Harnik)
ASSOCIATED PRESS
AP

Latest College Football Images

    In this undated photo provided by the University of Connecticut, Jasper Howard is seen. Howard, 20, of Miami, and another student were stabbed during a fight after a fire alarm was pulled during a university sponsored dance at the UConn Student Union just after 12:30 a.m., police said. (AP Photo/University of Connecticut) **NO SALES**

    ASSOCIATED PRESS

    In this undated photo provided by the University of Connecticut, Jasper Howard is seen. Howard, 20, of Miami, and another student were stabbed during a fight after a fire alarm was pulled during a university sponsored dance at the UConn Student Union just after 12:30 a.m., police said. (AP Photo/University of Connecticut) **NO SALES**

    AP

    Connecticut football head coach Randy Edsall speaks during a news conference about the stabbing death of playerJasper Howard in Storrs, Conn., Sunday, Oct. 18, 2009. Twenty-year-old Howard, of Miami, a junior and starting cornerback, and a second person were stabbed during a fight early Sunday after someone pulled a fire alarm during a dance at the UConn Student Union, police said. (AP Photo/Jessica Hill)

    ASSOCIATED PRESS

    Connecticut football head coach Randy Edsall, left, speaks at a news conference about the stabbing death of player Jasper Howard as university president Michael J. Hogan, second from left, Major Ron Blichter of UConn Police, center, UConn athletic director Jeff Hathaway, second from right, and player Desi Cullen, right, listen in Storrs, Conn., Sunday, Oct. 18, 2009. Twenty-year-old Howard, of Miami, a junior and starting cornerback, and a second person were stabbed during a fight early Sunday after someone pulled a fire alarm during a dance at the UConn Student Union, police said. (AP Photo/Jessica Hill)

    ASSOCIATED PRESS

    Connecticut football head coach Randy Edsall, left, comforts senior captain Desi Cullen, right, during a news conference about the stabbing death of teammate Jasper Howard in Storrs, Conn., Sunday, Oct. 18, 2009. Twenty-year-old Howard, of Miami, a junior and starting cornerback, and a second person were stabbed during a fight early Sunday after someone pulled a fire alarm during a dance at the UConn Student Union, police said. (AP Photo/Jessica Hill)

    ASSOCIATED PRESS

    A student walks by yellow tape marking the crime scene where University of Connecticut football player Jasper Howard was stabbed and killed early Sunday morning, in Storrs, Conn., Sunday, Oct. 18, 2009. Twenty-year-old Howard, of Miami, a junior and starting cornerback, and a second person were stabbed during a fight early Sunday after someone pulled a fire alarm during a dance at the UConn Student Union, police said. (AP Photo/Jessica Hill)

    AP

    Connecticut football head coach Randy Edsall, left, comforts senior captain Desi Cullen, right, during a news conference about the stabbing death of teammate Jasper Howard in Storrs, Conn., Sunday, Oct. 18, 2009. Howard, 20, of Miami, a junior and starting cornerback, and a second person were stabbed during a fight early Sunday after someone pulled a fire alarm during a dance at the UConn Student Union, police said. (AP Photo/Jessica Hill)

    ASSOCIATED PRESS

    Police vehicles are parked at the crime scene where University of Connecticut football player Jasper Howard was stabbed and killed early Sunday morning, in Storrs, Conn., Sunday, Oct. 18, 2009. Twenty-year-old Howard, of Miami, a junior and starting cornerback, and a second person were stabbed during a fight early Sunday after someone pulled a fire alarm during a dance at the UConn Student Union, police said. (AP Photo/Jessica Hill)

    ASSOCIATED PRESS

    Connecticut football head coach Randy Edsall, left, comforts senior captain Desi Cullen, right, during a news conference about the stabbing death of teammate Jasper Howard in Storrs, Conn., Sunday, Oct. 18, 2009. Howard, 20, of Miami, a junior and starting cornerback, and a second person were stabbed during a fight early Sunday after someone pulled a fire alarm during a dance at the UConn Student Union, police said. (AP Photo/Jessica Hill)

    AP

    Nebraska quarterback Zac Lee (5) is tackled by Texas Tech's Bront Bird, in the second half of their NCAA college football game in Lincoln, Neb., Saturday, Oct. 17, 2009. Texas Tech beat Nebraska 31-10.(AP Photo/Dave Weaver)

    AP


Must-See TV, Beyond the BCS

The most interesting game this Saturday takes place in Provo, where No. 10 TCU (6-0) visits No. 16 BYU (6-1). The Horned Frogs, who are in the top ten nationally in both scoring defense (10th) and total defense (4th), take on a quarterback, Max Hall, who is in the top ten in both passing efficiency (4th) and total offense (8th). If TCU can defeat the Cougars and then a ranked Utah on Nov. 14th in Fort Worth, they would likely overtake Boise State in the BCS rankings. Winning at BYU, though, will be about as easy as findind a Starbucks in Provo (there aren't any).

On the opposite end of the non-BCS spectrum, 0-7 Ball State visits 0-6 Eastern Michigan. The Cardinals have now lost eight straight after having won 12 in a row to begin the 2008 season.

Road Games, Truly

Remember a few weeks back when a lot of folks were linking last season's Emerald Bowl participants, Cal and Miami, as BCS darkhorses? That was then -- at least for Cal --but this week the Golden Bears and Hurricanes did truly have something in common. Both bussed to their road games. No.9 Miami traveled 3 1/2 hours up the Florida Turnpike to Orlando to face Central Florida, while Cal saved the state's beleaugered school system at least $100,000 by making the six-hour drive down I-5 to face UCLA. Both the Canes and the Bears won.

Stats Incredible

-- Texas limited Oklahoma, the school of Billy Sims and Marcus Dupree and Adrian Peterson, to minus-16 yards rushing on 22 carries.

-- Okay, it occurred in a deluge, but Virginia punter Jimmy Howell's rugby-style kick traveled minus-three yards in the Cavaliers' 20-9 win against Maryland.

-- Cal's Jahvid Best had a 93-yard touchdown run at UCLA, but only gained nine yards on his seventeen other carries versus the Bruins in the Bears' 45-26 win. Best, an early-season Heisman tout, is now the third-leading rusher in the Golden State (102.7 yards per game, 20th nationally) behind Fresno State's Ryan Mathews (the nation's leading rusher at 162.3 yards per game) and Stanford's Toby Gerhart (No. 5 at 124.1).

-- Michigan played its first-through-fifth string quarterbacks in the 63-6 "nothing to see here, keep moving" win against FCS opponent Delaware State, who pocketed $550,000 for their troubles. Delaware State, not the Wolverine QBs.

-- Arizona State freshman linebacker Vontaze Burfict, the cornerstone of a Sun Devil defense that is No. 7 nationally in total defense, had three personal fouls in the first half of ASU's win over Washington.

-- Kentucky, playing at Auburn and minus injured quarterback Mike Hartline, defeated the Tigers for the first time since 1966 (not that the two have played every year). The Wildcats entered Jordan-Hare Stadium having played and lost three consecutive games against Top 25 opponents (Florida, Alabama and South Carolina).

Jasper Howard

There is nothing to say about the death of the Connecticut cornerback other than that it was utterly tragic and a horrible waste. As the younger brother of someone who, when in college, was stabbed in the abdomen during a fight and fortunately survived, I can only imagine how my life would be different today had it turned out tragically.

All you can do is offer your prayers and support to Howard's family and to the UConn team.

Blanket Coverage: Bet on Vegas originally appeared on NCAA Football FanHouse on Mon, 19 Oct 2009 15:35:00 EST . Please see our terms for use of feeds.

 

Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | Comments

]]>John WaltersMon, 19 Oct 2009 15:35:00 EST