Boiler Plate | by Pat

Purdue's starting quarterback Brandon Kirsch came into the 2005 season with labels like "cocky", "risk-taker", and "fiery". However, after a 2-1 start and a scant 4 touchdown passes, new adjectives like "uneven" and "inconsistent" have been popping up. Even Coach Tiller has mentioned the need for Kirsch to play better.

Tiller was asked Tuesday to evaluate Kirsch's play after three games.

"Good, average and not so good," he said. "Not necessarily in that order. But he's played OK. He's executed parts of the offense very well, and he's not executed parts of it."

One area the coach would like to see Kirsch improve is running the option plays.

"He's been premature with some of his pitches," Tiller said.

The first time that ND faced an option play this year was against Michigan State. Now Kirsch isn't Drew Stanton, and as long as he keeps pitching the ball more often than not, it might not be terribly effective, but it is something to worry about. One key to stopping the option will be to keep the pitchmen like Kory Sheets from breaking off long runs -- like his 88-yarder against Minnesota. Both Abiamiri and Frome will have to play disciplined football and make sure they don't get caught trying to defend both the QB and pitch-man on the option. From the limited Boilermaker football I've seen, it seems they mainly run the option from the shotgun a la the current Urban Meyer/spread option craze.

One thing that does worry me is if Purdue decides to try the option-play-action pass (my favorite play from NCAA 2004). Given the noted tendencies of our safeties to fly up for run support, I really hope we don't see Kirsch set up for a long pass while Zibby and Nedu are charging the line of scrimmage.

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In other Boilermaker personnel news, the Purdue defense will be minus one starting linebacker as strong-side linebacker Bobby Iwuchukwu will miss the game following knee surgery. His replacement is Cliff Avril who started four games last season.

Then again, Purdue might bench all of its starting linebackers. Tiller's pissed, and has threatened to give the starting nod to the current backups.

"It's safe to say they've played better football in the past, and I expect them to play better football in the future," Tiller said.

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Other bits and pieces to make you look knowledgeable at your local gamewatch:

• 6'9" wide receiver Kyle Ingraham only has 133 yards receiving over the first three games, but much of that is due to a sore ankle that might still be bothering him on Saturday.

• Purdue's #2 tight end, Dustin Keller, missed the Minnesota game with a sprained ankle and might end up missing the Notre Dame game as well. Keller is currently Purdue's leading touchdown receiver with two of Purdue's four passing touchdowns.

• Building on his 88 yard touchdown run, sophomore Kory Sheets has been officially moved up to backup running back to Jerod Void (5 rushing TDs so far) in the place of 5th year senior Brandon Jones.

Varmint Victory | by Jay

If you missed Purdue's 42-35 overtime loss to the Golden Gophers last week, here's a pretty good article from CFN.com's Matthew Zemek, wherein he details the cat-and-mouse game of adjustments between the two coaching staffs. It gets a little fawning, but it's a pretty good read.

Trailing 35-28 after one possession in OT, the Gophers had to get seven or lament a devastating defeat. Browning was right back under the gun after having to direct Cupito through a tying TD drive and two-point play. Once again, he had to come up with something fresh under pressure, and once again, Browning delivered. He used a bubble screen to get close to the Purdue goal line, but after a few plays got blown up by Spack’s aggressive defense, the Gophers faced 4th and goal at the 8. What was an offensive coordinator to do?

Browning had the answer.

Realizing that Spack’s defense was aggressive, and also knowing how effective the bubble screen had just begun to be for his offense, Browning used a tripps formation that initiated bubble screen-like action on the part of the slot receiver, only for another pass catcher—Logan Payne, who was set farther to the outside—to break inside while Purdue’s defense flowed to the edges. Payne got wide open, and Cupito made the easy throw for the tying touchdown. Just for good measure, Browning successfully used another bubble screen in the second overtime, but it was that 4th and goal call—which took previous play calls into consideration and manipulated tendencies—that was his greatest stroke of genius.

Lockwood. Chaney. Tiller. Spack. And especially Mitch Browning. All five of these men distinguished themselves in a game for the creative, thinking football fan. The sport to which these guys have given their lives was honored by their efforts on Saturday in the Metrodome. It was an absolute pleasure to watch, so beautiful and artistic that the only thing missing from this contest was a PBS pledge drive at halftime.

On a different note, if you're a masochist, and you'd like to relive some highlights from last year's 41-16 embarrassment, check out this video clip compilation put together by a Purdue fan. (Be sure to turn the volume down -- the music's terrible.) The 2:50 mark is particularly vomit-inducing.

As Charlie said in his presser a couple days ago, last year's game was "just painful".

Still Boiling | by Jay

Just wanted to point your attention to a piece that Michael did back in June called Boiling Point, which discusses a little bit more on Brock Spack's defense. Enjoy.

Boilermaker Benchmark | by Jeff

For the ten coaches that played Purdue during their first season, the game against the Boilermakers has surprisingly been a good indicator of a coach's future success, as the four coaches that won by 17 or more all went on to win National Championships. Leahy didn't play Purdue in his first season, although he did beat Purdue 49-6 in 1946 after his two year hiatus as coach. Even Elmer Layden (.770 record at ND) won by a double digit margin.

Certainly one game doesn't serve as a (cough) referendum on any coach, and the Purdue teams of days gone by were not as talented as the teams of today, but it was interesting to see the correlation between this game and a coach's future success.

First Year Games vs. Purdue

Year	Coach	Career Win %	Result	Score	Location	Purdue's Record
1986	* Lou Holtz	.765	W	41-9	Home	3-8
1918	* Knute Rockne	.881	W	26-6	Away	3-3
1964	* Ara Parseghian	.836	W	34-15	Home	6-3
1975	* Dan Devine	.764	W	17-0	Away	4-7
1934	Elmer Layden	.770	W	18-7	Home	5-3
2002	Ty Willingham	.583	W	24-17	Home	7-6
1981	Gerry Faust	.535	L	14-15	Away	5-6
1997	Bob Davie	.583	L	17-28	Away	9-3
1954	Terry Brennan	.640	L	14-27	Home	5-3-1
1959	Joe Kuharich	.425	L	7-28	Away	5-2-2

* won a National Championship

Spack Attack | by Mark

When the 2005 season began many Notre Dame fans believed that the Purdue defense, led by defensive coordinator Brock Spack, would be one of the two toughest tests for Charlie Weis and the Notre Dame offense. And there is very good reason for that: Spack has been magnificent against Notre Dame. Consider that in the three years of Diedrick's Offensive Offense, ND managed a grand total of 29 points on offense against Purdue. (For a point of comparison, Notre Dame scored 30 in its three losses to USC.)

But something strange is going in West Lafayette. Despite having all 11 starters back on defense, and having excellent depth along the defensive line and among the linebackers, the Purdue defense isn't playing anywhere near the level it was at in 2004. Take a look at the difference in where Purdue currently ranks in the major defensive statistical categories and where they finished in 2004:

RUSHING DEFENSE
'04: 14th
'05: 41st

PASS EFFICIENCY DEFENSE
'04: 49th
'05: 84th

TOTAL DEFENSE:
'04: 40th
'05: 87th

SCORING DEFENSE
'04: 15th
'05: 82nd

Purdue gave up 24 or more points only three times in twelve games last season, but so far this year, Purdue has yet to keep an opponent under 24 points. Against each team they've played this year - Akron, Arizona, and Minnesota - they've given up three touchdown passes in every game. Three of those TDs have covered between 32 and 79 yards in the air. Even Minnesota, who will run on any team, also threw for nearly 300 yards against the Boilermakers.

So you might be saying "This is great news for Notre Dame!" Well, it might be. We know that the only thing that has really managed to stop the ND offense so far this year is the ND offense. But Spack and his players have a history of success against Notre Dame, they have a tremendous amount of pride, and Spack remains one of the better defensive coordinators in the country.

Expect the Purdue defense to play its best game of this still young season -- I certainly do. But if they somehow continue to play at the sub-par level we have seen over the first three games, the Boilermakers will be making a mistake worthy of Sean Connery: they'll be bringing a knife to a gun fight.

Cirque du Purdue | by Jay

Playing Purdue is a little like going to the circus.

You sir, STEP right up! STEP right up! Come see PURDUE FOOTBALL!




MARVEL at the fairlyand GOLDEN GIRL, and the mysterious WOMAN IN BLACK!



Gaze in WONDER at the SILVER TWINS!



OOH and AHH at the Purdue Golden Silks!



the Pom Squads!

Baton Twirlers!

the Moustaches!

and ROARING Choo Choos!



Enjoy the COMMEMORATIVE Sun Bowl Rings!

BE AMAZED at a 6'9 wide receiver!



THRILL to the sight of BASKETBALL ON GRASS!

and CHEER to cut-blocks so VICIOUS, it's a part of the school fight song!

Fighting Varsity
Here's The Fighting Varsity
That Wears The Black And Gold.
They Fear No Foe
And They Hit Them Low.

GAZE in AMAZEMENT at not just football players, but SUPERHEROES!



DELIGHT in the wonders of the magical SHILLELAGH!

"I think it is a whoopin' stick," Purdue quarterback Brandon Kirsch said Tuesday.

"It's a walking stick," Tiller said. "I have no desire to take the stick off the trophy and go for a walk with it."

"I've seen it. I don't know what it is though," Bryant said. "It looks like a flute."

and TREMBLE at mighty BOILERMAKER PETE!

Your huge, plastic head,
Giant sledgehammer, big drum.
Worst mascot ever.

and most of all, COWER at the GIRTH of the DRUM!



It's Spectacular, Spectacular!



Yes, Ladies and Gentlemen, Children of All Ages, get a ticket for the Greatest Show in West Lafayette!



It's PURDUE FOOTBALL!

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Yep, after all that, I think I need a drink.

Boilermaker

1 shot blended whiskey (preferably Wild Turkey)
1 mug of beer

The method of drinking varies. Some shoot the whiskey straight and use the beer as a chaser. Others pour the two together and drink it. A "Depth Charge" occurs when you drop the shotglass into the beer glass and down the drink all at once.

Recipe c/o the Global Gourmet.

Statistically Speaking | by Pat

• To quote directly from the und.com game notes, here's a reflection of how much the offense has improved this season.

With 560 yards of total offense in today's game, Notre Dame has now piled up over 500 yards of offense in three of its first four games. The team compiled 502 at Pittsburgh and 594 against Michigan State. The last time the Irish put up 500 yards of offense three times in a single season was 1996, when the Irish accomplished that feat four times. From 1997-2004, Notre Dame reached 500 total yards of offense in a game only five times.

• Darius Walker has now topped 100 yards rushing for the first four games of the season. He's the first player to do so in the first four games of the season. Allen Pinkett had 5 100-yard rushing games in a row so Darius can tie him with a century mark performance against Purdue. The ND record for consecutive 100 yard rushing games is 7, set by Lee Becton in 1993.

• Brady Quinn not only rapidly moving up the career attempts, completions, and yardage records, he also moved into a tie for 2nd place with 8 career games notching over 250 yards passing. The all-time leader is Jarious Jackson with 9 so it's possible that Quinn could reach a tie for first with a good showing against Purdue.

• Say what you will about his coverage, but Chinedum Nduwke is making an impact in the secondary. So far this season he has four fumble recoveries. Going back through the stats for the past 10 years, no player on the Irish defense totaled four fumble recoveries in a single season. Nduwke also has an interception giving him 5 turnover recoveries so far only a third into the season. Over the last ten year period, here are the Irish defenders who over a whole season have at least matched that total.

8 - Lyron Cobbins, 1995 (3 FR, 5 INT)
8 - Shane Walton, 2002 (1 FR, 7 INT)
6 - Quentin Burrell, 2003 (2 FR, 4 INT)
5 - Gerome Sapp, 2002 (1 FR, 4 INT)

• So far this season, Notre Dame has successfully completed 26 of 61 third downs into first downs or touchdowns. So just how have we been doing it? Who's the most likely target? Of the 26 successfully converted 3rd downs, one has been by penalty, leaving 25 conversions. Here's the breakdown.

Third Downs Converted, by Player

Player	Rush	Pass	Total
Anthony Fasano		3	3
Jeff Samardzija		4	4
Maurice Stovall		5	5
Rhema McKnight		1	1
Asaph Schwapp	1		1
Rashon Powers-Neal	3		3
Brady Quinn	2		2
Darius Walker	3	2	5
David Wolke	1		1
Totals	10	15	25

Season-long Running Averages

Offense

Category	Pitt	UM	MSU	UW	2005	2004
Yards per rush	5.5	2.4	2.8	5.0	4.0	3.32
Avg yards per pass attempt	8.4	4.7	8.1	8.8	7.7	7.2
Avg yards per pass completion	11.0	11.7	14.8	13.1	12.4	13.4
Pass completion %	67%	63%	55%	68%	62%	54%
Third Down conversions	10/15 (67%)	4/15 (27%)	6/18 (33%)	6/13 (46%)	26/61 (43%)	68/183 (37%)
Rushing yd average	275.0	104.0	107.0	233.0	179.75 (39th)	127.4 (85th)
Passing yd average	227.0	140.0	487.0	327.0	295.72 (17th)	218.1 (54th)
Total offense yd average	502.0	244.0	594.0	560.0	475.00 (13th)	345.5 (81st)
Time of possession / game	32:45	30:55	35:49	36:56	34:07	30:50
Red Zone Touchdown Efficiency	5/ 6 (83%)	2/2 (100%)	4/ 5 (80%)	3/5 (60%)	14/ 18 (77%)	25 / 36 (69%)

Defense

Category	Pitt	UM	MSU	UW	2005	2004
Yards per rush given up	3.3	2.4	4.5	1.9	3.9	2.7
Avg yards per pass attempt	6.3	5.1	12.1	10.2	7.3	7.9
Avg yards per pass completion	11.0	11.7	20.4	21.5	14.0	13.6
Pass completion percentage	57%	43%	59%	48%	52%	58%
Quarterback sacks	5	2	1	3	11	30
Rushing yd average against	103.0	114.0	161.0	41.0	104.75 (32nd)	88.2 (4th)
Passing yd average against	220.0	223.0	327.0	408.0	294.5 (105th)	281.2 (116th)
Total yd offense average against	323.0	337.0	488.0	449.0	399.25 (76th)	369.4 (54th)

Turnovers

Category	Pitt	UM	MSU	UW	2005	2004
Interceptions by ND	1	1	1	1	4	9
Fumbles Forced / Recovered	2/ 1	3/ 1	4/ 2	2/2	11/ 6	27 / 12
Turnovers gained	2	2	3	3	10	21
Had Intercepted	1	0	1	0	2	10
Fumbles / Lost	1/ 0	3/ 1	1/ 1	2/0	7/ 2	15 / 6
Turnovers lost	1	1	2	0	4	16
Turnover Margin	+1	+1	+1	+3	+6	+5

Special Teams

Category	Pitt	UM	MSU	UW	2005	2004
Kickoff return average	17.5	24.0	21.5	31.0	22.0	18.7
Kickoff return average allowed	16.0	18.0	20.8	16.0	17.9	19.9
Punt return average	23.0	19.0	11.0	15.5	15.8	10.8
Punt return average allowed	0.0	5.2	2.0	10.0	4.7	8.2

_

Playmakers | by Pat

QB - Settling down after a somewhat erratic game against Michigan State, Brady Quinn had one of his best games of this young season. He looked calm and on target for the most part. We also got to see the deep ball and it looked pretty good. One of the best things I noticed is that he's getting really good at feeling the pressure in the pocket and deciding to use his feet when it's warranted. He's not the fastest quarterback in the nation, but he's fast enough and much quicker than opposing teams realize. When he's able to spin out of sacks and run for first downs on 3rd and long, that's just one more way he can break a defense's confidence. It sure is fun to watch him develop into an upper-level college quarterback.

RB - Another day, another century mark for Darius. It seemed that Washington had some success stringing out the draw plays, but I don't think anyone expects Walker to beat everyone to the corner. His strengths are patience and vision. Walker does seem to end every run out of bounds, but given how many carries he gets a game, that doesn't bother me. Besides, when the call is inside and ND needs a few yards, Walker has yet to shy away from lowering his helmet and delivering a pop to the defender. The only real negative from the game was when he failed to reel in Quinn's pass on 4th down.

Rashon Powers-Neal was back in action this week. But while it was great to see him explode into the endzone, most of the credit should go to the offensive line as the hole was huge. He still seems to strictly be a north-south runner, but that has its place and so far he's been effective on the receiving end of short passes. I also noticed that he did a great job blocking in the Washington game. Once he got on a guy he would keep on him until the play was over. Given how much Purdue is going to blitz, I hope RPN gets more than a few appearances in the backfield for both his blocking and change of pace from Walker's running style.

Speaking of change of pace, Travis Thomas made the most of his limited time. He was fast, decisive, and kept the ball firmly in his hands. I'm sure I'm not the only one that enjoyed watching him run over that poor Husky defender that tried to bring him down on the 5-yard line. A performance like that is a big confidence booster and hopefully is enough to earn him a few more carries outside of garbage time.

WR - New game, new breakout player. This time Samardzija took the honors as he leapt from red-zone receiver extraordinaire to all-around threat. Notre Dame's "possesion" receiver showed some great wheels on the 52 yard bomb for a touchdown and incredible hands as per usual the rest of the game. One of the best plays was pulling in a rifled 3rd down pass from Quinn in the red zone that was just a bit too low. He also made a nice play on the Husky hail mary to end the first half. About the only disappointment was that we didn't get to see him attempt that trick play pass.

Stovall appeared to regress a bit from the MSU game, but it's hard to tell from TV exactly why. Quinn seems to really look for Samardzija and Fasano (for good reason, they both catch everything) but I'd have to think that unless Washington was doubling him more often that not that Stovall was open. Stovall did make a great catch on the deep ball in the endzone and only came inches from a spectacular touchdown. The grab of a late Quinn pass on 3rd and long was equally impressive. The good news is that we've had two receivers have big games, which will only serve to make it harder to double one of them. I would like to see Shelton and possibly Grimes see some more passes thrown their way, but that's just me being greedy.

TE - The big play that everyone will remember of course is Fasano leaping over the UW cornerback. He had a great day as usual. Against Washington he also had some nice yards after the catch, which is great to see. With his size, when he catches the ball in motion he's a load to bring down. And after his leap, many of the Husky defenders made sure to hit him higher, which then resulted in Fasano being able to use his size to churn out a few extra yards. There are plenty of good tight ends in college football, but Fasano is going to be a definite challenger for All-American status if he can keep up this pace.

OL- The offensive line looked good all day, especially when it came to pass blocking. One of the reasons that Quinn had a great game is because he had all day to throw the ball. And on Walker's touchdown run, the hole was about 5 yards wide. A running back has to love being able to see the entire defensive backfield while he's running through the hole. What is really impressive is that the line held Manese Hopoi -- last year's Pac-10 tackle-for-loss leader and soon to be UW career tackle-for-loss leader -- to only 1 tackle. This is the same guy that sacked Matt Leinart 3 times last year. After too many penalties in the MSU game, I thought they did a great job on eliminating mental mistakes like jumping offsides too much. However, the holding penalty on the first drive was a costly one as it turned a first and goal into a 2nd and long that eventually became a botched field goal attempt. There is still the issue of failing to convert a 4th and 1 for the second straight game. At that point, the OL should have been able to blow the Huskies off the ball and that didn't happen. Credit to the Washington DL I suppose, but against better teams we're going to need to get those tough yards in close games. The injury to Bob Morton is a bit worrisome. It's true that Sullivan is more co-starter than backup, but the team will miss Morton, who I think is the most improved player on offense so far this young season. Hopefully Bobby won't miss too much time.

DL - The lack of a pass rush again is troubling. Stanback had entirely too much time to set up and throw deep balls on our secondary. Washington's offensive line is big, but really not all that great so it is a bit disconcerting that we couldn't generate consistent pressure on Stanback. Of course, they were incredibly tough against the run, but as we learned that year, that alone doesn't win games. To be fair, the line did come up with some big plays in important situations. The best play was Landri blowing through the line and forcing Stanback to roll out and try a forced pass that was picked off by Wooden. Abiramiri also sacked Stanback for a big loss to force a hail mary to end the half. But still, too much time for Stanback most of the day. He obviously had trouble when he was forced to leave the pocket and far too often he wasn't forced out. It seems that ND is really missing a true pass rusher ala Justin Tuck. Frome is a solid, dependable player, but he's not the edge pass rusher that we need in certain situations. One bright spot has been the play of Ronald Talley, who really does seem to get better every game. However, he does need to cut down on the needless penalties, such as his big (late) hit on Husky QB Johnny DuRocher.

LB - You didn't hear the linebackers' names called out much, but that could do with the fact that Washington was trying to throw over their heads all game. Mays did force another fumble but didn't seem to blitz as much. I could be wrong on the blitz frequency though, that's just my perception. It also seemed like we stayed in our base 4-3 and didn't see much nickel or dime package. Perhaps Minter was just trying to keep things vanilla before we played Purdue and USC. Let's face it, it wasn't fun watching Washington complete all of those long passes, but it's not like the game was really ever in any doubt. I'll take the hit in defensive pass rankings if it means we give Purdue looks they haven't seen all that much. Hoyte was solid as usual, but did have a costly facemask penalty that prolonged a drive that led to a TD. Crum was all over the place, but wasn't terribly involved in each play as he finished with only one tackle. I don't think that's a reflection of his play more than Washington's tendency to attack other areas of the defense.

DB - Well, when it comes to complaining about the play of the secondary, I figure Notre Dame fans have it down to a science by now. Once again, the play of the safeties seems to be the big topic of consternation. Both Zibby and Nedu love to hit, and perhaps that's the problem. They are both still biting on the play-action way too much. When a play actually is a run, they fly up and deliver the big hit, but as we saw on that botched halfback pass, they still get caught in no-man's land on play action. Whenever Zibby ended up in one on one coverage it was pretty obvious that Stanback was going to throw his way. On the big 69 yard pass completion to Marlon Wood, TZ actually was doing a good job keeping up with one of the Huskies' fastest players, but lost a few steps when he peeked over this shoulder to make sure nothing was going on behind him. That's an error that can and should be corrected with coaching so I don't buy any of the talent complaints about why our secondary has been lackluster thusfar. Zibikowski did have a great play on a jump ball to the back of the endzone. He was in position and came over and knocked the pass away.

Nduwke is not the typical ball hawking free safety. but does have 4 fumble recoveries so far this year to go along with one interception. That's a lot of production considering our entire defense in 2004 only had 15 fumble recoveries. So the question is, can you stomach giving up 15 and 20 yard pass plays in the middle of the field if your free safety has a knack of coming up with the turnover? We should keep in mind too that he's only 4 games into meaningful playing time. Some fans will claim that he'd make a great Apache linebacker, but at some point you have to stop moving a player from position to position and just let him grow into the one he's playing. Besides, the coaching staff tried him at Apache linebacker in the spring and moved him back to safety. As with Zbikowski, his mistakes seem to be the variety that are correctable with good coaching. Physically he has more than enough size and speed to play.

Richardson still tends to not look for the ball, but he's much improved from last season. Wooden keeps impressing me. He didn't have the best game against Washington, but is showing a tendency to be more physical, which is nice to see. Towards the end of the game, Terrail Lambert came into the game and Washington went right after him. It was very encouraging to seem him make a great play on the ball in the air and deflect a touchdown pass. According to the latest depth chart he's now the definite #2 cornerback behind Mike Richardson and I would hope he gets more and more playing time this season. On Washington's last touchdown, Leo Ferrine missed the ball, but was in good position and actually turned around to look for the ball. Like Lambert, he's young and I think they both are going to turn into very productive members of the ND secondary.

Special Teams - Good and bad for special teams. The good include more kickoffs into the endzone and Chase Anastacio laying out to block a punt. The bad includes botched field goals and extra points due to poorly handled snaps. As for kick returns, Grimes looked pretty good on his one 30 yard return. He took off with no hesistation, picked a lane, and went right at it. ND fans are still holding their breath that the Irish can return a punt or kickoff for a touchdown for the first time since 2002, but Grimes and Zibby on punt give me hope that we'll see one this season.

Given all the pre-game distractions, I think the team played a good game. Sure a 50 point blowout would have been nice, but there are also benefits to comfortable wins that still leave the team feeling like they could have done more. I'm sure the coaches will have a busy week of practice planned and the best part is that now the focus is all on football rather than our choice of head coach and the surrounding media circus. The pass rush and secondary remain a concern, especially with Purdue up next. Here's to hoping that honest to goodness coaching can actually make an impact mid-season.

On the Upswing | by Pat

Tip of the cap to poster "MCB" on ndnation who pointed out the increase on ratings for Notre Dame games so far this year.

The Michigan State-ND game had a 3.8 rating, significantly exceeding ND's average rating of 2.6 last year. It was just a hair below the 4.0 ABC late afternoon game(s) and the 4.0 ABC primetime game, and more than double the 1.8 CBS game.

That 3.8 rating translates to approximately 5.5 million viewers.

According to this St. Petersburg Times article, the ratings for the Notre Dame-Michigan game a week earlier drew a 4.3 rating nationwide while it has been reported that the Washington-Notre Dame matchup drew a 4.4 rating.

To put these numbers in perspective, when NBC first started to air the Notre Dame home games in 1991, they averaged a 5.3 rating for the first three years and a 4.4 rating for the first eight years. The last six years are a different story though. According to this USA Today article, ratings for the past six years have been 63% lower than the first eight.

It's not surprising that interest is high in the first home game for a new coach and obviously the Washington game had a compelling subtext that no doubt brought in a number of curious one-time observers. The battle against USC should produce stellar ratings, but the real test of how Weis and the resurgent Irish affect NBC ratings will come against games against lesser "name" opponents like Navy and Syracuse. With the increase lately in the number of games shown weekly on TV, I seriously doubt the ratings will ever approach the levels of the early 90's, but if the ratings do take a significant upswing, maybe NBC will finally spring for new intro music.

Odds and Sods: Live Edition | by Mike

This one's going to be a little rough around the edges. Thirty-nine states in our great nation received the Notre Dame-Washington game Saturday. Your humble correspondent resides in one of the eleven benighted states that aired the Virginia Tech-Georgia Tech game instead. Thus I had no choice but to watch the game at a local sports bar. My observations this week reflect the fact that I had no sound, was peering through a forest of backwards hats, and couldn't tape the game to review certain plays. Feel free to chime in with any corrections.

Chemical warfare. During Willingham's time at Notre Dame, Irish fans witnessed a phemonenon that I came to term "forgo the links" games. These were games where, though expected to lose, Notre Dame would play with a fire and preparedness rarely seen during those years. Florida State 2002 and Michigan 2004 are examples. One suspected that the coaching staff had devoted far more time to motivation and gameplanning in the preceding week than they usually did. Saturday's game had every sign of being Willingham's latest forgo the links game. According to a Seattle Times article, Willingham's players noticed a difference.

Willingham insisted all week, however, that wasn't his main motivation, that the game meant no more to him than any other.

His players weren't fooled.

"There was a difference at practice last week," said cornerback Josh Okoebor. "We knew he wanted this game bad, and I feel real disappointed that we let him down because we really could have won. He's intense every week, but you could tell he had that extra oomph for this one."

Go. I continue to be pleased with Weis's willingness to go for it on fourth down, even though Notre Dame failed to convert on any of its three attempts against UW. As revealed in the South Bend Tribune, the party line on the fourth-down attempts related to problems in the kicking game.

Weis said that Fitzpatrick's difficulty kicking toward one end of Husky Stadium in pre-game factored into the decisions.

"We had a little problem in warm-ups kicking field goals into the open end over there," Weis said. "In hindsight, I probably would have just gone ahead and kicked the field goals anyway.

"That's why we went for it, in case you were wondering why we went for it on fourth downs. That's why we did that."

While successful conversions against the Huskies would obviously have been preferable, Weis's decision to attempt the conversion on seven occasions in the first four games bodes well. First, Weis's continued willingness to go for it on fourth down communicates to his players that he believes fourth down conversions are routine. The more confidence the players have in these critical situations, the better. Second, attempting the fourth down conversion puts considerable pressure on the opposing defense. After putting all their effort into getting that big third down stop, the defense finds out their work isn't done after all. Recall that Michigan's two biggest plays -- Manningham's touchdown and Avant's scamper to the 1-yard-line -- occurred on fourth down. I believe the offense usually has a psychological edge on fourth down. Third, in many situations the expected value of going for it is greater than punting. Finally, I dug the play call on the pass to Walker, even though the pass ultimately slipped from Darius's hands.

The Specials. Special teams against Washington were a mixed bag, but I suppose it's better to discover the kinks against the hapless Huskies than most of the teams on our schedule. Samardzija and long-snapper Scott Raridon didn't seem to be on the same page in the first half, leading to botched field goal and PAT attempts. With Samardzija being rather preoccupied with other business, perhaps we can entice Adam Tibble to return from med school and use his remaining eligibility.

As expected, Weis was able to take advantage of Washington's weak special teams. In the first quarter, Chase Anastasio came right up the middle to block a Husky punt. According to the Seattle Times:

[Anastasio] said coach Charlie Weis approached him during warmups and said the Huskies were ripe to have a punt blocked.

Ray. Ray Herring, whose serialized recruiting journal for Florida Today forever endeared him to Notre Dame Nation (if you missed it before, be sure to check it out now), saw his first collegiate action Saturday. Herring's special teams appearance brought the number of freshman who have seen playing time in the first four games to 10 out of last year's 15-member recruiting class.

I wouldn't be surprised to learn there is a connection between Weis's penchant for playing freshmen and this year's early recruiting returns.

Bullet on the chart. Willingham apologists - including a certain defenseless coordinator - have made much of the fact that Weis defeated Willingham with "Willingham's players." While Willingham recruits such as Quinn and Walker played critical roles in Saturday's game, many key positions on the depth chart are still occupied by players who committed to Bob Davie. Here's Saturday's official starting line-up, along with the head coach to whom they committed:

POS ## OFFENSE X 21 STOVALL - Willingham LT 68 HARRIS, R. - Willingham LG 50 SANTUCCI - Davie C 76 MORTON - Davie RG 74 STEVENSON - Davie RT 73 LeVOIR - Davie Y 88 FASANO - Davie Z 83 SAMARDZIJA - Willinhgam QB 10 QUINN, B. - Willingham TE 87 FREEMAN - Davie HB 3 WALKER - Willingham

POS ## DEFENSE LE 95 ABIAMIRI - Willingham LT 98 LAWS - Willingham RT 66 LANDRI - Davie RE 75 FROME - Davie WLB 39 HOYTE - Davie MLB 46 MAYS - Davie OLB 40 CRUM JR. - Willingham LCB 22 WOODEN - Willingham WS 18 NDUKWE - Willingham SS 9 ZBIKOWSKI - Willingham RCB 30 RICHARDSON - Willingham

Over half the offensive starters and four starters on defense committed to Bob Davie. (While one can argue that, despite appearing on the first play, Marcus Freeman is not a true starter, he took the place of Rashon Powers-Neal, who also committed to Davie.) Thus, it is inaccurate to claim that Weis beat Willingham with the team Willingham "built." While Willingham did leave Weis some important pieces, such as the aforementioned Quinn and Walker, Davie in turn had left Willingham with sure-fire first-round-draft-choice Jeff Faine and first-round-draft-choice-under-any-other-coaching-regime Julius Jones. I reject John Saunders' canard that Weis inherited a better situation at Notre Dame than Willingham did.

Take it from the man. The secondary continues its "make a big play, lose a big play" play against the Huskies. (Is Terry Silver instructing them?) While Washington gained 227 of its yards on a mere five plays, Ndukwe and Wooden came up with huge plays in the red zone. Ndukwe ripped the ball free at the one and recovered the fumble, and Wooden made his first career interception in the endzone after a harried Stanback was flushed from the pocket. Four games into the season, the good plays have overcome the bad plays, but improvement will be needed to earn wins against our coming opponents.

What happened. With the season a quarter complete, we can look back at some of our previous games with the benefit of more context. Immediately after the Pitt game, Irish fans had to be happy with the 42-21 defeat of a ranked team. Then Pitt went out the next Friday and proceeded to drop an OT game to Ohio, 16-10. At this time, self-professed analysts throughout the media crowed about how little Notre Dame's victory over Pitt meant. When Pitt was gummed to death by a Callahan-led Cornhusker team, 7-6, the chorus only increased. While the Pitt victory has certainly lost a good deal of its luster, Notre Dame's offensive performance against Pitt remains impressive even in light of Pitt's collapse. While Wannstache destroyed Tyler Palko in remarkably quick fashion, he does appear to have improved the Pitt defense. In fact, in the three games Pitt has played since their thrashing at the hands of Notre Dame, they have given up exactly one offensive touchdown. Ohio netted a field goal and returned two interceptions for touchdowns. Nebraska's sole score came on a 39-yard drive, and Pitt shut out Youngstown State. While these defensive performances came against weak teams, this underscores how ruthlessly efficient Notre Dame's offense was against Pitt, scoring touchdowns on six of ND's first seven possessions before calling of the dogs.

In traditional Sparty fashion, one might have expected MSU to follow up its win at Notre Dame Stadium with a loss to the Zook-led Illini. Instead, MSU dropped 62 points on the former defensive coordinator. So far, MSU looks to be for real, rather than their typical rollercoaster year (such as beating Ohio State's best team in decades in a year they finished 6-6).

And that Michigan victory? Okay, they just suck right now, but the loss to Wisconsin did occur at Camp Randall rather than Ann Arbor. On a semi-related note, it would be a personal affront to Bo if Michigan were even to entertain firing Lloyd Carr any time soon, so Michigan shouldn't even think about it.

Soon forget. This weekend should represent the closing of a chapter in Irish football. While that certain subject couldn't be avoided in the lead-up to and review of this game, hopefully that distraction has passed. We're leaving behind, "Hold me, I'm Irish." Let someone else deal with, "Mold me, I'm a vicious animal."

Poll Madness! | by Jay

College Football Polls! The scourge of our youth!


(Keep in mind these came out before last night's stirring Tiger-Vol tilt.)

USA Today/Coaches: we're 14.

Craziness! Texas Tech ranked ahead of us.

Harris Interactive: we're 13.

Lunacy! Michigan still ranked; Idaho getting five votes.


POLLS! One moment of BLISS...a lifetime of REGRET!

17 and Counting.... | by Pat

The music is speeding up and the empty chairs are getting fewer as offensive lineman Eric Olsen decided to give his committment to Charlie Weis and the Fighting Irish this past Friday. The 17th known verbal commit is an important one as large offensive lineman are one of the biggest priorities for this class. At 6'5" 300lbs, a member of the Rivals Top 250 (for whatever that's worth), and possessing scholarship offers from Miami, Virginia, Maryland, Tennessee, Wisconsin, and finalist Boston College, Olsen certainly fits the bill. He also seems to have the proper mindset.

"I've got the decision out of the way," said the 6-foot-5, 300-pound Olsen. "Now, I can straight-up play and maul people."

A defensive end and offensive tackle for Poly Prep in Brooklyn (alma mater of Marcus Wilson and JW Jordan among others), Olsen appears to be recruited as a guard, or possibly a center, for Notre Dame. Instant playing time will be his for the taking as there are currently no offensive guards in the junior, sophomore, and freshman class. (Ouch.)

Olsen also plays on his high school lacrosse team, which is an excellent sign that his footwork will be more than fast enough to be a productive college lineman. In fact, his results on the lacrosse field -- last year Olsen was the leading scorer on the team with 55 goals to go along with 10 assists -- suggest he's an excellent athlete moreso than just a big body.

After coming to Notre Dame's summer camp and performing for the coaches, Olsen left without a scholarship offer, but a vow that an offer would be extended or not after the ND coaches viewed film of the first two games of his senior year. However, the wait didn't last that long as Coach Weis informed him of a full ride offer in late August a few weeks before Olsen's season started. And in a bit of a role reversal, it was Olsen's viewing of Notre Dame's first few games that convinced him that ND was the place for him.

I visited a bunch of schools this summer and I got a good feel for Notre Dame, the mystique is above every other school and with the success they're having, it's become such a hot commodity that I didn't want to miss my chance."

With 17 of the 25 open scholarship spots taken, perhaps it's time to don the recruitnik cap and gaze into the crystal ball a bit. After all, it's likely that Olsen isn't the only one who doesn't want to miss his chance to play for the Irish. At least we can hope so.

This type of speculation is perhaps better covered on the recruiting oriented websites like Irish Eyes, Irish Illustrated, and Blue and Gold Illustrated, but I won't pass up an opportunity to pen a little "recruiting state of the union" that can be referenced in the future with "I wish we could have signed him" laments and "Boy, Pat sure was wrong" mocks.

Currently, Notre Dame has 17 known verbal commits. Here's the breakdown:

2 Quarterbacks (Zach Frazer, Demetrius Jones)
3 Running Backs/Fullbacks (James Aldridge, Munir Prince, Luke Schmidt)
3 Wide Receivers (Barry Gallup, Robby Parris, George West)
2 Offensive Linemen (Bartley Webb, Eric Olsen)
1 Tight End (Paddy Mullen)
2 Defensive Lineman (John Ryan, Kellen Wade)
1 Cornerback (Raeshon McNeil)
2 Safeties (Leonard Gordon, Jashaad Gaines)
1 Kicker (Ryan Burkhart)

(Quickly, before we go on to possibilites for the rest of this class, here are updates from the past two weeks that cover how our recruits did in their high school games: Week 3 / Week 4)

Now then, the chance of early enrollment means that Notre Dame can take more than 25 recruits this year. Whether the number of early enrollees is one or greater than one is unknown at this point but there are potential early enrollment candidates out there. So, with a minimum of 8 spots left, here are some of the more popular names associated with Notre Dame's recruiting efforts. Keep in mind that by no means is this a complete or exhaustive list. Nor are the listed positions where players will end up should they come to Notre Dame. And expect even more names to pop up, especially if Notre Dame keeps winning. Ok, enough with the disclaimers and qualifiers, here are the names to try and fit into the few remaining spots in the Class of 2010. Have fun mixing and matching. If these names are meaningless to you, be thankful you haven't been sucked into the vortez/male soap opera that is college football recruiting.

Wide Receiver - David Ausberry, Terrance Austin, Richard Jackson
Offensive Lineman - Sam Young, Matt Carufel, Butch Lewis, Aaron Brown, Chris Stewart, Daron Rose, Jim Barrie, Lou Eliades, Alex Stadler, Dan Wenger
Tight End - Konrad Reuland, Will Yeatman, Andrew Quarless
Defensive Lineman - Jason Kates, Gerald McCoy, Lawrence Marsh
Linebacker - Anthony Lewis, Toryan Smith, Morrice Richarson,
Cornerback - LaRon Moore, Darrin Walls
Safety - Sergio Brown

With the 8 (minimum) remaining spots I'd like to see ND bring in 3 more offensive lineman, 1 tight end, 2 defensive lineman, 1 linebacker, and 1 cornerback. If early enrollments increase the available scholarships, I'd hope for an extra offensive lineman to bring the total Big Ugly count to 6, then get guys that are athletic enough to have potential at multiple positions.

With the expected announcements of a few on that list coming in the next week (5-star all-everything cornerback recruit Darrin Walls being one) and a number of the aforementioned names coming into South Bend for the tilt with the Trojans, recruiting is going to be pretty interesting the next few weeks.

Pass Right | by Pat

(I realize it's not terribly kosher, but I'm just going to reproduce all of Tom Coyne's AP article here rather than just pick and grab at select quotes. This sort of thing doesn't require commentary. You can watch the video of the press conference where Weis discusses Montana Mazurkiewicz here. Transcript is here.)

Associated Press
By Tom Coyne

Sept. 26 SOUTH BEND, Ind. — Charlie Weis doesn't usually let anyone else call plays on offense. He made an exception for 10-year-old Montana Mazurkiewicz.

The Notre Dame coach met last week with Montana, who had been told by doctors weeks earlier that there was nothing more they could do to stop the spread of his inoperable brain tumor.

"He was a big Notre Dame fan in general, but football especially," said his mother, Cathy Mazurkiewicz.

Weis showed up at the Mazurkiewicz home in Mishawaka, just east of South Bend, and talked with Montana about his tumor and about Weis' 10-year-old daughter, Hannah, who has global development delay, a rare disorder similar to autism.

He told Montana about some pranks he played on Joe Montana — whom Montana was named after — while they were roommates at Notre Dame.

"I gave him a chance to hammer me on the Michigan State loss, which he did very well. He reminded me of my son," said Weis, whose son, Charlie Jr., is 12 years old.

Weis said the meeting was touching.

"He told me about his love for Notre Dame football and how he just wanted to make it through this game this week," Weis said. "He just wanted to be able to live through this game because he knew he wasn't going to live very much longer."

As Weis talked to the boy, Cathy Mazurkiewicz rubbed her son's shoulder trying to ease his pain. Weis said he could tell the boy was trying not to show he was in pain.

His mother told Montana, who had just become paralyzed from the waist down a day earlier because of the tumor, to toss her a football Weis had given him. Montana tried to throw the football, put could barely lift it. So Weis climbed into the reclining chair with him and helped him complete the pass to his mother.

Before leaving, Weis signed the football.

"He wrote, 'Live for today for tomorrow is always another day,"' Mazurkiewicz said.

"He told him: 'You can't worry about tomorrow. Just live today for everything it has and everything you can appreciate,'" she said. "He said: 'If you're (in pain) today you might not necessarily be in pain tomorrow, or it might be worse. But there's always another day.'"

Weis asked Montana if there was something he could do for him. He agreed to let Montana call the first play against Washington on Saturday. He called "pass right."

Montana never got to see the play. He died Friday at his home.

Weis heard about the death and called Mazurkiewicz on Friday night to assure her he would still call Montana's play.

"He said, 'This game is for Montana, and the play still stands,'" she said.

Weis said he told the team about the visit. He said it wasn't a "Win one for the Gipper" speech, because he doesn't believe in using individuals as inspiration. He just wanted the team to know people like Montana are out there.

"That they represent a lot of people that they don't even realize they're representing," Weis said.

When the Irish started on their own 1-yard-line following a fumble recovery, Mazurkiewicz wasn't sure Notre Dame would be able to throw a pass. Weis was concerned about that, too. So was quarterback Brady Quinn.

"He said 'What are we going to do?'" Weis said. "I said 'We have no choice. We're throwing it to the right.'"

Weis called a play where most of the Irish went left, Quinn ran right and looked for tight end Anthony Fasano on the right.

Mazurkiewicz watched with her family.

"I just closed my eyes. I thought, 'There's no way he's going to be able to make that pass. Not from where they're at. He's going to get sacked and Washington's going to get two points,'" she said.

Fasano caught the pass and leapt over a defender for a 13-yard gain.

"It's almost like Montana was willing him to beat that defender and take it to the house," Weis said.

Mazurkiewicz was happy.

"It was an amazing play. Montana would have been very pleased. I was very pleased," she said. "I was just so overwhelmed. I couldn't watch much more."

Weis called her again after the game, a 36-17 victory by the 13th-ranked Fighting Irish, and said he had a game ball signed by the team that he wanted to bring to the family on Sunday.

"He's a very neat man. Very compassionate," she said. "I just thanked him for using that play, no matter the circumstances."

Man of Integrity | by Jay

Regardless of what they do, you are to handle yourself as a true professional, a true man of integrity. -- Tyrone Willingham, 9/24/05.

I'd like to keep this pretty simple, because I think there's only one new point to be made here, only one new revelation in the saga of Tyrone Willingham, Wronged Man.

It isn't that John Saunders is a muckraking, pot-stirring, race-baiting, libelous fraud of a "journalist". That's not much of a surprise.

No, the bombshell was more startling, actually, and it's one I never imagined transpiring.


John Saunders: You weren't just coming in and taking over a program that was storied and had stumbled on hard times. You were taking on a program that had stumbled into some scandal. You cleaned ALL of that up, and your reward was to get fired.

Tyrone Willingham: That's life, you know, and that's what I prepared myself for when I took over the job. They say that the microscope is big there. No question about that. But I prepared myself for all of that, and as an African-American coach, your position is somewhat tenuous. There are not a lot of guarantees, as a matter of fact, there are not a lot of coaches getting positions, period, okay, so tenuous may be an understatement.

JS: You weren't given the five years that other coaches got to demonstrate those skills. Do you think it is in part because you're an African-American?

TW: I've always said that in this country there is no absence of racism, okay, we're all aware of that, it's been here for quite some time, okay. And to think it would NOT factor in may be naïve on my part. But the people that really know that answer are the ones that we need to talk to.


This is incendiary stuff. To my knowledge, Willingham has never made such accusations publicly before yesterday, preferring to let minions like Alan Grant carry his water for him. But there he was, pointing the finger and playing the race card.

What is the claim, exactly? Let's spell it out. Willingham says that he was fired because of the color of his skin. Period. I don't know how you can parse what he said and come to any other conclusion. He refutes none of Saunders' inflammatories, and actually says he'd be naïve to think race wasn't a factor in his firing.

So, Father John Jenkins, John Affleck-Graves, and the Board of Trustees are racist, and Notre Dame is a racist institution? Ty's position at the Unversity was tenuous from the very beginning, because he's a black man? And in the end, his blackness got him fired? By his statements to Saunders on national television, he's allowing all of these accusations to germinate.

In truth, there is no evidence whatsoever that race played a part in Willingham's firing. The reality is that Willingham was an objective failure as a football coach. The evidence to that end is legion, having been discussed and documented here and elsewhere for quite a long time now. And while the tenuousness of the position of head football coach at Notre Dame is a very real phenomenon, it has nothing to do with race -- it's because the expectations of the job are so high. Ty's predecessors were under the same scrutiny; Charlie Weis toils under the same overwhelming pressure to succeed. Ty knows this. As he himself said on Saturday, "I make no bones about it -- I am very competitive, I like to win, I like to win all the time," and that's the benchmark for a ND coach. He understood the job requirement, and he didn't fulfill it. At no time during his interview with ABC were his own expectations for the football program at ND discussed, at no time was there even a mention of his track record "on Saturday", not one note about the record blowouts, the losses to inferior teams, the ineptitude of one of the worst offenses in college football (an offense that now, with all the same players, ranks among the very best), and the refusal to upgrade his own coaching staff. Although stewardship of the football program is line item A on his job description, there was not one word spoken about his track record nor the performance of his teams.

He didn't defend his record, because he can't. Instead, encouraged by a muckraker like Saunders, he put on the mantle of "victim", obfuscating the real reasons he was fired and tossing a hand grenade at the "racist" school that hired him in the first place.

A claim of institutional racism is insidious. It's an easy accusation to make, as it requires no actual evidence. Racism charges tend to stick even when they're unwarranted and completely unfounded. Willingham's claim is highly irresponsible, exploitative, and it's highly damaging, too -- in a few different ways.

First of all, and most obviously, it tears away at the fiber of Notre Dame. It slanders everyone associated with the school, branding them with a scarlet 'R', painting the institution as a despicable place where discrimination and prejudice hold sway. It's especially hurtful considering the moral principles and Christian tradition that ND strives to uphold, and it's ironic considering that throughout its history, ND has struggled against similar discrimination and prejudice itself (ND students fighting the Ku Klux Klan in the streets of South Bend comes to mind, as but one example). It's a cheap, unfair slander that nonetheless cuts very deeply.

Secondly, it belittles and dilutes legitimate claims of racism in our society. I think we all agree with Willingham when he says that racism is a very real problem; yet, when he applies the charge to his own situation, he's exploiting the real victims of racism to his own selfish end. He's trying to rehab his image, trying to save face, trying to obscure the fact that he was a lousy football coach and hide under the veil of a fictitious institutional prejudice. In doing so, he insults and disgraces all those who have struggled against actual racism in their lives.

Thirdly, as Sean wrote back in December, Willingham's just made the atmosphere a degree more difficult for other black college football coaches.

You're the athletics director at a big time school, and you're about to make a monumental decision. You consider all of this - the campuswide strife, the undue criticism, the selective tunnel vision of the naysayers. You ask yourself what would happen at your school if you were forced to make the same decision Notre Dame made. And you'll never admit it, but now the color of the coach's skin IS a factor in your decision.

You know, I never hated the guy. I thought he was inept as a football coach, but I bought into the image to some extent, believing Willingham to be an upstanding, honest man, and a role model -- if a little overmatched in his job. Over time, I began to realize it was all a façade, a carefully constructed public image that obscures the fact that he's a man of very little football substance. It's an act that keeps him employable, and it's an image he'll defend at any cost, even if it means unfairly branding as racists the very people that gave him the opportunity in the first place. (Look out, University of Washington.)

On Saturday, he pulled back the curtain on himself, just a little. It was uncharacteristic of Willingham to reveal so much. And what we saw was sad and pathetic, a desperate man imputing dangerous, irresponsible and unwarranted accusations. A Man of Integrity would admit his failings, formulate a plan to improve, and move on. When his team fails, a Man of Integrity would take the blame himself, and not hang his players out to dry. A Man of Integrity wouldn't drag his employer through the mud, even while that employer has made good on the agreed-upon contractual terms and paid a buyout numbering in the millions of dollars.

This is no Man of Integrity.

I don't know if this will be the last post on BGS regarding Tyrone Willingham, but we're hoping so. With Saturday's crucible finally over, and our series with UW ending, we won't be crossing paths with Ty again anytime soon. A new chapter in Notre Dame football is already being written, and it'd be nice to leave all this ugliness behind. There's football to be played, by God.

Week 4 in a Nutshell | by Dylan

That slam you heard yesterday was the sound of the door closing, mercifully, on the Tyrone Willingham era. All that's left is to turn the lock, which we will do later with a final "goodbye" to Ty, reacting to his disgraceful performance with John Saunders yesterday.

The game itself was disappointing, from the Irish perspective. Our offensive line seems to have reverted to its 2004 mode of absorbing, rather than delivering, contact. Our defensive line was not much better.Without more consistent pressure on opposing QBs, we will lose to all of the better teams on the schedule. 400 yards passing to Washington and their "5 games worth of experience" quarterback should result in night sweats in South Bend and deep, peaceful sleep in West Lafayette and Compton.

Southern Cal looks great even when they look bad. There is no reason, outside of some wishful thinking, to believe they will lose this year, despite their inconsistent defense. The good news for ND is that, of all the teams left on their schedule, ours is the best suited to beat them. Think Colts vs. Patriots. A shootout would be suicide. The only way to beat SC is to keep their offense off the field. Count on Charlie to put in a game plan that resists the urge to knock them out down the field (which we could), opting instead for short passes and generally maddening, clock-eating ball-control. Our only shot is to give Leinart enough time between series to get another pedicure.

Poor Purdue. The Boilers were giddy in the pre-season due to a once-in-a-blue-moon scheduling quirk that guaranteed they would not have to play what were thought to be the two best teams in their conference. Visions of a Big 1? championship danced through Pete's enormous plastic head. Then unranked Minnesota ran for 300 yards on their "We've got everybody back" defense and sent them to the first of their traditional three losses, and before the Notre Dame game! The humanity! Lawrence (Roman) Maroney shredded the bastages for 217 yards and left Boiler Nation wondering how, with their non-existent pass defense and now-suspect run stopping, they would manage to put anyone's farging bells in a sling.

Michigan lost. The early word from Madison is that it was not fair. It will be really unfair when Sparty (49 ppg) embarasses the unranked Wolverines by three touchdowns and drops them below .500. We must have a Presidential Commission to look into the unfairness of it all, before things get out of hand Michigan loses five games. Unfairly.

Louisville was exposed. They need to fire their AD for getting them into the powerhouse Big East and scheduling so many tough non-con games. Luckily for the Cardinals, for every South Florida, there's a Florida Atlantic to hit on the rebound. Lousiville might finish 10-1. Even if they do, they should not be ranked. Their schedule is worse than a joke. An unranked team in the BCS is something we should all root for. Burn it down.

Texas Tech spent another week gorging on the dessert cart, swallowing 1-AA confection Indiana State whole, 63-7. Don't let anyone tell you the Red Raiders aren't for real. Just ask the Sycamores, Sam Houston State, and Florida Effing International if Tech is worthy. Next up for TT is Kansas, led by Mike Mangino, the one guy in college football who knows more about devouring cupcakes than Tech A.D Bill Byrne.

While Purdue, Iowa, and Lousiville fell off our enigma-tacking radar, Georgia, Miami, and Cal remain. Are any of those teams any good? Flip a coin, and you'll be as well informed as the Harris Poll.

It's Over | by Jay

By George, It's West | by Pat

With the rate current recruits are jumping onto the Notre Dame bandwagon, imagine what will happen when ND wins a home game.

Oklahoma all-around athlete George West announced his intentions to sign with Notre Dame and in doing so became the 16th known verbal committment.

"I felt it was the right fit for me," West said prior to his game Thursday evening. "They have that swagger back in the program and their team chemistry is great."

An explosive, versatile player, West will likely come into Notre Dame listed as a wide receiver, but will be equally likely to put in time with the cornerbacks. At 5'8" 176lbs, West might be on the smaller side for receiver, but I can't help but notice that Super Bowl MVP Deion Branch is only 5'9". Oh, and that Joey Getherall guy wasn't all that tall, yet still had a bit of success at Notre Dame as well.

Forecasting either offense or defense for West isn't going to be easy. He led the state of Oklahoma in receptions last year, but he also tied for the most number of interceptions . He's also a special teams ace, which is where he'll probably make his first impact for the Irish. Last year he led the state of Oklahoma in punt and kickoff return yardage and so far after only 4 games his senior year he has 7 special teams touchdowns. In fact, Northeast Academy's very first play of the 2005 season was a 90 yard kickoff return for a touchdown by West.

A player like West is a great addition to a class because of his flexibility in playing multiple positions. He chose the Irish over offers to Georgia Tech, Texas Tech, Iowa State, Baylor, Northwestern, Kansas State, Stanford, and Oklahoma State.

Safety Dance | by Pat

One bright spot from the Michigan State weekend was the verbal committment of two more high school recruits, bringing the total to 15. Leonard Gordon of Kentucky and Jashaad Gaines of Nevada both liked what they saw while visiting campus this past weekend and made their pledge to the Irish.

Gordon didn't even wait until he got home to make his choice. He saw enough while on campus to know that Notre Dame was the place for him.

"Coach Weis was talking to (receivers coach and recruiting coordinator) Rob Ianello, and I told my mom (Cassie) that I guess God told me this is where I wanted to be, because this feeling came over me," Gordon said. "I pulled coach Weis aside and asked him if there was any formal way to commit. I guess he didn't quite know what I was talking about, so I told him, 'I want to go here. I want to be an Irish Man'. He told me "Welcome to the family," and that they were really glad to have me."

Gordon is a 5'10" 185lb safety who also might see some time at cornerback for the Irish. Reports note his aggresive nature on the field and hard-hitting approach to defense. For his hometown Fort Campbell team, he has one interception so far this year that he returned for a touchdown after recording 94 tackles and four interceptions as a All-State junior. The heady (3.9 GPA) Gordon also plays quarterback for his high school team, which can only help him when it comes to adapting to the mental aspects of playing defense on the D-1 level.

With offers from LSU, Louisville, and Penn State, Gordon eventually chose the Irish over finalists Duke, Vanderbilt, and hometown Kentucky.

"I'm committed now, so I'm looking forward to getting there," Gordon said. "I can't wait to put on that blue and gold, and play."

Jashaad Gaines didn't pull the trigger while on Notre Dame's campus, but rather waited to return home to announce his verbal commitment to Notre Dame. The Las Vegas High star was rumored to be a heavy lean, due in part to the fact that his sister, Tulyah, plays on the Notre Dame women's basketball team.

"It was definitely a big deal,'' Gaines said about attending the same school as his sister. "But it definitely wasn't everything. I wouldn't be going there if I didn't like what I saw.''

Like Gordon, Gaines is a top student (3.9 GPA) who hopes to step in and contribute early at Notre Dame. At 6'1" 200lbs, Gaines will come in as a safety, but also has the size to potentially move to the Apache linebacker spot down the road. He injured his knee last season, but had a strong summer attending camps and combines and now looks like the type of player who flew under the radar a bit before having a great senior campaign. The other schools that considered Gaines worthy of a scholarship offer included Oklahoma, Nebraska, Stanford, Washington, and Utah.

From the sound of Gaines' coach, Jashaad is the kind of player that will try to make an impact wherever he can.

"He's brought leadership to our defense," Faircloth said. "He helps the defensive backs identify what the situation is. He adds a real positive chemistry to the team as far as being one of the kids that's out to help the other kids. He takes nothing and asks for nothing in return.

If you have a subscription to rivals.com, they have a nice little video feature on both Gordon and Gaines.

Dateline: 1949 | by Jay

Here's great story from Dawgman.com about the first time ND played at Washington, and the special home cookin' the Huskies tried to whip up:

The 1949 Notre Dame team that arrived by train at Seattle’s King Street Station was one of the greatest in history. They had gone 29 games in a row without a loss. They were destined to win their fourth national championship of the 1940s. And they featured that season’s Heisman Trophy winner, Leon Hart. The Fighting Irish were arrogant and possessed a powerful aura of invincibility, much like today’s USC Trojans. They were also reputed for receiving preferential treatment from referees.

So the Huskies kind of cheated.

Washington coach Howie Odell compiled a film showing a montage of Notre Dame players holding their opponents with no flag being thrown. Right before kickoff, Odell and Washington athletic director Harvey Cassill secretly held a meeting with the referees. Odell showed the film. No representative from Notre Dame was present. The Fighting Irish would subsequently be flagged eleven times against the Huskies, mostly for holding infractions. Their legendary coach Frank Leahy would learn of the secret meeting during the game and afterwards erupted in fury...

ND actually ended up winning the game, 27-7, and out-rushed the Huskies to the tune of 297-17.

While speaking to reporters after the game, Notre Dame coach Frank Leahy went ballistic.

“How could that be a good game when we had to play four extra men?” he said with an enraged tone of voice. “The officials today, all four of them, tried their best to even up a football game… If it was intended to be an instructional clinic, a representative of Notre Dame should have been invited. I believe the entire procedure tended to send the officials into the game with a superficial attitude.”

Husky Primer | by Pat

Dawg Stats. UW after three games:

Rushing Offense: 129.7 ypg. Passing Offesne: 230.3 ypg
Rushing Defense: 166.7 ypg. Passing Defense: 222.7 ypg

At first glance, that rushing defense doesn't look that bad, but then you break it down by game:

Air Force: 218 yards rushing
Cal: 286
Idaho: -4

That's not a misprint: Idaho is terrible at running the ball (186 yards after three games). So expect our rushing totals more in line with Air Force and Cal. On the other hand, Baer loves to stop the run, so maybe he'll try to contain Darius Walker, thus leaving the corners on an island. He tried this strategy against Air Force, who despite their option attack managed to get 207 yards passing against the Huskies. Washington's corners are both 5'11, so expect a Stovall redux if they try to single-cover him.

Strange stat: Despite being 1-2, Washington has only given up one first quarter touchdown so far this year.

Quarterback. Isaiah Stanback is mobile in the Drew Stanton mold, but doesn't have Stanton's battle-tested experience. Accuracy wasn't supposed to be one of Stanback's strong points, but so far this season he's managed a respectable 61% completion rate and a 4/2 touchdown to interception ratio. I wouldn't be surprised to see Washington try for a big play through the air on the first play from scrimmage a la the ND-FSU game in 2002 and the Washington-Cal game in 2005. Still, I have a feeling that the most productive call for the Huskies might be the broken play.

Running Back. So far, 6', 195-lb sophomore Louis Rankin appears to be the man for the Huskies, their leading rusher with a respectable 4.8 yards per carry. While's he not blazingly fast, Rankin changes directions well and is a tough, second-effort kind of runner who's not afraid to lower his head and try and run over tacklers.

Injury Update. From the Seattle PI:

Special teams players Ryan Campbell and J.R. Wolfork left Saturday's 34-6 victory over Idaho with undisclosed injuries. Willingham was uncertain of their status. Left tackle Joe Toledo (ankle), cornerback Roy Lewis (knee) and quarterback Carl Bonnell (quadriceps) remain questionable, and defensive tackle Jordan White-Frisbee (foot) is out.

The big injury question is whether Toledo's going to play. Due to injuries to Toledo and backup Chad Macklin (who moved from RT to LT, then got hurt), the Huskies have had a different starting right tackle for each of their first three games. The current starter is Tui Alailefaleula, a 335-lb guard who was just moved to tackle last week (after redshirting in 2004 following a shift from DL to OL).

And if corner Roy Lewis can't go, that leaves Josh Okeobor, a JUCO transfer who sat out last year with a knee injury, to start in his place.

Diedrickless. I think the biggest change for Willingham has got to be the introduction of Tim Lappano as offensive coordinator, the first OC in seven years for Ty not named Bill Diedrick. Lappano worked with Dennis Erickson at a variety of stops (including the Seahawks and the 49ers) and has been groomed on a one-back, spread attack, although he made a lot of noise in summer camp about wanting to emphasize the run a lot more. So far, he's tried to live up to that ideal, running against Air Force and Idaho (although the Cal game threw him off, and he ended up passing quite a bit since they were behind by so much). The Idaho game was probably a model for what he'd like to do in every game: run the ball 39 times. Husky fans seem pretty happy with Lappano's playcalling thus far.

By the way, the last time Lappano faced the Irish was as Oregon State's offensive coordinator in the 2000 Fiesta Bowl. That was a great game.

Implementing the System of Vicious Animals, OK? | by Pete

Well, it had to happen sometime. We all knew that it was too good to be true, there’s no way Charlie could lead us to the promised land in his first year, could he? It just sucks that it had to happen to those guys. The flag-planting, student-taunting, 5-times-in-a-row-home-beating Michigan State Spartans, I hate those guys. But we’re close, you really can’t lose a game in a much closer fashion, coming back from 21 down to lose in OT.

It always hurts to lose, but to be honest, losing this early may have its fair share of perks:

• If Notre Dame kept winning, the media frenzy surrounding the team would reach uncontrollable proportions. Lee Corso would begin making out with pictures of Charlie Weis every Saturday on Gameday, and Mark May’s head would begin to spin around his neck at 250 rpm while projectile vomiting. Nobody needs to see either of those.

• We get to escape the “8-0 Tyrone” comparisons early, and good riddance to those.

• If we had continued to win all our games, I think I would’ve lost my own self-control and gotten a life-size tattoo of Charlie’s head on my back. Mom, you can thank the Spartans.

• Now we definitely don’t have to worry about a let-down game against Tyrone’s vicious, 1-2 animals.

I remember looking over this year’s schedule with my dad over the summer, and that Washington game always terrified me. I was shaking in my boots because I had seen Tyrone Willingham coach, and I knew what he was capable of, despite his terrible coaching. During his Notre Dame tenure, Tyrone always managed to win the games you never thought he could, the games he had to win to call off the wolves over and over again. Michigan and Tennessee last season, Pitt in 2003 when Tyrone rode Julius Jones like a bucking bronco, except facing backwards and thinking Ryan Grant was an equally viable horse, despite him actually being a large dog in this metaphor. These were all games that Tyrone won when the team was on the ropes, looking like crap, and the mob had had just about enough. And then he won, and we all began to think, “Had we been too quick to judge? Is this last game a sign of the system finally implementing, the players adjusting?” We were all desperate to reclaim the magic of his first season, and each one of those wins managed to plant the seed of doubt that allowed us to believe in the molding of men and “THE SYSTEM” just a little longer.

This game terrified me because this would the perfect “Tyrone-Out-Of-His-Butt” Game, where Tyrone manages to beat a much better football team, producing a win seemingly, you guessed it, out of his butt. I was afraid that the abysmal Huskies would somehow pull in 50 interceptions and 84 fumbles, while the earth opened up and swallowed our starting offensive line. And then Tyrone would manage to win by 4.

This game also terrified me because, if it did become an “Out-Of-His-Butt” game, not only would the entire alumni network of Notre Dame, including Ferguson, throw themselves under the nearest bus, but the talking heads would NEVER stop talking about it. When College Gameday is brought to you in 2075 live from Mars, hosted by android Kirk Herbstreitron and the inexplicably still alive Lee Corso, this game would still be mentioned with a bit of smugness on the face of Lee Corso, but not Herbstreitron, he is incapable of human emotion. I really didn’t want to live out the rest of my life having to hear about Tyrone Willingham sticking it to the Man, the same Man who outrageously demanded that we not lose to teams by over 30 points on a regular basis.

Notice I said this game “terrified” me, it doesn’t “terrify” me. I’ve seen what Notre Dame is capable of this year, and I don’t have a worry in my being that Charlie is making sure to pack the woodshed when the team boards the plane for Washington this weekend. I fully expect Notre Dame to win in a more than sound fashion for a few reasons. First, Charlie knows that, no matter what he thinks about Tyrone as a person, he has to utterly decimate Tyrone the Coach. Ideally, he should make Tyrone the Coach weep openly on the sidelines while Kent Baer rubs his back. Charlie knows this because he not only is the coach, but he’s also an alum. He realizes the message that needs to be sent this weekend, namely, “See? This was the right decision,” and that message can only be conveyed with a sound, resolute beating. Secondly, Charlie knows that the anti-Notre Dame world will be watching this game with baited breath, just waiting for the ultimate in poetic justice, when Tyrone Willingham exacts his vengeance on the racist Domers. Charlie knows that, if Notre Dame loses this game, it will take a very, VERY long time for Notre Dame to gain any respect in the college football world. This is a big game, and Charlie realizes that. I think we can fully expect a well-prepared, angry, ready to prove something team on Saturday, and the score will indicate as much.

Here on campus, very little is actually being discussed regarding the game, but I think that’s because it seems like it’s such a sure thing. We all believe in this football team, and we’ve seen them nearly pull a game out in the end, despite all the evidence pointing to us deserving a loss. Charlie Weis and this team has earned our confidence and respect, and we do not expect them to let us down this Saturday. PREDICTION: Real Coach: Plenty of points, Fake Coach: Very few points, if any.

For those of you who still are concerned about the game, consider this: I was watching Around the Horn on ESPN the other day because I hate myself, and the topic of the ND-UW game came up. Woody Paige and Jay Mariotti stood up for Notre Dame, saying how it’s good for college football when Notre Dame is good, blah blah blah, but nobody defended the school in the firing. On the other hand, a bald guy and a guy from Dallas with glasses that make him look like an owl were quite venomous in their comments. Owl Man said he hopes Notre Dame loses by 50 or 60 touchdowns. Stat Boy, that creep, also chimed in with his hatred of Notre Dame and how much he’d love to see Washington stomp on the Irish this weekend. But quick, before commercial, picks for the game?

Bald Guy: Notre Dame.

Owl Man: Unfortunately, Notre Dame.

Mariotti: Notre Dame by 3 touchdowns.

Woody: Make it unanimous.

The experts, EVEN the ones that claim they hate Notre Dame, think we win this game on Saturday. Ladies and gents, expect a big win for the Irish on Saturday, but unfortunately, be prepared for the Tyrone Willingham Pity Party Post-Game, brought to you by Kleenex and Depends. You know it's coming.

Watch Out Where the Huskies Go | by Jay

Note from the UW press release:

Washington and Notre Dame have played one another only five times and the Fighting Irish have won all five.

Should we plant a flag on the fifty if we win this one?

Woof Woof | by Jay

First things first. Here's the ABC regional coverage map (in a .pdf), as several of you have inquired about.

This article from the Seattle Times is hilarious in at least six different ways. (For one thing, Kent, if you're talking about how mind games won't affect you, they've already worked). Time to play 'Spot the Irony':

While Willingham said heightened emotions can help a team, especially an underdog, he said a team has to be emotional for the right reasons and that playing solely for a coach isn't one of those.

"You've got to be able to sustain the emotion," Willingham said. "A lot of times you see when emotions are spiked in that matter, they don't last very long. They last the first quarter, the second quarter, and then it seems that the team runs out of energy."

More to come on the Irish-Huskies tilt.

Statistically Speaking | by Pat

Brady Quinn kept up his assault on the record books. His five touchdown passes lands him at #1 in terms of single game TD passes, surpassing a gaggle of Irish QBs (Jackson, Powlus, Beuerlein, Lamonica, Bertelli) who had four. It also moves him up to 3rd place all-time for career touchdown passes. His 487 yards passing ranks 2nd all time behind Joe Theisman's 526 yard day against the Trojans in 1970. From the "run to win" side of things, the top four passing games for Irish quarterbacks all come in losing efforts. For a complete look at the other records that Quinn is threatening to break, check out the pdf version of the ND/UM game notes from und.com.

On the flip side, Drew Stanton's 327 yards passing were the most by an MSU quarterback in a Notre Dame/Michigan State game. But, as can be said about Quinn's record, this series has historically been of the three yards and a cloud of dust variety, so the new pass-friendly offenses for both schools are obviously going to be setting new records.

Jeff Samardzija's three touchdown receptions tied a school record for most touchdown receptions in one game. The record is shared by six other players (Tom Gatewood, Jim Seymour, Jim Kelly, Jim Mutscheller, Bill Barrett, Eddie Anderson).

On the season, Samardzija now has 5 touchdown receptions. That moves him into a tie for 9th place all-time on season receiving touchdowns with 75% of the season left to play. He should quickly move up this list and has a great shot at taking the top spot when all is said and done.

1. Derrick Mayes - 11, 1994
2. Jack Snow - 9, 1964
3t. Jim Seymour - 8, 1966
3t.Tom Gatewood - 8, 1969
5. Tom Gatewood - 7, 1970
6t. Ken MacAfee - 6, 1977
6t. Derrick Mayes - 6, 1995
6t. Bobby Brown - 6, 1997
9t. Ken McAfee - 5, 1975
9t. Tim Brown - 5, 1986
9t. Jeff Samardzija - 5, 2005

Anthony Fasano is still moving up the tight end career reception list that was mentioned a few weeks ago. Currently he is in 4th place with 60 and only two receptions behind Derek Brown and Dean Masztak, who are tied for second place. After that though, it's a long haul to catch up to Ken McAfee who has 128 career receptions.

Season-long Running Averages

Offense

Category	Pitt	UM	MSU	2005	2004
Yards per rush	5.5	2.4	2.8	3.7	3.32
Avg yards per pass attempt	8.4	4.7	8.1	7.3	7.2
Avg yards per pass completion	11.0	11.7	14.8	12.2	13.4
Pass completion percentage	67%	63%	55%	60%	54%
Third Down conversions	10/15 (67%)	4/15 (27%)	6/18 (33%)	20/48 (42%)	68/183 (37%)
Rushing yd average, with nat'l ranking	275.0	104.0	107.0	162.0 (48th)	127.4 (85th)
Passing yd average, with nat'l ranking	227.0	140.0	487.0	284.7 (19th)	218.1 (54th)
Total offense yd average, with nat'l ranking	502.0	244.0	594.0	446.67 (21st)	345.5 (81st)
Time of possession / game	32:45	30:55	35:49	33:10	30:50
Red Zone Touchdown Efficiency	5/ 6 (83%)	2/2 (100%)	4/ 5 (80%)	11/ 13 (85%)	25 / 36 (69%)

Defense

Category	Pitt	UM	MSU	2005	2004
Yards per rush given up	3.3	2.4	4.5	3.9	2.7
Avg yards per pass attempt	6.3	5.1	12.1	7.3	7.9
Avg yards per pass completion	11.0	11.7	20.4	14.0	13.6
Pass completion percentage	57%	43%	59%	52%	58%
Quarterback sacks	5	2	1	8	30
Rushing yd average against, with nat'l ranking	103.0	114.0	161.0	126.0 (50th)	88.2 (4th)
Passing yd average against, with nat'l ranking	220.0	223.0	327.0	256.7 (92nd)	281.2 (116th)
Total yd offense average against, with nat'l ranking	323.0	337.0	488.0	382.7 (68th)	369.4 (54th)

Turnovers

Category	Pitt	UM	MSU	2005	2004
Interceptions by ND	1	1	1	3	9
Fumbles Forced / Recovered	2/ 1	3/ 1	4/ 2	9/ 4	27 / 12
Turnovers gained	2	2	3	7	21
Had Intercepted	1	0	1	2	10
Fumbles / Lost	1/ 0	3/ 1	1/ 1	5/ 2	15 / 6
Turnovers lost	1	1	2	4	16
Turnover Margin	+1	+1	+1	+3	+5

Special Teams

Category	Pitt	UM	MSU	2005	2004
Kickoff return average	17.5	24.0	21.5	20.7	18.7
Kickoff return average allowed	16.0	18.0	20.8	18.5	19.9
Punt return average	23.0	19.0	11.0	16.0	10.8
Punt return average allowed	0.0	5.2	2.0	4.1	8.2

Fun Stat O' the Day

D.J. Fitzpatrick is only 2 punts away from becoming #5 on the All-Time Punts in a Career list. Ok, some maybe not fun stat o' the day. How about depressing reminder of recent offensive woes.

Team Loss | by Jay

(aka, the Spartan close-out)

We "broke down some tape" and whipped up this game summary for MSU, using the official play-by-play from UND.com, and supplementing with our own notes. We tried to pay special attention to offensive formations and blitzing schemes. Hopefully it's not too confusing to decipher. A couple of random notes:

• The 1 TE, 3 WR, single back set (with Darius) was our most popular formation against Michigan State, and we used it about 40% of the time.

• A couple of the early dives by Schwapp (including the fumble on the one) seemed to actually be option plays, with Brady & Darius sprinting out after the handoff.

• State really dialed up the blitz a lot as the game went on, but overall we did a great job of handling it. Quinn's touchdown pass to Walker burned the blitz, the 50-yard bomb to Stovall over the middle had the linebacker and corner coming on a blitz, and the late drive to tie the game beat the blitz several times. Still, all three of our sacks came on unblocked blitzes, so we'll need to do a better job of picking them up.

• We also increased our blitzing as the game unfolded, mostly sending Hoyte or Mays (or both).

• Stanton ran the option at least three times, and twice it went for a touchdown. First time was on the keeper just before the half, second time was, of course, at the end of the game.

• One thing we missed in the play summary was noting when the no-huddle was used. If anybody cares to look at the tape again and earmark the no-huddle plays, we'd be interested.

One thing's clear in watching the replay: nobody had a truly outstanding game (except maybe Samardzija), and yet nobody had a really crummy game, either. Everybody was shade of grey. Just as someone screwed up, and I was fitting him with the goat horns, he'd go and make a spectacular play that would turn the game around.

Stovall holds on a Walker touchdown run; Stovall catches a TD. Ndukwe misses on coverage; Ndukwe recovers a fumble. Zibby gives up a touchdown to Trannon; Zibby strips Kyle Brown of the football. Quinn throws a terrible interception that gets returned for a score; Quinn rebounds, and leads the team back from twenty-one points down and forces an overtime. And so on. It sort of reminded me of the movie Crash, where no character is wholly good, and nobody is entirely evil, either, and just when you think you've got somebody pegged, they go and do something that flips everything over.

If it had been a character drama, it would have been sublime; but alas, it was a football game, and so, we have to take a Loss.


Thirteen Plays I Want to Have Back

13. First quarter, first drive. Quinn overthrows a wide-open Shelton. Drive result: punt.

12. State's second drive. Ndukwe jumps the passing route and nearly intercepts a Stanton pass. It's complete to Jeramy Scott for 23 yards, and State goes on to score a touchdown.

11. End of the first quarter. We set up a screen pass to Walker perfectly, but blocks aren't sustained. What should have been a big gainer ended up going for 2 meager yards. Drive result: punt.

10. Five minutes left in the second. Long pass to Stovall, who pushes off and gets flagged for offensive pass interference. Drive ended in a punt.

9. Two minutes left in the half. Third and ten, ball on MSU's 29. Charlie calls a handoff to Darius, who takes it to the short side for no gain, putting the field goal attempt on the hash instead of down the middle. Fitz misses the ensuing field goal.

8. State has the ball with under two minutes in the half. Stanton hits Terry Love over the middle and he rambles for 45 yards, with both our safeties seemingly out of position. Sets up the MSU touchdown just before halftime.

7. First drive of the second half, Sir Darean Adams intercepts Brady and takes it in for a score.

6. Schwapp fumbles on the goal line. (I'm still waiting for them to blow the play dead.)

5. Six minutes left in the third, Stanton hits Trannon on a slip screen. Two of our linebackers have blitzed, and Ndukwe takes a bad angle. Result: a short pass that turns into a sixty-five yard run to the end zone.

4. Nine minutes in the fourth. Darius runs left, weaves his way into the end zone for a score. Stovall holds on the play; TD no good.

3. Same drive, confusion on the offense, and we call a timeout; a timeout which would have come in very handy at the end of regulation.

2. Same drive. What Weis will label a broken play (should have been a "walk-in touchdown", he says) ends up with Schwapp getting stuffed on a fourth and one. Should it have been a fake to Schwapp, and a pitch to Darius? We'll never know.

1. Overtime. Stanton options right, pitches to Teague. Ball game.


...and Eight Big Plays I Loved

8. First quarter, fourth and fifteen, Quinn hits Stovall for a first down after scrambling out of a sure sack.

7. End of the first, State on our 35, the Duke makes a great play on a hurried Stanton pass and comes down with the interception.

6. Smarj nabs a sideline pass from Quinn, goes matador on the defender and high-steps it into the end zone.

5. Minute left in the third, Stanton on our 24 rolls out right, looking, looking, and sacked by Richardson for a 12-yard loss, setting up a long field goal miss.

4. End of the third quarter, third and ten on our own 36, MSU blitzes, we pick it up, and Quinn hits Stovall for a fifty-yard pass down the middle, setting up a Stovall touchdown two plays later.

3. Quinn finds Samardzija on a quick throw to the back of the end zone, tying the game at 38 with two and a half minutes left.

2. Zibby forces a fumble from Kyle Brown, giving us a chance to win it in regulation.

1. D.J., icewater in his veins, hits a 44-yard field goal in overtime to put us ahead.


Charlie termed this game a "team loss", and I think that's exactly right. No one MSU play undid us, no single mistake was a backbreaker. The opportunities to win were abundant, and yet, we didn't take advantage of them. Michigan State did, and thus deserved to win.

Onward to Washington.

Horseshoes and Hand Grenades | by Pat

A look back at Saturday's game.

QB - Giving a grade on this one really depends on if you want to take the short view or the long view on things. On one hand, Quinn still looked a bit off with his receivers. At times passes were thrown too short, too long, to the wrong shoulder, or to the wrong team. Inconsistent would be an apt adjective. But in the greater scheme of things, there are plenty of reasons to think of better times ahead.

The way that Quinn settled down after MSU took its biggest lead of the game and executed a perfect 8 for 8 touchdown drive showed great maturity. Also, the arm strength he showed on some of those 3rd and long throws - especially the out to Stovall while avoiding the rush - was extremely impressive. Sure the career marks don't mean much when they coencide with a loss and a bit more accuracy on the deep ball would be nice, but there is no denying that he is a vastly improved quarterback from the one we saw last year. The best part is that he still has nearly half of his college elibility left.

RB - Not a banner day running the ball, due mainly to the aggressive and successful play of the Spartan defense. Still, it was nice to see Walker still running hard in the 4th quarter when the defense appeared to tire a bit. Hopefully Coach Haywood reminds Walker that in certain time management situations, it's better to take a yard or two loss rather than get out of bounds. At the end of the first half, Walker angled for the sideline which stopped the clock and enabled MSU to keep enough time on the clock to score before the half.

The no-show of Rashon Powers-Neal was a bit surprising, but I wouldn't read too much into it just yet. Schwapp had a bit of a "welcome to college ball" game and I'm sure will hear about his decision to reach with the ball on the goal line on 1st down. The play where he was stuffed for no gain on 4th and 1 was a miscommunication apparently, so I can't fault him for running into an unblocked linebacker. (Looking back, ND twice ran a option play where Schwapp took the dive up the middle while Quinn and Walker rolled left. It seemed those two plays were setting up the 4th and 1 where Quinn would fake the inside handoff to Schwapp and roll out with Walker with nothing but plenty of open field in front of them. A nice look at Weis using certain plays to set up others. Problem is, Walker ran one way while while Quinn seemed to be ready to go the other. I'm not trying to point the blame finger, just commenting that giving the ball to Schwapp probably wasn't the preferred option on that play.) However, Schwapp still looks effective blocking, so I imagine he'll still see plenty of playing time, goal line fumble and all. Travis Thomas logged his second straight DNP-CD. Hopefully the matchup with the Huskies will result in plenty of PT for everyone.

WR - The first game without Rhema McKnight and the receivers still looked pretty good. Most of that can attributed to the full-time return of Matt Shelton, who looked great. I don't recall seeing ND try to hit Shelton over the top, but rather the Irish seemed to use his speed and quickness on short outs and slants. I'd imagine eventually those quick outs will turn into out and ups as the defense tries to cheat in and jump the short route. Samardzija is on a record-setting pace and just seems to have a knack to find the holes in the zone. Brady's confidence in him is soaring right now, as it should be.

Stovall finally broke out, but like Brady, did so in an uneven fashion. From my nosebleed seats in the stands I was able to watch him more than the TV cameras allow and he really was open all game long. He still needs to use his size a bit better to fight off smaller corners for the ball, but he looks much better than he did last year. Getting back to Shelton for a second, his injury/cramp in the 4th quarter gave us another glimpse of how Weis' bold approach to play calling. David Grimes came into the game to replace Shelton and Weis immediately called the freshman's number on the very next play. It was Grimes' first career reception and you could tell that the Spartans certainly didn't expect him to be the target. To his credit, Grimes made a great catch and looked pretty fluid turning up field and getting the first down.

TE - I don't think I've ever seen a football player flip over as many times in a game as Anthony Fasano does. He's one of the few offensive guys that hits the defender as hard as they hit him. Each one of his receptions seems to end in a collision worthy of a Driver's Ed "Blood on the Highway" film. And yet he pops back up ready to do it all over again. On the whole, the tight ends had a bit more trouble this week blocking the large MSU defensive line, but that isn't terribly surprising considering that even the ends at MSU check in around 300lbs. Kudos to Marcus Freeman, who's name hasn't been called over the PA yet this year, but really has been doing a solid job keeping linebackers and lineman off Quinn and Walker.

OL - Five false start penalties are never a good thing, but it should be noted that the first two weren't exactly Notre Dame's fault. The Irish did a legal, quick shift of the tight ends hoping it would draw the Spartan defense offsides. The Spartans did jump and the ND OL reacted before the Spartans could get out of the neutral zone. But both were blown as false starts against the Irish. Coach Weis mentioned in his press conference that he told the officials he was going to do this formation shift before the game and yet they still flagged the Irish, much to Weis' chagrin. It will be interesting if Weis is stubborn and continues to use this shift or if he will drop it since the average college official doesn't seem to be too worried about the details. (Sorry, pet peeve. Since they started announcing the number of the offending lineman, is it too hard to get the number right? There are only five of them out there and #64 ain't one of them.)

As for the blocking, there were a few more missed blocks on Saturday than in the first two games and MSU's most hirsute lineman, Domata Peko, seemed to be in the backfield an awful lot. Credit of course to the Spartan linemen for playing a good game, but I hope the Irish line gets back to the attacking mentality they showed in the first two games.

DL - Continuing a theme, the Irish line just didn't seem to have the necessary push, especially early in the game. Stanton had enough time to spread out a picnic on a few plays, which makes covering all the receivers nearly impossible. All four starting lineman did have season highs in tackles, but the stats are a bit deceiving I would say. Perhaps they were trying more to contain Stanton than make a mad dash at him and leave plenty of field for Crazy Legs to run, but even with a more conservative defense you don't want to give the QB all day to check off his receiving options.

They did improve as the game progressed, which is another testament to Reuben Mendoza's summer conditioning. Late in the game when the Spartans went conservative and tried to run out the clock they were consistently stuffed. The three Spartan rushes for -1 yard in the shadow of their own endzone near the end of the 4th quarter was inspired play by the Irish line. Still, it wasn't the best game by the Irish DL and improvement will be needed to compete with the likes of USC and Tennessee.

LB - Not too much to say on the linebackers. Hoyte was his usual team-leading tackler self. Need proof the defense is more aggresive this year? Hoyte already has as many tackles for loss this season (8.0) as he did all of last year. Mays was flying all over the place and had the key fumble recovery late in the 4th quarter. Crum continues to impress me. Hard to believe that Crum is only 3 games into his college career. Let's just hope that he's able to stay at the Apache position, where he seems comfortable and effective and isn't forced to move around to fill depth holes in other positions.

DB - Stanton had a pretty good day throwing the ball all over the field, but I don't think the secondary played an especially bad game. Both Zbikowski and Nduwke love to deliver the big hit, but their pass coverage still seems to let guys get behind from time to time. Teams seem to be picking on Zbikowski a bit. The first MSU touchdown to Matt Trannon was a great throw by Stanton to his 6'6" receiver, but it was also run right at TZ. Tommy might have still been a bit shaken up after MSU's center, Chris Morris, took a few liberties with Tommy's face and facemask at the bottom of the pile on the series' first play, but it looks as though Zbikowski just misplayed the ball to Trannon. I'll be interested to see how he plays in the future - especially since I predict more play-action thrown his way - as you never really want to coach your players to be less aggressive on the field.

Some will say that Nduwke is a linebacker playing free safety, but I think it's way too early to start moving him back to that position. He doesn't look like a natural ball hawk back there (paging David Bruton?) but I think he will keep improving. Let's just hope in the future he isn't tackled on an INT return by the fattest man on the field. I'm glad he did the interception (even if it was a forced pass on 3rd and long) to make up for the one that went right through his hands on the first play of MSU's second drive.

I think it's safe to say that Ambrose Wooden already has the Most Improved Player award locked up. He just seems to grow and improve every quarter he's out there. The tough hit on Jeremy Scott on 3rd and 22 in the 4th quarter was a great play we haven't seen all that often from an Irish cornerback. Richardson is playing much better than last year, but still seems a step too slow to react to poorly thrown passes that are prime interception candidates. Ferrine has been pretty quiet thus far as the nickel back, but that's not always a bad thing. Maybe the whole #15 jersey/burnt toast cornerback thing will end with him. One can hope anyways.

Special Teams - Still waiting for that big return. Hoskins has been close a few times, but the Spartans did a good job kicking into the endzone. Zbikowski seems to be taking the lead role as Irish punt returner. Bruton and Lambert continue to do a fantastic job covering the returner on punts. I'm telling you, watch them next time. They just fly down the field. The punt block on Fitzpatrick wasn't very encouraging as Mitchell Thomas let a blocker go right up the middle untouched, so hopefully those kind of mistakes will be coached out of the players. As for our kickoffs, it seems that Fitzpatrick is consistently getting more distance than Gioa (60.5 yards per vs. 55.8 yards) but they are still rotating. I'm guessing it's a move to save some of D.J.'s leg strength for field goals. Gioia does have two touchbacks so I know he can do it. He just needs to work on his technique and see if he can dial down the height a tad for a bit more distance. John Carlson did a great job forcing a fumble on a kickoff return, and is being rewarded with a special teams captain role for the game against Washington. That's the second straight week that the special teams captain title is given to the guy that forces a fumble on a kickoff/punt return.

The first loss is always tough and it is easy to point fingers and assign blame. But what I like is that improvment in multiple areas is already evident. As Coach Weis has said, you don't get medals for comebacks. But you can take the positives from the loss and build on them for the future. Even with the disappointing and emotionally draining loss, it appears the Notre Dame program is still pointed in the right direction.

Getting the Point | by Mike

Mike Brey has received a verbal commitment from Michigan point guard Tory Jackson, who visited campus the weekend of the MSU game. Jackson is deemed a "four-star player" by both Rivals.com and Scout.com. Before opting for the Irish he had narrowed his choices to Notre Dame, Florida, Michigan, and Southern Cal.

In his Rivals profile, he is described by David Grier, coach of Tory's AAU team the Michigan Hurricanes (talk about an unfortunate team name) as "super quick" and able to "score a number of ways."

He has a very good midrange game and knows how to shoot the runner real well. Tory plays with a lot of fire and intensity. He gets after it defensively and is very skilled.

You can learn more about Jackson by reading his USA basketball profile. Selected highlights include:

Getting along with nine new teammates as a member of the USA Blue Team is a breeze for the 5-10 guard, compared to fighting for food with his 13 siblings.

Last season Jackson led his Buena Vista High School (Mich.) basketball team to a No. 3 ranking in the final regular season poll and averaged 29.5 ppg., 8.0 rpg. and 5.0 apg., which earned Jackson the 2005 Michigan Class C Player of the Year. On the field, he averaged 326 passing and 125 rushing yards as quarterback for Buena Vista's football squad.

How would you describe your game?
Dwyane Wade type. I can score when I want to, but I'm looking forward to helping my team. Instead of me getting my points, I'm going to be selfless because this is a team.

What's the best part of your game?
Being a creator on the floor.

Weakest part?
Off the ball defense.

If the descriptions of Tory's game from Grier and Jackson himself are accurate, Tory has the potential to provide the speed and athleticism necessary to round out what is shaping up to be a pair of solid, complementary recruiting classes.

Jackson's quick emergence also addresses two other concerns for fans of Irish hoops. When Matt Bouldin committed to Gonzaga before taking his Notre Dame visit, it was hard not to be disappointed. Though Bouldin is primarily a shooting guard, his exceptional passing abilities would have allowed him to serve as an emergency backup at the point. Thus Notre Dame would have addressed its depth issues at point guard for the 2006-2007 season without actually taking a point guard in this recruiting class. Brey could then finally move to his preferred cycle of taking a point every other year, a plan that has been thrown off ever since Greg Paulus reneged. With Jackson, Notre Dame once again has taken point guards in consecutive years, with Jackson following on the heels of Kyle McAlarney in the previous class. However, the opportunity to add someone of Jackson's athleticism (quick and reportedly able to drop two-handed dunks) is too good to pass up. Jackson should also address the difficulty Notre Dame has long had in defending speedy Big East point guards.

Additionally, Jackson's commitment gives Irish fans further hope with the recruitment of Tom Herzog, a 7'0" center prospect and friend of Tory. Indeed, Jackson credited AAU teammate Herzog with piquing his interest in the Irish. According to what my best friend's sister's boyfriend's brother's girlfriend heard from this guy who knows this kid who's going with a girl who saw Herzog at 31 Flavors last night (okay, actually a poster on an MSU board), Herzog is down to Notre Dame and MSU. Hopefully Jackson will help his friend make the right choice.

Pick Six: Week 3 | by Jay

Pick Six Standings have been updated, with Texas Tech providing some boost to those fortunate enough to have cast their lot with the Red Raiders.

Doubledomer and Haggis Breath jump into the lead.

In the BlogPollers' division of the Pick Six, Pat of BGS and The Nittany Blog take over the top spot, while former leader John of Catholic Packer Fan falls all the way to 8th as BC tumbles.

Three ranked battles of note this week: Iowa (21) at Ohio State (9), Georgia Tech (15) at Virginia Tech (4), and the big one, Tennessee (11) at LSU (3).

Week 3 In a Nutshell | by Dylan

This week's installment was delayed because of the long flight back to Earth. My apologies.

The better team won on Saturday. Sparty picked a plan that could have easily led to a quick humiliation if Brady Quinn had been able to hit his long passes early. They were never made to pay for bringing all eleven guys within eight yards of the ball. They gambled and won, and God knows we had plenty of opportunities to take it from them. On to Washington.

It's hard to find the chinks in the Trojans' armor, but the 197 yards rushing allowed against Arkansas is interesting. When taken with the 377 yards passing allowed to Hawaii, I think there may be some vulnerability on that side of the ball. Not so with the offense, however. Even Michael McDonald threw a touchdown pass. No word on whether he encored with "Yah Mo B There".

Yes, "andy", Oklahoma is a bad football team. As predicted here last week, UCLA beat the Sooners. This week's awful Oklahoma stat : Adrian Peterson, 23 carries for 58 yards (2.5 avg). By my count, there are at least three more losses on the schedule, including the impending deep impact against Texas, which could lead to a massive, state-wide seppuku. All memories of last year's appearance in the National Championship game will be erased, and, all of the sudden, Bob Stoops will start considering those NFL offers.

Purdue's secondary continued to impress, allowing their opponent nearly 300 yards and three touchdowns through the air for the second straight week, this time against an Arizona team that will be lucky to win three games this year. Sparty is going to steal Boilermaker Pete's sledge, cave in his skull, stuff him in the drum, and bury him in the end zone for Purdue's traditional "third loss of the year", a tradition as old as college football itself.

Miami is not very good. 3.8 yards per rush, 117 penalty yards, and outgained by Clemson. Luckily for the 'Canes, they'll get to 5-1 (and probably return to the top ten) before the Georgia Tech game on the strength of wins over Clemson, Colorado, South Florida, Duke, and Temple. Embarrassing.

Ball State should change their mascot to a crash test dummy. 159 points allowed to Iowa, Bowling Green and Auburn. BC next week. Their coaches should be tried for reckless endangerment.

The cupcake cavalcade continued into week three with the top twenty-five facing off against Rice, Ohio, Louisiana Monroe (which is a school, and not an individual, I'm told), Eastern Michigan, Sam Houston State, and Northern Iowa. Well done, indeed.

The stars are already aligning a for cosmic bailout of LTW. The Trees, after escaping with their lives from the University of the Navy, lost to UC Davis. They will be hard pressed to win again this year. Walt, keep Ty's seat warm, but take consolation in the fact that you can go back to Pitt a conquering hero after Wannstedt gets canned. Return to Glory! I believe this Harris, Willingham, Wannstedt vortex of sucking was a major subplot in one of the Left Behind books. I'll get our fact-checking staff right on that.

Game of the Week: Nebraska 7, Pitt 6. The teams combined to convert four of twenty-nine 3rd downs on their way to a thrillizzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz....WHA?

Ty, it was a helluva victory against Idaho. We're going to beat you by forty points, and will be the first of five consecutive top-25 teams to do so. But don't worry, your young men will learn that they will find out the type of man they want to be when the encounter adversity such as that which is experienced in a college football game against a team like the University of Notre Dame, okay?

Poll Logic | by Jay

Michigan State beat Notre Dame.

Notre Dame beat Michigan.

So of course, Michigan > ND > MSU.

Disabused | by Jay

Just to follow up from a point in Mike's post below.

When Stanton pitched the ball, and Teague scampered into the end zone in overtime, and the State bench erupted in a spasm of glee, and our guys wandered off the field, stunned, and their guys did this, and we lost the game, even after a twenty-one-point comeback...well, it felt like a slap in the face.

And like a slap in the face, it stung for a little while. But by the time I made it back to the tailgate, the sting was already subsiding, the redness was going down, and I was thinking about silver linings and positive signs and taking solace in the fact that we'd fought really, really hard to send that game into overtime. As my friend Leo said, we've all felt a lot worse walking out of that stadium before.

And just when I rationalized it to the point where I'm sort of feeling okay with losing this one, Charlie has the temerity to slap me again.

I told [the team] that they don't give out medals for trying, that they shouldn't feel good about themselves for coming back. You know how you have team wins? Well this was a team loss. Give Michigan State their credit. They made more plays than we did. We just made too many mistakes. On offense, on defense, on special teams. All across the board...

People are down, but I just want them to know that it's not okay to lose. You can't feel good about coming back.

You're right, Charlie. Thanks for setting me straight.

Odds and Sods III | by Mike

Desultory reactions to yesterday's kick in the teeth:

...and my word. In a game filled with suprising events, none may have been more surprising than Charlie Weis's decision to go for it on 4th and 15 from the MSU 37 with 6:02 left in the first half. The Irish converted when a scrambling Brady Quinn hit Maurice Stovall at the sideline for a 17 yard gain. In addition to keeping a drive that ultimately produced a touchdown alive, the call sent a powerful signal to Weis's team.

Safety dance. In the first quarter, Chinedum Ndukwe attempted to jump the route on a Drew Stanton pass. If Ndukwe had hauled in the ball, he would have had a sure touchdown. Instead, the ball grazed by Ndukwe's fingertips and was taken for a big gain by the MSU receiver. This play foreshadowed Notre Dame's safety play throughout the game - toeing the line between making great plays for the Irish and giving up huge plays to the Spartans. Together, Ndukwe and Tom Zbikowski combined for an interception, a forced fumble that gave Notre Dame the opportunity to win the game at the end of regulation, and a fumble recovery that led to a touchdown. Obviously, these were all huge plays. However, the MSU staff appeared to detect weakness in the coverage ability of the Irish safeties and created a gameplan to attack this perceived weakness. Throughout the game, MSU used screens and other tactics to draw the Irish safeties out of position, creating opportunities for big plays in the passing game. As the season progresses, one of the key developments for Notre Dame will be whether Bill Lewis and Brian Polian can improve the coverage skills of the defensive backs while retaining their playmaking ability.

Run don't walk. After being held to 38 rushing yards in the first half, Darius Walker appeared to be a completely different running back in the second half, finishing the game with 116 yards. Part of his second-half improvement can be attributed to a tired MSU defense (ND had over a 10 minute advantage in time of possession) and running when MSU expected the pass, particularly on draws. However, the biggest change between halves was the decisiveness in Walker's runs. In the first half, he constantly danced while attempting to make the first man miss, allowing the rest of the Spartan defense to converge. In the second half, he followed his blockers and took the yardage his line created for him, rather than trying to create all his yardage on his own. It was quite refreshing to see such obvious results of halftime coaching from a position coach, though it came too late to prevent one of the biggest gaffes of the game - Walker not staying in bounds on 3rd down with a little over a minute left in the first half.

Sam. Jeff Samardzija caught three touchdowns Saturday, bringing his season total to five TD grabs. The single season Notre Dame record for touchdown receptions belongs to Derrick Mayes (11), followed by Jack Snow (9) and Jim Seymour (8). It seems quite likely that Samardzija will work his onto this list, and he certainly has a shot at the record.

McKnight moves. By the time Weis called the fake reverse pass to McKnight in the Pitt game it was clear that Charlie Weis was determined to find ways to get McKnight the ball in the open field. Heading into the season, I believed McKnight's ability to create separation in one-on-one coverage and his ability to gain yardage after the catch would be critical to Weis's passing game. When McKnight went down in the Michigan game, I wondered how our passing game would fare without him. Stovall (8-176-1), Samardzija (6-96-3), Fasano (7-93-0), and Shelton (6-87-0) all had big games in McKnight's absence. However, other than Samardzija's 31-yard touchdown, almost all of those yards came in the air. Some of this can be attributed to Quinn's passing, but we need a receiver to emerge who will scare defenses when he has the ball in his hands.

Teenage riot. The youth movement continues under Coach Weis. Congratulations to freshmen Steve Quinn and David Grimes. Quinn made his first appearance in a game for the Irish, bringing the number of freshmen to see playing time to nine (from last year's recruiting class of fifteen). Grimes had his first career reception, an 11 yard grab that helped set up Notre Dame's final touchdown.

Don't call it a comeback. What can be taken away from Notre Dame coming from 21 points down to tie the game before losing in overtime? Can anything be taken away from it? The message from South Bend is "no."

"Sometimes you feel good about yourself if you come back," [Weis] said, "but guess what, that's just not good enough."

"I don't really consider it a comeback. For me comebacks are when the team comes back to win the game," Irish running back Darius Walker said. "Nobody comes back to lose the game."

There are no moral victories in Notre Dame Stadium (despite Davie's attempt to construe the 2000 Nebraska game as such). Yet fans who witnessed the last three years did see something different in the way this year's team responded to being down. In the previous three years, the Irish found themselves down by more than a touchdown fourteen times. They came back to win just three times (after trailing Navy by 8 in the third quarter in 2002, in overtime after trailing Washington State by 19 at the half in 2003, and after trailing Michigan by 9 at the half in 2004) and to take the lead once (retaking the lead following a 24-6 deficit to Boston College before losing 27-25 in 2003). Far more often, once the Irish went down two scores, the wheels came off. And not just against USC, but also against teams like Syracuse and Purdue. In the end, a loss is still a loss, but the mental toughness the Irish displayed yesterday when down three touchdowns evinced a sea change in confidence, a confidence that should pay dividends in the win column in the future.

Dear mama. Watching MSU plant their "State" flag at midfield following the game was sickening. Not because such behavior is unexpected from MSU (Tai Brown on Line 1). Nor because the fault lies entirely with MSU. When we beat them, they can't plant the flag. (Though I still wouldn't have shed a tear had the flag bearers been put in their place). What was so disappointing was that Carl Grimes participated. After Saturday's article in the SBT, we expected more from Carl, but we're confident Janice Grimes will set him straight.

Out of the blue. Not that this has anything to do with Notre Dame football, but yesterday I got the sense that Ed Orgeron was not hired to be Ole Miss's coach by an athletic director. Rather, Ed Orgeron, Head Coach, was greenlit by the producers of Taradise.

Tailgate Primer | by Pat

If you're hanging out at a tailgater tomorrow morning, it's pretty obvious that ND football is going to be the dominant topic of conversation. Whether it be discussing how awesome Notre Dame football is, or how Coach Weis is so awesome, you're going to want to appear up to date on the Irish. Feeding off of today's news, here are some facts, tidbits, and general points of Irish interest you can mix into your mid-morning debates.

Shining Star

Tom Zbikowski emerged as the hero of the Michigan game with his timely interception and now is garnering plenty of press for his intense play.

He is wired a little bit different," specials team coach Brian Polian said. "When he comes out of a big collision, he's got a smile on his face. Tommy never hits somebody and has to shake the cobwebs out."

"Just look at the way he looks. He looks like a kamikaze pilot on a death mission," defensive coordinator Rick Minter said.

Zibby also underwent the 20 questions treatment which produced these gems.

Willett: What is your hardest class and why?

Zbikowski: Spanish is my hardest class because it is a different language and I don't understand it most of the time.

Willett: If you were stranded on an island and could only eat one meal, only listen to one song, and spend your time with only one person; what would you eat, what would you listen to and who would you pick?

Zbikowski: I would eat pizza. I would be with my girlfriend for obvious reasons. The song would be something by Earth, Wind, and Fire so I could dance to it.

¿Cómo se dice "funk band" en español?

We Must Protect This House!

Weis reminds us all of the painful fact that Notre Dame Stadium has ceased being a place of pressure, fear, and intimidation for visiting teams.

"It used to be that people were a little bit in awe when they came here," Weis said. "I don't think that exists anymore, especially the team we're playing this week. I don't think they're in awe at all."

What used to be noisy and energetic is now a bit more subdued and reserved. Of course, the marathon NBC commercial breaks and lackluster coaching the past few years are probably the primary culprits. However, it's nothing that can't be fixed with winning football. Some encouragement from the head coach and perhaps a few extra snowcones out in the parking lot before the game can't hurt either. Bonus points if you can stir up a debate on this issue involving current students and some of the older glory days alumni who attended Notre Dame when Walsh and Zahm were still male dorms. "Back in my day......."

Out of Options

Expect to see some offensive fireworks, especially if Sparty starts to fall behind and needs a spark to get things going.

"There's always something you haven't seen in this offense," Stanton said. "Those guys in there (the offensive coaches), all they do is think of crazy plays."

Sure, it could be argued that the offensive coaches of a team that is 15-12 under their tenure might find more productive use of their time than thinking up "crazy plays", but have fun debating with your tailgating partners what sandlot trick play Coach Smith will call. Fumblerooski? Statue of Liberty? Hook and Lateral? Flea Flicker? The Fisher King Special?

A bit more mundane offensive switchup could be more option plays from State's QB, "Crazy Legs" Stanton. Coach Weis of course offered these words of wisdom to the Spartan coaches.

''The way he throws the ball, I'd do all I could not to get him hurt.''

Brandon Hoyte and Corey Mays on line one.

The best thing about freshman...

It's been quite awhile since ND fans have seen freshman see the field as much as this year. I'm sure I wasn't the only one who did a double take when he saw #41 fly across the field and tackle Steve Breaston in the Michigan game. Coach Weis warns that fans should get used to it and look out for more.

"We knew this year a lot of these guys, if they played well, were going to get themselves into the mix," Notre Dame coach Charlie Weis said. "It would not surprise me if more end up seeing time."

Expect to hear plenty of questions in the Stadium tomorrow. "Wait, #11 just caught that punt. Who is he again?" "That Bruton kid, what number is he?" "It's pronounced Koontz, right?"

Brush up your numbers beforehand or stash a roster cheat sheet to be your section's Irish Oracle when the freshman start getting into the game.

Psst...need a ticket?

Just a heads up if you get a great deal on a ticket in Section 135.

Well isn't that special?

As most ND fans discuss Drew Stanton or if SirDarean counts as one name or two, prove your tailgating football prowess by bring up the dichotomy that is Michigan State's special teams unit.

Their punter, Brandon Fields, is one of the very best in college football. Expect booming punts and coffin corner kicks that pin the Irish deep during the game.

On the flip side, none of the Spartans kickers have ever attempted a field goal in live D-1 game action. That last fact is rather important given that most of the talking heads are predicting a close, offensive shootout. A few early shanked field goals could rattle the Spartan confidence and have a big impact on the outcome of the game.

Stat Boy

In the South Bend Tribune's pre-game roundup they mentioned a stat that really is surprising (and sad).

The stat of the week comes courtesy of Irish radio play-by-play man Tony Roberts of Westwood One.

The Irish have gone seven games without a rushing TD in the fourth quarter. The last time ND did so was Oct. 9, 2004, when Ryan Grant and Brady Quinn each scored on fourth-quarter runs in a 23-15 victory over Stanford.

Ouch.

Stat Boy Redux

Notre Dame v. Michigan State. By the numbers.


Ok, that's it for me. Someone lock up behind me. I'm headed to South Bend.

Into the Way Back Machine | by Pat

At 2:00 I'm going to meet with the team and I'm going to tell you right now exactly what I'm going to say to the team to start off the meeting. Michigan State has now won four consecutive games at Notre Dame Stadium, which happens to be the second longest winning streak for a Notre Dame opponent in Notre Dame Stadium. Only Purdue had won five straight from 1954 to 1962. No other school has won as many as three straight games against the Irish here at Notre Dame

In addition, Michigan State has won 11 games here at this stadium, which is more than any one of our opponents in the history. Purdue has beaten Notre Dame 10 times, Southern Cal has beaten us 10 times, Pitt has beaten us eight times, but no one has beat us more times (in Notre Dame Stadium) than Michigan State. And by the way, one last comment about Michigan State - in their first two games they won 91-28. So before the players hear anything as it relates to the Michigan game, that's the first thing they are going to be hearing today.

- Charlie Weis, September 11th 2005

Coach Weis started off his press conference with a bang, immediately hammering home the importance of the upcoming ND/MSU game. Aside from the sobering reminder of the recent home record against Sparty, the fact that no team has beat Notre Dame at home more than Michigan State comes as a bit of a surpise. Perhaps that is because when the Spartans don't immediately come to mind when one tries to think of Notre Dame's most challenging foes.

In fact, to me, Michigan State tends to be a bit of the forgotten "traditional" opponent. There does seem to be some reasoning behind this though. Lately, the game has followed the Michigan tilt which tends to attract most of the fan/media attention, both the week before and after. Likewise, MSU doesn't share the Hoosier pride angle (such that is is) that fuels the Purdue game, the respect paid to Navy, nor the sheer history and grandeur of the annual Notre Dame/USC game. Maybe it's a factor that outside of the 10-10 tie in 1966, games against the land grant school in East Lansing haven't always had the national importance or significance of other opponents. Whatever the reason, it is safe to say that the average Notre Dame fan is unaware of the rich history shared between Notre Dame and Michigan State on the gridiron.

The first game between Notre Dame and the Spartans - then the State Agricultural College Aggies - was in 1897. The only current day opponent that Notre Dame played before that was Purdue in 1896 (unless we get Illinois Cycling Club or Physicians and Surgeons back on the schedule.) It was only the Aggies second season playing football and Notre Dame's tenth, so both schools started to play each other in their program's infancy.

Missing a year here or there, Notre Dame kept playing Michigan State on a regular basis. In 1917, the futures of both schools almost took a decidedly different turn. Jesse Harper was head coach of the Fighting Irish and was enjoying another successful season. So too was his assistant coach, Knute Rockne, who was gaining notice for this motivational skills and football knowledge. Ready to take over a program of his own, Rockne began fielding offers from schools eager to have him as their head coach. Late in 1917, Rockne verbally accepted Michigan State's offer to become their next football head coach. However, early in 1918, while Rockne was preparing to become a Spartan, Coach Harper decided to retire from coaching and return to his family's farm in Kansas. Now with the ND head job open and the alumni and administration alike calmoring for him to take the job, Rockne decided to stay at his alma mater and informed Michigan State he wouldn't be taking the job. We could take a second to try and fathom what would have happened had Rockne taken the job in East Lansing, but I'd rather not.

Notre Dame continued to play MSU for another 3 years until 1921, when the ND/MSU series took a 27 year break. In the meantime, MSU did eventually get their ND man when they named former Four Horsemen member Jim Crowley as their head coach in 1929. Crowley only coached in East Lansing for four years, but never had a losing season and help develop an assistant coach by the name of Frank Leahy.

In 1949, Michigan State joined the Big Ten to fill the vacancy left by the departed University of Chicago. Fellow conference member and Michigan AD, Fritz Crisler pressured the Spartans to follow Michigan's lead and drop Notre Dame from their schedule. However, owing to the fact that Notre Dame had stayed loyal and kept Michigan State on its schedule when the Spartan program was an independent, the Spartans decided not to boycott the Irish.

Those games in the '50s weren't kind to the Irish however as the Spartan program under head coaches Clarence "Biggie" Munn (along with assistant coach Dan Devine) and Hugh "Duffy" Daugherty were a powerhouse and went 7-1 against ND during the decade.

In the '60s, the Spartans kept the winning advantage by winning six of the ten games. In fact, until Notre Dame won in during Ara's first year in 1964, Michigan State had won eight in a row against the Irish. But the one game that defines this period was the so-called "Game of the Century" 10-10 tie in 1966. One of the most famous games in college football history, it is the only time the two teams met ranked #1 and #2 in the country.

The tides turned in the '70s, '80s, and early '90s as the Irish established dominance over the rivalry. It was a down period for the Spartan program that was only ranked twice during those 20 years while facing the Irish.

The matchup took a two year break in 1995 and 1996 and when it resumed, the Spartans took full advantage. The recent history was summed up by Coach Weis above, as the Spartans have won six of the last eight against Notre Dame, with three of the Irish losses coming when Notre Dame was ranked and Michigan State was not. Most of the more recent games were not of much national significance, but will be remembered for the way they all seemed to come down to a dramatic big-yardage 4th quarter plays such as Gary Scott's 80 yard TD catch and run, Herb Haywood's 68 yard TD reception, Charles Rodgers 47 yard TD receptions (getting sick of this pattern yet?), and Arnaz Battle's 60 yard TD catch and run from Pat Dillingham (finally, we get one).

The biggest thing to take away from the Notre Dame/Michigan State series, aside from the loyalty that each school showed one another, is the way the balance of power shifts back and forth from one extreme to the other. Just look at the Notre Dame W-L records against Michigan State broken down by years.

1897 - 1921: 13-2
1948 - 1969: 6-13-1
1970-1994: 22-3
1997-2004: 2-6

Tomorrow we will find out if Weis is able to buck the current trend and get the Irish back on track.

(Kudos once again to Shake Down the Thunder for its excellent history of the early years of Notre Dame football and BGS reader Mike, who contributed some of the info used in his post.)

Welcome Home, Charlie | by Pete

Notre Dame is 2-0. That’s great, and normally we, the students, would be ecstatic. However, this next game is not a normal game, it’s an exorcism. If we can beat Michigan State, then this campus will breathe a little easier, get much more excited about this season’s prospects. However, we have to remember, this is Michigan State. I’m not saying that I respect them, or am intimidated by them, but of all the teams we’ve played in my tenure here, Michigan State is the one that rubs me like sandpaper.

As a student, I’ve seen four Notre Dame-Michigan State matchups. I saw the miracle win, where Arnaz Battle instantly became the godfather of my eventual first-born. I also saw the loss at home my sophomore year, a game I barely remember, still punch drunk from the loss to Michigan. The only thing I remember is that, when Notre Dame needed to stop the run on fourth down to get the ball back and try some Battlesque heroics, we couldn’t. Oh, and we also had twelve guys on the field, we couldn’t even stop them while cheating, thanks to Tyrone “No Time For Counting, I’m Molding Men” Willingham. Then it was my junior year, where the game seemed to be going our favor, but our hopes were almost flushed along with Tyrone Willingham’s poop in the second half. As you can see, we’re 2-1 against MSU during my tenure, but it’s never been easy.

This year, MSU comes in hot, scoring a Willingham pantload of points against Kent State and Hawaii. Granted, that hardly counts as noteworthy competition, but the amount of points and yards amassed cannot be ignored. I think this is the game that finally proves if this Notre Dame team is for real, and I think they’re going to show that on Saturday. The campus is ready to welcome the undefeated team, and I think the team’s ready to knock that Spartan monkey off their back. No longer are we coached by men who suck, we have a real coach. And a real coach at Notre Dame doesn’t lose to Michigan State. We have more talent, and now we’ve got better coaching, and we’ve got something to prove. I know the campus is ready to show the world a great football team, and I think the players are ready to back it up.

Prediction: Notre Dame scores more points than Michigan State (What? You think I can magically guess two random numbers exactly right?).

Being a student, here are a few more things of note from campus this week:

• Kudos to the University on some very classy Inauguration invitations, sent to all the students. Really made me feel loved.

• I passed Rhema McKnight today. He had crutches, but was walking on both feet, so I have no idea what that means. And that ends the creepy stalking quotient of this entry.

• My condolences to Dillon Hall regarding their Pep Rally, which was cancelled 10 minutes into it due to rain. It looked promising, especially when Bob Davie claimed he was fired from the University due to racism.

• Fun Fact: When interviewed by Dillonite Dan Carter, five different Michigan State students could not correctly answer any of the following questions: 1. Name your current coach. 2. Name a player on the team. 3. Say some words from the fight song. 4. Who did you play last week, and what was the score? It’s times like this that I realize how special Notre Dame really is, and how much Michigan State sucks.

• Charlie came and talked to open the Dillon Pep Rally. He was succinct, and productive. Here’s the breakdown: "We’re glad we won two games, and we want to make Notre Dame Stadium a scary place to play again. Shut up when we’re on offense (direct quote), and go nuts when we’re on defense. I know after the Michigan game, you guys probably had a great time that night, and my goal is for you to have a great time every Saturday night."

• Brady Quinn, spanking new Dillonite, followed up Charlie, and let me tell you, three times now I’ve seen players speak before DPR, and never have I seen such an excited display. He ripped on Michigan State captain Clifton Ryan saying he wasn’t impressed by Touchdown Jesus. Specifically, he pointed out Ryan’s poor grammar. When I heard it, I instantly understood why so many people hate Notre Dame, and why I love it so much.

• My parents are coming up for the game, and they got a call from Anthony Travel saying that, if they wanted to go to the pep rally on Friday, they should definitely plan on getting there early. With an undefeated Charlie Weis, and an always entertaining Chuck Lennon in the house, I couldn’t be more excited.

• And finally, a special note to Mark May: Shut up. Please shut up. Nobody here is already thinking national title, and if you keep ragging on us about it, we’re going to start acting like it just to piss you off. I’m halfway considering bringing a dozen roses to the game on Saturday, just to be the arrogant Notre Dame fan I know I always could be.

Spank Sparty | by Jay

News and views from South Bend to East Lansing...

• Rhema's out for the MSU game, but you probably knew that already, as it made not only the Trib(s), but also the sports ticker on ESPN News yesterday.

• Psy-Ops... John-El, taking us lightly? Perhaps. Or maybe he's just trying to take the edge off of a tough road game for the Spartans. He and Charlie have fundamentally different psych jobs this week: while Charlie's gotta pump up the Spartans, JLS has to dispel the mystique of the Dome. In the end, it dovetails nicely: the multilateral, bipartisan soundbite out of both camps: "Michigan State can beat Notre Dame."

• ...and Gamesmanship. Superman's lesser cousin continues to hem and haw about suspended running back Jason Teague's availability. Said JLS on Monday, "There's a chance he'll play..." (We'll chalk that up as a Yes.)

• Jersey papers are taking Weis' early success and somehow turning it into a slam on Rutgers' athletic department. Fuhgeddaboutit.

• Sir Darean Adams gets a nomination for the ND opponents All-Moniker Squad. Currently on the list: LaRod Stephens (Pitt), Keston Cheathem (Michigan), Obi Oluigbo (Michigan), and B.J. Opong-Owusu (Michigan).

• CollegeFootballNews.com, diagnosed schizophrenic, predicting a Spartan win here and an Irish win here.

• Wolverines throw trash, while Spartans rescue puppies. Here's a heartwarming story.

• Also, if you don't have it bookmarked already, be sure to check out bare down, where Bill does a great job of highlighting Irish news items every day in his "Quick Hits" postings.

---

Five questions I need answered:

Have the Spartans really won four straight at ND stadium, and haven't lost here since 1993? Come on. That can't be right.

Sadly, it's true. The last ND team to beat the Spartans at home was coached by Lou Holtz. 1993 was also the last time that Holtz faced MSU at home as Notre Dame did not play Michigan State in 1995 (or 1996). Davie was 0-3 against the Spartans at home (and 0-5 overall), Willingham 0-1 (2-1 overall).

The bad loss over this period (albeit, a road game): 1998, Davie goes down 42-3 by halftime, mounts a weak comeback, and falls 45-23. Shakespearean omen: ND was coming off an emotional win over Michigan that year, wherein ND was ranked #22 and Michigan #5.

How good is Drew Stanton?

He's pretty darn good, and outside of a certain Heisman Trophy winner, might be the best gunslinger we face all year. He's accurate (64% completion rate lifetime, 78% completion rate this year after two games) and as everyone's mentioned he's an excellent runner (718 yards and five touchdowns last year in only 10 games). And while he may be a tad injury-prone, he's also a tough, play-through-pain SOB (reminiscent of another Spartan of old).

We need to mention that a large part of Stanton's success thus far this year has been the establishment of a solid running attack, with a two-headed running back threat featuring Jehuu Caulcrick (#30, the big one) and freshman Javon Ringer (#39, the fast one). Mix in a conveniently-unsuspended Teague and Stanton's fleet feet and the Spartans have a Swiss Army knife for a running game.

So far the media coverage for State has focused on offense, offense, offense. Whom do we want to watch on the defense?

The aforementioned Sir Darean Adams (#27), for one. The sophomore "Bandit" linebacker (similar to our Apache) is leading the team in tackles right now and has a sack. Also keep an eye on defensive tackle Clifton Ryan (#92), a preseason All-Big 10 pick. He may not be be the best defensive end we'll face this year, but at 6'2, 302 he's definitely one of the biggest. Senior safety Eric Smith (#36) moved from linebacker, and is the acknowledged leader of the defense.

But there's a reason everyone's talking about Stanton and the O. The truth is, the MSU defense just isn't very good, and I don't predict good things for them. In fact, I penned a song about it.

Bravely bold Sir Darean
rode forth from East Lansing
When danger reared its ugly head,
he bravely turned his tail and fled.
Yes, brave Sir Darean turned about
And gallantly, he chickened out.
Bravest of the brave, Sir Darean.

State's played Kent State and Hawaii, both pretty terrible teams. Is there any way to tell how good they really are?

So far, not yet. Kent is just gawd-awful -- they gave up 685 yards of offense to MSU. Hawaii's not much better (499 yards given up). So it's been two cupcakes for the Spartans.

There is one benchmark of comparison, although I don't know how significant it is. Hawaii played Southern Cal, who I think we can all agree is a juggernaut. Let's put the Hawaii games for MSU & Southern Cal side by side:

vs. Hawaii...

	scored	gave up	rush O	pass O	total O	rush D	pass D	total D	TO
USC	63	17	177	341	518	60	377	437	+2
MSU	42	14	198	301	499	123	236	359	+1

Conclusion? Inconclusive. Both teams racked up a lot of yards against a weak defense, but it's hard to draw any solid lines between USC and Michigan State (although the fact that the Trojans gave up more yards than the Spartans makes you go hmm...)

Finally, where does Sparty fit in in the pantheon of Humanoid-esque Mascots?

First, a definition via EDSBS, from their series on Pepidemiology:

The Humanoidesque is the second type [of mascot], clad in a body suit and oversized headpiece designed to resemble the icon from which the team’s name is derived. Examples include the Virginia Cavalier, Wake Forest’s Demon Deacon, the Nebraska Cornhusker, and Pistol Pete from Oklahoma State. Humanoidesque mascots spend most of their games waving their hands frantically, pumping their fists, and scaring the living bejeezus out of small children around the stadium with their maniacal grins, huge plastic teeth, bizarre outfits, and sinister, fixed glares. Like animal mascots, are susceptible to quiet death by heat stroke and blindside assault from angry fans.

I sort of like Sparty, even though he's definitely hooked up with BALCO in the past (and even if he's stalking Marco.) He's got that puzzled grin and those puppy dog eyes; he's just a big, lovable brickhead (in a skirt). Despite all the muscles, he wouldn't harm a fly.

So I'm gonna slot Sparty pretty high, somewhere after the Demon Deacon, and ahead of the UVA Cavalier, the Nebraska Cornhusker, Pistol Pete, and Lee Corso.

Award update | by Pat

After doing an excellent job at Michigan Stadium, punter D.J. Fitzpatrick was rewarded by being left off of the Ray Guy Award Watch List. The list includes 40 punters, although Fitzpatrick will have opportunities to be added to the list during the season.

Here are the opponents who were named to the list:

Adam Graessle - Pittsburgh
Brandon Fields - Michigan State (2004 Finalist)
Tom Malone - USC (2004 Finalist)
Brendan Carney - Syracuse

Indisputable | by Jay

(aka, the Wolverine wrap-up)

I've been to the Big House three times now, and I'm 1-2.

First time was 1991, my senior year - the Desmond Howard game. Sitting in the opposite end zone, ...Elvis puts it up...it's overthrown. Had to be, right? Nobody could catch that! ...no effing way. He caught it? We were dumbfounded -- we were the team who always had the last-minute heroics. We left Ann Arbor in shame; our Ryder truck packed with couches from Goodwill and a half dozen kegs that had been so rowdy on the way up was now a rickety conestoga on the Trail of Tears back to South Bend, a passel of surly drunks from Morrissey who ended up turning on each other around Kalamazoo.

Second time was two years ago, the 38-0 shellacking where nothing went right, and where I wandered out of the stadium in a messy haze, across the golf course to the tailgater to endure the taunts of my Wolverine "friends" for the rest of the day.

I think you could say that this year my feelings after the game were a little different.

Wow! First, the opening drive -- all confidence. Rhema! Here we go, baby! Just like last week. Henne under pressure...nice! We got stopped, okay, punt, watch out for Breaston -- no return. Nice job, Brian Polian. Batted down. Batted down again. Punt. Punt again. Still no Breaston. Corner blitz -- pick it up! Crap. Long drive. Rhema...yikes. Ball's up-- tip-- Smarj! Holy cow what a catch. Ecker. Ecker. Ecker again. ZIBBY! Fitz booms it. Here's Grady. Where's Hart? Blitz-- Brady got away-- Smarj down the middle! Fourth down. Avant to the one! Oh my. Sneak--sneak. Who's got it? Our ball! Punt. Manningham? Wow, wide open. Henne, last chance. Incomplete. Incomplete. Tip! Incomplete! Ball game. We just beat #3 Michigan at the Big House. Unbelievable.

And yet, it wasn't really a roller coaster of emotions; it was more like watching a two-car Indy race, Foyt versus Andretti, the drivers fighting their own cars as much as each other, every turn fraught with the peril of a spin-out into the wall, with one guy staying just ahead of the other until the checkered flag.

Man, that place was quiet after the game. There was an old Wolverine behind me who just kept muttering, "We shoulda won. We shoulda won." Next to us, a group of students from ND were all smiles. "Only one of us had a ticket, but I'm glad we decided to make the trip, because we ended up finding some this morning," one girl said. "This rocks."

Going into the game we'd been wary of the Wolverines, yet somewhat confident that we'd give them a game. We knew we'd play tough, having seen what happened in Pittsburgh, but a loss was well within the realm of possibility (or even probability, depending on your level of pessimism/realism). And a well-fought loss would have been fine, right? New coach, big underdogs to a tough opponent on the road and all that. Moreover, the night before there was a dire warning flare: Pitt had lost to Ohio. Suddenly the big win at Heinz over a ranked opponent looked like a nugget of fool's gold, shattered by Solich's Bobcats. Who knew how good we really were?

So we had been sufficiently emotionless, or were trying to be. Now, as Powers-Neal took the final handoff, and the seconds ticked away, the floodgates opened. We won. (We won!)

The players came over and raised their helmets, we sang the alma mater along with the students, and the fight song a couple of times. Sunburnt, sweaty, and happy, we picked our way out of the stadium, and a wave of euphoria washed over me. When you don't win at a particular venue for over a decade, you start to think of words like "curse" and "jinx" and "hex"; you wonder if and when it's ever going to end. My friend John made the observation that even though we had beaten Michigan just last year at ND, it felt like the end of a long drought, like diving into a pool of cold water after walking across the desert.

We wandered back to our tailgater, a mixed bag of mostly Michigan folks (our hosts in the Victors lot - longtimers; dyed-in-the-wool Maize and blue) with a handful of Irish fans scattered about. We tried to stifle the cheers as best we could and wait until we were out of earshot to celebrate, because a) our Michigan friends are good people and b) we were starving, and they had the food. After filling up at the keg (yes, imagine that: kegs allowed at a tailgater) and scarfing a few brats, we were off to the bars to begin the serious breakdown of both the game and our livers.

Over the course of many beers, first at Dominick's (a great spot - outdoor beer garden, mason jar pitchers of beer, walking distance from campus - ND needs a place like this), then during a slow-speed chase through the pubs of Ann Arbor, several points of discussion were raised throughout the evening, mostly revolving around the reasons why the Irish won and the Wolverines lost. Here were the debate points.

Michigan lost because Henne sucked. Spontaneous post-game beer-soaked reaction: yes, he did. From thirty rows up in the end zone, he definitely seemed shaky. He overthrew receivers a couple of times, sometimes didn't spot the open guy, and didn't take care of the ball.

Post-hangover Tivo-assisted reaction: you know, he made some good throws at different times, and was the victim of a couple of drops. But ND got a lot of pressure on him all throughout the game. By my count, there were half a dozen times he was flushed out of the pocket, five times he threw the ball out of bounds on purpose, five passes were batted down, and he was sacked twice. Kudos to us.

Credit Henne for some great plays, too: the Manningham TD was a perfect read, and he did a good job of finding Ecker when Breaston and Avant were locked down. Still, he threw that terrible interception to Zibby, with a receiver open down the middle, and he dropped the ball on the goal line. Two of the most crucial, game-changing blunders are on his shoulders.

Lloyd called a bad game. You always hear this after a loss from fans of any team; it's the easiest excuse to make, and simultaneously the hardest to qualify. It's a classic known/unknown set of facts: we know what happened on the field, but we have no idea what the play call was, what the progression read for the receivers was, if the back hit the right hole, if the blocking scheme was executed correctly, etc. In the smoky haze of The Little Brown Jug, my friend Bob (UM grad) was all over Carr, complaining about "playing it safe" late in the second half and calling for his head on a platter with a side of onion rings. Although we both picked out a couple of plays that seemed questionable -- the slip screen on third and long, the final incomplete pass to Ecker that would have been ten yards short of a first down -- much of Bob's frustration with Carr seems to be cumulative, built up over the course of several gut-churning losses over the years.

In watching the replay, two things came to mind on the issue of playcalling. First off, while Michigan had several terrible plays, you can't isolate any one call that was boneheaded -- even that final pass to Ecker might have gone for a first down, as the field sure looked empty in front of him. And second, a point not conceded by my friend Bob Saturday night: Notre Dame's defense did an excellent job of stifling several options for Lloyd. Namely, 1) a consistent rushing attack and 2) Steve Breaston.

Injuries just killed Michigan. Bob and I fought this one to a standstill. Here's how it went.

"Dude, we lost Hart. He's our best running back."
"Yeah, but Grady looked damn good. He might be better."
"But Hart doesn't fumble the ball."
"Hey, we lost our best receiver, so I'm not too sympathetic."
"Big deal. We also lost our best tight end right before the game."
"So what? Ecker played well."
"Massaquoi's better."
"Well, we lost our starting center and had a couple fumbles as a result."
"Really? Hmm."
[long pause]
"You know how I know you're gay? You macramed yourself a pair of jean shorts."

The refs screwed Michigan. A siren call, often heard that night in Ann Arbor. Since we had been at the game, there was literally no way to accurately gauge this one at the Little Brown Jug other than to go by the reaction of the Michigan fans throwing crap on the field after the announcement of "indisputable evidence" after the fumble recovery. We were on the opposite corner, so we had no idea if it was a good call or not. Bob said that since the students were going nuts they must have seen something amiss; I said that throwing stuff on the field doesn't imply any special insight and only indicates that said fans are classless losers; and we left it at that.

Replay (my replay at home after the game) clearly shows that the refs got the replay calls right in every instance. Therefore, I would like to announce that after further review there is indisputable evidence that the further review and subsequent claim of indisputable evidence by the referees was in fact correct. The overturned calls stand.

(One disturbing thing about instant replay to point out from Charlie's presser.

Q. I want to put a fine point on something you said about instant replay yesterday. You said something about the officials are going to err on the side of safety and I'm not sure what that..

COACH WEIS: Yeah, it confused me, too, a little bit, that's a good question. Because when the official came over to the sideline, I said, "You couldn't see that he was down"? I might have had an adjective or two in there. I said, "You couldn't see that he was down?"

And he goes, "Don't worry, Coach."

"Don't worry? You just called a fumble, you tell me not to worry?"

He goes, "We're told, what we're told to do is if it's close, for them to call it the way they called it," because the officials because the replay official could always correct it. Because if they called it the other way, if they called that he was down, then for the replay official, it was a moot point. Because if they had already called it down, then they could not have reversed it the other way, so that's why they are told that.

So at least I understood the explanation, but I just thought that he was down so obviously to me. Maybe I was wrong, but he was down so obviously that I could not understand when he said that to me. But as I sit back to reflect on it, I do at least understand what the thought process was.

This is the official policy? If so, it's terrible for at least two reasons and probably many more.

One, it encourages referees to make a wrong call. The ref in this case clearly knew it wasn't a fumble; he called it the wrong way anyway, and under his marching orders, was justified in doing so. It seems to me that we ought to be encouraging correct calls from our referees, but maybe that's just me.

Secondly, and as a result, this "over-calling" a play and passing the buck to the booth will necessarily lead to more replay reviews. And gee, that's what every fan wants, right? Give us MORE breaks in the action!)

After the Little Brown Jug, we went to get a slice, then over to a sticky-floored dive called Touchdowns, then another place, and another place after that, and one or two more maybe. I finally crashed on a friend's couch at some point that night, although the only evidence that that actually happened is that I woke up there. (I tried to go to the replay official in my head to see, but he'd packed up and left around 11:30 the night before).

As I was driving back to Chicago Sunday morning, it occurred to me that we had spent a lot of time the night before talking about how Michigan lost, and very little about why Notre Dame had won. So I started to make a mental catalog of the superlatives on our side. The beautiful, no-huddle opening drive that set the tone for the game, and really, won it for us. The coverage on Breaston on the punts. Another special teams tackle by Casey Cullen. Zibby's pick and thirty-yard ramble. Samardzija plucking a tipped ball out of thin air, and holding it for a touchdown. Corey Mays, blitzing through the line like a bottle rocket. Our secondary, flustering the hell out of Henne. Wooden saving two touchdowns. The Duke, like a prospector panning for gold, fishing an ingot out of a roaring stream. Walker, spinning and knifing his way down the field. Our jackhammer defense, punching holes and disrupting passes.

Michigan may have lost, but Notre Dame definitely won.

Onward to game three.

Statistically Speaking | by Pat

As it currently stands, Darius Walker has 990 career rushing yards. If he can manage to rush for 10 or more yards against Michigan State, he will reach 1000 career rushing yards faster than any running back in the history of Notre Dame football. The current record holder is Autry Denson, who passed 1000 yards in the 4th game of his sophomore year against Ohio State, his 16th career game. The Michigan State game will be Darius' 15th. Both players did not see action in their first game as freshman.

Another week, another move up the record books for Brady Quinn. A week after displacing Rick Mirer for 3rd all-time in pass attempts, he now has jumped ahead of Mirer for 3rd place all-time for career pass completions. Here's the leaderboard.

Career Pass Completions
1. - 558, Ron Powlus, 1994-97
2. - 473, Steve Beuerlein,,1983-86
3. - 385, Brady Quinn, 2003-present
4. - 377, Rick Mirer, 1989-92
5. - 306, Jarious Jackson, 1996-99
6. - 304, Terry Hanratty,1966-68
7. - 297, Blair Kiel, 1980-83
8. - 290, Joe Theismann, 1968-70
9. - 268, Joe Montana, 1975,77-78

When Notre Dame special teams limited Michigan's Steve Breaston to a 5.2 yard punt return average (6 for 31) and a 15.0 yard kickoff return average (2 for 30), not only was it far below his career averages (13.2 and 23.8), it was the 2nd lowest per-game average in each category that Breaston has had during his Michigan career (minimum 2 punt returns). Basically, Breaston has never had as bad a special teams game as he did on Saturday.

In the Notre Dame/Michigan series, the lower ranked team has won 6 of the last 9 meetings.

Season-long Running Averages

Offense

Category	2005	2004
Yards per rush	4.0	3.32
Avg yards per pass attempt	6.4	7.2
Avg yards per pass completion	9.9	13.4
Pass completion percentage	65%	54%
Third Down conversions	14/30 (47%)	68/183 (37%)
Rushing yd average, with nat'l ranking	189.5 (36th)	127.4 (85th)
Passing yd average, with nat'l ranking	183.5 (82nd)	218.1 (54th)
Total offense yd average, with nat'l ranking	373 (67th)	345.5 (81st)
Time of possession / game	31:51	30:50
Red Zone Touchdown Efficiency	7 / 8 (88%)	25 / 36 (69%)

Defense

Category	2005	2004
Yards per rush given up	3.6	2.7
Avg yards per pass attempt	5.6	7.9
Avg yards per pass completion	11.4	13.6
Pass completion percentage	49%	58%
Quarterback sacks	7	30
Rushing yd average against, with nat'l ranking	108.5 (43rd)	88.2 (4th)
Passing yd average against, with nat'l ranking	221.5 (60th)	281.2 (116th)
Total yd offense average against, with nat'l ranking	330 (45th)	369.4 (54th)

Turnovers

Category	2005	2004
Interceptions by ND	2	9
Fumbles Forced / Recovered	5 / 2	27 / 12
Turnovers gained	4	21
Had Intercepted	1	10
Fumbles / Lost	4/ 1	15 / 6
Turnovers lost	2	16
Turnover Margin	+2	+5

Special Teams

Category	2005	2004
Kickoff return average	19.7	18.7
Kickoff return average allowed	16.9	19.9
Punt return average	21.0	10.8
Punt return average allowed	5.2	8.2

Final fun stat 'o the day:
Brandon Hoyte already has 3.0 sacks in 2005, a number that equals his entire 2004 output.

Harris Poll: belching black smoke | by Pat

Last month the Harris Interactive Poll voting members were released to plenty of raised eyebrows and message board exclamation points. And no sooner had the list been announced than a handful of members dropped out. Six total left the 114 member panel, with association with ESPN being a primary reason. The impact to Notre Dame was that Lou Holtz and Gerry DiNardo were among the six. The replacements were named to little fanfare on August 31st and included retired Marshall coach Bob Pruett and former Georgia coach Ray Goff. The other four named voters were former players Jim Mandich (Michigan) and Joe Jacoby (Louisville), and former assistant coaches Denny Aldridge (who played at Texas...can't find where he coached) and Frank Sadler (South Carolina).

From the "you can't make this up" file, Pruett then dropped out days later due to his affliation with ESPN. So, the replacement for a voter who was affliated with ESPN was another voter with an affliation with ESPN. Brilliant! Reaching once again into the tree stump and hoping not to get bit, the Harris Poll selected former SMU player Bobby Leach to be the hopefully final replacement.

Now, Notre Dame is supposed to have three nominated voters among the group of 114. In the original version of the poll, the Irish looked like they were well-represented. Lou Holtz, Rocket Ismail, and Jim Morse appeared to be the official Irish nominees while Gerry DiNardo and Roger Valdiserri had obvious ties. With both Holtz and DiNardo being replaced, it seems as if Notre Dame then would have another one of its original 10 nominees selected as the third ND rep. But looking at the new names that were selected, I don't see any Irish alligence. Did they just move Valdiserri over to the ND camp and not select another Irish-nominated voter even though Valdiserri emphatically stated that he was not on the original member list in a Notre Dame-centric capacity?

To be clear, I'm not readying my tinfoil hat and practicing my charges of voter bias. If Notre Dame wins, I suspect it will be ranked accordingly. But I am wondering just how exactly the new voters were selected as the conference affliations between the old and new voting members don't exactly seem to line up. Perhaps I'm missing something (very possible, here's the full voter list) but there doesn't seem to be any rhyme or reason to the process of selecting the new voters, which casts doubts on why exactly this poll is a key component of how millions of dollars are decided come BCS bowl time.

Upon further review | by Pat

Breaking down the ND/Michigan game, amateur-blog style.

QB - The first hint that Quinn was having an off day came when his 2nd pass of the game sailed over a wide open Jeff Samardzija during an otherwise flawless opening drive. It can certainly be argued that if beating #3 Michigan at Michigan with no turnovers is an "off day" then hopefully he will have 10 more. Still, I imagine Quinn will be working on quite a few snaps, both shotgun and under center, during practice this week. And while he did get sacked twice, his improved pocket mobility is still pretty impressive. Both sacks were from defensive back blitzes so for the second straight game no defensive lineman was able to come away with a sack.

RB - Once again the playbook called for Darius, Darius, and more Darius, as Walker danced and darted for over 100 yards. He also added 22 more receiving yards to bring his total on the year to 74 yards, which is exactly how many receiving yards he totaled in all of 2004. He did appear to tire a bit in the second half, but given the heat, his 26 rush attempts, and Michigan's physical defense that isn't surpising. Hopefully his fumble was an isolated incident. Schwapp continues to impress. I'd wager that back in the summer a prediction that he would be lining up wide against Michigan would have met much laughter, but that's what happened on at least one play. As a blocker he's very physical and as he refines his technique he's going to be a monster. He also almost ripped off a big run if not for a nice arm tackle by Gabe Watson.

WR - Obviously the injury to McKnight is the big story here. Not only is he a great weapon, his presence on the field also forces other teams to use their nickel back to try and defend Jeff Samardzija. If Rhema is out for a long duration, someone else on the receiving corps is going to have to step up. The obvious candidate is Maurice Stovall. He looks like he's in great shape and has the size to make plenty of big plays. It's time for him to take control during his last year. Hopefully Matt Shelton will be back to full strength soon to help stretch the defense and add more depth. Speaking of Samardzija, another game, another great endzone catch. It's catches like that that result in gaining your quarterback's confidence. One great thing I noticed again about the WRs is that they always get past the first down markers on 3rd down. No more 4 yards curls on 3rd and 5.

TE - I'm pretty sure I can just cut and paste week to week about Fasano's performance. Excellent run blocking and nice receptions on third down to keep the drive alive. He was expected to be a dominant force this year and so far is living up to the billing. I'm still hoping to see Carlson's size/speed combo at work over the middle of the field.

OL - Michigan's defensive line played them tough, but the OL held it together. The switching center routine did result in a fumble, but I think Morton was replaced due to injury so I can't complain about that too much. LeVoir is really impressing me so far. He had a solid 2004, but now is playing aggressively and is really taking it to the opposing lineman. I'm going to repeat this plenty of times, but the improvement across the board on this unit is perhaps the most satisfying part of this season. They are working well together and delivering the hit, rather than absorbing it.

DL - Great job getting pressure on Henne and getting their hands his passing lanes. One of the announcers mentioned that the Michigan OL outweighed the Irish DL by an average of 50 pounds. That sounds like a stat you hear when we play Navy. And yet the D-line was consistently able to shrink the pocket and force Henne to move around, which doesn't appear to be his strong suit. Not only is five batted down passes impressive, the surprising stat is that all four starting lineman contributed. When is the last time all four lineman batted down a pass in a single game? I'd wager it's been awhile. Ronald Talley played even more minutes and looks like a keeper. His emergence is really helping to offset the loss of Travis Leitko. I don't think there is one unit that is exceeding expectations more than the defensive line so far. After losing Tuck, Budinscak, and Pauly the line has used its speed to really disrupt opposing passing plays while still staying solid against the run. Kudos to Coach Oliver.

LB - Mays looks like he is shot out of a cannon on those linebacker blitzes out of the middle. Pure effort guy and a ton of fun to watch. And I think Michael Hart is still trying to figure out where he came from on that vicious hit near the end of the first quarter. Both Mays and Hoyte did a great job in pass coverage, especially late in the game on those impressive pass deflections. Once again the overall linebacker speed was impressive. Crum seems to do a good job in pass coverage, but I'm sure others on the team will let him know that he's now the only defensive starter without a pass breakup. I was surprised to see Scott Smith get in the game so early, but he took a pretty good angle on the Breaston reverse and got the tackle. We might see him more often if Mays keeps playing like a human battering ram.

DB - Some will say that Henne had a bad game on his own right, but I'd like to think the DB's helped a bit. Wooden had the play of the game. He hurt his arm on a tough tackle and then came back to race across the field in time to shove Avant out at the 1 yard line on a play that ended up saving a touchdown. He also had solid tackles on Michigan's big TE, Ecker, that limited his yards after catch. Zbikowski's goal line interception was the kind of clutch play that ND is going to need from its secondary if they want to keep winning big games. There seemed to be some miscommunication on the TD pass to Manningham, but I'll also give Michigan some credit for a nice play call on 4th and short. Nduwke wins the head-up award with his recovery of Henne's goal line fumble. Breaston did get behind the defense a few times, but luckily, like against NIU, he couldn't quite reel them in.

Special Teams - Special teams work is probably what won the game for Notre Dame. Everyone kept holding their breath waiting for that big, back-breaking Michigan kick/punt return, but it never happened. Because Fitzpatrick was able to get plenty of hang time on his punts, ND players had time to get down and contain Breaston. Also notable were Terrail Lambert and David Bruton, who were excellent as gunners on ND punts. Both avoided being jammed on the line and just pulled away from the opposing defender in the open field. One of Fitzpatrick's punts only covered 36 yards and yet Bruton was already there, ready to tackle Breaston as he caught the ball. Watch them the next time ND punts (hopefully not for awhile on Saturday). I'd also like to see Zibby more at punt returner. Granted Grimes hasn't really had a chance to show what he can do, but Zbikowski seems to have that knack for squeezing out an extra 5 yards on each return. We can probably thank his days as an option QB for that.

Sure there were misfires and certainly Weis has a laundry list of things to work on at practice this week, but the team came out strong, which is vitally important when playing a tough road game. Like at Pitt they scored on their opening drive, which shows definite improvement over a team that only notched two touchdowns last year on game opening drives (Navy, USC). The team has played with intensity and passion and that should only amplify this Saturday when they head back home for Charlie's home opener.

Hurricane Relief | by Jay

We'd like to pass along a special charitable opportunity that will help the Red Cross with hurricane relief efforts. ND grad Melissa Richter has created a football t-shirt that sells for $15, with all the profits going to the Red Cross. Here's Melissa with the scoop:

A month ago I decided to create an ND Football Charity shirt to benefit Toys 4 Tots. The sales have been great so far (basically by word of mouth), but we only planned for one wave of sales which is now over.

However, in light of the horrible tragedy that occurred on the Gulf Coast, I have received the okay from Toys 4 Tots to run a second wave of t-shirt sales to directly benefit the American Red Cross. I’m very passionate about this as the people are in dire need of our help and services. Obviously the best thing to do is to send food, water and supplies that are immediately needed (which many of us are doing through our local church groups). However, the monetary value of donating to the Red Cross will help the rebuilding efforts for all the people affected by Hurricane Katrina.

Here are the specifics:

1. The shirt is $15 and ALL proceeds will be directly donated to the Red Cross.
2. The shirt will be available in all sizes (S – XL) and youth (S – L)
3. We will keep the order open until Sept. 23 and all shirts will be shipped on Sept. 26.
4. Anyone interested in ordering the shirt, can contact ndhoops@hotmail.com

So when you're giving to the relief effort, consider throwing $15 Melissa's way. As you're helping the cause, you'll score a neat t-shirt as a bonus. A lot of folks have been acutely affected by Katrina (including some in the BGS family), so be generous, and know that you're helping people who really need it.

Pick Six: Week 2 | by Jay

Pick Six Standings have been updated, with LSU pickers getting a big boost this week. Notre Dame is helping everybody (which means they're helping nobody, as approximately eight zillion pick-sixers have the Irish). Anybody who picked Oklahoma out of Group A (1-5) may want to just hang it up at this point.

Emason17 maintains his sole occupancy of first place for the second week in a row.

In the BlogPollers' division of the Pick Six, John of Catholic Packer Fan still has a tenuous hold on the top spot, despite his pick of Iowa out of Group B.

Three potentially big standings-changing games this weekend: Tennessee (4) at Florida (7), Florida State (8) at Boston College (16), and Miami (13) at Clemson (23).

Week 2 In a Nutshell | by Dylan

#10 this week. I can live with that. Although, other than preseason perceptions, there is no reason for Tennessee and Florida State to be ahead of us. In fact, based just on what's happened this year, it's hard to argue that Florida, LSU, Georgia, or Ohio State belong in front of us. That will all work itself out.

Nice work, Hawkeyes. From BCS contender to "spoilers" in 30 minutes.

TCU (aren't).

The Bayou Bengal is a paper tiger. Granted, there are plenty of reasons why LSU shouldn't have been sharp in their opener, but 29 ASU first downs? 460 yards passing allowed? That was one bad looking secondary last night. If not for two blocked kicks for touchdowns, it would have been a runaway for ASU. There's no way LSU will get through the rest of their schedule with less than 2 losses.

Purdue had a superficially impressive win, hanging 49 on Akron, and no doubt easing the fears of their fans after losing their two best offensive players from last year. But a look at the box score shows that up is down for this year's Boilers. While the run defense was solid, this was Akron, at Ross-Ade, completing 58% of their passes for 362 yards and 3 touchdowns. The score was 28-17 after three quarters. Did I mention this was against Akron?

Yes "andy", Oklahoma is still a bad football team. They may actually be getting worse. They are lucky they played Tulsa yesterday, since, by the transitive property of college football, they would have lost to SMU. Bomar's line read like that of a JV QB (5-13, 42 yards, 2 INT) in a hail storm. He didn't attempt a pass in the second half. They are going to lose to UCLA next week, and it's possible they will go 5-6 this year.

Texas is very good, but one touchdown at the 'shoe, tOSU? Playing two quarterbacks is like dating Angelina Jolie. Seems like a great idea at the time, but you soon realize that managing multiple personalities ain't worth the trouble. Maybe Purdue will win the Big 1?.

Michigan State looks to be a tougher game than anyone expected. Granted, they have been playing against field hockey teams, but in two games their offense has been piling up yards on the ground (537) and through the air (631) on the way to scoring 91 points. Could Sparty be back on the juice?

Ty Willingham has picked up right where he left off, absorbing a 39 point thrashing from Cal. The Molder of Men allowed a backup quarterback to throw for 271 yards and 4 TDs, while his Dawgs rushed for 68 yards on 27 attempts. The (not so) Huskies allowed 8.5 yards per play. The good news for Washington is that Dave Wannstedt will be available before too long.

Stanford 41, Navy 38. Dammit.

Odds and Sods, Vol. 2 | by Mike

This week's compilation of unconnected thoughts:

Plaudits. Following a win at Michigan, there's plenty of praise to go around. Any attempt to recognize specific performances is going to result in omitting similarly deserving performances. Too bad, I'm doing it anyway. I'm very pleased with Ambrose Wooden's development. Wooden - and, in particular, his tackling - was the subject of a fair amount of criticism on ND message boards. However, Wooden appears to be steadily improving, and frequently wrapped up and brought down larger Michigan players in the open field yesterday. Credit also to the special teams. The uber-hyped Steve Breaston was limited to 31 yards of punt returns on 6 attempts. Controlling the "hidden yardage" of special teams was critical in this game. Without Zbikowski's punt return, we may not have scored in the second half. Finally, the defense's goalline stand must be mentioned. Michigan's offensive line had a huge size advantage against our defensive line. Adam Kraus outweighs Derek Landri by around 50 pounds. Yet the Irish defense was able to overcome Michigan's size advantage through some combination of advantages in quickness, toughness, and/or nastiness and disrupt the Michigan line's push, allowing Ndukwe to recover the fumble. The defense conceded nothing, in stark contrast to the last visit to Ann Arbor.

Got (playing) time if you want it. After Corey Mays tapped his helmet, indicating he needed to come out for a few plays, freshman linebacker Scott Smith entered the game. This brings the total number of freshman who have seen game action to eight - over half of last year's recruiting class. Could anyone have predicted this many freshmen would have worked their way onto the field by the third week of the semester? This definitely trumps my freshman achievement of working my way into Finnegan's by the third week of the semester. Hopefully, this year's recruits have noticed all the playing time given to youth. For the second week in a row, Darrin Walls was in attendance at the Notre Dame victory. I doubt he enjoyed getting pelted with trash thrown by Michigan fans.

Faulty comparisons, redux. As the game wound down, assorted media personalities stumbled over themselves to be the first to mention "8-0." Yet again, the comparisons to Willingham's first season are inapposite. Willingham's first-year victory over Michigan occurred in Notre Dame stadium, where Michigan victories are as rare as good decisions by the apparel department of the Notre Dame bookstore. If comparisons are to be made, Weis's victory at Michigan should be compared with Willingham's performance in Ann Arbor - the most lopsided contest in the history of the series.

Wolves, lower. Last Thursday, I predicted that Henne might have a few key passes deflected at the line of scrimmage, courtesy of the Loeffler Low Release Point™. However, even I did not expect Henne to have five (5!) passes deflected at the line. Some credit must be given to the awareness our defensive linemen displayed in getting a hand in the passing lanes, including sophomore Ronald Talley.

All falls down. Late in the first quarter, Michigan punter Ross Ryan boomed a punt from the Michigan 46. The ball hit the ground at around the Notre Dame 10, right by a Michigan gunner. Simply by falling on the ball, the Michigan gunner could have pinned Notre Dame well inside the 20. Instead, the gunner allowed the ball to continue to bounce, and it bounced into the endzone before he could down it. Perhaps the gunner thought he could catch up with the ball before it reached the endzone, but I am surprised a kinesiology major would make such an error. My Greek may be a little rusty, but I believe kinesiology roughly translates into the study of objects in motion.

More than a feeling. Wrapping things up with the obligatory Patriots reference. Michigan DE/LB LaMarr Woodley offers this explanation:

We were off-balance at the start, but what do you expect from a guy who's coached with the Patriots?"

Not bad, but I look forward to the day when we hear, "what do you expect from a guy who's coached with Notre Dame?" as we did when Alvarez moved on to Wisconsin.

A Quick Scheduling Note | by Pat

The rumored Army game has been confirmed and now Notre Dame's 12 game schedule for 2006 is complete. No date has been set, but looking at the tentative schedule, October 14th and November 18th are both open dates. The first would give Notre Dame five home games in a row, but also means the Irish would play 11 straight weeks without a break. The latter date would keep the bye week in the middle of the season open and also break up two end-of-season roads games, but would negate the advantages of having a bye week to help prepare for what likely will be a tough road game at USC.

2006
1	9/2	@ Georgia Tech	ACC
2	9/9	Penn State	B10
3	9/16	Michigan	B10
4	9/23	@ Michigan State	B10
5	9/30	Purdue	B10
6	10/7	Stanford	Pac10
12?	10/14	Army?	Ind
7	10/21	UCLA	Pac10
8	10/28	Navy	Ind
9	11/4	North Carolina	ACC
10	11/11	@ Air Force	MWC
12?	11/18	Army?	Ind
11	11/25	@ Southern Cal	Pac10

Also of interest in the linked article is the fact that the neutral site "home" game is still being pursued. A potential start date as well as geographic preferences are mentioned as well.

In addition, Notre Dame is exploring the possibility of adding a neutral-site home game, which John Heisler, senior associate athletic director, compared to an "in-season bowl game." It would probably be played beginning in 2009, in the Southeast or the Southwest.

The game would be sold as part of Notre Dame's national television package, now on NBC. Heisler compared the off-site home-game concept, which is expected to aid national recruiting, to the "barnstorming years of Knute Rockne," when Notre Dame played in cities like Chicago and New York in the 1920s.

Filthy, sunburnt, hungover and happy | by Jay

Back from Ann Arbor. Trip report in a bit...for now, sleepy time.

That wasn't fair | by Dylan

If UM hadn't fumbled in the endzone and hadn't had two bad calls overturned and if UM fans had been able to knock out some Irish players with the stuff they threw from the stands and Henne could throw a corner fade and UM could score when starting from inside the five...

Live From Ann Arbor | by Pat

Let's go Irish!

Wolverine Flashback | by Jay

IRISH WIN, 29-27, ON KICK AT FINISH

By Gordon S. White, Jr., Special to the New York Times
Sept. 20, 1980

Harry Oliver, a left-footed placekicker from Cincinnati, became one of the biggest heroes in recent Notre Dame football today when he booted a 51-yard field goal as time ran out to give the Fighting Irish a 29-27 victory over Michigan .

The kick, only 2 yards short of the Notre Dame field-goal distance record, was just barely strong enough to get the ball over the cross bar, clearing it by about 6 inches. This turned the fretting hometown fans in the capacity crowd of 59,075 at Notre Dame Stadium into a screaming, leaping, dancing mob that rushed onto the field to celebrate another of the school's amazing comebacks under Coach Dan Devine.

In one of the wildest endings in Notre Dame history, each team scored a touchdown during the final 3 minutes 3 seconds to take the lead. First it was Notre Dame's Phil Carter who scored his second touchdown of the game for a 26-21 lead that seemed to cap a valiant comeback effort. Then Michigan scored with 41 seconds to go on a 1-yard touchdown pass from John Wangler to Craig Dunaway, and when a 2-point conversion attempt failed, the Wolverines led by 27-26.

Kiel Connects With Hunter

Then Devine, coaching his final season at Notre Dame, sent in a freshman quarterback, Blair Kiel, for his first test under fire in college football. Starting at his 20, Kiel worked out of the shotgun formation. On his first pass Michigan was guilty of pass interference so that the Irish got the ball at the Wolverine 48.

But then Kiel, down to his last chance on fourth down and 1 at the Michigan 39, completed a pass to Tony Hunter, who stepped out of bounds at the 34 with four seconds left.

This stopped the clock and Devine had to send in Oliver, a junior who had never before been so severely tested. ''This is by far the greatest moment of my life,'' Oliver said afterward. ''Getting a scholarship to Notre Dame is a close second. I have to thank God. He had to be with me.''

Devine said, ''I've never seen Oliver kick one that far but it went through today and that's all I care about.'' Oliver, who had missed an extra-point attempt in the third quarter that would have tied the score at 21-21, said, ''I wanted to make sure my toe was pointed in the right direction on the field goal because it wasn't that way on the extra point. I didn't know it was good because someone had jumped on me and I was on the ground.''

Devine had gone most of the way at quarterback with Mike Courey, the senior who led Notre Dame to its opening victory over Purdue two weeks ago. But the coach said he decided to replace Courey with the freshman, Kiel, for the final desperate drive because Kiel had a stronger passing arm.

The last-second triumph was compared with Notre Dame's 35-34 triumph over Houston in the 1979 Cotton Bowl game when the Irish tied the score on a touchdown as time ran out. Then Joe Unis had to boot the winning extra point two times because Notre Dame was penalized on the first good kick.

Now Notre Dame has a surprising 2-0 record after what were considered to be two of its four most difficult games on this year's schedule. The Irish beat Purdue two weeks ago in the season opener, 31-10.

Irish Take 14-0 Lead

Devine-coached teams have given Irish fans other exciting finishes in his six years. There was a 1-point victory over South Carolina a year ago on a 2-point conversion, also after time ran out. There were comeback triumphs over North Carolina and Air Force in 1975 and over Clemson in 1977, the year Notre Dame went on to the national championship.

Today's game started with Notre Dame looking as if it would make it a runaway. With Carter sparking the ground attack and Courey directing the offense in studied, playbook fashion, the Irish drove 70 yards in 16 plays for their first touchdown. Carter, the fine sophomore tailback who picked up 103 yards, scored on a 6-yard run through a huge hole on the left side.

The next time Notre Dame got the ball Courey took the Irish 61 yards in 11 plays for a score, throwing a 10-yard pass to Pete Holohan for the second touchdown. Oliver booted both extra points, so Notre Dame led, 14-0, with only five minutes left in the first half.

Wangler Takes Over

Then suddenly the Wolverines from the Big Ten Conference struck back, scoring two touchdowns in the last 2 minutes 50 seconds of the half.

Coach Bo Schembechler of Michigan had started Rich Hewlett, a sophomore, at quarterback. But Hewlett had difficulty getting Michigan off dead center and even bungled three plays. So after Notre Dame went up by 14-0, Schembechler resorted to his senior quarterback, Wangler, and this seemed to spark the Wolverines.

Wangler led Michigan on a 68-yard march for a touchdown that was registered on an 8-yard pass play to his tailback, Larry Ricks. Seconds later, one of Courey's long passes was intercepted by Marion Body of Michigan, who ran the ball 20 yards to the Irish 27.

Again Wangler did the job quickly and efficiently - in four plays. The last one was a 10-yard touchdown pass to a tight end, Norm Betts, that led to a 14-14 tie at halftime.

Michigan kept it up at the outset of the second half. Anthony Carter returned Notre Dame's kickoff 67 yards to the Irish 31 to start the third quarter. Five plays later, Stan Edwards ran the ball over and when Ali Haji-Sheikh kicked his third extra point of the day, Michigan led by 21-14.

Irish Go Ahead, 26-21

Time and hope began to run out on Notre Dame even though John Krimm, a junior Notre Dame cornerback, intercepted one of Michigan's passes and ran it back 49 yards for a touchdown late in the third period. It was then that Oliver missed the extra point.

Notre Dame began to regain some hope when a tricky end-round pass play, with Hunter throwing to Holohan, was good for 31 yards at the beginning of a drive late in the fourth period. Courey kept the team moving and finally the Irish scored when Carter went in from the 4 with 3:03 left on the clock. A 2-point pass failed and Notre Dame led, 26-21.

But Michigan had plenty left and went 78 yards in 11 plays for the touchdown that seemed to end Notre Dame's chances. Butch Woolfolk, another Wolverine tailback, gained 37 yards on a draw play in that march to get the ball to the Irish 4. Three plays later Wangler tossed a pass to Woolfolk, who did not catch the ball. Instead, it popped in the air and Dunaway, the deep receiver on the play, fell forward and managed to catch the ball just before it touched the ground.

On the 2-point conversion attempt, Michigan was stopped, clearing the way for the frantic finish by the Irish.

(To listen to Tony Roberts' call of Harry Oliver's kick, click here.)

Road Trip! | by Pat

With the weekend nearly upon us, Team BGS is gearing up for the road trip to Ann Arbor where we'll cheer for our beloved Irish, spread the Gospel according to Saint Charlie, and hopefully meet the Michigan bloggers. (and if they want to throw hands, we'll be ready!)

We leave you with a quick look at some of the key personnel for Michigan who figure to weigh heavily on the outcome of the game.

The last we saw of Wolverine quarterback Chad Henne, he was a freshman making his first start on the road. Now he's a much more confortable and advanced player.

"He's not in the same world that he was a year ago," Carr said this week. "Just getting the signals. We had some issues in early games, particularly where we didn't get into the right play, we didn't get into the right formation, we didn't get into the right check, all because of his youth. That's not going to be a problem right now."

Notre Dame's not the only team with a sophomore sensation at running back. Perhaps the key to a Michigan victory, Mike Hart will try to keep up his impressive yards-per-carry pace and keep the Irish offense off the field.

"Last year … I wasn't expecting to play that much [against Notre Dame]," Hart said. "This year I'm going in there as the starter, so you prepare a lot more and watch a lot more film. You just have to get yourself ready because they have a great team. We're going to have to bring our 'A' game if we really want to win."

If Hart does struggle to get on track, Henne can turn to Jason Avant, an extremely dependable wideout who will do whatever the team needs him to do to win.

"I wouldn't say I'm the toughest guy at all," Avant said. "I try to play my hardest and represent the receiving corps and my team the best I can. I'm going to go out there and play as hard as I can. If that means blocking, if that means going over the middle, that's what I'm going to do.''

One player who sounds like he might miss the game on Saturday is tight end Tim Massaquoi, which would be a sizable blow to the Michigan offense. Even with all of the weapons on the Wolverine's offense, Notre Dame wasn't forgetting about him.

"If you spend too much time trying to stop the running back or trying to shut down the wide receivers, the guy and the position that can exploit you the fastest is the tight end position," Weis says.

Moving over to defense, perhaps the biggest matchup on this side of the ball will be how defensive end Lamar Woodley does against left tackle Ryan Harris. If Woodley can get pressure consistently on Quinn, it could be a long day for Irish fans.

"One good thing about playing against LaMarr is, you're not going to play against many better defensive ends," said U-M offensive lineman Adam Stenavich. "It's fun to go against a guy like him."

Another defensive lineman looking to bottle up the Irish ground game is Michigan's big hoss, Gabe Watson, who has plenty of motivation to pick up his play against Notre Dame.

“Some guys get preseason honors and then they relax and get complacent,” Watson said. “Coach Carr knows how to keep his foot in your butt and keep you motivated.”

Rounding out the defense is a unit that has as many question marks as the Irish secondary. It's likely that Notre Dame will try to establish a ground game and chew up the clock. But if they have to move to the air, the outcome of the game could fall on how the Michigan defensive backs perform as a unit.

Michigan’s secondary used the whole depth chart, playing everyone who was listed as a starter or a backup. With so many newcomers in the rotation, mistakes were bound to happen, but the unit needs to take shape quickly with Notre Dame coming to town Saturday. The Fighting Irish were able to move the ball with ease in its game against Pittsburgh, and will provide a challenge to the unsettled secondary.

The View from Ann Arbor | by Pat

(A note from mgoblog on this fine football Friday. Here's our letter as posted on his site.)

To: BGS readers

From: mgoblog

I have attended away games against all of Michigan’s rivals and I can say without question that my experience in South Bend, Indiana was the foulest of all. The game I had the misfortune to attend was the 2002 25-23 loss(/win, depending on perspective). I had fully planned on hilariously chanting “Field Goal Jesus” at the Irish, touchdown-less in two previous games, but that plan was swiftly cut short when they rudely scored on their first possession. All told, the game featured a phantom Carlyle Holiday touchdown (Holiday fumbled at the two), four Michigan fumbles, and a series of ridiculous and mind-shattering penalties that left me with a nervous tic involving a raised middle finger and a screamed threat at a referee that is not, in fact, there that re-emerges at inopportune times (job interviews, weddings, modeling auditions) to this very day.

So I hope you are understanding when I tell you that I was in full mutter-and-plot-the-deaths-of-innocents mode immediately after the heartbreaking loss. This is when the foul horror happened. I was attempting to stalk my way out of the stadium as angrily as possible when I saw a child and his father approach me. “Aha!” I exclaimed. “Perfect! They were in the sweet spot: The child was young enough so that he posed little threat— a swift kick to the head and he would be down, crying for his mother—while the father was old enough that, having dispatched with the son, I could batter him without fear of serious repercussion. All I needed was the most tenuous justification and the cathartic beatdown could commence posthaste. This is when the horror comes in.

The child, a towheaded young boy, maybe eight, maybe nine, approached me and looked up. He opened his mouth; I awaited the beautiful slur that would unleash my inner Wolverine, as it were.

I swear to God, the Devil, and Charles Woodson that these are the exact words that came out of the boy’s mouth (the exact words):

“Good game, mister.”

(What did it sound like? It sounded precisely like this child had emerged from TV Land reruns of an adorable ‘60s sitcom that very morning.)

“Good game, mister.” The actual words!

I sat there stunned, fists clenching and unclenching, all my impotent rage at what I had just witnessed on the playing field bottled up, eating away at the lining of my stomach and causing me to burst out with foul imprecations at absent referees at inopportune times. This feeling of inexplicable, stolen release, uncomprehending anger, and a desire to smack that adorable little ‘60s throwback precisely sums up the Michigan side of the Michigan-Notre Dame rivalry. It is not a pleasant one for Michigan fans.

WHEREAS the Michigan-Michigan State rivalry has your classic “We Have Our Application To BETTER UNIVERSITY In Common” dynamic and therefore a pleasurable aftertaste of latent and undeniable superiority which reflects itself on the field, where Michigan loses one of three games at most...

WHEREAS the Michigan-Ohio State rivalry has your classic good versus evil thing going on, not to mention a boatload more history and much more recent national significance, and Michigan hasn’t done badly at all in it despite a recent, ominous turn for the worse…

WHEREAS everybody else is pretty much owned by Michigan (give it a few years before claiming otherwise, Hawkeyes)…

WHEREAS every other year features a Michigan pratfall in the Least Interesting Place In the Universe against a team that usually plays someone like Lousiana-Southeast Underwater Bit in the YouSuck.com bowl and loses 400-6…

THEREFORE let it be known that the recent years of the Michigan-ND rivalry is based entirely on Michigan losing in unlikely fashion.

For most of my adult life Notre Dame has been a college football afterthought, a prime example of sadly past glories unlikely to return. The Irish do things like lose to BYU and State and never, ever finish anywhere near the top ten or, more recently, even the top 25. Despite this, mighty Michigan cannot beat them in South Bend. They RETURN TO GLORY(!) every two years now against a team that finishes the year ever further ahead in the ancient, creaky winning percentage battle the two schools wage. More infuriating yet is that the reason for this my superstition, luck, and idiot-conventional-wisdom despising mind has formulated as to why this happens has everything to do with a strange, mystical patina of incompetence that befalls the Wolverines whenever they enter that pale imitation of the Big House in Indiana. To a Michigan fan, every Irish loss over the past ten years has been due to an unfortunate, ridiculous confluence of unlikely events: fumbles, ridiculous refereeing, blocked punts, hilarious deflected passes, etc. It doesn’t matter if it’s true or not (though it is): that’s what it feels like. It feels like Michigan has nothing to gain and everything to lose, and everything gets lost on a biannual basis.

So that’s why we don’t like you, unless you post on NDNation, in which case the reason we don’t like you is because you’re completely out of your gourd, with no exceptions. That’s why the administration keeps muttering about playing someone else. That’s why Vijay is going to make South Bend look like Stalingrad should Michigan lose Saturday: you suck, we don’t, and it’s not fair.

Mister.

We're Talking About A Team With A Losing Record Against Willingham | by Mike

In our season preview, I picked Michigan to defeat the Fightin’ Irish. The elephant in the room, which I could not ignore, was the home team’s record in recent years – namely, undefeated since 1994.

However, between my respect for Charlie Weis and my lack of respect for Michigan, it’s hard not to have some optimism. So here are a few reasons – hopefully less obvious than Michigan’s much discussed difficulties on defense – why the Irish might emerge victorious from Saturday’s clash.

Stopping the Michigan Offense

Both teams are confident in their offenses, and both teams are concerned with their defenses. A common refrain this week has been, "If ND commits the resources to stopping Hart and the ground game, Michigan will destroy them through the air." On its face, this statement appears somewhat convincing. In Michigan, Notre Dame faces a ground game whose feature back, if not flashy, is pretty damn consistent. And Michigan's stable of fleet-footed receivers is a disconcerting prospect for a team with a suspect secondary.

However - with a hat tip to omahadomer on ND Nation - allow me to suggest that if we can stop Michigan's ground game, we'll win. What about Avant, Breaston, et al? Not nearly as important as stopping the run. I'm inclined to agree with omahadomer that the team who can run will win. Let's look at the rushing totals in past years (winning team's stats in bold).

	Notre Dame Rushes-Yds	Michigan Rushes-Yds
2004 2003 2002 1999 1998 1997	40-135 25-49 50-157 38-96 55-280 44-153	30-56 54-188 26-91 37-124 38-150 34-176

The correlation is clear. When we have out-rushed Michigan, we have won. But what of Avant, Breaston, Tabb and Dutch, you ask? That's undoubtedly a talented crop of receivers, but does that strike you as any better than UM's WR corps in 2004, 2002, or 1998? Adrian Arrington is out with an injury, and Breaston has, so far, been more dangerous in the kicking game than as a wideout. If Michigan couldn't overcome a rushing disadvantage with star Braylon Edwards, why should we expect that to happen without him?

While Notre Dame lost some starters in the defensive front seven that were particularly well-suited to stopping the run (and, perhaps, less well-suited to defending the pass), slowing down the Michigan running game should not be an insurmountable task.

The "Michigan Man" Mentality

Just as Duke “leader who happens to coach basketball” Mike Krzyzewski is convinced no Duke player has ever committed a foul, Bo Schembechler and his ilk are convinced Michigan has never lost a game. In those instances where Michigan had fewer points than the opposition at the conclusion of the game, it would be wrong to assume that Michigan lost. Instead, the result can only be understood by some combination of cheating refs, Michigan’s own unforced errors (which apparently don’t count), the weather, the Pac-10’s unfair homefield advantage in the Rose Bowl, that uppity girl that brought down B.J. Askew, the sun in their eyes, cheating timekeepers, kickoff returns for touchdowns (which apparently don’t count), entrapment by the Ypsilanti police department, broken gentlemen’s agreements, the wind, Michigan kicking field goals instead of going for touchdowns (apparently they are to be retroactively awarded touchdowns for those drives), Kelly Baraka’s dealer, the weather, unruly Michigan students attacking Marlin Jackson’s beer bottles with their faces, cheating refs, the unreasonably high prices at K-Mart, and injuries.

For evidence of this complex, look at what former UM QB Michael Taylor has to say about Notre Dame:

Mike, you were 0-2 as a starter against Notre Dame? What is it about playing them? Is it different from any other team for U-M?

In the '89 game I was hurt and shouldn't have played, but I did. '89 was when Rocket returned those kickoffs ...

But as far as any Notre Dame mystique? That really doesn't mean anything to Michigan players or coaches. They always have decent talent. They get good kids. And it's a rivalry game -- with any rivalry game, it's momentum, momentum changes, and who steps up and plays and who doesn't. They've won 2 of the last 3, with the two wins at Notre Dame. The first one -- Willingham's first year -- I chalk the loss up to bad officiating. That phantom TD -- the guy loses ball 2 yards from goal line. Plus Michigan made too many mistakes. Last year -- Michigan should've won, but they turned the ball over and didn't make plays at crunch time. It's a game of inches in these big games. But it doen't get in your head. It's a rivalry game, so it's close, a game of inches. It's all about who executes and who doesn't. They have good team, and it's always hard to play them. But they don't have us 'in the head'.

He dismisses the results of the '89 game due to injuries (excuse 18 above) and kickoff returns (excuse 8 above). The 2002 game is attributed to Michigan's own mistakes (excuse 2) and cheating refs (excuses 1 and 16 - some excuses are invoked so often they have to be listed twice). Taylor conveniently omits that Michigan did not recover said fumble. Then again, "Forget it, he's rolling." For the 2004 game, Taylor again invokes Michigan's own mistakes (excuse 2).

Why this excursus, and what is its relevance to Saturday's game? Until you recognize your own failings, you can't correct them. As Charlie Weis stated in his first press conference back in December:

You are what you are folks, right now you're a 6-5 football team. And guess what - that's just not good enough.

This inability to recognize failure may explain why Michigan is so consistently a good but not great (i.e. 9-3 year after year) team.

What of the argument that, "Sure, Michigan fans make those excuses, but the players don't really buy that"? Above we have evidence of a former Michigan player making those very excuses. And not just any player - the starting quarterback, Bo's leader on the field. As Charlie Weis often says, "the attitude of the head coach is permeated throughout the team." Might Taylor have picked this attitude up from Bo? And might Bo have passed this attitude on to his successors? Perhaps.

Bungling Assistant Coaches

From 2002-2004, I - and many other Irish fans, I'm sure - wondered how a school with the prestige and visibility of Notre Dame could be saddled with such inept assistants as Diedrick, Preston, and Wilks. The Notre Dame spotlight has served as a launching pad for several former assistants, including Barry Alvarez and Frankie Muniz. Surely we could have done better than a running backs coach (sic) who gives Ryan Grant more carries when Julius Jones is averaging a first down a carry. And surely we could do better than a OC/QB coach whose claim to fame was teaching the pre-snap Diedrick Dump. (Which, by the way, Weis immediately corrected.)

With these mall cops removed, I can finally delight in the head-scratching decision of another school with considerable (football) prestige to employ overmatched assistant coaches. While we have purged the specter of Diedrick and Preston, UM fans are haunted by Jim Herrmann, Ron English, and Scot (you're missing a "t") Loeffler.

Herrman and English have conspired to create the defense that worries Michigan fans so much, a defense which Braylon Edwards publicly dogged during one of ESPN's draft week features last April. I was surprised to hear Edwards openly air his grievances regarding the team's weakness against scrambling quarterbacks.

Scot Loeffler's presence provides Irish fans some comfort when faced with an older, wiser Chad Henne. Granted, Henne will benefit from having a year’s more experience than he did the last time he faced Notre Dame. However, Loeffler has also had that same amount of time to screw up Henne’s mechanics. As Michigan’s season progressed last year, Henne appeared to show signs of developing the patented Loeffler Low Release Point™. Recall that this was the technique that led to 6’ 6” John Navarre rifling passes into the shoulder pads of opposing defensive linemen with amazing frequency. Hopefully several of Henne’s passes will find themselves batted at the line this Saturday. The Diedrick Dump is dead; long live the Loeffler Low Release Point!

And finally...

I guess the Michigan excuse makers are right about one thing. You should never rule out the possibility of Michigan doing something stupid at a critical moment. Or refusing to learn from stupid mistakes. It could always happen again.

Send Lloyd home bitter, Charlie.

Cawfee Tawlk | by Jay

Charlie chats with Mike & the Mad Dog on WFAN, in case you missed it yesterday. (Link is about halfway down the page). Lots of good stuff here; Charlie's expansive and lot more laid-back than in the official pressers. I'm sure there's a comfort level for him in talking to a couple of old goombahs from New York.

Charlie, on the design of the offense:

We used the offseason and training camp to create fifty 'permanent' plays. Those fifty plays we drew up and designed to go against any defense they can come up with. So this way, during the [game] week, you only have them for twenty hours, you can just gear everything to just gameplan plays. But you always have that reservoir [of fifty] you can go to.

It's no big whoop.

That's the ticket | by Pat

As we gear up for the Michigan game, here's a great site that features every single Notre Dame/Michigan ticket since the teams resumed competition in 1942. We've already featured a few of our favorites, but if I had to choose, I'd take the 1942 version celebrating Notre Dame's centennial.

Much better than some of the later versions that try just a bit too hard.

If you notice, since 1998 Michigan has been on a montage kick with the home tickets combining to form a larger picture. I have to admit, I kind of like the idea, especially the one they did in 2004. (there, last nice thing I say about anything Michigan until Sunday.)

Scouting the Skunkbears | by Jay

Here's a pretty good report of the Michigan-NIU game from an Ohio State observer. A couple of bullet points.

When Michigan had the ball

It was a clinic, plain and simple. The Wolverines showed they could sustain long, punishing touchdown drives—14 plays for 74 yards and 13 plays for 70 yards. They showed they could score quickly—6 plays for 78 yards and a touchdown.

They also showed they could take advantage of the opposition shooting itself in the foot. NIU turned the ball over five times (more on that later), and Michigan capitalized. Up by 10 late in the first half, the Wolverines picked up a fumbled punt deep in the NIU end and scored a touchdown three plays later...

When Michigan’s defense was on the field

This needs to be prefaced by the fact that Michigan fans spent all off-season worrying about the fact that their team A) gave up some grueling, pounding drives by opponents last year and B) gave up a ton of big plays last year.

Northern Illinois’ first drive of the game went 86 yards in 16 plays, chewing up 6:48 of the clock, and ended with a field goal. Northern Illinois’ second drive of the game went 80 yards in 2 plays, including a 76-yard touchdown run. Yikes...

Good stuff. The whole thing's worth a read for the "outsider's" perspective on Meatchicken.

ready for our close-up | by Jay

We've hit the big time! BGS got a mention in the San Jose Mercury News, along with fellow bloggers Fanblogs, EDSBS, and mgoblog. To our knowledge, it's the first time a "mainstream" media source has referenced BGS.

We're gonna have a good time tonight. Let's celebrate. It's all right.

send in the Wolf | by Jay

aka John Walters, in an oblique (and devastating) response to this waste of bandwidth.

cleansing the palate | by Jay

Just a few final thoughts on the Pitt game before we move on to the next dish (fricassé of skunkbear, if all goes well).

Walking out of Heinz Field after the game, I felt a lot like Paul McCormick. You remember him from Saturday night, right? As the random fan selected to participate in the Giant Eagle Foods Pigskin Challenge at halftime, all McCormick had to do was throw a football through a 12-inch circle from about forty yards away.

He took a step, launched the ball, and threw a perfect strike. McCormick went nuts. His family nearly tackled him out of sheer elation. Heinz Field erupted. The Giant Eagle rep grimaced. McCormick had just won five hundred thousand dollars. His face was lit up brighter than the Panthervision jumbotron.

Even sans winning a half-mil, I knew where McCormick was coming from. Saturday night was downright ebullient -- and shocking. Pregame anxiety, exacerbated by the opening touchdown pass to Greg Lee, soon gave way to a buoyant euphoria that carried me all the way back to the hotel bar until 3am, when the night staff at the Omni finally had to chase the last of the diehard celebratin' Irish back up to their rooms. Sunday morning we arose with a giddiness, pouring over the Pittsburgh papers at breakfast and rehashing the wonder of the night before. It wasn't a dream.

In what seemed like the blink of an eye -- or one shortened offseason -- our team completely transformed, like a butterfly coming out of a cocoon. Suddenly, our offense looked crisp and confident. Our defense: hard-hitting and energetic. We were imaginative (but not gimmicky) and kept the Panthers off-balance on both sides of the ball all night long. The offense featured a little bit of everything: runs up the middle, runs around end, quick outs to receivers (followed by a few brutal stiff-arms), draw plays, screens, hitting the tight end over the middle, crossing patterns to the wide receivers, quarterback scrambles, a fake reverse/pass, and even a direct-snap to the running back. Six different players ran for at least twenty yards; seven different receivers caught balls. Almost everything worked; we ran and passed with equal confidence. Thus prompting my friend to address the offense, like a son confronting his dad who had walked out on the family: "Where the hell have you been for the last ten years?"

Somewhat overlooked in the postgame hoopla was the defense, which mugged Palko for five sacks, held Greg Lee catchless for the last 20 minutes of the game, and most of all, allowed only one touchdown until garbage time. Pitt was supposed to be one of the better offensive teams on our schedule, and our guys consistently punched them in the mouth. Unheralded defenders like Ambrose Wooden and Chris Frome showed that this defense, while unproven, has a mean streak and a seemingly endless reservoir of energy. When the Duke, instead of pulling up, layed out a Panther receiver well after the play had been broken up (in the third quarter, no less), a certain word crossed my mind. All right, I'll say it -- we were simply nasty out there.

Joe Starkey, of the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, had the most fitting lead:

Eight months ago, Weis and his New England Patriots' offense carved up the NFL's No. 1 defense in the AFC title game. On Saturday night, Weis conducted an Irish pig roast, with Pitt's defensive line turning on the spit.

And with that came a sudden, violent end to the Dave Wannstedt Feel Good Tour.

Speaking of the 'stache, I don't think you could feel anything but pity for the Pittsburgh faithful, a loyal, vocal fan base who haven't sniffed a national championship since 1976. In fact, the showcase Pittsburgh put on Saturday night before and during the game was a cavalcade of Panther stars, and very impressive. Dorsett. Marino. Colvert. Ditka. These guys are legitimate football heroes, and not just to Pitt fans. It's a solid legacy. And the feeling of pride in the team and the tradition was palpable, especially with Wannstedt coming back home. There was a lot of pro-Wanny signage in the stadium, and I even spotted some T-shirts for a tailgater called "the Wann-Stache Bash." Along with Matt Cavanaugh, a couple of Panthers were finally taking over the reins; the resurgence begins now.

There was some talk last week that Heinz Field was going to be at least fifty percent Irish, but in truth, ND could claim only about a fifth of the stadium, if that. I sat in a section of Pitt season ticket holders, and as the former stars paraded onto the field, the place exploded. Pitt was fired up. Three minutes into the game, on the Greg Lee touchdown, my eardrums were blown out.

And that was the loudest it ever got. By halftime, Pitt fans were quietly, disgustedly filing out in droves, leaving behind only pockets of incredulous, shellshocked holdouts amid the pools of exhilarated Irish. A couple of wisecracking Pitt fans behind me, who had been screaming at the tops of their lungs at kickoff, turned on their new coach with a biting (and hilarious) scorn. "This is a HUMILIATION." "We fired Walt for THIS?" "Hey Rhoades, take some notes." When Darius Walker was stopped for no gain on one play: "Hey Wanny, that was SARCASTIC. Weis is MOCKING you." And so on. Even "Bring back Paul Hackett" was heard a few times.

I couldn't help but feel some sympathy; after all, I knew where these guys were coming from.

Late in the game, Pitt had a chance to down a punt at the one yard line, and the ball squirted out of Adam Gunn's hands and dropped plaintively across the goal line, resulting in a touchback. That's how it went all day long for Pitt, and it seemed to symbolize the deferred dream of Panther football, so celebrated at the outset of the game: a fleeting glory, just within recent memory, just on the fingertips, but slowly slipping away.

Onward to week 2.

How To Avoid Getting "Leaked" | by Mike

Few Irish fans have forgotten C.J. Leak's signing day surprise, the event that began the death spiral that was quarterback recruiting under Bob Davie. After indicating that he would sign with Notre Dame, Leak opted for Wake Forest on February 2, 1999, leaving Notre Dame without a quarterback in that class. Davie responded by signing four quarterbacks the following year. Although Abram Elam was always headed for defense, the glut of remaining quarterbacks - Matt LoVecchio, Carlyle Holiday, and Jared Clark - led to another quarterback-less class the following year. Everyone knows what happened next - LoVecchio transferred, Clark moved to tight end, and our backup quarterback was a walk-on. For the next three years.

In large part, this problem began when Davie allowed a recruit - Leak - to dictate the terms of his recruitment to Davie. While no coach can expect to take a "my way or the highway" approach with every recruit and expect to reel in a stable full of five-stars, a good recruiter will know when it is time to press a recruit for a decision. This appears to be what happened with Notre Dame's kicker recruitment this year. While kicker is not a glamour position, many title hopes have been doomed by missed kicks. And as was seen in the Pittsburgh game, Notre Dame could use some help on kick-offs.

Given D.J. Fitzpatrick's fifth-year status, kicker was an important position in this year's recruiting class. Notre Dame had its eye on Kai Forbath, Scout.com's highest-rated kicker and the only kicker to appear in ESPN's list of top 150 recruits. Obviously, Notre Dame would have been delighted to land Forbath, who was reportedly down to Notre Dame and UCLA. However, Forbath was a native of southern California, and waiting on a native Californian to choose between ND and the local school can be a risky proposition. Could Notre Dame afford to do this given its need for a kicker in this class?

Apparently Charlie Weis answered this question in the negative. According to a recent LA Daily News article, Weis imposed a deadline on Forbath:

Notre Dame of Sherman Oaks' Kai Forbath, the nation's top-rated placekicker by some scouting services, said late Tuesday night he gave UCLA a non-binding oral commitment.

Forbath said he made the decision after turning down a scholarship offer from Notre Dame, adding Irish coach Charlie Weis gave him a Sunday deadline to make a decision.

"It leaves me with UCLA," Forbath said. "I think this is what's best for me now. I kind of always saw myself at UCLA."

I think Weis made the right call. If Forbath really did "always see himself at UCLA," then it is far better for Notre Dame to find out now, when there is still time to land an excellent prospect like Ryan Burkhart. Admittedly, it's possible that Forbath's words are colored by recent events. However, I think Weis was wise to probe Forbath's willingness to leave California early rather than be surprised on signing day. Particularly when resolving this question allowed Weis to lock up Burkhart before another program grabbed him.

Somebody light up the big '23' on top of Grace | by Jay

USA Today/Coaches poll is out today. We're #23.

(oh, and the AP has us at #20.)

A&M, Boise and Pitt all dropped out. Michigan moved up a spot to #3.

We've updated the PICK SIX contest with the new rankings.

We've also added a link to a Pick Six Blogpollers Ranking.

Statistically Speaking | by Pat

Each week we'll take a look through the weekly box score and the excellent game notes on UND.com and pick out a few items of interest. Also, a running totals of certain stats will be kept to track how the team is performing realtive to last year's team. (And thanks to semi-regular contributor Jeff for his help in putting this together).

First, a little breakdown on the Pitt game.

Statistically speaking, ND and Pitt played nearly the same game in 2005 as they did in 2004. The running game was just as productive per carry, and the passing game appeared slightly worse in 2005. With all the talk about the offensive improvement under Weis, ND’s defense actually showed more improvement. Pitt did rush a little better than in 2004, but ND’s pass defense was stingier (however, Pitt’s pass defense was equally so).

ND vs. Pitt	2004	2005
Yards / Rush	5.3	5.5
Total rushing yds	179	275
Yards / Pass	10.0	8.4
Total passing yds	259	227
Pitt vs. ND	2004	2005
Yards / Rush	2.6	3.3
Total rushing yds	98	103
Yards / Pass	8.0	6.3
Total passing yds	334	220

But, everyone knows that this wasn’t the same ND team that played last year; just take a look at the scoreboard.

Of course, there are two other key metrics to look at in a game, both measuring mistakes. ND did flip the turnover margin from -1 to +1, and penalties yardage dropped from a net of -80 for ND to -39. But these are relatively small differences, and can’t explain the difference between a shootout and a blowout.

In looking at Saturday’s game, the key themes that resonate with me are efficiency and consistency. The third down conversion rate for the Irish improved dramatically from 43% to a whopping 67%, while dropping Pitt from 53% to a crushing 29%. The Irish controlled the ball, grinding out 33 first downs vs only 18 last season, executing 17 more plays (while holding Pitt to 14 fewer plays), and holding the ball for an additional 6 ½ minutes. Now that's winning football.

ND vs. Pitt	2004	2005
3rd down efficiency	6/14	10/15
First downs	18	33
Total plays	60	77
Pitt vs. ND	2004	2005
3rd down efficiency	9/17	4/14
First downs	23	20
Total plays	80	66

Other Game Stats and such

As was noted by ABC, Notre Dame's 35 first half points were the most scored since 1996, when Lou Holtz was still coach. For the sheer amount of talent that has passed through Notre Dame during that period, that's a sad statistic.

Notre Dame totaled 33 first downs in the game. That is the most number of first downs since the Fighting Irish picked up 34 against Georgia Tech in 1977. 20 of those 33 first downs were rushing first downs, the most since 1996 against Washington when Notre Dame amassed 21.

Brady Quinn set a career rushing record with 59 yards. Obviously the lack of sacks contributed to this record, but Brady still looked pretty quick on some of his scrambles. He only fell 87 yards shy of the ND record for rushing yards by a QB in a game. (And I know you're all thinking Tony Rice, but the record was set by Bill Etter - on only 11 attempts - against Navy in 1969.)

Notre Dame's 3rd quarter 20 play drive that resulted in a touchdown was only the second 20 play drive since 1980, when such a stat began being recorded. The other was in 2002 against Maryland that ended in a field goal. In 2003, ND had a 19 play drive against Purdue, but it ended on downs.

At one point in the game, Quinn had completed 11 passes in a row. That streak is good for 3rd all-time for consecutive completetions in a game.

Consecutive Completions in a Game
1. 14 - Ron Powlus, MSU, 1997
2. 12 - Jarious Jackson, Navy, 1998
3. 11 - Brady Quinn, Pittsburgh, 2005
4T. 10 - Joe Montana,Georgia Tech, 1978
4T. 10 -Angelo Bertelli, Stanford, 1942

Quinn finished the game with 27 pass attempts, which was enough to move him into 3rd place all-time for pass attempts in a career. Look for him to do the same for pass completions after the Michigan game. We realize this stat is due more to ND's move to pass happier offenses as of late, but it is still an impressive accomplishment.

Career Pass Attempts
1. - 969, Ron Powlus, 1994-97
2. - 850, Steve Beuerlein,,1983-86
3. - 712, Brady Quinn, 2003-present
4. - 698, Rick Mirer, 1989-92
5. - 609, Blair Kiel, 1980-83
6. - 550, Terry Hanratty,1966-68
7. - 536, Jarious Jackson, 1996-99
8. - 515, Joe Montana, 1975,77-78
9. - 509, Joe Theismann, 1968-70

Thanks to an amazing diving catch by Samardzija, Quinn notched two passing touchdowns against Pitt and moved into a 2-way tie for 5th place for career TD passes. He should (hopefully) keep moving up this list fairly rapidly this season.

Career Touchdown Passes
1. - 52, Ron Powlus, 1994-97
2. - 41, Rick Mirer, 1989-92
3. - 34 Jarious Jackson, 1996-99
4. - 31, Joe Theismann, 1968-70
5T. - 28, Angelo Bertelli, 1941-43
5T. - 28, Brady Quinn, 2003-present
7T. - 27, Steve Beuerlein, 1983-86
7T. - 27, Terry Hanratty, 1966-68

Anthony Fasano's team leading 4 receptions against Pittsburgh moved him into 6th place for career receptions by a tight end.

Career Receptions by a TE
1. 128, Ken MacAfee,1974-77
3. 62, Derek Brown,1988-91
3. 62, Dean Masztak,1978-81
4T. 55, Tony Hunter,1979-82
4T. 55, Mark Bavaro,1981-84
6. 49, Anthony Fasano, 2003-present
7. 46, Mike Creaney 1970-72

Season-long Running Averages

Don't read too much into these yet; until we get four or five games under our belts, these running averages are going to vary wildly from game to game. Also keep in mind that our schedule is front-loaded with difficult teams (but you knew that already).

Keep in mind these are just a few metrics that seem interesting to us at this point in time. As the year goes on, we might switch some out, add some, highlight something in particular, etc.

For further deep background, be sure to read Charlie's presser from Sunday, where he runs down the metrics that are important to him.

Offense

Category	2005	2004
Yards per rush	5.5	3.32
Avg yards per pass attempt	8.4	7.2
Avg yards per pass completion	12.6	13.4
Pass completion percentage	66%	54%
Third Down conversions	10/15 (67%)	68/183 (37%)
Rushing yd average, with nat'l ranking	275 (10th)	127.4 (85th)
Passing yd average, with nat'l ranking	227 (43rd)	218.1 (54th)
Total offense yd average, with nat'l ranking	502 (15th)	345.5 (81st)
Time of possession / game	32:46	30:50
Red Zone Touchdown Efficiency	5 / 6 (83%)	25 / 36 (69%)

Note from Charlie:

We converted 67 percent on third down which I think is definitely winning football. Every time we got in the red zone, we scored a touchdown - that's winning football. I certainly don't count the one at the end of the game where we're running the clock out as a failed time in the red zone. That's the right thing to do in that situation anyway.

Defense

Category	2005	2004
Yards per rush given up	3.3	2.7
Avg yards per pass attempt	6.3	7.9
Avg yards per pass completion	11.0	13.6
Pass completion percentage	57%	58%
Quarterback sacks	5	30
Rushing yd average against, with nat'l ranking	103.0 (37th)	88.2 (4th)
Passing yd average against, with nat'l ranking	220.0 (45th)	281.2 (116th)
Total yd offense average against, with nat'l ranking	323 (29th)	369.4 (54th)

Turnovers

Category	2005	2004
Interceptions by ND	1	9
Fumbles Forced / Recovered	2 / 1	27 / 12
Turnovers gained	2	21
Had Intercepted	1	10
Fumbles / Lost	1 / 0	15 / 6
Turnovers lost	1	16
Turnover Margin	+1	+5

Special Teams

Category	2005	2004
Kickoff return average	17.5	18.7
Kickoff return average allowed	16.0	19.9
Punt return average	23.0	10.8