Wednesday, September 19, 2007

"There must be a pony in here somewhere" | by Jay

There is. His name is Pat Kuntz. All during the off-season, Irish fanatics pointed to the hard-working but undersized lineman as the likely weakest link in the defensive chain. No way could that guy play nose tackle in the 3-4. No way could he line up head on the center and hold his own against double teams. He's got heart, but he's just not talented enough, many of us said. He's too light, too small. He'll get destroyed!

Well, guess what? Pat Kuntz turned out to be a hoss. The guy who played the last few games of his senior year of high school with a broken arm is one of the few (the only?) pleasant surprises on this Irish team (and has been noted as such by Charlie on several occasions). In the post-game interviews after Michigan, Pat Kuntz had a wild, crazed look in his eye as he talked about the defeat. Go check it out. It's no wonder when Zibby was asked which player is most like him in terms of intensity, he didn't even hesitate: "Pat Kuntz."

Everything else turned to manure, but Pat Kuntz, the fans' most popular preseason perturbance, is playing his ass off right now. Bully for Pat Kuntz.

We now return to our regularly-scheduled bellyaching.