Happy Halloween! | by Pat

Rusting Ironsides | by Jay

Our buddy Adam from the Navy blog Pitch Right had a good post about the state of the Navy defense that's bogging down the Middies this year. Is that hope for the ND offense I see surfacing? Maybe.

Injuries- Don't get me wrong, Navy's defense still wouldn't be very good had the Midshipmen not lost Jeff Deliz, Clint Sovie, and Ketric Buffin, but chances are the defense doesn't sink into the depths of the Division 1 ranks had those three veteran players not gone down...

Youth- Coming into the year we all realized Navy's inexperienced defense would struggle. That defense, already fairly young to begin with, got a lot younger with the early season injuries to Deliz and Sovie, and continues to be dominated by either young players with no experience, or older players with limited experience. Any way you cut it, the point is that we're playing more underclassman than in previous years...

Leadership- In the past we've had continuity in terms of class and guys who lead collectively. Even in 2005, when the defense was very much inexperienced, did we see guys step up and take a leadership role. In that case it was the players from the Class of 2006. This year the defense is playing numerous players from all four classes, and although the sophomore class appears to be filled with some talent, no group of players has yet to really assert a leadership role...

Effort- This is not an opinion call on my part. Not only has Paul Johnson publicly questioned the effort of this Navy defense (after the Ball State loss) but the media and fans has started to wonder whether or not the drive and determination that were hallmarks of previous Navy teams are there at all this season...

Coaching?- All throughout this season, I've defended Buddy Green and explained away the defenses lack of production to injuries, youth, and bad fortune. But if you're not at least entertaining the thought that Buddy Green has done a less than impressive job at the helm of the defense, than your probably smoking something illegal...

And that's just the tip of the iceberg -- be sure to check out the entire post. Adam also has an entertaining back-and-forth with Irish blogger HLS. Check it out.

Pat mentioned it before, but this game really could be the Stoppable Force meeting the Moveable Object.

Prayers Offered | by Pat

Sad news out of Chicago yesterday as Earl Hughes, the older brother of freshman running Robert Hughes, was killed early Tuesday.

Earl Hughes was a role model for his younger brother, Robert. They last saw each other Sunday when Robert came home to visit.

"Robert wanted to be like his brother," said Jones, who was a running back for the Kansas City Chiefs in the 1984-85 season.

"His brother was big in sports and probably had more natural talent than Robert, but did not take advantage of his opportunities," Jones said. "His brother worked out with Robert and pushed him. He did not want Robert to make the mistakes he did. He wanted Robert to make the big time."

Still, Earl Hughes was a proud big brother who attended all of Notre Dame's home games.

According to Charlie, Robert has been excused from the team for as long as he needs. Please join BGS and keep the Hughes family in your prayers at this difficult time.

A Factor... | by Jay

But not the factor, as Charlie said. Yes, we do have a young team this year. And no, it's not the only reason we're terrible. But just how young are these guys? And how do they stack up against Irish teams of yore? We were curious.

Armed with this question, our friend Dave went and looked up all the depth charts for Irish teams going back to '64 (Ara's first year). He also tabulated how much experience each player had, based on appearances in the two-deeps from previous years. We put it all together in a spreadsheet, added some averages and calculations, and published it right here. Take a gander.

ND Depth Charts, 1964-2007

Page 1 is the summary & rankings; page 2 contains the detailed depth charts. Here's how to read it.

• On the Depth Chart Detail (page 2), we've got all the players listed, their class year at the time, and then a measurement of their experience. We gave 1 point for each year they had previously been a starter, and a half-point for each year they appeared on the second string. For example, take Trevor Laws this year. He was a second stringer in '04 (.5 points), and started in '05 and '06 (2 points), so he's got an experience tally of 2.5. (We haven't really incorporated the experience tally into any of the averages, but it's nice to see when you're comparing year-to-year.)

• The Summary (page 1) shows the totals for each year. "1st String" is the average of the starters' class years. "Exp" is the experience total. "2nd String" is the average for the second stringers. Each "Rank" column ranks the stat from 1-44 -- the total number of years in the table. A rank of "1" would be the lowest average player year or the least amount of experience; a "44" would represent the oldest average player year or the most amount of experience.

(example - go to the link above for the full table)

Offense							Defense
Year	1st String	Rank	Exp	Rank	2nd String	Rank	1st String	Rank	Exp	Rank	2nd String	Rank
1964	3.45	37	8.5	7	3.27	42	2.82	7	6	1	2.91	39
2007	2.45	1	7.5	4	1.73	1	2.91	10	13.5	23	2.45	24

Off to the right on the summary page, we've averaged the offense & defense for each year, and ranked those, too.

Averages
Year	Just 1st - O & D	Rank	1st + 2nd - O & D	Rank
1964	3.14	21	3.11	42
2007	2.68	1	2.39	1

Feel free to copy & paste the data and run your own calculations; there are a lot of ways you could slice and dice this stuff. (For example, if someone wanted to try to weight the starting years by the experience number, we'd be interested in seeing that.) We tried to keep it simple, and yet still get a roughly accurate measurement of just how young or old a team was.

Also, keep in mind this table of data is quite imprecise -- the two-deeps represent just one lineup (the most common, hopefully) used for that particular year, but a whole slew of players might have been in the mix. Take '88 - Green is listed as the running back, but we know that Watters, Brooks, Culver, AJ, Banks, etc, all got carries out of that position. Lineups also may have shifted during a season due to injuries or position battles. Finally, fifth-year seniors aren't given any special consideration, and are treated as simply seniors. At best, this is a very rough study, but we did our best to represent the common sense-starting lineup each year. (Feel free to suggest amendments.)

So what can we conclude? One thing's pretty clear -- and you sort of figured this would be the case, but the research really reaffirms it -- the '07 squad is one of the youngest, if not the youngest Irish team to take the field going back over 40 years. While the defense ranks in the bottom quartile in terms of age, the novice Irish offense is the clear, #1 greenhorn on the list. No team has ever had such an inexperienced two-deep since Ara took over.

Apart from looking at the '07 squad, a few more interesting historical nuggets bubble up:

• The inexperience this year may play some part in explaining a 1-7 record, but as a counterexample, just look at 1988. The national champions that year were also one of the younger Irish teams to ever take the field, with an average offensive age of 2.55 and freshman and sophomores littering the depth chart. The key difference, of course, is that the '88 squad had experience where it mattered: at running back, tackle, linebacker, and the secondary -- not to mention a savvy quarterback who played the option offense like no other. And the youngsters who filled in the gaps -- Rocket, Derek Brown, Watters, Zorich, Lyght -- all turned out to be superstars.

• By contrast, Holtz's oldest collection of starters was also his first, in 1986, and they went 5-6 (although 5 of those 6 losses were by 5 points or less).

• Charlie has had a real pickle in the team experience department. The 2006 team was quite seasoned, but look at this year, and look at the depth of the 2005 team (12th youngest or so).

• In 1984, Gerry Faust had one of the most experienced offenses in ND history; with the exception of new QB Steve Beuerlein, just about everybody else was a returning starter. Ranked #8 to start the year, he promptly lost to unranked Purdue in the opener, and turned in a 7-5 season.

• Joe Theismann had a tremendous impact on Notre Dame football -- both as a starting quarterback, and by his absence. The 1970 team with Theismann came within a whisker of winning a National Championship (a team which still holds the school record for yards per game at 510), although he was the only player from the squad to go on to play more than one season in the NFL. The next year, with a veteran team -- but with Theismann gone -- the Irish were picked by Sports Illustrated to win the NC. But the 1971 team averaged almost 180 yards fewer per game (a dramatic drop-off), and scored 11 fewer points per game. Although they went 8-2, they lost badly to the only ranked team on their schedule (LSU, 28-8). They never found an adequate replacement for Theismann, shuttling between Bill Etter and Cliff Brown at quarterback. The graduation of a veteran quarterback can really set a team back, as 1971 showed.

And as 2007 is showing, too, come to think of it.

(Thanks again to Dave for all of his hard work in digging up this data.)

Personally Invested | by Jay

An interesting bit from today's presser, about how Charlie and the coaches are keeping this recruiting class together during this 1-7 season:

Q: Lastly, when you're out recruiting, out on the road, it must be as much reaffirming commitments to players who have said they're coming. Has your recruiting philosophy changed this year, and has your message to those guys changed when you're trying to reaffirm a commitment?

WEIS: What those players have done is they've bought into the 'we'. We've involved them a lot more. Anybody who has jumped on board and said 'yes' we involve them in everything that's going on. In other words, they're not outsiders. Once they say yes and the commitment is a two-way deal, we treat them like they're here. They know everything that's happening just the way everyone in the program does. I think they feel ownership, and they feel part of it.

They obviously have to withstand the ribbing from the people in the towns they're living in or the kids they're going to school with, but I think they view themselves as part of the future.

Q: In the past, do you think you didn't have that ownership at work as much as you do now?

WEIS: I don't think we let them know about everything and all the inner workings the way we do now. Back at signing day last year we lost a couple of guys, and afterwards we talked about the word commitment. Now we've shown that commitment is a two-way street, and we are involving them more than we did before.

Reading the recruiting articles lately, you get the sense that Charlie, Corwin, and the rest of the staff have fostered a sort of 'Band of Brothers' mentality among the incoming guys. They're engaged. They're invested. And there's got to be a lot of peer pressure to hang tough and hang together. New guys see that and want to be part of it (Floyd, for instance). And breaking the bond and leaving would be tough to do for any of them. They'd have to face Corwin, and they'd have to face their peers.

That's what I think is going on, anyway. It's either that, or Corwin Brown is some kind of Jedi master. ("You don't need to see our current record." "We don't need to see your current record.")

At the end of the presser, Charlie fielded this question:

Q: Charlie, I cover Navy in Annapolis. For those of us who haven't followed ND as closely, can you quickly summarize what you feel has happened this year? Is it just being hit hard by graduation, and the younger players having to fill in, and they haven't performed or they were not ready? Is it inexperience? In your analysis, what led to 1-7?

WEIS: Well, that's a loaded question [laughs]. Let's start with coaching, because in your question you gave me about 15 different excuses I could make for us being 1-7. So let's start with coaching. In the transition from last year to this year, I have not done the best job of having the team ready to go...

And I should probably leave it at that. If you're looking for me to give you a dossier of problems that have happened this year, there'd be too many things. But let's throw me out there [first].

Q: But the fact that you have such an inexperienced team, isn't that a crucial factor?

WEIS: Well, it's a factor, but that's what it is. It's a factor. It's not the factor. It'd be easy for me to sit there and say, "Well, if these five things weren't the case we'd be 7-1 right now." Well, the problem is they are the case. So I started with what I felt is the number one reason, and I think that if you start with the head coach doing a better job, then we probably have a better record.

Resumé-based Rankings | by Jay

Resumé-based rankings, i.e., the Conversation (now with hyperlinks!) Heading into week 9, here's how it shapes up:

Pts Team Conf Wins Losses BCS Wins Opp Bonus 17 LSU SEC 7 -1 5 +13 15 Boston College ACC 8 0 5 +10 14 Michigan B10 6 -2 5 +11 14 Ohio State B10 8 0 5 +9 13 Virginia ACC 7 -1 6 +8 12 Arizona St PAC 7 0 5 +7 10 Missouri B12 6 -1 4 +7 9 Oklahoma B12 7 -1 4 +6 9 Oregon PAC 6 -1 4 +6 8 South Florida BE 6 -1 3 +6 7 Kansas B12 7 0 3 +4 7 South Carolina SEC 6 -2 4 +5

Pts Team Conf Wins Losses BCS Wins Opp Bonus 6 Georgia SEC 5 -2 4 +4 5 Connecticut BE 6 -1 3 +3 5 Kentucky SEC 6 -2 3 +4 5 Penn State B10 6 -2 4 +3 5 Southern Cal PAC 6 -1 5 +1 5 West Virginia BE 6 -1 3 +3 4 Virginia Tech ACC 6 -2 3 +3 3 Auburn SEC 5 -3 4 +2 3 California PAC 5 -2 3 +2 3 Illinois B10 5 -3 4 +2 3 Wake Forest ACC 5 -2 3 +2

(Opponent Bonus = Wins of teams you've beaten - Losses of teams you lost to)
(Points = BCS Wins - Losses + Opponent Bonus)

As of week 9, there are 23 teams in the Conversation (the logical cutoff this week was 3 points).

Of course, as we know, the Conversation is not meant to be a cold, generic, Sagarin-style output. The above table is just the raw data, the starting point, and with a deft hand we may adjust it according to things like common opponents (and common sense). Right now, however, let's leave it as-is, and take a look at some bullet points that bubble up.

• LSU still atop the Convo, despite a loss. The reason's pretty simple: almost everyone they've beaten has a winning record, and their four big wins (Va Tech, So Carolina, Florida, and Auburn) were against four pretty strong teams. Still, you could (and probably should) make a case for putting unblemished Boston College into the pole position ahead of them.

• Michigan snuck back in while we weren't looking, on the strength of the Penn State, Northwestern, Purdue and Illinois wins (+13), who are collectively 22-10. That's a nice rebound from an abysmal start. Ohio State doesn't have the resume quite yet; they include 2-5 Washington and 1-7 Minnesota among their BCS wins. We'll know more tonight (OSU @ Penn State, 8pm ET on ABC) and after the Michigan-OSU showdown.

Still, having a two-loss team like Michigan among the top 4 doesn't quite taste right. Should two bad losses -- one of them really bad -- outweigh four strong wins? Perhaps a tweak of the Conversation is in order to account for Division 1AA losses.

• UVA? Where did they come from? Talk about flying under the radar. They've played 6 BCS opponents thus far, and the games that are really helping them are wins over Georgia Tech (+3) and Connecticut (+3).

• Mizzou is ahead of Oklahoma according to points, but I would flip-flop those, obviously.

• Of all the Conversation teams, Southern Cal has the weakest Opponent Bonus. Consider their resume:

* beat 0-7 Idaho
* beat 4-4 Nebraska
* beat 2-5 Wash St
* beat 2-5 Washington
* lost to 3-4 Stanford
* beat 2-6 Arizona
* beat 1-7 Notre Dame

It's safe to say they haven't played anyone yet. That's why the Oregon-Southern Cal game is the one I'm most looking forward to today (3pm ET, FSN). How good are the Trojans? We're about to find out.

Say it Ain't So | by Brian

"Out of the mist, a new danger emerges. Formless, faceless, nameless---a phantom menace which lives up to the hype. How can one tackle that which one can not perceive? Bottom line, the Irish lack the team speed to keep up with BYE. BYE beats Notre Dame 35-10."

Weis Exposure Lens | by Pete

"Get your shots in while you can," said the 1-7 head football coach.

They certainly are.

The sports media and the Internet alike are abuzz about this year's abysmal season. Never before has Notre Dame struggled in such an epic, fruitless fashion, tallying blowout loss after blowout loss while crafting an offense that could go down in history as one of the worst ever produced, if not THE worst.

In fact, we here at BGS got called out in a recent piece on Slate. The article mentions our season predictions posted here in August, which averaged out to about 9-3. Nobody predicted worse than 8-4. One brave soul even ventured into 11-1 territory. They were, shall we say, 'optimistic.' Of course, our poll of Notre Dame fans found results eerily similar to ours, with the vast majority of predictions still falling between 8-4 and 10-2. Out of 2000+ predictions, only 10 brave, depressing souls predicted our potential, hopefully final record of 5-7.

We're a bit worse than predicted this year. We've been hailed as a symbol of the delusional Notre Dame fanbase drowning itself on the Kool-Aid that is the overinflated Charlie Weis. He is our Kool-Aid man, and this year there's been a serious lack of destroyed brick walls. Oh, no.

The piece is entitled, "Notre Dame's Charlie Weis, the worst football coach in the universe." Obviously, the writer and the deluded masses here at BGS are coming from slightly different viewpoints on the whole Notre Dame thing. We like Notre Dame. He doesn't. (Full Disclosure: The author of the piece is a Michigan alum. I'm obviously a Notre Dame grad. We may have to agree to disagree here.) But I'm going to go out on a limb and predict that Charlie Weis may not the worst football coach in the universe.

There's been a lot of talk amongst the naysayers this year about how Weis has been "exposed." The New England Patriots didn't seem to miss a beat following the absence of the offensive mastermind, although much of that is skewed due to their recent obscene success, which also can be attributed a bit towards their now current possession of perhaps the greatest wide receiver of this generation. In fact, the Patriots haven't won a Super Bowl without Weis, and if I were a shortsighted columnist with an agenda, I could skew that to suggest that the Patriots couldn't win the big game without him, and that the organization has been exposed since his departure.

And Notre Dame hasn't been the same since our own Brady left. It's apparent now that Weis can't win unless he's got a hunky guy named Brady under center, what with eight whole games of relevant data available for extrapolation.

But while the haters hoot and holler about their uncovering of Weis's ineptitude, they make a single, seriously flawed assumption: that the artifacts they're uncovering are frozen in time. Quite to the contrary, Charlie Weis is very much a work in progress, and any "exposure" of him relies on the fact that he will continue to be the same coach today at 1-7 that he will be years from now, hopefully and probably far removed from this nadir.

Make no mistake about it, Charlie Weis has made some serious missteps leading up to and during this season. He overlooked the desperate need for fundamental development for this young team, working to add wrinkles and tweaks to his offense before the team had fully learned how to block, catch, run, and tackle. Despite early signs of epic ineptitude, Weis continued to scheme his way to blowout losses until the disastrous Michigan game, after which he was forced to take the team "back to training camp." Some can point to Willingham's lack of recruiting as a large reason for this season's struggles (fans close to the program were concerned about the 2007 season the minute Weis was hired), but no lack of talent can explain this tragic road to 1-7.

But just as we can't be too harsh on some freshmen and sophomores forced into early playing time and making mistakes indicative of their youth, so too a level of perspective must be attributed to Weis's struggles. Ara Parseghian famously said he needed every day of his previous head coaching experience to properly prepare him for leading Notre Dame. Weis doesn't have that luxury.

Prior to overseeing Notre Dame's football team, the last time Charlie Weis was a head coach was when he coached a high school squad. The last time Charlie Weis coached a college team, he was a graduate assistant with South Carolina in 1985. Now he's the head football coach at the University of Notre Dame, decades removed from any head coaching or college coaching experience. There's a bit of a learning curve to be had there.

But people will point out that Weis is now in his third year as Notre Dame's head coach, that mythical third year where frogs turn to princes or just keep on croaking. Shouldn't he have figured the college head coaching game out by now?

I think this year marks the first time during Weis's tenure here that he's been forced to acknowledge errors in his approach. If you look back at the Notre Dame roster the last two years, it was pretty much custom-made for Weis's skill set. A confident QB with great decision making and competence running a complex playbook, a WR corps that can make the tough catches, and a RB that can catch balls out of the backfield and provide a great change of pace. While Weis played an essential role in coaxing the potential out of that offense, the experience at key positions allowed him to remain focused on game plan and scheme, knowing that, as in the big leagues, the fundamentals had already been addressed. He really didn't need to change much as far as coaching goes those first two years, as all missteps were blamed on talent deficiencies and Rick Minter. For all intents and purposes, this is the first year of Weis learning how to be a head coach.

For the first time, Weis's tried-and-true practices haven't been appropriate for the situation he's been given. While not excusable, it's likely Weis has spent so much time in the pros and the last two years with a veteran team, he completely took for granted the little things, those little things we're so, so bad at doing right now. He missed it, and the team is paying the price for that error this year.

But we can at least take solace in the fact that Weis has been owning up to his errors, and is making steps towards fixing them. A return to more physical practices, an increased focus on fundamentals, and a broader perspective towards building a program over the years, rather than his previous attitude of seeing his most immediate game as his only concern. The mere fact that Weis will acknowledge his failings is a huge step forward from Ty "I've never had a bad day" Willingham.

Following the 38-0 loss to USC, it's safe to say we aren't quite seeing a return on those investments yet. So while Weis appears to be able to recognize his mistakes, can we have any sort of confidence in his ability to correct them?

For some sense of the future, we can look at the area where Weis has already been forced to tackle a learning curve: recruiting. Weis had literally zero prior experience convincing high school athletes to hop on board his program, and given the aforementioned failings of his predecessor, he very much had to learn how to reload the depleted roster on the fly. While he did garner some early successes on the trail, pulling in the 5th ranked class in 2006 and the 11th ranked class in 2007 according to Scout (for purposes of edification, Willingham's classes: 5, 30, 27), he also was burnt by a couple mistakes. Those who criticized the first two classes noted that Weis perhaps banked too heavily on hitting home runs with stud recruits while letting very talented triples interested in his team go elsewhere, and his second class in particular fell victim to several late defections, as rival head coaches continued recruiting Notre Dame commitments in the shadows.

Following each season, Weis noted areas for improvement and set out improving them. After being left wanting at the fax machine last year by a couple recruits, Weis adopted a new recruiting philosophy that emphasized early evaluation and offers, and the "If you're looking, we're looking" mentality, which emphasized the need for recruits only to verbal once they truly had finalized their decision, and any reopening of their interest meant a reopening of Notre Dame's.

Weis's adjustments appear to be paying off, as he currently holds the #1 recruiting class in the land, and continues to pry away top notch recruits from the likes of USC, Florida, and Michigan, despite the despicable current product on the field. The class is certainly buoyed by new defensive coordinator and recruiting wunderkind Corwin Brown, who has been the lead on several significant commitments, but Weis deserves credit for making the hire. It appears that, as far as recruiting is concerned, there is a positive trend of identifying mistakes and correcting them.

Does this guarantee Weis will improve as a head football coach? Not necessarily, but a positive trend is a positive trend. And when you look at Weis's resume as a whole, there's a lot of evidence to suggest that our current struggles are more the exception than the rule.

It includes a state title as a high school coach, helping South Carolina reach bowl games in 2 of his 4 years there, winning a Super Bowl as a member of the Parcell's N.Y. Giants staff, coordinating one of the best offenses in N.Y. Jets history -- led by Vinny Testaverde, no less -- to their first division title, helping establish the careers of Ben Coates, Curtis Martin, Terry Glenn, and Vinny Testaverde, and three more Super Bowl wins leading the Patriots's offense and bringing Tom Brady from sixth-round draft pick and co-starter with Drew Henson at Michigan to one of the greatest quarterbacks ever in the NFL. Simply put, Weis has been a success at every level of his coaching career, including stints coaching special teams and defenses.

Of course, Chait and the other "exposers" would have you believe that Weis has simply been fortunate enough to be around the right players and coaches at the right time, riding their coattails all the way to success. After all, a guy has to be lucky if he just so happens to be around Tom Brady and Brady Quinn when they both suddenly decide to become some of the top players at their position -- a development that happens entirely in a vacuum, don't you know -- and fortunate enough to happen to be standing along the sidelines when teams decided to go out and win four Super Bowls and qualify for two straight BCS appearances. That's a Mr. Magoo-level of blind luck, far beyond any level of rational comprehension. It's like saying a metal detector happens to be fortunate enough to beep randomly when it sweeps over some spare change.

Critics will also point to Weis's record and Willingham's record at this point, and note the similarities: near-identical records, capped with blowout losses to rivals and highly-ranked opponents. If Notre Dame fans were so quick to turn on Willingham after his third year, so too should they ride Weis out of town after this year.

But the critics aren't giving us Notre Dame fans nearly enough credit. Willingham had done absolutely nothing over his career to suggest that he could do better than lead Notre Dame to a .500ish record. His lackadaisical recruiting suggested it, and all of his records at previous head coaching positions suggested it. What we saw with Willingham during his third year was a team settling into his established state of mediocrity, a state that we simply cannot accept.

Weis's third year is an entirely different animal, as his current product seems inexplicable when one looks at the positive indicators surrounding it. Recruiting is reaching an elite level, and Weis's resume suggests that he is, indeed, a talented coach. The situation shows that this year's struggles, unlike Willingham's, are less about the coach than the situation surrounding him. A historically inexperienced team, a brutally unbalanced schedule, and a major lack of talented upperclassmen. While Willingham's third year went exactly as it should, Weis's third year is an astounding exception to an otherwise illustrious career.

Chait says in his article that no great coach has ever underperformed at such a level as Weis, so therefore Weis is not a great coach, and may even be THE WORST COACH IN THE UNIVERSE. However, I would like to see the naysayers point to another coach who, without any relevant previous head coaching or college coaching experience, lead an incredibly high-profile team to levels of comparable achievement. Nearly all coaches refine their head coaching chops at smaller programs with lowered expectations and little to no microscope, and ascent to the premier positions after achieving near perfection of their technique. Weis's situation is unprecedented.

Is Charlie Weis the worst coach ever? Not even close. Is he the greatest? Not very likely. In fact, it's impossible to even close the book of judgment on Weis yet, because he's still very much in flux. There's no guarantee he can fix the problems he's identified, but is he not smart enough to figure it out? Not a hard enough worker? Not driven enough?

The talent on the team is getting better, and the coaching is in the process of getting better. Get your shots in now, and relish your epic exposure of the fraud that is Charlie Weis. While you're busy patting yourselves on the back, we're busy getting better as a football team and coaching staff. See you at the finish line.

His name is Jonas | by Pat

Amazingly, good recruiting news continues to roll in: Michigan running back Jonas Gray has committed to Notre Dame. The 21st member of this recruiting class, Gray had committed to Nebraska previously, but concerned about the coaching situation in Lincoln, re-opened his recruitment. At that point, Notre Dame offered him a scholarship and, after an official visit during the Southern Cal game weekend, he quickly accepted.

"It's always been the place I wanted to be," Gray said.

Jonas had been quoted as having the Irish as a favorite as far back as the start of his junior year. Notre Dame recruited Gray, but did not offer him a written scholarship offer over this past summer. At that point Gray started to consider other schools and ultimately decided upon the Nebraska Cornhuskers early in August. With the uncertainty over Coach Bill Callahan's future, Gray decided to consider other options. He had kept in touch with Corwin Brown, and once he had put himself back on the market ND invited him to campus for a visit.

Despite ND's 1-7 record, Gray noted (as Floyd did) academics and the young talent ND is amassing as the major draws to the Dome.

"I want to go to law school and get into politics and I feel this is the best place academically. They also have one of the top recruiting classes and they're going to get better."

In addition to Nebraska and ND, Gray also picked up scholarship offers from Michigan, Florida, Wisconsin, and Michigan State. He's a 4-star recruit, ranked as the #3 running back in the country and 52nd best player overall according to Rivals. Scout has Gray as a 4-star recruit and the 106th ranked player overall. ESPN.com tabs Gray as the 89th overall player in the nation.

Gray elevated his ranking in the eyes of recruitnik sites with strong performances during the summer combines. The 5'9", 215 pound running back had one of the fastest 40 times at this summer's Columbus NIKE Camp (4.44) and followed that up with a Running Back MVP performance at the West Lafayette NIKE camp. At the Michigan Summer Camp, Gray ran the fastest 40 out of all of the campers with a 4.37 run. While 40 times can vary and I personally don't put much stock in them, having well-regarded runs at different camps is always a good sign. It's also always nice to see a recruit who doesn't drop out of the combines after just one good entry.

Gray followed up his All-State junior football campaign with an All-State performance in track. In addition to being part of a state championship winning 4x400 and 4x800 meter relay team, Gray finished 3rd in the state in the 100M dash with a time of 11.2 seconds and 4th in the state in the 200M with a time of 22.8. This year in football, Gray has rushed for 1,674 yards and 24 touchdowns in nine games. You can see some of his highlights here.

Gray is the only running back currently in this recruiting class and, similar to Aldridge and Hughes, presents a larger, more physical style of running. And while track and camp combine times don't necessarily translate into speed on the football field, there does seem to be ample evidence that Gray is far from a plodder. The young nucleus of talented skill position players on offense continues to grow. The ball carriers will be there; if the offensive line improves with age and added depth, the Irish offense should quickly rebound from this year's horrid showing.

Let's take a moment to note again that curious optimism running through the current recruiting class ("I just felt something special with this class," said Gray). It almost defies belief that ND could look so bad on the field, and yet appear so enticing to recruits. The coaching staff really is doing a fantastic job of getting the kids to believe that together they will be a major driving force in turning around Notre Dame Football.

Free Fallin' | by Pat

I mentioned the Special Ops parachute team that performed prior to the game in the previous post. Here is a link to more background on the unit and some fantastic photos from their jump. This picture in particular is a keeper. Click on the image for a full size shot.

Odds and Sods - Late in the Week Edition | by Pat

Parachute. It was fun to see the U.S. Army Special Operations Command Demonstration Parachute Team, the Black Daggers, parachute their way into Notre Dame Stadium prior to kickoff of the game and deliver the game ball. Still, I couldn't help but notice the ND grass claim another victim as the final parachuter caught his left foot in the turf during his landing and spent the second half of the game on crutches with a walking boot on his foot. In a way it made complete sense that in such a miserable season where nothing is going right, even a Special Ops soldier with hundreds of career jumps still managed to get himself hurt on what I imagine was a relatively easy jump with perfect weather.

Airport Song. Jay and I were joking before the game that maybe Southern Cal's rough flight into town would result in a Trojan team that had reordered their lives, put football in perspective and would blissfully enjoy another wonderful day on Earth rather than straining to make that extra yard or finish off that block. And for a second there, they kinda did. On their first possession the Men of Troy went three and out and overall they punted on six of nine first half possessions. But the second half was a different story as the Trojans only punted once more on their way to 21 points and the blowout win. The Irish on the other hand reached double digits for the second time this year (PSU being the other) with 10 punts.

What You Wish For. Going back on previous statements that he always wanted the ball to start the game, Charlie actually deferred on Saturday. Some fans had been calling for such a move for most of the year, and it was a sort of mini-big deal to see Charlie change his mind like that. Despite a 36-yard return by the Trojans, ND did a great job forcing a three and out and getting the ball right back. Of course the Irish offense failed to do much when they got the ball -- after receiving the kickoff to start the second half, the offense promptly fumbled on the second play.

One Man Wrecking Crew. Amid many down notes, the play of David Bruton continues to be a bright spot. In addition to one excellent pass breakup where he baited SC QB Mark Sanchez into throwing a slant, Bruton added "punt disruptor" to his already sterling special teams reputation. Last seen in 2006 looking completely lost as Dwayne Jarrett galloped to yet another touchdown, Bruton's play has been impressive and steadily improving as the year has progressed. Look for him to have productive games against Navy and Air Force in the coming weeks.

Great Escape. If one play sums up the 2007 season, it just might be Vidal Hazelton's 48 yard weaving catch and run through missed Irish tackle after missed Irish tackle. Overall, the Irish defense has been doing a better job of wrapping up this yea. But on that play, it was almost comical to watch the ND defenders tripping over themselves as Hazelton zigged and zagged his way into the endzone for the score.

So Long. No sooner was I thinking that a third straight class of ND students were going to be graduated without a single victory over Southern Cal during their stay on campus, that I noticed a steady stream of Irish fans starting to file out of the stadium. Keep in mind this was the third quarter. I can't quite remember ever seeing the stadium start to empty out that early before. Of course, no one can remember losing to Southern Cal by 38 points before.

a Silver Lining | by Pat

The very bright news on an otherwise dreary weekend involved the commitment of Minnesota wide receiver Michael Floyd to ND. Floyd is the 20th member of the recruiting Class of 2008 and was one of the biggest targets in all of recruiting this year. On campus for his official visit, Floyd made his decision and publicly committed.

"I just got that feeling that Notre Dame was the place I wanted to be," Floyd said.

"This is it," he said. "I'm not going to take any more visits."

The 6'3", 200 pound Floyd's decision is great news for two reasons. First, he is a fantastic athlete and a talented wide receiver. The second is that after a few months of negative story after negative story, the Fighting Irish finally got some good news. In fact, some might even wonder why Floyd would pick the 1-7 ND over his second choice, undefeated and #1 Ohio State. In addition to noting academics as a factor, Floyd echoed the thoughts of many in his current recruiting class.

Floyd said Notre Dame's 1-7 record and struggles on offense didn't concern him.

"They are a young team and play a lot of freshmen and sophomores," Floyd said. "I think this '08 recruiting class is going to bring a different fire to the team."

One gets the feeling that the coaching staff is really selling the currently committed recruits on sticking to their pledge and being the collective tipping point that puts ND over the top talent-wise. It's a theme we keep hearing over and over with this class. For that reason, I'm going to opine that there won't be many, if any, decommits. Time will tell of course, but so far it has been nothing but optimism.

"We talk to all our guys on a regular basis," Weis said. "Hey, look, they go to the high schools and they get abused, just like we all do. And everyone says, 'You're going there?' That's the way people are. They're cynical by nature.

"I can't tell you how many of these young men have said. 'Don't worry about me, coach, I'm all in.' That is a repeated comment. Hey, do I feel bad for them? Sure. But I feel worse for the guys I've got here right now, OK. Especially the guys that are going out the door. But I think, almost to a man, these guys are saying, 'Don't worry about me, coach. I'm all Notre Dame. Go worry about the next guy. Don't worry about me.' "

For Floyd, the decision came down to the Irish, the aforementioned Buckeyes, and his hometown Minnesota Gophers. He also had offers from other top programs like Florida and Michigan. The recruiting sites all have him ranked highly: he's a 5-star recruit and the 39th overall player in the nation on Scout, a 4-star player and the 79th overall player on Rivals, and the 39th overall player on ESPN.com's Top 150. For those who want to get a glimpse of what he looks like on the field, here's a recent highlight clip from a game a few weeks ago. Be sure to watch until the end for a hilariously awkward question from a Gopher-friendly reporter. Floyd hails from Cretin-Derham Hall, a strong ND feeder that has given the Irish players like Rashon Powers-Neal, Marcus Freeman, Ryan Harris, and recent transfer Matt Carufel.

Defensive line and wide receiver were two positions that were crucial to this year's recruiting effort. The defensive line needs were taken care of and then some earlier in the year, but until Floyd's announcement, the receiver tally was lacking a superstar player. Floyd fulfills that goal and, now teamed with new friend and fellow 4-star recruit John Goodman, ND has a solid receiving duo that will complement freshmen Duval Kamara and Golden Tate in the coming years.

As the 20th commit, Floyd is the 16th in the current class ranked with a 4-star or higher. Adding these 16 recruits to the members of the freshman and sophomore classes, ND has 41 players with a 4-star or higher coming out of high school (according to Rivals). The previous three classes had 11 players total with such a ranking. While the star system is not the be-all and end-all of talent evaluation, when used as a quick summary of a class, the star system is historically fairly accurate at pegging the overall strength of a class. This is shaping up to be a very strong class indeed.

Standing Bye | by Jay

Give us a moment to catch our breaths. Most of us were at the Southern Cal game, and are still recuperating from a long night of imbibing at CJ's. Thank God it's a bye week.

In the meantime, check out this quote from Charlie's Trojan wrap-up. I think it encapsulates the chief coaching misstep this year, and hints at a renewed, vigorous approach heading into next season:

Q. You mentioned a minute or two ago about the blame and the mistakes. Just wondering if what you have looked at this year caused you to change any philosophy you have about coaching?

COACH WEIS: More specifically?

Q. Well, like the deferring, that is a subtle change. But just anything that causes you to think next year, this is how I do things totally different.

COACH WEIS: I think there's things that I never thought that I would do that I probably will do. You know, it's funny because Mike had asked a question one day when we started hitting in practice, hitting in practice after Michigan. I've never been a part of a program that hit full speed during the season. Never. And to be honest with you, I think it made us better.

So I think it's something that is starting at training camp this year, and starting in spring ball this year then going to training camp, I think we might have to do it more.

"I've never been part of a program that hit full speed during the season." For those of you thinking that Charlie hadn't fully made the leap from a pro mentality to the college game (drink), there you have it. There are risks to going full contact -- just look at the MASH unit on the other sideline on Saturday -- but our youngsters needed to hit, and hit hard. It sounds like Charlie's learned a valuable lesson in how to prepare a young, inexperienced team.

P.S. On a related note, AT's got a pretty good rant going over on Legends of South Bend. It's a cathartic read -- check it out if you haven't already.

Desperate Measures | by Jay

Charlie won the toss, and deferred. This must be rock bottom.

Kickoff! | by Jay

Kickoff!
Originally uploaded by Blue-Gray Sky

the Green Machine, 2007 | by Jay

From the weekly presser...

Q. I think you mentioned at one point last year or the year before that the '77 green jersey game was your favorite game or one of your favorite games. Do you kind of wish you could have held the jersey as a surprise rather than it being announced so long ago?

COACH WEIS: No, because I didn't want to create a dog and pony show and all of a sudden we come out in the green jerseys. We are 1 and 6. It would be a heck of a thing to come out wearing the green jerseys. But I think at the time it was presented to me, to get that out of the way then so you didn't turn into doing it for the wrong reason, if we were going to use the jerseys for motivation, I'd use the ones that we have, the newer green ones that I really like.

These uniforms are ugly (laughter), but what the players like about them is that they're throwbacks. Because they're throwbacks, they're unique. Remember what those jerseys looked like? Remember those ugly pants? That's what they have to wear this week. What I didn't want to do is I didn't want to make a big deal about using it more as a motivational thing. This is in respect to honor that '77 team.

You know what? Screw it. If Charlie's not going to use the greens as motivation, we will. Adidas corporate marketing strategies be damned...that's what they're there for.

It was thirty years ago today (roughly) that the Irish broke out the Green, and a legend was born.



Let's also reprise a post we did the last time Southern Cal came to town. Click here for some good stuff.

Our friend Jamie sends in this op-ed with which we heartily agree...

---

IT AIN’T EASY BEING GREEN
by Jamie Reidy

It’s not just hip to be eco-friendly these days, it’s required. Heck, I’m writing this while sitting on a chair made from recycled chairs. But I am here to tell you green is not good.

At least not for the Fighting Irish.

Folks, the famed Green Jerseys are on life support – barely.

Since the famous 1977 game in which the surprisingly green-clad Irish crushed the Trojans, Notre Dame has donned the good luck jerseys eight times. Gerry Faust did it successfully against USC in 1983 and 1985. I’d say he weakened their significance by using them so quickly again in the ’85 game, but, hey, we won.

A master of history and motivation, Lou Holtz waited until the 1992 Sugar Bowl, when his boys were 17-point underdogs to Florida, to pull out the road jerseys with green numbering. Bravo. The Irish spanked the Gators, adding to the uniform’s mystique and giving those of us who were staggering along Bourbon Street that evening the profound joy of mocking the Gator Chomp to every blue and orange adorned person we encountered.

Alas, Holtz also went to the well once too many times. Fully aware his underachieving ’94 squad didn’t deserve to appear in the ’95 Fiesta Bowl against Heisman Trophy winner Rashaan Salaam, Kordell Stewart and the rest of the #4 ranked Colorado Buffaloes, Lou shamelessly pulled out the green jerseys. The Irish fell 31-3 but it wasn’t remotely that close.

Bob Davie never really “got” Notre Dame, as perfectly evidenced by his decision to resurrect the green jerseys for the 1999 Gator Bowl. Way to wake up the echoes, Bob! Amazingly, his boys did not rise to the occasion, losing to Georgia Tech 35-28. Just imagine if Boob had waited to play the ultimate Irish inspirational card until the 2000 home game against #1 Nebraska! Ah, never mind; he still would’ve sat on the ball and played for overtime.

Tyrone Willingham really tried to “get” Notre Dame. I recall his addressing members of the Monogram Club at Reunion 2002 and concluding his remarks with deep conviction, “Go Irish!” We all bought it that night. On November 2nd, 2002, Notre Dame entered its home game against Boston College 8-0 and ranked third in the BCS standings. Understandably, bookmakers made the Irish a 10-point favorite at home. Un-understandably, Ty pulled out the green jerseys. Notre Dame fumbled eight times, losing three along with its national championship hopes. And the green faded some more.

If any coach could possibly “get” Notre Dame, it had to be alum Charlie Weis. Demonstrating his feel, Coach Charlie sent his boys out for warm-ups in standard blue jerseys prior to facing #1 USC in 2005. Unbeknownst to Brady & Co., team managers were busy hanging green jerseys in their lockers! Word has it the players went completely bat shit when they entered the locker room. Just thinking about the goose bumps I got that day in the stands gave me goose bumps right now. True to legend, the Irish took a lead into halftime and nearly earned a win for the ages. Yes, yet another loss for the Green Jerseys, but at least they regained some of the shine they’d lost over their previous three outings.

Alas, like Gollum and his Ring, Charlie couldn’t keep his fingers off the precious. Claiming he wanted his seniors to experience winning in the green jerseys, Coach Weis inexplicably – I use this term because no amount of explaining will, uh, explain this decision – pulled them out versus Army. We beat the Cadets! Go Irish! Go Green jerseys! Yawn.

So, today the Green Jerseys’ record (in the "special occasion" category) stands at 4-4. And tomorrow Notre Dame faces USC in South Bend. Thanks to considerable pressure from Adidas (they didn’t like Charlie’s last minute switcheroo in 2005 because it prevented them from stocking the online Bookstore with similar jerseys. What’s the opposite of “cha ching”?), the Irish will take the field in replicas of the uniforms Dan Devine’s national champions wore in 1977’s legendary “Trojan Horse” game. This decision was announced months ago, mostly to give Adidas plenty of time to manufacture enough "mystique" to go around this time (at $50.00 a dose).

But let me not going to rail against the gross commercialism of this decision. Instead, I am going to plead for the sanctity of the Green Jersey.

President Jenkins, or Coach Weis, or Athletic Director Kevin White, or Board of Trustees chairman Patrick McCartan, or the ghost of George Gipp...or whoever runs this damn place, I beseech you:

Do not allow the Irish to embarrass the Green Jerseys once more (no matter how cool they look).

The Green Jerseys need to be placed in a secure, airtight room, where they can rest and regain their magical strengths for unseen fights that lie ahead (not games against the fourteenth ranked team in the country!). Please, pay Adidas whatever they want to recoup their losses on jerseys already manufactured. Any price will be worth the salvaging of an important piece of Notre Dame lore. And buy some carbon credits to offset the CO2 produced by the trucks that hauled all those jerseys unnecessarily.

But there's one alternative to packing them away forever, one alternative to putting them in mothballs, one alternative that would, just a little bit, start to color in the faded green and rekindle the mystique...

Beating Southern Cal tomorrow.

"He looks a little dizzy from here...." | by Pat

In case you haven't noticed, ND video historian extraordinaire T.J. has been posting up a storm over on the BGS Screening Room. From the very first Notre Dame - Southern Cal game in 1926, to video of Irish legend Motts Tonelli running wild in 1937, up to a rarely seen look at the 1965 matchup in South Bend, there is a treasure trove of historical footage to keep you entertained today. And if you're looking for something a bit more recent, RocketShark has a great recap of the late 80's/early 90's matchups between the Irish and the Trojans.

One of the best videos though is one from the 1959 upset of #7 Southern Cal in Joe Kuharich's first year as Notre Dame head coach. Aside from the game action and video of the students tearing down the goalposts after the win, check out the wild action when a drunk Irish fan decided to bob and weave his way around the field during the game to the delight of the fans, cops, and Moose Krause himself.

TJ chimes in:

Hilarious clip, and I discovered it by accident! To be honest, I have such a huge collection of things that I don't always sit and watch every single game I have all the way through. I've probably had this '59 USC game for close to two years and I never reached the end of the game until watching it late one night about two weeks ago. It took me completely my surprise. And I couldn't believe in a 1-hour condensed game replay that they devoted so much time to a drunk running around the field! Gotta love the early days of television...

Talkin' Trojans | by Pat

Here to help us preview the Trojans are the fine gents from Conquest Chronicles, one of the best college football blogs out there. Here are their answers to our questions, and over on their site you can find our answers to their questions.

1. What is going on in Trojanland? The past few games have spawned a million and one critics with people blaming everything from young assistant coaches, to injuries, to inexperienced players, to the long grass in ND Stadium. What is your opinion on the suddenly mortal looking Men of Troy?

DC Trojan: You've already identified all the problems - it's a question of all of them hitting at once. Well, except for the long grass. Actually, it seems to me that this season's problems are just last season's, only more so. The play-calling still doesn't match well with the skills of the starters, the defense is not generating the points that it did in the 2003 - 2005 period, the "bend don't break" approach is yielding too many passing yards, etc. Last season the first indication of trouble was the relative shortfall of the running game, and the lack of defensive scoring. This season, that's compounded by the injuries to the offensive line and a secondary that was already a bit short before injury, as well as the lack of any consistent wide receivers who aren't actually Tight Ends. There's also no escaping the fact that John David Booty isn't as effective as Matt Leinart - I don't know that I buy the prevailing opinion that his height is causing the tipped passes, for instance; I think it's part and parcel of how he sees (and doesn't see) the field. He's got a great arm and a great touch when he has time. That's the problem.

Paragon SC: Pete Carroll is a creature of habit and he is stubborn to change. We have all been frustrated with the pass plays that seem to garner opposing offenses 7-9 yards a play. The "bend don't break" approach that DC Trojan alluded too is an attempt to probe and see how they react to certain situations before making adjustments. Pete Carroll would rather give up that yardage in the hopes of getting a turnover and not give up the big play.

The other thing that must be realized is that with all the talent SC has Pete Carroll, at least in the early going, was tinkering with different players in different packages. So that might have affected consistency. Provided players are healthy USC can flip the switch when it needs to, just look at the third quarter against Nebraska. I realize that the "running back by committee" is an indication that you don't have a dominant back but with the talent SC has sometimes a dominant back isn't what you need. It may be considered toying with your opponents but no other team can flex its muscles like that and afford such luxuries.

2. With ND having its own QB controversy of sorts, what is your take on the current Trojan quarterback situation? Whom do you prefer to start against Notre Dame and why?

DC Trojan: The heartburn inducing fact about either Sanchez or Booty is that they throw interceptions and plenty of them. I haven't been following the details of Notre Dame's season but one abiding impression is that the Irish defense is pretty opportunistic with turnovers - as I read the game report against UCLA, for instance, it seemed that the offense wasn't getting anywhere in particular but the defense made the difference. That being the case, I'd have slight preference for starting Sanchez solely on the grounds that Booty's finger isn't healed yet. Starting an injured JDB in such a rivalry game, potentially in the rain, seems like a good way to create the conditions for failure.

In all honesty, my stress levels would be alleviated more significantly if Chilo Rachal, Stafon Johnson, and Brian Cushing were to start. If USC is to win this game, it will have to be through ball control on offense, and sacking Sharpley or Clausen at every opportunity to safeguard our secondary.

Paragon SC: Controversies rise out of poor performance. Booty being injured, at least to me, removes the controversy. Can he play or not it is as simple as that. There weren't too many complaints about Booty's play until the Washington game when the injuries started piling up. My frustration with Booty's performance against Stanford was that the coaching staff left Booty in while he was injured while allowing him to continue to throw passes, that's just foolish. I think Sanchez should start if for other reason than that he is healthy. I want to win and for the most part I trust the coaching staff to make the right call. Most of the time they do make the right call so I will defer to them here.

3. Despite the struggles this year, Pete Carroll has had tremendous success at USC. How did you regard him when he first took the job? Did your opinion of him change as he built USC into a title contender? And what do you think the future holds for Pete Carroll and USC?"

DC Trojan: I will freely admit that I was horrified when USC hired Pete Carroll. It seemed like a dreadful choice based on his performance with the Jets and the Patriots. I'd say that goes to show what I know by comparison to our AD, but no-one has convinced me yet that hiring Pete Carroll was an instance of anything other than desperation by Mike Garrett, a man who is plainly so lucky that rabbits rub his feet.

Obviously I've changed my opinion of Carroll in terms of the results that he has produced since he's taken over. I remain convinced that he has the right overall personality to recruit and motivate college football players in a way that few others can, though it would be nice if he were more overtly a disciplinarian - having players like Eric Wright disappear in the wake of scandal doesn't send a very loud message, for instance. During the game, I think his defensive adjustments are outstanding. Carroll also cured SC of a bad and long-standing habit of only really playing in the second half, which is not totally effective when you're already down by 2 - 3 touchdowns.

As for the future, some of that is going to depend on how badly the rest of this season goes, and how he chooses to deal with it in the off-season. If you think back to the first years of Carroll's tenure, you have to think about what a bunch of odd ducks and personalities he had working for him - by which I mean, having Carroll, Ed Orgeron, and Norm Chow all coaching in one place - talk about an unlikely group combining to dramatic effect. Much as I like Steve Sarkisian, he and Nick Holt just don't produce results of the same standard. All of which to say, if this season progresses as I suspect it might with at least another 3 conference losses, Carroll really needs to have a rethink about who he's hiring, and possibly start thinking in terms of succession by getting more experienced coordinators. Digging in his heels after a bad season would burn tolerance that he's built up over years of results... except of course with the kind of "fan" that wants him fired for losing to Stanford.

As for USC as a team, there's talent in them thar hills, if only we could mine it over the next season or two. Kris O'Dowd's success in stepping into the offensive line as a true freshman, Joe McKnight's growing confidence, the play of Stanley Havili: these are all causes for optimism for next year. It's unlikely that SC will have another run like 2003 - 2005 (basically until about the last couple minutes of the Rose Bowl versus Texas); the players are in place for a glide path that would be a good year for most teams. But that's only going to come to fruition if the coaching is adjusted to the players who are on the ground today, and the players actually execute.

One other thought, lest I be accused of ducking it: doubtless some BGS readers are thinking about the prospect of penalties against USC over Reggie Bush's shenanigans. I have no idea how that will shake out - I remain, as a homer, convinced that the NCAA is going to need a smoking gun in the form of someone at the University knowing but not acting, before bringing down the hammer. As a cynic, however, I can't help but think that a bad year for USC might mean that lowered revenues and a decline in favorable media exposure might help the NCAA overcome any timidity. If that happens, then I suppose we dig in for the long rebuilding process. TBD, as they say.

Paragon SC: DC Trojan hits all the right points here but to expound on one of his points I see on fatal flaw with Pete Carroll, his unwillingness (some would say inability) to adequately replace Chow, Orgeron, and Davis. To be fair, this was the perfect storm of coaches that came together to coach the perfect storm of talent that they recruited. Nothing lasts forever and keeping top-flight assistants is just such an example. The problem is replacing that coaching talent and the development of the younger players is not where we have seen it in the past.

I do think that SC was setting itself up to go on another run similar to what we saw in 2003-2005 before the injuries set in. This defense is taking on the looks of the defenses from 2002-2004. Keith Rivers is obviously having a monster year but he is doing it under the radar. His play may not be spectacular but it is solid and he is seemingly in on every tackle. Ellis along with Rivers are on fire on the defense. Ellis has had some compare him a to Mike Patterson and that comparison is not too far off, as he commands blockers because he's so hard to move and disrupts everything along the line filling the gaps and lanes. Ellis isn't quite as good at getting to the quarterback as Patterson was though. Patterson also commanded blockers because he was simply too quick, too strong and too low to the ground for a single blocker and he required a lot of double teams and extra attention to make sure he didn't move the defensive interior backwards. Patterson was more effective against both the run and the pass while Ellis is dominant against the run and in completely scuttling what a 5-man line tries to set up in the pass and run game.

The defense is still doing a pretty good job even with all the injuries they have. So if more of our players were healthy and if the Offense was hitting on all cylinders this team would have been real scary. We'll see what team shows up on Saturday. Good Luck Guys!

Now This Is a Rivalry | by Brian

This Saturday marks the 79th meeting of one of the college game's greatest rivalries, as USC travels to Notre Dame Stadium to take on the Fighting Irish (drink). With the exception of a three-year break during World War II, the schools have met on the gridiron every year since 1926. The series began during the tenures of head footbawl coaches Knute Rockne of Notre Dame and Howard Jones of Southern Cal. The USC program was looking to make a name for itself (having cast aside their original mascot, Lifestyles: Her Pleasure), while Rockne's Ramblers had established themselves as the nation's preeminent squad.

USC Footbawl Patriarch Howard Jones

As the story goes, Rockne was reluctant to take his team on the long trip to Southern California every two years, but the wife of Gwynn Wilson, who served at SC in a position along the lines of the modern-day athletic director, convinced Rockne's wife of the appeal of heading to the fun and sun of SoCal every other year. (Note: Mrs. Wilson may or may not have used the actual phrase "SoCal" back in the mid-1920's.)

The rest, as they say, is history. Knute Rockne went on to win two more national titles at ND before dying tragically in a plane crash in 1931. Gwynn Wilson went on to do many fine things, of that I am quite certain, just don't ask me what. And Howard Jones went on to record such '80's smash hits as No One Is To Blame and Things Can Only Get Better.

Pontiac Game Changer of the Week: Carl Spackler

The most important person associated with the Notre Dame program this week is not new starting quarterback Evan Sharpley (the Sharp-Dressed Man). It is not Trevor Laws or Maurice Crum, and it is not even Coach Weis. No, the key to the game for the Irish is Head Greenskeeper Carl Spackler. Spackler is in charge of installing the Super Secret Grass Surface in Notre Dame Stadium this week, in an attempt to slow down the merciless assault of the Trojan offense. When reached for comment, Spackler elaborated:

"This is a hybrid. This is a cross, ah, of Bluegrass, Kentucky Bluegrass, Featherbed Bent, and Northern California Sensemilia. The amazing stuff about this is, that you can play 6 overtimes on it in the afternoon, take it home and just get stoned to the bejeezus-belt that night on this stuff."

The Notre Dame administration has declined to comment on reports that, in their usual heavy-handed draconian fashion, they will again kick Irish point guard Kyle McAlarney out of school if he so much as steps foot in the stadium on Saturday.

The USC Song Girls get the lay of the land at Notre Dame Stadium

They Don't Play the Games on Paper

On paper, the Trojans came into the 2007 season with an offensive unit that would scare the stink off a skunk, and the attitude to make him feel self-conscious about it. The projected starting lineup was full of recruits with more stars than Ursa Major and Minor combined, no doubt possessing ample amounts of Pac 10 Speed:

2007 USC Starting Offense, Projected
QB John David Booty
RB Emmanuel Moody
RB C.J. Gable
RB Chauncey Washington
RB Stafon Johnson
RB Joe McKnight
RB Hershel Dennis
RB Broderick Green
RB Desmond Reed
RB Marc Tyler
RB Allen Bradford

Other than possessing a tendency of running to set up the run, only to beat you over the top with a play-action run, this talented squad presented a tough challenge to opposing coaches.

However, by this point, the offense has suffered a great deal of attrition. Moody transferred to Florida. Gable is out for the season with an injury. Johnson, Green, and Tyler have also been injured (though Johnson may have toughened up enough to roll on a Trojan uniform this week). The lineup now includes honest-to-god linemen and receivers, giving the Trojans a more traditional look that is easier to attack from a defensive perspective.

More notable is the recent change in quarterback. A combination of ineffectiveness and injury forced Booty (whom I refer to as Fairweather Johnson, since the much-anticipated follow-up to a great first season as starter has been largely a disappointment) to the sideline for last week's game with Arizona, in favor of former high school player of the year Mark Sanchez, or as I call him, Vosotros, since he is seldom used and rarely recognized.

The SC defense has not been immune to the injury bug itself. Linebacker Chris Galippo (back) and defensive back Josh Pinkard (torn ACL) are out for the year. Linebacker Brian Cushing also is coming into the game a little soft, and Rey Maualuga thinks he may have left a vowel back in his dorm room. Nevertheless, the SC defense remains one of the stoutest in the college game (drink), ranking 3rd nationally against the run with 66.8 yards per game, and 8th in total yards allowed with 266.7 YPG.

If the Irish are to win this game, it will probably have to be similar to the UCLA win, with the defense creating turnovers and possibly getting into the endzone, to pick up an Irish offense which figures to have a long day, what with it being a Saturday and all. John David Booty and McLeod Bethel-Thompson both have three names. Coincidence? You better believe it.

Unclean!!! Unclean!!!

OJ being OJ

"Some break the rules
And live to count the cost.
The insecurity is the thing that won't get lost."
---Howard Jones, No One Is To Blame

Let's not mince words: the USC program is dirtier than the helmet of the Dread Pirate Manny. First of all, there's this (right).

But the troubles didn't begin and end with the Juice. The Trojan program is currently embroiled in an investigation surrounding benefits received by the family of 2005 Heisman's Trophy winner Reggie Bush. Allegations allege that Bush and his family received benefits from prospective agents while he was still playing for SC, with Bush's family most notably living rent-free in a $750,000 house for a year. This could lead to sanctions for the USC program, and Bush could theoretically have to give up his Heisman if he is ruled to have been ineligible in 2005.

Bush has utilized his renowned escapability, consistently refusing to comment on the matter, citing pre-release confidentiality obligations under his contract with HarperCollins, the publisher of his forthcoming book If I Did It: How I Would Have Received Benefits From Prospective Agents While Still Playing For SC, Most Notably Living Rent-Free in a $750,000 House for a Year.

A Look Deep Into the NCAA Rulebook

When the Trojans last came to ND two years ago, they won a 34-31 classic which ended in controversy when Reggie Bush pushed quarterback Matt Leinart into the endzone with seconds remaining for the winning score. This was in violation of Rule 9, Section 3, Article 2B of the NCAA rulebook:

"You cheat, Dr. Jones. You cheat!"

"The runner shall not grasp a teammate; and no other player of his team shall grasp, push, lift or charge into him to assist him in forward progress. PENALTY---five yards from the basic spot"

USC faithful rallied to the officials' defense, pointing out that it's a little-known penalty which is seldom called in the college game (drink). In that spirit, we at BGS would like to take the opportunity to inform the officiating crew assigned to this week's game of some other obscure rules which the Trojans may try to stretch to its furthest limits, ultimately tearing the lubricated fabric of justice, spilling the abundant seed of dishonesty all over the field. Carl Spackler would not be pleased by the sticky icky.

* Rule 7, Section 2, Article 3A: Personal Foul --- Staged Homicide

Hypothetical Situation: Fairweather Johnson is intercepted by Maurice Crum, the quarterback's third pick of the game. He's playing like an ass. From the sidelines, a deranged Pete Carroll runs onto the field, carrying a spear and looking for a fight. He appears to run Booty through with the spear, killing him instantly, but ultimately Booty is revealed to be perfectly fine, thanks to the technological wizardy of a prominent alumni, George Lucas's Industrial Light & Magic. Carroll later says that he staged the stunt to keep the mood of his team light through the tried-and-true practice of making you think your teammate, the one you ride and die with, has shuffled off this mortal coil.

Signal: The referee mimes banging a gavel, as if passing sentence.

Penalty: 15 yards from the end of the return and a loss of down.

* Rule 10, Section 4, Article 1C: Ineligible Law Enforcement On the Field

Hypothetical Situation: Rey Maualuga, who claims to "own the police" but still refuses to present appropriate documentation, brings a cop across to the Notre Dame sideline to arrest Top Jimmy for violating obscure Indiana blue laws.

Signal: The referee twirls his index finger above his head, like an umpire signalling a home run, while mimicking the noise a siren makes.

Penalty: Ten yards, automatic first down.

* Rule 12, Section 3, Article 2B: Illegal Use of Beanbags

Hypothetical Situation: Former SC quarterback, de facto Bengal warden and 2002 Heisman's Trophy winner, Carson Palmer runs out onto the field, equipment in hand, to interrupt an Irish drive with a spirited game of the noble "sport" of cornhole.

Signal: The referee makes an underhanded throwing motion and then, having apparently missed his shot, mimicks drinking a beer.

Penalty: Dead ball foul, five yards, repeat the down until someone scores 21.


Prediction From The Blind Oracle At Bristol

"A foe of ancient lore invades, wounded but dangerous. Their leader, jacked, pumped, psyched, and tanned, steers his charges into battle. I see a Fleetwood Mac cover band in their midst. Bottom line, the Irish lack the team speed to keep up with the Trojans. USC beats Notre Dame 35-10."

Statistically Speaking: Boston College | by Pat

It's a Numbers Game

• BCF Toys has unveiled the first Fremeau Efficiency Index rankings of the 2007 season. The FEI is the brainchild of Brian Fremeau, fellow Domer and writer for Football Outsiders, an excellent NFL-oriented football stats site. There is a full explanation of the rankings for those who are interested, but this is the short and sweet summary.

Fremeau Efficiency Index (FEI)
College football rating system based on drive-based Game Efficiency data that rewards playing well against good teams, win or lose, and punishes losing to poor teams more harshly than it rewards defeating poor teams.

It's an interesting way to look at team performance and I suggest you check it out. The Irish check in at #88 in the rankings.

• Brian also has a note on Field Position Advantage in his latest article on Football Outsiders. FPA is the difference between a team's average starting position and their opponent's. Currently, ND is -7.7 yards in FPA, meaning the Irish opponents are, on average, starting each drive 7.7 yards further down the field than ND. That number puts the Irish at 111th in the nation.

• Nose tackle Pat Kuntz is currently tied for 14th in the nation in passes broken up with 7. The only other defensive linemen in the Top 60 are Philip Hunt from Houston, Chris Long from Virginia, and Sedrick Ellis from Southern Cal. Kuntz has already broken up as many passes as ND's team leader, Chinedum Ndukwe, from last year. The school record for passes broken up is 14 by Shane Walton.

• Notre Dame is 1 of 2 teams in the country that not yet played a team with a losing record. The Irish are also the only team in the country to play a BCS conference program in each of the first 8 games. That is double Florida Atlantic, which had the second longest streak with 4 straight BCS conference opponents to start the season.

• 22 Players have now made their first start for Notre Dame this season. 12 on offense and 10 on defense. The breakdown is 1 senior (Vernaglia), 5 juniors (Kuntz, Turkovich, Hand, Bruton, Duncan), 11 sophomores (Jones, Ryan, Parris, Olsen, Wenger, West, Carufel, T. Smith, Aldridge, McNeil, Yeatman), and 5 freshman (Clausen, Allen, Neal, Tate, Kamara).

Gotta Have M.O.E.

The Irish offense took a step back in the efficiency department with a M.O.E. score of 19%. One of the primary culprits this game was dropped passes. ND also had the highest number of offensive penalties since the Penn State game.

Breaking down the M.O.E. score by quarterback, both Clausen and Sharpley had an identical score of 19%. Clausen was on the field for 36 plays and the team combined to commit 7 offensive errors (2 interceptions, 2 drops, 3 penalties). Sharpley was also on the field for 36 plays and again, the offense committed 7 errors (2 sacks, 3 drops, 2 penalties).

The Eagles posted the second worst M.O.E. score of the year for an Irish opponent with 15%. The main cause for the subpar score was 10 offensive penalties called against BC.

The complete breakdown can be viewed here.

Season Long Running Averages

The overall numbers aren't getting much better. One bright spot: there is a noticeable decrease in opponent yards per pass completion. Corwin Brown said he wanted to take away the big pass play and so far the numbers seem to indicate success in that area.

Pass de deux | by Jay

As promised, here's all the second half passes versus Boston College. Clausen throws the first one for an interception, and then it's Sharpley for the rest of the game.

Any observations based on the Clausen passes (a couple of posts below) and Sharpley's set?



Pat: my overall take is this
Pat: clausen is more accurate
Jay: yeah
Pat: he's also more cautious
Pat: and is quick to avoid the negative play
Pat: Sharpley pushes a bit at times
Pat: that means a chance for a big play or big screwup
Jay: I concur
Jay: he's high risk, high reward - like finding Schwapp and Carlson on scrambles, but nearly throwing a couple a picks
Jay: while clausen is low risk, average reward - made a few nice passes, didn't take any sacks, but didn't do anything tremendous, either
Jay: the stats may show they performed about the same, but sharpley "feels" like he did more
Pat: and the team and home crowd will react to that.
Jay: yep

[pause]

Jay: f*ck it. we're 1-6 and playing USC. you have to try something

Out the Door | by Pat

As you may have heard, sophomore offensive guard Matt Carufel has decided to leave Notre Dame. Carufel did not show up at practice on Wednesday or Thursday and was given the weekend by ND to make up his mind if he wanted to return or not. At the end of the weekend, he made his choice and called Charlie.

“I spoke via telephone with Matt Carufel Sunday evening,” Weis said in a statement. “And he informed me he was going to leave the team and withdraw from the University of Notre Dame. I appreciate all Matt has done for Notre Dame and wish him nothing but the best.”

Carufel entered the 2007 season as the backup to classmate Dan Wenger at right guard. When Wenger went out with a leg injury against Michigan, Carufel started the next three games and rotated with classmate Eric Olsen. On Tuesday of last week, Carufel was informed that Olsen would be the starter for the Boston College game. That was Carufel's last practice at Notre Dame.

Did Carufel simply quit over losing his starting spot? Possibly. More likely, it was the proverbial straw that broke the camel's back. Carufel's high school assistant coach agrees:

“I am not placing blame on Notre Dame and the staff or Matt,” Cretin-Derham Hall assistant coach Andy Bischoff told BlueandGold.com web editor John Haynsworth late Sunday night. “Unfortunately it was just a bad marriage and Matt ended up very unhappy as a person.

“Football was a huge factor but there were other factors to his decision other than football. He never made a bunch of friends in or outside of football. He missed home and school was hard on him. He is a pretty quiet kid that keeps to himself and just never really felt comfortable, but we have other kids who have had good experiences and we will continue to support kids looking at Notre Dame if that is a school they are interested in.”

It would be interesting to hear Matt's own take on the matter, but for now he's not talking.

When reached by cell phone late Sunday, Carufel hung up.

Carufel's transfer will certainly affect the depth on the offensive line, but a larger concern is the continuing attrition within the program. As noted earlier, Carufel is the fourth sophomore to leave out of his original class of 28 (Frazer, Jones, Reuland, and now Carufel). With scholarship limits of 85, the sophomore class took up one-third of the available scholarships -- so some eventual fallout was to be expected. But what's notable about the recent spate of transfers (or near-transfers in the case of Chris Stewart) is the number and the timing. Is there something sour going on around the program, or is this a case of individuals making individual choices?

First, let's look at the numbers. As pointed out by Irish Roundup a few weeks ago, the ND attrition is generating headlines, but the Irish are hardly alone when it comes to sophomores switching schools.

Like the departures at other schools, a desire for playing time seems to be the primary reason for the Irish departures. Zach Frazer and Demetrius Jones left looking for more PT. Konrad Reuland and Carufel apparently left for similar reasons, although neither reportedly were completely happy at ND either.

The timing of these transfers is a bit more curious. Jones, Reuland, and now Carufel have all left while the season was in full swing. While Minnesota and NC State have also had three players quit during the 2007 season, mid-season transfers are generally rare.

One potential motivation is a largely unknown rule that players can leave one school and, as long as they enroll at their new school by the 12th day of class, can apply the 2007 season as part of their one year NCAA mandated transfer penalty. This quirky loophole is what Jones and Reuland exploited and both will be eligible to play next year at their new school. Carufel, however, will have to sit out the 2008 season at whichever new school he picks.

I honestly do think that both Jones and Reuland left when they did in order to get back on the field as soon as possible. Still, it's perhaps naive or willfully ignorant to blow off the transfers as just the price of improved recruiting and an obscure NCAA transfer policy. After all, Carufel and Reuland may not have been starters, but each had the potential to play bigger roles in the coming years. And who knows where Jones would factor in to the current QB situation. So in that regard, I think it's fair to consider if there is a more serious issue behind the recent transfers. Charlie is far from a back-slapping, high-fivin' players' coach, and this lousy season would test even the most upbeat of personalities. But you wonder just what the hell is going on.

We aren't at practice, in position meetings, or in the locker room, so we can't even attempt to answer that question. What we can do is consider the case of two players who left the program and decided to come back. Both Darrin Bragg and Junior Jabbie left the team after barely seeing the field and both chose to return. Would they really return if being a backup under Charlie Weis is such a miserable experience?

Bragg left after switching from QB to wide receiver and getting buried on the depth chart. He didn't play at all in 2006. Before the UCLA game, the California native discussed the circumstances around his return to the team.

Over the summer, the senior Film, Television and Theater major was an intern at 20th Century Fox under Executive Vice President of Production Jim Sharp. Bragg said he was on the set when Notre Dame Director of Football Operations Chad Klunder called him in July and asked him if he would return to the Irish.

"I was in the middle of work and they said, 'We need you to come back and play quarterback,'" Bragg said. "And I'm like 'OK, sure. Why not? What am I going to say, no?'"

"When I left school in May I thought I was probably going to be done next year," he said. "But then I got the call, and it was exciting - and I thought, 'Sure, why not?'"

"I could never imagine going from playing quarterback to a new coach ... and moving to receiver and then moving to quarterback," he said. "In four years, that's not how you really plan out to be. It's been fun. It's been a great ride so far."

Granted, having two players deciding to rejoin the team doesn't prove that all is well any more than the departures prove that the program is crumbling. But given that there are instances of players -- especially one player already moving on with his professional career -- returning to the fold, I'm inclined to think that the departures are not indicative of anything endemic.

At the very least though, I would hope there will be improved communication between the coaching staff, the players, and the athletic department to reduce these in-season flights in the future.

---

One postscript. As noted in the South Bend Tribune, 17 players have left the program for some reason or another during the Charlie Weis tenure. Here is a breakdown of those who left, where they went, and the publicly given reasons for their departure.

Didn't want to play football anymore
Tregg Duerson: Still enrolled at Notre Dame.
John Kadous: Still enrolled at Notre Dame.

Academic Reasons
Joey Hiben: Student at Minnesota. Just walked on to the Gopher football team.

Suspended from University
Chris Vaughn: Transferred to Louisville.

Left in search of more playing time
Freddie Parish: Transferred to Stephan F. Austin.
Brandon Nicolas: Transfered to Colorado.
LaBrose Hedgemon: Transferred to Jackson State.
Justin Hoskins: Transferred to Central Michigan.
David Wolke: Transferred to Western Kentucky.
Zach Frazer: Transferred to Connecticut.
Demetrius Jones: Transferred to Cincinnati.
Konrad Reuland: Currently at Saddleback Junior College for the year.
Matt Carufel: Considering Minnesota or Iowa.

Injury-forced retirement
Abdel Banda: Still enrolled at Notre Dame.

No official reason given
Ronald Talley: Transferred to Delaware.

Early Entry into the NFL Draft
Darius Walker: Currently on Houston Texans practice squad.

a Sharper Image | by Jay

No, I'm not talking about massage chairs or swinging ball desk toys. In an effort to kickstart the offense, Charlie's tabbed a different kind of novelty, Evan Sharpley, to start on Saturday. Here's what the big man had to say about it:

Charlie Weis: Evan Sharpley will start at quarterback. Both Evan and Jimmy were told that yesterday afternoon after I had time to visit with our medical staff and our coaching staff, and that's the way we're going. So Evan will be one, Jimmy will be two.

Q: Is this now a permanent switch, is this a week-to-week thing?

Charlie Weis: We're just talking about USC. That's all we're talking about. Evan Sharpley is the quarterback for USC. That's all we're talking about. How would I know if it's permanent? I don't know that answer. It's a permanent switch for the USC game. Evan is the starter. I'm not changing tomorrow and picking Jimmy as the starter (laughing). That's the best I can do.

Q. As far as since Penn State, has Evan just increased dramatically? Was the chasm between them that large at that point?

Charlie Weis: No, I don't think at any time this year has there been that wide a discrepancy between these two guys. I think it's been fairly close most of the year. So I think that we're at a stage now where we think that Evan playing gives us a better chance of winning, so that's why you go with Evan.

Q. Having seen how hurt Jimmy is from a physical standpoint, was there ever any consideration earlier on of starting Evan?

Charlie Weis: When?

Q. At any point earlier on.

Charlie Weis: At any time we would have thought the best person for us to win a game would have been Evan, Evan would have been in there. We have reached that point. So the answer to that question would be no.

We were in the midst of pulling the clips of every pass in the BC game to assist Charlie with his decision when he jumped the gun and went ahead and announced the starter on us.

Well, let's pull 'em anyway. Here's the first half. It's every pass Jimmy threw in the game, save his costly INT to open the second half. Notice the stellar blocking, the sure-handed receivers, the-- ah, I can't do sarcasm well these days.



Second half passing coming in a bit. Get ready to compare/contrast.

Odds & Sods - Same Old Thing Edition | by Mike

With the BC game largely going according to the 2007 script, it seems like I'm just rehashing previous comments here.

All Falls Down. Special teams miscues, turnovers and penalties have put the Notre Dame defense in difficult positions all year long, and the BC game was no different. Three of BC's four scoring drives began in Notre Dame territory, with a special teams error, a turnover, and a penalty each leading to one such drive.

1. Trailing 6-0 in the second quarter, Notre Dame drove to the BC 41. Yet, as has often been the case this year, the drive stalled when a penalty put in the Irish in a long-yardage situation and the Irish were forced to punt from the BC 46. Over the course of the game, Geoff Price and the punt coverage unit would combine to produce a net punting average of 42.2 yards. This time, however, Price dropped to one knee to field a low snap, the ball was down, and the Eagles took over at the Notre Dame 42. This had the same effect as a costly turnover. To roughly approximate the effect of this play, we can add the twelve yards lost on the fourth down play with Notre Dame's 42.2 yard net punting average, and arrive at a 54.2 yard swing that set up BC's second touchdown.

2. On the first possession of the second half, the Irish defense contained the BC offense, forcing the Eagles to punt from their 28. Following the BC punt, the Irish offense had good field position, starting at the ND 36. However, on the first offensive play of the half, Clausen threw an interception that was returned to the ND 11, setting up BC's third touchdown.

3. Notre Dame would score two touchdowns to draw within six points, only to be flagged for excessive celebration on the second touchdown. This costly penalty forced the Irish to kickoff from the 15, and BC would start their next possession at the ND 44.

Whenever the Irish appeared to be building some momentum and confidence, there seemed to be a costly miscue that put the game back in the Eagles' hands.

Minnesoter. I incorporate by reference all my previous comments about Trevor Laws. What more can I say about Trevor at this point? I can't help but wonder if Jagodzinski's decision to go for it on 4th and 9 in the first quarter was due to BC's scouting report on Laws. I would have loved to have seen what a Laws-Landri-Abiamiri defensive line could have done in Corwin Brown's defense.

Youthful Expression. On defense, several freshmen and sophomores seem to be making the transition from providing the occasional spark to being consistent contributors. Darrin Walls appears to be the underclassman that is furthest along. Although BC was able to complete a few passes to his man, Walls had tight coverage throughout the game and showed why he leads the CBs in playing time. The Irish were unable to sack Ryan, though freshman Kerry Neal did draw a holding penalty after beating BC's fifth-year senior Gosder Cherilus. Freshman Brian Smith had the biggest play on defense, taking a Matt Ryan interception in for the Irish's second score. Morrice Richardson also made the case for a bigger role.

Parris 2007. Robby Parris has quietly emerged as Notre Dame's most productive receiver. He leads the team in receiving yards, and is second only to Golden Tate in yards per catch (14.3 to 26.0). When Sharpley has been at quarterback, he has also provided a rare target over the middle for the Irish.

Wearing and Tearing. Aside from the Whitworth run, BC did not have many big plays. However, the Eagles did produce an effective ball control offense. BC nearly doubled the Irish in time of possession (39:03 to 20:57). Despite all this time on the field, the Notre Dame defense managed to keep BC from scoring in the fourth quarter. Part of this is due to BC being more concerned with running clock than putting points on the board at that time. Still, given Notre Dame's lack of size and inexperience in the defensive front seven, it wouldn't have been surprising if a gassed defense had been unable to stop BC in the fourth quarter. The defense is clearly still a work in progress, but Corwin Brown seems to be gradually building something on his side of the ball.

Kickoff! | by Jay

Kickoff!
Originally uploaded by Blue-Gray Sky

Examining the Eagles | by Pat

A few other coach and player notes heading into the matchup with the BC Eagles.

Notre Dame defensive backs coach Bill Lewis and Boston College offensive coordinator Steve Logan both shared time at East Carolina, where Lewis was the head coach back in the early 90's and Logan was the offensive coordinator. But most don't know how they came to work together. Irish Insights has the low-down.

Logan and Lewis go back further than ECU. They were opposing coordinators in the SEC when Lewis was at Georgia and Logan was at Mississippi State. Lewis said when Logan was there, the Bulldogs couldn't stop them.

So when Lewis went to ECU, he brought Logan with him and also brought along (Mark) Richt, then an assistant at Florida State, who stayed at ECU for a year before heading back to FSU. When Richt left, Lewis promoted the quarterback guru.

"He's a quarterback coach, that's what he is," Lewis said. "He loves to coach quarterbacks and to be involved in that part of the game. He's as good as anybody. He doesn't take a backseat to anyone when it comes to coaching quarterbacks and coaching offense."

Lewis also talked about the difference in focus in the BC OC and their head coach.

"I swear, if you'd let him throw the ball every snap, he'd throw it every snap," Lewis said. "He'd spread you from sideline to sideline and you'll see it this week. He'll use every inch of the field and he's got a quarterback that can throw the ball to every inch of the field that's there so he's in his element. Jags is an offensive line coach. I'm sure he's got to pin him down and say let's run the ball a few times.

Boston College players have been exceedingly diplomatic when talking about Notre Dame. Linebacker Mark Herzlich even in all seriousness called the Irish the "best 1-5 team in the country." (next up, Herlizch praises the funniest episode of ABC's Cavemen) Coach Jags has had good words as well, but he was also honest about his true feelings about Notre Dame.

Asked if he was rooting for Notre Dame to get its first win of the season last week against UCLA, BC head coach Jeff Jagodzinski, who grew up in the heart of Big Ten country in Wisconsin, said with a smile, “I didn’t root for them at all and I don’t think I ever will.”

Following up, another article got to the heart of the matter.

But the real enmity did not arise until Jagodzinski was the offensive coordinator at BC. In the 1998 game between the two Catholic rivals, the Eagles were stopped four times within the 5-yard line, and Mike Cloud was thwarted on fourth down from inside the 1 with six seconds left. Final score: Notre Dame 31, BC 26.

“I always had a bad taste in my mouth from that fourth-and-inches game,” Jagodzinski said. “That one’s always stuck in my craw.”

For those who don't remember, here's that fourth and one play.



Getting back to Herzlich, he's the player tasked with replacing the injured star Brian Toal. The 6'4" 238 pound sophomore has made an immediate impact in his first year as a starter and has the making of a future star. Number 94 is one to watch today.

Other Eagle players to keep an eye on include:

Ron Brace (#60): The 6'3" 325 pound defensive tackle is a run-stopping load in the middle of the Eagle line. If he is able to give Sullivan fits, the lackluster Irish running game could be even worse. His importance to the Eagle defense is magnified by the fact that his fellow starting defensive tackle Brady Smith went down with an ankle injury that knocked him out of the game last weekend. Smith is expected to play, but likely won't be fully healthy.

Taji Morris (#29): DeJuan Tribble is an excellent cornerback, which is why most offenses steer clear of him and target the 5'9" Morris. He frequently has help over the top from free safety Jamie Silva (5 interceptions so far this year), but expect to see ND still try and isolate Morris and test him.

Anthony Castonzo (#74): As mentioned in the Q&A with Bill from Eagle in Atlanta, the true freshman right tackle has played well so far this year. But he'll be facing a tough assignment as both Trevor Laws and Kerry Neal will be lining up against him. (That is unless Trevor Laws flips to the other side of the line like he did against Michigan) If Castonzo struggles early, BC will have to keep a running back in more to help pass block and that will give Matt Ryan one less target.

Andre Callender (#32): BC's leading rusher, Callender isn't as good as some of the other backs that ND has already faced, but if the Irish defense don't tackle well, Callender will put up the same kind of yardage as everyone. Matt Ryan is likely to do his damage. But if ND isn't able to consistently tackle the shifty Callender, the game could get ugly in a hurry.

Jeff Smith (#6): Sidelined for the first five games of the season with injury, BC's best gamebreaker came back to the field against Bowling Green and had 117 kickoff return yards on only 3 returns. As a freshman, Smith was 7th in the nation in kickoff return average. Still easing his way into the running back rotation, the sophomore is the Eagle special teams ace and could make a tough task for the Irish even tougher. The ND kick return defense has looked sloppy most of the year and letting a big Smith return set up BC with short field will only make a tall task even taller.

Let the Eagle Soar | by Jay

Matt Ryan and the Heisman:

BC's promotion of its quarterback, who is following a path Doug Flutie traveled 23 years ago, has been easy. Ryan handles the interviews matter-of-factly, always saying the right thing at the right time to the right person. He also knows that his success will be linked to his team's success.

He also lets other people offer their opinions, such as Notre Dame coach Charlie Weis, who linked Ryan to Tom Brady and Brady Quinn. "High and early" was where Weis expected Ryan to go in the next NFL draft. When told of this prediction, Ryan laughed.

"That's pretty good company," he said. "I will take it. I don't think I'm where those guys are yet. That's pretty flattering to have that said about you."

Ryan's routine this fall is a little bit different than in the past. He is taking three night classes, so his primary duties during the day are football, whether it be practice, meetings, film study, or media requests.

Ryan has also spent hours discussing game situations with offensive coordinator Steve Logan, who has steadily increased the QB's workload. Ryan has studied Notre Dame the way he studied tapes of the Eagles' first six opponents. The results have been solid, and at times spectacular: 62.7 percent completion average (160 completions, 255 attempts), good for 1,857 yards and 15 TDs, with 5 interceptions.

Project those numbers over a full season and Ryan will break Flutie's season school record for TD passes (27) and passing yards (3,454). But again, those numbers are something that Ryan says he will ponder after the fact.

He knows that things have gone almost as smoothly as they possibly could go. He also knows that things can change quickly with one errant pass or fumble. He is careful not to get caught up in the hype, exemplified by the website devoted to his season (ryanforheisman.com).

"You have to be honest with yourself, regardless of the outcome," said Ryan. "What does [Patriots coach Bill] Belichick say? 'Sometimes you have to serve yourself some humble pie.' "

Accidentally Shot by Claudine Longet | by Jay

I need to clear out a couple of notes on UCLA this morning before jumping to some BC stuff. I had intended to collect my postgame thoughts earlier in the week, but like Mo Crum running unhindered towards the end zone with an interception safely tucked away, I was accidentally shot by Claudine Longet, and I went down in a tumble of arms and legs.

Quickly, then, as I regain my feet:

• As hinted at by Pat's calculations of the MOE, I think the most heartening thing about UCLA is that we played pretty much mistake-free ball for 60 minutes. People were saying at the tailgater after the game that we played an "ugly" game or that was an "ugly" win, but from my vantage point almost all the ugliness was on the Bruins side. We were ineffective on offense, and sure, we didn't always make a block or find an open receiver, and we kept a few UCLA drives alive with penalties, but we took care of the footbaw and didn't do anything excessively dumb. Well, the players didn't do anything excessively dumb. As for the coach...

• I can't believe we haven't talked more about passing on 1st & goal from the one.

• And as bad as that call was, I think the 4th down go-for-it at midfield, while up by two scores was the more egregious error of the game for Charlie -- and maybe his worst call as a coach at ND. At that point in the game there was little to gain by going for it. Consider: there were 10 minutes left in the game, so you weren't going to have a chance to run out the clock (a la Georgia Tech, '06). Our defense was firmly in control, having forced 4 turnovers and a punt on UCLA's previous five possessions. Moreover, we'd already pooch-punted it once before in the game, and had perfect coverage on it, downing the ball at the UCLA 1. The worst case is the ball goes in the end zone, and they start twenty yards further back than if the 4th down fails, which it did. Essentially, we spotted them two first downs in a game with plenty of time, and in a game where they needed two scores to catch up. I've been on board with just about every one of Charlie's 4th down calls in the last two years, but I didn't understand this one at all.

• Brandon Walker has plenty of leg. We were right behind the goal post, and the conversation went like this:

Jay: "That didn't hit the crossbar, that was longer. It hit the...the...not the crossbar, the--"
Dylan: "The stanchion."
Jay: "The stanchion?"
Dylan: "The stanchion."

(It was like the dinner scene in Goodfellas with Pesci's mom. "The deer's paw...the paw, you know--" "The hoof.")

• When Olson got crunched and had to come out, I figured Dorrell would do everything he could to protect his walk-on QB, and not put the game on his shoulders. Unfortunately for the Bruins, that's not what he did. Inexplicably, Bethel-Thompson had about 40 passes called for him in a little over half a game that was really never out of reach, including an horrendous 4th & 1 call at the ND 32 (with the score 6-3), where MBT took the sack. Yes, Bethel-Thompson was raw and made some mistakes, but his coaches put him in poor situation after poor situation.

I don't think we're going to be able to reap the same kind of opportunities tomorrow.

• My estimate on the ND fan turnout: 25-30,000, based on both end zone sections completely filled with ND fans. (One of whom was Rhema McKnight, whom we spied a section over). The double serenade on either end by the ND players at the end of the game was a nice touch.

BC Brings Unblemished Record to ND | by Brian

"Our long national nightmare is over."

--- Former Michigan footbawl player Gerald Ford

Food tastes better. The air seems fresher. Colors appear sharper and brighter. The depreciation of the dollar relative to the Canadian dollar is less irksome. And the cacophony of this work-a-day world suddenly sings melodiously. Yes, friends, the Fighting Irish of Notre Dame are in the win column! Clearly, The Blind Oracle at Bristol doesn't have the first clue what he's talking about! (That Blind Oracle---now there's a joke that has legs.)

But the celebration must be short-lived, as a top-five opponent journeys to Notre Dame Stadium this weekend. Our preview begins after a word from our sponsors...

On November 20, see the show that will literally change the face of late night. It's Frank TV, coming soon to TBS.

This would actually be doing
ND's groundskeeper a favor.

You, Me and BC

After a three year break in the series, Notre Dame resumes exchanging pleasantries this Saturday with one of their 35 biggest rivals, the Boston College Eagles. In the recent past, BC has been like an unwelcome house guest who overstays his welcome. (Let's just say that the Idaho footbawl players are not the only vandals in Division I.) Incidents of BC vandalism in Notre Dame Stadium have included damage to the visiting locker room, extralavatorial defecation, the tearing up of huge pieces of turf. This last bit of damage would not be unwelcome this week, since the turf will be torn up anyway, to facilitate the installation of the Super Secret Grass Surface for the following week's game with Southern Cal. (See this space next week for details.)

This year's Eagles team is in rarefied air. They enter the game undefeated and ranked #4. The last time BC was in the top ten prior to this year was in 1992, when a 7-0-1 team under head footbawl coach Tom Coughlin, ranked #9, was taught the meaning of the word respect by #8 Notre Dame, losing 54-7. It was at halftime of that game that footage was shot for the end of the movie Rudy; during the climactic final sequence, one can spot a few fans clad in maroon, as well as a Boston College banner. Surely, this is the only time that Boston College footbawl has been (or will be) immortalized on celluloid. I don't see Survivors in Love: The Tim and Elizabeth Hasselbeck Story getting greenlit anytime soon.

After the break, what's in a name? Borderline clever wordplay, that's what. But first, a word from our sponsors....

All your favorite Frank Caliendo impressions are here: Madden, DeNiro, Pacino, Dr. Phil, President Bush, but Frank TV, coming November 20 to TBS, also delivers the goods with special impressions ripped from the pop culture headlines: Max Headroom, Michael Dukakis, Schneider from One Day at a Time, and many more. That's Frank TV, November 20 on TBS.

The Name Game

Jeff Jagodzinski is in his first year as the head footbawl coach at BC, having most recently served as the offensive coordinator of the Green Bay Packers. It is his first head coaching job, and some questioned whether he was the right man to replace Tom O'Brien (who had left Chestnut Hill to take the N.C. State job), but he has quickly won over the naysayers. Jagodzinski has proven to be a credible head footbawl coach and not, in fact, a kicker with a penchant for GHB, the subject of a military courtroom drama, or the most annoying character in the history of South Park.

Not -- repeat, not
Jeff Jagodzinski

Though he's experienced success on the field thus far, Jagodzinski turned heads when he hired former sports radio host Steve Logan to be his offensive coordinator. If this works out, Mark Dantonio may have to hire the "Pucker Pucker" guy to be his special teams coach or something.

Other notes on Boston College (a.k.a. Throwing the Stats Wonks a Bone):

-- The defense has forced 19 turnovers, third in the nation. They rank 3rd nationally against the run with 49.7 yards per game, and 110th nationally against the pass with 290.8 yards per contest, so you don't have to be an offensive genius like Coach Weis to figure out how to attack these guys. Hopefully, we will see success in the passing game similar to what the Irish demonstrated against Purdue.

-- On defense, watch out for senior free safety Jamie "Carlos" Silva, who leads the Eagles with 49 tackles and 5 interceptions. Senior LB Jolonn "Kim" Dunbar is just behind with 47 tackles. Their top pass rusher is sophomore DE Alex "Madeleine" Albright, with five sacks to go with his deft hand at international diplomacy.

"Earn this, Matt Ryan.
Earn it."

-- The straw that stirs the drink for the Eagles squad is quarterback Matt Ryan. He has turned heads and generated whispers that he could be the school's first legitimate Heisman's trophy candidate since Doug Flutie won the award in 1984. This is a surprising development for someone like me, who thought that Matt Ryan was a character in a Señor Spielbergo war picture.

Should Ryan really be considered one of the frontrunners for Heisman's Trophy? I consulted my Magic 8 Ball, which informed me that "All Signs Point to Yes." But I should temper that by saying that it gave me the same response when I asked if Britney Spears would settle the Israeli/Palestinian conflict through the power of song. I'll ask again later.

-- The most dangerous player on offense besides Ryan is running back Andre Callender, or as I call him, Andre 2007. Callender leads the Eagles with 537 rushing yards (with an average of over 5 yards per carry) and six rushing touchdowns. He also has 175 receiving yards and two touchdowns, and has been BC's leading kickoff returner to this point (though that may change with the return of the injured Jeff Smith).

-- The receiving corps features three players with over 20 receptions on the season. Junior Brandon "Mister" Robinson leads the way with 29 catches for 390 yards and four TD's. He's joined senior Kevin "the Champion" Challenger (25 catches, two TD's) and sophomore Rich "Holland" Gunnell (23 catches, three TD's). Tight end Ryan "Never Nervous" Purvis is just behind with 19 receptions.

Is this the real
Schneider, or merely
Frank Caliendo.
Who can tell?

Next, the special bond between a player and a coach (not his coach, mind you, but a coach) continues despite injury. But first, a final word from our sponsors....

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Shoulder Injury Takes Its Toal

Missing from the Eagles defense this season has been talented linebacker Brian Toal, who is recovering from surgery to repair a torn labrum. But Toal has not had to suffer alone, or merely with the help of family, friends, and teammates. In a stirring display of camaraderie, former Notre Dame head footbawl coach Tyrone Willingham has stood by Toal through every step of his recovery.

"Coach Willingham sat with me in my recovery room after the operation for seven hours," Toal is reported to have said. "I noticed that he was wearing golf shoes, and he kept checking his watch, but he wouldn't budge until he was sure I was okay. Luckily, I had some family in town visiting me, and they were able to get him out of there. Seven hours."

Prediction

A subdued Blind Oracle at Bristol, his increasingly cocksure swagger lessened by the UCLA game, weighs in on this week's contest with Boston College.

"Though the Eagle appears serene and regal, its talons are sharp. Soaring majestically, a familiar nest seems inviting. One Irishman is gone, but another leads his charge, cool as ice. Progress on the western front is met with disappointment back east. Bottom line, the Irish lack the team speed to keep up with the Eagles. Boston College beats Notre Dame 35-10."

BC bloggin' | by Pat

BGS swapped some questions and answers with Bill from the top notch Boston College blog, Eagle in Atlanta. His answers to our questions are listed below. For those interested, here's the link to our answers to his questions.

1. BC lost a few notable defensive players prior to the start of the season in linebacker Brian Toal and huge defensive tackle B.J. Raji. Who has replaced them and how have they done this year? Have any other new starters made a big impact on defense?

Bill: The injury, redshirt, coaching change and sitting on the sideline for a year are probably the best thing that happened to Brian Toal. He was phenomenal as a Freshman. Then as a Sophomore, he began freelancing and missing more tackles. He also got hurt once they started playing him both ways. Last year he would have his moments, but was still not the player he was as a Freshman. Had he continued on his 2006 level of play, he would not be one of our three best linebackers. Next year I expect him to come back healthy and focused and be a real boost to the team. The guy who has really stepped up in Toal’s absence is Mark Herzlich. He’s a true sophomore and plays beyond his years. He’s got great anticipation and is a great tackler.

Raji is a different story. The team could really use him now. He would have been a force inside and helped our anemic pass rush. BC is fortunate that his counterpart at Defensive Tackle, Ron Brace, has stepped up and is playing at a much higher level. We’ve used a series of guys in Raji’s spot. Brady Smith, who is dinged up, but should play against ND, has been the most effective. He’s a converted DE and moves well for his size.


2. A few BC pre-season posts on your site noted worries about the OL and their adaptation to the new blocking scheme. How would you rate their play and development? Specifically, how has freshman right tackle Anthony Castanzo played? He will likely face off against ND's freshman DE/OLB Kerry Neal and that might be one of the more interesting matchups in the game.

Bill: I think even the coaches were worried about the offensive line. We had to fill holes left by two departed NFL draft picks, changed schemes and fired their position coach in spring ball. Given all that went on, the Oline play has been very good. Teams are trying all sorts of different defensive looks against them and for the most part, they are adapting. Ryan has been hit (especially in the Wake and UMass games) but he’s had enough time to get the ball off.

Anthony Castanzo has played very well for a true freshman. He’s been called for a few penalties, but considering his experience and what he’s been asked to do, I have no complaints. I imagine he’ll hold his own against Neal. And he’ll get help. Steve Logan has done a great job of using the TEs and RBs in protection.


4. Coach Jagodzinski has BC off to their best start in a long time. What has he done that has impressed you the most this season? Has anything worried you?

Bill: We are still in the honeymoon stage so I am not really worried about anything. I am sure I’ll have a few gripes when he losses (hopefully that doesn’t come for a long time…like five or six years from now).

He’s done two things that have really impressed me. First he kept Frank Spaziani on as Defensive Coordinator and didn’t mess with him. They had worked together before so that helped, but many new coaches would have wanted to put their stamps on the program or may have been insecure about keeping someone so closely tied to Tom O’Brien around. Jags wasn’t and the defense and the team is really benefiting from it.

The second thing is how he handled the Offensive Line. LT Gosder Cherilus was a great foundation to work with, but the other four spots were question marks. LT Ryan Poles was a major underachiever prior to this season. This year he is a new man and has probably been our best lineman. Then Jags saw something in two guys who were buried on the TOB depth chart (C Matt Tennant and RG Clif Ramsey) and tabbed them as starters. Maybe they were more willing to buy into the new system because they weren’t seeing the field in the old system. Who knows? It worked. Both have played well and are playing in front of guys who were starters last year. And then Jags and his new staff in the midst of the transition found Castonzo, who had offers from schools like Northern Illinois, UConn and Temple, got him on campus last January and coached him up. Now he’s our starting RT. They are doing something right.


5. Finally, emotions always seem to run high when ND and BC meet. What is your take on the Notre Dame - Boston College football relationship? How do you regard the game?

Bill: Let me say this first, I have met and like many Notre Dame grads and subway alums. I respect the tradition. I am a Giants fan and prior to my migration to Dixie, lived in New Jersey, so I like Charlie Weis. I think your blog is one of the best on the internet. That said your message board posters are some of the worst in college sports. The “Fredo” and “Backup College” bullshit is tired and honestly, the venom they spew combined with the dismissive nature of some of the other posters just reinforces that this is a rivalry. If these Notre Dame fans don’t care and don’t consider us a rival, why do some take the time to trash talk in emails after a BC loss? I don’t even get that from the bitter Big East fans who hate BC.

I think that portion of your fanbase’s dislike of BC probably reinforced your AD to get heavy handed with us in the future scheduling. I would love to see us continue to play every year. But there is no way BC should ever agree to four games in South Bend for two in Chestnut Hill and one at the Meadowlands. We’ve already added USC and are supposedly in talks with other marquee programs. I’ll miss the ND series but we’ll move on.

As for this Saturday, I was more worried before the UCLA game. Now that you guys are off the schneid, I think our team will approach it in the right way with plenty of respect and no in-game panic at the thought of losing to a winless Notre Dame team. I think BC wins but might not cover the spread.

Statistically Speaking: UCLA | by Pat

It's a Numbers Game

• The Irish defense kept the UCLA Bruins out of the endzone, the first time Notre Dame has accomplished this feat since 2004 when ND beat Washington 38-3.

• The youth movement continues. According to the latest ND game release, 20 different players (1o on offense and 10 on defense) have had their first career start this year.

• Maurice Crum's 4 forced turnovers set a single-game school record. The winner of the Walter Camp National Defensive Player of the Week award, Crum is also the only Irish player to ever force 2 fumbles, recover 2 fumbles, and pick up 2 interceptions in one game.

• I mentioned Sunday Morning QB's Life on the Margins breakdown last week and this week he turns his attention to the ND/UCLA game. Check it out.

• Remember the steadily declining performance the Irish defense was doing against the run? Well, things are starting to even out a bit.

rushing average against, by quarter
1Q 2Q 3Q 4Q	3.91 yards per carry 4.03 4.33 4.12

• The Irish rushing offense numbers on the other hand are still terrible.

ND rushing average, by quarter
1Q 2Q 3Q 4Q	0.84 yards per carry 1.32 1.23 0.59

• Taking another look at the all-purpose yards, excepting quarterbacks, broken down by class, here's where the team stands.

Freshmen   -  1070 yds
Sophomores -   656
Juniors    -   147
Seniors    -   103
5th Years  -   229 

Gotta Have M.O.E.

First off, I haven't had a chance to re-watch the game yet, so I'm going off of my memory for dropped passes. I gave ND one, when Carlson dropped Clausen's pass near the goalline, and UCLA one, when Kahlil Bell dropped the TD pass. What else am I missing?

If we stick with those numbers, ND has put up it's best M.O.E. score of the season with another 11%. That's three games in a row that the Irish have kept their offensive mistakes at or below the 12% mark.

Now, most of that can be attributed to the fact that ND went extremely conservative in the second half and basically just ran stretch plays left and right to run out the clock. Still, the young offense is eliminating many of the mistakes that sabotaged the offense early in the year. Consider that in the first three games, ND gave up 23 sacks on 76 pass attempts. That's 1 sack for every 3.3 pass attempts. In the last three games, ND has given up 9 sacks on 100 pass attempts, or 1 sack for every 11.1 pass attempts. Still not great, but a definite improvement. Yes, the quality of the opposing defense does play into that, but with over a threefold improvement, I think we can give some credit to the offensive line as well.

As for UCLA, they clocked in with a 22% M.O.E rating, by far the worst of any Irish opponent this year. The appearance of 3rd string walk-on McLeod Bethel-Thompson as Bruin quarterback certainly didn't help, but he certainly wasn't the only one to blame. I broke down UCLA's M.O.E. by quarterback and when Bethel-Thompson was in under center the Bruin M.O.E. was an ugly 23%. But when Ben Olson was on the field, UCLA's M.O.E. was still at 19%. In other words, UCLA was making plenty of mistakes -- partly attributable to the ND defense I'd like to think -- before their starting QB went down with the injury.

Complete breakdown here.

Season Long Running Averages

Get all the nitty gritty here. Just like the Purdue game gave the offensive numbers a boost, the UCLA game gave the defensive numbers and rankings a boost as well.

Meanwhile, Back at the Convent | by Jay

My wife took a writer's retreat hosted at a convent in LaGrange over the weekend. Meals were with the sisters, who probably average around 75 years old. Her report:

Some of those sisters are huge sports fans. I first discovered this on Sunday morning when I couldn't find the Sports section of any of the newspapers in the front hall. Overheard around the dinner table...

"I see you are wearing a Notre Dame shirt. That's a good school. Good theology there. Too bad about the football this year."

"Oh, I was so ashamed when they lost those first four games. Notre Dame should NEVER lose to Purdue! What do you think?"

first sister, "I'm just glad they won this week. Too bad the Cubs couldn't pull it off this year. It all goes back to the first game. They should have left Zambrano in the game. He was doing just fine. That set the tone for the series, I think."

"But I have a question. Are you worried about Coach Charlie's health? He is a big man."

another sister "I miss that quarterback from last year."

first sister "Brady Quinn?"

"Yeah, I miss him."

"I've got a question for you. You watch those games? The coach looks bored sometimes, doesn't he?"

another sister "Who?"

first sister "The COACH, Charlie Weis. I want him to yell and jump around. He looks bored sometimes, that's what I think. You think he'll last?"

another sister "Oh, he's a good coach, but we have to give him time. We have to have FAITH."

Plumbing the depths | by Pat

One thing that really jumped out at me during the UCLA game was the constant shuffling of players on defense. We've seen multiple combinations along the offensive line, but the defense has more or less been set. That wasn't the case against the Bruins; a number of new faces (and old faces in new places) were in the game from the opening kickoff. Munir Prince in at corner, Jashaad Gaines at safety, and Anthony Vernaglia at inside linebacker were all somewhat surprising.

The newly released depth chart advances that fluid approach. The entire OL depth chart seems to be mixed up, with Thomas Bemenderfer, Dan Wenger, Eric Olsen, and Chris Stewart all listed at new spots. On defense, Kerry Neal is listed as the starter at outside linebacker opposite John Ryan, and ahead of Brian Smith and Mo Richardson, while Sergio Brown is now listed as the backup strong safety behind Zibby.

Charlie clarified how he views the depth chart in his latest presser:

Well, sometimes when I'm putting guys down -- for example, you've got two outside linebacker positions, so because I -- when we did this last night for -- when we use a guy like Brian Smith, Brian Smith, I don't know, I probably have him listed as the second right outside linebacker with Morrice Richardson. But he could be in the game at the left outside linebacker, as well.

But what I do is I try to put them down in the position where I think that they'll probably get on the field the fastest because there's flexibility. For example, Justin Brown could be in the game for either Dwight Stephenson or Trevor Laws. I don't know which spot he'll get in the game first, but he'll be in the game for one of those two guys. But I'll list him probably behind Dwight on one side and I'll probably put Derrell (Hand) and Paddy (Mullen) on the other side. But Justin would go in first.

With Kerry Neal taking his starting job, Anthony Vernaglia is going to continue to moonlight as an inside linebacker.

Well, we moved him inside out of need last week. I think this week he's going to practice at both inside and outside. He'll be listed at one (position on the depth chart). I think I put him as the backup Sam behind John Ryan. I think that's where I put him, as the best backup left outside linebacker, but he'll practice at both inside and outside this week.

One complaint proffered this year (correctly or incorrectly) has been that by not playing many of the backups the past two years, the current team is unnecessarily inexperienced. This year, many more guys have been worked into the mix. And as the players get more familiar with the defense, I expect to see Corwin Brown continue to shuffle guys into and out of the lineup. In addition to giving the starters more of a breather during games, the increased use of backups will help the team in the future as more and more players gain valuable game experience. In the UCLA game, 13 players had at least 2 tackles, and 8 players had at least 1 tackle for loss in a game that wasn't really decided until late in the 4th quarter.

Here's a couple more freshman-related items.

On RB Robert Hughes and his lack of playing time against UCLA.

COACH WEIS: No, we didn't have a string of longer drives. It wasn't like we had a bunch of 13 play drives in there. He was listed right behind James (Aldridge) in all the pounding packages, we just weren't on the field that many consecutive plays to warrant James being that tired to have to go out. Robert is very much in the mix. I really think that the sky is the limit for Robert.

On OT Matt Romine's expected return from his elbow injury.

COACH WEIS: No, I don't think -- he's a little ways away. I don't expect to see him any time soon.

On WR Golden Tate being listed as the 4th "Z" receiver behind Barry Gallup.

COACH WEIS: Well, that's because Golden got dinged a little bit in the game. He got knocked in the head a little bit. Golden will be involved in this mix right here. But it's also BC week. How could I not have Barry Gallup in the depth chart for BC week?

Above the Mendoza Line | by Jeff

With the win on Saturday, Charlie Weis managed to stay one step ahead of his two predecessors for at least one more week. Weis, Willingham, and Davie all won their 31st game, and Weis remains slightly ahead of DavieHam with a 20-11 record (vs 19-12 for the other two coaches). Both Davie and Willingham won their 32nd game but subsequently lost four of their next five. So, despite a disasterous season by most measures, Weis still has a very good chance at being ahead of both Davie and Willingham at the end of the season when comparing records after the same number of games.

Weis currently trails Davie in margin of victory (MOV), Weis is +133, while Davie was +148; Willingham was far behind at +31. However, the MOV for both Davie and Willingham dropped by at least 30 points over their next six games. So, Weis should have an opportunity to keep his head above the brackish water mark with a strong showing in the last half of the season.

Coach	First 31 Games	Win Pct	MOV	Final Record
Knute Rockne *	27-2-2	.903	+672	.881
Jessee Harper	27-4	.871	+887	.863
Ara Parseghian *	26-3-2	.871	+764	.836
Frank Leahy *	25-3-3	.855	+501	.855
Dan Devine *	24-7	.774	+398	.764
Elmer Layden	21-7-3	.726	+213	.770
Lou Holtz *	21-10	.677	+347	.765
Charlie Weis	20-11	.645	+133	?
Terry Brennan	20-11	.645	+97	.640
Hunk Anderson	16-9-2	.630	+351	.630
Bob Davie	19-12	.613	+148	.583
Ty Willingham	19-12	.613	+31	.568
Gerry Faust	17-14	.548	+247	.535
Joe Kuharich	13-18	.419	-87	.425

* Won National Championship

Oldies and Goodies | by Pat

It wouldn't be a win without an excellent highlight video from Nevin. Welcome back buddy. Let's hope you have plenty of more material the rest of the year.

For a streaming version with better resolution, click here. For downloadable versions, here's the site you need.

Update:

ESPN has an 11 minute "condensed" streaming version of the game available on their website.

Odds & Sods - Rose Parade Edition | by Mike

Due to my viewing circumstances and inability to record the game, there may be some mistakes here. Please chime in with any corrections.

Pick up the Change. Throughout the 0-5 start, penalties and turnovers left the Irish on the losing end of field position exchanges. Once again, the Irish committed costly penalties. The trademark penalty-on-a-punt-return-that-would-have-given-ND-good field-position (POAPRTWHGNDGFP) occurred not once, but twice. Notre Dame was penalized 8 times for 61 yards, and gave the Bruins three first downs by penalty. Fortunately, the Irish finally ran into a team that was even more penalty-prone. UCLA was penalized 11 times for 93 yards, and gave the Irish a like number of first downs by penalty. While the Irish held even on penalties, they enjoyed a monstrous advantage in turnover margin. The Irish won the turnover battle 7-0, resulting in a two-score victory over a team that produced twice the amount of total offense. Obviously, several of these turnovers resulted from UCLA playing a walk-on QB. However, Ben Olson and Kahlil Bell did account for two of the turnovers. More importantly, the Irish enjoyed the seven turnover margin because they did not turn the ball over once against Dewayne Walker's attacking defense. Hopefully this ball security will continue.

Rushed and Rushed and Attacked. For most of the game, the Irish played an attacking defense that thoroughly disrupted UCLA's offense. The Irish may have been able to stick with this because they were facing the inexperienced McLeod Bethel-Thompson (who, I believe, is our first immediate induction to the BGS All-Name Team since Jamoris Slaughter back in June), but the Irish were aggressive on defense from the outset. Even before Olson left, the Irish brought pressure like we hadn't seen this season. In fact, the snakebitten Olson suffered his knee injury when he was sandwiched by Laws and a blitzing Zbikowski. Brian Smith and Kerry Neal continued to show impressive pass rush ability for two guys that were in high school a few months ago. Smith shows how Corwin Brown's hire has had instant impact on the defense.

You Talk Way Too Much. A frequent complaint of Irish fans over the past few years is that, aside from notable exceptions like the 2005 USC game, the team has not seemed to play with a lot of emotion. Several times we have seen opposing players have give the Irish bulletin board material, only to see the other team come out fired up, as if they were the ones who had been called out. Against UCLA, it looks like the Irish finally responded to trash talk. The Irish played with the abandon fans have been dying to see. The defense, in particular, seemed to be looking to make plays in any way possible. When they didn't actually sack the quarterback, they made a final lunge to hit the QB's arm as he released the ball or to deflect the ball at the line of scrimmage. Maurice Crum ripped the ball out of Kahlil Bell's hands. These are the effort plays that can make up for youth and inexperience throughout the depth chart. Davis may have had the best game by a Bruin, including key sacks on Notre Dame's first plays following turnovers, but if his words and actions (taking Tate to the ground by the facemask) are what fired up the Irish, then Davis was a net gain for Notre Dame. From Brian Dohn's UCLA blog:

"Number 44 (Davis) helped them out," Weis said. "You don’t think they noticed when someone says you’re a pile of crap?"

Run Run Run. When the score was 6-3, I remember thinking to myself that the first team to commit to the running game would win the game. The Irish did eventually end up focusing on the run, though this appeared to be largely a reaction to the big plays the defense produced. Whatever the reason, it proved to be an effective strategy, as Notre Dame almost doubled UCLA in second half time of possession (19:15 to 10:45) and the Irish were content to eat clock in the fourth quarter.

Suddenly Everything Has Changed. The turning point in the game (aside from Olson's injury) was the fourth-down stop on the first possession of the second half. On their last drive of the first half, Bethel-Thompson drove the UCLA offense forty yards for a go-ahead field goal. On their next possession, Bethel-Thompson had taken the UCLA offense over thirty yards, down to the Notre Dame 32. The UCLA players were on the verge of gaining confidence in their ability to move the ball with Bethel-Thompson at quarterback. Then on 4th-and-1, UCLA attempted to pass and the Irish defense was all over the play. Maurice Crum sacked Bethel-Thompson for an eight-yard loss and the Irish offense had the ball in excellent field position. The Irish offense then responded with a field goal and the floodgates opened shortly thereafter. All the momentum would remain on Notre Dame's side until the Irish were themselves stopped on fourth down in the fourth quarter.

Today's Special. Against Purdue, the Irish misfired on five points in the kicking game. Against MSU, they allowed a huge return to start the second half. I didn't see how ND could win a game until special teams were fixed. Against UCLA, the Irish finally played well on special teams, even considering the two penalties on punt returns. The gains produced by the defense easily could have been surrendered by poor special teams play, but the Irish special teams came through. In the decisive third quarter, there were two key special teams plays. First, Walker's 48-yard field goal salvaged a drive that looked as if it may have been killed by a personal foul penalty. Walker's career long kept momentum on Notre Dame's side. Tying the game also let UCLA know that if they were going to win, their offense would have to put points on the board. They were not going to be able to win this game with a baseball score, and the pressure on their walk-on QB mounted. A couple minutes later, beleaguered punter Geoff Price dropped a punt at the 1-yardline, setting up the David Bruton interception that led to the go-ahead score.

I Fought The Law. And the Laws won. Maurice Crum had an incredible stat line against UCLA - seven tackles, including a sack on fourth down, two forced fumbles, two fumble recoveries, and two interceptions. Crum became the first Irish player ever to record four turnovers. As impressive as Crum's line was, the player that stood out the most to me, once again, was Trevor Laws. Laws contributed five tackles from his defensive end position, a sack, and two deflections. He also hit Bethel-Thompson's arm on one of Crum's interceptions. Despite the trying season, the fifth-year senior never takes plays off.

A win is a win is a win | by Pat

Whew! We're still recovering from a fantastic gameday in sunny Pasadena. The Rose Bowl is a must visit venue for tailgating and watching college football. Of course, it was made all the more sweet by watching ND finally came out of a game with a notch in the win column. It wasn't pretty, but we'll take it. The thing I'm going to take away from the game was the ebullient faces of the players, especially the younger ones, when they came over to the ND fan section(s) following their first win of the 2007 season.

For those who weren't able to see any of the game, here are some highlights.

And I have to say, walking out of the game, I was reminded of this passage from the post I put up a few days ago about ND's last trip to the Rose Bowl.

Notre Dame defeated Stanford 27 to 10, but the issue was in doubt until the closing minutes of the final period. Even though the Notre Dame defense could not contain the running and passing of Stanford's huge fullback and All-American candidate, Ernie Nevers, it was a few timely spectacular defensive plays that won the game for Notre Dame.

It just goes to show you. The more things change, the more they stay the same.

Game on! | by Jay

Game on!
Originally uploaded by Blue-Gray Sky

Bruins a-Brewin' | by Pat

Some talking points concerning the UCLA Bruins. Discuss amongst yourselves. Add anything else you have noticed. I have a plane to the west coast to catch...

Primer. Rakes of Mallow and Loyal Sons have some quality breakdowns on the 4-1 Bruins. If you want to crunch some numbers, here are their season stats.

Irish Triage. A few Irish players are banged up. Here's the latest from Coach Weis.

What’s the status of Dan Wenger and David Grimes?
“They’re both going to the game. Wenger looks like he can play more reps than Grimes. I’m not sure if Grimes will be ready to go. It will go right to Saturday. He’s looked better every day, but he hasn’t gotten meaningful reps in practice all week long. He’s come out late every day because he’s been in there getting treatment.”

What is the status of Justin Brown?
“Justin’s a go. He’s a go.”

Bruin Triage. The Irish team is pretty healthy compared to the Bruins. Getting the veteran Shannon Tevaga back will be a boon for the Bruin OL that has struggled a bit due to inexperience. Losing running back Chris Markey will hurt, but his teammate Kahlil Bell is having a great year so far.

Chris Markey - who was still wearing a protective boot Wednesday - didn't practice and he is looking ''less than 50-50'' according to Karl Dorrell. Since Markey isn't likely to play, Christian Ramirez and Chane Moline will share the backup tailback's load. The two have 13 carries between them this season.

(Fullback Michael) Pitre is definitely out for this game and perhaps longer. He experienced swelling in his knee after limited work in the Oregon State game.
Dorrell said the swelling has gone down rapidly with Markey but that he still can't do anything. Also, (wide receiver) Marcus Everett did some work on the side and could play. (Defensive lineman) Nikola Dragovic's groin injury didn't allow him to do much at practice Wednesday, so his status for SAturday is in doubt. (Offensive lineman) Shannon Tevaga worked with the second team again and should be ready for Notre Dame.

Seen and Heard. Matt Carufel on having Dan Wenger back into the OL mix.

"It's no secret we both want that spot," Carufel said. "He's a darn good player and I'm a good player. Only time will tell, but you can bet I'm not going to give that up if I have anything to do about it. Every day is a competition. There's nobody out there that's set in stone. If somebody's playing well, then you're going to see more of them in games. That's just how Coach Weis does things. He doesn't care who's at the No. 1 spot right now — whoever's playing the best is going to be out there on gameday."

UCLA defensive end Bruce Davies on Jimmy and the ND OL.

"Jimmy Clausen is one of the better true freshman quarterbacks I've seen the whole time I've been here," Davis said. "Unfortunately, his O-line is just falling apart. They can't block a soul. That's going to hurt your team. That's going to hurt your offense. That's going to get you to 0-5."

"He's a good kid, a good quarterback," Davis said. "But I haven't met a freshman that I wasn't able to get inside their head yet. You should expect the first play of the game - whether it's run, pass, whatever it is - you'll see me in his face. I'm just going to give him a friendly hello and let him know that it's going to be a long day for him. That part of it will be taken care of early. Our defense is going to get there."

UCLA on emerging star freshman wide receiver Golden Tate.

"He's brought an explosion to their offense," free safety Dennis Keyes said. "They have a deep threat now. That helps any offense, when you have that deep threat you can stretch the field and that opens up a lot of things.

"That's something we're going to have to prepare for this week — being able to guard all levels of the field. He came in and really changed that offense."

UCLA defensive coordinator DeWayne Walker said Tate will be the fastest outside receiver the Bruins have had to defend this season.

"These are some really good young players, and we are concerned. We're going to have to treat them like they're seniors. We're not going to treat them like they're freshman," Walker said. "We're going to have to line up and play them like they've been there for a long time."

The trip that made Notre Dame Football | by Pat

One of the major subplots in Saturday's game against the UCLA Bruins is the return of the Fighting Irish to the Rose Bowl for the first time since 1925. Much has been written about the '25 bowl game and how a collection of legendary players and coaches on both sides took part in a matchup that produced the very first national championship for Notre Dame. But what is usually overlooked is just how important the game truly was for that little Catholic school from northern Indiana.

Before I get started with this particular trip down memory lane, I highly encourage you to go back and read this excerpt from Being Catholic, Being American: The Notre Dame Story, 1842-1934. I will quote parts of it for this post, but if you want the entire story of the 1925 Rose Bowl trip and the month-long Notre Dame barnstorming event that surrounded it, this is a fantastic account. Similarly, Chris Dufresne has an excellent history of the game in a recent LA Times article.

The buildup to the Rose Bowl started in October. Rose Bowl officials wanted Notre Dame to play, but had some trouble finding an opponent that wanted to play them.

The committee had persuaded itself that the present Pacific Coast Conference champion, Stanford, would refuse to play against Notre Dame for the same reasons that the University of California, Berkeley, had refused in 1921: the alleged professionalism of some of the Notre Dame players and the alleged low academic standards of this Catholic university.
...
At this point, the University of Southern California, runner-up in final Pacific Coast Conference standings, offered its team as an alternative to Stanford. However, a better financial guarantee from the Rose Bowl Committee persuaded the academic and athletic leadership of Stanford to reconsider their position. In late November, the West Coast school agreed to play Notre Dame in Pasadena for an even split of 60 percent of the net gate receipts, which in the end amounted to payments by the Rose Bowl Committee of $52,000 each to Notre Dame and Stanford.

The president of Notre Dame, Father Matthew Walsh wasn't too keen on the idea of a lengthy road trip out to California, but was talked into it by Father John O'Hara, the University's prefect of religion.

O'Hara had a special gift of being able to talk Walsh into almost anything, and the matter of a trip to the Rose Bowl was a case in point. O'Hara saw the Rose Bowl invitation as an almost providential opportunity to counter the extremely negative Klan-inspired image of Notre Dame as an institution populated by well-to-do Irish American Catholic thugs and hooligans who were not serious about academic pursuits. More than that, if properly organized and managed, O'Hara believed, the Rose Bowl trip might well turn out to be the most successful advertising campaign for the spiritual ideals and practices of American Catholicism yet undertaken in this century.

With that ambitious goal set in mind, it was quickly determined that a quick rail trip to and from South Bend to Pasadena would not do. Rather, the Notre Dame team would criss-cross the country on a month-long journey that featured stops all over the map. From South Bend the team traveled to Chicago for a brief pit stop and then, on December 20th, departed south towards Memphis. After a welcoming day stay in Memphis the team continued southward to New Orleans for a two day stop that included a yacht trip on the Gulf of Mexico. It was also in New Orleans that the team started to prepare for the Rose Bowl matchup with Stanford. Unfortunately, the Irish did not get off to a good start.

In between social events, Rockne even managed to hold several workouts for the players in the Tulane stadium, one of which was an utter disaster. The players were so stuffed with oysters and creole food that they could barely run. Rockne was so angered by the physical condition of the team that when two first-team linemen, Edward Huntsinger and John Weibel, broke his ten o'clock curfew to buy postcards in their hotel lobby to send to their families, the coach ordered them to pack up and return to South Bend. Only an eloquent plea for mercy by the team captain, Adam Walsh, and perhaps a kind word from O'Hara caused Rockne to relent and allow the two curfew breakers to continue the trip.

Once free of the tempting lures of creole food and hotel lobby giftshops, the Notre Dame caravan traveled on to Houston, where they celebrated Christmas. After that was a six-day layover in Tucson, Arizona.

The team also endured four days of vigorous football practice at the University of Arizona stadium. In Tucson the Notre Dame coaches were joined by Edward "Slip" Madigan, a former Rockne player, who was then head football coach at St. Mary's College in the Bay Area. Madigan had scouted Stanford for Rockne and had noted a sideline screen pass that the Stanford coach used two or three times a game. Quickly Rockne devised a defense for this pass play. While in Tucson he drilled his defensive backs, especially Crowley and Layden, to recognize situations when the play might be used and to cope with it.

Several thousand fans saw the Irish off from Tuscon on December 31st and from there the team traveled to Pasadena for the New Year's Day showdown. The battle was a meeting of two giants. In one corner, Knute Rockne, the Seven Mules, and his suddenly famous Four Horsemen. In the other, Stanford coach Pop Warner and his unstoppable All-American Ernie Nevers.

Thanks once again to the tireless work of tjnd88, here is video footage of the showdown in Pasadena.

The enormous pregame promotion and publicity notwithstanding, both Notre Dame and Stanford lived up to their respective football reputations and gave the 53,000 fans crowded into the Rose Bowl the great individual and team performances that they had come to see. Notre Dame defeated Stanford 27 to 10, but the issue was in doubt until the closing minutes of the final period. Even though the Notre Dame defense could not contain the running and passing of Stanford's huge fullback and All-American candidate, Ernie Nevers, it was a few timely spectacular defensive plays that won the game for Notre Dame.

Those defensive plays credited with winning the game were the contributions of Four Horseman Elmer Layden, who had three interceptions (picture, left) and returned two for touchdowns, and Edward Huntsinger, the player nearly sent home in New Orleans, who recovered a fumble and ran it back for a touchdown. Both of Layden's interception turned touchdowns came after he read the Stanford screen pass that "Slip" Madigan had drilled the Irish on in Tucson.

Paul from Classic Ground has the copy of an AP article about the game for those looking for a more in-depth recount of the game itself. There are more anecdotes about the game to be found here and here.

With the Rose Bowl victory and an undefeated season in hand, the Notre Dame team was greeted like conquering heroes in Hollywood.

The day began with a grand tour of Hollywood and its studios. Movie stars and starlets were present and waiting for the team. Photograph opportunities were abundant. Movie stars posed with players, and photographers captured the moment. Agents handed out studio publicity pictures of their clients, and the stars were there to autograph them. This very busy day ended with an elegant dinner dance for the team and traveling party hosted by the Notre Dame Alumni Club in the Hotel Biltmore in Los Angeles. It was an affair to remember, described by one the participants as "one of the outstanding events of the trip." If O'Hara can be believed, through all of this socializing in circumstances rife with the most dangerous sort of temptations, the players always deported themselves as good Catholic gentlemen. They were a credit to their university and to their religion and probably an utter astonishment to some of their Hollywood hosts.

Among other stars, Rockne and the team met Rudolph Valentino. It was Valentino's 1921 film The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse that inspired ND student publicity manager George Strickler to suggest a catchy intro for Grantland Rice's now famous recap of the 1924 Notre Dame-Army game.

With the party in Los Angeles winding down, the Notre Dame traveling party re-boarded their private train and trekked up the coast to San Francisco. After a few days sightseeing, the train started the journey back east. The first stop was in Salt Lake City were the team took in an organ concert at the Mormon Tabernacle. From Utah they rode into Cheyenne, Wyoming for a day of parades and barbecue before setting off for a momentous stop in Denver, Colorado.

A huge crowd thronged the Denver railroad station to greet them. In the first rows of this crowd was a large group of mothers of Notre Dame students from the Denver area and elsewhere in Colorado. Behind the mothers were rows of attractive, well-dressed young ladies who surged forward to decorate the players with flowers and kisses. Liberated from the young ladies by Alumni Club leaders, the team and coaches were piled into Packard cars and driven up Seventeenth Street through the heart of the financial district. They received continuous ovations from crowds lining their route, which ended at the Denver Athletic Club. The Notre Dame party escaped into that facility, where they were able to rest and get some refreshment.

That evening, the Notre Dame team and coaches were honored at a grand banquet held in the University Club of Denver. They formed a receiving line and stood in it for almost two hours. Everyone in Denver of any standing from the governor of the state on down passed through it. Over two hundred attended the banquet, including college presidents, football coaches, newspaper publishers, and sports writers. Notre Dame colors were everywhere, and Notre Dame songs were sung.

After earning rave reviews from the Denver press, the Notre Dame team traveled on to Lincoln, Nebraska for another banquet before finally pulling into Chicago on January 8th. From there the traveling party split up for a few days before all meeting back in South Bend on January 12th; some 24 days after embarking on the lengthy journey.

The trip accomplished nearly every goal that Fr. O'Hara and Rockne had set out to fufill. Not only did the team bring home the win, legions of newly minted subway alumni of varying Catholic ethnicities sprung up all over the country and began to form the base of what is now a vast national following. Of course, despite the wild success of the trip, the time spent was a bit too much for some in the Notre Dame administration and starting in 1926 and not ending until 1970, the Fighting Irish football team was not allowed to participate in any post-season bowl game for fears of academic negligence.

Although the momentous October matchup against Army (and the accompanying Grantland Rice article) earlier that season is usually noted as the start of Notre Dame football as national phenomenon, it was the whistlestop Rose Bowl tour that really generated wide support for the program. The national awareness and broad, fervent fandom for Notre Dame never would have reached the levels they have if not for that cross-country trip and a win at Pasadena's Rose Bowl that ultimately produced Notre Dame's first national championship. It truly was one of the most noteworthy and significant games in the history of Notre Dame football.

Rose Bowl Bound | by Brian

"In dramatic lore they are known as Ole,
Ric, Tully, and Arn. These are only aliases."

When Notre Dame exercises Manifest Destiny to take on UCLA this Saturday, it will mark their first appearance in the Rose Bowl since January 1, 1925, when the Irish, led by head footbawl coach Knute Rockne, beat a bunch of Pop Warner players from Stanford, 27-10, winning their first national championship. It was the final game in the careers of Notre Dame's famed Four Horsemen, one of whom in particular would play a major role in the outcome.

The Indians, as they were then known---following the change of mascot to the Pine Tree Red Singular Birds, the Stanford marching band proudly stepped up the plate in the Deliberate Insensitivity Department---were led by the legendary Ernie Nevers. Nevers recently came in at #25 on ESPN/ ESPN2/ ESPN Classic/ ESPNU/ ESPNews/ ESPN.com/ ESPN360/ ESPN Deportes/ ESPN The Magazine/ ESPN Mobile/ ESPN on ABC's list of the 25 Greatest College Football Players of All Time, a list which, once revealed in its entirety, is sure to be the definitive word on the matter, in no way overrating company employees (Right this way, Desmond Howard) or disproportionately favoring recent players (Welcome, Vince Young....Nice to see you, Matt Leinart).

Nevers would factor heavily in the game's key moments, but the star of the game, to put it mildly, was Four Horsemen member, and future Notre Dame head footbawl coach, Elmer Layden. Layden scored ND's only offensive touchdown, a three-yard run, and intercepted two Nevers passes, returning them 78 and 70 yards for touchdowns. He also handled the Notre Dame punting duties, and one of his punts was fumbled by Stanford, and returned 20 yards for a touchdown by Ed Hunsinger. Nevers never saw it coming.

The 1925 Rose Bowl was Notre Dame's first bowl appearance, and its last until 1970, due to the university's ban on postseason play and the NCAA's reluctance to sell its sanctity to Insight.com. Since all previous meetings with UCLA have occurred at Notre Dame Stadium, this Saturday's matchup will be ND's first trip to Pasadena since that day.

Purdue Redux

Before we preview the UCLA matchup, let's take a look back at last Saturday's loss to Purdue. It's a little segment I like to call Reflections.

"No thanks, Urrrrban"

--- Certain lingering problems reared their ugly heads. The Irish once again struggled in running for first downs in short yardage situations, as the offensive line has been as explosive as a box of soggy Snappers. They finally converted a fourth and short in the 4th quarter, when Evan Sharpley successfully executed the "Damn it all, I'm just gonna sneak it" play, which had been one of the bread-and-butter plays in QB Browns's repertoire for the past two seasons. Also, there was continued ineptitude on special teams, including failure to fair catch a punt leading to poor field position, two missed extra points, and a blocked field goal. Though Charlie Weis can't comment publicly until Signing Day, help is on the way, as the Irish have received a verbal commitment from stud recruit Gus the Field Goal-Kicking Mule. In a press conference, Gus tapped twice for Notre Dame, having narrowed his choices down to Michigan, Florida, and the Irish. He ultimately said neigh to the Wolverines, citing their abysmal 0% ungulate graduation rate, and claimed of a rift between himself and Gator head coach Urban Meyer. According to Gus, "He's an ass."

With these problems still endemic to the program, as well as a failure to recapture the previous week's success in the running game, the tough, physical practices of the last couple of weeks will likely continue. Get ready to run Currahee, team.

--- On the plus side, the game featured breakout performances from a pair of freshman wide receivers, Duval Kamara and future Rocky villain Golden Tate, aka Thunder and Lightning. Unfortunately, Saturday was also the coming out party for former Notre Dame commit and reneger Arrelious Benn, who had a 90 yard kickoff return for a touchdown, as well as six catches for 84 yards and a touchdown, in Illinois' 27-20 upset of Joepa Terno's Penn St. Nittany Lions. According to the folks "back in the studio" who handled the highlights, Benn apparently goes by the nickname Rejus, which is a bit too close to Regis, if you ask me. I think he's stickin' it to us. Stickin'!

--- The undisputed highlight of the game was the chance to see 1989 Heisman's Trophy winner Andre Ware pump iron, question Weis's playcalling, instigate a quarterback controversy, and express righteous indignation at a highly questionable late hit by Brian Smith. It made me yearn to hear Todd Blackledge wax nostalgic about sticky buns and ice cream, or hear Keith Jackson during the 2006 Rose Bowl attempt to promote the new hotshot young guy, John STAH-mos . . . STAY-mos. "Whoa, Nellie, I am a living generation gap."

It's Fun to Play at the U...C...L A!

"You lost to 22 Utes?
What the hell is a UTE?"

UCLA enters the game with a record of 4-1, with the most impressive win, such as it is, being a 13-point victory over the enigmatic, but vicious, Washington Huskies. Their lone loss was a 44-6 depantsing at the hands of the Utah Utes, in that program's most significant victory since The Delicate Genius left Salt Lake City to take the Florida job.

The Bruins are led by quarterback Ben Olson, who almost unbelievably still has one more year of eligibility remaining despite being born when the Colts still played in Baltimore and T.J. Hooker patrolled the streets with Adrian Zmed. The 24 year old Olson was the #1 player overall in the high school class of 2002. He originally attended BYU, with his eventual transfer to UCLA partially explaining his Weinkesque longevity in the college ranks. The main reason why he is still in college, though, is the two years he spent on a Mormon mission. I don't know exactly what happens on one of those, but in my mind, I picture it like the Peace Corps scenes in Airplane!, full of tupperware parties and makeshift pickup basketball games. Also, Olson no doubt spread the story of Joseph Smith.

On the ground, the Bruins employ the two-headed running attack of Kahlil "Saved by the" Bell and Chris "Biz" Markey (aka Thunder and Lightning), while the leading receiver is Brandon Breazell, with 22 receptions and three touchdowns on the season.

The defense looks to dominate for four quarters, after giving a talented Notre Dame offense all they could handle last year for year for, oh, about 59 minutes and 5 seconds.


The leading tackler is safety Dennis "Alan" Keyes, but the guy to really keep an eye on is All-American defensive end Bruce "Al" Davis, or as I like to call him, the Ambassador of Pain. While the Irish offensive line showed significant improvement in their pass protection against Purdue, they will have their hands full with Davis and the rest of the Bruin

Pizza & Football!
It's what the Big East Does Best

defense.

While they are not Big Ten Tough, and playing them is not a Gut Check like in the SEC, and they don't make you crave pizza like in the Big East, UCLA does possess a little thing known throughout the land as Pac 10 Speed (a freakish blend of Jesse Owens, Michael Phelps, Industrial Light & Magic, and Secretariat) and one wonders if Notre Dame has the horses to keep up. I'm just throwing this out there, but The Blind Oracle at Bristol may have something to say about the matter later in this preview.

This One Is For Mike Coffey

Since Pat's Fieldhouse blog didn't exactly take the world by storm, please forgive me for adding some basketball talk to the proceedings here on BGS.

On January 19, 1974, Notre Dame's men's basketball team, led by coach Digger Phelps, beat John Wooden's UCLA squad, the 7-time defending national champions, by a score of 71-70, ending the Bruins' record 88-game winning streak, and sending the Joyce Center crowd into a frenzy of sideburns and plaid.

"That's right, Ice...man--I am dangerous."

Interestingly, UCLA's previous loss had also been to the Irish, who had beaten the Bruins three years earlier behind 46 points from Austin Carr. It did not look like history would repeat itself, however, as the Irish trailed 70-59 with 3:30 left in the game, before going on an improbable 12-0 run the rest of the way. The go-ahead basket came from the right corner, as Dwight "Iceman" Clay gave the Irish the lead with 29 seconds left. The Notre Dame defense then faced a furious flurry by the Bruins in the waning moments, but none of their shots fell, and the Irish had what remains as arguably their biggest victory in school history.

The loss had a devastating effect on UCLA center Bill Walton, and it haunts him to this day. Occasionally, on a trip to the Joyce Center, one may spot Walton lurking outside of the arena, smelling of patchouli and Michael Jordan cologne, and with a glazed look in his eyes which belies his inner torment.

Prediction

"What started out as a joke has turned into a disaster."-- Warner Wolf, Rocky IV

Incredibly, five weeks into the season, the Blind Oracle at Bristol is still making predictions which, while hackneyed and repetitive, are nonetheless stunningly and distressingly accurate. Let's see what he has to say this week, as the Irish try to keep up with some Pac 10 Speed.

"Trouble is brewin' out west. A powder blue menace aims to extend a lingering misery. An aging general leads his troops through a field of roses. Their defense stout, their lines impregnable, there is nothing the invading force can do. Bottom line, the Irish lack the team speed to keep up with the Bruins. UCLA beats Notre Dame 35-10."

Statistically Speaking: Purdue | by Pat

It's a Numbers Game

• Freshmen wide receivers Golden Tate and Duval Kamara both made their first real impact on the Fighting Irish with a pair of touchdown receptions against the Boilermakers. Tate picked up his first career touchdown while hauling in 3 passes for 104 yards. Kamara notched 6 receptions for 68 yards of his own and a score. Tate becomes the first freshman to total 100 or more yards receiving since Derrick Mayes in 1992. Tate and Kamara also become the first freshmen duo to catch touchdowns passes in the same game since Rocket Ismail and Derek Brown did it against Purdue in 1988.

• Going with the youth movement idea, John from Irish Roundup did some great research into the impact of underclassmen on a handful of college football teams. We've noted the yardage breakdowns by class here, but John compares that to other ranked or notable teams featuring young stars in the making like Florida, Southern Cal, Washington, LSU, and Illinois. Interesting stuff.

• I decided to copy pay homage to the work of Sunday Morning QB, who does a great weekly stats feature called Life on the Margins. I used his metrics to see if anything jumped out from the ND/PU stat sheet and was a strong reason why the Boilermakers won.

	Notre Dame	Purdue
Total Offense	426	371
1st Downs	21	27
Yds. / Play	5.5	4.7
Yds. / Possession	32.4	35.5
Turnovers	3	2
Swing Points	0	+6

First off, SMQB's definition of "Swing Points" are points scored via drives of 25 yards or less, safeties, or defensive/special teams touchdowns. Looking down the columns, ND had a slight advantage on total yards and yards per play while Purdue edged out ND on first downs, yards per possession, turnovers, and swing points. And while the game was more of a tale of two halves rather than a close game throughout, these stats do point to the likelihood of a close Purdue win.

One other stat that I think would add even more context is average starting field position. Sure enough, once you see that Notre Dame started on average at their own 28 yard line while Purdue started on average at their 36 yard line, the Boilermaker advantage is pretty clear. When you add that 8 yard bump to the fact that Purdue averaged about 3 more yards per possession, it's no surprise that Purdue had 7 trips to the red zone compared to 4 for Notre Dame. And when you factor in that Purdue was 7-7 on red zone scoring chances while ND was only 2-4 in getting points on red zone trips, it's easy to see why the Boilermakers won.

• Speaking of a tale of two halves, check out each team's average yards per possession when broken down by half.

Avg. Yard per Possession by Half Notre Dame Purdue 1st Half 17.4 43.0 2nd Half 49.8 25.0

Let's hope ND has a whole bunch more halves like the second and no more like the first.

Gotta Have M.O.E.

Finally, something interesting to discuss with regards to M.O.E.

Notre Dame not only posted a season best 11% M.O.E., they had a better number than Purdue, which notched a 13%. You can find the full M.O.E. breakdown here.

If you went strictly by the "12% as likely indicator of victory" guideline, you might expect that ND would have won a close game. But they didn't and this game is an excellent example of why the M.O.E. stat is better utilized as a quick glance summary of self-inflicted offensive mistakes rather than a defacto measurement of which offense "played" better.

Just to be sure, I broke the M.O.E down by half, thinking that might reveal something interesting, but it didn't. Both teams had just about the same M.O.E for each half. The good news though is that for two games in a row, the Irish offense has played much more mistake-free football.

Season Long Running Averages

All numbers, averages, and rankings are listed here.

Can you see me now? | by Pat

An interesting postscript from the Purdue game...

Most long-time readers of BGS know that we're against the idea of adding a jumbotron to Notre Dame stadium. We're not going to re-hash that debate here, but rather showcase a possible and interesting alternative that should definitely be investigated by the powers-that-be in South Bend.

If you attend a Purdue University home football game this year, you can have the ability to call up instant replays on demand right in your hand.

Purdue's eStadium is believed to be the first service to offer access to instant replays on cell phones, as well as other features that will make the game-day experience more interactive for fans in the stands. The service is available at no charge to those attending football games at Purdue's Ross-Ade Stadium.

Fans who have cell phones with Internet capabilities are able to see replays from as many as six camera angles and to sort through the replays to find videos involving particular players or types of plays, such as a touchdown pass or quarterback sack.

Current game statistics, scores of other games in progress, and biographical information of players and coaches also are available.

Now, ND fans can already watch all home games on their suitably equipped mobile phones and devices. But the ability to call up highlights and stats on demand while at the game is far more appealing. Purdue has an excellent engineering department so it's no surprise that they have turned their stadium into a wireless ad hoc network testing ground. As the technology develops however, other schools will surely look to implement this elegant solution in their stadia. Hopefully the home of the late Professor Jerome Green will be among them. (By then we should have enough football highlights to warrant it.)

How are things on the West Coast? | by Pat

The coverage map for the ABC broadcast of the Notre Dame/UCLA and Ohio State/Purdue game is out and it isn't good news for ND fans. Most of the country is going to get the Buckeye/Boilermaker battle royale. Click the image for a larger version.

So, what can an Irish fan do to catch the game?

1. Hit up your local Alumni club gamewatch. To find the contact info for your local club, use this site.

2. Order the game using ESPN GamePlan, assuming your local carrier offers it.

3. Tune in to WestWood One Radio and listen to the game. You can listen online here or check the radio station finder to see if any station in your area carries the Irish broadcast.

4. Load up ESPN360 on your computer, assuming your ISP carries it, and watch the game from the comfort of your computer monitor.

5. Roadtrip with BGS and countless other Notre Dame fans to the Rose Bowl and cheer on the Irish in person.

If you have other ideas or pertinent regional info, feel free to add it to the comment section.

Tune in for Tiffany | by Jay

Notre Dame Live is on the air in under an hour (1pm ET). John and Tiffany will be fielding phone calls: the number's (203) 569-4848. I'll be on again -- anything I should mention about the UCLA game?

Call up!

QB Irish? | by Jay

Towards the end of the Purdue broadcast, the hyperbolic Andre Ware "climbed the ladder" to make this observation:

"We've got an interesting situation developing at quarterback for ND. Sharpley has come in and he looks tremendous. And the players are responding to him."

Setting aside the silly notion that the other Irish players played harder for Evan Sharpley, Ware's comments still didn't jibe with what I was watching. Sharpley was definitely solid in relief, but was he a stark improvement from Jimmy? Up until Clausen came out of the game (for the last time), my impression was that he hadn't been playing so poorly.

Sure enough, the two quarterbacks turned in an almost identical statistical performance:

Passing              Att-Cmp-Int Yds TD Long Sack
-------------------------------------------------
Clausen, Jimmy         26-18-1   169  1   36    0
Sharpley, Evan         26-16-1   208  2   43    2

Later on, the old Houston Heisman claimed it would be an "injustice" if Sharpley didn't get the start against UCLA. But is it so clear cut? Absolutely not. I think both guys have their pluses and minuses, but either would give us a chance to win. Charlie's got some appraising to do, and as he said after the game, he wouldn't comment on next week's QB starter just yet. He didn't want to commit to Clausen -- in so many words -- even if he was healthy.

• The first question, of course: is Clausen healthy? He took a nasty shot on the side/hip on Saturday and hobbled around for a while before being pulled off the field. If that's lingering, and hindering his ability to throw, then the rest of this conversation is moot.

• Two reasons why I like Sharpley: his arm strength, and his mobility. Given what we saw on the bombs downfield (or the "Golden Gos" -- thanks, HLS), Sharpley may be able to connect on long bombs better than Clausen. Even before the hip injury, Clausen underthrew Tate when he was wide open. And Sharpley moves around a little better than Jimmy, who even without the bum wheel couldn't outrun a defensive lineman to the sideline.

• One reason I like Clausen: he seems to handle (or at least recognize) the blitz better than Evan. While Purdue stacked the box with 7 and 8 players most of the day, they didn't blitz all that much. Purdue ran 7 zone blitzes against us, the same kind that our OL struggled with against Georgia Tech, and they gave Sharpley some trouble.

3 zone blitzes vs Clausen:
• found West for 5 yds
• bad snap by Sullivan
• Found Kamara on skinny post for 18 yds (hurt on play)

4 zone blitzes vs Sharpley:
• Sacked
• Evades the rush, steps out, but overthrows West on the sideline
• Tried to hit Tate deep, but ball drifted out of bounds
• Interception on the last play in the end zone

Look at the last play. There was no one defending the slot receiver because the safety and the corner both blitz from that side. Sharpley just didn't see it. On the sack, Sharpley was oblivious to two men coming around the left side, felt no pressure, and simply stood there and went down.

Now, Sharpley had a couple nice plays against the non-zone blitzes, but one of them was one of those "drawn in the dirt" go plays for Tate. Not much for the QB to do there but hang in the pocket and throw deep. On the other one he made a nice read but threw the ball behind Carlson, who ended up dropping it.

It looked like Clausen faced only two other blitzes of a different variety, both inside the red zone. Each time the pressure forced him out of the pocket. One pass was batted down, another thrown away.

• Two reasons I don't like either of 'em: sloppy, preventable interceptions. Clausen's pick was out of desperation, throwing across the field one way while scrambling the other; a classic novice blunder. Sharpley's interception was the product of a jittery reaction to a blitz and a poor read. Sharpley's was more costly, with four minutes left in the game and a chance to get some more points on the board, but both were preventable.

• One final reason I like Clausen: he seems to be a more accurate passer. When the Irish started running slants to Kamara, Clausen had excellent placement on every one of his slant passes, hitting Duval right in the breadbasket. I thought he looked even better than Quinn throwing the slant, who had a tendency to throw behind guys on the quick pass. And I don't think it's a coincidence that Kamara's first dropped slant was from Sharpley, which, while it was a catchable ball, was thrown behind him.

Apart from the slants, two other examples of Clausen's accuracy caught my eye. With about 11:00 to go in the first half, on 1st & 10, Clausen lofts a ball over two DL and a covering linebacker's outstretched hand, and dropped it right in to David Grimes, who was on a sideline comeback (and who made a nice grab). TV showed a revealing replay of this one from the end zone camera; the ball looks like it's on a parabola that's drawn just over the linebacker, and right into Grimes' hands. The other example was on Carlson's touchdown, where 89 was double covered in the end zone but Clausen stuck the ball right between the defenders, where only his tight end could reach it.

In the postgame, you heard Charlie saying that he went with Clausen originally because Clausen (paraphrasing) "is more accurate, and when you're evaluating quarterbacks, accuracy is the first thing you're looking for." I can see why.

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Postscript. There was one play that I rewound a bunch on the Tivo. It wasn't a touchdown, or a great catch, or a brilliant tackle. It was an incompletion thrown by Clausen in the end zone.

As the first half ticked down, ND found itself on the Purdue 18 after Tate's first great catch of the afternoon. It's 1st & 10 Irish, down 23 points with a chance to punch one in before the half. West is split wide left, and Ragone's at the left tight end. At the snap, Ragone runs to the back of the end zone, while West goes about 10 yards and comes back.

Clausen, unfortunately, is locked onto Ragone the whole time. The CB covering West, Terrell Vinson, sees this, and even as Clausen's arm is coming back, he's already left West and goes to blanket Ragone. Clausen fires it to his fellow freshman tight end, but it's easily broken up.

I wish Clausen had been able to read Vinson and look off, or maybe pump fake. If Clausen keeps his eyes on West before switching to Ragone, Vinson stays home and Ragone catches the TD. If Clausen spies Vinson coming off West, he pump fakes to Ragone and throws it to West on the sideline, who has a first down at least and a fighting chance for a touchdown. Either way, it's an easy completion as long as you don't get locked into one receiver.

On the bright side, this is a good teaching moment for the young quarterback, and the play has great potential for us as a red zone option.

House of Stewart | by Pat

On the heels of the Jones and Reuland transfers, rumors started to fly on Thursday about the departure of another player, sophomore lineman Chris Stewart. Stewart's father quickly spoke up that the matter wasn't settled.

“I know he’s been a little homesick and he revealed to me he would like to come home and see his family, just visit with us,” George Stewart said via telephone.

“Transferring is something he’s thinking about, but, really and truly, my family and I are hoping we can all sit down and talk and possibly iron out a few things and try to get him headed back to South Bend if possible.”

After visiting with his family over the weekend, Stewart will be returning to Notre Dame and the football program.

"It was exactly what we had thought it was, some miscommunication that led to Chris wanting to leave Notre Dame," George Stewart told the Tribune via telephone. "There was some homesickness there too and a little about playing time, but really it was about communication.

"I felt very strongly about Chris staying, because I believe in a Notre Dame education and I also believe in coach (Charlie) Weis. But this was Chris' decision. It had to be. We just brought up some points for him to consider. Chris never stopped loving Notre Dame, and once he considered all those points, he knew Notre Dame was still the place for him."

This is great news, but for much more than just the positive PR spin. Stewart has been a fan favorite since the moment he committed, and it's great to have him back at the University. As for playing time, he still hasn't seen the field yet, but with the injury to Dan Wenger, Stewart is currently the second string right guard behind classmate Matt Carufel. With three more years of eligibility after this one and this spring's trial run at nose tackle in the rearview mirror, "Mr. Plow" has plenty of time to turn himself into a very solid contributor along the Irish offensive line and practice his harp playing.

Odds & Sods: Where Aesthetics Go To Die Edition | by Mike

Something's Gone Wrong Again. The second half saw the most cohesive play of the season by the Irish, but the self-inflicted wounds that have characterized the 2007 were still too much to overcome. The Irish's edge in total yardage was not enough to overcome costly penalties and poor play on third down and special teams. Six of Purdue's first downs came on penalties. The Irish defense allowed Purdue to convert a 3rd-and-29 that looked eerily similar to Miami's 3rd-and-43 conversion in 1989, letting the receiver run unimpeded down the near sideline. The Irish lost five points in the kicking game. An Irish special teams miscue forced the Irish offense to start a drive at the 1-yardline, while the kick coverage unit allowed Purdue to start the game's decisive drive on the 41-yardline. Purdue's superior execution in these phases were outcome-determinative.

Rough Gem. Jay already touched on the impact of freshman Golden Tate, but Tate's performance is worthy of additional comment. When Tate made his spectacular grab on a 43-yard pass play against PSU that was ultimately negated by a holding penalty, I couldn't help but recall the following quote from the preseason:

"I've still got to work on my footwork and my hands are just OK, but I'm willing to work and I feel like I'm going to be all right."

At the time of the PSU game, that quote left me wondering whether Tate was simply lucky on that play or whether he could consistently make plays like that. After his performance against Purdue, I think it's safe to say that Golden's hands are more than "just OK." The onus is now on Charlie Weis, Mike Haywood and Rob Ianello to find ways to increase Tate's opportunities and role in the offense.

Big Empty. During ESPN's broadcast of the game, one of the more curious explanations for Notre Dame's struggles was offered. Viewers were told that if Charlie Weis had played the backups more in previous years, the Irish would be doing better now. But who were these backups that were not being played? It's true that there are not many juniors and seniors that entered the season with significant experience, but that is simply because there aren't that many members of these classes to begin with. The senior class includes a total of two offensive players - Junior Jabbie and Darrin Bragg. The entire senior class consists of just seven players at this point. While the numbers are far greater in the freshman and sophomore classes, it should be obvious why there aren't many from these classes who entered the season with extensive playing time. Eighteen of the sophomores saw game action in 2006 as freshmen, but very few freshmen arrive on campus with the physical development necessary to see as much playing time as Sam Young did. Several freshmen have made their presence known this year, including Jimmy Clausen, Armando Allen, Robert Hughes, Mike Ragone, Duval Kamara, Golden Tate, Ian Williams, Kerry Neal and Brian Smith. Yet Weis could not have played these guys last year, as they were not on the team last year. Thus in many cases the players most likely to provide a spark are also the players least familiar with the playbook and most likely to make freshman mistakes. Brian Smith kept two Purdue drives alive with penalties on third downs, but he also put the pressure on Curtis Painter that led to Zbikowski's interception. The table below shows the contributions to total yardage and touchdowns broken down by class year. The limited number of upperclassmen on the roster is reflected in the limited production of the junior and senior classes.

     Total Yds    TDs
Fr      920        3 (Hughes, Kamara, Tate)
So      573        1 (Walls)
Jr      119        0
Sr       57        0
5th     188        2 (Thomas, Carlson)

It's fair to find fault with Weis & Co. for failing at times to sufficiently simplify things in light of the youth of this year's team, but playing backups more in the previous two years would not have changed the youth of the 2007 squad.

Fighting In A Sack. Clausen and Sharpley enjoyed far more time in the pocket against Purdue than against any other opponent so far this season. Part of this was due to improved play by the offensive line, but the other part of the explanation lies in Purdue's gameplan and personnel. Purdue did not blitz as often as previous opponents, and no one in Purdue's front seven has the pass rushing ability of Philip Wheeler, Dan Connor, Sean Lee, Shawn Crable or Jonal Saint-Dic. UCLA's Bruce Davis is a 5th-year senior who recorded 12.5 sacks last year. Facing Davis will tell us a good deal about how much Notre Dame's pass protection has actually improved.