Finally, a Defensive Tackle | by Pat

The Fighting Irish nation let out a collective sigh of relief yesterday as Florida native Ian Williams publically committed to Notre Dame and gave ND it's first defensive tackle recruit of the 2007 class and 13th recruit overall. Williams said a variety of reasons, starting with academics, are what brought him to select ND.

'I chose Notre Dame because the academics are, by far, the best in the nation,'' Williams said. ''Plus I have a chance to come in and play early. And I feel we can win a national championship while I'm there.''

More than just the first DT recruit of this current recruiting cycle, the 6-2, 295 pound Williams is only the 3rd pure defensive tackle that the Irish have landed since 2002. Think about that for a second. Two defensive tackles play every down on defense and ND has only landed three ready-made tackles in the past four recruiting classes, with the other two being star recruit Trevor Laws and lightly recruited Derrell Hand. Now, I don't mean any insult to guys like Paddy Mullen and Pat Kuntz. Both are high energy guys that I expect to make positive contributions starting next year. But both clearly came to ND as defensive tackles in the making, and the "in the making" part is the key to this whole paragraph. For the past few years, ND has either struck out at defensive tackle or taken promising players that required some serious time in the weight room or at the training table.

Ian Williams on the other hand is all defensive tackle and, unlike Paddy and Pat, there won't be any debate if he's really a tight end or strongside defensive end. As a junior down at Lyman High School in Florida, Williams was named to the 5A First Team All-State. From there, recruiting started quickly with Florida offering him a scholarship early last February. Other schools followed and currently Williams holds close to 30 offers from schools like Tennessee, Ole Miss, Auburn, Alabama, and Clemson. It appears that Florida was a finalist for Williams but a recent attempt to slow-play him backfired and Williams made the decision to commit to Notre Dame. For whatever reason, the recruiting sites rankings don't particularly jibe with his offer list as he's a 3-star guy on both Rivals and Scout, but ESPN's Scouts, Inc. gives him a better grade as the 11th best DT in the 2007 class and #118 overall.

All that being said, don't expect Williams to walk right in and grab a starting spot. He may have the size already, but most high school lineman have a lot to learn about technique before seeing the field and Williams is likely no exception. Still, as he adapts to the college game, he will add much needed depth, and size, to the Irish defensive line.

It's also worth noting that Williams is the 3rd Florida recruit so far for Notre Dame this year, which matches last year's haul (Young, Wenger, Jackson). While Charlie may have said that he'd make the midwest a priority in recruiting when he started at ND, he seems to love mining Florida (and pretty much anywhere else in the South). Of ND's 14 current public commits -- and more on #14, Golden Tate, in a bit -- eight are from south of the Mason-Dixon line.

Just a Reminder | by Jay

You've still got a few days left to submit something for the Posting Contest. We've received a bunch of entries so far, and there's still time to stake your claim for one of the DVD Box Sets. Good luck!

Somebody's Watching Me | by Pat

With the regular season over, some interesting articles have come out detailing the rating successes of the 2006 season and how the Fighting Irish were involved.

As one might expect, the Ohio State-Michigan game was the biggest game of the year in terms of ratings and was the most watched college game since the famous 1993 game between #2 Notre Dame and #1 Florida State. What one might not expect is that this year's Notre Dame-Southern Cal game was second-highest rated regular season game since that '93 showdown.

Ratings were up all over for college football this year, thanks largely to ABC's decision to play a primetime game on Saturday night and ND is found throughout this year's most watched games. Only nine games this year drew over 5.0 million viewers. Here's the list.

1. Ohio State-Michigan
2. Notre Dame-Southern Cal
3. Ohio State-Texas
4. Cal-Southern Cal
5. FSU-Miami
6. Notre Dame-Michigan State
7. Notre Dame-Georgia Tech
8. Ohio State-Iowa
9. Notre Dame-Penn State

All but the OSU-UM game (3:30 start), ND-PSU game (daytime on NBC) and the FSU-Miami (Labor Day primetime on ESPN) were primetime games on ABC. I don't think I'm going out on a limb to suggest that ABC/ESPN will continue the primetime games next season and I imagine ND will be a frequent target. Looking at the 2007 schedule, my guess is that both the Penn State (Sept. 8th) and UCLA (Oct. 8th) games will be targeted.

However, despite the bigger overall ratings, ND's home games broadcasts on NBC took a 17% percent dive. Some of that can be attributed to the fact that last year saw a 44% increase as curious viewers tuned in to see Charlie's first season. A slight regression isn't all that unusual following a banner year. Still, the main culprit for the decline is the ratings for the ND-Army game. The game was the lowest rated ND on NBC game ever (1.7 million), which isn't a huge shock when you realize the contest against the over-matched Black Knights was running against the Ohio State-Michigan game.

Still, with the low ratings of the Army game, I wonder how NBC is viewing the ND decision to schedule home games against teams like San Diego State, Duke, and Nevada. Granted the Duke game is a 7th home game and therefore can be considered a bonus chance to sell advertising, but like the Army game this year, it will be a late November game that will likely be up against more compelling conference games. I'm not suggesting that ND try to line up marquee games against the nation's best teams for every home game, but, academic similarities aside, I have to think there is a better 7th game option than perennial college football doormat Duke.

Maxwell's Silver Medal | by Jay

It wasn't the Heisman, but Thursday Brady Quinn won the prestigious Maxwell Award as the top college player of the year. Big congrats to BQ.

Tonight they hand out the Heisman, and Brady isn't going to get it. Allan Barra of the New York Sun makes a compelling, last-ditch plea to 'Vote Quinn', but since the ND-Michigan game, it's been all Troy Smith for as far as the media can see. As Barra elucidates, the Buckeyes were a much stronger squad this season and Smith was surrounded by a superior running game and defense than Quinn was with the Irish. Congrats to Smith for running his team to an undefeated season, and he deserves the award. But a Heisman for BQ wouldn't have been out of the question, either.

Quinn is ND's 5th winner of the Maxwell Award, joining Leon Hart ('49), John Lattner ('52,'53), Jim Lynch ('66), and Ross Browner ('77).

Pre-draft Bowling | by Pat

Continuing with the NFL Draft theme, it appears that eight Irish players will be participating in post-season senior bowls this year. Here's the breakdown:

Senior Bowl - Brady Quinn, Jeff Samardzija, Victor Abiamiri, Ryan Harris, Rhema McKnight

East-West Shrine Game - Derek Landri, Dan Santucci

Hula Bowl - Bob Morton

Honestly, I was surprised to see Quinn's name as many players considered Top 5 draft picks tend to avoid many of the pre-draft events such as these bowls. Then again, the Senior Bowl does have a history of attracting some of the better outgoing seniors. #1 draft pick Carson Palmer played in the Senior Bowl after winning the Heisman in 2003 while a year earlier David Carr used the Senior Bowl to solidify his #1 draft pick status.

Draft Decisions | by Pat

Nothing has officially been made public yet, but Yahoo Sports has a list of potential 5th year candidates and which ones just might be returning to ND. Here's the item of interest.

Notre Dame linebacker/running back Travis Thomas has decided that he will return for a fifth year with the Irish, and he plans to return to the backfield for his final season. In fact, the majority of prospects that met with coach Charlie Weis last week have initially voiced their desire to return to South Bend. Those also expected to return include tight end John Carlson, center John Sullivan, defensive tackle Trevor Laws and cornerback Ambrose Wooden. However, safety Tom Zbikowski, who was invited to the Senior Bowl, is expected to declare for the draft after Notre Dame's Sugar Bowl matchup with LSU. Sullivan seems to be the other prospect weighing his options, as it is hard for an interior lineman to improve his grade from one year to the next. He is on course to graduate later this month.

Again, this very well could change with a few guys deciding to leave and/or Zibby deciding to stay. In fact, I wouldn't be surprised if Zibby did end up returning. The good news is that it appears that many of the players with the option to be drafted are planning on returning. Next year will be a much younger team and the experience and leadership, not to mention talent, of many of these 5th year guys will be very beneficial.

It's also interesting to note the "he plans to return to the backfield for his final season" news bit on Travis. Obviously I don't think next year's depth chart has been settled, but returning Travis full-time to the offense would only help a running back position that surely will be called upon often to take the pressure off the new QB. As for linebacker, the best case scenario involves the emergence of Toryan Smith in the middle, allowing Crum to move back to his more natural outside linebacker spot, along with Joe Brockington, who really came on strong in the last half of the season.

The deadline for declaring for the draft is in the middle of January, which is when Fasano announced his decision last year. With a larger number of players on the NFL/5th year fence this season, my guess is that something official will come out a bit earlier, especially with news items like this getting out there.

They're the best.....around. | by Pat

Stepping away from football for a second to write about fútbol.

Notre Dame accomplished an extremely rare feat recently when Joseph Lapira from the Men's soccer team and Kerry Hanks from the women's soccer team both won the Missouri Athletic Club (M.A.C) Hermann Trophy, college soccer's version of the Heisman Trophy. It is the first time in history that the men's and women's trophy were won by the same school in the same season.

Lapira won the Men's Hermann Trophy after finishing a junior year that saw him lead the nation in goals (22) and points (50) as well as sport a bitchin' moustache. Lapira is the first ND player to win the Player of the Year award for men's soccer. Also named the Big East Offensive Player of the Year and ND's 3rd ever 1st team All-American -- along with current teammate Greg Dalby -- Lapira helped lead the Irish to the quarterfinals of this year's NCAA tournament. It was the first time in program history that ND made the quarterfinals and a large reason why was Lapira's golden goal in double overtime the game before against Maryland, last year's national champs.

Over on the women's side of things, Kerri Hanks accomplishments might be even more impressive. The sophomore won the Women's Hermann Trophy after leading the nation in goals (22), points (66), and assists (22). A key member of a club that was ranked #1 for most of the season, Hanks and her fellow Fighting Irish got all the way to the championship game before falling 2-1 to North Carolina. Hanks became the 3rd Irish player to win the Hermann Trophy following Cindy Daws (1996) and Anne Makinen (2000).

What makes Hanks accomplishments so impressive are the fact that she's the first sophomore to ever win the Hermann Trophy. Not only that, she's only the 2nd player in history to lead the nation in both goals and assists, with the other player being Mia Hamm. With two years of eligibility left, Hanks already owns 43 different Irish scoring records and should continue to be dangerous when paired with freshman Michele Weissenhofer, who finished 2nd in the nation in assists and points and 6th in goals this year.

As a final aside, Notre Dame has had 47 athletes either win an individual national championship or be named Player of the Year. The entire list can be found at the bottom of the post here with the breakdown being 42 NCAA individual champions (18 men's track, 12 men's fencing, 10 women's fencing, two men's cross country), and 12 national player-of-the-year winners (seven football, three women's soccer, one men's basketball, one men's soccer)

Congrats to both Lapira and Hanks for an unprecedented and amazing accomplishment.

Harris, natch | by Jay

We were thinking of breaking down the Harris Poll like Jeff did with the Coaches below now that the Harris results are public, but we need a little help. If anyone has a little bit of free time, maybe you could help us run down the school & conference affiliations for the Harris Poll voters. The list is here; just add a note in the comments section & I'll be updating the list as we go. Thanks to anyone who can lend a hand.

Some Things Never Change | by Jeff

BGS got a little attention last year when we broke down the inherent bias in the Coaches poll. Jumping in our wayback machine, the main controversy last season was which team deserved the final at-large bid, as Oregon, Notre Dame, and Auburn all had a shot at the BCS. In case you've been living in a cave (or Jay's closet), the overwhelming controversy this season is, "Who's number 2?" Let's see what dastardly biases are revealed now that the final Coaches poll is public.

Florida vs Michigan for #2
Seven out of the ten conferences preferred Florida in the big game. Only the Big Ten sided with Michigan over the Gators, with former Gator coach Ron Zook the only Big 10 coach to break ranks with his conference brethren.

Conference #2 Votes	Florida	Michigan
SEC	7	0
ACC	6	0
WAC	5	0
CUSA	5	1
Big 12	4	2
PAC 10	4	2
Sun Belt	3	1
MAC	3	3
Big East	2	2
MWC	2	2
Big Ten	1	4
Independent	0	1

Conference Bias
For the second year in a row, the Big East leads the pack in bias toward fellow conference members. Once again, teams rated fellow conference members an average of one spot higher in the polls than everyone else.

Rankings Boost by Conference
Big East	+2.3
CUSA	+2.3
WAC	+1.8
MWC	+1.6
Pac 10	+1.1
SEC	+1.0
Big 12	+0.7
ACC	+0.4
Big 10	+0.2

One interesting conference in this regard was the Big Ten. With only three ranked teams and one of them the unanimous #1, the coaches essentially boosted Michigan by roughly the same number of votes that they dropped Wisconsin. I don't think this is any more than a coincidence, but on the surface it does make the conference appear somewhat less biased.

Self Gratification
Last year, coaches rated their own teams an average of +1.7 spots higher than everyone else. This year the toots from their own horns were even louder, as the boost jumped to +2.5. The top five pat-yourself-on-the-backers:

Coach, School	Self-Bump
Greg Schiano, Rutgers	+6.8
Art Briles, Houston	+6.3
Rich Rodriguez, West Virginia	+6.1
Phil Fulmer, Tennessee	+5.1
Mike Riley, Oregon State	+4.8

A couple of coaches seemed to take a lesson in humility, as none of the top five offenders returned from last year (although Stoops was close, putting Oklahoma #4 overall this year). Last year's #1 back-patter, the Old Ball Coach, to his credit left the Gamecocks out of the top 25. But that didn't stop him from from winning the "Anti-Notre Dame Curmurdgeon" award again; for the second straight year, Spurrier had ND ranked the lowest of all the voting coaches (14th last year, 16th this year.) Gee thanks, Ball Coach!

OOC Prejudice
Last season, coaches rated non-conference opponents on their schedule about +.7 spots higher than other teams. This season, that number was slightly smaller at +.5. Good to see the coaches being a little more balanced. But why would a coach be less biased toward non-conference teams on his schedule, yet more biased for conference teams? If they were trying to boost their own team's strength of schedule, certainly they would rate every opponent a little higher. Could it be that the shared conference revenue from bowl appearances is weighing a little heavier in their minds?

Oops
Special congratulations go out to Ball State coach Brady Hoke, who accidentally left Arkansas off of his ballot. It is great to know that coaches invest so much time and energy in something so important. Of course, that is only slightly worse than Howard Schnellenberger's rankings for both LSU and Oklahoma. At #15 and #18 respectively, each of these schools were ten positions lower than their consensus rankings. I am assuming that Howard will be taking ND and the points in the Sugar Bowl.

Ooooh!
On the flip side, you may want to steal a copy of Iowa State coach Dan McCarney's NCAA basketball picks this March. Other than swapping Southern Cal/Louisville and Oregon State/Georgia Tech, Dan successfully "picked" the exact order of the final rankings. Tell him what's he's won, Jay!

Poor Precedent
While you might agree that Jim Tressel abstaining from the poll was a smart thing to do from an Ohio State standpoint, the fact that USA Today let him do it is problematic, and it sets a terrible precedent for next year. Now that the final votes are public, I can imagine any number of scenarios where a coach would find it in his best interest to abstain from voting, especially when the outcome would directly affect his BCS chances or the opponent he would face (or even for more personal reasons, like not generating bulletin board material). Tressel's decision might have opened the door for more coaches to follow suit.

Recipe for Disaster
As we said last year, the Coaches Poll is by far the most inherently corrupt component of the BCS system. Coaches, their schools, and their conferences directly benefit from the results of the voting, and as a result, objectivity goes out the window.

As Bono once sang, "How long....to sing this song?"

AA 2 ND | by Pat

Great news greeted Irish fans late last week as Florida running back Armando Allen committed to Notre Dame, becoming the 12th member of the Class of 2007. At a press conference held to honor his selection to the U.S. Army All-American game, Allen announced his pledge to play ball for Charlie under the Golden Dome. You can watch video of his announcement here. According to Allen, it was his latest visit to ND that won him over.

"All this week I had coaches come to my house to talk to me," Allen told the Miami Herald at the press conference he held to announce his intentions. "But when I took my visit to Notre Dame, I knew it was the right choice for me.

"I liked the way the coaches were very honest with me about what my situation would be and I think I can get a good education there."

Speaking of education, Allen will be an early enrollee -- joining Jimmy Clausen and Gary Gray-- so he will enroll at ND in January and participate in spring practice.

What's so interesting and exciting about landing Allen is that ND was able to reach down into Miami and pluck a speedy skill player away from the Big 3 (UF, FSU, Miami). Getting Sam Young out of Florida was big news last year, but getting a running back coveted by all of the in-state powers is even more of a bellwether of how ND recruiting has shifted lately.

Just about every program in the country offered Armando and one of the big reasons why is his speed. ND fans have been looking for that home run hitter at running back for a few years now and Allen has all the makings of a very viable candidate. He burst onto the national recruiting scene the summer before his junior year when the 5'9, 180-pounder showed up at the Miami Nike camp and clocked the fastest 40 time in the camp. I'm not one to take recruiting 40 times as gospel, but when a kid is the fastest player at a camp that has collected some of the best talent in Miami, FL, I'd say that is pretty impressive.

Not finished there, Allen went to the junior combine held in San Antonio during the weekend of the U.S. Army All-American game. Once again, Allen posted the fastest 40 time out of 550 campers. He was also the only player there who clocked under 4.4 seconds. A few months after the January combine, Allen won the Florida 4A Track State Championship in the 110 meter hurdles with a time of 13.82, making up for a second place finish as a sophomore. Three different events filled with very talented and fast athletes and Allen was the fastest at each one. Not too shabby. Combine that speed with excellent balance and great hands and it shouldn't be surprising that Allen was named 1st Team All-Area and 2nd Team All-State at running back as a junior.

Allen's speed is a little more pedestrian for the time being as he's currently hobbled by a broken leg that knocked him out of football for his entire senior season. He expects to make a full recovery and it certainly doesn't hurt that he'll be able to finish up his rehab under the watchful eye of ND's sports trainers this spring semester. I don't think anyone is sure if he'll be back at 100% for the Blue-Gold game, but hopefully he'll be able to get a few carries and show his stuff.

Honestly, I'm pretty excited about this. Not just for the fact that Weis out-recruited guys like Urban Meyer right in their home state, but for the fact that Allen has the speed and other assorted RB skills (balance, vision, hands) not seen in an Irish recruit in probably 10 years, save Julius Jones perhaps. Of course potential only gets a player so far, but Allen's commitment is a big one for ND and the exciting future of the Irish football program. If you want to check out his highlight reel, here's the downloadable higher-resolution version and here's the choppy, instant gratification youtube version. Enjoy.

Chomp | by Jay

The Coaches Poll came out early after all, and Florida is #2. Tressel abstained from voting.

2 Florida: 1,470
3 Michigan: 1,444

On the surface it looks like a slim margin, but it's really not. A perfect #2 ranking would be (62 votes) * (24 points for second place) = 1,488. So Florida only missed it by 18 points, meaning 18 coaches had them #3, while 44 had them #2. An overwhelming majority of coaches want the Gators in the title game.

Update: the LA Times says it's a done deal.

Pour Some Sugar on Me | by Jay

We're bound for the Big Easy. The SBT caught up with Sugar Bowl exec Paul Hoolahan late last night and confirmed it; the only question is who we're going to play, the Tigers or the Gators.

But if the Gators jump Michigan in the BCS standings, then Michigan and USC will square off in the Rose, and Sugar Bowl CEO Paul Hoolahan confirmed Saturday night that LSU would be ND's Sugar Bowl opponent.

Hoolahan, by the way, had some very complimentary things to say about Notre Dame yesterday, and the impact an Irish trip could make on the recovering city:

"The tradition is hard to match," Hoolahan said of what makes ND an attractive option to match against the SEC champ. "And we just need to make a statement in our city. And I think Notre Dame people would do that on so many different levels and help become a part of what's going to be a cog in the whole recovery."

Hurricane Katrina, the costliest and one of the deadliest hurricanes in U.S. history, forced the Sugar Bowl to relocate in Atlanta last season. The Sugar Bowl is back, and the $175 million it will bring in to New Orleans is only part of the elixir the city seeks. Shining a national spotlight on the protracted relief and rebuilding efforts is also high on the wish list.

"There are other teams that could have done that to a lesser extent," Hoolahan said, "but what New Orleans needs is a well-heeled program to come into their city, spend time, spend money, and be part of the whole recovery. When you can deliver Notre Dame and all the mystique and aura that goes with it, it just brings a new element. And we need a break -- let the rest of the country see we're back in business and operating at good speed."

So, for the title match: Gators, or Wolverines? The BCS Selection Show is on Fox tonight at 8pm. The Coaches and Harris Polls have usually been coming out earlier in the day on Sundays, but I wouldn't be surprised if they postpone the release until the show tonight. After all, the Fiesta is already set (Oklahoma versus Boise State) and so is the Orange (Wake Forest versus Louisville), so the only real drama left is who will face Ohio State in Glendale.

By any reasonable standard, it should be Florida. Michigan had their shot. And after sleeping on it, I think the polls are going to reflect that same sentiment and send the Gators to Glendale.

The Gators made a compelling, indelible case for themselves yesterday, and as we well know, college football is a game of What Have You Done For Me Lately. All those #2 votes that went to Southern Cal are up for grabs, and it would be foolish to think that just because Michigan held a slim edge over Florida as of yesterday morning that all those #2's are automatically going to transfer to the Wolverines. Furthermore, I can't see the same voters who busted Michigan down to #3 last week, signaling a sharp distaste for a rematch of UM-OSU, suddenly switch gears and endorse that rematch now, especially when there is another attractive option (like a 12-1 SEC champion) on the table.

But stranger things have happened. We'll find out soon enough.

Award Tour | by Pat

It's entering award season and slowly the various national awards are starting to trickle out. We'll continue to update the awards as they are named, but here's a quick update on some of the bigger award candidates.

First up is tight end John Carlson who was named a First Team Academic All-American. Carlson, despite missing nearly three games due to injury, put up some of the best numbers in the nation, and, more importantly, paired that with a 3.59 cumulative GPA. By winning the award, Carlson has become the first Academic All-American for Notre Dame in 13 years. The last to win the award was center Tim Ruddy back in 1993. Carlson is a member of the Academic Honors program at ND and posted a 3.8 GPA last spring. I really can't believe it's been 13 years and I'm really happy that Carlson was honored like this. Fantastic job, John.

Hoping to add to this honor, Carlson has also been named a finalist for the Mackey Award, given annually to the nation's top tight end. Along with Carlson are finalists Zach Miller of Arizona State and Matt Spaeth of Minnesota. It will be interesting to see who wins the award. Miller and Spaeth were the best offensive weapons on their respective teams while Carlson was not meaning that defenses could tend to focus on them a bit more. Then again, Carlson not only missed nearly three games due to injury out-performed the other finalists statistically as the following table shows.

Player	Games	Catches	Yards	TDs	Yds/Catch	Yds/Game
John Carlson	9	46	621	4	13.5	69.0
Zach Miller	11	41	420	3	10.2	38.2
Matt Spaeth	11	47	564	4	12.0	51.3

Somewhat interestingly, Zach Miller, the pre-season favorite for this award, did not win a Tight End of the Week award from the Mackey Award sponsers while Carlson (MSU game) and Spaeth did (Iowa game). Still, I expect the fact that Carlson could return for another year might work against him in the mind of the voters.

Whoever wins, that Carlson was even named a finalist in his first year as a starter is pretty impressive stuff. Not only that, but with Fasano being named a finalist last year as well, Coach Bernie Parmalee has certainly and deservedly added some pretty impressive notes to his resume. Getting two players to be named a finalist for player of the year at their position in your first two years coaching the position is quite an accomplishment.

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Brady Quinn won one of the first major awards of the season by being named the 2006 winner of the Johnny Unitas Golden Arm Award. The award, which is given to the nation's Top Senior quarterback claims to be based on "character, citizenship, scholastic achievement, leadership qualities and athletic accomplishments", was started in 1987 and Quinn is ND's 2nd winner after Tony Rice took home the award in 1989.

Beating out finalists Troy Smith of Ohio State, Drew Stanton of MSU, Kevin Kolb of Houston, and John Beck of BYU, Quinn joins a list of some pretty good QBs who have won the award.

The other major quarterback award is the Davey O'Brien award and Quinn is currently a finalist for that award along with Troy Smith of Ohio State and Colt Brennan of Hawaii. In addition to QB only awards, Quinn is a finalist for the Maxwell and Walter Camp awards, both College Player of the Year awards.

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For the second consecutive season, Jeff Samardzija has been named a finalist for the Biletnikoff Award for the nation's best wide receiver.. Here's a look at his production and that of the other two finalists, Jarrett Dillard of Rice and Calvin Johnson of Georgia Tech.

Player	Games	Catches	Yards	TDs	Yds/Catch	Yds/Game
Jarrett Dillard	12	82	1176	20	14.3	98.0
Calvin Johnson	13	67	1016	13	15.2	78.2
Jeff Samardzija	12	70	958	11	13.7	79.8

I have to think that Calvin Johnson has this award locked up. Dillard is the clear winner if you go by stats, but he plays for Rice and, more importantly, is only a sophomore. Johnson on the other hand will likely be a Top 5 draft pick and has had to put up with Reggie Ball as his quarterback. There's a small chance Samardzija will win, but I'm not holding my breath. Still, it's a honor for Samardzija to be nominated (for the 2nd year in a row) and ND's next QB will surely miss not having him around as a target.

The Biletnikoff, as well as a majority of the rest of the major college football awards, will be given away on ESPN this Thursday at 7pm (ET) as part of the College Football Awards Show. Win or lose, I suspect Charlie and the finalists will be in attendance so it might be fun to check out.

that must have been one hell of a party we threw last night | by Jay

When I woke up, Johnny Lattner's 1953 Heisman Trophy was sitting on my living room table.

Yep, it's legit. My friend Pat "won" it at a charity auction (actually, he gets hold onto it for a month, Stanley Cup-style) so he brought it over for the party and left it here. Last night between belts of liquor and Christmas cookies, we went ahead and awarded it to Brady Quinn. Congrats, BQ!

Gators and Tigers and Pigs | by Jay

Quick poll before the SEC championship game: who would you rather see Notre Dame play in a Bowl game: Arkansas, Florida, or (the longshot) LSU?

Arkansas is an intriguing matchup. In the history of Notre Dame football, we've never played Arkansas. (In fact, out of all the BCS conference schools, there are only 11 other teams we've never played. Any guesses?) Arkansas started the season with a 50-14 whallop at the hands of Southern Cal, but since then they've cut a nice swath through the SEC, only losing again to LSU in a close game that went right down to the wire.

Arkansas loves to run the ball, averaging 236 yards per game on the ground. That's 4th-best in the country. Darren McFadden is exceptional; the sophomore tailback is 6'2, 212 pounds, and he averages better than 6 yards per carry. As Keith would say, He...is...a...hoss. And the other back, Felix Jones, is no slouch: together, he and McFadden torched LSU for 298 yards and three touchdowns (the Tigers had been giving up just 74 yards and less than a touchdown per game on the ground).

The pigs don't throw the ball much. In fact, they've got the 105th passing offense in football, averaging barely 148 yards per game. Against LSU they completed only 5 passes in the loss. This would seem to bode well for an Irish defense that has looked porous against the pass, but a strong ground attack isn't exactly tonic for the Irish defenders: witness Air Force (200 yards rushing against the Irish) and Navy (271 yards), two of the three teams (the other is West Virginia) ahead of the Razorbacks in rushing offense nationally.

One thing that would make it interesting: Arkansas coach Houston Nutt loves to run trick plays. Check out these gadgets, including my favorite play of the year, the ol' hidden running back trick against Auburn. Hilarious.

Florida would be fun. We've played the Gators only once, in the '92 Sugar, when we were big underdogs to Spurrier's fun'n'gun. My senior year, nobody giving us a chance in hell, green numbers on white jerseys, Jerome Bettis with three touchdowns, Bourbon Street on New Year's Eve...ahh, the memories. Then of course there's the Urban versus Charlie angle, a storyline so rich with mythic archetypes we'd need Joseph Campbell to sort it out.

Football-wise, Florida is a mixed bag. They're loaded with talent, but they make a lot of mistakes (next to only Akron, Florida is the most-penalized team in college football). Their defense is a far sight better than Arkansas', but their offense, although ranked 21st (and just about tied with Notre Dame at 384 yards per game), doesn't do any one thing spectacularly well. They run the ball some, and pass it a little less, and when they get in the red zone they pull Chris Leak for Tim Tebow and let him scramble around (or throw jump-passes).

Between beating up on patsies like Southern Miss and Western Carolina, the Gators have been living by the skin of their teeth in the SEC, beating Tennessee by a point, South Carolina by a point (on a blocked field goal), Vandy by six and Georgia by seven. They beat LSU 23-10 in a game where the Tigers coughed up 5 turnovers, including a fumble on the Gators' one-yard line. The "dark monk of the spread option" (thanks, Orson) is leading a charmed life.

LSU would be rough. LSU is in the top 20 in scoring offense (11), total offense (18), scoring defense (6), and total defense (2). They're the most talented, balanced team in the SEC, and maybe the third-best team in the entire country.

On offense LSU has four talented running backs and they all share the carries, with none of the four going over 430 yards on the season, nor under 280. (Reminds me of the Holtz days.) At quarterback they've got 6'6 Jamarcus Russell, and as Charlie might say, "Alls he does is complete 68% of his passes and throws 26 touchdowns to seven interceptions." I'd be surprised if Russell wasn't a top 10 pick in the NFL draft next year. On defense they've got coaches' first team All-Americans in safety LaRon Landry and defensive tackle Glenn Dorsey, and until the Arkansas game had been equally stout against the run and the pass.

On top of that, they're pissed. They lost to Florida in the aforementioned 5-turnover meltdown, and their only other loss was a 7-3 baseball game at Auburn, wherein they outgained the orange tigers 309-182 and still lost. At the end of the game, LSU wideout Craig Davis was tackled four yards short of the end zone as time expired. They've got something to prove.

---

So who do I want? Give me Florida. It's not only the best matchup football-wise for the Irish, but I'd love to give Urban a little payback for the smarmy way he stiff-armed us last winter.

Statistically Speaking - Southern Cal | by Pat

Impact Player. Disrupting offenses all season long, Derek Landri finished the regular season 23rd in the nation in tackles for loss with 15.5. Breaking that TFL ranking down by position, Adrian Haywood of Southern Methodist is the only defensive tackle in the nation who had more tackles for loss (16.5) than Landri. Landri's 7 sacks was also good for 53rd in the nation, which is exceptional for a defensive tackle when lumped in with defensive ends -- like Victor Abiamiri who is 13th in the nation in sacks -- and linebackers. Landri also saw his tackle numbers jump from 43 last year to 65 last year. In addition, Landri blocked 4 kicks on the year.

Catching On. Rhema McKnight's touchdown catch gave him 15 for the season and tied the single season TD reception mark that Samardzija set last year. This year Samardzija has 11 receiving touchdowns. McKnight is also 115 receiving yards away from 1,000 yards for the season. Samardzija is 42 yards away. If they can reach that milestone in the bowl game, that will give the Irish two 1,000 yard receivers and a 1,000 yard rusher for the second time in two years and the program's history.

Season Long Running Averages.

Here's the final regular season tally. One thing to keep in mind while comparing the 2006 numbers to their 2005 counterparts is the fewer plays per game this year resulting from the new (and terrible) clock rules. Charlie said in his latest press conference that ND ran 12% fewer plays this year when compared to 2005. So it shouldn't be surprising that many of the totals are lower for game stats like overall rushing yards or passing yards allowed. Per-instance numbers like average yards per carry or pass attempt aren't really affected by the fewer number of plays, and should still tell the story of improvement or regression.

Every Rose has its Thorn | by Jay

Yesterday an ABC affiliate in Louisiana reported that LSU to the Rose Bowl was a done deal, but last night the chief exec of the Rose Bowl refuted the claim:

"That's not true," Rose Bowl CEO Mitch Dorger said from his home Wednesday night. "We have not made any final decisions at all. I think some people have gone out on a limb and are making assumptions. We will make our decision on Sunday."

The LA Times has a pretty good breakdown of the Rose Bowl possiblities this morning, speculating that Michigan vs LSU is the most likely matchup. That's probably how it's going to shake out. But there's one thing that everyone's assuming: that Michigan is definitely going to Pasadena, given the long-standing ties between the Integer and the Rose. But should we automatically assume that? Considering the fact that...

1) ND, with its well-travelled fans and high TV ratings in tow, is the darling of the bowl set, and
2) Michigan has already been to the Rose two of the last three years, and
3) nobody wants a ND-UM rematch, and
4) the Rose has carte blanche to pick its teams,

maybe an LSU-Notre Dame matchup is more attractive to the Rose? Believe it or not, I chatted with two different people "in the know" this week who said it's at least being considered by the Rose Bowl committee.

The Rose picking ND over Michigan? Chuckle. We'd have screwed them over twice.

Update: Eric Hansen also has some more food for thought along these lines in the SBT today, including some more quotes from the Rose Bowl CEO:

"First of all in general, the BCS is not enthusiastic about rematches," Dorger said via telephone Wednesday. "In fact, they specifically tell us to avoid those if at all possible. In most cases, there's not as much enthusiasm for a rematch, particularly if you're going to have to spend thousands of dollars to travel out to see it. I think that's a big factor.

"One of the other things you have to think about is Michigan will be here potentially for the third time in four years. So breeding enthusiasm in Michigan has got to be a big consideration. You can fill in the blanks."

"We do look at TV ratings very closely, because TV ratings drive our brand identity," Dorger said. "When we go to renegotiate our contract in the coming years, we're going to have to lay our TV ratings on the line. So yes, we're looking at good TV ratings."

"Yet in the final analysis, we need to pick what's best for the Rose Bowl," he said. "We're just not sure what that is yet."

End Game: the Second Half | by Jay

We're set to kick off the second half. One thing I missed in the broadcast: when did Ndukwe come out of the game? Bruton replaces him, which leads to...well, you'll see.

Plays/Yards	Result	What went wrong?	What went right?
SC Drive 8. ND kicks off and it's a poor one, bouncing out of bounds at about the 30 yard line and giving the ball to SC at the 35. On the first series it's 3rd & 5, and Crum is showing blitz. Instead, he drops back to cover a short zone, but doesn't drop far enough and Fred Davis slips behind him for a first down catch. On the next series Booty launches one deep to Jarrett in the end zone, but Lambert is there and breaks it up. Nice coverage. Since his first few catches, we're blanketing Jarrett pretty well. SC ends up in a 4th & 1, and they get it easily on Washington's run to the left down to the SC 25. Great blocking by the Trojans. The next play turns out to be the highlight reel clip of the game... Jarrett cuts across field to the right side and finds a soft spot between the CB and safety in the zone. We had him bracketed, but not tight enough. Booty throws a crummy pass, just sails it, but Jarrett makes an incredible one-handed grab just inside the sideline, giving SC 1st & goal at the 6. We run a corner blitz on the next play, with Lambert rushing and Zibby dropping off to cover Jarrett 1-on-1. Ballsy, but ineffective; Zibby commits a pass interference. Washington punches it in on the next play.		Poor kickoff; failure to force a punt on 3rd & 5 and 4th and 1; Jarrett makes the play of the game.
10-65	TOUCHDOWN, 10-28
ND Drive 9. Deep kickoff, good return by Grimes to the 25. Walker rips off a great run of 18 yards, his long of the game (even though Morton misses a block here). Another run, then a pass for no gain, then a sack of BQ on a corner blitz we fail to pick up. Not an auspicious start to the half.		BQ sacked; no blitz pick-up.	Nice run by Darius.
4-13	Punt
SC Drive 9. A good punt by Price puts the Trojans on their own 21. Richardson is the star of this short series. First he stops Gable on a short run, then drops Steve Smith on a complete pass, then combines with Brockington to stuff Gable at the line on 3rd & 1 and force a punt.			Excellent job by Richardson; he's all over the field making tackles. Three-and-out.
3-9	Punt
ND Drive 10. The Trojans sky a bad punt and we get good position on our own 42. On second down, Quinn finds McKnight down the left sideline and Rhema makes a fantastic catch over Terrell Thomas. Finally! Forty-two yards on the play. We throw a fade to Samardzija in the end zone that goes through his hands; tough catch, but definitely catchable. On 4th & 1 we run Aldridge up the gut and he grits out a first down (barely; it was a horrendous spot, and we ended up making it by a half-inch). SC challenges the call, it stands up and the Trojans have just wasted their second timeout of the game. In the back of my mind I'm thinking, "That's going to come back to haunt them." Travis Thomas checks into the game, and Musburger says, "Clearly Weis is upset with Darius fumbling down here last time." I want to knee him in the groin. On first and goal at the 4, the sequence goes: BQ throws it away; BQ rolls right, throws it away again; 4-wide, Quinn sneaks it to the 2. Fourth down. We use the same 4-wide formation but motion Darius left for an empty backfield. Quinn finds McKnight on the slant from the left. It was first and goal, and we threw it four times. But no matter. Touchdown. There's only 1:57 left in the third quarter. It's back to 11 points, but we're running out of time.		Didn't (or couldn't) run it from 1st & goal on the 4? It worked out, anyway.	Rhema is the story of the drive: 42 yard bomb, and hot TD catch. Way to bounce back.
10-58	TOUCHDOWN, 17-28
SC Drive 10.We pooch the kickoff again but this time it stays in bounds, and SC takes over on the 20. There's a shot of Brady on the sideline, shooing away a phone call from the booth. The first half of this drive is abysmal: Booty finds Davis for a first down, then Gable runs 14 yards, then Booty hits Jarrett for another first down. On that last play, we brought six men on the line and Booty saw the man coverage with no one deep, checked off, and hit Jarrett easily. Booty launches one to the end zone and Steve Smith is open, but the pass is a little long and Smith can't get a handle on it. On 3rd & 9, Booty completes a pass to McFoy into triple coverage. I don't know how we didn't break that up. After a Brockington sack, Booty connects with Jarrett on yet another 3rd down conversion, where he just outjumps everyone. He's a tree. Musburger mentions the grudge that Jarrett has against ND for dropping him during recruiting. SC wastes their last timeout trying to get something called correctly, and ends up on 4th & 13 and having to kick a field goal. A Pyrrhic victory for the defense: we kept them out of the end zone, but they were able to chew up the clock and still put 3 more points on the board. Ten minutes left in the game.		Despite blitzing, we get very little pressure on Booty, who throws for 60 yards on this drive alone. Gave up 5 first downs, allowing key conversions on 3rd & 9 and 3rd & 13.	We manage to bottle up Gable pretty well, and we kept them out of the end zone. That's about it.
13-65	FIELD GOAL, 17-31
ND Drive 11. A good return by Zibby out to the 30, but it's wasted. BQ completes a pass to Freeman for four yards, then a false start, then an incomplete, then a sack where Morton gets blown up. We punt (after a delay of game). This isn't how you come back. Punt from our own 19.		Nothing working; penalties; bad sack of Quinn.
3-(-10)	Punt
SC Drive 11. Ball on the SC 43. Gable rushes up the middle for 14 yards -- is the defense gassed at this point? The next play-- well, dammit, no need to mince words. It's the worst play of the game. SC lines up in an I-formation with Jarrett split left (pre-snap diagram here.) The fullback Williams (#41) motions left, wider than Jarrett (#8) is lined up. Richardson (#30) was lined up across from Jarrett with Bruton (#27) over the top. Now, with Williams coming across, there's mass confusion. Bruton looks like he wants to take the outside man, but then Richardson shoos him back inside. The ball is snapped. Williams streaks down the sideline uncovered. Jarrett runs a post. Richardson sort of splits the difference, unsure of whom to cover, while Bruton hangs out in middle with nothing to do. It's an easy pitch-and-catch to Jarrett down the middle. Richardson reacts to the ball in the air, recovers, and tries to tackle Jarrett after the catch, but can't wrap up and instead bounces off. Jarrett gallops into the end zone. Booty had his choice of two wide-open receivers. Horrible miscommunication by the Irish defense.		Worst play of the game. The backbreaker. Miscommunication leads to blown coverage, then a poor attempt at a tackle gives up the touchdown.
2-57	TOUCHDOWN, 17-37
ND Drive 12. It's not looking good. We're down by 20 with only 8 minutes to go, and we need a quick score. Unfortunately, we get a long, drawn-out drive instead. We run a series of nice plays here, dinking and dunking our way down the field, and getting six first downs in the process. Even thought we're running a hurry-up, it takes us 14 plays to get down the field. An 18-yard pass to Samardzija brings us to first and goal at the 9, and we can't punch it in. The maddeningly stubborn SC defense holds us to 4th & goal, when Terrell Thomas gets called for pass interference, and it starts all over. First and goal, second and goal, third and goal, and finally -- Quinn hits Samardzija on a fade for the score. That's eight plays inside the ten yard line. 3:39 left in the game, down by two scores. Let's onsides kick it.		Took way too long to get down the field.	At least we scored.
14-78	TOUCHDOWN, 24-37
SC Drive 12. Does this even count as a drive? Carl Gioia executes the worst onsides kick I've ever seen, chopping the ball way short of the coverage. Brian Cushing snaps it up and runs it back for a touchdown. The final nail in the coffin.		We had an outside chance until this blunder.
0-0	RETURN FOR TD, 24-44
ND Drive 13. The last drive for the Irish is an exercise in futility. Quinn hits Grimes for a nice gain of 27 yards into SC territory. After that, it's a sack, an incomplete pass, a pass complete on 3rd & 16 to make it 4th & 1, and a final incomplete pass ending the drive.
5-36	Downs
SC Drive 13. The Trojans get the ball back with about a minute and a half left, and run out the clock.
4-44	Game

If you told me that we would a) win the turnover battle, b) have the same number of yards as SC (404), and c) Quinn would throw more touchdowns (3) than any other opponent had against SC this year, I would have predicted an Irish win. But as we can see, the problems were pervasive: offense, defense, special teams, playcalling, coverage, communication, mistakes, poor execution. Any way you slice it, it was a butt-kickin'.

(In fact, the only good thing to come out of this game is that we inadvertently screwed Michigan out of a rematch with the Buckeyes. A good thing, no doubt, but now I don't have a use for my t-shirt idea. Bummer.)

It's tempting to say it's strictly the defense that let us down, from poor schemes (middle wide open early on), to biting on fakes (Zibby), to miscommunication (final Jarrett TD), to poor tackling. And yet we had some spectacular defensive plays as well, especially the two interceptions by Richardson and Laws, some fine run-stopping, and a nice TD pass breakup by Lambert.

But the truth is that both units (well, all three) were manifestly culpable. We had 12 possessions in the game and only scored on 4 of them; our conversion rate was horrendous; our playcalling was suspect in the red zone; we dropped too many passes. It's two years into the Charlie Weis era, and we still can't get the short yardage reliably when we absolutely need it.

Let's give due deference to the Trojans. Their offense had us twisted in knots for much of the game. Jarrett is absolutely incredible, and just as Reggie Bush was "the difference" in the SC game last year, Jarrett was "the difference" this year. Their young secondary is tremendous, with superb recovery speed and instincts. Terrell Thomas batting the ball away from McKnight in the end zone was amazing. Against any other coverage, that's a touchdown.

Where do we go from here? To a bowl game, and hopefully to a win. But next October looms large even now, and the Trojans are a young team loaded for the future. Their secondary starts two freshmen and a sophomore, Maulauga is a sophomore, Gable is a true freshman, Booty is around for another year (with Sanchez right behind him), and Patrick Turner steps into Jarrett's shoes next year. Someday we'll beat these guys again, and I hope it's sooner rather than later, but we've got our work cut out for us.

Halftime | by Jay

At one of the breaks in the SC game, ABC showed a clip from the Trojan pep rally from the night before. Right after the rally, on the eve of the biggest game of the season, the players had a little "pep circle" of their own, hootin' and hollerin' and having a good time.



That's Petey on the far right.

Maybe our players do this kind of stuff to stay loose as well. I don't know. I don't want to extrapolate too much from just a minute of footage, but for the first time in the Pete Carroll era, color me a little envious. Here our team struggles and plays tight, while their team looks like they're having the time of their lives. Our man shows up on 60 Minutes cursing players out left and right, while their man pops out in a Wonderbread jumpsuit.

There's no question Petey runs a terribly loose ship. But say what you will about his gumchewing, backslapping, goofball antics, somehow he keeps his team relaxed and confident for the big games.

The Trojans are in the midst of one of the great runs in college football history. They're 47-3 since 2003, having won three Heismans and 1-1/2 national titles. They're probably in the title game again this year. And they're having a blast doing it.

End Game | by Jay

I rewatched the rest of the game last night with the Tivo remote in hand, a dictaphone, and a clipboard, deconstructing the debacle like a detective from CSI: Coliseum. Southern Cal is a talented team, sure, but as in the Michigan game, it seemed like we shot ourselves in the foot quite a bit. Thus I wanted to look at all the missed opportunities, tally 'em up and see where the drives broke down for us.

Right off the bat, something is different: Zbikowski shows up for the kickoff return. I'm mystified, but then Charlie mentioned in his interview yesterday he wanted to get a bunch of starters involved in special teams, to have "all hands on deck", which was a rallying cry in the week leading up to Southern Cal. I guess we're pulling out all the stops; everything but the green jerseys. (Zibby actually ends up doing a pretty good job on KO return.)

Plays/Yards	Result	What went wrong?	What went right?
ND Drive 1. Terrific catch by McKnight down the left sideline to start the game, a 38-yard pass. The field looks patchy, and Samardzija slips twice on two more plays, once on a swing pass and another on route downfield. (Maybe SC should have grown the grass a little bit to prevent injuries?) ND stalls out at 4th & 9 on the SC 29. If we had a more reliable kicking game, I think we would try the FG (a 46-yarder) here, but instead we go for it. Morton gets blown off the ball by a defensive lineman and Brady has to scramble and improvise, overthrowing McKnight in the end zone.		Samardzija slips twice; bad blocking/good pressure by SC on 4th down.
5-39	Downs
SC Drive 1. Southern Cal immediately goes to the air. Booty hits Gable for a long pass, and converts two more third downs on passes down the middle to Turner and the TE Davis. The middle coverage (or lack thereof) looks wide open. It's first and goal on the 9, and Booty hits Jarrett on a lob over the middle. The coverage seems to be there; it seems like Ndukwe had a play on the ball, but gets outrebounded by the taller Jarrett.		Poor coverage over the middle; athletic play by Jarrett.
8-71	TOUCHDOWN, 0-7
ND Drive 2. The sequence is Walker run for 5 yards, incomplete pass, incomplete pass. On the last incomplete, McKnight simply drops an inside slant that would have converted. We're forced to punt, and the coverage is terrible: there's nobody down the right side and Reed goes 43 yards to the ND 26 before Price forces him out of bounds.		McKnight drops a third down conversion.
3-5	Punt
SC Drive 2. From the ND 26, Booty hits Steve Smith over the middle (again) who comes down right in front of the goal line. Two plays later Jarrett makes his second TD grab, another jump ball with Richardson right on him.		Terrible punt coverage results in short field for SC; two terrific grabs by Smith & Jarrett.
3-26	TOUCHDOWN, 0-14
ND Drive 3. Starting at our own 20, Quinn finds Freeman for a first down, then again for a first down, then Walker breaks a run for another first down. We're moving the ball well and Freeman looks to be comfortable filling Carlson's shoes. On second and 10 from the SC 34, McKnight drops a touchdown pass at the back of the end zone that goes through his hands. Next play, Samardzija makes a leaping grab down to the SC 9, setting up first and goal. Sequence goes: rollout right, throw it away; pass to McKnight on an in-and-out route, where Terrell Thomas makes one of the best recoveries and pass knockdowns I've ever seen; Quinn looks for Freeman over the middle but misfires and overthrows him. Gioia kicks the FG.		McKnight drops a TD; Terrell Thomas makes a great play in the end zone to bat away another TD; Quinn overthrows Freeman. Another failure to convert.	We're finally on the board. Gioia hits his kick.
14-71	FIELD GOAL, 3-14
SC Drive 3. Starts off with a short kickoff by ND and no discernible coverage downfield; SC returns to the SC 41. SC starts running the ball; this drive will feature 7 rushes and two passes. Gable gets a first down on a burst through a tackle; Abiamiri should have taken him down but he slipped out. On the next play, Jarrett beats man coverage by Richardson; gets him all turned around and bumfuzzled -- 25 yards down to the ND 19. On the plus side, it looks like we adjusted coverages to compensate for the wide-open middle on the previous two drives, switching to a man-under zone here with Richardson assigned to Jarrett. No matter; Jarrett just beats him on a move and turns him right around. SC rushes a few times, then there's a key play here on 4th & 1: a fake quarterback sneak by Booty with a pitchout to Gable who beats Zibby around the side for 9 yards and nearly a TD. Watch Zibby bite on the dive fake -- Booty sells it pretty well -- and Zibby can't recover, missing an open-field tackle (and committing a facemask to boot). Booty sneaks it in for the TD.		Missed tackle by Abiamiri; Richardson can't keep up with Jarrett on the fake; Zibby bites on the fake sneak and fails to tackle on 4th & 1.
9-59	TOUCHDOWN, 3-21
ND Drive 4. Zibby returns the kick again, out to the ND 21. After a Walker run, Quinn tries to force one to Samardzija, but Dallas Sartz bats down the pass on the inside slant -- great coverage. On third and seven, BQ drops back to pass, finds no one, and takes off on a 60-yard scamper down to the 17, breaking a couple of tackles along the way. Tremendous run by Quinn. A couple of runs and a pass and we've got another first down, converting on a draw to Walker up the middle. On first and goal, Walker gets pegged on a dive and coughs up the ball (he also got shaken up on the play, but would return). SC recovers.		Walker fumbles in the red zone.	BQ ate up most of the field on his long run; we converted again and were poised to score.
7-72	Fumble
SC Drive 4. Terrific defensive stand by the Irish; we force a three-and-out on three incomplete passes intended for Smith and Jarrett. SC punts. But Steve Quinn jumps in there and blocks it! Irish ball on the SC 7.			Excellent pass coverage; blocked punt.
3-0	Blocked Punt
ND Drive 5. First and goal. First play, a thread-the-needle bullet to Freeman in the end zone. I feel like we're back in this thing.			Perfect throw by BQ and good hands by Freeman.
1-7	TOUCHDOWN, 10-21
SC Drive 5. A line drive kickoff bounces around and SC ends up at the 19. On the first play, Booty tries to hit Jarrett down the middle again, but this time Richardson reads it perfectly and picks it off. Beautiful play. Rich runs step for step and turns right into the pass. ND finally takes away the middle (for a while, anyway). Now I really feel like we're back in it.			Awesome INT by Richardson.
1-0	Interception
ND Drive 6. Ball on the ND 48. We run a trick play, something we haven't ever seen before. Grimes lines up at running back, takes the handoff from BQ and then immediately looks to pass the ball to McKnight who's streaking down the left sideline. Rhema's covered, so Grimes tucks and runs for two yards. This play was a bust because Grimes didn't sell the run, and the CB covering McKnight never dropped off. A pass to Samardzija makes it 3rd & 1, and then disaster strikes. First, the Irish attempt an identical fake-sneak-it-and-pitch that Booty and Gable ran with such aplomb a few drives earlier. When ND runs it, however, Sartz never bites on the sneak and wraps up Walker for a loss with a clean, open field tackle. (Zibby, take a note). On fourth and 1, BQ finds McKnight open on a slant and puts the ball on the money -- and Rhema drops it. Again. That's one catch, three drops by Rhema so far: a nice catch to open the game, then a dropped third down conversion, a dropped TD, and a dropped fourth down conversion.		Grimes trick play goes nowhere; fake sneak & pitch fails miserably to convert 3rd and 1; Rhema drops another catch on 4th down.
4-7	Downs
SC Drive 6. Another great stop by the Irish defense. First, Crum drops Gable for a 8-yard loss, then Trevor Laws (!) gets his first interception of his career, dropping into coverage, putting a paw on a ball over the middle and hauling it in.			Superb tackle by Crum; Laws makes a helluva interception.
2-(-8)	Interception
ND Drive 7. It's our ball on the SC 36. At this point there's about 3:30 left in the half; plenty of time to punch it in. What happens? We run a draw that goes nowhere; Brady has to scramble out of bounds on a pass when the blocking breaks down; BQ fires one over the head of McKnight on a bad pass. It's 4th & 4 on the 32. As in the opening drive, here's another situation where we might have kicked a FG to get within 8 points (if we had a decent kicker). Instead we have to go for it, and we don't just try for the first down, we go for all the marbles. BQ tries to hit Samardzija on a fade to the right corner of the end zone, but it's way too long. That's three times we go for it on fourth, and three times we miss.		BQ throws two uncatchable passes; lack of a kicker forces another 4th-down try. Questionable decision to go for the end zone when all we need is 4 yards.
4-4	Downs
SC Drive 7. 2:19 left, and Southern Cal decides to turtle until the half. Three runs by Gable go nowhere and Southern Cal has to punt.
3-1	Punt
ND Drive 8. 22 seconds left, ball on the ND 27. Quinn hits Freeman for a nice first down pass, but the clock runs out and that's the half.
3-12	Half

Let's take a station break here. At the half, it's an 11-point game: 21-10 Southern Cal. The offense has sputtered, failing on three 4th down conversions, and McKnight is the first-half goat with three crucial drops. On defense, after getting out-hustled, out-jumped, and out-maneuvered by Jarrett, the D has salvaged itself with a middle adjustment and two interceptions. Unfortunately the offense couldn't capitalize on the turnovers, especially with the short field after the Laws interception. The special teams are a mixed bag: we gave up a big return that set up a Trojan TD, but we also blocked a punt deep in SC territory that led to seven points.

Stats at the half:

                  ND        SC
Total Yds        218       149
3rd-Down     5 of 10    2 of 5
4th-Down      0 of 3    1 of 1

We had the ball 7 times (discarding the short possession right before the half) and came away with 10 points. That's terrible. Yet despite the inefficiency on offense and the TD passes given up on defense, we're still very much in it, and the defensive adjustments have to be encouraging: the Trojans have failed to score on their last four possessions. Too bad it all goes to hell in the second half.

(One quick PSA during the half: I'd like to take this opportunity to say that Brent Musburger was an exceptional doofus in the booth for this game, even by his usual standards of doofusness. See you after the break.)