Gentlemen, That Didn’t Need To Be Close, Let Alone A Loss

This team is as maddening as everyone expected it to be. And sure, a lot of the madness can probably be attributed to the youth of the team, particularly the youth of the “play makers” on the team, but at this point in the season – the 8th game – one might hope that the sophomores behave a little more like juniors and the freshmen a little more like sophomores. In the 8th game, one might hope that the team would have figured out that, unlike the 2007 Irish, teams don’t just lay down and quit after giving up a 14 point lead in the 1st half.

That’s all I can figure as an explanation for the behavior of the 2008 Irish. Most people operate in this world formulating their actions based on expected reactions, and we create our idea of expected reactions based on what we ourselves would do. Maybe these Irish of 2008 just figure every team they’re “beating soundly” in the 1st half will do exactly as they’ve done in the past: quit.

Much has been made of Golden Tate’s quotations after the last 2 games regarding how the Irish “let up” after building a 14 point lead. As frustrating as I found the 1st quotation, after the Washington game, I find the 2nd quotation just mind-boggling in that way that makes you realize why parents spank their kids even after they touch a hot stove. Kids are stupid, and it takes a long time for kids to learn. Sometimes kids need a learning-accelerant.

Seriously, how can this squad not learn a lesson after nearly letting Stanford back into the game, losing a game it was “comfortably leading” against UNC, and not putting up at least 40 points on Washington? How is the mission of the team for the very next game not something akin to, “make their mommas cry for mercy?”

56-0
62-28
59-17
49-10
44-14
58-0



Note to Notre Dame’s players: those numbers up above represent the recent scores for Southern Cal over Washington, Oklahoma over Nebraska, Oklahoma State over Iowa State, Florida over Georgia, TCU over UNLV, and Stanford – Jesus, Stanford! – over Washington State. Why is it only ND has to stop beating on an opponent? Why haven’t the other teams gotten word that you should stop trying to score after getting a bit of a lead? When do they all get the memo that you’re not supposed to humiliate the other team? I’m pretty sure Florida plays Georgia again next year. You think they were worried about that while hanging 20 more points on the already beaten dogs? You think Stanford was worried about their Karma?

Knute Rockne said, “Show me a good and gracious loser and I’ll show you a failure.” It’s the responsibility of the winning team to make the losing team feel pain and humiliation. And anguish. Do not forget the anguish. Otherwise, the winning team does the losing team the disservice of making them feel like failures. And nobody wants that.

There are a lot of really pissed off people in the Notre Dame fan-club, and I’m one of them. I’ve waited more than 24 hours to calm down, and I have, but here’s what I’ve decided about this team…

I’m going to support this team for the rest of the year. I’m going to cheer for them. I’m going to defend them. I’m going to celebrate their victories and mourn their losses, but I will no longer believe in their ability to be winners because they simply haven’t shown it. All this talk by the players all season long about “getting their respect?” Well guess what, kids, I’m now cheering for you the way a parent cheers for his little kid when the kid has a pop-fly heading his way and the parent knows full well that all the cheering and love in the world probably isn’t going to save the kid from getting smacked right in the face with the ball. How’s that for respect?

It’s time to take on an us-against-the-world mentality, Irish, because nobody on this planet believes in you. Your girlfriends all secretly think you’re losers, no matter what they say. Your parents all just want you to be happy, and hope you can still be happy even if you can’t beat a team that is mediocre or better. Lou Holtz might pick you to win on ESPN College Gameday, but that’s all just scripting by the writers. Win against BC this week, and the only way it’ll even make anyone feel slightly enthused is if it’s by 30 or more points. That’s college football today. That’s the way the game is played, and you can bet you last pair of blue and gold boxers that every team in the country would happily hang 80 on you if they could.

Details for the Devil:

• Internet Boo-Birds and Coaching Roulette: There’s a lot of talk now about how “Weis just isn’t the man,” and I find the simple act of voicing those opinions annoying and cowardly. As near as I can tell, the hiring of a head coach is a lot like roulette. After you’ve picked a number, and put your chips on the line, you always get that guy telling you, “that’s a bad pick. No way that number comes up.” And then the number you picked doesn’t come up, and that jerk tells you, “I told you so.” With every loss for the Irish under Weis’ tenure, you see far too many people teeing off on the old, “I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: He’s not the guy that can take ND to a National Championship.” And this builds on itself more and more, and every loss is another chance for these people to say, “I told you so.” Of course, if our number does come up with Weis, his supporters will never be afforded an opportunity to say, “we told you so,” and really, why would they want to do that when they could better spend their time celebrating a national championship? You rarely ever hear the roulette hecklers call a number, and it’s even more rare to see an internet boo-bird suggest a viable HC alternative. In short, don’t listen to anyone on the internet, including us at HLS. Hopefully you read for light, mindless diversion because we write for mindless catharsis and laughs. Anything more serious than that could only be bad. Further, while there’s ALWAYS a point in a coach’s career where it’s objectively clear that they aren’t fit for the job (see also: Willingham, Tyrone), I just don’t think that point has been reached by Weis. I can’t say that it’s clear he’ll win a national championship, but then, about whom could that be said until they do win one? (Now, again, remember what I just warned you about listening to crackpots on the internet.)
• False Start: I’m not blaming Harrison Smith for this loss. I’m blaming the Irish’s lack of will. They lack will to annihilate their opponents first and foremost, and they lack the will to overcome the occasions of very bad things. Before Harrison Smith got flagged for thinking that nobody was looking while he laid out a Pitt receiver after the whistle (Note to ND OL: That’s what laying a guy out looks like – the guy ends up on the ground), Pitt was averaging 2.8 yards per offensive play. Suddenly, to start the 3rd quarter, the Irish defense went from getting a nice looking 3-and-out to giving up a big, 2nd half-starting TD drive. And after that penalty, Pitt used that momentum to average 5.9 yards per play. Also suddenly: the Irish offense went from springing off the bench and strapping their helmets on for a new possession to watching and waiting. I think that’s got to feel a lot like a sprinter who gets hit with a false start – it’s tough to spring out of the blocks after the reset. Still, while I equate that all to a convenient metaphor, it doesn’t excuse going from 6.5 yards per play in the 1st half offensively to 3.9 yards per play in the 2nd. That’s a lack of will to overcome bad things on both sides of the ball all because the start of the 3rd quarter was a little awkward.
• Just Give Him The Damned Ball! As awful as ND’s running game is – and at this point, no amount of statistical spin can change that – it’s time to declare Armando Allen the #1 tailback-who-shall-not-leave-the-field-unless-he-must-be-carried-off. Ever tried run blocking from any position on the field? It’s hard enough with 1 guy, but when it’s multiple “regular” guys, it’s even harder. You really do block differently for different backs. As a result, the OL has a harder time finding a rhythm. Allen’s first half rush numbers were gains of: 5, 4, 15, 1, 4, 11, and 5. For an average of 6.4 yards per carry. He then all but disappears until overtime. That’s absolutely insane. You get a guy averaging 6.4 yards per carry in the 1st half, you run that horse until his legs fall off in the second. For that matter, why did he only get 7 carries in the first half versus, say, 20?

That’s it for this week. On to next week. I’m pissed. I’m pissed at Weis. I’m pissed at the entire coaching staff. I’m pissed at the players. I’m pissed at the managers. I’m pissed at the student section. I’m pissed at the OL. Yeah, I know that they already fall under my being pissed at the players, but I’m double-pissed at them. Weis has said he’s going to try to “mix things up a bit” this week because he didn’t want it to be business as usual. Good. Maybe it’s time for angry-Weis to come back out from wherever he’s been hiding. I commend him on getting closer to his team, but right about now I’d commend him for cutting a player this week and threatening to keep doing it until the Irish start playing excellent football. There’s something going on that just feels like maybe things have become too fun for the team. You know, even without all the “winning.”