DomerMQ is brutalized by life this week, hence his permanent MIA-ness on the site, and my getting a shot at the Irish Blogger Gathering, courtesy of fellow Californian OC Domer this week.

1. The weather forecast for Saturday’s game (as of this writing) has the high temperature in the mid 40’s with some chance of rain (or snow?). What weather would give Notre Dame the best chance to beat USC? Why?

Mid-20’s and a light snow. NO rain. NEVER NEVER NEVER. We want the cold. Teach these socal pansies what it’s like to play in some snow (Ummmm, yes, I’m a socal pansy. Damn). But the cold will help ND. USC players just aren’t used to it, and they’d most certainly struggle a bit more than ND to adapt and thrive. No rain, but I could go for a very light snow. Why? Well, we’re a passing team. Lots of rain or a wet snow would make it tougher on us to execute. USC just wants to run all day long, and they have the ability to do so. Anything wet is an advantage for SC. So I say light snow, just for the intimidation factor.
Note: I don’t think the weather really makes much of a difference at all, but I guess I think this is the best we could hope for to get that 1% advantage or whatever.

2. Irresistable Force or Immovable Object? Notre Dame’s offense is ranked #10 in yards (470 per game) and #27 in points (32.6 per game). USC’s defense is ranked #6 in yards allowed (238.6 per game) and #4 in scoring allowed (just 8.6 points per game). In 2008 Notre Dame had just 91 total yards against USC. Will the Notre Dame offense be able to move the ball on Saturday? If so, how?

USC’s defense is good. Very good. But they also haven’t played anyone near the caliber of ND. (no Top 40 offenses to date). ND’s offense is very good. Maybe great. But we haven’t played anyone near the caliber of USC (not even close).

ND will most certainly move the ball. But it’s not going to look like our games earlier in the year. With Floyd, maybe we’d have approached 80-90% of our average production. Without him, we’ll move the ball, but not to the tune of 400 yards and 30 points.
As I mentioned in my keys to the game, ND has to have a running game to have a shot at winning, and we need a running game just to have a decent offensive performance. But I have no doubt we’ll move it.

3. USC’s offense is #22 in yards (430.6 per game) and #53 in scoring (28.8 points per game). Notre Dame’s defense is #100 in total defense (403.2 yards per game) and #59 in scoring defense (allowing 23.8 points per game). Will the Notre Dame defense be able to slow down the USC offense? If so, how?

This is pretty much asking if we’ll win. If we do slow down/stop their offense, even sporadically, we have a great chance to win. I expect fits and starts in this game, much like the first 5. I think we’ll have series where we look great on D, and we force a 3-and-out, or limited gains, but USC will also be able to put together drives that put points on the board. ND needs balls-out play from the front 7 to stop the run, and we have to hope that Barkely’s youth shows when he’s put in the pressure cooker, in cold weather, with 80,000 fans (hopefully) screaming DEATH KILLDESTROY in his face.
If USC gets 4+ YPC production out of the running game, though, we’re in for a long day.

4. In 2008, with Michael Floyd unable to play due to injury, Golden Tate had 2 catches against USC for a team-high 15 receiving yards. How do you expect Golden Tate to play against USC this year?

Golden will play well. He’s an athlete, pure and simple. But this year, he’s a smart athlete. He knows routes, he knows how to make the most of a play, and Weis has been putting him in great positions to avoid doubles and therefore to make plays. But, he won’t be able to do it on his own.
If Tate is the only ND threat in this game, we’re done before we start. Of course the backfield of Allen/Hughes and Rudolph will need to be mixed in, but Shaq Evans and Robby Parris need to have excellent games as well. These 2 guys will be key to keeping the USC DBs off-balance. They have to run great routes, they can’t make big mistakes, and they have to catch the ball when it comes their way. In a weird way, they will have as much to do with Tate’s performance as Tate himself.

5. Jimmy Clausen has started to get some Heisman buzz. In your opinion, which Notre Dame player is the most deserving of Heisman attention, Jimmy or Golden Tate? Why?

Jimmy, hands-down. Tate has been amazing, and this isn’t meant to take away from him, but the Heisman is no longer a ‘best player’ award. It’s the best QB on the best team award. And given that, Jimmy’s the only option. Forgetting even the new semi-lame definition for the award, I have to go with Jimmy anyway. Tate started the year off slow. We barely saw him against Nevada, and one could argue that he’s a major reason for the loss to Michigan (which sucks). He’s most certainly come through in a HUGE way for the team in the last few games, but Jimmy has done so all season long, through injuries, and through last minute drives. He’s also served as a leader of the team, both offense and defense, and that should play in here as well. Jimmy all the way.

6. Overrated or Underrated. Notre Dame cracked into the AP Poll at #25 this week. Are they overrated or underrated at #25? Where would you put them in your poll?

We are where we should be. And we’ll be where we should be after Saturday (unranked with a Loss, Top 15 with a W). Polls are generally BS until Week 6, but in our case I think the nutjobs that fill out their ballots actually have it about right as far as ND is concerned.

7. USC Song Girls: Ambassadors of Collegiate Goodwill or Anachronism from a bygone era of oppressive sexist stereotypes?

Song Girls are most definitely a strong representation of old school sexist stereotypes. And I wouldn’t change a thing.

8. Green Jerseys? There’s a lot of “green” talk coming from campus this week, and it raises the question of whether the team will be wearing green on Saturday. Do you want to see the green jerseys or not? Why?

My hope? No. My gut? No. But I could be wrong.

I get why it’s tempting. It’s different, it’s fun, it’s a cool tradition. But it’s also completely f-ed out. When you bust out the green jerseys and proceed to get slaughtered by 60, the gimic is no longer working. I think it’s time to put the green in the vault for a few years until this program is fully turned around, or until we’re playing this same game as favorites, with NC implications on the line.

That said, Weis has been very adamant that we’ll be wearing blue. Which could very well mean that we’ll be green. But I don’t think we need the gimic. I think the players will be geeked up without it, and I think the speech is ‘hey fellas, this isn’t about what’s outside, it’s about what’s inside’ and blah blah blah. We don’t need no stinking green jerseys to beat USC. We need solid, sharp play, and a shit-ton of heart.

9. Name the next number in this sequence: -3, -20, -38, -35, _______. Explain.

I was never good at these. And I just don’t see the logic. I was subtracting 17 (+1) each time, +1, but then we ADD 3 all of a sudden? F. No idea.

So I’m going to go with this as my answer: < 120.

As in, this game will be decided with less than 120 ticks of the clock on the board. It’s going to be the 4th quarter, it will have been a slugfest back and forth, and ND will almost certainly be trailing, with the game on the line, with less than 2 minutes left (again). From there? Who knows. I just know that we have a shot at this one, that it’s going to take a lot of chips falling in the right place for us to take home the W, and that I firmly believe this team is capable of making that happen. It’s just up to them to go out and take it.

NOTE: I know what it means, I just don’t know how to predict this score. If forced, I’d like to say +1, but -3 is probably more likely. I don’t want to think that this is the most likely result, I don’t. And I’m hoping, wishing, praying, rooting for a + ANY# result. My rational side says -3, my ND-centric-homer-fan-side says +1.

Fine. +1!

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