Courtesy of B&G, check out this video of the field post-Stanford game.   You’ll get the pushing and shoving, the Konrad Reunion and post-game Alma Mater singing.  HT: NDnation’s Rock’s House

Observations:

• Anybody that says that this team doesn’t play with emotion should just look/listen/FEEL what’s going on there at the end of the game. This team has fight in them, and they’re not going to back down from anybody.  Yeah, they slowed up a lot in the 4th Quarter last week, but made the plays when needed (well, the D did)
• Konrad is obviously still well-liked in the ND locker room.  While they obviously didn’t feel the same need to bail, they still like and respect the guy.  I think that’s a testament to the kind of guys we have on this squad.
• Watch for Armando Allen wearing the Leprechaun’s hat.  Awesome.
• The squad is getting better at football, but the singing needs some work.  They get a bit ahead of the alma mater, then let the band catch up, and finish strong.  The Glee Club, this is not (thank the lord).

Enjoy.

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Brian from MGOBlueballs.com on the 2-3 Skunkbears after Illi-bringthe-nois dropped 45 on them in a crushing defeat:

But now it’s pretty hard to come to any conclusion other than “they just suck.”

Wheeeeeeee! 

That’s fun.

With a schedule including Toledo, Michigan (sucks) might actually eeeeeeek out another win, and you can pretty much guarantee at least 4 more losses for the ‘bears (PSU, OSU, MSU, NWU) - resulting in a good-if-you-like-skunkbears-prediction of 5-7 to close out the year.  But this team could also very easily drop 2 more against Purdue and Minnesota, for a nice 3-9 finish.   After their fans’ ”we’ll never look like ND last year because of blah blah blah blah” BS earlier this year, that would be quite nice.  But I think they’ll pull out one of those wins and finish a slightly-less-horrid 4-8. 

Joy all around.

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No, not that Shaq.  This Shaq is a MUCH better athlete, and frankly, much more important.  THIS Shaq:

Shaquelle Evans is a stud WR recruit from the LA area (love it when a kid local to me considers ND) that recently dropped his soft verbal to USC and now has ND in the lead.  He’s in the ESPN 150, the Rivals 100 as a solid 4-star and the #9 WR on Scout and a 4-star there as well.  He’s good, and digging ND after a visit for the Purdue game:

“Right now, I’m really feeling Notre Dame,” Evans said. “I had a great trip back there and that’s where I feel most comfortable. It’s hard to explain but I just felt so at home at Notre Dame and I’ve never felt that way around any other school.”

“I loved being around the players and the coaches,” Evans said. “The game atmosphere was incredible, but like I said, the main thing for me was just that comfort level. I’ve always been told and always believed that you should go where you feel most comfortable and right now for me, that’s Notre Dame.”

There’s absolutely no doubt that Mr. Evans has seen how ND’s pass offense works, how good its young QB is, and how dynamic the plays have been by young WR studs Michael Floyd and Golden Tate.  Shaquelle is clearly comfortable around the ND players and staff, and I’m sure that’s huge, but I also think he’s starting to see what he could be at ND:  part of a somewhat ridonculous air attack, which should be complemented by a more solid run game with continued gelling of the ND O-line, and its stable of RB’s (which will include Cierre Wood by the time Shaquelle enrolls).

I think Shaq will be the next big ND recruit to commit, and I can’t wait to go down to see him play at Inglewood High in a few weeks.   I’ll be sure to wear a bunch of ND gear and give him a solid Notre Dame Family hello, and I’ll report back with what I see, and hopefully some pictures.

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If you’re into stats (DomerMQ anyone?), then the answer might be yes.  With a record low number of arrests at the Stanford game, on the heels of a ton of arrests previous weeks along with the big house party bust-up fiasco, it at least SEEMS as if there’s been a message handed down from the big boys.

I guess we’ll see if this restraint continues, or if it’s just a temporary thing to try to dampen the internet rage going on about mistreatment, abuse and gestapo tactics by cops at ND games.

Personally, I saw one security guard all day Saturday, despite drinking non-stop from 8:30am to game time, and that guard was extremely nice.  And the boozing remained fun.

So, we’ll see…

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They need some sense slapped into them!

Dagnabbit!  Rackemfrackemgarbleygoop!  I used to walk uphill both ways to school!  Get off my lawn!!! Other older person sayings!!!

This kid needs some serious edumacation.  Since when do Notre Dame students (and DILLON GUYS in particular) write in to the Observer to defend other institutions???  And especially institutions as hated as Penn State????

I am writing to make evident another cheer performed at our football games that is clearly a signature cheer at a different school. I’m talking about the different parts of the stadium shouting, “We–Are–N–D” in response to cheerleaders holding up the respective signs. To anyone like me who has been an avid Penn State fan for most of his life, this cheer completely infringes upon Penn State’s trademark “We Are Penn State.” For those oblivious to Penn State’s cheer, the song officially called “Kernkraft 400″ by Zombie Nation is sometimes played in Beaver Stadium after a good play, and there is a point in the song when the entire stadium (100,000+) chants in unison, “We Are Penn State” If you are still skeptical, a quick Youtube search for ‘Penn State Zombie Nation’ might be worthwhile. Now don’t get me wrong - I would pick ND above Penn State any day, and so I have no complaints about just the student section doing the “We Are (clap clap) N.D. (clap clap)” at appropriate times, but the official cheerleader cheer that gets the whole stadium saying it needs to be eliminated. The concept of the entire stadium chanting “We Are…” is, I believe a Penn State tradition.

Kid, you’re killing me.  First of all, your argument is flawed because you grew up a PSU fan.  We already know this makes you 90% moron.  Second, the PSU cheer you reference, linked below, is NOTHING LIKE THE ND CHEER! Compare yourselves…

Lame PSU Cheer   (embedded video not working today, sorry for forcing you to click on a link - the horror!)

ND Cheer

Yes, both have the words “We are INSERT SCHOOL” in them.  Okay, so they share two words.  Two words that are shared by EVERY OTHER SCHOOL IN THE FREAKING COUNTRY THAT HAS A “We are INSERT SCHOOL” cheer - which is EVERY OTHER SCHOOL IN THE FREAKING COUNTRY.

The difference is in presentation.  Notre Dame’s chant is a once-a-game ritual telling the world that “We Are Notre Dame.”  Penn State’s cheer is a raucous mad-house of a cheer with a cheesy pseudo-techno chant song in the background.  PSU students yell it quickly and jump up and down.  And they do it over and over and over.   ND fans say it slowly and the rest of the stadium is silent waiting for their letter.  The PSU song is led by whoever controls the sound system, ND’s by the cheerleaders.  This isn’t even nuance, this is night and day people.  What is happening to the Notre Dame education that this kid can’t get this? 

And you know what the worst part is????? The ND chant was created BEFORE this PSU crap. How do I know? Well, let’s check out the history:

I went to my first ND home game in 1996. In that game, we did the “We Are N D” chant. The freaking lame-ass KernKraft Zombie Nation song this kid loves so much came out…you guessed it, AFTER THAT. In 2000 to be exact.  So ND was doing this cheer FIRST.  Kid, just because you heard that version first because you grew up a PSU fan, doesn’t mean it CAME first. I mean, I’m sure you think an iPod came before a Walkman too. Sheesh.

This kid is just saying random things with no logic or facts to back them up.  I don’t rely on the argument about ND doing it first though, bc ND didn’t invent a cheer with “We are INSERT SCHOOL”…Yes, I know, shocking!!!! Unbelievable!!!!  There are a ton of schools that used it before ND.  But not in the same way. Not in the ND way. 

The kid’s right in that ND shouldn’t copy the Trojan War Chant.  We shouldn’t have the leprechaun running out with a buffalo ala the Colorado Buffaloes.  But this letter to the editor is absurd in its defense of PSU and in the way that defense is made.

Pretty soon he’ll say that ‘yay’ or ‘whoopee’ are copyrighted.  Give me a break, kid. 

Some may say this is minor.  Why are you spending so much time on this Biscuit?  There are more important things - like the Bailout, ND-Stanford, Cops being Gestapo on ND’s campus, discussions of Hot Pockets and such.   Well, I say it IS important.  Because if this is what ND students call ‘logic’, and this is what they think is important we have failed in 2 major ways as an institution:  1)  We’ve failed to help kids use their brains, at all   2)  We’ve failed at brainwashing kids to love ND over any other school they ever even thought to like a tiny little bit.  It’s ND or nothing baby.

Go Irish. 

Wait, no…I can’t say “Go INSERT TEAM” cuz other people use that.  Hmmmm…

Let’s go…nope

Here we go…nope.

Shit.

Irish be Good!

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PSU - IL

Wow. That White Out thing is sweet. Seriously, why can’t ND get a home field advantage so blatant? Can’t we just get ONE t-shirt color? Can’t we get such a crazy, loud crowd? But please please please never ever EVER play that stupid moronic song (over and over) and definitely don’t ever play such a cheesy sound effect as that horrid, horrid ‘cat growl’ thing. Lord, they’re killing me with that.

PSU will win the Big Televen.

They Still Suck

I don’t care if UM (sucks!) beat the #9 team in the country. They still suck. UW trying to run out the clock in the 2nd qtr is absurdly bad coaching. My call for the skunkbears? 6-6. Maybe. While DTK would love to think that the schedule gets easier, IU and Northwestern ain’t all that bad. And despite this win, UM (sucks) still sucks.

Georgia Learns that You Can’t Be Elite Just Because of the Skillz

Georgia was ranked highly largely because of the names at skill positions. Solid QB. Great RB. Good WRs. Flashy players here and there. What they learned today is that this game is very, very often won in the trenches in the college ranks. In the pros, everyone (for the most part) has a solid Ol and a solid DL. So the skill positions make the difference. In college, there is a great deal of difference in these areas. Alabama had a clear advantage in the trenches, and the result showed. 31-0 at one point? Wow.

SEC Madness

I was hanging with a guy from Georgia tonight, and it’s amazing how much these people drink the SEC kool-aid. Of course, USC losing fueled the fire. I dont get how USC losing means the SEC is better than it was on Wednesday, but that’s typical CFB fan logic. Meaning, there is no logic. Morinicalalysis.

The Top 15 has been dominated by the SEC, but that will change as the season goes on and impression is replaced by data. Yes, the SEC has good teams. But so does the Big 12 (Missouri, OK), Big Televen (PSU) and Pac-10 (USC is still pretty good).

Notre Dame Beats the Most Boring Program in History

Hellllllllllllllllllllllllll yes.

This is the team we’ve been waiting to see. Notre Dame came out and decided to suck it up for 15 minutes. Then, after about 2-3 minutes passing in the 2nd quarter, this team came alive offensively. The ball flew through the air. RB’s made blocks. Defenders played tight coverage and made things happen (can anyone say Blannnnnnnnnnnnnnnntoooooooooooon?). It was a sight to see.

This isn’t a perfect team, but improvement is there and there is NOTHING TO DISPUTE THAT.

Last year we won 3 games all year. This year we started 3-1. Last year we took a few games to get a passing TD. This year, Jimmy is on fire. Last year we looked lost and confused. This year we don’t look like a well-oiled machine, but players know their roles and what to do when for the most part. You know why? Because we’re no longer Frosh and Sophomores. Instead we’re Frosh, Sophomores and Juniors. We have 1 more year under our belts, and it shows. We’re better at D. We’re better at O. We’re better at emotion, at playing as a team, at execution of the game plan and at handling adversity.

We came out flat as hell this week, but we overcame it. Goooooooooooo Irish.

Jimmy Is Legit

I saw so many passes today where I stepped back and said “holly hell NYND (the only other cat in the chat room) did you SEE that pass?” Jimmy’s touch was beautiful today. He put passes right on the money, and with serious zip when needed. This kid will be a FORCE in 2 years. And we’re already seeing the emergence of a solid player with good, good skill.

The Running Game Comes Alive

Just when I was about ready to cash things in on that ‘vaunted’ right side of Stewart/Young, they come out and destroy some people, along with a little help from Rudolph. We were finally able to run with some consistency. Purdue’s DL isn’t the most amazing set of athletes, but this is still very encouraging. Loved to see it.

Armando’s Statement Game

The kid today showed what he can do. I think that AA fits Charlie’s style of game-planning better, and it may be that he’s featured more in the future. That said, CW plans for things based on the opponent, so this may be way wrong. But my guess is that this is the AA Show until there’s reason to believe that something else is a better call. Hughes and Aldridge will still get carries, but AA will be the featured back. Rather than the other way around.

Fresh Input

Kyle Rudolph, Robert Blanton and Trevor Robinson were BIG contributors today. These guys are freshmen. FROSH. Seriously, it’s their first college football season. We’re DEPENDING on these guys. And while they’re top-rated recruits, that’s a big ask. At USC, they’d have 2 years to develop before they were put under this kind of pressure. Those small mistakes and issues they’ve had, I’m okay with that. They’re growing up quickly, and I saw TONS of improvement in Rudolph’s blocking in particular. Can you imagine all these guys as Jr/Srs? Watch out.

Wow. This Combo WILL Be a Force

Jimmy at QB. Floyd, Tate, Walker, Rudolph at the WR and TE positions. Yards. Points.

Good QB Pressure

Though the sacks stat doesnt show it, we put a lot of pressure on Painter today to force some bad throws, and to keep him from setting his feet. The D wasn’t perfect, but they held when needed. The ability to shut down/disrupt Sheets early on was a key to the defensive gameplan. While he came back and was more affective later in the game, our ability to force them to be one-dimensional early was huge.

Tackle? Anyone?

I was disappointed in our inability to open-field tackle in this game. In the first few games I saw this as an area of strength. But we had troubles shedding blocks and wrapping guys up today. This was disappointing.

Defending the Slant

We couldn’t do this last week. We couldnt do this early this week. We could do this later in the game this week. Yay adjustments.

The Refs Owe Us Another 7 Points

That was a freaking catch.

Summary

Solid game from 5 minutes into the 2nd qtr to the final whistle. We need to come out and play fast sooner. We need to wrap up better and avoid costly penalties. But this team had rhythm on offense. This team had confidence and swagger. It had a balanced offense, and these guys had fun today. It was great to see.

Can someone please gag and bag every tool that called for CW’s head in the past week? Thank you.

GO IRISH.

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And Richard Jackson is finally home.

There was a lot of speculation about Jackson’s departure from the Irish this year.  There’s little doubt that the solid depth chart, especially with upcoming stars Golden Tate, Mike Floyd and Duval Kamara on it, was at least a PART of the decision.  But, it appears that it wasn’t THE reason for his leaving the team.

The real reason is much more important than playing time:

“I was really homesick at Notre Dame,” he said. “I had a lot of reasons I needed to be at home. My daughter is 16 months old, and I was missing out on a lot with her. Every time I got home, she would have learned something new that I didn’t get to see. It took her awhile to get used to me being around. I didn’t want her to go four or five years only seeing me three or four times a year. I want to be around her right now so that she knows, ‘That’s my dad, and he’s going to be with me every day.’

“My granddad isn’t doing so well, and I didn’t want to miss this chance to be around him,” Jackson said.

I won’t ever fault a guy for making a choice like this.  Be it a superstar starter or a walk-on scrub.  Family and being with family is more important than most things in this world, and I can’t begrudge someone that choice.  If I was him, I’d probably have done the same thing. 

I think it’s a shame that he couldn’t do both, and get an ND degree to help secure his future, but I’m happy to hear that he’s back with his daughter and grandfather, and is able to continue playing under 30-second-life-ND-coach-O-leary.  

Best of luck Richard. 

HT:  BGS

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Last year it was Stanford. The year before UCLA? This year - Oregon State Beavers.

USC is quickly becoming University of the Sudden Choke. Although, it’s not becoming sudden, or surprising anymore. It’s becoming routine.

In the past 3 seasons, USC has been STACKED in terms of talent. S-T-A-C-K-E-D. They’ve had clear paths to the MNC each of those years, and each year a team ’sneaks’ up on them. Even though, especially this year, they talked about how they WEREN’T GOING TO BE SURPRISED THIS TIME. THEY WERE GONNA BE FOCUSED. THEY HAVE THE LEADERSHIP AND DISCIPLINE TO BE FOCUSED…enough to lose to Oregon State.

There’s something about this program, this team (this coach maybe?) that just can’t stay focused. They followed up a shellacking of “good” OSU ohio version with a comfy bye week and an upset loss to “not as good” OSU Beaver version. Imagine the surprise.

Don’t do it, it’s a trap!!! No, seriously, PAY ATTENTION…

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This week I have spent a lot of time trying to drum (hilarious pun! most exciting thing to happen all week guaranteed!!!!!!!!!!!) up topics to write about here on HLS.  I came up with a ton of options:

• Recitation of Geometric Proofs
• Flossing Techniques:  Forehand vs. Backhand analysis
• Slug Racing
• Junior High Civics Class
• Golden Girl Re-run Marathon:  Friend or Foe?
• Purdue Football

But, in the end, they’re all just way too boring to spend time on.  Ah well…

Anything else out there that’s as boring as the Boilermaker program?  Anyone? 

Frye? 

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After 2 posts trying to talk people back off the ledge (although I’d prefer to see certain people jump already - you know who you are) in the last few posts, this post takes the other side of the coin.  Things weren’t great on Saturday, and so I’ve deemed it necessary for me to outline what I think went wrong, and some random ideas on how to fix it.   You’ll note a bit of sarcasm in here, and yes, it’s there.

Problem 1:  Fumbles.

Solution:  Hold onto the freaking ball.  Thankfully, this one isn’t too tough to figure out.  You teach young players to protect that ball like it’s the holy grail.  Nothing gets that ball loose. Nothing.  Take a hard hit?  Hold onto the ball.  Run into a freight train?  Hold onto the ball.  Get your ACL ripped up over your head?  Hold onto the ball.  This one’s pretty easy to implement.  It’s practice, strength and concentration.  Experience helps a lot too.  Just do it.

Problem 2:  Picks

Solution:  Most of our picks this year have been on Jimmy.  I think Jimmy has made vast improvement, but he has to know when to go for broke and when not to.  Even if the play is a downfield pass from the 30, you don’t HAVE to throw that pass every time.  There are options and he needs to use them.  The other issue, which MQ eloquently outlined below, is route running.   The WRs need to run good, crisp routes.  Whether they think the ball is coming their way or not.  Anything else is either 1) lack of understanding that this is important which is a youth/coaching problem or 2) laziness, which is often a youth/coaching problem.  Figure it out.  Fairly easy to implement, but it really just comes with maturity.  Shocker, the youngness of our QB/WR corps creates challenges.  SHOCKING I say.

Problem 3:  No Running Game

Solution:  There are 2 here.  Either the OL and the RBs need to develop very quickly and figure out how to play a zone blocking scheme, or the entire thing needs to be canned in favor of a more straight-forward/direct/easier to execute scheme.  Given the lack of progress here over 2 years, I’d say the latter is the way to go.  Give these guys some nice easy assignments and let them tee off.  The Zone Scheme is amazing if you can get it to work.  Well, it’s not working because our players can’t execute it.  This is something that is easily fixable if the staff wants to do so.  It requires a major adjustment midway into the season, but it’s better to do so now than December.  We need a running game to complement our passing game, and we’ll have one with this change.   This is a longer-shot of actually happening, as Weis is a pro-style guy and is probably pretty attached to the scheme.  Here’s to hoping he gives it consideration.  Barring that change, it will just take time for the backs and OL to get there, if they ever will. 

Problem 4:  Getting Busted at an Off-Campus Party the Night After a Loss and ~6 Months After Getting a Freaking DUI

Solution:  I’m not sure what I suggest here, other than getting Yeatman to have an f-ing clue.  1) You just got your ass handed to you - it’s not time to party.  2)  You got a DUI for DRIVING ON THE FREAKING ND SIDEWALK WASTED - it’s not time to party for YOU.  AT ANY TIME UNTIL YOU’RE 21!  This is just poor, poor judgment.  I’m not saying that kids shouldn’t get to party in college.  I’m just saying that you need to figure out your priorities.  You know how disappointed everyone was, including you, with what happened in the spring.  You went and talked to kids about not drinking and such.  Now you go get busted 3 games into the season, and at the least hurt the team due to an already-lacking depth at TE. I don’t know what CW/the admin should do, but Yeatman should most definitely take a look in the mirror and figure out what’s going on in his head.  This is not a commentary on the strictness of local ND police (which is lame), or ND (which is lame) or the drinking age or anything of the sort.  It’s a comment on a player that made a second terrible choice, and will likely pay for it.  As will his team(s).  This is up to the kid and administration. I have no clue what the admin will do, but I have serious doubts about Yeatman’s ability to make sound life decisions.  It’s not like he was slinging crack on the corner, but this is questionable decision-making at best.

Problem 5:  Kicking game

Solution:  Get a snapper that can snap the ball well.  Yes, this sounds easy and we know it’s not.  But it’s the only solution we have.  The kickers do look a lot better this year.  Do they look great/amazing?  No.  But there are stronger legs and more accuracy.  But there’s not a lot of confidence.  To get good results from kickers, you need confidence.  If you’re standing there wondering if you’re going to need to chase the snap and try to run away from 300 pound monsters on every kick, you’re not concentrating on kicking.  And we need that concentration.  So find a long snapper that can do the job already.  Unless there’s just nobody that can long snap, this isn’t too tough.  Takes practice, time and repetitions.  Time/experience.  Amazing how this has popped up a few times.

Problem 6:  The Sky is Falling We’re Terrible Everywhere There’s No Improvement Fire Charlie Now.

Solution:  Shut up you twit, have a beer and take a nap til December.  Then call me and pass your ‘oh so sound judgment’ then.  This has absolutely no chance of ever being implemented. And this is sad.  But I’ll try:  I triple dog dare you people that are calling for Charlie’s head now to hold off, and make that call in December.  If we’re sub-.500, I say ‘call away’.  If not, you get to drink a big glass of shut the hell up for an entire off-season.  

Wanna take that dare?  I didn’t think so.

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Literally a Student Manager sitting there typing in the down, distance and the MSU defense so the coaches didn’t have to do it later.  He should’ve been in the stands or anywhere other than the coach’s box, yes. One of the coaches should’ve pulled him out of there to do it elsewhere, yes.  But it’s also a 3-tier box and the kid was in the 3rd tier, with the coordinators down in the 1st tier, so it’s not like the more senior guys knew.  This is routine data gathering that they give to a student manager to free up a coach.  He just sat in the wrong chair (clearly not knowing that wasn’t okay).

Anyway, it’s great fodder for the haters and the message board people.  It shouldn’t be great fodder for you.  I’m sure this kid feels pretty badly about it, and I’m 1000% sure no one else at ND Football cares about this anymore (well, they shouldn’t have to - but you never know - someone may force them to).

Here’s Charlie’s comments from the presser if you’re interested:

Q. The whole thing about the laptop, do you expect to hear anymore about that, and did you find out more about exactly what happened there?
COACH Charlie Weis: Because I had to do the due diligence on this one last night. You know, when we go on the road, what we do is a student manager is assigned to just, from a defensive staff standpoint, because it’s not on the offensive staff, okay, is assigned to type in on a laptop the down and distance in the defense. So when we come back here they can give it to (video coordinator) Tim Collins, and when they’re dubbing the tape for the next morning, it will just it just reads across, 1st and 10, under, bear. Whatever it is.

Now, you’re allowed to do that. But the one area where you’re not allowed to do that is in a coaching area. It wasn’t a coach doing it, but it was a student manager.

But their (Michigan State’s) coaches box is a 3 tiered one where the main coaches sat on the first tier and GAs and those guys sat on the second tier, then there was a third tier.

So we had a guy up there that was putting in the down and distance and the name of the defense so when we came back he wouldn’t have to stay up until 3:00 in the morning punching the stuff in.

To be honest with you, if he were sitting next to you in the press box, that’s perfectly legal for him to do the exact same thing. So if we were at fault, it was for the fact that he was at the top of the three tiers (in the coaches booth) doing exactly that.

 

Q. Do you respond a delay do you report to NCAA?
COACH Charlie Weis: I’ll say it to whoever. But I told them yesterday the same thing I’m telling you. Because at first, when an official came over to me, I said we’re doing what? So I was talking to Haywood at the time on the headset. I said: Have you got a laptop up there? He goes no. I said to the guy who came over across the field, I said: We don’t have a laptop.

Three minutes later I’m still talking to Haywood. Haywood said, hey, one of the student managers up top has a laptop. I said tell him to take the laptop and put it underneath his desk. Which he did. And he cooperated with anything that happened right there.

What I did, when I was walking off at halftime, I grabbed one of their coaches, I don’t know which one, but I grabbed one of their coaches to tell them exactly what I’m telling you so that he knew exactly what I was telling you, because as I said, after the game, I was unaware that the student manager was inside the press box doing that, inside the coaching box doing that instead of outside the coach’s box doing that.

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Listen, all you ridiculous over-reacting emotional fans out there.  CALM THE F DOWN.  Last week, I tried using the dude.  Clearly, this didn’t work.  This isn’t a post for everyone, but it’s a post for you some.  You know who you are.

The same ‘fans’ that were talking about going 11-0 into USC are now damning the players, coaches and entire program bc of a single loss!  Did you seriously think we’d go undefeated this year?  Did you think we’d go from 3 and freaking 9 to amazing in a year???  What does improvement mean to you people?

Look, MSU is a decent team.  Are they great? Nope.  Are they better than SDSU and UM (sucks), yes.  They’re a upper-mid Big Televen squad and we were 9 point dogs.   They’re much more experienced than we are.  We start a 2nd year player at QB.  Their guy is a 5th year.  Their RB tutored under a pretty solid starter for a few years, and played a bunch of downs, and is now the #1 back in the country.  Our guys are 2nd years and haven’t had the experience he has, after a year of getting butchered last year.  I could do this all day.  Point is, we played a decent team, we didn’t play great, and therefore we lost.  Against SDSU and UM (sucks), which are a mess, okay was good enough. Today it wasn’t.  Why are you crying like the sky is falling?  I’ll tell you why - you have ZERO perspective.

You think turnarounds happen in 1 off-season. You think going from Davingham to NC’s happens quickly.  It. Does. Not.  You have to look at a bigger picture to get this folks, and a lot of you do not (thank the Lord for those of you that do). 

Today’s game wasn’t some shellacking.  ND, despite screwing things up left and right, kept in this game.  If but for 5 plays, this game would’ve been totally different.  Those plays?

1)  The Jimmy fade for no reason into double coverage pass.  Jimmy will learn to check this off at some point.  Today, he hasn’t learned it yet.  We get 3 here and the game is different.  We get 7 and I’m very confident we win.

2) Missed FG #1.  While the 2nd shanked FG hurt, this one changes the complexion of the game. 

3) Floyd’s fumble.  We take MSU 3 and out and then drive ~60 yards just to turn the ball over on the 10.  UGH.  We go in for 6 here and everything changes.

4) The stop on 3rd and goal where there was NOT interference. That was a BS call, and it gave MSU 3 more chances at the end zone.  That was not PI.  That was not 6.  A no-call there changes the game, as MSU takes 3 and we stick in it.  Not to mention, it took them ANOTHER 3 downs to get in, and it was barely there (our red zone D is solid)

5) The other 3rd and short where they BARELY got in. I’m not sure if he was in on this one.  We stop them for 3 there and this is a different game.

What’s the point?  Point is, we’re on the road.  We’re a young team and a re-developing program and we’re in a dogfight with MSU. ANY ONE OF THESE PLAYS goes differently, and the game is different.  Not all of them.  Not a few of them.  ONE of them.  We were THIS close to taking this game, despite those mistakes and errors.  That means we’ve improved.  The same types of mistakes last year lead to a 30-point-plus crushing.  This year was different. That is a good thing.

It’s not like this was a steamrolling.  This team didn’t look hapless or confused or inept. It looked like we played okay, but made a few mistakes that lost us the game.  Calling for players/coaches heads after a hard fought loss where we just couldn’t overcome our own mistakes is simply foolish.  One or 2 plays change, and the outcome is different and you’re all singing the team’s praises and talking about a return to glory.  Can I puh-lease get some perspective here, and a little patience? ‘Course not.  But I’m going to ask for it anyway.

Is mediocrity okay at ND? No.  Should we always be in the NC hunt?  Yes.  Are idiotic fans that call for coaches’ heads every week okay? NO.  But poor teams (last year) don’t become NC teams in a year.  It’s a process, and asking for/wishing for anything else is just a pipe dream.  That’s why it’s a PROCESS.

For me, nothing has changed.  This is still a 7-5 team, that gradually improves as the year goes on.  Recruiting continues to be amazing and the talent gap shrinks and is reversed, and we’re in the NC hunt in 2010.  People, it’s not 2010 yet. Slow your roll.

That is all.

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ND-MSU

The Oline Still Needs to Gel

Clearly, we’ve seen a lot of improvement from this squad this year.  Despite today’s struggles, it’s night and day from last year.  Yes, Clausen was sacked a few times (3?), but 3 total in 3 games ain’t bad.  My biggest issue here is the lack of an ability to really blow the DL back off the line and run the ball.  Much like we saw against the Skunkbears, this OL has troubles getting guys pushed back and opening holes for our talented RBs.  I think this will improve in time, but it’s obvious they’re more comfortable in protecting the QB.  Unlike the lame ABC/ESPN announcers, I didn’t feel like MSU had a ‘ton’ of pressure on Jimmy.  But there was more than the previous 2 games.

Speaking of Jimmy…

3 games in and Jimmy definitely looks a lot better than last year.  And the numbers prove it.  BUT, Jimmy is still very young in his career and some of his decisions show it.  In each game he’s made a couple really bad choices that result in almost-turnovers or turnovers.  Today’s toss up into double coverage for a pick in the end zone was just that type of choice.  When you see double coverage, you check down to option 2 or 3 and use that outlet to just get a decent gain.  He seems to be pushing a bit, really trying to make something happen.  That’s an admirable trait, but sometimes the better choice is to just take a few yards.

Speaking of Jimmy again…

It’s clear that we have a really good, but developing QB. When Jimmy and his top receivers (lately that’s GOLDEN TATE and Floyd) get in rhythm, it’s a really nice relationship.  They communicate well, and they rack up yards.  If ND can get a running game to complement the passing game, this will be a very tough team to beat.

On the Other Side of the Ball…

Despite the stats, I thought the ND defense did a decent job today.  Except for our super-inability to stop a slant pattern, I thought we did a good job of making MSU earn every yard.  Without that last huge run, Ringer was somewhat contained throughout the game.  You’re never going to completely stop a guy that good - and he IS good - but we did a nice job of keeping the damage to a minimum.  In the red zone, our D gets really tough.  MSU needed 5 downs to score on their first short and goal, and we had them inches away from failing on their second try.   Literally inches.  And that’s what this game came down to…

Inches.

ND played a decent game today, but had way too many mistakes that killed scoring opportunities.  (Sound Familiar?  See: SDSU).  ND is a decent squad, but we’re not good enough to overcome those types of big mistakes.  And to do so, we needed those inches here and there to go our way.  They didn’t - they went to MSU and that’s why MSU got the W today.  The upside?  MSU is one of the better squads on the schedule.  There aren’t a whole lot of other teams on our schedule better, and this game’s outcome was in doubt well into the 4th quarter.  And if we eliminate some of those game-changing mistakes, I’m confident that ND pulls out a win.  So what’s that mean?  Well…

In Summary

Much what we thought before the game.  This is a much improved, but still very young team.  It’s a team that needs to NOT shoot itself in the foot to win.  And today, we blew off every toe including the pinkies.  ND needs to somehow establish a running game.  Be it through misdirection, draws, off-tackle or motion plays (the end-around to TATE was sheer brilliance - man I love that kid!).  We need that option to make the pass more effective.  Because until I see differently, this team needs to pass to set up the run, and not the other way around.  We just don’t have the consistent push up front needed to run to set up the pass.  I think the staff needs to recognize this, and adjust.  And with that mentality, I bet the running game opens up a bunch.

I picked ND to lose this game earlier in the year, and I’m not happy that I was right.  I just thought we were too young still and with too many holes to pull this out on the road.  But, this team should take heart - we’re not that far away from winning that game.  We’ve seen a lot of progress since last year, and this team will only continue to get better.

ECU Got Wide Eyes

In other action, after back-to-back ‘upsets’ by ECU, today they got beat by a ‘meh’ NC State team.  Can anyone say too big for your britches? People wondered if this team could buckle down for a long season after such a hot start.  So far, they can’t.

Michigan (Sucks!) Lost to ND in their Last Game

Just a reminder.

Alabama Ain’t Bad

I really thought that Arkansas could field a team that could give ‘Bama some issues.  After that dominating performance, no one should listen to anything I ever say again (does anyone now? no? okay, nevermind).  Very impressed with ‘Bama today.

LSU-Auburn

I’m hoping to see an AUB upset here, because I feel that LSU was way overrated last year, and continue to be today. But even if AUB crushes LSU, LSU will drop maybe a spot or two. Because any loss in the SEC is like losing to a super-duper-championship-caliber team right?  So, right.

Purdue Pulls it Out

Purdue actually looks to have a running game this year, and they pulled out an exciting victory today.  I put Purdue in that bucket with MSU, that ‘decent but not great’ category where ND can compete and potentially win, but will have to play well and not make a lot of mistakes to win.  I think Purdue, along with USC (obviously) and potentiall UNC pending how they develop, will be the tougher games remaining on the schedule.

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No, no, nothing that actually requires brain cells.  This one is so easy, a UM (sucks!) general studies candidate could potentially answer it (wha-POW):

X > Y

Which variable is “# of Michigan (sucks!) turnovers”?

Which variable is “# of Michigan (sucks!) touchdowns”?

I’ll let you guess.

HAHAHAHAHAHAAHHAAHAHAHAHHA.  Skunkbears suck.  Awesomenessfantasmagoricality.

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These freaking tools.

While I consider MSU to be the ugly little step-child to UM (sucks!), they’re still from Michigan (sucks!) and they still suck. (sucks!)

Seriously, what’s up with the guy on the right?  Who sends HIM out to defend mid-field from imaginary-ND-flag-planting-guys?

“Me just a widdle guy!”

MSU sucks.  Bring it.

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