Rakes of Mallow hosts this week’s IBG, so naturally we very much want to answer their questions. At the same time, I’ve got a ton of beer recommendations and a few links to throw down. And all at the same time, I’ve simply got no time to do 2 posts, so obviously, I’ve combined to great tastes to make something even better!
1) Saturday’s result against Utah was a very pleasant surprise, but an unexpected one, to say the least. What was the biggest positive you took from the win over the Utes, and what concerns you most as the Irish head into their final two games of the regular season?
Despite Utah’s humiliating loss to TCU the previous weekend, if there was any team on the field at Notre Dame Stadium last Saturday with a reason to have their heads in the clouds, it was Notre Dame. Clearly, no matter the mental state of the Utes, the mental state of the Irish was just fine. That’s the biggest positive, win or no win.
All that concerns me for the rest of the season is one more win. Hopefully it comes this weekend, because, despite last week’s big win, somehow, despite Kiffykins taking the helm in Los Angeles, Southern Cal still looks like it generally out-classes the current Irish football team. Win this weekend, and the Irish can attack Southern Cal playing fast and free; nothing to lose. But lose this weekend, and the Irish are faced with a game against an opponent that has dominated the Irish since the early Davie days in which a loss means an end to a season and the elimination of a half a month worth of practice from the team’s development program. I don’t care if they win this game against Army in overtime by a score of 3-0. Just win, baby.
2) The Irish will have to take a completely different approach against the Army option than they did against the Navy attack a few weeks ago. Who do you see playing the biggest role in slowing down the Black Knight attack? Who will be the big performer on offense?
Weirdly (and I mean that in the Shakespearean sense) I think the biggest role will be played by Brian Smith. Last year, against Navy, while playing MIKE in the 4-3 defense, Smith recorded 10 tackles. And since moving to MIKE against Tulsa this year, Smith has, stunningly, looked a lot more comfortable. Actually, let’s turn that on its head: Smith has looked much more “settled.” He looks like he knows what to do, and he goes about doing what he’s supposed to do. I almost wonder if feeling more “comfortable” at OLB (as he was supposedly feeling, moving to OLB for the 3-4 this year) causes him to stop relying on his teaching and fundamentals. This week, he stays at OLB, with Carlo Calabrese coming in from the bench. But Smith certainly has more speed to the edge than Carlo (Calabrese actually injured himself, untouched, trying to get the Navy QB off the edge), so perhaps he can help contain any big plays at MIKE where he’d normally run himself right out of plays from OLB. Funny how life works.
I’m hopeful that Kamara continues the bit of momentum he found against Utah. Army’s tallest DB is a 6 foot 2 inch freshman. The vast majority of DBs on their roster are listed as 6 feet and under. Naturally, we’d hope to see Floyd have a big day as well, but it’s a near certainty that Army will do everything to keep the ball out of Floyd’s hands. So Kamara should find a lot of opportunities to match his frame up against a small DB in single coverage.
3) Should Notre Dame win one of their final two games, they’ll likely be going bowling. There are a lot of tie-ins that may or may not be fulfilled from other conferences that will likely end up deciding their postseason fate, but what bowl do you see the Irish playing in?
I called it in the very first IBG of the season, and I’m sticking to it: The Irish are going to attend the Beef ‘O’ Brady bowl in beautiful, um… let me look this up… Ah, yeah, St. Petersburg, Florida.
And, yeah, I’ve no idea if that’s technically feasible now, but whatever.
4) This isn’t a question any of us thought would be an issue at the start of the season, but who do you see as Notre Dame’s starting quarterback against South Florida next year?
Brian Kelly, at UC, had a policy that his starting QB is the starting QB until he’s no longer the starting QB. No idea what that actually means. Some read that as, “you can’t lose a starting job to injury.” Some read it as “you can’t play your way out of the starting job, but the backups can play their way in.” What I think it means is, “nobody has a guaranteed job.” And I think it’s just a nice “policy” to spell out whenever questions arise from the media. And given all of that, I think the starting QB will be Tommy Rees, unless he falls off a cliff in the next 2 games, and/or Crist starts getting compared to his near-heteronym, and/or Hendrix reminds Kelly a whole lot of Mike Vick of the last couple of weeks. We’re betting on Rees.
5) We’re all very excited for Saturday night at Yankee Stadium, which is a nice turn towards some pretty exciting neutral site games (Miami at Soldier Field, Arizona State at Cowboys Stadium) after a rather lackluster start (Washington State in San Antonio). What are three neutral site games you’d like to see down the road?
I know I’m in the minority, but I’ve got zero boost in my interest in any games at neutral site fields. To me, the entire practice just reeks too much of cheap gimmick. If I want cheap gimmicks, I’ll go to a carnival, watch more shows on FX, or buy a Kia. The entire thing this weekend is just dumb to me, particularly because the entire stadium is ill-fitting for a football game. I’m going to spend the entire time praying that nobody gets their career ruined by a quirk of the setup. Whenever I spend the entire game praying against injury, I know I’m not watching a genuine football game.
Further, I’m a huge proponent of “anyone, anywhere” actually meaning, “anyone at their place.” I think a whole lot of the grandeur of college football – a lot of what makes the game special – is lost when you corral the entire operation out to some usually remote location buffered from anything “collegiate” by more than just a bit of parking lot. Feels too much like the college game trying to be the pro game.
And with that, I bring you, this special edition of “The Roundup.”
The Roundup
It’s really rare you get to do this, so do it. You need all of these stats and keys to the Army/ND game from Clashmore Mike so you can impress your friends tomorrow night, so go read up.
It’s a lot like when the ND job opens up, except nobody really cares at all. Except for Felder over at InTheBleachers.net, who has managed to put way, wayyyyyyy more thought into the Colorado job than, well, probably even the Colorado AD.
Third Time’s a Charm This is, I think, the 3rd time that this post, documenting an entire saga around the Auburn/Cam Newton thing, has been posted on HLS, but if you haven’t read it, I suggest you pick up a six of something we recommend below, and then take the evening to enjoy the beer and this post. It may well be the college football equivalent of “A Million Little Pieces,” but the thing is, there actually are a million little pieces.
You Shall Know Him By His Velocity… …multiplied by his mass. Da’Quann Bowers, the best non-Heisman candidate you don’t know?
We Feel Ya, We Just Don’t Wanna Be Ya. UCLA: Hitting bottom again, for the first time?
Maurice Clarrett: Not Dead Also, stunningly, playing football.
That’s what she said. “When they land on you, it hurts a little more than the regular guys.” (HT: EDSBS)
The Beer
First, we went to the Twits for more beer recommendations. And they are…
- @natesjol suggested Ninkasi Total Domination IPA – an IPA so good, even he likes it!
- @healy05 names a good holiday brew: Shiner Holiday Cheer.
- @samari711 reminds me that I’ve neglected to check out one of the local brews for their winter warmer: Flying Dog K9. I think I just may have to run out at lunchtime and grab a six.
- @mgwharton can’t stop drinking Avery Old Jubilation.
Follow those people, gang. They know their beer and they follow ND football. That’s the point of Twitter, ya know.
Also, we asked our Sideliners for their recommendations. Their list of recommendations is excellent. So just go check out all of their suggestions, pick on PootND a bit, and maybe strike up some conversation while you’re visiting.
Finally, I’ve been performing a controlled guzzle of my store of Hibernation Ale by Great Divide all week. If ND’s performance over Utah last weekend was the culmination of passionate people working extremely hard at their craft, then Hibernation Ale is the win over a top-15 team of beers. You keep drinking it in, incredulous that it could be so good, and hoping that it will never end.
- Friday Roundup: That Was Fast Edition - December 14, 2018
- Ian Book Is Smokey and the Bandit - December 12, 2018
- Don’t Call It A Comeback - December 10, 2018