UPDATED WITH ANSWERS!!!
And check out the rest of the crew’s responses:
SUBWAY DOMER making it happen in a very subtle, humble way.
Irish Round Table making it…around.
Lehgoooooo Irish is up and at ’em.
OFD puts One. Foot. Down.
Domer Law lays it down.
Blog Davie produces at the speed of the actual Coach.
UHND doesn’t want much, he just wants to stop Denard!
![](https://farm5.static.flickr.com/4154/4949279354_4de4be981f.jpg)
So the ol’ IBG duties fall to me this week. Lord help us all!
There’s nothing worse than Michigan. Well, maybe Herpes (so I’ve heard), but that’s about it. Michigan represents all that’s wrong with the world – misplaced pride, sub-standard standards, backstabbing, fear of competition, terrible hair, a lack of family values, and the death of industry.
Here are the questions of the week.
1) Well that result really sucked. Please describe how you feel about the loss using lyrics from a pop diva (eg Brittany Spears, Rihanna, etc) song. Bonus points for video or pictures. (something good has to come out of last week)
Umbrella, Rihanna.
Cuz when the sun shines, we shine together. Told you I’d be here forever. Said I’ll always be your friend, took an oath I’ma stick it out to the end. Now that it’s raining more than ever, Know that we’ll still have each other, You can stand under my umbrella, you can stand under my umbrella.
A few reasons for this. First, it was raining a lot Saturday. A LOT. Rain. Umbrella. Get it? Yeah? Okay, just making sure. Then, there’s the ‘stick it out til the end’. I was super proud to see the boys fight til the end of that game, and same with the fans that stayed. I had to take a 7 year old nephew and 67 year old dad home, but seeing the students come back ONE MORE TIME was great. And the team didn’t give up. They fell a bit short on a day when things went wrong over and over and over again, but they fought back and had a shot at the end and that shows grit. Hoping that the rain is done for this team though.
2) While we all want to move on, last week’s game can teach us many things about the ’11 Irish. After seeing what Week 1 brought us, do you find yourself more confident, less confident, or still confused as hell about our chances vs the Skunkbears? Why?
More confident. This game proved to me that the D at the end of last year was no fluke, and if we’d played UM at the end of last year, we’d have OWNED them. The D is still there, and therefore we will OWN Michigan. Even if our offense doesn’t make huge strides, I don’t see UM putting up more than 21 in this game. We win if they score 21, and this D has been giving up just more than 1 TD per game lately. So I like our chances.
3) Other than QB, which position group pleasantly surprised you this past week? Which disappointed? What player absolutely MUST see more time in Week 2? Again, no QBs.
Pleasantly surprised by the blocking of the Tight End group – including Ragone. TERRIBLY DISAPPOINTED by the Punting unit. GOOD LORD IT WAS SO HORRIBLE. I really hope Turk gets his head on straight. The punting game literally lost us the game Saturday, and that should never happen (yea, 8 other things too, but still….)
4) Tommy Rees will lead the Irish Offense this week. Do you agree with Coach’s call? Either way, what part of Crist’s game will the Irish O miss the most, if any?
Yeah, I agree with the choice at this point, but not without a lot of disappointment. Disappointment for Dayne Crist because, from all accounts, he’s just an amazing kid. Great person, works hard, really loves ND and the team. Super bummed for him. And also bummed that ND won’t reach as high as it could’ve under Crist. Crist has a really high beta – high risk, high reward. But he also has a higher ceiling. Rees is the right choice here, don’t get me wrong, but Rees’ best is an 8. Crist’s best is a 10. And to run the table this year the rest of the way, we’d need a 10. So I’m disappointed that we have to ‘settle’ for a solid 8, because our 10 hasn’t really materialized. Again, right decision.
I think we’ll miss Crist’s athleticism. He’s not the fastest dude, but he’s certainly more mobile than Tommy. I’ll also miss his dreamy eyes.
5) What’s the key to beating the Wolverines this week? Just 1 thing. Not 2. 1. Lots of people will want to say ‘protect the ball here’. But that was the key to beating USF. The key this week is to STOP DENARD. We do that, and all else will fall into place.
6) Make your Over-Under Picks:
Over-under on Floyd’s receiving total for this coming weekend: 154 OVER BY A LOT (not great at setting my O-U’s I guess)
Over-under on Robinson’s rushing total: 100 OVER
Over-under on ND Number of Turnovers: 2 PUSH
Over-under on Number of Times Kelly is caught Purple Monstering Out: 2 PUSH, but he’ll have to hold himself back a few times
Over-under on ND Total Yards: 425 OVER
7) Michigan: Just Another Opponent, Enemy, or Rival? Explain. 1 Bonus point for each use of the word ‘suck’. Michigan sucks big time suckitude. They are our ENEMY, plain and simple. And they suck. They don’t get the respect of a rival because they never respected ND. That sucked. Rather than partnering for some storied history, they tried to kill ND Football, which really sucked. That’s not what a rival does. THAT’S WHAT AN ENEMY DOES. SO SUCKY! Down with our Enemy, the Skunkbears of the West! suck suck suck.
8 ) It’s Michigan week. Name 1 thing in the world that sucks as much as Michigan, if you can. I have 2 here. The first I’m not as certain about – Dyson Products. I mean, that dude has that accent, and so I pretty much believe anything he says. The second is that big vacuum in Space Balls. You know the one where they all chant SUCK SUCK SUCK while they try to steal all the clean air? Yeah, that one. Sucks ALMOST as much as UM.
9) RichRod is back, announcing for CBS. Can’t wait to see how that goes. Bet he’s horrible. He has to be the worst. RR + Davie = Perfect Storm in the Booth. The world would end. Thank the Lord they’re on different networks.
GO IRISH, BEAT SKUNKBEARS!!!
- (Re)Introducing: DANCING LEPRECHAUNS - August 29, 2019
- Ticket Auction: ND vs USC - August 22, 2019
- No Respect! - December 14, 2018
1) Well that result really sucked. Please describe how you feel about the loss using lyrics from a pop diva (eg Brittany Spears, Rihanna, etc) song. Bonus points for video or pictures. (something good has to come out of last week)
“Oops, I did it again, I played with your heart got lost in the game.”
AGAIN, we lay a massive egg when we should utterly destroy an inferior opponent, have a great ranking and all eyes watching us. It is sickening how ND performs in these “big games.”
2) While we all want to move on, last week’s game can teach us many things about the ‘11 Irish. After seeing what Week 1 brought us, do you find yourself more confident, less confident, or still confused as hell about our chances vs the Skunkbears? Why?
More. Because like all of the optimists among us have been saying, that game last week is just about as good as you can look while still looking absolutely DREADFUL. Terrible bounces, bad luck, utter stupidity and lack of discipline lost us that game. On the EXECUTION front, boy, we were awesome. You cant gain 500 total offensive yards, only give up 1 TD on defense and not be impressive. Shoelaceless is in for a world of hurt Saturday. Now, on top of just being the superior team, I have to think the Irish are PISSED OFF and woe to he who has to face them next.
3) Other than QB, which position group pleasantly surprised you this past week? Which disappointed? What player absolutely MUST see more time in Week 2? Again, no QBs.
Why would I be surprised with the QB? I knew months ago that Crist was a loser and said as much(as in one who loses, not regarding his character). After all of these silly “adjusted points” and “accounting for weaker defense” arguments that all the Crist backers made in the offseason, the bottom line always was Crist loses football games and cannot lead this team. So, no, I wasnt surprised at all in that.
What I WAS pleasantly surprised with was how we were able to run the ball. I knew Kelly said he was making it a focus of the offense, but to see it actually in motion was beautiful.
Disappointed in–David Ruffer. That missed FG sealed the loss, IMO. Put us behind the 8-ball and probably owed more to the last Rees pick than what we realize. If he makes that kick, we get to kickoff feeling like we at least accomplished SOMETHING and have some momentum. USF takes the ball, probably behind their own 20 instead of on it, and we have a good chance at slowing them down and getting the ball back with a good bit more time on the clock to tie it. As it was, we failed AGAIN deep in the redzone and are still 2 scores down. Just a crummy feeling in the pit of your stomach.
4) Tommy Rees will lead the Irish Offense this week. Do you agree with Coach’s call? Either way, what part of Crist’s game will the Irish O miss the most, if any?
See above. Absolutely nothing, imo.
5) What’s the key to beating the Wolverines this week? Just 1 thing. Not 2. 1.
Fix the mental stupidity.
6) Make your Over-Under Picks:
Over-under on Floyd’s receiving total for this coming weekend: 154 — Under. I dont think Jones was a fluke last year. He will be targeted more than Floyd and Wood will be the player of the game.
Over-under on Robinson’s rushing total: 100–over. It will all come in the first half, though.
Over-under on ND Number of Turnovers: 2 – Under. I dont think Kelly’s team will make the same mistakes two weeks in a row. He will sacrifice a walk-on in practice this week to show he means business.
Over-under on Number of Times Kelly is caught Purple Monstering Out: 2 – Over
Over-under on ND Total Yards: 425 – Under. I think scUM will control the ball much more than USF did leading to fewer opportunities.
7) Michigan: Just Another Opponent, Enemy, or Rival? Explain. 1 Bonus point for each use of the word ’suck’.
Enemy. Teams that suck on such a monumental level of suckitude that grants and entirely new definition of “suck” can only be classified in this sucky fashion. scUM has been a nonstop source of sucky actions directed at ND and even though we all know it’s because they suck in such a grand manner, they believe in their sucky little skunkbear brains that it is because they are superior in some way.
8 ) It’s Michigan week. Name 1 thing in the world that sucks as much as Michigan, if you can.
Lane Kiffin at RichRod’s wedding to Bo Scumbelcher with Johnelle presiding and Urban Liar Liar Pants on Fire as the ring bearer and Mark May as the flower girl. Brent Assburger and Craig James providing photography/videography.
9) RichRod is back, announcing for CBS. Can’t wait to see how that goes. Bet he’s horrible.
Isn’t it sad when Bob Davie would IMPROVE a broadcast?
Trey
Great one of Michigan weak. I only know of 2 of Brittany’s songs and “opps I did it Again” was the first one that came to my mind also.
Im more disturbed that Biz made the first question about diva music.
I’m EXTREMELY disturbed by it TBH
1) Well that result really sucked. Please describe how you feel about the loss using lyrics from a pop diva (eg Brittany Spears, Rihanna, etc) song. Bonus points for video or pictures. (something good has to come out of last week)
“You drive me crazy, I just cant sleep”
2) While we all want to move on, last week’s game can teach us many things about the ‘11 Irish. After seeing what Week 1 brought us, do you find yourself more confident, less confident, or still confused as hell about our chances vs the Skunkbears? Why?
More confident, because all the bad stuff is fixable. The good stuff’s not going to go away. (I hope!)
3) Other than QB, which position group pleasantly surprised you this past week? Which disappointed? What player absolutely MUST see more time in Week 2? Again, no QBs.
D-line played a great game. The young guys got some playing time, and everyone played a part in disrupting the offense. Ethan Johnson was a force at times, and LNIII showed that he’s got some good agility for someone so big.
DB’s disappointed me. Harrison Smith took some incredibly bad angles that led to both facemask penalties. Gray and Blanton were unable to get off their blocks on the first half bubble screens, although I don’t know if that was scheme/coaching by Diaco prior to halftime adjustments or if it was execution.
I was also disappointed overall with the tackling in the first half by the whole team. Seemed like USF had some very slippery jerseys.
The person who has to play more is Jonas Gray, which means he has to play better. If he’s playing well enough to keep himself on the field and give Cierre Wood a breather, than he’ll be doing his job. Kelly’s going to give him the opportunity, and he needs to seize it.
4) Tommy Rees will lead the Irish Offense this week. Do you agree with Coach’s call? Either way, what part of Crist’s game will the Irish O miss the most, if any?
I’m sold on Tommy. I was no longer at the game after the 2nd evacuation, but I just watched the replay on NBC.com and he’s the one to lead this team. I’m impressed by the way he bounced back after the terrible interception, and he seems to respond well to Kelly’s coaching. I feel bad for Dayne Crist, but for some reason he just didn’t put it together.
5) What’s the key to beating the Wolverines this week? Just 1 thing. Not 2. 1.
Eliminate mental errors. Not just penalties and turnovers, but we have to maintain contain on the edge or Robinson is going to kill us.
6) Make your Over-Under Picks:
Over-under on Floyd’s receiving total for this coming weekend: 154 (Under).
Over-under on Robinson’s rushing total: 100 (Over. He’s better than Daniels, and we had trouble with the read-option last week).
Over-under on ND Number of Turnovers: 2 (Even)
Over-under on Number of Times Kelly is caught Purple Monstering Out: 2 (Under. He’ll get angry for sure at somebody, but I don’t see him on the verge of an aneurism this week).
Over-under on ND Total Yards: 425 (Under. I see about 120 rushing and 290 passing).
7) Michigan: Just Another Opponent, Enemy, or Rival? Explain. 1 Bonus point for each use of the word ’suck’.
Enemy because I hate them with the fire of a thousand suns, and want to see us break their faces and grind their bones in a demoralizing fashion. Rival because they’ve actually beaten us more than we have them, and are competing with us for the best overall win percentage. In that regard, they are our Rival whereas we have a friendly “rivalry” with Navy that dates back to WWII. Plus, they suck.
8 ) It’s Michigan week. Name 1 thing in the world that sucks as much as Michigan, if you can.
It’s impossible to build a man-made vacuum with as much sucking power as Michigan has. Therefore, you must step out of the world and find the largest black hole in the universe that is sucking in stars and planets at an accelerating rate. However, if such a black hole were ever discovered, scientists would determine that the world is doomed and everything in the universe will be collapsed back in on itself due to such a sucking black hole.
9) RichRod is back, announcing for CBS. Can’t wait to see how that goes. Bet he’s horrible.
Tom Hammond horrible?
1) “Do you believe in life after love? / I can feel something inside me say / I really don’t think you’re strong enough” – Cher’s “Believe.” That loss was about as ugly as Cher, seriously (http://is.gd/LElMVt). My point though was not to bash ND football and Cher at the same time, but point out that the lyric I chose was very much reflective of my thoughts after the game – is this team strong enough to weather the rest of the season with a set-back like USF, right out of the gate? 2010 showed that we can pick ourselves off the mat, but can we repeat that, and do even better?
2) Confused as shit, because as much as we all talked about how this team didn’t quit, we needed this team to recover sooner and we could have won the game. Now we go into a rowdy Big House, fans drunken after a whole day of drinking – the atmosphere will be electric. If we are to encounter just one setback, can we bounce back, when we had problems even doing that at home?
3) Surprised – D Line, Disappointed – Kicking game, More of – I want to see more of Brindza, as he was the bright spot in the kick game on Saturday, and if he’s out there more, that means we’re scoring more.
4) I’m good with Rees. I’m all in on Tomas. Offense will miss Crist’s ‘escapability’ and ability to ‘extend’ the play.
5) Do not allow the crowd to get into it by getting to a fast start. Surgical strike to hush the crowd.
6) Make your Over-Under Picks:
Over-under on Floyd’s receiving total for this coming weekend: 154 – UNDER
Over-under on Robinson’s rushing total: 100 – OVER
Over-under on ND Number of Turnovers: 2 – UNDER
Over-under on Number of Times Kelly is caught Purple Monstering Out: 2 – UNDER
Over-under on ND Total Yards: 425 – UNDER
7) Michigan is an enemy, and a sucky one at that.
8) If SC and UM combined forces to really become SCUM, that would really suck.
9) Agreed.
1. Drop it like it’s hot, drop-drop it like it’s hot -Snoop (not a pop diva, but what better sums it up)
2. Anyone’s who’s not confused is beyond me. I have not a clue as to the outcome. If we keep our crap together and grow fingers and develop binocular vision, we’ll prevail.
3. The D-line did well despite the insertion of the youth. And C Wood is a superstar to be.
4. Crist works well if everything is hunky dory. He will not be missed. Put a red hat on the golden boy and I’m okay with it.
5. Ball security. Their D is not terribly good yet. Our D is capable of the contain. If we don’t fumble everything including the coin-toss, we should be okay. If not, give me a pepto-colada.
6. Over on Floyd. Under on Robinson. Push on turnovers. Under on monstering after the public scrutiny/outcry. Over on yards.
7. Enemy moreso than Rival. Though as of late, they are the de facto rival because the game is always a “who the hell knows” type of outcome.
8. Michigan could suck a golf ball through a garden hose out of the clutches of a black hole. The only thing that sucks as bad is (real life case) going home to your wife after a weekend away with a fractured penis and the department of health calling said spouse to tell her she needs to be tested for syphilis.
9. Dick Rod. Reminds me of the broken lizard guy in SuperTroopers. Tool.
No, I dont want a large Farva, i want a GD liter a’ cola!
1)I honestly don’t know, or want to know, any of that hip hop crap you’re looking for, but “Loser” by Beck is fitting.
2) More confident. We beat them in every statistical catagory, turnovers included, except the score. The mistakes are fixable. We should beat UM by 2 td’s.
3) Running game surprised me.
Secondary was disappointing.
Eiffert needs more touches. I think he can be a game changer.
4)I wanted Rees from the start. Never had confidence in Crist. Hate that it happened this way, but I think it’s for the best. Won’t miss anything.
5)Eliminate mistakes i.e. turnovers and penalties from last week. It’s one thing if the other team is better than you, it’s a whole other thing if you beat yourself.
6)Floyd-over. He can’t be stoped.
Robinson-over. not by much.
ND turnovers-under. One int by Rees.
Kelly blowing up-under. He can’t get too mad as we’re beating UM’s ass.
Total ND yards-over. UM’s D is thin. I think we will score at will. Play mistake free and they can’t stop us.
7)Enemy. USC is a rivalry in my book. F Michigan and the miniature horse they rode in on. They suck so bad a power generation plant should be placed on campus. Their sucking would keep the turbines rotating non-stop 24/7. The only problem would be that those idiots would find a way to screw up what would otherwise be a lucrative situation, because they suck.
8)One thing that sucks as much as UM-Rich Rod announcing or getting flattened by LNIII. Didn’t think I’d squeeze it in here, did you?
9)Rich Rod horrible-agreed.
Help me out, Biscuit. And this has nothing to do with the U of M game.
You have much more experience than I, both in the stands and on the field, with ND football.
I attended the USF game as a first-time season ticket holder, my very first game at ND Stadium! I felt honored to be there. I was PISSED to hear our “fans” booing our team during the game.
Admittedly, mistakes were made. But our offense racked up over 500+ offensive yards! Our defense held USF to ONE offensive touchdown, continuing the defensive productivity of last year. Yet our fans booed our team.
I will admit to being something of a dinosaur. But to boo a bunch of young men who love ND, who were doing their best, seems small and short sighted. Please tell me how my perspective is wrong.
Hope to see you next June!
KK
UHG.
KK, I didn’t like the booing either. But the fans only boo-ed because we had a really, really ugly stretch for a few minutes. It was a minority of fans, after a really horrible stretch, and at some point you have to say – hey, do they deserve it? I wasn’t booing, but I can understand why those who did, did. It was an ugly 7-8 minutes, and some folks expressed their displeasure.
I don’t love it – it made me sad and uncomfortable, for everyone. But if the guys don’t want to be booed, all they need do is play better. Pretty simple.
I was there, and a big part of the booing was directed at the Refs at more than one point. I don’t remember the point right before halftime, but the TV replay picked up some disgruntled background noise. I imagine some of that may have been directed toward the team for being down 0-16, but any noise I would have been making right then was directed at USF for dinking around and then finally taking a knee after messing with us for a few minutes. I can understand the fan’s frustrations, but would hope that any booing would have been directed at the outcome of a play rather than the people involved. Sometimes people just have to emote their feelings, too. As JD said on Scrubs: “Let me feel my feelings, Turk!” In this case, Turk is Ben, not Chris. 🙂
I remember it right after Crist sailed his slant pass high over a wide open Floyd’s head.
I really can’t say I have much of a problem with a few boos when our team is imploding on itself like they did against USF. Our fans are incredibly supportive, as you could see by the student body, and everyone who kept coming back after the evacuations last week… BUT… Sometimes I think we’re too nice. These young men are playing at one of the highest levels, for a national audience, and striving to be a national contender. If a top 10 team blew a game like we did last week, I’d imagine it would be a tough week of classes for them (lolz, like anyone in the SEC goes to class…). We’re different, and it’s a good thing. But I can’t get bent out of shape about fans booing after the collection of boneheaded errors that were made last week.
Is DTK doing his ridiculously overly-optimistic rose glass preview this year?
Trey, if by “ridiculously overly-optimistic rose glass preview” you mean accurate 4 of the 5 years I’ve done one, then I don’t know. Domer hasn’t asked, maybe I’ll put something together and email him. If he wants to post it, great.
I remember you picking the winner, but the process has usually been overly slanted towards, ‘scUM will do no wrong and control the ball for 55 mins’
I am struggling with the ongoing conversation about Crist having a ceiling of ’10’ and Rees being somewhat lower. I agree, Crist is the prototypical quarterback (6’5, laser rocket arm, etc…). BUT, that does not always translate to higher ceiling (Drew Brees, Joe Montana, Sex Cannon Rex Grossman….uh, forget about that last one). How do we as amateur analysts evaluate a guy’s feel for the game, mental acumen, and decision making capabilities and put that in the ceiling equation? The evaluation has to be more than just physical, and thus add/subtract from the assessment (ie…I feel Rees has a better feel than Dayne, thus reducing Dayne from a 10 to a number lower). Just food for thought.
I can see that, but we have no way to measure those things. We can measure his height, speed, arm strength, etc. – so that’s what I’m going on. True, Rees could be WAY smarter than Dayne, or just have a better ‘feel’, but that’s tough to see/measure. But, I get your point, and it’s valid.
I guess what I’m saying is that if we got full potential out of both, Crist > Rees. But since Crist seems unable to reach full potential, maybe Rees’ 90-100% is > Crist’s 60-75%…
EXACTLY. 5 minute plan, y’all.
Your last sentence perfectly explains it….good summary.
I’ll take Rees operating at an 8 over Dayne operating at a (in)consistent 5 any day.