In case you’ve missed it, the Leprechaun Legion has called for a green-out of Notre Dame Stadium. Kelly Cares is on board as well and you should be too.
Let’s be honest, last week’s crowd was rather disappointing. We can give all kinds of various reasons for this, but the fact that there was little to no home field advantage for the Irish simply will not change.
This week, it needs to.
The Irish haven’t lost a home game since October 22, 2011 against Southern Cal. Wins were supposed to be the thing that would propel home crowds into a frenzy, but that hasn’t happened quite yet.
It needs to happen this Saturday.
We are welcoming in a team that had a fanbase color coordinate by section and stripe their entire stadium. They easily created one of the most hostile environments the Irish played in (if not the most hostile) in 2012.
When the Sooners head to South Bend for their first road game of the season, we need to return serve.
And if you’re cynical enough to believe that this is a simple ploy for the Bookstore to sell their entire inventory of The Shirt (which honestly, isn’t a bad thing since that money goes to charity) or any other green-colored gear, then go to Meijer or Walmart and find a generic green shirt. Dig out the Ty-era Shirts if you have to.
It doesn’t matter if the team isn’t wearing green. I don’t care if you have an issue with green not being a school color either.
The Irish have never worn flowers during a game, but we were still the fanbase that got behind Manti Te’o and filled a stadium in the Midwest full of leis. All the Lennay Kekua jokes in the world can’t take away what an incredible show of unity that was and what an amazing crowd filled Rock’s House that night.
The bottom line is that there are no excuses for this. Find your green, wear your green, and create a home field advantage worthy of a team that has won their last 10 games at home.
The Roundup
Saban and Swarbrick in Texas! Yep, add Jack to the crazy that now surrounds Texas which now features a possible impeachment of the regent that talked to Saban’s agent.
The NCAA has ALL THE HEADLINES. So first, you have the NCAA patting Penn State on the head because one year is clearly enough time to implement a total culture change. In the same week, the NCAA fires legal shots at the Paterno family for their ridiculous lawsuit. Meanwhile, Southern Cal is wondering what gives since all of their troublemakers are long gone, and they are basically self-sanctioning themselves with Kiffin on the sidelines anyways (I might have made the later part up).
But wait! There’s more! The NCAA definitely seems to be reaching something of a tipping point. A handful of players participated in a somewhat confusing and last minute protest last week. The responses from the schools are pretty much what you would expect as well as the reactions from the peanut gallery. Jim Delany made the biggest noise all week regarding some of the issues at hand with the NCAA, especially the “pay-for-play” movement, completely overshadowing Mark Emmert’s statement that big changes are on the way for the NCAA.
And now they’ve messed with my video games. EA Sports announced that they’ve pulled the plug on their popular collegiate series as the O’Bannon lawsuit as effectively caused the NCAA and all major conferences to remove their support. They stated they’d like to bring the game back, but considering the O’Bannon lawsuit could hit the Supreme Court, I think you might want to enjoy NCAA ’14 for the forseeable future.
Real life isn’t Grand Theft Auto V. But that didn’t stop Auburn freshman lacrosse player, Zachary Burgess, from deciding that his visit to Baton Rouge should include a real life GTA reenactment.
And now, your moment of Southern Cal schadenfreude. The already thin depth of the Trojans took yet another hit this week.
Put These Games on Your Radar
#6 LSU @ #9 Georgia, 3:30pm ET, CBS – A top ten matchup this early in the season should definitely have your attention and it’s a shame this game shared the same time slot as ND/OU because I’d love to give this game my full attention.
#21 Ole Miss @ #1 Alabama, 6:30pm ET, ESPN/WatchESPN – The SEC is definitely bringing in some strong games this week. I’m not overly sold on Ole Miss, but I’m hoping that they can put up enough of a fight to make things interesting.
#23 Wisconsin @ #4 Ohio State, 8:00pm ET, ABC – I’m not overly sold on Wisconsin either, but I do think this game has the potential for a fun shootout.
#5 Stanford @ Washington State, 10:00pm ET, ESPN/WatchESPN – Yes, I’m probably overly intrigued by Mike Leach, but I am interested to see if the pirate make any noise against Stanford, especially after the absolute destruction the Cardinal dealt Arizona State. There is nothing wrong with late night curiosity.
USC @ Arizona State, 10:30pm ET, ESPN2/WatchESPN – Speaking of late night curiosity, here are our two next opponents facing off. Do some scouting mixed in with a likely healthy dose of laughing at Lane Kiffin leading the Trojans on their 2013 death march.
Predictions
Well, Biscuit finally did it. The Leprechauns gave him his first victory of the season. He wanted me to give him more point because he did this all well ahead of time, but I think the fair thing to do is only give points equivalent to the number of leprechauns and he only gave MSU 1.
That leaves Irish Elvis in the lead with 2 and Biscuit and I both tied at 1.
Much like last week, some predictions will come in late since my work travels tied me up and made me forget to hound everyone. They will be added in as they come.
Tex
I’ve gone back and forth on this one a bunch. Initially, I was prepared to give OU a TD victory, but you know what, to hell with it…
ND 31 – OU 24
Biscuit
Via:
The Sooners travel to South Bend seeking revenge for a game that no one, including me, predicted. We WHOMPED them in their own house, and revenge will be on their minds. Unfortunately for the Sooners, easier said than done. Their defensive line pretty much graduated, though it wasn’t great. Defense will be a huge question mark, as will QB after 40th year senior Jones finally graduated. Belldozer is big but can’t throw, and the other 2 QBs have thrown pretty much never as well. So a bad defense that lost a lot of experience, and an offense with a lot of talent but no clear answer at QB. Hmmmmm….should be pretty clear-cut right? I don’t think so.
Stoops is a damn good coach, and OK stocks talent. They will sort the offense out by this point in the season, and the talent on the defensive line was experienced but not top-performing. It’s going to be a bruiser. I think ND should be able to win over all, but I’m not super confident.
ND Wins 24 – 17
1 Leprechaun. Calling a win, but this could go either way.
Bayou Irish
ND – 28 OU – 17
Here’s how it goes down: Please note that I predicted the appearance of trickeration last week, so here’s another one for this week: Steven Tuett goes OFF. The Bell-dozer is a threat inside the ten, but getting there is tricky against a defense that’s leagues better than OU’s foe last week, perennial PAC-12 doormat Tulsa. In fact, the Irish are WAY better than West Virginia or Ooh La Monroe. Our secondary will be tested, but Bell’s got to get them the ball, and he can’t do that with his feet so much.
Twibby
Irish 30, Sooners 13. Oh wait, wrong year. Sooners 27, Irish 23.
Irish Elvis
1st Quarter: Start Fast
Blake Bell gets going early, ND run game still stuck in neutral.
2nd Quarter: Attention to Detail
Our ever-astute fanbase will note that green-clad fans have a deleterious impact on our team’s play on the field and should therefore be discontinued.
3rd Quarter: Effort & Enthusiasm
Second half adjustments by the ND coaching staff keep the game tight late into the game…
4th Quarter: Finish Strong
…but the visitors prove too much this year. Oklahoma wins 27-24.
The Beer
One of the advantages to being in Chicago this week was to get the chance to try a few new beers out. Since fall is here and pumpkin beers are out, I couldn’t resist to take a shot at one that was highly recommended by readers last season: Southern Tier’s Pumpking.
You did not steer me wrong, Loyal Readers. Well done.
- Epilogue - January 3, 2022
- HLS Podcast Finale - January 2, 2022
- The Final Fiesta: Notre Dame vs Oklahoma State NCAA ’14 Sim - December 31, 2021
Irish Elvis (@IrishElvis)
Bayou STILL cannot spell Tuitt’s name correctly, and now I pick virtually the same final score as Twibby? This site has lost all credibility with me…
Brendan
Hats off for trolling the crazies in the comments section the other day.
Davie Dave
I just threw-up a little in my mouth. Pumpkin beer?!?!?! Gross.
NDtex
You are missing out. It’s like pumpkin pie that gets you drunk.