The HLS positional preview continues in the trenches, moving this time to the defensive side of the ball. For the Irish, the departure of Aaron Lynch has left the position of top dog on the line up for grabs. As for our opponents, it appears that it is a Notre Dame tradition as of late to face some absolutely superb defensive line talents. 2012 will be no different. Louis Nix III Position: NG Year: Sophomore Height/Weight: 6'3"/340 lbs. Despite Lynch's departure, the Irish still have ...
Know Thyself, Know Thy Enemy: Offensive Line
Our position preview for 2012 moves from special teams to the big uglies. As I'm a firm believer that championship teams are built from a foundation in the trenches and then outward, I was more than happy to take on this assignment. This week, we look at the offensive line. Off all positions to evaluate, these are by far the most subjective as the only stats usually available for evaluation are of their mistakes. Despite that though, I feel rather confident that I've singled out the best on ...
Friday Roundup: The “Please Excuse the Rant” Edition
Fair warning: the Roundup is leading with Penn State. If you are rather sick of reading about it, and I don't blame you, feel free to skip over to the Roundup links for your regular Friday programming. I've tried to keep most of the Jerry Sandusky news out of previous Roundups, save for major developments. Not because I wish to avoid the situation, but because it has just dominated the offseason news cycle and there wasn't much for me to add besides additional disgust. But then the Freeh ...
NCAA ’13: Complete ND Ratings & 2012 Season Simulation
As the clock struck midnight on July 10th, EA Sports released NCAA 2013, yet another signal that the long college football offseason is drawing to a close. Last month, Twibby took a look at some of the leaked ratings for Notre Dame to whet our appetite. With the game's release though, we now have the full ratings and EA's projection of depth charts as well. Inspired by Adam Kramer's (you may know him as @KegsNeggs) annual simulation and summary of the entire 2012 season, I decided to run ...
Friday Roundup: The “Best Trick Play Ever” Edition
So since we seem to be recalling some of our favorite memories of the Weis era the past couple of weeks, I figured that now would be a good time to cash in my promise of letting everyone in on stories from my time as a manager. This week, we dive into the art of the trick play. Weis made a point to have at least one trick play up his sleeve every week. Some were simple and were just more complex versions of a play-fake that you'd likely see and not think it was actually a trick play. ...
And Now I’m Ready to Run Through a Wall
To hell with any kind of explanation--none is needed. Chris Watt, Kapron Lewis-Moore and Troy Niklas will provide that for me: http://youtu.be/QDIQX6Uke_Y 64 days, y'all. ...
Friday Roundup: The “Our AD Is Better Than Your AD” Edition
The playoff discussions really could have been a day of reckoning for Notre Dame. If ever there was a time to attack Irish Independence, it would've been this summer. Just think about it, Notre Dame had two flash-in-the-pan BCS seasons that resulted in bowl losses to superior opponents, and beyond that, it's been a mix of mediocrity, seasons that make you drink to forget, and some slight hope that things just might be getting better. But a serious power in college football? Far from it. At ...
Davonte Neal > Deontay Greenberry?
As I flipped through Phil Steele's magazine to research my preview post, one ranking in particular stuck out: Davonte Neal was ranked as the #8 freshman WR in the nation--two spots ahead of Deontay Greenberry at #10. This was rather shocking ranking to me. I expected Greenberry, considered the no-doubt centerpiece of the Irish recruiting class of 2012, to end up ranked higher than Neal. ...
Friday Roundup: The “Seriously, Just Shut Up” Edition
I thought we had already settled this before, but Les Miles simply refuses to shut up about Gunner Kiel. With the way Les Miles talks, you would think that LSU is home to nothing but the most elite quarterbacks in the land. Of course, watching LSU play any football at all last season with their terrible QB duo would shoot that ridiculous assumption down and watching the BCS title game last season would remove all doubt. Different breed of cat indeed. Now, yes, I'm fully aware that I'm ...
Texan by Birth, Irish by Choice
After Grantland-X's fantastic Father's Day story, I started thinking about my own journey to becoming a Notre Dame fan and having a home under the Dome. "Texan by birth, Irish by choice" is what I've proudly displayed on my bio for a while now, but that is quite the oversimplification to say the least. I had absolutely zero of the experiences or backgrounds that other Domers talk of. My family wasn't Catholic, my parents had never gone to college (nor were fans of any school), and my ...