To say that I am ready for another Notre Dame football game is an understatement. While I’m more terrified than I would like to be, I’m ready to get back in the saddle and I’m hoping the Irish are as well.

With that said, it’s time to get back in this groove with the IBG.

My question: With Joe Schmidt injured, it appears that the piece that tied the defense together is missing. Who is your candidate to pick up that leadership role and serve as the glue to get this thing back together?

The Subway Domer is looking for a leader, but not sure where to turn.

NDNation looks to Jaylon.

Still to come…

Fighting Irish Blog

UHND.com

(Mike Coffey, NDNation) It’s been a little meltdowney on the football side, so a question on a potentially happier topic – have you watched any of the men’s basketball games this season so far?  If so, allowing for the quality of opposition faced, what’s your evaluation on what you’ve seen and what are your expectations for the season?

Sadly, I have not. Work has kept me away from two games and after the Northwestern loss, I mostly unplugged. I will say this though, I am encourage by the high point totals the Irish are putting together, poor competition or not. Last year was incredibly frustrating to watch as it just felt like the Irish weren’t taking advantage of the athleticism that they now have on the squad, even before the injuries. Hopefully, this will be a good sign of things to come.

(Aaron Horvath, Fighting Irish Blog) After last week’s loss, many of us didn’t know quite what to say or do. First off, tell me what you did Sunday to get your mind off of the game and second, embed the music video of the song that best signifies how you felt Saturday night.

The Dallas Cowboys had a bye week, so I took it as a chance to unplug from anything football related, save for filming an episode of HLS TV. Even got some video game time in with Watch_Dogs, which I was able to finally finish and get off my ever growing backlog of games to play.

As for the music:

(Frank Vitovitch, UHND.com) As Everett Golson’s turnover woes continue, how short would your leash be with him if you were Brian Kelly?

I’ve gone back and forth on this so much. I still think Golson gives the Irish the best chance to win, but I’m getting to the point in which I think Kelly needs to tighten the leash a bit. I don’t think it should be “one more turnover and ride the pine”, but if we see another multiple turnover game and it seems like Everett’s head is just all over the place again, I certainly wouldn’t be upset if Zaire got a drive or two.

(The Subway Domer) This is the last game of the first year of the ACC games. So… What do you think? Do you like it? Was it underwhelming? Was it odd? Was it awesome? Basically…. “coach, can you talk about the ACC games this year and moving forward?” 

I’m a fan thus far. We got two games against Top 25 opponents as Louisville found their way back into the rankings this week. Florida State is a likely playoff contender as well, so that created quite an exciting matchup. Overall, I think we will see something like this yearly–a couple solid opponents with some fodder mixed in.

I can’t wait for future matchups against Clemson and Virginia Tech in particular. I’m definitely hoping I can find a way to make those road trips. For me, things like this are a breath of fresh air.

The post Irish Blogger Gathering: Getting Back in the Saddle appeared first on Her Loyal Sons.

As a reminder, myself, NDNation, UHND.com, The Fighting Irish Blog, and the godfather of the IBG, the Subway Domer, will pose a question to the group and link everyone’s answer while we each field the rest of the field of questions.

So without further ado, let’s get to it because the sooner we do, the sooner I can forget things that happened in Arizona.

My Question: With the playoff now out of reach, what are the new goals for the 2014 season? Would you consider achieving this new goal a successful season or would such a designation be gone without a playoff berth?

Answers will be linked as they go live:

NDNation

UHND.com

Fighting Irish Blog

The Subway Domer

(Mike Coffey, NDNation) Outside of the holder promotion, what do you think should be the Malik Zaire plan going forward? Status quo? More playing time? If the latter, in what scenarios?

I’ve said quite a bit, whether here, HLS TV, ND Fan Radio (and, eventually, my radio show tonight), or Twitter that I’m fully on board with Kelly if he is adamant that Everett will remain the starter. He wouldn’t be so steadfast and quick with that answer repeatedly if he thought Zaire was ready for primetime.

That being said, I sure wouldn’t mind seeing more of Zaire this season. Perhaps we loosen the requirement for when he can come in, especially against a team like Northwestern. Up by a couple scores in the 4th? Throw him in there and see what he can do with the rest of the ones. The experience certainly won’t hurt.

That would be about as far as I would go with it. I think trying to get Zaire playing time in either other kind of situation (save for injury) is just asking for a unneeded circus.

(The Subway Domer) If you didn’t see, I took a few blows to the head Saturday. In my migrained state, a thought popped in my head while trying to watch the ND / ASU game on the DVR:  Have you ever wondered what football would be like today if it was a pass oriented game in 1897? How different do you think today’s game would be if it evolved from what it is now?

I’m glad you survived that mess. Take care of your melon, sir, we need your brain in this blogging landscape.

Your question is a rather interesting one. In thinking about it, I’m not sure it would have changed too much. Perhaps the spread concepts would’ve appeared much, much earlier, but beyond that, I don’t think it would’ve thrown the evolution of the game off to the opposite spectrum in which fans are screaming “THROW THE DAMN BALL!”

If anything, perhaps the biggest change we would’ve seen is a desire for speed rather than size and strength in the earlier days. Perhaps the type of football player that we’d see today would resemble something like that of the sprint football leagues in college.

Today, coaches look for the freakish combination of size, strength, and speed; however, I feel the first two take a bigger priority for most positions. Hell, even when a speedster gets on campus, step one is to bulk him up.

I think that would be the only real change that you’d see today; however, I really think that, in the end, you wouldn’t notice too much of a difference in that divergent timeline.

(Frank Vitovitch, UHND.com) What were your initial thoughts on Nyles Morgan in his first career start and how do you envision the linebacking corps looking next year assuming Joe Schmidt is back for a 5th year?

I’m more or less where I was even before Arizona State. He’ll have some work to do, but the guy has incredible physical tools. I’m excited to see what he’ll do the rest of the way out now that he has a full game under his belt.

I think the LB corps is in great shape for next season. I think there is a 100% chance Schmidt is back next season and a trio of Moran, Schmidt, and Jaylon Smith is all kinds of awesome. Further, with some of the speed the group will have, I wonder if VanGorder doesn’t try to slide one of them into a hybrid LB/nickel back role for certain packages. Either way, that’s a lot of young weapons on the roster and the arrow is going nowhere but up in my opinion.

(Aaron Horvath, Fighting Irish Blog) How do you think this weekend’s forecast will change the game plan? Will it help a certain team more than the other?

Brian Kelly strikes me as more of a guy that adjusts his gameplan to the opponent rather than the weather. If we see more runs, I think it will only be to assert physical dominance over Northwestern; however, I fully expect Kelly go take shots at the endzone early and often to try and leverage our speed advantage.

Now, I say that with the assumption that the snow won’t accumulate to a level that makes any form of a football a pain in the ass. If that happens, both teams are just going to run the ball like crazy.

As far as helping a team, I think it’s a wash. Both teams are used to playing in the cold. Heavy snow, as I mentioned above, throws everyone for a loop equally. All bets are off if that happens.

The post Irish Blogger Gathering: Out of the Frying Pan, Into the Snow appeared first on Her Loyal Sons.

Sound familiar?

So it’s time for representatives from NDNation, UHND.com, The Fighting Irish Blog, and the godfather of the IBG, The Subway Domer, to put Navy to bed and take a look at what’s ahead. Let’s get to it.

My question: Based on how the rankings this week, do you feel any differently about a too-close-for comfort win against Navy or, for that matter, playing Navy to begin with?

Answers will be linked as they go live:

NDNation

Fighting Irish Blog

UHND.com

The Subway Domer

(Frank Vitovitch, UHND.com) Notre Dame has not been strong the week following Navy under Brian Kelly and at the end of the Charlie Weis Era. Why have the Irish struggled the following week and what can Brian Kelly and his staff do to prevent a similar outcome this weekend against the #9 ranked Sun Devils?

I think this trend is a little overblown. Firstly, the end of the Charlie Weis era had a lot more problems than having let downs post Navy. As far as BK era struggles/losses, we have to release that this team is totally different from any other iteration of Irish football than we’ve seen before, 2012 included.

So really, in my mind, this is a matter of a correlation isn’t causation. ND will need to do the same things that they always need to do to win a football game and this week is no different.

(Aaron Horvath, Fighting Irish Blog) With Joe Schmidt out for the foreseeable future, here is a random question. Who is the most indispensable student-athlete on both the offensive and defensive sides of the ball? Why?

Everett Golson and it isn’t even close. While I’m sure Zaire could step in and do a good job, I don’t think he would be anywhere near the level that Golson is at right now (and Golson is still getting better). This season, Irish success has been completely dependent on Golson’s play. I can’t imagine that the Irish would still be in the playoff hunt without him.

Now, on the defensive side, I’d go with Sheldon Day. He has been a machine this season on the defensive line and it seems like he lives behind the line of scrimmage. It’s been a truly incredible sight to witness all season. Without his reliable pressure, the defense wouldn’t be performing to the level that it has been. It all starts up front.

(Mike Coffey, NDNation) If ND wins out, do you believe they’ll get a fair shot at a playoff berth?  Why or why not?

At this point, I’ve seen no evidence that Notre Dame won’t get a fair shake from the committee. Now, whether or not things will fall that way for the Irish is still yet to be seen. There is a very real possibility that only Arizona State will be the lone top 25 win for the Irish and that’s something the committee clearly values.

It sucks, but the Irish have fallen victims to their opponents being uncharacteristically horrible. Despite that, I still see a path for a one-loss ND team to make the playoff as there is still a lot of football left to be played and a lot of losing left to be done. Let’s remember that in 2012, we were all concerned that an undefeated Irish would get hosed and everything worked out nicely before the Southern Cal game.

(The Subway Domer) With some bad officiating and some head scratching poll results, Notre Dame is sitting at #10 in a season that has seen a wide amount of injuries and suspensions for the Irish. Brian Kelly has played his part with an incredible amount of calmness. So, When is BK just going to snap? If you don’t think he will, sell me on Stoic BK.

I don’t think Kelly will ever “snap” per se. He’s too smart for that. The guy is a true politician and he knows how to handle things.

Kelly knows that ND really doesn’t have a strong argument right now due to the lack of top 25 wins; however, he is starting to plant the seeds in touting ND’s scheduling habits. It’s purposeful, he knows how to create a soundbite. He knows his “glorified byes” line is going to get a lot of play in the media.

So with that seed planted, if ND wins, look for BK to start turning the heat up weekly. If ND finishes 11-1, BK will start the Irish campaigning in earnest to keep Notre Dame in the minds of the committee and the media while everyone is playing their conference championships.

Honestly, this is one of the things I love about Kelly. He is so incredibly calculating in the quotes and answers he gives to questions like this. I almost want this whole situation to play out and be tough just to watch a BK play master politician because he is so damned good at it.

The post Irish Blogger Gathering: Devil Went Down to Tempe appeared first on Her Loyal Sons.

Let’s do this.

My question: If you could change one thing about the game this past weekend that didn’t involve a yellow flag, what would it be?

NDNation went pull pirate. No seriously, read it. Full pirate.

Fighting Irish Blog would like to be on a boat, a really large boat.

The Subway Domer wanted a dreadlock pick six.

UHND.com would like a re-sneak.

(Aaron Horvath, Fighting Irish Blog) By now we all know the outcome of the Florida State game, but the main question is, did the loss change your thoughts on Notre Dame’s outlook for the year? If so, how?

Honestly, it did at first. I thought all hope of a playoff was gone and even (drunkenly) called into ND Fan Radio to say so. After that call, the Subway Domer and I had a chat and we both shared the same sentiments.

It was a rough night.

Anyways, I’m starting to come around on the playoff hopes. However, if I look at what I thought ND would be at the beginning of the season to now, I’m still in the same spot. Notre Dame is a very talented team with a high ceiling for even this year. They’ve exceeded my expectations and I believe when the dust settles we will, at the very least, land in a good bowl game.

(Mike Coffey, NDNation) It only took one game in 1993 to make BC a “rival” for some people.  Did this game change your perception of Florida State vis-à-vis their position in our pantheon of opponents?  If so, how?

Not really. Before the game they were in “team I kind of hate and really want to beat” and they are still there. If anything has changed it’s that I really want to beat this particular Florida State game.

The penalty flag felt like one of those WWE matches in which someone ran in to interfere or the referee got knocked out when the bad guy was clearly down for three. It just all feels so unfinished. I want another shot. I want closure and a clean finish.

(The Subway Domer) It’s a world gone crazy, and I will save the oddball question for another week. Gentlemen… Discuss Tarean Folston and what automobile bests describes him.

I’m terrified of your definition of oddball with this question.

Anyways, I think Tarean is a Tesla Model S. It’s new, young technology. Most everyone can see the upside, but not everyone is completely sold…yet. I think his performance against FSU did a lot to sell people on Folston as the #1 back, but, with a crowded backfield, he will certainly have to keep stringing games like that together for the Irish name him the feature back.

Disclaimer: Yeah, I’m biased on electronic cars because computer nerd.

(Frank Vitovitch, UHND.com) Many pundits are now saying that Notre Dame will almost certainly be in the playoffs if they win out.  1) Do you agree? and 2) What do you think Notre Dame’s chances of winning out and making that a debate are?

As stated above, I would’ve drunkenly told you no on Saturday night. After the polls got released on Sunday, I started to gain hope back. After watching the games this week, I’m convinced the Irish have full control of their destiny.

If I’m an odds-maker, I’m putting the Irish somewhere around 5/1. Every game on the schedule is winnable, but road games to Arizona State and Southern Cal will be no cakewalk (despite the Trojans falling yet again this week).

On top of that, all the SEC West teams are going to cannibalize each other and it already started with LSU downing Ole Miss this past weekend. Mississippi State looked shaky and Auburn doesn’t appear to field anything resembling a functional defense. When the dust settles, I think Alabama might be the only one-loss left standing in that division as they have looked very impressive the last two weeks.

If you want me to pick my potential four at this point, I would go with: Florida State, Alabama, Notre Dame, and a tossup between Oregon and however survives the Big XII shakeup at one loss.

The post Irish Blogger Gathering: Delayed But Still Kickin’ appeared first on Her Loyal Sons.

My question: Slow and error-prone starts have plagued the Irish this season (save for an opening TD drive against Purdue). If you’re Brian Kelly, what would you try to do to prevent such a start against Florida State?

Mike Coffey of NDNation says it all starts with the coin toss.

Aaron of the The Fighting Irish Blog says go deep.

Frank of UHND.com also subscribes to the “eff it, go deep” newsletter.

The Subway Domer is also looking to differ on kickoff.

(Aaron Horvath, The Fighting Irish Blog): I’m going to step away from the questions regarding the current squad and turn back the clock. First off, what do you remember about the 1993 game? (Shameless plug, we will be broadcasting the 1993 ND-FSU game on WatchND.tv/classics on Thursday night at 8pm ET) … where did you watch it? If you’re too young to remember, tell us about the best ND-FSU memory.

Tonight will be the first time that I’m able to watch the 1993 classic in full. I was seven years old at the time and, since only my uncle went to college (Stephen F. Austin), my football consciousness barely extended beyond the Cowboys. I don’t even think I could’ve named all the teams in the NFL back then.

A few years ago, I got an awesome DVD set containing classic Notre Dame games (this one) for Christmas. I was working my way through the set chronologically more or less, but some jackass broke into my house and stole all my DVDs before I ever got to the FSU game. So thanks for that, jerk.

Anyways, this is the part where everyone expects that I say 2002 since I was in high school at the time. Truth be told, I’ve never seen that full game either nor much of the 2002 season for that matter (and now I more or less refuse to try because I don’t want to subject myself to anymore Ty-led ND football). I have a better vivid memory of arguing with my mother that the application to Notre Dame was a waste of time and money since I wasn’t Catholic. This may surprise you loyal readers, but, spoiler alert, I’m an idiot.

So that means my first FSU memory was the 37-0 ass-kicking the Irish received in 2003. I remember two things from that nightmare:

1. Chris Rix dodging 2 or 3 different sacks in the endzone and firing a pass for a gigantic gain in the other direction.
2. A student in the push-up position screaming at Brady Quinn in the second half that he believed in him and was ready to do a push-up for a first down. You could hear him clear as day because the stadium was so quiet. It was hilarious. We went three and out.

Then we had the 2011 Champs Sports Bowl which was one of the more famous “TOMMY, NO” games in which Andrew Hendrix got in on the INT mix. So that was fun.

What I’m trying to say is: I NEED TO SEE THE IRISH BEAT FSU IN THE WORST WAY!

(Mike Coffey, NDNation) What, if anything, does this game say about the season for both teams?  Is it make-or-break, or will the loser still have a chance?

In terms of the season, I think this means more for FSU. When you’re the defending champ, it’s definitely title or bust. I don’t see the Seminoles recovering playoff hopes after a loss at this point. In fact, I wouldn’t be surprised in the least if Florida State forces Winston to fall on the many swords he keeps throwing in front of him if the playoff is ever out of reach. That’s partly because I’m cynical about how many major programs act these days, but also because I get the feeling that FSU is really getting tired of dealing with Winston being a headline for all the wrong reasons. So, yeah, a loss for them is a nightmare scenario.

For the Irish, I respectfully disagree with Brian Kelly that we can make the playoff as a one-loss team. After reading some very disheartening things about what the playoff committee can and can’t use in deliberations, I believe there will be too much SEC bias to overcome even if ND gets big wins over Arizona State and Southern Cal.

That being said, I don’t think I loss throws our season in the garbage. A potential 11-1 run is still incredible for this team and I’d be happy with that (or even 10-2 to be honest). I mentioned this on HLS TV, but I’m not entirely convinced the Irish are a team that can win the title right now. They are close, so very, very close.

I still believe the Irish can win this game, but I won’t shift my focus to 2015 if they drop a tough game in Tallahassee.

(Frank Viovitch, UHND.com) With all of the talk of Jameis Winston’s eligibility being called into question after being linked to the same autograph dealer as Todd Gurley, what is your take on Winston with regards to this weekend?  Are you hoping he is ineligible to help Notre Dame’s chances or are you hoping he plays so that if Notre Dame were to win there wouldn’t be any way for the media to downplay it?

Let’s get one thing clear: I never for a second thought Winston would be ineligible this weekend. If that somehow changes, I will be utterly shocked. Like I said above, I think FSU only does something if the playoff is out of the picture. Beyond that, they (and Winston’s lawyer) are just hoping to weather the storm until then.

From a football perspective, I want him to play. I don’t like a potential for anyone to have an excuse of “yeah, ND beat us, but” even though such excuses will inevitably happen. Seriously, with a ND win, watch the narrative shift to “off the field distractions finally caught up to FSU” or “was FSU really that good?” within 24 hours.

It is what it is, but whatever. Beat everyone and play the hand you’re dealt.

(The Subway Domer) Life is a music video. Provide 3 short song lyrics that best describe the upcoming game against FSU and include the video that it accompanies.

Fun fact, thanks to random Twitter conversations, I discovered that Creed more or less formed at FSU as their founding members Scott Stapp and Mark Tremonti were classmates in high school and FSU. Another fun fact, I was quite the Creed fan back in the day. Heck, I’ll still listen to some of their stuff because I think Tremonti is a pretty damn good guitarist so I try to forget the fact that Scott Stapp is…well, Scott Stapp.

Anyways, you are forever going to regret going old school in your IBG question, Subway Domer, because I’m going to piss off the entire fanbase with Creed lyrics and music videos. Don’t be mad at me, be mad at FSU, they unleashed this on the world. So, I introduce to you Jameis Winston’s playlist because who needs “I’m the Man” on repeat when you have an entire catalog of Scott Stapp’s whining and self loathing?

“My Own Prison”

I cry out to God
Seeking only his decision
Gabriel stands and confirms
I’ve created my own prison

(And I said oh) So I held my head up high
Hiding hate that burns inside
Which only fuels their selfish pride

“Overcome”

I’m entitled to overcome
Completely stunned and numb
Knock me down, throw me to the floor
There’s no pain I can feel no more
I’m entitled to overcome,
Overcome

“You Stand Here with Me”, a tribute to #FSUTwitter

You always reached out to me and helped me believe
All those memories we share
I will cherish every one of them
The truth of it is there’s a right way to live
And you showed me
So now you live on in the words of a song
You’re a melody

(I’m so sorry…)

The post Irish Blogger Gathering: This Is the Big One appeared first on Her Loyal Sons.

While I feel for the Marooned Five, and certainly hope they find themselves out of limbo soon, both myself and the rest of the IBG are going to focus on the matters on the field. By the way, those matters are 5-0.

As a reminder, each fellow member of the IBG, representing the Official Fighting Irish Blog, NDNation, UHND.com, and the godfather of the IBG himself, The Subway Domer, will all pose questions for each to answer on their sites. We will link everyone’s post as it goes live so we can all have the joys of an internet roundtable discussion.

Let’s get to it.

(My Submission) This is the second week in a row which Golson has had some struggles with protecting the ball both in the air and on the ground. As he is arguably the heart of the ND offense, are you worried about the struggles? Do you think he’ll be fine? Or is your temperature somewhere else on the scale?

Mike Coffey of NDNation reminds us that 2014 Golson is much better than 2012 Golson.

The Official Fighting Irish Blog is blocked at work (stupid Tumblr filter), so I will have no idea what Aaron said until I’m home!

The Subway Domer is hitting the bottle.

Frank Vitovitch of UHND.com has some concerns.

(Aaron Horvath, Official Fighting Irish Blog) Last week’s win over Stanford was an ugly one – dropped passes, fumbles, etc … – but it was still a victory. Going into the UNC game at 5-0 and in the top-5 in the coaches poll with #1 Florida State awaiting the Irish the week after, what three things does Notre Dame need to do this week to ensure they don’t look ahead to a possible showdown in Tallahassee? 

I won’t lie, somewhere in the back of my mind I’m thinking of a Buzzfeed listicle post like “8 GIFs That Prove Notre Dame Still Has Work to Do” or something along those lines. Yes, I’m weird.

Anyways, here’s the three things Notre Dame needs to do so we all avoid mass depression:

1. Protect the damn ball.
2. Remember what happened in the first half against Purdue and learn from it.
3. Have some kind of non-public goal like giving up zero points or scoring 50. Pretend like anything else is failure.

(Frank Vitovitch, UHND.com) It’s now been two games since the OL was completely reshuffled. One game was a against a blitz happy team and another was against the #1 ranked defense in the country.  So far the results have been mixed with OK pass protection but not stellar run blocking.  Have these two games given the new look line great experience and we’ll see the benefits moving forward or have the two challenging experiences not given them the time to settle into their new roles and do you think the line will get better than what we’ve seen?

I’m still in “wait and see” territory here. Personally, I feel like the line has gotten a bigger physical push than at the start of the season, but there is still a long way to go. Overall though, I feel like we are in a better spot than what we started the season with and it will continue to improve.

The good news for the O-line is that Golson’s elusiveness can cover up a lot of mistakes and Kelly has been making over-aggressive offenses pay with screens and edge attacks the past couple of weeks (especially against Syracuse).

I’m going to be very interested to see what this line does against UNC because their defense is, quite frankly, terrible. I’m hoping we see some glimmers of dominance over a vastly inferior squad.

(Mike Coffey, NDNation) No shortage of commentary about the inclement weather last Saturday.  Not counting that game, what’s the worst weather in which you’ve ever watched a Notre Dame football game live?

Freshman year vs. Navy (2003) by a landslide. Perhaps this wins because this Texan hadn’t yet experienced his first South Bend weather, but this game was completely miserable.

It wasn’t wet, thankfully, but it was so damn cold and the wind was blowing so hard that I think we reached single-digit wind chill that day. Since that game, I have never uttered the phrase “I’m freezing” or even “Damn, I’m cold” at a football game.

I’ve heard of people being greeted to a new area with a cold shoulder, but that was ridiculous.

/sees self out

(The Subway Domer) Hello poets. Hello wannabe hipsters- here is your chance to step up to the mic at your favorite coffee house and let your creativity shine. I need two haikus from you. One about last week’s incredible victory, and one about this week’s game against North Carolina. I’ll sit down and listen [grabs cup of ridiculously weird coffee blend and pours in bourbon]. 

When a tree falls down
In front of eighty thousand
It makes a band play

Both share a struggle
Paper investigations
One has a defense

The post Irish Blogger Gathering: Answers Are Imminent appeared first on Her Loyal Sons.

As a reminder, our IBG members are: Mike Coffey from NDNation, Frank Vitovitch from UHND.com, Aaron Horvath from the Official Fighting Irish Blog, and the IBG godfather himself, the Subway Domer. We have all asked each other the same questions and we are here to give you the answers.

It’s another hate week in my mind. Let’s burn some trees.

My question: While Stanford’s rushing offense has been struggling this season (ranked 70th nationally), their defense certainly hasn’t (ranked 1st). How do you feel about the Golson-led offense against the Cardinal defensive unit?

NDNation shows some cautious optimism.

Subway Domer wants an air raid.

Fighting Irish Blog thinks 20 is the magic number.

(more links to come as they are posted)

UHND.com

(Subway Domer) The national narrative hasn’t changed much. Notre Dame hasn’t played anyone with a pulse, and big bad Stanford is coming to town as the odds on favorite. The only thing that can change this perception is a win over the Cardinal–or would it? Would an Irish victory over Stanford in the eyes of pollsters and the CFB Playoff committee give more credence to the season thus far? Why does any of this even matter if it doesn’t really matter? Meditate on that.

Meditate? Ok, let me go zen here.

To hell with the national narrative and the polls.

Also, I don’t believe that anyone on the CFB Playoff committee is too sold on anyone yet. I’m sure they keep running tabs on their top 10, but I have a feeling after the end of this month, that’s when the debate picks up.

I’m sure beating Stanford will open up the national eyes. Michigan did as well until they laid an egg and a half against anyone with a pulse. Stanford could end up being the same so who knows.

My philosophy on polls is always the same: win ’em all and make the decision easy for them. See also: 2012.

(Aaron Horvath, Fighting Irish Blog) What does it mean to you that Notre Dame was able to overcome 5 turnovers and still thoroughly and soundly defeat an ACC opponent?

A few different things:

1. Syracuse is not good.
2. The defense did a hell of a job not going into panic mode.
3. Everett did a good job of not completely falling apart.
4. We have some explosive weapons on offense to pull that off.
5. Seriously, Syracuse is not good.

As far as it being an ACC opponent? Meh, doesn’t move the needle. Has more to do with my mindset that I mentioned above though: beat ’em all regardless of conference or rank.

(Mike Coffey, NDNation) There seems to be two schools of thought on David Shaw – one saying he’s riding Harbaugh’s remnants and will come down to earth shortly, the other saying he’s an apple sitting very close to the tree and should be able to sustain Stanford’s recent success.  To which school do you belong and why?

I don’t think Shaw is as good as Harbaugh, but I don’t think he’s terrible either. In that same vein, I don’t think he’s going to sustain the heights they’ve been at, but I see them being in the playoff conversation more often than not.

I know it sounds like I’m straddling the fence here, but honestly, the biggest thing with Stanford right now is that their talent hit a slight decline. Keyword: slight. This isn’t as dangerous of a Stanford team (70th in rushing blows my mind honestly even this early) as previous years, but they definitely have weapons.

I think Stanford’s got a good thing going. They have a plan and they are sticking to it. The similarities between Harbaugh and Shaw prevented a full rebuild with a philosophy change and I think that was incredibly smart. With that said, I guess I lean more towards that Shaw is an apple close to the Harbaugh tree.

(Frank Vitovitch, UHND.com) After Torii Hunter’s debut and the the return this week of Amir Carlisle, how do you forsee the Notre Dame wide receiving rotation working out this weekend and beyond?

Without a doubt, I believe Amir reclaims his slot spot. I believe our best receiving weapons are Fuller, Amir, and Robinson, in that order. They will easily see the most snaps going forward. I definitely think Torii is going to make an impact somewhere, it may just some time. Perhaps we will see him in four-wide sets on occasion, but don’t forget about Brown and Prosise as well.

On another note: man, the WR corps is performing better than my wildest expectations to this point. Next man in indeed. These guys are fun to watch.

The post Irish Blogger Gathering: Let’s Have a Forest Fire appeared first on Her Loyal Sons.

As a reminder, the IBG members (comprised of NDNation, UHND.com, The Official ND Blog, and The Subway Domer) will each ask a question to the panel. We will answer our questions three four and link everyone’s answer to our questions.

Let’s get to it!

My question (you might remember this from my HLS TV discussion with Molly): What’s your temperature after this game? Happy because a win is a win or upset with poor play against or are you somewhere completely different?

UHND’s never been so happy to be mad.

NDNation is slightly worried about one thing.

The Subway Domer is hot with desire.

Aaron’s feeling pretty good over at the Fighting Irish Blog.

(Aaron Horvath, Official ND Blog) As we head into the bye week, the Irish are 3-0, averaging over 30 points per game, while allowing just over 10 including shutting out Michigan. If I were to tell you that those three facts would be true prior to the season beginning, would you have taken it? Through 1/4 of the year, how do your expectations of this season match up?

Obviously, I would have taken it. There’s no Irish fan that wouldn’t.

That being said, the Irish are mostly well beyond what I expected. I say mostly because I didn’t not expect the defense to play so well, especially against Michigan; however, I didn’t expect our run game to struggle. Further, where the hell is the read option attack now that Golson is back? I think he’s only taken the ball himself three or four times total on such plays.

What I did expect for certain though: Golson’s good. REALLY good. Frustrations with the lack of a read option attack aside, Golson has been great this season. I feel like we have a something really special in him and I’m talking Heisman special. He’s that good.

(Mike Coffey, NDNation) At the first bye week, who is your MVP on offense and on defense so far?

Offense should be obvious based on my above answer: Everett Golson. If you want a non-layup answer, give me Will Fuller who has made quite the impact thus far in the season and turning into one hell of a playmaker in the absence of DaVaris Daniels.

On defense, I’m going with Cody Riggs with an honorable mention to Jaylon Smith. Riggs has done a great job holding down his corner spot, especially against Michigan and he can return punts–rejoice!. Normally, I think Jaylon would be the obvious answer here, but he hasn’t made as major of an impact thus far in the season. There’s no doubt in my mind though that we will look back at the season and see Jaylon standing tall in the end though.

(Frank Vitovitch, UHND.com) If there was only one thing that the coaching staff could address and fix during the bye week, what would you want it to be? What happens if the staff isn’t able to correct that one thing between now and two weeks from now?

READ OPTION. Seriously, please give this to me. With Everett and the abundance of talent at RB, there is no reason why that shouldn’t be a staple of the Irish offense. I don’t know why we are shying away from it right now or if Everett just isn’t trusting himself to pull it down himself, but that needs to change immediately.

If that doesn’t happen, we will probably see a lot of what we have seen: a struggling running game and an offense that is dependent on Golson to extend passing plays to either scramble or find someone 10 seconds in. I mean, that can definitely work, but I just see this huge potential of a massive weapon not being used right now. Use it!

(The Subway Domer) BYE week means SCOUT week. What games are you looking forward to watching this week? Do you have any non CFB plans for Saturday? 

Sadly, I will be in a plane for most of Saturday. Work sent me to training in Oregon and the company I’m with this week said to expect to be here until 5pm at least in training that day. That means there are no convenient flights back to Texas that day, so I’m going to spend my Saturday in complete college football oblivion.

Seriously, if this wasn’t a bye I would be so pissed that watching ND would be in danger.

I’m hoping I can get home for the night game between FSU and Clemson. Beyond that, I’m hopeful I’m not stuck in training too long Thursday so I can catch Auburn and Kansas State. War Eagle y’all.

The post Irish Blogger Gathering: Here Comes the Bye appeared first on Her Loyal Sons.

I suppose that makes sense in some way. While I’m sure all of us will rewatch Michigan over and over again with glee, the 2014 season still has 10 more games and, at some point, we have to look forward.

So with that all being said, let’s get to it.

(My question) Since Michigan still hasn’t scored, let’s talk about the defense: who stood out for you against Michigan?

(Answers linked as they post)

NDNation sees a mullet

Subway Domer has a few standouts

Official ND Blog reminds you of mental errors

UHND

(Aaron Horvath, Official ND Blog) It seems as there is always talk about how the current head coach at Notre Dame is not the right man for the job, however in the past five years Brian Kelly has created a system of consistency and led the Irish in the BCS Championship Game. What do you say to the people out there who still think Coach Kelly is not the man for the job?

I have a couple of issues with the premise of this question in general. Before I get into that, here’s a disclaimer: I love that Brian Kelly is our current head coach and I’ve felt it was the best hire we could make since day 1.

That being said, let’s recognize a couple of things:

1. The head coach of any major program is likely under fire by someone, somewhere. That’s just the nature of the beast and sometimes, those reasons have zero to do with the result on the field, but moreso their vision of what an ideal coach would be.
2. I’m not willing to say BK has “created a system of consistency” at this point. There’s been a lot of changes, moving parts, and square pegs in round holes that have led to 7 & 8 win regular seasons for all but one season of his tenure.

Now, the above isn’t to say this is proof Kelly shouldn’t be here, I just think there is a broad stroke being painted here that isn’t totally realistic. I believe that we are just now, in year five, seeing more of Kelly’s overall vision for ND football, especially on offense with a mature Golson. To put it another way, the real litmus test has begun in earnest.

That being said, if someone has their pitchfork out and torch lit outside the Gug, I’d tell them to calm down because we are only two years removed from a title run and the program still has loads of upside in its current trajectory. If they want Kelly gone for non-football reasons (and honestly, I think that’s the bigger criticism he’s faced), I’m just going to let them joust at windmills because that’s an argument in which everyone loses.

(Mike Coffey, NDNation) While it will be difficult to make many definitive statements about the team this week due to the poor quality if opponent, what is one thing you really want to see them do against Purdue?

Blow them out. We have consecutive 30+ point wins for the first time since the Holtz era and I want more.

We’ve been begging to have a team that blows the doors off bad opponents. That’s what the elite playoff contenders will do and that’s what I want to see.

If we’re going to be in that conversation, we can’t have a let down after Michigan and let Purdue hang around. Our schedule is far too tough to fall into that dangerous habit.

(Frank Vitovitch, UHND.com) Notre Dame has struggled against Purdue the last two years even though the Boilers have had back to back down years.  1) Why has Purdue given Notre Dame such problems the last two seasons 2) what does Notre Dame have to do avoid a similar fate this weekend and 3) will Notre Dame be able to keep this game from being too close for comfort this year?

There’s always someone with the multiple questions, but seriously all Purdue ones? Destroying Michigan really has thrown us off our center.

Anyways:

1. Everett Golson debuted and Tommy Rees was Tommy Rees. Further, Purdue, believe it or not, actually had some incredible talent on their defensive line the past couple of seasons. We had to attack the edges and spread the field the last two seasons and we failed to do so efficiently. That allowed Purdue to hang around for much longer than they should each game.
2. Execute and don’t turn the ball over. Plain and simple. This isn’t the same Golson and offense they saw two years ago and they don’t have the weapons to stop it.
3. I think so. I have a feeling that, much like Rice and Michigan, the game will be well in control, and likely over, by the half.

(The Subway Domer) Can you remember a time when you got excited for Notre Dame vs Purdue? Did you just get a color television?

ZING!

/falls back asleep remembering we have to play Purdue

With all of this recent talk of different series ending and scheduling issues, what are your opinions on scheduling b16 teams? How does Notre Dame keep a strong regional presence while continuing to live nationally?

Do what you can when you can. Sparty is back in 2016 and 2017 and Purdue returns in 2020 as of now. Then you have the home and home with Ohio State in 2023 and 2024.

And to be honest, a lot of the issues right now is that ND has to work through some older agreements they had pre-ACC. I have a feeling that after 2017 and 2018, things will be slightly more flexible to fit the more traditional regional rivals back in on a fairly regular basis.

But here’s the secret to ND’s regional presence: if they are good they have it. Will a regional game help? Definitely, but let’s not pretend like ND needs those games to secure it.

The truth is that ND has a larger focus on winning hearts in the other recruiting hotbeds like California, Texas, Florida, and . That’s a much harder thing for ND to do, even if they are good and they require an increased presence in those areas so recruits can get a taste of what the ND experience is like, especially since the SEC is the current king right now.

And you know what? I love that. It’s a different mindset than most of the B1G and I’m perfectly fine with it. We are playing a different recruiting game than they are.

Let’s be honest with something else as well, the B1G is trending downwards and Delany is screwing them. Last weekend was a disaster for the conference and was their last real chance to make an impact in their out-of-conference schedule. They are about to go into their B1G conference schedule shell in a couple of weeks and their OOC failures have completely devalued the impact of those games on a national level.

The funny part is that they aren’t even in their nine-game conference schedule yet, which isn’t going to help their chances to make OOC splashes and its amazing to me that Delany can’t see that.

So yeah, if we can get them on the schedule, great. If not, whatever, let’s go play the Texas and Georgia and the like.

The post Irish Blogger Gathering: Somehow We Had Questions About Purdue appeared first on Her Loyal Sons.

1. I was late in rounding everyone up this season.
2. We decided that we beat the offseason to death already.

So now that Rice is in the books, it’s go time.

This year the IBG has a familiar cast of characters: myself, Mike Coffey of NDNation, Aaron Horvath of the official ND Football blog, Frank Vitovitch of UHND.com, and the return of The Subway Domer!

You may notice Keith Arnold of Inside the Irish (and now Bleacher Report) is not on the list this season. Sadly, Keith’s schedule has gotten a bit busier so he has bowed out. As someone also attempting to balance multiple writing gigs plus a day job, I can certainly empathize. Many thanks to Keith for all his IBG contributions, make sure you go visit him at both NBC and B/R.

For those asking what the IBG is, it was the brain-child of The Subway Domer in an attempt for many ND blogs to combine in a weekly effort for a round-table discussion and a traffic share. Since the IBG’s start, many blogs have come and gone and the IBG has morphed into a much smaller discussion that you now see today.

Each IBG member will ask a single question of the other members. We will then answer all these questions, save for our own, and link the responses of all other members. Since this year is the final hate week IBG, we are also adding in one bonus question.

So enough house-keeping, let’s do this.

My question to the IBG:

Everett Golson certainly put on quite a show against Rice. Should we temper optimism because it was just Rice or can we dare to dream of Heisman campaigns?

(Answers will be linked as they’re posted)

Official ND Blog

NDNation

UHND

The Subway Domer

(Aaron Horvath, Official ND Blog) Let’s compare two games during the Brian Kelly era – the USF game and the Rice game. Does the way that the Irish systematically blew out the Owls show how far the Program has come since Kelly took over? What has he done to create a consistent winning environment? What does he still need to do?

Right out of the gate and Aaron is trying to skirt the rules on one question. Yeesh.

It’s hard to use a win again Rice as a measuring stick for the program overall, but a struggle or loss in such affairs do tend to give warning signs that something is wrong. In the case of USF, two things became clear: (1) Dayne Crist just wasn’t what we thought he’d be and (2) the Irish still had a ton of work to do in order to cut down dumb mistakes.

I’m surprised 2012’s opener Navy wasn’t mentioned in this question as well because the Rice game was certainly very similar. Not just in the blowout, but in the fact that a Kelly-recruited QB ran the offense and the Irish limited their mistakes.

So while I can’t say “look how far we’ve come because we beat Rice”, I will say that its become clear that this team is definitely Kelly’s team. He’s built them to the point in which the easier opponents should be easy games and not a struggle. That does speak well of the environment that he’s created, the talent that he’s recruited, and that’s he’s been able to coach them to execute and minimize mistakes.

What does he still need to do? Other than keeping this trajectory going, I’m not too sure. It’s hard to evaluate the Tommy Rees years because that was an exercise in BK holding things together rather than being able to implement his full vision for ND football. Saying that he needs to play the dual threat QBs with better physical talent is a rather obvious fact that I’m sure he realizes.

But, in an effort to answer the question, I’d say the next step is consistent wins over rivals and ranked opponents. I think we are past the point in which we can say “being competitive is okay” and that’s a good thing.

(The Subway Domer) Regardless to any historical or personal interest in this game, rate the level of importance this Saturday night’s matchup has for this season. What will define this season more, a win or a loss?

Honestly, the emotional investment and historical importance of this matchup is probably what defines this game in terms of season success. If you remove that game from the equation, what you have is a game against an opponent that has struggled the last few seasons, has your number, and always has the potential of being on the rise with the talent on their roster.

With that in mind, and considering that this matchup is so early in the season, winning here can separate ND from the rest of the pack and gain loads of initial respect from pollsters and the playoff committee. A loss will kick them down into a hole that they will have to claw out of the rest of the season, especially if Michigan falters later in the year.

(Frank Vitoitch, UHND.com) What must the Notre Dame defense do on Saturday to prevent Devin Garnder from having another career performance against Notre Dame similar to what we’ve seen happen in the past with both Gardner (last year) and Denard Robinson (2010, 2011) before him?

Don’t lose containment. Don’t let the play get behind you.

In each of the mentioned ND losses, the defense simply had some kind of lapse that allowed for big plays that would either keep a Michigan drive alive when they should’ve been off the field or result in a TD that shouldn’t have been surrendered.

Although we will likely be bringing multiple blitzes at Gardner, we can’t go into full “pin your ears back” mode and allow him to extend plays or escape the pressure. The moment Gardner finds an open throwing or running lane is the moment ND is in danger of giving up a back breaking play.

If Gardner does roll away from pressure, every throw should at the very least be off-balance. Preferably, such throws are also met with a nice hit to get in his head.

The secondary has a huge job here as well. They can’t allow a receiver to become wide open downfield and give Gardner an easy out that turns into points.

I have no doubt the Gardner and Funchess combination will make some plays regardless of what we do. However, we have to make them work for each one. We simply can’t make it easy on them as that’s what has led to each “Michigan QB has a career day” game.

(Mike Coffey, NDNation) Given that this is the last scheduled game, how do you feel about the series with Michigan ending, and what priority should ND put on getting them back on the schedule?

I’ll be honest, I’ll miss it. Hate week is fun, especially from a blogging perspective. I eventually want to see it come back, but I certainly don’t want ND bending over backwards to do so.

I’d prefer the focus remain on scheduling opponents like Texas and Georgia. I’m certainly not going to miss games in Ann Arbor if traveling options to Austin and Athens are on the table.

From a hate perspective, we get to kindle that in the ACC with Miami and Florida State rotating regularly on the schedule. They aren’t rivals per se like Michigan, but a similar hate level is there to fill the void. As an added bonus, there won’t be a decades long gap between those matchups.

From a logistical perspective, to hell with Jim Delany and his ridiculous ideas about how the B1G should work. A watered-down nine-game conference schedule that must be played at the end of the season? That’s absurd. There needs to more flexibility available, even our more restrictive ACC scheduling agreement allows for ACC games to happen early in September (see 2015 with two ACC games in the first three weeks). They can blame ND forever for not playing ball anymore, but the B1G has to realize there are better games on the table for us and the rest of CFB on those dates.

From a historical perspective, to hell with Michigan. The history of Michigan blackballing ND off of their schedule is well known. Their history of detesting that Notre Dame was even on their schedule is well known. They even postponed two future games before ND canned the series. This series has always been about what they want, when they want it.

So now that the B1G has expanded and includes Rutgers and Maryland as annual opponents, they are crying foul. It’s like having a significant other that treats you like crap and, when you’ve finally had enough and see better options, you call it off. Once they see you with a new person, all of a sudden they want you back and you’re the heel for throwing away something special.

Screw that. We’re not crawling back to you.

Bonus: Go on a Michigan hate rant and/or give a favorite memory of the series.

I kind of ranted a bit above, plus I need to hold something back for the Roundup tomorrow. So for the hate, here are three primers.

For my favorite memory, I’m going to go to the start of the Weis era in 2005. I was a student manager and assigned Michigan as one of my two away games. I had never been to the Big House, much less Ann Arbor. My first experience would be on the sidelines.

The entire week of practice, Weis put loads of focus on the first drive. The Irish would go out, no huddle, and have a simple numbering system for calling plays. Combined with silent snap counts, Michigan would have no idea what hit them.

12 plays and 76 yards later, Notre Dame was celebrating in the endzone and the Big House fell silent.

ND would add another TD before the end of the half, while Michigan offered only a FG and five punts in resistance. As we waited by the tunnel for Michigan to leave the field first, Michigan fans turned on Lloyd Carr. I’m not sure I’ve ever heard more four-letter bombs thrown at a home team’s coach in my life and I witnessed the Ty era.

The second half didn’t fare much better for the Skunkbears. Late in the fourth quarter, down 17-3 it looked like they were on their way back. In fact, Michigan’s PA announcer announced a Michigan TD after one particular play. The actual result was much, much different:

Chad Henne’s goal line fumble all but sealed Michigan’s fate and led to a running “Henne was in!” joke among Irish fans as Michigan fans simply couldn’t believe the video evidence.

Instant replay would also show that, on the ensuing ND drive, Brady Quinn’s knee hit the ground before a fumble that Michigan recovered. ND kept possession and bled more time off the clock.

Michigan fans were happy:

Notre Dame didn’t need much help to beat the Wolverines for the third time in four years, but instant replay overturned two calls in its favor in the fourth quarter.

…

Each time, Michigan’s student section responded by throwing water bottles and other debris on the field.

That game was an absolute pleasure to be a part of. I took so much joy in being on the sidelines while part of Michigan’s soul died.

The post The Irish Blogger Gathering Returns for the Final Hate Week appeared first on Her Loyal Sons.