Anyways, this week has been rather brutal. Thankfully I got some time to unwind at last night’s Rangers game, but once I returned I too damn sleepy to think of anything to write. I made an executive decision to punt the Roundup to this evening, likely making Biscuit’s head explode that I put baseball as a higher priority than football writings.

Either way, the delay actually gave me something to write in this intro which is the delay itself. Writer’s block solved, I guess.

Oh well, you’re here for the links and beer anyways right? Let’s get to it.

The Roundup

This might be the most Southern Cal thing ever. Dr. Dre has made a donation to Southern Cal. For Academics. Seriously. Making this even more hilarious is the juxtaposition of this news release the very next day.

Johnny Baseball? So here’s one advantage to delaying the Roundup. I am able to include Johnny Manziel’s antics from the Padres game last night, including his recreation of his Alabama game-winning pass.

It’s nice when stats work out in your favor. Check out this preview from one of the minds at Football Outsiders. Spoiler Alert: Notre Dame is still damn good.

USF is apparently excited about Aaron Lynch. However, I’d be slightly concerned with his weight loss not working out during his year off if I were them. But, hey, hopefully the attitude change his coach sees is true because the kid has loads of talent that shouldn’t be wasted.

A look into the college football future. I don’t know about y’all, but all I read in this piece was that ND makes a lot of title games.

And now, your moment of STOP USING PHOTOSHOP FOR THE LOVE OF GOD. This week’s entry, Preston Pehrson of Georgia Tech.

The Beer

Before we start, I’d like to make a quick note about this section. Mostly because Slate wrote something mind-numbingly dumb on the topic.

You see, I’m not trying to “beer snob” it up in this section. Nor am I picking beers because OMG HOPS Y’ALL. I’m more in line with several of the opinions noted here.

Those that have read a fair share of Roundups know that I have suggested some “mainstream” beers either tongue-in-cheek or simply because I was in the mood to that week. My whole goal here is to either:

• Be funny (rare)
• Share a good beer I’ve discovered/liked/consumed liberally
• Ask readers for beer suggestions

Because quite frankly beer is good and expanding horizons on said beverage is equally awesome. It’s really hard to go wrong here.

With all that being said, this week I am making good on my promise to go back into the craft beers. Hilariously enough, I had planned on “easing” back into it with a rather simple local lager before I even read the Slate insanity.

That brew would be Rahr’s Blonde Lager from Ft. Worth, Texas.

Admittedly, the distribution is quite limited (but I’m sure you can find similar in the same style), but if you are ever in DFW or at a Rangers game you’ll be able to find this rather easily.

Yes, my baseball team actually serves legit local craft beer (looking at you, Yankees).

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Outside of Tuitt’s touchdown (we’ll get to that in a second) none of the linemen – including Prince Shembo and Ishaq Williams, who lined up as ends – put up gaudy statistics. But, against an option attack where the main assignment is to crash and prevent the fullback dive from even being a possibility, this is exactly the result you’d be hoping for.

The highlight of the game was big Stephon Tuitt not rumbling, not stumbling, but straight-up hauling-ass 77 yards for a touchdown to put the Irish up 27-0 in the second quarter. Ishaq Williams set the stage for his fellow sophomore by kinda/sorta forcing a Trey Miller fumble that bounced directly in Tuitt’s path. I really can’t explain the joy I was overcome with while I watched Tuitt glide down that Aviva Stadium pitch like a 300-pound gazelle. This type of athlete is one we have not seen in a loooong time on the defensive side of the ball for the Irish (the last one wears a similar facemask and plays for the New York Giants)…and he’s only a sophomore. That, folks, is a beautiful thing.

As Tuitt bolted away from Trey Miller and Darius Staten, a run-first quarterback and a running back that both weigh more than 100 pounds less than him, I couldn’t help but wonder how much of the relative ease he scored with was due to simply being a freakishly fast 300 pound man and how much was due to playing against a slower team. So, I did the only thing I could do: I timed his run.

After a multitude of stopwatch trials, it appears that #7 ran 77 yards in about 9.45 seconds. If he kept that pace against Usain Bolt in the 100m dash, he would finish in 13.5 seconds. Not quite Bolt-type speed, and over 3 seconds slower than teammate George Atkinson (10.36 seconds) but still phenomenal speed for a defensive lineman [Also, this is clearly not comparing apples to apples as you don’t run track meets on grass wearing football pads].

Since nobody runs a 77-yard dash, how about a 40 yard dash? Breaking down his time, you are looking at a forty time of around 4.6 seconds for Tuitt at full speed and of just over 5.0 seconds for the first forty yards he had the ball in his hands. By comparison, George Atkinson ran the last 40 yards of his kick return against USC in between 4.0 and 4.1 seconds. For some context, Bruce Irvin of the Seahawks led defensive linemen at the 2012 NFL Combine with a time of 4.50 seconds, while the Bears’ Shane McClellin had the second best time with 4.63. The difference? Irvin weighs 58 pounds less than the 303-pound Tuitt, and McClellin weighs 43 pounds less than Tuitt. In fact, only one D-lineman with a top 10 forty time even weighed more than 270 pounds at the time of his run (the Jets’ Quinton Coples). For a multitude of reasons – grass, football pads, holding a ball, having a running start, not necessarily running in a straight line, ineptitude of guy trying to time another guy running on TV – this is a very rough comparison, but it is incredibly interesting nonetheless.

The post Tuitt ND’s Newest Road Runner appeared first on Her Loyal Sons.

1. Shock and Denial – No, he can’t be leaving. He just came back home from Ohio after Easter. This is a cruel Twitter joke, right?!
2. Pain & Guilt – Why can’t this program catch the break it needs? Isn’t there more we as fans could have done to keep him on campus? Should we have Tweeted at him more frequently and left more comments on his Facebook page? (answer: definitely not)
3. Anger & Bargaining – Forget the integrity of the program. Why aren’t boosters writing checks to keep this kid around? We can make some exceptions for future top 10 NFL draft picks.
4. Depression, Reflection, Loneliness – I may never see Notre Dame in another BCS game. Maybe my best Notre Dame memories will really be from Ty’s first year.
5. The Upward Turn – Hey, we still have Tuitt, Nix and KLM. Things might be able to turn out better than I thought.
6. Reconstruction & Working Through – The team held practice on Saturday? Huh, I guess they’re going to figure out a way to get through this. If they can do it, and they, ya know–actually have something legitimate at stake, I guess I should be able to do it too.
7. Acceptance & Hope – Well, it doesn’t seem like he’s going to change his mind. This team still has BCS written all over it, though! They’ll work harder and will be even better without Lynch!!!!!

*Note: These stages of grief may or may not have been replaced with lots of tears, punches through dry wall, and Bud Lights.

Now that we’ve all had a few days to process the news that Aaron Lynch is taking his talents to South Beach (errr, Florida), it’s time to take a look at the Irish defensive line sans the freshman All-American.

Kapron Lewis-Moore: 2011 Stats – 7 games, 32 tackles (16 solo), 5 tackles for loss, 1 sack, 1 forced fumble. Career Stats – 32 games, 150 tackles (62 solo), 16 tackles for loss, 7 sacks, 3 forced fumbles

For the 2012 season, 5^th year senior Kapron Lewis-Moore will be expected to play a larger role coming off a season-ending knee injury in 2011. While KLM was running with the second team in spring practice prior to Lynch’s exit, he is certainly a first string talent that was relegated as a result of his recovery rather than as a consequence of quality of performance. After practice on Saturday, Brian Kelly insisted that the transition from Lynch to KLM is seamless, “because you’re talking about Kapron Lewis-Moore, who is a starter.” While it’s unlikely a coach would ever come out and say, “our next man in is not very good, so we’re probably in trouble here,” this is a case where we can take Kelly at his word. As long as KLM is healthy there shouldn’t be too significant of a drop-off off against the run, though defending the pass is a bit more of a concern. And hey, who wouldn’t want a guy who had his baller shades stolen by Mark Cuban on NYE starting on their D-line?

Dude has his own airline – now that’s dirty.

Stephon Tuitt: 2011/Career Stats: 9 games, 30 tackles (11 solo), 3 tackles for loss, 2 sacks, 5 QB hurries

Tuitt came into ND more highly rated than Lynch for many of the recruiting services, though did not quite have the freshman success that Lynch did. Lynch had the benefit of enrolling a semester early, and Tuitt’s production (especially when viewed without the precedent of Lynch’s monster numbers) was quite impressive for a true freshman. We should expect a substantial jump in playing time for Tuitt in 2013 following a full year of training with Sergeant Longo. Tuitt was to be starting regardless of Lynch’s status, though will now carry a bit more of a burden without as many game-changers rotating in on the ends.

Prince Shembo: 2011 Stats: 12 games, 31 tackles (17 solo), 4 tackles for loss, 2 sacks, 2 QB hurries. Career Stats: 25 games, 46 tackles (23 solo), 10 tackles for loss, 7 sacks, 6 QB hurries

Yes, I know Shembo is listed at linebacker. But while Diaco’s defense is commonly referred to as 3-4, last season the Irish had four down lineman on more than half of their defensive snaps. Darius Fleming slid up from linebacker to play with his hand down the most frequently in 2011, and Prince Shembo should be expected to fill that role this year. Shembo gained popularity among Irish fans for his pass rushing skills in more limited playing time his freshman season before switching to a role that didn’t fit his skill set nearly as well during his sophomore campaign. Expect Shembo’s production to increase considerably in 2012.

The reserves: Kona Schwenke, Chase Hounshell, and Sheldon Day

Schwenke, who has unfortunately exhausted two seasons of eligibility despite only seeing limited playing time in 8 games, has yet to have a substantial impact on the field. Like last season the Hawaiian has earned rave reviews in practice (and apparently has done nothing but eat, work out and chug protein shakes judging by his weight gain since arriving on campus). Consigned to the bench for most of the year, Schwenke will have the opportunity and responsibility to step up and be a difference maker this fall. If all else fails, maybe he can can scare Michigan off with the Haka (click and start at 1:40). (*It should be noted that Schwenke is currently listed at tackle, but I am expecting him to move back to end in the near future)

Chase Hounshell saw more time on the field than most expected as a freshman, and had some modest production in the Air Force game while not making a tackle in his other 6 appearances. Hounshell has been dealing with a shoulder injury this spring so has not seen much practice time. Sheldon Day, the newest edition to the DE crew, is 100% untested as an early enrollee freshman and is still a wildcard at this point. While only so much can be gained from watching the ND-produced practice videos, Day has certainly looked the part physically and should benefit further from extra time at the training table and Longo Beach.

How is the line going to look on the field?

If you’re like me, you were hoping that Aaron Lynch would be getting to the quarterback so quickly this season that ND’s questionable cornerback situation wouldn’t matter quite as much (Discussion question: Would you rather have Bennett Jackson and Lo Wood or Ambrose Wooden and Terrail Lambert? Go). Nonetheless, a defensive front 3 (or 4) of KLM, Louis Nix III and Stephon Tuitt (and Shembo) should remain one of the more dominant units on the team. Lynch’s transfer, however, puts more of an onus on KLM and Tuitt as they will likely be counted on for more playing time without as many strong rotation options, and also largely increases the negative effects an injury could have on the ongoing performance of the unit. The development of Schwenke and Hounshell as the “next men in” will be key to the unit’s success in order to keep legs fresh and provide quality alternatives in the case of injury.

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