Leading up to the 2012 season, I said that Jamoris Slaughter’s ability to lead Notre Dame’s young secondary would be critical to the team’s defensive success. Well, a popped Achilles, a true freshman running back playing cornerback, and a bunch of Bobby Diaco voodoo later and the Irish put together an excellent season on the back end of the defense. Despite Slaughter being denied a sixth year of eligibility and Zeke Motta being drafted by the Atlanta Falcons, the Irish do return the bulk of ...
Stanford
Know Thyself, Know Thy Enemy: Defensive Line
As the swallows return to Capistrano, so, too, does Know Thyself, Know Thy Enemy return to HerLoyalSons. In this series, which we will unfold over the next couple of weeks, we take a comprehensive look at the best of the Fighting Irish, by position group, and the best of our opponents, also by position group. Within each group, we examine the best Notre Dame player and the best opposition player. We hope you enjoy the series as much as we enjoy writing it. DEFENSIVE LINE: THE IRISH There ...
Good Fridays w/Padre: Scandal Us
At this time in July, as families travel across the country, grade-school children catalog their new experiences so they can write those all-important “what I did on my summer vacation” essays. At this very same time, across America, sports journalists are sloughing off the blackened husks that used to be their integrity and are skimming the sewers of half-truths and scurrilous gossip, as they prepare to smear Notre Dame in the style of angry chimpanzees with handfuls of their own filth. This ...
Good Fridays w/Padre: Starting Now
And after 12 wins, Brian Kelly looked toward to his fourth season and realized, “I need a quarterback.” So Kelly named a starter. ...
Good Fridays w/Padre: Symbols & Signs
This weekend marks the start of the 2013 march to victory for the football team. Fitting, then, that the team is guaranteed a victory in any event because they play with themselves [Editor’s note: Padre doesn’t always appreciate how certain phrases have changed over the years.] [Padre’s note: Get your mind out of the gutter, so Mark May’s can float by.] What used to be the old-timers’ game, the intrasquad scrimmage, or simply ‘the spring game’, has been officially exulted to The University of ...
Good Fridays w/Padre: Mercy
We find ourselves is a strange position, awash with unaccustomed emotions. No, this has nothing to do with being undefeated and Number 1. That is our proper position and we should feel simple contentment for, indeed, all is right with the world. I mean we are caught up in the unusual furor of conference-hatred. Not belonging to one of these mutual-mediocrity-assurance societies, we have no natural animosity toward any of them. Normally, we deride them all equally. (Do we hate the Big 10? ...
Good Fridays w/Padre: Orders
The two teams are matched, if only in one regard. They have deacons, and we have deacons. “Deacon” is one of the Holy Orders. “Holy Orders” is not what a waiter says when serving a party of 46 – it is the Sacrament of ordaining ministers for the Church. Only men. Just like college football. Since we are dealing with the Church, there is a complex hierarchy. Just like college football. Let’s examine all the Holy Orders and observe some other parallels between our pastime (Church) and our ...
Friday Roundup: The “One Hell of a Week” Edition
From the last Roundup to now quite a lot has gone down. The #1 team in the nation fell, the QB Flavor of the Week Award Heisman Trophy race got another contender, Kansas State has a QB on the cover of SI, the usual sampling of news that can be found in the Roundup below, we got a new sponsor, our server had some major issues (I'll sleep one of these days), and the Notre Dame campaign is starting to get into full swing. ...
A Less Than Perfect Ending?
No, I'm not talking about what happened with the goal-line stand. That was a special, special moment. ...
After Further Review, Notre Dame is Still Undefeated
Seven years ago, ESPN College Game Day rolled into campus as a resurgent Irish took on a ranked team from California. That game ended in controversy as Matt Leinart's QB sneak looked to have been stuffed -- until Reggie Bush shoved him into the endzone. Seven years later, those demons were exorcised and the Irish came out on top with a controversial call going in their favor for a change. ...