So strap yourselves in for an extremely long post to get all the thoughts in my head that would’ve been shared on the podcast, out and available for internet consumption.

Dabo

Speaking of things getting cancelled within a few hours of going live, let’s go ahead and talk about this Clemson/Florida State postponement thing. In a week where 18 games were either cancelled or postponed, this one took top billing, not just because of the last-minute nature, but because Dabo won’t shut up about it.

We’ve beaten the “Dabo is bad, actually” drum for a while on the pod. Will Leitch tried to tell everyone last August, but too many media folks dismissed it and Notre Dame fans joining the chorus painted as having sour grapes for the Cotton Bowl loss.

Nah, we just know an asshole when we see one.

In Chapter 342384190273 of this story, Dabo spews this bullshit:

It’s a good time to remind everyone that the positive COVID test that made FSU back out came from a Clemson player that travelled with the team. This player had symptoms during the week and, once he initially tested negative, was out practicing with the team, still symptomatic.

It’s also a good time to remind you that FSU had a COVID scare of their own with head coach Mike Norvell testing positive at the beginning of the season.

Clemson had a scare of their own with sure-fire-first-pick Trevor Lawrence getting knocked out due to COVID. You would think that would make them sympathetic to another team wanting to tap the breaks and reschedule in December.

You would also be wrong because, in their biggest game of the season, with their star QB sidelined, Brent Venables was sporting what South Park eloquently coined as a chin-diaper every time the damn camera was on him:

Needless to say, I understand why Florida State would be nervous. Dabo’s reaction confirms they the right choice.

FSU chickening out due to fear of humiliation is a hilarious proposition considering what’s already happened to them season:

• Lost to 2-5 Georgia Tech at home
• Humiliated by rival Miami by 42 points
• Struggled against not-even-close-to-a-FCS-power Jacksonville State for three quarters and trailed at the half.
• Notre Dame easily wins 42-26
• Oh, hey, an upset win against North Carolina. Good job!
• Followed by losing to Louisville by 32. OOPS!
• Oh shit, Pitt: 41-17
• Lost to NC State 38-22

Hot take: they could probably take losing again to one of the best teams in the nation.

Hotter take: they literally had nothing to lose. You win, and holy crap, season highlight! You lose? Oh well, 2-7 now, season still sucks!

But let’s just say for fun that FSU was scared. That doesn’t hold water either because the game would, logically, be played on December 12, much like Notre Dame’s make-up with Wake Forest. Yet, the only person on record against this is Dabo.

Dabo’s protest of rescheduling amounts to holding the rematch hostage, saying FSU either needs to reimburse Clemson for travel costs, pay for a return trip, or come to Death Valley.

Another friendly reminder, Clemson has a football facility worth $55 million and features a plunge pool that can fit 60 people, a sand volleyball court, a whiffle ball bark, a nine-hole miniature golf course, barber shop, shoe shine, nap room, a basketball court, fire pit, basketball course, bowling alley, pool tables, arcade, golf simulator, ping pong tables, and a fuckin’ slide. Dabo is also on a 10-year, $93 million contract.

Before anyone says Clemson or Dabo is actually concerned athletic budgets in These Trying Times and “had” to cut track and field (to save an estimated $2 million a year), I call bullshit. Dabo, nor Clemson, is actually concerned about the Dabo-cited $300K cost of the wasted trip. That’s pocket change in the grand scheme of things.

There’s a reason Dabo is using “forfeit” language in his screed. He doesn’t want to play this game. Why? Because that removes a bye week before the ACC Championship, one that Notre Dame won’t get as they are playing Wake Forest.

Like screaming at refs in Notre Dame stadium after his team commits a clear DPI, Dabo tries to bully his way into a competitive advantage. That’s all this is and that’s his highest priority.

It’s why a symptomatic player was practicing with the team in the first place. Test was negative, go bring your own guts, and get out there. It’s why the player travelled with the team, only to be pulled at the last possible moment. It’s why Dabo screamed at FSU on Sunday, calling them cowards, failing to bring their own guts when Clemson brought their own COVID instead.

Here’s the thing: I actually have no issue with Dabo for fighting so hard for a competitive advantage. What irks me is how Dabo continuously goes about these things. The finger points elsewhere and his performative angers follows. Then, a week later, he’ll “aw shucks” it, quote a Bible verse, and hope the media surrounding him returns to their regularly scheduled worship of him and the false idol that he’s built in South Carolina.

In a just world, the ACC comes out with a statement tomorrow saying that Clemson plays FSU in Tallahassee on 12/12 or Dabo can go pound sand and Notre Dame will have a different opponent on 12/19. If 2020 has proven anything, it’s that the world is decidedly unjust. This won’t happen.

However, 2020 has also proven that anything can and will happen, especially in college football. Pitt stands on deck, super-weapon at the ready, fully charged and unused.

Fire away, Panthers. FOR JUSTICE!

Recap

In writing this, I’m reminded of why I prefer podcasting at times to writing. Loads easier (for me at least) to talk for an hour with Shane than writing this all down. But hey, stuff happened, and we should at least talk about it*!

*Translation: please don’t go and keep reading.

Big Ten

Northwestern is 5-0 and completely in the driver’s seat in the Big Ten West thanks to their 17-7 victory over Wisconsin. Their shortened season concludes with Michigan State, Minnesota, and Illinois. While anything can happen, I’m finding it hard to see how Northwestern doesn’t end up 8-0 and facing off against Ohio State.

Worst case, they can still lose one of their remaining games and still have the head-to-head over Wisconsin (who, if they miss one more game are out of Big Ten title contention anyways per conference rules). 2020 is incredibly weird and perhaps “five turnovers by the Badgers” should’ve been on the bingo cards.

Speaking of weird, Indiana, despite their 42-35 loss to Ohio State, absolutely has some voodoo magic going on. That other-worldly logic of taking them on the spread was incredibly sound as they somehow hexed Justin Fields into 3 INTs and sacked him five times.

It was a hell of a game–even if Indiana continued to make strange blood sacrifices by shooting themselves in the foot repeatedly. Dropped passes and four turnovers should’ve doomed the Hoosiers, but they kept this a fight until the end, nearly clawing back even though they started the fourth down 42-21.

Speaking off…Ohio State’s secondary…y’all okay over there? I mean, I kinda hope you aren’t since every ESPN color commentator had ND/tOSU in the playoffs on Saturday. But um…yikes!

In schadenfreude, Penn State got hilariously plastered by Iowa, dropping to 0-5. They trailed at the half 24-7 and then managed to give up 10 unanswered in the forth–just a solid losing effort.

Nebraska is probably re-thinking their playing football stance after getting beat by 2-3 Illinois at home. Scott Frost also threw his players under the bus, citing a lack of juice. Things seem not fun in Lincoln.

And of course, there is Michigan, who benefitted by Rutgers still being Rutgers as the Scarlet Knights snatched defeat from the jaws of victory in a 48-42 triple OT thriller. Rutgers absolutely should’ve won this game, but I’m not even mad. The entire game was hilariously stupid and I kept giggling thinking how Michigan fans must feel that Coach Michigan Man Jesus is struggling to beat Rutgers in year six.

Big XII

Oklahoma reestablished some form of Big XII dominance at home during Bedlam in a 41-13 win. However, it was also a game in which Spencer Sanders got sidelined for the majority of the game and Chubba Hubbard was used with caution due to injury. Despite all that, OU didn’t pull away until the fourth. If the Cowboys had an offensive pulse, it would’ve been a Red River headache all over again.

Thanks to this game and an Iowa State victory, the Cyclones sit atop the conference with a 6-1 conference record while everyone else is a two-loss conference team. Hilariously, I think OU is in second place over Texas because they have one more win than them, and thus a higher winning percentage, because Texas/Kansas got the axe this week.

I want to live in a world in which Tom Herman’s Jayhawks problem re-emerges, but this time it’s because they didn’t play at all. That’s art.

Pac-12

Three weeks in and I still have no feel for this conference.

Oregon held off UCLA 38-35 and I still can’t tell if UCLA is starting to turn a corner with Chip Kelly or if Oregon is just suspect as all hell. Reminder: the Ducks dealt with a Wazzu headache for quite a while before pulling away last week.

The Washington Huskies still look solid, but they have only played Oregon State and Arizona, hardly good measuring sticks. With the Apple Cup is already cancelled for this week, the Huskies tried to grant all our wishes by scheduling BYU, but BYU backed out (more on that later). Eventually they will have to play Oregon, so I guess that will be for all the marbles in the North and we might actually know who might be good in this division.

As for the South–Southern Cal maybe figured some things out? They didn’t need a ridiculous fourth quarter tip-drill to stay alive this time and nine second half points kept Utah at bay. I was expecting more from Utah, which was folly considering it was their first game off of multiple COVID cancellations (and this one wasn’t looking great for most of the week).

A decent chunk of this conference could be looking at playing five games this season total. I have no idea how that plays with the playoff committee, but I guess we will see on Tuesday.

SEC

Alabama and Florida are really, really good. Vanderbilt got a brief moment in the sun before Florida boat-raced them and Kentucky received no such grace. Sim to end of season on this one. These two need to battle it out and it’ll be great (and seriously how in the hell did the Aggies beat Florida?!).

Meanwhile, Mississippi State, down loads of scholarship players due to COVID and “fuck Mike Leach–I’m out”, put a scare into Georgia. Clanga’s effort was solid, but there’s a definite “Happy learned how to put–uh oh!” moment when J.T. Daniels finally got to go under center with a stellar 28/38, 401 yards, 4 TD, 0 INT effort. That feeling, however, is dashed by the face that Mississippi State outrushed Georgia.

With 22 yards. Because Georgia had 8.

The SEC is turning into the Big XII land of shootouts with better talent. I’m very much here for it, but I’m not sure I’m going to get used to it this season.

ACC

The biggest ACC news is above in the “main segment”, but it’s worth noting that half the scheduled games for Saturday didn’t happen. That left the ACC with only one conference game on Saturday and two all weekend.

In that Saturday conference tilt, Virginia Tech went from nearly beating Miami to just getting blasted by Pitt by a 33-point margin. This is the third loss in a row for the Hokies and now (an apparently big mad) Clemson team is next. I absolutely didn’t see the Justin Fuente era playing out like this, but um…he might be over his head here.

The only other ACC “highlight” was NC State blocking a game winning field goal attempt to deliver Liberty’s first loss of the season. Guess third time was a charm for the conference.

I’m sitting here giggling to myself that Liberty lost because someone else came in between them and a score because my mind is perpetually in the gutter.

Group of Five

UCF gave Cincinnati everything they could handle in just a banger of a game that ended with a 36-33 comeback win for the Bearcats. Cincy had only given up 20 points once this season when they let off the gas against Austin Peay in week one. That stellar defense coughing up 33 was something I didn’t see coming.

That being said, Cincy won it’s only real clunker to date. With Tulsa raking up the wins and moving into the top 25, there’s a realistic chance the Bearcats can lay claim to three top-25 wins this season (Army, SMU earlier this season). I’m still not sure it will be enough for playoff consideration, but damn, they are trying.

BYU is still murdering opponents, but they still haven’t had a real test yet outside of maybe Boise State. As I mentioned earlier, Washington was willing to give them said test, but BYU said no. The reason seems to depend on who is asked as one source said BYU was waiting to see how the playoff committee treated their current resume and another saying that BYU was just concerned Washington would toss BYU to the side if another Pac-12 school could play and wanted an immediate contract locked and signed.

Whatever the reason, this seems like a massive misstep by BYU. I don’t buy that Washington would easily replace them with a Pac-12 school. They are trying to boost their resume too and the other Pac-12 options aren’t moving that needle right now like BYU could.

The playoff committee ranking doesn’t make sense either. BYU’s resume is junk compared to Cincinnati’s (Coastal Carolina, still undefeated, is going to have a similar problem). So why not take the boost? You can’t just tweet out any time, any place and then start tossing weird qualifiers on it. What’s the committee going to think about that when the news leaks?

It’s all extremely dumb of the Cougars. Take the game and stop being stupid. You’re not landing in a New Year’s Six bowl without it.

Sign Off

Yes, I’m aware posts don’t require sign offs like a podcast, but this section nevertheless will remain because, quite frankly, it’s past midnight, I have work tomorrow, and have no further creative ideas for how to end this post.

That all being said, I hope you enjoyed. Eddie and I are still planning to bring you picks live on Twitch Turkey Day Eve (or on Thanksgiving for those using the podcast medium). Shane and I will return at the close of Thanksgiving weekend to recap Notre Dame at North Carolina.

Until then, “enjoy” the sim that we already ran for that game or come swing by and chat with us in our Discord server and/or hit up our TeePublic store as the traditional shopping holidays will see 35% off everything.

Enjoy your holiday and stay safe! Go Irish. Beat COVID. Beat Tarheels. Have a good one.

The post HLS Recap (Text Edition): Dabo’s the Worst appeared first on Her Loyal Sons.

Traditional technical issues aside, the rest of college football is keeping the straight up rollercoaster of 2020 alive and well. The Big XII continues to lobby their way out of the playoff, Mississippi State got the full Mike Leach experience in two weeks, leading Shane and I to try to figure out just what we actually know about the national picture at this point.

We also take a look ahead to Notre Dame and Florida State and discuss the roller coaster of emotions of these last couple of weeks, including Notre Dame getting far more of a pandemic spotlight than either of us ever wanted.

Podcast

Twitch VoD

Remember the audio issues I mentioned? That’s because I had some kind of crazy static in my audio that I had to edit out. If you really want to witness it, you can find it here, but I’m not going to embed that mess.

The post HLS Recap: The Sober One appeared first on Her Loyal Sons.

During our Hot Dog Bye Week podcast, this Loyal Reader revealed that he would spend his bye week Ubering around Ann Arbor during Army/Michigan weekend. Here’s his playlist:

For those keeping score at home, that’s Army’s Fight Song, The Irish Tenors, “Here Come the Irish”, and the Rudy soundtrack. There’s trolling Michigan and then there’s this next-level, real-man-of-genius moment.

I can only imagine the stream of reactions from Michigan fans as they climb into his car and slowly realize the personal hell they have entered. May his Uber rating rest in peace.

As someone who steers this entire site straight into not just the silliness of college football, but also the pettiness and trolling opportunities it offers, I respect the hell out of this effort. Further, I hope his final Uber ride is given to a group of Army fans still buzzing over an upset over the damned Skunkbears.

The Roundup

The misery index is always a fun read, but typically you don’t see “how is this school a festering corpse?!” in week 2, but I guess Tennessee was just willing to jump on that grenade.

Another fun weekly read is the “top whatever” column. However, I think we can keep the absurdity of Hugh Freeze coaching from a hospital bed at #1 forever. It’s all downhill from here–UPDATE: maybe this dumb ride will keep going.

The silly season of the coaching carousel is always a wild ride. But Tom Herman/Coach O saga a couple of years ago at LSU was a damn rollercoaster.

Ian Book is a unicorn. Maybe not the thing you expected to hear from anyone after his performance against Louisville, but he’s a part of a ever-shrinking percentage of college QBs that actually bide their time before they win the starting job.

Notre Dame did take a hit in one poll. Anxiously awaiting a certain subset of fans that trash #sportsmath to now point to the SP+ as the one true poll that actually reflected ND on the eye test.

Bill C had some other non-stat stuff that you should read. This piece is basically a national primer to some of the biggest storylines for various teams around college football and how week 1 affected them.

I think I have a Beaver correspondent now. Had another line dropped about Oregon State’s next game against Hawaii. It will be aired on Facebook Live; however, no one is quite sure exactly where on Facebook it will be. Regardless, my bet is the answer is “in more homes than the Pac 12 network.”

Offer this kid a scholarship immediately. The all-name champion is here and I don’t know how you top this.

Get me back in school. Notre Dame is offering a course discussing The Good Place. Can I take this online? Please?!

#snacktalk has reached epic proportions. Little did I realize our silly podcast would set off a seismic event of a Rudy parody done by KFC, featuring both actual Rudy (meh) and Sean Astin (YAY!). Not only does this fever dream exist, IT’S AMAZING.

Opponent Watch

Number of former ND coaches to roam the opposing sideline: still zero.

If you’ve ever wondered how Southern Cal has ended up in their current state, you should absolutely read this fascinating piece about the booster that is likely responsible.

The post Friday Roundup: The Trolling Michigan via Uber Edition appeared first on Her Loyal Sons.

Not only have Shane and I seen or normal recording schedule go haywire, but I was in rare form in terms of podcasting screwups. Thankfully, this medium allows for edits to make the product sound much less clusterfucky; however, I felt like every loyal listener to the show deserved some insight into just how off the rails I went during recording in the form of a cold open.

I can promise the first 30 seconds of the show is absolutely gold. The other two hours are for you to judge.

Yes, we weighed in at two hours because this episode. Due to my schedule going full bonkers, I made the executive decision to combine both of our weekly episodes into one. So, we have a Friday Roundup woven into an HLS Audio Recap, released on Thursday. Follow that? Good.

Look, in the end, we saved you an hour by cramming two 90-minute episodes into one, somewhat tightly produced two hour package. Included in said package is a full recap of week 8, complete with shocking upsets and a team (and coach) that should be on your radar. Spliced in are some of the usual headlines that we would include in the Roundup (and links that we discuss are below), plus a little bonus decision regarding votes of confidence and coaches salaries.

And, as always, we close out with Eddie with weekly picks. Don’t look now, but there was one combined loss between the two of us. Watch out 50%, here we come.

The Roundup

Happy Valley: This week’s home of upsets and tear gas. The celebration after Franklin’s first ever win against a ranked opponent got ever so slightly out of hand.

Tom Herman may have taken an ugly loss, but dude is still gonna get paid. Houston is doing what they can to prevent their coach from departing.

This link is NSFW. 2 Fullbacks 1 TD.

Even in a convincing win, Harbaugh will go full Harbaugh. A bad spot, that had no effect on the outcome of the game, became the “worst call that [he’s] ever seen”.

I’m sure Stanford’s offense is fixed now. On Tuesday, Shaw announced that Keller Chryst would be Stanford’s new starting QB.

I sure hope no one was dumb enough to pick UCLA as the Pac 12 champ. Jim Mora has finally disclosed that Josh Rosen, after not playing since October 8, has a bad nerve in his throwing shoulder that will keep him out indefinitely.

BYU wins the award for the dumbest play call of all time. 4th and 19, on your own 5 in the first half? Perfect time for a fake punt that’s a run. Somehow, Boise didn’t score after that which tells you all you need to know about this game.

For everyone hoping for a BK firing at the end of this season, here’s your dreaded voted of confidence from Jack Swarbrick.

USA Today has released their annual coaching salary rankings. They have Bob Diaco making more money than Brian Kelly which is almost guaranteed to be 100% wrong; however, it is still worth taking a look at some things like just how much of a slimy shell game Michigan played to get Harbaugh’s 2016 salary listed at $9 million.

The post Roundup in your (HLS Audio Week 8) Recap appeared first on Her Loyal Sons.

Courtesy of FOX Sports 1

Former Notre Dame quarterback Brady Quinn says redshirt junior Malik Zaire should be named the starter in 2016 – and he laid out his argument to FOX Sports’ Bruce Feldman Tuesday.

Quinn, who is now a FOX Sports 1 analyst, said he believed “seniority should rule” in choosing the signal caller for the game versus Texas and beyond. He also believes starting redshirt sophomore DeShone Kizer at quarterback could lead to a potentially unstable situation.

“[If] they go with Kizer first – if you bench him and Zaire flourishes and he plays really well, it could damage the confidence of DeShone Kizer. Who knows if he can rebound from that?” asked Quinn. “Let’s just say…Kizer starts and doesn’t play well. Zaire replaces him. And he [Zaire] ends up being the quarterback at Notre Dame for another year or maybe he leaves because he doesn’t feel like he was treated right in the first place. Who knows? But then you’ve got another guy in Brandon Wimbush, who may be nipping at his [Kizer’s] heels, looking to beat him out again. It just doesn’t seem like a stable situation and the best way to go about it.”

I admire Quinn, who reigned over one of the most potent offenses in Notre Dame history and holds more than 30 records at his alma mater. But the only part of that thought I agree with is: “Who knows?”

Coach Brian Kelly should pick the player that can execute his offense the best and put Notre Dame in the best position to win. But Quinn wants to hedge, reasoning:

• If Zaire starts, but falters, who really cares? You’ve got DeShone Kizer and Zaire will leave.
• If Kizer starts, but falters, then you’ve alienated Zaire and given Kizer a crisis of confidence.
• Therefore, start Zaire.

I believe Quinn overlooked something important. If Kizer’s confidence is so shattered by a benching in 2016, then Notre Dame is going to start 2017 with a supremely talented Brandon Wimbush. Quinn says Kizer has a “calm, almost unwavered personality” – so why does he think Kizer may be permanently distraught by a demotion?

The coaching staff will surely be second guessed if the player they start stumbles and his backup proves capable. But I’d much rather Kelly and his crew pick the individual they think can win them ball games than make decisions based on arbitrary factors like “seniority.”

Here’s another point for Quinn to consider: Kizer has 724 snaps under center; Zaire has 212 snaps. Zaire may have had more time with the playbook, but Kizer is more experienced where it counts.

Here’s the entirety of Quinn’s thoughts on the QB situation, starting with a comparison to a similar dilemma Ohio State encountered last year.

“Most universities would love to be in a position that Notre Dame is in right now. Granted, that comes with some potential headache if you don’t manage it right. And actually, one school that was in that exact position last year – after coming off of winning a national championship – was Ohio State. Now I think there’s some similarities and there’s some differences between what Ohio State was presented with in regards to their quarterback situation and what Notre Dame is presented with this season going into their quarterback position. So I’ll try to show you a little bit of both.

“In Ohio State’s case, they had a guy in J.T. Barrett who really kind of won them the Big Ten that season after replacing Braxton Miller, right? So I think a lot of people had seen the body of work and what he was able to accomplish. So, coming into last season, I think a lot of people thought he should have been the guy – at least, in my opinion, that’s how I felt. He had the greater body of work. Whereas Cardale Jones kind of lead them – now granted, they were very, very, very pivotal games given the Big Ten championship, (national) semi-final game, national championship. But it was only three games. And it was a very run-heavy offense behind Ezekiel Elliott, so it seemed like everyone else was doing a bunch of heavy lifting around Cardale Jones. It wasn’t necessarily him doing that.

“So, going into the season, of course instead they did the exact opposite. Cardale Jones ends up being the guy, then getting benched and J.T. Barrett gets in. It’s almost as if they couldn’t find a rhythm because they didn’t know who to go with in the first place that would given them the best chance at the beginning of the season. I kind of feel like Notre Dame is in a similar situation in the sense that DeShone Kizer now has the greater body of work. If you go back to last season, he was 8-3 as a starter. Malik Zaire – coming off – the few instances that he’s had of actually playing and starting. I think if you go back to the Music City Bowl versus LSU a couple of years ago and then limited action – Texas last season and Virginia a little bit last year. And then ever before that – the second half vs. USC two years ago when he kind of emerged onto the scene.

“Through those small instances, you’ve seen flashes of what he’s capable of. I think he’s got a lot of explosiveness running the football, maybe moreso than Kizer even though Kizer had like the second longest rushing touchdown for a Notre Dame quarterback in its history. I still think he’s the better runner of the two and probably the bigger arm. But you have this calm, almost unwavered personality in the way in which DeShone Kizer likes to lead. I think the coaches see that and they feel comfortable with that and they feel like he’s probably the better of the two to get them in the right position and into the right play. But I don’t think it’s going – I don’t know if it will play out that way, because you’re have to look at it from this angle, Bruce. You can probably tap in with some of this.

“You know, Malik will be graduated after this year although he’ll have another year of eligibility. So you have to look at it this way: If you put in Malik Zaire first and he goes out and he plays the way he showcased a little bit last season in some small instances that we’ve seen in the past of him, then you’re not necessarily in a bad situation. Because then Kizer is still a year behind. He’s still going to have some time like to showcase exactly what he did last season. Whereas if Zaire doesn’t do well, you can always bench him and go to Kizer. And then Malik Zaire would be able to transfer and he’ll still have that extra year and Brandon Wimbush would the backup competing against all the rest as they continue to stack up.

“If you switch it around the other way – and they go with Kizer first – if you bench him and Zaire flourishes and he plays really well, it could damage the confidence of DeShone Kizer. Who knows if he can rebound from that? I mean, again if you go back to last year – if you look at Notre Dame’s situation with Zaire and Golson competing for the quarterback job, DeShone Kizer was nowhere even in the discussion. You know, Brandon Wimbush has a lot of upside, a lot of ability. If you go and – let’s just say that there in place – Kizer starts and doesn’t play well. Zaire replaces him. And he ends up being the quarterback at Notre Dame for another year or maybe he leaves because he doesn’t feel like he was treated right in the first place. Who knows? But then you’ve got another guy in Brandon Wimbush who’d maybe be nipping at his heels looking to beat him out again. It just doesn’t seem like a stable situation and the best way to go about it. In my opinion, I always – seniority should rule. And they should go with the older guy. And hopefully they will in this case.

“I think that’s what’s a little bit different than Ohio State scenario. And there’s X factors to them both, too. I think, in Ohio State’s case, the absence of Tom Herman, who was the OC during the national championship year – his absence had a big factor in how that offense struggled to really find a rhythm, regardless of the quarterback.

“In Notre Dame’s case, I actually think the X factor is the fact that you’ve got a lefty and a righty. And your entire team has to adjust to a different spin on the football and the fact that the plays are going to be formatted in a different way. And teams are going to attack you differently based on the arm of your quarterback because now his weakness will be the opposite side of the other one. So the whole entire team has to adjust around the quarterback, depending on which one is in the game.”

QUINN ON DESHONE KIZER

“I just think it’s his pocket presence. He seems to be unflappable in the pressure situations. … I love his presence. I love how calm he is. And he’s just a football player in the sense that he’s not the most athletic, as you pointed out. He’s not going to be the one you go down the field on, who really excites you as far as how explosive he can be or the big plays he can make. But understands the offense. He knows how to get into his quick throws when he needs them. He knows how to protect himself when he needs to. He works the system the best of the three. And I think that’s why the coaches probably feel most confident in him going into training camp this year.”

The post Brady Quinn: Start Malik Zaire At QB appeared first on Her Loyal Sons.