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.

Who To Watch

Southern Cal (5-5) at UCLA (2-8) Sat 3:30 PM ET on Fox

via GIPHY

There’s only one opponent left on the 2018 schedule after this week — where, loyal reader, has the time gone? If you watch the Irish kick at 2:30pm ET you’ll likely only catch the last little bit following the conclusion of the Yankee Stadium special, but that’s good because the quality of this game will be *not good*. The Rose Bowl deserves better football than this.

Also this Week

Past Opponents

• Ball State (3-7) vs Western Michigan (Tue 12:00 AM ET, )
• Northwestern (6-4) at Minnesota (Sat 12:00 PM ET, Big Ten Network)
• Pittsburgh (6-4) at Wake Forest (5-5) (Sat 12:00 PM ET, ACC Network)
• Florida State (4-6) vs Boston College (Sat 3:30 PM ET, ESPN2)
• Virginia Tech (4-5) vs Miami (Sat 3:30 PM ET, ESPN)
• Navy (2-8) vs Tulsa (Sat 3:30 PM ET, CBS Sports Network)
• Michigan (9-1) vs Indiana (Sat 4:00 PM ET, Fox Sports 1)
• Stanford (6-4) at California (Sat 7:30 PM ET, Pac-12 Network)
• Vanderbilt (4-6) vs Ole Miss (Sat 7:30 PM ET, SEC Network)

Strength-of-Schedule Rankings

Last week, ND opponents went 6-5. On the year, opponents have a combined record of 62-57 (52.1%) with an average schedule strength of 40.

Rank	Team		Record	Weekly Change
4		Northwestern	6-4	↑ 7
16		Stanford	6-4	↓ 10
22		Pittsburgh	6-4	↓ 5
25		Florida State	4-6	↑ 10
26		Vanderbilt	4-6	↑ 7
29		Southern Cal	5-5	↓ 7
36		Michigan	9-1	↓ 18
40		Wake Forest	5-5	↑ 8
48		Virginia Tech	4-5	↑ 3
49		Notre Dame	10-0	↓ 3
60		Navy	2-8	↑ 4
77		Syracuse	8-2	↓ 3
95		Ball State	3-7	↓ 5

The post Opponent Watch: Crosstown Rival Edition appeared first on Her Loyal Sons.

We talk about those other Tuesday night results–you know, the college football playoff rankings–and take a hard turn into as many of the fun and hilarious stories that we could find in the world of college football.

But what to do about a bad Notre Dame football team playing a not very exciting game? Well, the preview is largely tossed to the side to discuss a couple storylines heading into the game as well as our feelings on the Shamrock Series, uniforms and all.

And while there may not be a whole lot of interesting games to pick with Eddie this week, if blowouts and shootouts are your thing, we got you covered.

Come get ready for the weekend with us and let’s have some fun.

The Roundup

There was one really not fun headline we had to cover. No it wasn’t Baylor either. Kent State enters the picture with a case of felony kidnapping. Yeah…

ROUNDUP INCEPTION: QB Shoulder Injury edition. Sad news for Aggie fans (hate you so much, 2016 CFB season) as Trevor Knight is out for the season, but could potentially return for a bowl. Josh Rosen got some good news after his surgery as the words “nerve damage” are no longer linked to his throwing arm.

I knew Saban and Alabama were already at another level, but not like this. When you can field a scout team that features former Tide stars that saw time in the NFL, and still find a way to squeeze it in NCAA rules, you’re operating in what I call “Cut Play” level (listen to the pod for the backstory to this).

Remember when we talked about Aggie fans destroying opposing helmets? TexAgs had found the Aggie peak: blowing one up with a tank. BONUS: read the comments on that link as TexAgs may have faked a moon landing here.

This is the best field storming story ever. Charging the field solo, getting banned from your own student section, having your dad buy you a ticket to the next game, channeling your inner Bobby Valentine–this story has it all.

Eddie had one of the best weeks of picks ever. Let’s see how we follow that up.

The post Friday Roundup: The “Shamrockin’ It” Episode 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.

Who To Watch

Stanford at UCLA (Sat 8:00 PM ET ABC)

After Notre Dame shuts out beats concludes its game against Duke, head on over to ABC to watch the Stanford run game. This should be a treemendous West Coast matchup, and we may get our first inkling if either UCLA or the Cardinal can contend in the Pac-12. Christian McCaffrey will be the main storyline here, but Josh Rosen’s development against a well-coached Stanford defense (is that allowed?) will show Irish fans what they can expect to see from the Notre Dame offense.

Strength-of-Schedule Rankings

Last week, ND opponents went 8-4. On the year, opponents have a combined record of 24-10 (70.6%) with an average schedule strength of 80.

Other Upcoming Opponents

• Southern Cal at Utah (Fri 9:00 PM ET Fox Sports 1)
• Virginia Tech vs East Carolina (Sat 12:30 PM ET ACC Network)
• Syracuse at Connecticut (Sat 1:00 PM ET CBS Sports Network)
• Army at Buffalo (Sat 7:00 PM ET ESPN3)

Past Opponents

• Michigan State vs Wisconsin (Sat 12:00 PM ET Big Ten Network)
• Nevada at Purdue (Sat 12:00 PM ET ESPN News)

The post Opponent Watch: Is a McCaffrey Heisman Campaign Bruin? appeared first on Her Loyal Sons.

Golson to Brown
Golson to Koyack

It only took two TDs for Notre Dame to top Stanford. Brown’s TD allowed us all to breathe going into the half and Koyack’s catch, on a 4th and 11 no less, sent us into jubilation.

Turnovers

Golson’s Fumble
Golson’s INT

Golson struggled once again in protecting that ball. The fumble was once again a result of him holding the ball waaaaaay too far out from his body. The INT was a result of Golson trying to force a play that wasn’t there.

The good news? Golson learned his lesson, at least with fumbling, on his 33-yard run:

Screencap via @SupermanTDJesus

There was no way in hell he was going to lose the ball again. Thank you, Golson.

Botched Holds

Hunter Smith on FG Attempt #1
Hunter Smith on FG Attempt #2

I have never written about #99 here at HLS and I never should when your one job is to hold the football for Brindza. You could almost excuse the first botch as the ran was coming down pretty hard. The second one though? In his own head.

Thankfully, Hunter discovered the wonder of gloves, incredible devices that help you catch and hold a ball, and allowed Brindza to get to attempt one FG without craziness. Third time’s a charm!

Instances of Shaw whining like a baby.

2012: The Phantom Whistle
2014: The Band Playing Music

We all thought there was no way Shaw could ever top complaining about his whole team hearing a whistle that didn’t exist, but lo and behold, he got into the ears of the (terrible) Pac 12 ref crew. His issue was that the band played a little bit too long, so ND got a warning and Stanford basically got a free timeout.

Much like his phantom whistle complaint, the band issue accomplished nothing but allowing us to hate the guy more. Also, the band got the last laugh:

Via SBNation with a h/t to our friends at One Foot Down

THE DRUM MAJOR HAS BETTER HANDS THAN TY MONTGOMERY!

Gigantic Upsets

Arizona def #2 Oregon 31-24
#11 Ole Miss def #3 Alabama 23-17

We should have known this entire week of college football was going to be insane when Oregon fell to Arizona on Thursday night. There were certainly more upsets than the ones listed above (#4 OU, #6 Texas A&M, #8 UCLA,#16 USC, #17 Wisconsin, and #18 BYU), but Oregon and Alabama were by far the biggest shocks of the week.

If you had an undefeated record, you were in serious danger. Florida State had to be thanking their lucky stars they were playing Wake Forest. Somehow, Notre Dame joined the Seminoles in the select group of six undefeated teams still standing.

The lesson learned here? If Katy Perry picks against you, be afraid. BE VERY AFRAID:

/dead pic.twitter.com/pzaIz9cAVw

— Isaac (@WorldofIsaac) October 4, 2014

Rival Losses

Rutgers def Michigan 26-24
Arizona State def #16 Southern Cal 38-34

Michigan continued their downward spiral by failing to beat yet another Power 5 opponent. This time, it was well-established B1G powerhouse newcomer Rutgers. I’m sure when Michigan saw that they would welcome Rutgers and Maryland to the B1G, they weren’t aware that they’d be the welcome mat.

Southern Cal, however, probably had the more satisfying upset because, let’s be honest, we don’t expect Michigan to win anymore at this point. The Trojans came into this game without giving up a single passing TD. They surrendered 5 in this game with the final one occurring because of the worst Hail Mary defense that I have ever seen.

Via @cjzero

Thumbs on a Happy Guy

#DORK pic.twitter.com/coFPPMPk09

— HLS_SupermanTDJesus (@SupermanTDJesus) October 4, 2014

The post CFB Week 6: A Tale of Two… appeared first on Her Loyal Sons.

Enter Brian Freamau, member of the advanced statistics site, Football Outsiders, who came up with the  efficiency rating, FEI, that is an essential competent of the F/+ rating, which is another favorite of ours to use (and has been in every opponent preview this season). As a part of the FEI rating, Brian has calculated his own strength of schedule rating on his personal site, BCF Toys.

But that’s a hell of a lot of sports math on a single page right? And truthfully, data visualization is so crucial to make such huge tables of data easily digestible. Well, thanks to his friends at Chartball.com, Brian has managed to do just that. Behold the SOS of all of college football:

via BCF Toys

And the SOS for ND:

via BCF Toys

Here’s a better look at the ND SOS when the chart is organized by FEI rank:

via BCF Toys

How about the SOS for each conference?

via BCF Toys

And that view just might be my favorite.

We always hear how the SEC has the toughest schedules in all of college football. In fact, we heard this ad nauseum when Notre Dame was about to take on Alabama in the championship game two seasons ago. However, that big gray dot in the “others” section shows Notre Dame with schedule that is right in the thick of it when compared to the SEC. Hilariously enough, Alabama has the weakest SEC schedule.

Even more interesting to me is how the Pac-12 stacks right up there with the SEC. In fact, their schedules are collectively tougher on average than the SEC. With Oregon and Stanford holding down the fort with consistently great seasons, teams like UCLA and Arizona State on the rise, and the persistent threat that is Southern Cal, this really shouldn’t be a surprise to us.

Also not surprising: the B1G having the worst SOS out of the “power 5” conferences. That dot all the way to the left side of shame? That’s Iowa.

Other fun notes:

• Utah just edges out Auburn for top SOS pre-season
• The worst SOS by quite a bit: Marshall
• That huge outlying dot on the left side of shame in the Big XII? Oklahoma.
• The two teams taking it easy this season in the ACC: Duke and Pitt.

I’ve asked Brian if this will be updated throughout the season and he stated it will update along with his weekly FEI ratings (which in turn give him new SOS ratings). I can’t wait to play with this all season and see how this chart moves throughout 2014, especially when the playoff debate heats up.

Be sure to head over to BCF Toys and give it a spin. It’s a great waste of time.

The post Notre Dame’s Strength of Schedule Visualized appeared first on Her Loyal Sons.

Yes, what a fantastic gesture by these conferences. It’s a move that draws a clear line in the sand that amateurism and student athletes matter.

Except for the minor detail that EA Sports has separate agreements with the schools and they don’t need conference approval anyways.

Even if these dominoes are falling due to the O’Bannon lawsuit and brings us to a world without video game college football, it amazes me that these major conferences felt the need to make such a meaningless gesture.

Why not band together to prevent oversigning? How about pushing for guaranteed scholarships instead of one year agreements? Where is the concern for GSR? You know, things that would actually protect student athletes.

Instead, the primary concern appears to be covering their collective asses from a lawsuit.

I’m all for some changes to the NCAA. I think there is a lot that could and should be done to put the focus back on where amateurism and college athletes should be (although that’s a whole other post I’m putting together).

But meaningless gestures to keep your precious logos out of a video game? Please.

The Roundup

First, a HLS silent auction update. Due to strong initial responses, Biscuit wants to get people locked in and ready to roll. Therefore, the bidding deadline for the ticket packages have been bumped up to Wednesday, August 21. Winners will be announced the following day. Get those bids in! For further details, check out the original post.

Oh hey, look, Johnny Manziel news. Yeah, this story isn’t going anywhere to say the least. Dez Bryant says he’ll be pissed if Manziel isn’t suspended, but then agreeing, much like Adrian Peterson, that he should be able to sell his autographs. Oh and if you happen to be in Aggieland don’t expect anything to get anything signed ever again. And, in a final lovely twist, Texas A&M could sue the pants off the brokers that ratted Johnny out due to an obscure Texas law that I had no clue existed.

I would enjoy reading more completely biased Top 25 rankings. Dead serious on this too. Check out Spencer Hall’s overly biased take on such a list. This method would sure make the coaches’ poll a lot more interesting (and hilarious).

Come hop on the USF bus. There really aren’t sufficient words to describe this. Just watch.

This gives “2 QB System” a whole new meaning. UL Monroe’s offense might just be a stroke of pure mad genius.

Thanks, Obama. This drone thing is really getting out of control.

Want to learn more about how ND runs the damn ball? Stop by the Subway Domer to see Blog Davie’s excellent post on the matter.

On a more serious note, Coach Alfrod. His brother, Aaron Alfrod died from a heart attack at just 39. ND Nation has information on how you can help Aaron’s family in their time of need. Let’s help our extended ND family, y’all.

The Beer

As fall continues to creep ever closer, the time for recommending summer seasonals is soon at an end. This means you will again be hot with one of my favorites, but this time, it’s a newer one for me: St. Arnold Summer Pils.

The post Friday Roundup: The “Empty Gestures” Edition appeared first on Her Loyal Sons.

What I am referring to is this need to find moral outrage in the situation. Whether it is blaming ND, the NCAA, the NLI, Eddie Vanderdoes, or anything else, there is a need to point the finger at someone. Disagree with where the finger lands and additional outrage piles on top of the initially manufactured outrage.

There should be no villain in this entire situation. Vanderdoes signed a contract and Notre Dame is holding him to it. Vanderdoes and his family think he should be released and they are appealing, which they have every right to do. This situation should be allowed to play out, allowing the two parties to go their separate ways once it’s all over. However, this doesn’t seem sufficient for the majority of the media and even some fans.

Then it dawned on me: people require a heel, even when one shouldn’t exist. College football seems to thrive on the face/heel dynamic much like the WWE and pro wrestling does.

Forgive me for the pro wrestling analogy (hey, it’s better than using a cat and dead birds a la Doyel), but this is the only way I can wrap my head around the matter and articulate this. Plus, the more and more I think about it, the more and more it makes sense.

Without someone to boo, jeer, and hate, pro wrestling becomes incredibly boring. Back in its earliest days, pro wrestling once actually featured legitimate matches. The problem though was that they were long, tedious, and, after a while, people realized they didn’t care about the two men in the ring. Eventually, people stopped showing up.

Reacting to waning interest, pro wrestling then began to morph into what we know it as today. Promoters created characters to “work” shorter matches. These characters eventually took “sides” as good/evil (face/heel), giving fans a reason to watch, react, and become better invested in the entire show.

College football never really suffered the lack of interest that pro wrestling once did; however, the sport, and its resulting coverage, is now bigger than it has ever been before. 24/7 coverage is now the name of the game. New dedicated networks are now emerging and even earlier than that message boards and fan blogs rose into popularity.

While there is analysis to be done with the actual game on the field, the face/heel dynamic is the fuel that drives the more casual fan into consuming the 24/7 product. And, let’s admit it, it’s damned fun. Rivalries, the lifeblood of college football, feeds on it.

As an example, let’s take a look at the dynamic between Notre Dame and Michigan.

ND recently cancelled the series by handing Michigan a letter right before kickoff. “A true heel turn by the Irish!”, Ann Arbor cried. Brady Hoke cuts a promo and calls us chicken. We respond, cut a promo of our own, and claim this is simply long-awaited justice for all the crap they put ND through.

We bicker back and forth. Other fans with no real affiliation pick sides. The end result: hype machine goes full-force, pushes all the angles and everyone tunes in for our showdown under the lights, live from the Big House.

It practically sounds like the WWE is pushing a PPV when it’s broken down like that.

But the fact remains that drawing on this divide makes the victories sweeter and the defeats more infuriating. It brings people into a game they might not otherwise care in, even if it’s simply to hope for the demise of the team they have now manufactured enough hate against.

And I love every minute of it. I don’t ever want that to change. Detaching emotion from college football would be the worst.

But the Eddie Vanderdoes situation isn’t a college football game. It’s a contract dispute. That isn’t to say the entire situation should be absolved from debate, but there is definitely no need for anyone to assign anyone as the heel.

And there is plenty to debate. From the ND side:

• Eddie wants to be close to home because of a his sick grandmother. Fine, why pick a school that is eight hours away when there are plenty of closer options around?
• Why remain so quiet about it for so long?
• The NLI has been rejecting the appeals, doesn’t this mean they, and not ND, see Eddie’s claim for release isn’t sufficient enough?

From Vanderdoes’ side:

• Had no control over a family member for being sick, why not release him from NLI?
• Family issues are and should remain private.
• The NLI system is entirely broken and punishes athletes far too much. This should change.

Now there are certainly other points on both ends, but I feel like I got the highlights. Notice that each point is a topic that is very much up for debate. Nowhere in any of those points have I slung mud in one direction or the other. No one is a clear heel or a clear face for that matter and that’s how it should remain.

But it hasn’t.

And that’s my entire issue with how this whole situation has been covered at large. From the very start, Joe Davidson of the SacBee, started pushing heat (wrestling lingo for trying get the crowd to hate the heel) onto Notre Dame by telling a tale of broken trust with ND’s Signing Day gaffe. Later, he released an old story about Mike Brey recruiting a kid in a classroom and continued to release non-updates, but made sure to mix in notes about Notre Dame fans being horrible and racist to Eddie on Twitter.

It wasn’t that these stories weren’t true. We know full well we have a group of lunatics in our fanbase (as do all schools), but it was all so unnecessary. Davidson can forever claim it wasn’t his intent to make ND the bad guy, and it could even be true. In the end, the intent matters little — the heat was applied, immediately putting Notre Dame and all its fans on the defensive.

Inevitably, someone would pen the hackjob determined to push ND into full heel territory and Gregg Doyel was more than happy to fulfill the task. Gregg continued to push the angle, responding to any logical Notre Dame defense by calling us a bunch of message board parrots.

That too, is a complete WWE-style maneuver. Logic can be easily spurned and thrown out the window at any moment via scathing insult, joke, or catchphrase just to ensure the narrative remains and the proper heel/face relationship is maintained.

The Rock is particularly famous for this little maneuver:

http://youtu.be/pgBNBGAGJsk

It’s immediately divisive. If you love The Rock or hate the guy he just shut up, you are cheering. Otherwise, you are just hoping the person on the other end of it punches him square in the mouth.

The other layer to the “it doesn’t matter” bit was that The Rock would do this to everyone, no matter how famous or legendary they were. In other terms, if you’re going to be a loudmouth, you might as well go find the biggest dog in the yard to pop off to and make the biggest splash. Once you’ve done so, all of a sudden you find yourself with loads of other little minions/fans ready to back you up because somewhere in the back of their minds they are thinking “YEAH, FINALLY SOMEONE TOLD THEM!”

That’s exactly what the Eddie Vanderdoes coverage has turned into.

Davidson applied the initial heat. Gregg popped off to the supposed “big bad” that is Notre Dame. The rest of the media takes sides, either jumping on the illogical dogpile or trying to actually apply logic, not emotion, to the situation.

Further, if the school in question wasn’t Notre Dame and Eddie Vanderdoes wasn’t an elite, 5-star recruit, it doesn’t even receive nearly the amount of coverage or attention that we’ve seen. Does anyone blink an eye if a similar situation happens at say, North Texas with a 2-star recruit?

Or, better yet, what if only the sport changes? Does anyone even blink an eye if Notre Dame has NLI issues with the top-ranked fencer of 2013?

Of course not. The Rock doesn’t become famous if he only goes full throttle against X-Pac (if you don’t know him, that’s the point), but shies away when Stone Cold Steve Austin is staring him down. Likewise, Doyel doesn’t get nearly the level of pageviews if he spews out his verbal diarrhea in a similar situation with a different school, recruit, or sport that barely moves the needle.

College football is full of passion. The illogical emotion that we can apply to it can seriously be one of the best aspects of following the sport.

But applying that emotion to situations, like Eddie Vanderdoes, where it doesn’t belong? The worst.

Media types decide to both apply that emotion and feed on it in an attempt to further their own careers? The absolute worst.

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Attrition has definitely set in. These days, it’s an annual expectation. Thankfully, the Notre Dame Football program is healthy enough to handle it.

That may sound a little strange, especially since we (1) aren’t used to that line of thinking these days and (2) Brian Kelly has made several references to a lack of depth in 2012. However, it’s the truth.

Consider the fact that after Lynch left, our defensive line was still a dominate force in 2012. Despite not having Tee Shepard to fill some huge holes in the secondary, the Irish still managed to hold it together. We still have three more years of Golson with Malik Zaire waiting in the wings, softening the loss of Kiel. While our WR corps isn’t as stocked as I would prefer, I have little doubt Kelly and company will be able to use the talent available to compensate.

Further consider the recruiting mindset of Kelly. He wants to land a QB every year. He is constantly looking for what he calls “big skill” players that could possibly fill a couple of different roles if needed. A solid group of starters at any position isn’t enough — he wants them two-deep for constant depth and to keep his roster in a state of constant competition.

This season, we have seen the fruits of those three years of recruiting labor. Despite the attrition that has hit the Irish, we still find ourselves only able to offer well below 20 scholarships to the class of 2014 because we are so close to the maximum of 85 scholarships for the entire roster. While every player that leaves the Irish is definitely a disappointing loss, it now opens up a precious roster spot for a potential fifth-year, an extra offer to an elite recruit, or even the chance to reward a deserving senior walk-on.

So as far as attrition goes, I’m going to use a rather infamous Kelly quote: “Get used to it.”

Some guys might leave for personal reasons, but we are also seeing our former blue-chip recruits leave simply because they don’t think they’ll get the playing time they want. That speaks volumes for the level of talent Notre Dame now has. A couple of years ago, if a huge get in the recruiting class had a guaranteed three or four years of playing time. That simply isn’t the case anymore.

So bring the attrition on. “Next man in” as Kelly would say. This is exactly where we want to be.

The Roundup

I guess this counts as WAC attrition. Idaho and New Mexico State are fleeing the WAC for the Sun Belt. The Sun Belt is also grabbing Appalachian State (HEY MICHIGAN) and Georgia Southern from the FCS. Care to take a stab at which group is the better get?

And the 2014 National Championship game will transfer to… DALLAS! Win-win for me. Either Notre Dame makes a title run in my backyard or I’m renting out my house, making a mint, and going on vacation.

Johnny Football is gone. From Twitter. Wait, what did you think I was going to say?

Southern Cal has lost another player. This time, due to injury.

The NCAA might be able to use a little attrition themselves. Someone else has apparently dropped the ball in the Miami case.

This qualifies as what I like to call “Saban-style attrition”. Four players are gone from UCLA. One for violation of team rules and the other three…well, this article outright calls it “roster maintenance”.

The Beer

My beer choice is also suffering from some attrition because I’m still cleaning out my beer fridge of brews that have been donated for one reason or another. Considering I have a Vegas trip coming up to save money for and because I’ve been ridiculously busy for work (because of the Vegas trip, the main reason I’m there is because of work), I have had little motivation to go buy more beer as of late.

Ok, it’s probably not attrition, it’s being lazy and cheap as hell, but I don’t care.

On the chopping block this weekend: Dos Equis.

Stay thirsty, my friends.

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