Overall the game was great, yet still contained a mix of things that have frustrated the hell out of us all season long. Shane and I air our grievances, but celebrate that all the headaches mattered not in a game that was never in doubt.

We also discuss the stadium atmosphere and some of the potential scenarios that could await the Irish in the postseason that we’d like to see.

Podcast

The post If Only We Had More Time: Notre Dame vs Southern Cal Recap appeared first on Her Loyal Sons.

Unless you watched this live, there is no possible way you would come up with how this game unfolded. I’m sure you could get some pieces correct; however, I feel comfortable saying that no one would ever guess how this thing ended.

I’m glad this happened in a rivalry game because it hits that much harder. Enjoy every bit of this stupid, bonkers sim of a stupid, bonkers sport.

Podcast

VoD

The post NCAA ’14 Sim: Notre Dame vs Southern Cal appeared first on Her Loyal Sons.

Notre Dame promoted Tommy Rees to offensive coordinator. Penn State found their way into a brand new scandal. Southern Cal fired everyone in the athletic department besides their football coaches. Joe Brady bolted to the NFL after extinguishing his victory cigar with LSU. Phil Jurkovec saved me from having to memorize the spelling of his name by transferring to Boston College.

Hilariously, that’s all only scratching the surface.

Enjoy a longer than usual episode (if you’re wanting the ND stuff, head to the 49 minute mark) as we take our long winter podcast nap. 2020 is going to be one hell of a ride.

Broadcast

Twitch Broadcast

The post HLS Podcast: Welcome to the Offseason, Everything’s Crazy appeared first on Her Loyal Sons.

This week, there was loads to talk about as the chaos has truly begun with Georgia falling, the SEC being involved in an actual entertaining shootout, and Notre Dame ending up in a dog-fight with their biggest rival.

Start off your bye week with us, bask in the glow of beating SC for the third year in a row, and get that Michigan hate brewing.

Podcast

Twitch Broadcast

The post HLS Podcast: Week 7, #BeatSC Recap 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.

Who To Watch

Southern Cal (3-2) vs Colorado (5-0), Sat 10:30 PM ET on Fox Sports 1

via GIPHY

Here’s something you don’t see every day: a 5-0 Colorado squad as a touchdown road dog against a 3-2 USC. The Buffaloes have surprised some folks early this year with victories over Nebraska, UCLA, and Arizona State, notable programs but in all instances teams in the first year of rebuilding under new coaching regimes. The back half of Colorado’s schedule is much more difficult, with Oregon State as the sole game remaining that seems like an achievable win.

USC, on the other hand, has not fared well in the early-goings of 2018, but has a more manageable schedule starting with this upstart Colorado game. Aside from a road test at Utah in two weeks, they’re on track for a 9-2 (or, at worst, 8-3) resume when Notre Dame arrives in Los Angeles for the season-ending tilt on Thanksgiving weekend. Southern Cal hopes their young offensive talent starts to make growth strides starting this week, or else they’ll have a tough time in conference play.

Also this Week

Other Upcoming Opponents

• Northwestern (2-3) vs Nebraska (Sat 12:00 PM ET, ABC)
• Navy (2-3) vs Temple (Sat 3:30 PM ET, CBS Sports Network)

Past Opponents

• Vanderbilt (3-3) vs Florida (Sat 12:00 PM ET, ESPN)
• Ball State (2-4) at Central Michigan (Sat 3:00 PM ET, Watch ESPN)
• Virginia Tech (3-2) at North Carolina (Sat 7:00 PM ET, ESPNU)
• Michigan (5-1) vs Wisconsin (Sat 7:30 PM ET, ABC)

Strength-of-Schedule Rankings

Last week, ND opponents went 3-8 — a tough week with wins coming only for Northwestern, Michigan, and USC. On the year, opponents have a combined record of 37-31 (54.4%) with an average schedule strength of 46.

Rank	Team		Record	Weekly Change
6		Northwestern	2-3	+1
7		Southern Cal	3-2	-4
9		Stanford	4-2	+4
18		Notre Dame	6-0	-3
22		Pittsburgh	3-3	-1
36		Florida State	3-3	+1
43		Michigan	5-1	—
45		Vanderbilt	3-3	+45
47		Wake Forest	3-3	+33
50		Virginia Tech	3-2	+39
82		Syracuse	4-2	+15
99		Navy	2-3	+13
107		Ball State	2-4	+11

The post Opponent Watch: California Dreaming After Dark Edition appeared first on Her Loyal Sons.

Who To Watch

Southern Cal (2-2) at Arizona (2-2), Sat 10:30 PM ET on ESPN2

via GIPHY

I really tried to get y’all an earlier game this week but alas we venture into #Pac12AfterDark territory Saturday after ND-Stanford wraps. USC is undefeated at home and winless on the road this year, and we’ll see if this trend continues in the desert. Arizona coach Kevin Sumlin has a mobile quarterback (Khalil Tate) which could show the Irish coaching staff some things for Brandon Wimbush as the prepare for the end of season tilt in Los Angeles.

It’ll also be interesting to see how SC’s offense continues to evolve. Their run game has stalled, and a one-dimensional gameplan with a young quarterback will match up well with Notre Dame’s experienced defense on Thanksgiving weekend. However,  Southern Cal has plenty of time to evolve and add new competencies against conference competition. The current line on this game is a field goal, so expect this one to be close late (or early, depending on your time zone).

Also this Week

Other Upcoming Opponents

• Syracuse (4-0) at Clemson (Sat 12:00 PM ET, ABC)
• Florida State (2-2) at Louisville (Sat 3:30 PM ET, ESPN2)
• Pittsburgh (2-2) at Central Florida (Sat 3:30 PM ET, ESPNU)
• Northwestern (1-2) vs Michigan (3-1) (Sat 4:30 PM ET, Fox)
• Virginia Tech (2-1) at Duke (Sat 7:00 PM ET, ESPN2)

Past Opponents

• Ball State (1-3) vs Kent State (Sat 3:00 PM ET, ESPN+)
• Wake Forest (2-2) vs Rice (Sat 3:30 PM ET, ACC Network)
• Vanderbilt (2-2) vs Tennessee State (Sat 4:00 PM ET, SEC Network)

Strength-of-Schedule Rankings

Last week, ND opponents went 5-6. On the year, opponents have a combined record of 27-19 (58.7%) with an average schedule strength of 65.

Contrary to most of the schedule strength comments around last Saturday’s Virginia Tech – Old Dominion didn’t hurt Notre Dame’s schedule strength…that distinction goes to Florida State and Syracuse, with wins over Northern Illinois and UConn, respectively. These were offset by Vanderbilt’s loss to a strong South Carolina squad and Stanford’s overtime win at Oregon, setting up Saturday’s top-10 matchup.

Rank	Team		Record	Weekly Change
2		Southern Cal	2-2	+4
19		Northwestern	1-2	+22
28		Notre Dame	4-0	+14
34		Stanford	4-0	+39
36		Pittsburgh	2-2	+12
38		Vanderbilt	2-2	+43
50		Wake Forest	2-2	+27
54		Florida State	2-2	-28
58		Michigan	3-1	+9
78		Ball State	1-3	-39
103		Navy	2-2	-8
156		Virginia Tech	2-1	-25
157		Syracuse	4-0	-40

The post Opponent Watch: Up All Night Edition appeared first on Her Loyal Sons.

Others, like the Texan writing this post, learn and experience it far later in life. In fact, my first exposure to The Battle for the Jeweled Shillelagh was through the NCAA Football video game that I purchased my senior year of high school. I even had high school friends that would make their way to Southern California, including my girlfriend at the time. There was nothing more than some friendly banter of a thing we barely understood.

As the Irish prepare to face Southern Cal in their first ranked matchup since 2009, join me on my journey of hatred.

2003

“I. HATE. USC.”

Those were the first words that came out of Carson Daly’s mouth at the pep rally. The former TRL host walked up to the podium clad in the cursed green jersey the Irish had worn against Boston College the year prior. I can’t recall anything else that he said that evening. In fact, I’m still confused to this day as to how in the world he, of all people, found himself tasked with riling up the student body and fans against their biggest rival.

The only other thing that I remember thinking that night was that such a celebrity sighting likely meant this rivalry was a bigger deal than I thought. I remained hyped and hopeful for my first ND/SC experience, despite the fact that the Irish sat at 2-3.

As the first quarter concluded with a 21-14, I still had some of that hope left. The way I saw it, the Irish were trading blows with a vastly superior opponent. Maybe some magic would find its way into Notre Dame Stadium.

24 unanswered points later and about the 1,000th reprisal of the only song the Southern Cal band knows, I wanted everyone and everything in cardinal and gold to spontaneously combust.

2004

My sister was in her senior year of high school. Being home for the Thanksgiving holiday meant that I needed to head out to watch her school play the rare Saturday night high school football game. My parents didn’t see ND/SC as important enough to miss, that’s what a VCR was for (yes, no DVR technology in the Tex household yet).

They know better now. I know better now. (Quick tangent: with my sister then attending Auburn and my parents learning how serious the Iron Bowl was, Saturday after Thanksgiving is now a football day. ND/SC and Auburn/Bama will be watched. No questions asked.)

Twitter wasn’t a thing at this point, so avoiding the score wasn’t too hard. My dad somehow found out the result and tried to spare me with “you sure you want to watch that when you get home tonight?” I knew it was code for “they got killed, don’t watch”, but I did anyways.

Silver lining: I knew there was likely no way Ty wouldn’t get the axe after that 41-10 embarrassment.

Somehow, I still have this on my computer from, I believe, ESPN.

2005

As a student manager, my excitement for this game was simply absurd. Charlie Weis had the Irish back on track (lol), but knocking off the #1 Trojans was all any Irish fan wanted.

ESPN’s College GameDay was in town. I was able to barely see Lee Corso don the Leprechaun’s hat for his pick through the bars of the main stadium gates. Shortly after, Southern Cal arrived. I have no idea why, but the thing that forever stuck in my head wasn’t the reaction of the crowd, but Matt Leinart, at the front of the pack, flippantly tossing an empty water bottle into a trash can. For whatever reason, I couldn’t shake the fact that every Trojan felt like they owned the place and the (very perceived) arrogance made me want nothing more than for the Irish to humble them.

Later on the field, one of the equipment managers got my attention while I was assisting with pre-game drills, informing me that my services were needed in the locker room even though that wasn’t my assignment. “Great,” I thought, “what kind of stupid last-minute bullshit am I going to have to do now?”

A few minutes later, I ran into the locker room and was greeted with the sight of forest-green jerseys hanging in the lockers. This wasn’t bullshit. This was awesome.

I never had such a hard time helping players in and out of jerseys and pads, my hands shaking too much with excitement. For the first and only time, the managers were allowed to stay in the main room when the pregame speech started (typically, we went out of sight behind the equipment desk). I witnessed Weis’ speech, the pre-game prayer, and the most hyped that I’d ever seen that team. While cleaning up, we heard the eruption of the home crowd clear as day.

Sadly, as we all know, it was all downhill from there.

My assignment that game was on the SC sideline. My job was to place the first down marker in front of the chains. Oddly enough, and I still have no idea why, they wanted me to place it half a yard or so beyond the chains. This made zero sense to me and I had them repeat it again just to make sure I wasn’t imagining things. When the game started, I even confirmed with the chain gang that I was doing it right.

I tell that story to tell this one: when Brady Quinn snuck for a fourth down conversion and made it, Ken Norton Jr., a former Cowboy that I grew up cheering for, verbally tore me a new asshole when he saw where my marker was. He stalked me down the sidelines and resumed his tirade when I placed the marker down again. All I said was for him to talk to the refs, waiting for them to speak up. Thankfully one did, saying I was doing as instructed and I got a sheepish apology. To this day I still laugh that a guy with a Super Bowl ring was somehow convinced that I was personally responsible for tricking his defensive unit as to where the first down marker actually was.

I tell that story only because that same attitude permeated throughout the SC sideline. Pete Carroll had these guys convinced the world was out to screw them over. Here was the #1 team in the nation, clearly the more talented group on the field, and I heard nothing but whining from everything from the height of the grass to every single call or perceived non-call that went against them.

Yet at the end of the day, it was Pete Carroll’s refusal to have instant replay present at the game (visiting coach was allowed to decide that season) that allowed a shitty spot after the Lienart fumble out of bounds and the referees’ failure to properly enforce the rules on the Bush Push that allowed the Trojans to escape South Bend with a W.

And then I got to clean up the locker room they trashed. Wet toilet paper and SC helmet decals were everywhere.

Hate: sealed forever.

2006

If 2005 was the year that sealed my hate for the men of Troy on the field, 2006 was the year that sealed my hate for the majority of their fans.

In a stadium best described by my sister as “it looks like Roland McDonald threw up everywhere in here”, I witnessed what happens when you have fans in a pro-league city devoid of pro football and have those folks attach their focus to their local college team. Yes, I know this isn’t every SC fan, and it still pales in comparison to what I’ve seen in Ann Arbor and East Lansing, but, holy crap, was I in a section of awful.

Biggest memory from this game: a guy admonishing a group of ND fans for dropping a celebratory f-bomb to themselves within ear-shot of his child…only to turn around to a completely different ND fan and unleash a string of four letter words that would make a sailor blush.

Oh, and ND lost again. I was 0-4 against SC as a student.

Uniforms: great! Game: garbage!

2007

Best part of this game were ND’s throwback uniforms. Everything else about this game needed to be thrown back into the garbage.

I was so mad about this blowout that I didn’t even care to drink the booze that we snuck in.

2008

2009

Want to know what’s worse than watching your team lose their eighth straight against their biggest rival? Watching Duval Karmara slipping out of his break thanks to Weis’ tall grass gimmick on what could have been a game-tying TD in the game’s final second. Oh, and that was after it looked like Kyle Rudolph came down with a TD the play prior and SC rushed the field thinking they had won.

It was all literally set up to avenge, in storybook fashion, 2005. Instead, Jimmy Clausen watched his pass on a timing route fall harmlessly in the endzone.

And then there was this after the game:

RT @LAMase: #USC Coach Carroll press conf: "It was nice to beat Notre Dame twice."

— Paul Epps (@paulepps) October 20, 2009

Fuck you forever, Poodle.

2010

A young man named Thomas Rees saved us from the ninth circle of hell as the BK first season of the BK era ended in the most glorious way it possibly could have after such a rough start. Allow me to let puppets relive this magical moment:

And yes, Robert Hughes shouldn’t be forgotten in this one. In fact, just watch the final drive and smile:

This was my first taste of victory over SC as an Irish fan. How do you know when you really hate a team? When your somewhat decent team rises to 7-5 to bring down your somewhat decent rivals down to 7-5 and it makes a crappy season simply glorious.

…fast forward to 2017

So here we are: #13 Notre Dame vs. #11 Southern Cal. While I’ve finally been able to watch the Irish beat SC multiple times in the same decade, including one that concluded a 12-0 season, there’s still one thing missing: beating a ranked Trojan team (sidenote: SC hasn’t beaten a ranked ND team since 2009, Pete Carroll’s last season).

The last time the Irish accomplished that feat was 1995. I was ten years old. It’s been over 20 years since the Irish were able to kick SC down the rankings. Should the Irish pull it off, they will launch into the top ten off the backs of their bitter rivals.

And I want nothing more than to have that feeling of satisfaction over those bastards.

The post Learning to Hate Southern Cal appeared first on Her Loyal Sons.

A weekend that saw four Top 10 teams go down underscores the feeling that the race for the playoffs is wide open. Some of that race will be decided in South Bend this weekend as #13 Notre Dame will take on #11 USC. The loser of this tilt will essentially be eliminated from the playoff race, making this the highest stakes Notre Dame vs. USC game since the “Bush Push”.

Notre Dame and USC regardless of records has always taken on special meaning. This year, I’m happy to say I will be on campus for what looks like a beauty. As I’m counting down the days until Saturday, I thought about my favorite USC games from yesteryear and settled on the three gems below. Now, you might notice that all of these games occured after 1980, before you blow me up in the comments, I decided to start there as that was the time when I fell hard for Notre Dame as a six year old.

#3: 1986 Notre Dame 38, USC 37 – “The Start of Something Big”

Notre Dame was only 4-6 while USC was 7-3 and ranked #17. But if there was such a thing as a good 4-6, it was this Notre Dame team: a one point loss to #3 Michigan, a dropped ball late prevented a giant upset against #1 Penn State, and a two point loss against #8 LSU. While each loss was frustrating, it seemed to indicate better days were ahead. Despite their record under 1st year Head Coach Lou Holtz, the Irish were proving to be an extremely tough out against good opponents.

In this tilt, the Trojans held a 37-20 lead in the fourth quarter with the Irish looking as if they finally run out of gas. What followed was a scintillating 18 point outburst that was capped by a John Carney field goal as time expired.

#2: 2010 Notre Dame 20, USC 16 – “Finally”

Notre Dame was in year one of another rebuild. This time under first year Head Coach Brian Kelly.

The Irish would race to a 13-3 lead only to see USC back-up quarterback Mitch Mustain stake the Trojans to a late lead 16-13.  Robert Hughes,, however, would put Notre Dame ahead for good with 2:23 remaining on a five yard touchdown run.

The defining moment of the game would come with 1:17 remaining when USC wide receiver Ronald Johnson dropped an easy and likely game winning touchdown. This was only the 9th time in history this game was played when neither team was ranked. However, it makes my list simply because it ended the horrific USC domination over Notre Dame and Ronald Johnson’s gaffe likely brought emotional trauma to USC fans everywhere.

#1: 2012 Notre Dame 22, USC 13 – “Notre Dame is #1 Again”

I can already hear the complaints now: If 1980 was the cutoff, what about the #1 vs. #2 matchup? What about 1989 with a fight in the tunnel and a huge comeback win by Notre Dame 28-24?

Simply put, in 1988, I was too young to appreciate what that game meant. When 1989 rolled around, I, as a young lad, saw that Notre Dame was winning all the time and took moments like that for granted. But by 2012, I had been through the end of the Dr. Lou’s run, Davie, O’Leary, Willingham, Weis, and the start of the BK era. After seeing some horrific stretches of ND football, I honestly wondered if we ever going to rise to the top again.

2012 was like a genie coming out of a bottle to grant every Notre Dame their every wish for 12 straight weeks. Those 12 weeks were improbable, dramatic and had the stuff of a Hollywood drama week in and week out. Adding to the drama was that the grande finale to the undefeated season required the Irish to win on the road against USC.

By the way Lane Kiffin, that white sweat suit was as abysmal as your goal line offense.

The post Three (Modern) Classics for USC Week appeared first on Her Loyal Sons.

Notre Dame’s James Onwualu tackles NC State’s Matthew Dayes. (Grant Halverson / Getty Images)

I was happy to turn the page on the new year if nothing else than to turn the calendar on one of the worst years of Notre Dame football that I can remember.

Starting on New Year’s Day of 2016 and throughout the season it was seemingly one bad moment after another. Now with the national title playing out tonight, our long Notre Dame nightmare can end.

Or can it?

Since the end of this season, there have numerous coaching changes. When the Irish tee it up on opening day next year, the offensive coordinator, defensive coordinator and special teams coordinator will all be new. Additionally, Paul Longo will not be returning as the strength coach. That is four major components of a football program all in a tremendous state of flux as we head towards the 2017 spring practice season. How those changes are viewed will vary but given the direction of the program over the last twelve months’ change was certainly in order.

Backup QB Brandon Wimbush looking at 2017 like “Hell yeah.” (Photo credit: SupermanTDJesus)

The Irish will also be breaking in a new signal-caller in the spring and the months to follow. Brandon Wimbush will come in with lofty credentials and tons of “potential” but the fact remains he has attempted five career passes. He should get a boost in the return of Josh Adams and Mike McGlinchey both of whom figure to help boost an Irish run game that was far too inconsistent in 2016.

LOWERED EXPECTATIONS

My early view is the Irish will have tepid expectations from the national media. The talking heads will likely focus on the “major changes” the Irish are undergoing and the “hot seat” Brian Kelly is on when discussing Notre Dame football.

The schedule is no peach either. Though the Irish open against a Temple program that is replacing their coach, they match up in week 2 vs. SEC mainstay Georgia.  September closes with back to back road trips to BC and Sparty, followed by a home date with Miami of Ohio. I think a 3-2 September is very likely. October features the bye week and home dates with USC and NC State after an Oct. 7 date with UNC. USC is always hard to figure; they have been so inconsistent lately but looked formidable with a freshman quarterback in the Rose Bowl.

I think the Irish likely head into November at 5-3.  I’m largely basing this on the fact that they squeak out a win over either USC or UNC. At this point, I’m not sure which one. Notre Dame’s luck was so bad last year; I think they will likely get a few breaks from the football gods this fall. November closes the season with trips to Stanford and Miami and home dates with Wake Forest and the always dangerous Naval Academy.

As it looks in early January, I’m going to go 7-5 and a trip to the New Era Pinstripe Bowl. If that is the finish it will be very likely that this year’s off-season changes will give way to bigger ones next off-season.

The post My Early Prediction For Next Year appeared first on Her Loyal Sons.