There is very little to complain about in this one. Coan could find a bit more accuracy and the offensive line held together by the thinnest strands of duct tape could block better. But even with those issues, Notre Dame has this crazy confidence about them that has somehow filtered to Shane and I as well.

It sure doesn’t hurt that special teams put on a clinic and Marcus Freeman reminded everyone why he was the hottest name for defensive coordinator.

That all being said, we understand there are some corners of the internet that still want to be mad about things, particularly about Brian Kelly eclipsing Knute Rockne’s win record. Don’t worry, we have something for your sour ass too!

Podcast

The post Jump Around and Find Out: Notre Dame vs Wisconsin Recap appeared first on Her Loyal Sons.

I’m honestly in awe of both happenings. We could’ve pulled either off if we actually planned it.

This is the true magic of HLS: delivering the things you never asked for and never wanted.

Enjoy?

Podcast

VoD

Bonus VoD

Here’s how the cold open sounded live on stream. As you heard in the podcast, we actually had the audio for everything. The audience…well, not so much (and yes I skipped the musical intro because it did, indeed, not play live for the stream).

The post NCAA ’14 Sim: Notre Dame “@” Wisconsin appeared first on Her Loyal Sons.

My first non-Zima-re-release dip into this sparkling booze pool came back when Mrs. Tex and I attempted the keto diet. While, yes, you can certainly have liquor, we craved a beer substitute–something that you could just pull out of the fridge and crack open, or throw into a cooler for an outing.

It’s fine for what it is, which is pretty much the same that I could say for light beer. Even though I’m not doing keto anymore, with football season around the corner, I’ve strongly considered the lower carb option to try and curb the myriad bad eating and drinking habits I will have during the season.

But along came this, and I think I haven’t been this jealous of Notre Dame students since Taco Bell opened in LaFun:

Y’all, the worst part about throwing any kind of party on campus was the hard liquor bans. You had few choices to deliver a beer alternative to guests that hated it, especially the crappy variants that populated dorm parties (because you aren’t buying wine that’s worth a crap). But now, you can grab a 6 or 24-pack of these bad boys, or even grab a 25 oz tall boy packing a stronger ABV punch than beer.

And if that wasn’t enough:

In comes 14% ABV of “fuck it, let’s get hammered” glory. We are truly blessed, even if the blessing might kill us. Eat your heart out, Mad Dog.

The thing I love most this whole trend is that it’s steering into the same direction that light beers have. Instead of dressing themselves up like Zima or projecting that they are a healthy alternative, Natty’s marketing pitch is basically “we heard you like seltzer so let’s save you money on the thing you want to drink.” Sold.

It’s not complicated and it’s honestly perplexing that it took this long to get here. I welcome our new seltzer overlords with open arms and look forward to partaking in my fair share this season.

The Roundup

First, some charity things. Y’all came through huge on the charity sim. As I write this, we raised $1,637.74 in a week to do what was literally a PPV video game sim. I’m over halfway to my $6k goal and I can’t thank y’all enough. But we’re not stopping there, Biscuit has some SC tickets available for auction that will support the ND general scholarship fund.

Want Viewpoint letters in your inbox? The ND/SMC Observer just started an email newsletter service for students and alumni. Support the student journalism and sign up.

Yo dawg, I heard you liked preseason polls. So we put all the preseason polls in a consensus preseason poll.

Get familiar with this year’s rule changes. I wrote about this before, but get the simple facts straight from the horse’s mouth.

The banner society has a football website now. Miss EDSBS? Their new mothership has relaunched and has exactly what you’d expect from Spencer Hall as well as a love letter to the wheel route.

Dive into the mind of an elite RB. If Wisconsin’s going to do anything, it will be because of what Jonathan Taylor can do and see.

#sportsmath is great. But visualization is better.

Opponent Watch

Wondering what a Louisville fan’s mindset is? Well, it starts with accepting a loss to ND next Monday.

At least they’ll look good. Creating an alternate jersey inspired by Mohammad Ali? Yeah, that slaps in a million different ways.

The post Friday Roundup: The Hard Seltzer Edition appeared first on Her Loyal Sons.

Who To Watch

Northwestern (4-3) vs Wisconsin ( 5-2), Sat 12:00 PM ET on Fox

via GIPHY

Notre Dame has the late game on the Left Coast, so you can settle in early and watch this B1G matchup you *definitely* had marked on your sports calendar preseason. But here we are: the Wildcats riding a three-game win streak as a 5-point home dog against a flawed Wisconsin team. The winner will be in the driver’s seat for Big Ten West consideration, and nervous Notre Dame fans can fantasize about Future Head Coach Pat Fitzgerald.

Also this Week

Other Upcoming Opponents

• Florida State (4-3) vs Clemson (Sat 12:00 PM ET, ABC)
• Southern Cal (4-3) vs Arizona State (Sat 3:30 PM ET, ABC)
• Syracuse (5-2) vs NC State (Sat 7:00 PM ET, ESPN2)

Past Opponents

• Ball State (3-5) at Ohio (Thu 7:00 PM ET, CBS Sports Network)
• Virginia Tech (4-2) vs Georgia Tech (Thu 7:30 PM ET, ESPN)
• Vanderbilt (3-5) at Arkansas (Sat 12:00 PM ET, SEC Network)
• Wake Forest (3-4) at Louisville (Sat 12:00 PM ET, ACC Network)
• Pittsburgh (3-4) vs Duke (Sat 3:30 PM ET, ACC Network)
• Stanford (5-2) vs Washington State (Sat 7:00 PM ET, )

Strength-of-Schedule Rankings

Last week, ND opponents went 5-5. On the year, opponents have a combined record of 47-39 (54.7%) with an average schedule strength of 43.

Rank	Team		Record	Weekly Change
5		Southern Cal	4-3	+6
11		Stanford	5-2	-1
15		Vanderbilt	3-5	+17
18		Pittsburgh	3-4	-3
20		Michigan	7-1	+11
23		Northwestern	4-3	-15
36		Notre Dame	7-0	-2
41		Wake Forest	3-4	+9
54		Florida State	4-3	-15
59		Virginia Tech	4-2	+4
81		Syracuse	5-2	+2
85		Navy	2-5	+4
108		Ball State	3-5	+5

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

Both games will be part of the Shamrock Series. I must say, I’m not a fan of the Shamrock Series, but that is a whole different article. In this case, I’m okay because of the match-up and minimal travel that would be involved for me.

I love Notre Dame, but I have a place in my heart for Wisconsin and especially the people of the state. I attended a small college and played football in Wisconsin. I’ve yet to find people as warm as those I met during my collegiate years. More importantly, they are die-hard Badger fans. My collegiate years coincided with the rebirth of Badger football under the direction of former Notre Dame Defensive Coordinator Barry Alvarez. I can also attest that Camp Randall where the Badgers play, absolutely rocks. The smartest thing that Jack Swarbrick did in scheduling the series was putting it at a neutral location to offset that home-field advantage.

That being said, I think he is extremely naive to think the stands will be a 50-50 split. Wisconsin fans travel extremely well. They always have. I would expect A 50-50 split in Chicago, but Lambeau, in my mind, is a road game for the Irish despite their designation as the “home” team.  In fact, when the Irish met Wisconsin in basketball a few years ago in Philly with a trip to the Elite 8 on the line, there was a huge amount of red in those stands.

I’m excited about this game for so many reasons. In my lifetime, I’ve seen the villains of the Big 10 (Purdue, Michigan, Northwestern, Ohio State, Michigan State) dot the Irish schedule from time to time. Who wouldn’t love a new villain to enter that fray?

Too add more intrigue, Colin Cowherd (who I find nauseating) recently claimed Wisconsin is a better program than Notre Dame. I love that we can now test his theory.

I also love that the Irish are (10-0-2) all-time at Soldier Field! Hey, 2021 is looking great!

On a personal level I love the chance for some bragging rights with some old friends. Finally, I love the challenge. Take a peak at that 2020 schedule when you get a chance. Arkansas, Clemson, Stanford, Wisconsin, USC, etc. No hiding on that schedule. As we count down to this season, I’m struck again by how Notre Dame continues to challenge themselves.

The post You Had Me at “Wisconsin” 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.