Enjoy the now.

Enjoy, enjoy the last third of this season not with feelings of disappointment or frustration, but with the vision of the carrots left in front of us.  What is dangling out in front of us that will make this season a success or at the very least, enjoyable?  What will keep the Irish faithful tuning in each week, cheering and following her loyal sons?  It may not be a run at the National Championship, a BSC Bowl or even a meaningful New Year’s Day game, although it may, so let’s start there.

After Wake Forest, most are picking the Irish to beat Boston College and Maryland before facing Stanford, where the same following are picking Stanford to beat the Irish, resulting in a regular season record of 8-4.  Along with the Notre Dame history and following an 8-4 record should land the Irish on a decent bowl, the other half of the equation would be their opponent.   Last year’s match up with their arch nemesis the Miami Hurricanes cannot be duplicated, but there could be several intriguing match ups.  The season will have to be played out and followed to see it come to fruition.

Although he owns every important career receiving record at Notre Dame, we only have a handful of games left to watch Micheal Floyd play in an Irish uniform.  Remember Tim Brown, Rahib Ishmial, Jerome Bettis, or any other Irish great?  They live now in our memories, so savor the plays this year. There is not much time left to see Floyd do what he does so well.

Traditionally I don’t bet, and I surely don’t root against the Irish, but I would bet the farm (if I had one to bet) that Notre Dame will lose to the Stanford Cardinals on Saturday, November 26.  However, there is a reason they play the games.  I don’t like the idea of one game makes or breaks a season but this is close.  Beating Stanford at this point won’t put us in a position to win a National Championship or a BSC Bowl, but if we win out, it definitely would put us in the top 25 at the end of the season. 

As we have dreams of future seasons that don’t come with disappointment or frustration, we can look at our underclassmen and speculate how great they can become.   Austin Collingsworth with his athleticism, George Atkinson III with his speed, and the defensive studs like Lynch, Tuitt, and Hounshell with their unlimited potential are like dreams of sugar plums dancing in the heads of children on Christmas Eve.

Of course, there are all the things that happen each game that makes the hairs on the back of my neck sand up.  When the players take the field and you hear “here come the Irish.” When the Fight Song Plays after a score.  Every first down and every touchdown.  Every interception and every big tackle.  Every big run and every big block.  Talking to Greg at the corner of the bar at Shamrock Jacks, hearing Mo scream YAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!  Hearing Chuck go “na na na na na na na na” after each score, having Mark and Mike offer my tab up to buy shots if the Irish score, and then doing them to swing the momentum in Notre Dame’s favor (usually offering the shots up to the football gods for a turnover).  Talking to Pete and Keith at the YMCA about the good the bad and the ugly of the previous game while looking to the next.  Yeah there is enough to keep me cheering her loyal sons onward to victory.

Saturday Night Live

Another night game for the Irish.  With a loss from North Carolina last Saturday the Demon Deacons dropped to 5-3 and 4-2 in the ACC.  This wake forest may be as inconsistent at the Irish with a loss to Syracuse and a win over at the time #23 Florida State.  Traditional thinking says that the Deacons will have to pass on the Irish defense because their rushing game is weak at best whereas their passing game is good to pretty good. 

When the Irish meet Wake Forest this Saturday night it will be their first meeting in Notre Dame’s 123 years of football and theirs 141 different opponent.  The good news is the Irish have a winning percentage of .846 and a record of 117-20-3 when facing a team for the first time.

Wake Forest has a big and an experienced offensive line and is more than capable of winning this game.  The Irish need to keep their momentum rolling and go into the Stanford game with three consecutive wins.  If Notre Dame losses Saturday night odds are that they will end with four loses before a bowl game.  November was very good to the Irish last season let’s hope it is as kind to them this year. 

A bad note in the recruiting trail out of South Bend literally; South Bend’s (Washington High) own David Perkins de-committed from Notre Dame.  Perkins dominated at The Opening run by Nike this summer.  Technically he is shopping around and taking some official visits to other schools.  LSU, Oregon and Boise State are on his radar.

Getting the job done.

Over the last 36 hours I have had many people come up to me so happy and impressed that the Irish beat Navy 56-14.  That’s what they’re supposed to do.  With seven rushing touchdowns and 182 yards on the ground, Notre Dame dominated the Midshipmen’s rushing defense in traditional impressive manner.  However, size, speed, and blue chip recruiting talent overwhelmingly favored the Irish and should not have surprised anyone, even if Navy has enjoyed victory over the Irish in the last two years.  Even though Notre Dame had one passing touchdown (one compared to seven rushing), they out passed Navy 260 yards to 33.  With that being said, Navy is a good team compared to their record.  Prior to playing Notre Dame, they had lost four games by a total of eight points.

Not to say I was disappointed, I was happy with the game overall and there were highlights to be sure.  None more impressive than when after the game the Midshipmen stood behind the Irish players while they sang the alma mater to the student section, then the Navy players headed to their students in the stands to sing the Irish players stood behind them in support.  Why? Out of respect.

On the field, here were the highlights to be happy about and build upon as the season progresses.  There were a lot of numbers that stood out on the stat sheet but the first one that hits me was that the Irish offense was 7 for 7 in red zone scoring (all touchdowns).  This shows the ability for Notre Dame to finish drives strong.  On the defensive side of the ball, Notre Dame held Navy to 196 yards rushing, which under normal circumstances would be a good day, but against a team that averages over 300 yards a game on the ground, it’s a great accomplishment.

Manti Te’o led the Irish with 13 tackles while playing for his “bros.”  There was an obvious issue stemming from Brian Kelly’s comments in the media about the buy-in from the players he recruited versus those he inherited, but it wasn’t evident on the field Saturday.

I have finally come to terms with Michael Floyd and have made a full confession that I am a Floyd fan.  For years I have been hesitant to support him based on my perception of his non-football persona.  On Saturday I was willing to move forward.  He is immature and I can deal with that.  He is not a bad person, and as a matter of fact I think he is a good kid.  Sure, he is being a puppet and regurgitating what he is being told to say, but he is willing to do it because he wants to say the right things. 

Getting the job done.

Over the last 36 hours I have had many people come up to me so happy and impressed that the Irish beat Navy 56-14.  That’s what they’re supposed to do.  With seven rushing touchdowns and 182 yards on the ground, Notre Dame dominated the Midshipmen’s rushing defense in traditional impressive manner.  However, size, speed, and blue chip recruiting talent overwhelmingly favored the Irish and should not have surprised anyone, even if Navy has enjoyed victory over the Irish in the last two years.  Even though Notre Dame had one passing touchdown (one compared to seven rushing), they out passed Navy 260 yards to 33.  With that being said, Navy is a good team compared to their record.  Prior to playing Notre Dame, they had lost four games by a total of eight points.

Not to say I was disappointed, I was happy with the game overall and there were highlights to be sure.  None more impressive than when after the game the Midshipmen stood behind the Irish players while they sang the alma mater to the student section, then the Navy players headed to their students in the stands to sing the Irish players stood behind them in support.  Why? Out of respect.

On the field, here were the highlights to be happy about and build upon as the season progresses.  There were a lot of numbers that stood out on the stat sheet but the first one that hits me was that the Irish offense was 7 for 7 in red zone scoring (all touchdowns).  This shows the ability for Notre Dame to finish drives strong.  On the defensive side of the ball, Notre Dame held Navy to 196 yards rushing, which under normal circumstances would be a good day, but against a team that averages over 300 yards a game on the ground, it’s a great accomplishment.

Manti Te’o led the Irish with 13 tackles while playing for his “bros.”  There was an obvious issue stemming from Brian Kelly’s comments in the media about the buy-in from the players he recruited versus those he inherited, but it wasn’t evident on the field Saturday.

I have finally come to terms with Michael Floyd and have made a full confession that I am a Floyd fan.  For years I have been hesitant to support him based on my perception of his non-football persona.  On Saturday I was willing to move forward.  He is immature and I can deal with that.  He is not a bad person, and as a matter of fact I think he is a good kid.  Sure, he is being a puppet and regurgitating what he is being told to say, but he is willing to do it because he wants to say the right things.