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. 

After Saturday

As the season continues and it’s evident that the BCS is gone and a top 25 finish is far from an easy goal we need to do what Brian Kelly has steered away from.  Kelly keeps saying we take it one practice at a time and one game at a time.  Well we need to start looking to the future and thinking what they may be.  At the very least what the rest of the season could hold.  Recruiting may be semi-stable at best; team moral looks good, but still lacking hunger.  Consistency is lacking on the field and from what I hear in practice.  Those are all issues for Kelly and his staff to look at fan we look at players and what can they do for us, and if not this year, the next.

Being an Irish fan for the last 20 years is like being an inmate going to the parole board.  Maybe next year if we do this if we get that, we wait, work hard, go into the room before the board and…wait till next year.  This gets old quick, unfortunately it doesn’t end quickly.  Obviously there are several games left, games to win, and a top 25 to crack if we finish strong enough.

Down the road we’ll look at the depth chart and see what players will be tops in 2012.  For now we need to focus on 2011 games.  First Navy, two loses to the Midshipmen cannot lead to a third, Notre Dame has never lost to Navy three seasons in a row, not to mention a lose to a 2-5 team would be terribly embarrassing.

Wake Forest is a team with a current 5-2 record with wins over team such as Boston College and Florida State.  The Demon Deacons are ranked 24^th in the nation in total passing yards a game.  This could be a loss for the Irish in Winston-Salem against a solid ACC team.

Although Maryland is a home game for the Irish it is being played at Fed Ex field in Maryland’s backyard.   I would be more confident of a win against the Terrapins than some of the other teams on the Irish’s remaining schedule.  Their one highlight is an opening game win against the Miami Hurricanes 32-24.

Boston College who plays Maryland this weekend is currently 1-6 and 0-4 in the ACC this season should be a win for the Irish.  However the excitement of two Catholic colleges squaring off will help the Eagles get up to play Notre Dame.

Finally Stanford, who will very likely be undefeated and ranked in the top 5 when they face Notre Dame on November 26^th.  With everyone’s All American and Heisman Trophy pick Andrew Luck at the helm the Cardinal will be a tough win if not impossible.  The good news is if the Irish can win the rest of their games until then a victory over Stanford could put them into the top 25 at the end of the season and put them into a meaningful New Year’s Day Bowl.

With five games remaining I would say a 4-1 finish is reasonable and realistic.  The Irish could however finish our 3-2 or worse thanks to their inconsistency and lack of a killer instinct.  The ultimate question is would 9-4 be a better finish then last season’s 8-5 heading into a bowl.  Of course it’s better but is that kind of improvement good enough.   Back to Kelly’s view let’s take it one game at a time, Navy.

Onward to Navy

My phone has rung several times since Saturday night but I am still waiting for it to ring with an apology from Brian Kelly, Dayne Christ, Manti Te’o, someone from South Bend.  I did see an apology from USC players and coaches for comments made Monday morning that I thought were fair.  I feel like a prisoner going to parole, each year thinking wait till next year, if we do this and if this happens we will be in the promised land.  The time comes, we go before the board and then denied.  Kelly’s saving grace with me is his frustration, the players although well spoken composed and classy don’t seem to be passionate enough, and like I have said before missing the eye of the tiger.

The one thing I have in common with and can agree upon with the players and coaches of the Fighting Irish is that it’s a one day at a time operation and we have to take it one game at a time.  So with that being said we’ll focus on Saturday’s game and the week of practice leading up to it, and by the way Kelly was talking after the Trojans game the players will not be happy with the tone of practice this week.

A team that will have plenty fire in the belly is Navy this Saturday.  Fire, confidence, discipline all the ingredients needed for a Midshipmen win and all that the Irish seem to be lacking.  We know they will be excited, well coached and run that option offense that Notre Dame can never figure out. 

Keys to an Irish win are simple.  The matchups are not complex, the schemes are straight forward and the game plan is as simple as 1-2-3.  All that being said we may have to wait until late in the fourth quarter to see a win.

Let’s start on defense; shut down the run.  Ok shutting down the run may be a bit much to ask, we need to at least contain the run game of the Midshipman.  Yes Ricky Dobbs is gone but they still have fullback Alexander Teich (just under 100 yards a game) and Quarterback Kriss Proctor (averaging 163 yards a game).  I realize this won’t be easy but that’s it, Navy is third in the nation in run offense (averaging 325 yards a game) and are still a losing record team on a five game losing streak.  Don’t worry about the passing game, there is none.

Offensively bully the defense, push them around at the line run and pass all over them.  Don’t turn the ball over and score when in the red zone. 

Expectations:

A beat down.  Both Wood and Gray both better redeem themselves with 100+ yard games each.  Multiple receivers with 100+ yard games and multiple touchdowns.  Bottom line it’s our offense beating on their defense and our defense stopping their run.

The good?, the bad and the ugly.

The good; the helmets were very nice.  That’s about it.  I guess I could throw in George Atkinson’s 96 yard kickoff return for a touchdown.

The bad and ugly consumed the rest of the Irish night.  It just looked bad - bad tackling, bad timing, bad play calling, bad execution, bad, bad, bad.  The first quarter set the tone and was a prelude to the rest of the evening.  For crying out loud, I swear I saw Tommy Rees trying to run the option. 

Defensively, we appeared outmatched in talent, speed, power and coaching.  Receivers were wide open with defenders yards away, allowing significant yards after the catch.  The defensive line looked as though they were the offensive line; they would engage the Trojans’ offensive line and fight for the line of scrimmage, not trying to shed the blockers to make tackles, let alone putting any pressure on the quarterback (which was needed for a chance at a win).   By not stopping the run (not even close), it obviously opened the passing game.

Brain Kelly has got to be going out of his mind, although I don’t think he will be out of a job.  I know he is frustrated, apparently primarily with Tommy Rees.  He made it very clear after the game that the blame belongs on the players’ shoulders.  I don’t disagree, however, after what I saw last night there is more than enough blame to go around.  When Rees came out of the game due to injury I did expect Crist to come in, but at the goal line (which if Notre Dame punched it in it would have been tied at 17), I expected Hendrix.  Kelly went with Dayne who fumbled the snap, resulting in six points the other way, making the USC lead 24-10.

Like most games, the numbers don’t lie, and here are some that tell the tale.  29 rushing and 16 passing first downs for the Trojans compared to 17 and 5 for the Irish (and two USC  first downs were courtesy of Notre Dame penalties).  219 net rushing yards for USC compared to 41 for Notre Dame (averages of 5.0 to 2.9 per carry).  Time of possession favored USC 39.41 to 20:19, including a mismatch of 12:36 to 2:24 in the fourth quarter).  The one-two punch running combo was closer to a one-two dance step. Wood had 5 net yards and Gray had 38 (25 on one run).  Two other bad numbers – two lost fumbles and zero passing touchdowns.

So where are we?  We knew we were not as talented as the likes of LSU, Alabama and Oklahoma State, but now there is no doubt we don’t even belong in the top 25.  So what is the silver lining? We could end the year with four losses (best mathematical scenario assuming we are no match for Stanford), which is an improvement from five last season, and with four loses what kind of bowl are we looking at?  Last year’s match up with Miami was as good as it gets due to the history and rivalry with the Hurricanes.  

By the way, I’m sure the recruits in South Bend Saturday night were not impressed.

In closing, because I can’t continue to think about this game any longer, let’s say something positive.  Sunday morning I ran into a fellow Notre Dame fan who is happy with the direction of the Irish and Kelly.  To put things in perspective, the fan’s last name is Pitts, so he probably should think positive things.

Everyone is a recruiter on Saturday.

If the there is a top recruit in the country they will be in South Bend this weekend.  Traditionally big time programs like to showcase schools when their rivals come to town and there is not a bigger rival than USC especially when it comes to recruiting.  Irish commits, Trojan commits, the uncommitted even those who have committed to other schools all together are coming to South Bend for this game.   It’s going to be the who’s who of prep list, top 100’s and All this, that’s and  All Americans.  I’m not just talking about seniors with official visits there are underclassmen taking unofficial visits as well.

For those who have already committed this is a fortifying game to strengthen their commitment.  Even though no one who is verbal committed is on my radar as possibly changing their mind it is very important for them to be there.  Those recruits will serve at ambassadors and recruiters to the other high school stars, who better to talk to these kids than their own peers.  This is the perfect opportunity to grab some talent who are on the fence or even those who are standing on the other side of the fence.

Although there are too many recruits to talk about there are several I will be keeping my on the days following their visit.  First is a recruit that I did not think much of until I saw him in a couple of camps this past summer including Nike the Opening.   Currently Bryce Treggs Jr. is verbally committed to Cal, who got pounded by USC last week,

The new big fish on the market is recently USC de-commit Arik Armstead.  At 6’7” 280+lbs Arik is a five star prospect on both the offensive and defensive lines.   He has said he wants to play on defense in college as well as basketball.  As talented as this kid is and he still has potential to grow physically and with technique he can play on the hop scotch team for all I care.

Shaq Thompson is a five star recruit in two positions; safety and running back.  At 6’2”, 195lbs Shaq has offers from every and any program in the country but has yet to commit.  As a junior he had rushing for 1882 yards and 25 touchdowns on only 164 carries, while racking up 54 tackles from his safety position.   Like Bryce Treggs Jr. Thompson committed to California.  We are hoping Treggs continues to follow suit and de commits from California like Thompson has.

Basically it’s all hands on deck this weekend for recruiting; coaches, players, administrators, faculty, students, and fans.  In addition to the class of 2012 visitors there are a number of recruits from the class of 2013 who are revving up their recruiting cycle and will be in attendance.  After listening to current Notre Dame Players and hearing about their memories of the Irish vs. Trojans games before they committed to their school there may be ten and twelve year olds watching TV this weekend forming their loyalties to one camp or another.

USC Preview

Although it may not be the USC vs. Notre Dame super match up of the glory days, it should still be a good game overall.  For the past 10 years it has not been much of a rivalry, with the Trojans dominating in the win column.  The Irish did come close in the “Bush Push” game when we had our hearts broken in the closing seconds of that matchup.  Of course, last year Notre Dame began to right the ship with a victory. 

USC is weathering the storm of NCAA sanctions and like the Irish, are not ranked.  However, this is still a good team.  The offense, which is averaging 30 points per game this season and averaging nearly 450 yards in its last four contests, is a big reason why the Trojans are 5-1.

It all starts with golden boy quarterback, junior Matt Barkley.  With 2½ years of collegiate experience, Barkley is completing over 68% of his passes and has thrown for 16 touchdowns, while only throwing 4 interceptions and picking up 1782 yards in the process.  Matt is a very good quarterback and his strong arm will carry him into the NFL down the road.  Barkley continues to improve his accuracy but needs to be more mobile.  This is where the Irish defensive ends could really be the difference between a win and a loss on Saturday.  Barkley’s offensive line is suspect and inconsistent with the exception of 6’7” 295 lb. junior left tackle Matt Kalil.

Barkley’s main targets are young but good.  6’1” 180 lb. sophomore Robert Woods and 6’1” 190 lb. freshman Marqise Lee have combined for 1,187 yards and 10 touchdowns through six games.  Although Lee is only a freshman, he is averaging 16.2 yards a catch and is big and strong, making him dangerous after the catch.   He did leave last week’s game against Cal with a shoulder injury but should be fine for this Saturday.  Woods is an overall offensive weapon - he lines up at wide receiver, in the slot and even in the backfield.

On the defensive side of the ball, USC is classified as athletic, quick and undersized.  The Trojans are giving up points and yards in the air (271.7 per games, which ranks them 105^th nationally in pass defense).  The other concern is their depth on the defensive side of the ball.  However, there are several players that can be the difference in the game and if they have good games, and it could spell trouble for the Irish.

Starting up front, 6’4” 310 lb. senior defensive tackle Dajohn Harris has 16 tackles on the year, six of them were for a loss along with 1½ sacks and four pass breakups.  Not super numbers, but he has changed the way offenses attack them, mostly running away from him, and pressuring the linebackers to do their jobs well.  Down the line from Harris is junior defensive end Zack Martin, who at 6’3” 250 lbs. is not the biggest end the Irish will face, but he is quick and athletic.  With 30 tackles, six for a loss, four sacks and two forced fumbles, Zack Martin will have his hands full.

After 6’3” 205 lb. junior safety T.J. McDonald, the Trojans get young and small for pass protection.  USC will look to a couple of underclassman for help in the defensive backfield.  At 5’8” 165 lbs. sophomore cornerback Nickell Robey will have a tough time covering the likes of Michael Floyd and Tyler Eifert.  One of their better, if not best linebacker is 6’0” 200 lb. redshirt freshman Dion Bailey who has 48 tackles, two sacks and two interceptions on the season.

The Irish don’t need a fancy game plan to beat USC this year.  The offensive line needs to control the line of scrimmage, limit turnovers, and get the ball to Floyd and Eifert.  Defensively, they need to put pressure on Barkley and keep the offense in check.

The future

The Irish have solid upperclassmen at many positions who will make fans look ahead to next year a little early imagining how much better they will be in their senior season (or 5^th year senior season).   When asked about future plans, both players and coaches all say the same thing, we’ll talk about it after the season is over.  We fans can speculate now, especially since what happens during the season will have a lot to do with those conversations.

Dayne Christ technically has a year of eligibility left, although even at the beginning of this year when he was the starter, many felt that because of up and coming talent at the position he would not be back in 2012.  I believe Christ could play at the next level, it will just require a lot of work, the right circumstances and a little luck.  Traditionally, I would love to have someone with so much experience around, but it’s just not needed here and there is little room for him in the mix.

Defensive end Kapron Lewis Moore could make himself eligible, has a solid collegiate resume and at 6’4” 300 lbs. coming off the end he has much to offer, but will most likely be back for another year.   Next to Kapron is Senior Nose Guard Sean Cwynar who looked good early this year before an injury sidelined him for several games.  Cwynar has young talent on his heels for playing time for the rest of this season and next year. 

On the offensive line, seniors Andrew Nuss (6’5” 303 lbs.) and Taylor Dever (6’5” 301 lbs.) both have an NFL frame, but both need another year to develop consistency and improve technique.  They also should want to play on an offensive line with juniors Chris Watt (6’3” 310lbs) and Zack Martin.

Senior John Goodman has not had nor will he have the opportunity to play his way onto any NFL team, scout or TV analyst radar but he seemed to be a coach favorite at the beginning of the season.  However, his dismal performance as a punt returner and very limited action at wide receiver would lead me to believe he will not be with the Irish for a fifth year.  

Mike Ragone has been at Notre Dame for five years now and may become eligible for a sixth if he petitions the NCAA for another year due to injury.  Mike has never lived up to his potential, ability or hype.  I have never been a fan or impressed with any aspect of his time in South Bend.  Brian Kelly, however, speaks highly of his leadership with the younger tight ends.  This may earn him an invite back next year if the NCAA allows it.

There are a couple of juniors in my opinion that could make their way into the NFL next year, but most would be low draft picks, free agents and practice squad guys.  Guys like Zack Martin (he has 2 years of eligibility left) and Tyler Eifet have the talent and ability to play on a NFL team next season.  Eifert has 2½ years of game experience, and while Zack Martin only has 1½ years of game experience, he is consistently playing at a level that is heads and shoulders above other offensive linemen.

There are probably people out there thinking that I’m forgetting guys like Theo Riddick and Cierra Wood.  No doubt, they are future NFL talent, they are just not there yet.   Both have the rest of this year and all of next to cement their reputations and move up in the NFL selection process.   The class of 2013 has several other players with NFL potential to be sure.   Carlos Calabrese, Dan Fox, Zeke Motta and Jordan Cowart (as a long snapper specialist) are on a track that could lead to NFL potential.  There are still a few more guys that will probably be on the outside looking in at a NFL shot unless their senior seasons really take it to another level all together.  Guys like Jamoris Slaughter, Robby Toma, Hanfis Williams also have up and coming freshmen and sophomores competing with them for playing time this and next season.

Nick Tausch looked like a NFL place kicker prodigy his freshman year before an injury put him behind Davis Ruffer on the depth chart.  If Tausch can step in and up next season and recreate his freshman campaign, teams could use a guy like that on Sundays.

The main player of interest in the Class of 2012 with eligibility left would have to be Manti Te’o.  Manti has been a stud at middle linebacker since his first game freshman year (he has played in every game since).  At this point it’s probably a 49-51 split weather he will stay or not, leaning toward him staying.