Are You Going to Watch the ND vs. BC Game?

Well apparently, the SAS staff is going to have to huddle around the computer monitor to watch the Notre Dame – Boston College Game. Bad enough it is on at 8:10 EDT. Way past our receptionist Sylvia’s bedtime by the way.


Signed up with ESPN3 (http://espn.go.com/espn3/).

Luckily, we have a DSL provider that is part of the ESPN3 feed.

Have not been very happy with Line Streaming in the past, but it is better than being shut out.

Bet if ND was 4-0, they would be on ESPN2 on the East Coast at least. Heck, I’d even suffer through Boob Davie and his goofy color commentary to watch the game.

If you are not going to get the game televised and most of us are not because of competing games, try ESPN3.

Robert Hughes Moves Up on Depth Chart to # 2

The title sounds great, but what does it mean?

** Cierre Wood is in a running funk.

** Jonas Gray is hurt.

It means Notre Dame needs:

*** A running back who can block.

*** A back that is sure handed with the short pass.

*** A back that is so hungry to play he’d go through the line twice at a Soup Kitchen.

*** A back who in the open field puts fear into the hearts of safeties and cornerbacks.

This is a smart move by Kelly.

The speculation all week has been whether he will let Crist run in certain situations.  We hope so.  Who is he protecting Crist for U$C?

We hope to see more of the Leprechaun as well.

Weis had Hughes run east and west. That was probably the stupidest thing for a 245 pound running back to do unless he’s got a full head of steam catching a pass coming out the backfield. Then he should still head North.  We shall we.

Notre Dame has not been two dimensional since Darius Walker. Its time. We are overdue.

Blog Notes

Davaris Daniels is recruit number 20. Son of Philip Daniels, defensive end for the Redskins. His mug shot is on the right side of the blog.

Daniels will be the ninth player on the Notre Dame roster with a famous football father.

Way to go Davaris and Coach Kelly.

Updates have been made to the College Football Street Thug Watch. View here.

Quarterback – University of Notre Dame

The issue at hand for Brian Kelly as Boston College looms; play Dayne Crist as a true Quarterback leading a true spread offense.

Thus, fish or continue to cut bait.

Cutting bait has proven futile as a 1-3 start has painfully been noted thus far. Remember that our lone victory (W-23-12) was over a mighty Purdue Team that now has succumbed to Toledo (L-31-20).

Kelly has a number of opinions to salvage the season (if you have failed to notice, we have played 25% of the schedule).

1. Continue to nurse, protect, and mature Dayne Crist while every defense in the nation will now rush 3 and drop 8.

2. Activate the QB run with the draw, option, roll-out/scramble to add true dimension to the spread.

3. Rotate in Nate Montana who can run.

4. Truly insert the Wildcat or what Kelly calls the Leprechaun. (Sssspt, Allan is a very good short passer).  Why it was introduced and not used more during the Stanford game is a mystery.

5. Screens, reverses, double reverses, Statue of Liberty, delayed draws, lob to the running back in the flats, the old hidden ball trick, blab, blab. Anything other than what our running game has shown thus far. Anything to disrupt the defense. Come on please Brian.

6. Dink passes to a two TE, two WR set with the RB involved. Fast. Very fast. Quit going through the read progression while our OL tries to desperately work and cannot hold. They have not shown they can do it. Gee, 4 against 3?  What's that all about?

Where is all this young-blood, hungry coaching that we thought had arrived at Notre Dame? They can’t figure this out?

We are not sure Kelly has the personnel to run the spread. Look at Rich Rodriguez at UM; it took him three years to recruit what he wanted.

Go IRISH

Kelly’s Challenge -- Notre Dame vs. Stanford

No one on the SAS staff noted the time of the Kelly Challenge.

No one on the staff taped the game.

Reprimands are in order and were issued.

The official Notre Dame play-by-play statistics do not include coach’s challenges.

Maybe they should.

We think it happened in middle of the first quarter on a referee ball-spot that gave Stanford a first down.

Are we wrong?

Kelly lost the challenge.  He lost a time-out.  He had no more challenges for the rest of the game.  Stanford was awarded a first down.

That’s not what is important.

College coaches get one challenge.

The unwritten rule, the conventional wisdom, the common sense, the smart coaching philosophy says “SAVE IT FOR SOMETHING IMPORTANT”

Here are the three examples of when most college coaches decide to challenge a call:

1. WHEN IT EFFECTS THE SCORE.

2. WHEN IT EFFECTS A CHANGE OF POSSESSION BY INTERCEPTION OR FUMBLE.

3. VERY LATE IN THE GAME WHEN IT EFFECTS A CRITICAL DOWN AND DRIVE.

Those that have Brian Kelly’s private e-mail, please pass this on to him.

GO IRISH. BEAT THE EAGLES

A Change in Direction For This Young Notre Dame Blog

 

The original purpose of this blog was to provide a forum for the former Blue-Gray Sky bloggers to continue gathering on game day to comment and actively participate live during each game. That obviously has not happened.

We will continue to write, report and provide information, insight and often overlooked aspects of college football and The University of Notre Dame Fighting Irish in particular.

Comment and criticism are always welcome.

Notre Dame vs. Stanford Unknown Statistics and Miscellaneous Numbers



Some things we didn’t know until we reviewed the statistics.

Watching the game on television is more informative than sitting in the stadium. When Tommy Rees replaced Dayne Crist during the Michigan game everyone in the stands frantically called family and friends to find out what happened. Almost no one got through because the cell phone systems were overwhelmed. Yet, as it turned out, NBC was right on top of the situation.

Even watching the game on television can leave you wondering about certain situations. The stats answer a lot questions and many times reinforce what you assumed.

Here are a few:

** Our Punting game is inconsistent again this year. Ben Turk averaged 32 yards, including one pooch inside the 20 yard line. Turk is not on the NCAA list of top 50 Punter List.

** Nick Tausch kicked the on-side kick near the end of the game, it went seven yards.

** Cierre Wood did not participate at running back.

** Notre Dame started with two wide receivers (Michael Floyd and Theo Riddick) and two tight ends (Tyler Eifert and Kyle Rudolph).

** 56 Notre Dame players saw action.

** Senior Duval Kamara did not play.

** Coming into the game, Stanford was 100% in the Red Zone. They still are, going 7-7.

** Including Tausch, Steve Paskorz and Andrew Plaska saw action for the first time.

** Including Kamara, Jordon Cowart and Patrick Coughlin were also benched for the first time.

** Dayne Crist is ranked 50th in passing efficiency with 137.61. (Terrance Cain of Utah is ranked 1st with 192.50).

** After four games, David Ruffer is ranked 14th in field goals. 7 for 7 1.000 1.75 per game.

** Notre Dame is ranked nationally 88th in kick off returns with a 19.56 average. (As if we didn’t know, heh?) 

** Notre Dame is ranked nationally 103rd in total defense.

** Manti Te’o leads the nation in tackles. 26 solo, 28 assists for 54 and a 13.50 average per game.

Post Mortem Notre Dame vs. Stanford

This post mortem writing is getting a little tedious.

Guess I can sum it up in nine (9) words. 

We stunk worse that a week old dead carp.

Blue Line to Notre Dame Stadium - September 25, 2010

GAME ON! GO IRISH BEAT THE CARDINAL !

Televised by NBC

Forecasted Weather: at Kick-Off (3:40 EDT):

Partly Cloudy

Temperature:  62 degrees

Wind:  NW - 13 MPH

Team Captains:

Chris Stewart - SR - OG

Ian Williams - SR - NG

Injuries to Starters:

None Reported

Predicted Game Breaker Play:

ILB Manti Te'o sacking and putting a serious hurt on QB Andrew Luck

Las Vegas Odds:

Notre Dame + 5

Week Four and the Mighty Big Ten

The Big Ten (Eleven) soon to be Twelve is a scheduling joke.

Take a look first at a sample of what BCS caliber big name Teams are doing this week and look who the Big Ten is playing. Obviously the Big Ten is wanting to maintain their domination over the MAC.

Miami vs. Pittsburgh

Boston College vs. Virginia Tech

USC vs. Washington St.

Alabama vs. Arkansas

UCLA vs. Texas

South Carolina vs. Auburn

Oregon St. vs. Boise St.

Stanford vs. Notre Dame



The shame/sham schedule of week four:

Perdue vs. Toledo

Michigan vs. Bowling Green

Michigan St. vs. Northern Colorado

Wisconsin vs. Austin Peay

Iowa vs. Ball State

Northwestern vs. Central Michigan

Ohio St. vs. Eastern Michigan

Indiana vs. Akron (this could actually be a good game)

Minnesota vs. Northern Illinois

Penn St. vs. Temple

Illinois is off preparing for Ohio St. next week.

Nebraska is going to fit right in with the Big Ten, they play mighty South Dakota St. this weekend.

5 Ways Notre Dame Can Beat Stanford – 5 Ways Notre Dame Can Lose to Stanford

Gerard, our graphic artist and picture guy found an old wooden horse trough at a flea market. After some minor repairs and caulking he threw it in the back of his pickup and met the entire staff out at a private farm. We tested the water holding worthiness by spreading two layers of bottled Dos Equis and 40 pounds of chipped ice in the trough. We are happy to report that the purchase, repairs, and utilization worked perfectly.  This may become a fall weekly event.

The matter at hand was the debate over the Notre Dame – Stanford Game.

It is expected to be a close no-holds-barred affair with plenty of scoring.

5 Ways Notre Dame Can Beat Stanford

**  Punt and Kick-off Return Teams Need to Have a Break-Out Afternoon


**  Dayne Crist Continues to Improve Both in His Progession Pass Reads and Accuracy

**  Stopping/Limiting Andrew Luck on Rushes, Scrambles, and Long Passes.

**  No Coaching Bone-Head Decisions

**  Develop a Running Attack to Take Pressure off Crist

5 Ways Notre Dame Can Lose to Stanford

**  The Personnel Situation at Safety is not Corrected and Continues to be Exploited

**  Turnovers Especially in the Red Zone Continue to Haunt Notre Dame

**  The OLB Positions is not Improved or does not Becomes More Productive i.e. Neal 2 UA’s, Fleming 7 UA’s after 3 Games

** The Defense Continues to Give Up the Big Play

**  The Offense Cannot Sustain Drives and Score, thus Failing to Give the Defense Needed Respite

Anatomy of a First Class Jerk Coach - Jim Harbaugh - Stanford

No wonder Jim Harbaugh is perceived by many as a total jerk. The idiot is paranoid and possessed by success at any cost even running up the score and trampling a luckless opponent. Below is a short article concerning the status of Ryan Whalen and Harbaugh’s take on secrecy and scoring points. Both responses are a little over board.

This is the same coach that refused to shake Jimmy Clausen’s hand two years ago in South Bend.

Fortunately, in life, what goes around comes around. Opposing coaches have very long memories when their Teams are unnecessarily abused.

Stanford football notebook: Receiver Ryan Whalen likely out for Notre Dame

By Elliott Almond
San Jose Mercury News
Posted: 09/21/2010 06:12:19 PM PDT
Updated: 09/21/2010 10:06:49 PM PDT

Ryan Whalen, Stanford's leading receiver the past two seasons, has a dislocated left elbow and probably won't play Saturday against Notre Dame.

Wearing a shoulder sling Tuesday night at practice Whalen confirmed the injury but said he hopes to return soon.

Coach Jim Harbaugh had declined to reveal any information about the injury that occurred in the first quarter of No. 16 Stanford's commanding 68-24 victory over Wake Forest last weekend. Whalen, a senior from Alamo, fell awkwardly on his left elbow after a catch.

"As soon as I tell you you're going to tell Notre Dame," Harbaugh said at his weekly news conference.

Why does it matter?

"I'd want to know about the status of every player on their team, what percent they are, how many plays they are going to play. That's valuable information," Harbaugh said.

Whalen has 10 catches for 113 yards and one touchdown this season.

"Wales is the leader on offense for us," quarterback Andrew Luck said. "He's been there and done it all at Stanford. It will be a serious blow if he's out for a while. But we've got guys who step in and fill that role."

One of those shoring up the receiving corps is Chris Owusu, who made a successful 2010 debut against Wake Forest after missing the first two games with a knee injury. He caught three passes for 65 yards and two touchdowns.

Inside linebacker Shayne Skov also returned from an injury to play for the first time last weekend. Skov reportedly suffered from an infected knee but declined to provide details about the injury.

"It took me a couple weeks just as a precaution to make sure I was ready to go," he said, adding he'll be fine the rest of the season.

Harbaugh had no regrets about challenging an official's call with 5:25 left and the Cardinal leading 68-24.

"I thought he caused a fumble and we recovered it," Harbaugh said of the play in which a Wake Forest runner was ruled down before losing a fumble. "Guys are in there and it's very important game time for them. We thought there was a fumble; it's as simple as that."

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The Leprechaun versus the Tree

The Stanford mascot is now unmasked. When the Bobcat (Ohio University) mugged the Buckeye (Ohio State) the entire staff here at SAS became curious about what the heck is the story behind the goofy Stanford Tree? We thought the Buckeye mugging was bazaar, ha. 

Is the Tree traveling to South Bend Saturday?

Is the Stanford Marching Band daring to show up as well?

We hope so.

As it turns out, the Bobcat had it in for the Buckeye all along. What a crazy story.

Sure, The Stanford band is a little weird; Notre Dame even suspended them in 1991 for a couple years and the Band was also disciplined 1997.  All for some offbeat antics in South Bend which they willingly share with other schools over the years as well.

Also, remember the infamous end of game episode with the University of California in 1982, what a hoot.

The Stanford Tree is the unofficial mascot of Stanford University. Stanford's team name is "The Cardinal," referring to the vivid red color (not the common song bird as at several other schools), and the University has never been able to come up with an official mascot which adequately conveys the fierceness and sporting prowess it had hoped to symbolize with that particular shade of sanguine. This fact creates a void not typically found at schools with less-abstract symbols for their sports teams, and into this unfulfilled void the Stanford Band has insistently thrust what is one of the United States' most bizarre and controversial college mascots. The tree regularly appears at the top of internet 'worst mascot' lists.  You know they got to love it.

So....... Go IRISH Beat the Tree?

Or........Go IRISH Beat the Cardinal (actually a color)

How can you get serious about all this? Probably pretty easily since The Tree beat us last year and the Cardinal is ready to do it again this year.

Don’t forget to add us to your favorites list: http://subwayalumnistation.blogspot.com

YIKES the 3-0 Stanford Cardinal look formidable, at least on paper.

Coming to South Bend Stanford is 3-0 and ranked 16th by the AP.

The victims thus far:

Sacramento St. 52-17

UCLA 35-0

Wake Forest 68-24

This is the same Team that last year pummeled USC 55-21in the Coliseum and beat the Irish 45-38.

They lost a close one to Oklahoma in the Sun Bowl 31-27.

They are averaging 51 points a game, scoring with 10 passing touchdowns and 10 rushing.

Quite a balanced offense averaging 242 yards rushing per game and 233 yards passing.  Lot of players are getting there hands on the ball.

QB Andrew Luck is no slouch:

PASSING      GP-GS  Effic    Cmp-Att-Int   Pct   Yards  TD Long  Avg/G

Luck, Andrew  3 - 3    192.3    45 - 70 - 0    64.3   674     10    81     224.7

Luck is legitimate early Heisman talk.

13 receivers have been involved in the mix, 7 catching passes for touchdowns.

Scoring has been spread around thanks to lop-sided wins and bench clearing.  15 players have scored touchdowns.

Notre Dame transfer Nate Whitaker is 3-3 in Field Goals and the longest is 22 yards. What’s that tell you about Stanford constantly knocking in the Red Zone? He is 18-20 for PATs

On the defensive side, 35 players have been involved in making tackles on defense and special teams.

Accentuate the Positive

The warriors have long since ceased fighting and withdrawn from the field of honor. Some of us were inclined to have then walked the battlefield and bayoneted the wounded. Time is now to accentuate the positive and move on.

Go IRISH beat The Cardinal.

**  With his sixth reception on the night, Armando Allen moved into first place all-time on the Irish receptions record for running backs. He bested the previous school record of 109 held by Darius Walker (2004-06).

**  Dayne Crist continued to improve and set career-highs in completions (32), attempts (55), passing yards (369) and touchdown passes (four). The four TD passes is tied for sixth-most in ND single-game history. No Notre Dame quarterback has ever thrown for more TD passes in his first career start on the road.

**  Crist’s 32 completions rank tied for the fourth-most in single-game ND history and his 55 attempts rank as the fifth-most in single-game Irish history.

**  With 18 career TD catches, Michael Floyd is now tied with Maurice Stovall (2002-05) for sixth on the Irish all-time TD receptions list.

**  Kyle Rudolph hooked up with Crist for a 17-yard reception in the first quarter. He moved into fourth place on the all-time receiving list for Irish tight ends on the grab.

**  Armando Allen averaged 5.5 yards per carry.

**  Ben Turk punted five times for 181 yards averaging 36.2 yards per punt and placed three within the 20 yard line.

**  David Ruffer kicked off five times, averaging a respectful 67.2 yards per kick, including one touchback. He is 10-10 kicking field goals going back to 2009.  David is also perfect with extra points.

**  Manti Te’o had his second consecutive 10 + tackle effort.

**  Theo Riddick has arrived; he had 10 catches for 128 yards and one touchdown.

Notre Dame on the verge of being TANKED?

No not this kind of tank. Tanked as it quiting. The Fighting Irish are in danger of becoming “Tanked”.


The Sanford Cardinal is up next at home.

They beat Sacramento St. 52-17, UCLA 35-0, and Wake Forest 68-24. They beat us last year 45-38 a game in which we could have won, but played similar to our eight losses over two years.

When a football team “Tanks,” a number of dynamics emerge. Each player reacts differently. Some continue to give 100% simply because it is their psychic. Others quit or no longer consider the Team important and resign themselves to next year.

Some Always But Below the Surface Subtle Signs:

**  Players go through the motions at practice.

**  Player private emphasis is not to get hurt either during practice or in the game.

**  Some players will even fledge an injury.

**  Skill position players on offense and defense become more concerned with building individual statistics than the good of the Team.

**  Coaches become frustrated, more demanding and critical. Players start to be thrown under the bus.

**  Players get benched for unspecified reasons.

**  Seniors just want the season to end.

**  Transferitis even crosses the minds of the red-shirts and younger players, although being “Tanked" is rarely the reported reason.

**  Players who for various reasons have not cracked the starting lineup or made special teams decide they do not want to become a part of the losing debacle.

**  Number two players on the depth chart quit pushing the number one guys.

**  Short tempers, fights, irritability within the Team increases.

**  Polorization of the Team occurs which can take many forms such as elitism, seniority, racism, and macho tenacities.   

**  Players are no longer eager to talk to the media.

Only the most experienced and understanding coaches can deal with a Team on the verge of Tanking. We shall see. 

Looking at the last four games in 2009, Charlie Weis talked about keeping the Team from "Tanking", but like a lot of his talk, that's all it was.

Go IRISH, beat the Cardinal.

Decisions, Decisions, Decisions

Decisions, decisions, decisions, what picture to use as a tease for my whining and complaining concerning the disaster in East Lansing?


Obviously, I went with the infamous play clock expiration that the Big East officials totally ignored. That was not the reason Notre Dame lost, but most pundits over at NDNation where I snitched the picture seem to think so.

I could have gone with a Butterfinger candy bar to portray Michael Floyd’s slippery hands causing two fumbles in the red zone in three games. If he doesn’t straighten things around, he is going to be forgotten as an All-American candidate and other post-season awards.

How about a hard-charging-running picture of Armando Allen to help remind Coach Kelly he still has not established a running game to take pressure off Dayne Crist.

Maybe a photo of a pensive Cierre Wood with a question mark drawn over his head to signify the tentative kick returns and runs from scrimmage he displayed Saturday night.

How about a film clip of Yogi Berra saying “déjà vu all over again” to point out once again our defense could not hold a lead.

A silent movie clip of the Keystone Cops running around. Just like the two delay of game penalties and three time outs called because Notre Dame could not execute the hurry-up/no huddle offense.

Thought about simply using a big “8 and 35”. For eight losses in two years (so far) by a total of 35 points.

Or finally, a bandwagon with guys jumping off.

Green Line to Spartan Stadium - September 18, 2010

This is the 100th Posting on Subway Alumni Station

GAME ON! GO IRISH BEAT THE SPARTANS !

Televised by ABC/ESPN2

Forecasted Weather at Kick-Off (8:12 EDT):

Cloudy

Temperature - 62 degrees

Wind - NNW - 8 MPH

Team Captains:

Kyle Rudolph
Ian Williams

Injuries to Starters:

Jamoris Slaughter - Jr. - Safety - Will be used only in an emergency

Las Vegas Odds:

Notre Dame + 3.5



Notre Dame Player Participation Trivia

Current number of players on the roster - 103

Number of players who saw action against Purdue – 55

Number of players who saw action against Michigan – 58

Played against Purdue but not against Michigan: Clelland, Golic, J, McCarthy, Slaughter

Played against Michigan but not against Purdue: Golic, M, Montana, Nuss, Posluszny, Ragone, Rees, Toma

Jackson Watch: Freshman Bennett Jackson had an unassisted tackle against Michigan to bring his kick-off special team participation total to 4-1.

Notre Dame - Michigan State Prediction

So, the current Vegas spread is Notre Dame + 3.5

John Vannie over at the NDNation crowd says ND 34 – MSU 24

So much for the spread.

Is this a good time to take the 3.5 points and call your corner bookie?

SAS texted, e-mailed, twittered, wired, called Anastasia Kushchenko, a.k.a. Anna Chapman and finally got a bold prediction from the infamous knock-out Russian Spy. Who is Anastasia? Where have you been you not so Red - Blooded American for the past three months, somewhere in East Lansing?

Did you check her out: http://news.gather.com/viewArticle.action?articleId=281474978496274

Anastasia is convince it will be shoot-out: Notre Dame 41 – Michigan State – 18

What do you say Swami?

Do any of you dare to give SAS a prediction?




White Field Before Anybody Showed Up

Tailgating at 8:30 a.m. Saturday September 11th, just before the rain hit (and stayed until almost noon).

So much for playing Corn-Hole and tossing the pigskin around.

All we could do was eat and drink.

Stephon Tuitt from Monroe GA Makes the 19th Notre Dame Recruit for 2011

Well wonder where the pundits and naysayers are hiding now?

You know the ones, the morons who late last year said Brian Kelly and his inexperienced staff could not recruit nationally?

FL – 4

OH - 3

CA – 2

MI – 2

NC – 2

CT – 1

NM – 1

PA – 1

IN – 1

GA – 1

TX – 1

A Sad Day For What’s Left Of College Athletics And Amateurism

This pretty well sums it up. No need to write or babble more about it.

The CAT Went A.W.O.L.

So early this fall we were led to believe that Coach Kelly had installed a series of Wild Cat plays utilizing Armando Allen, Kyle Rudolph, or Theo Riddick as facilitators.

So what happened Saturday? Gee, Dayne Crist goes down, Tommy Rees is ineffective and Nate Montana is not much better. Why wouldn’t you take some pressure off of those guys for a series and run the Wild Cat? Better than interceptions or 3 and out.

Kelly took the hit to focus the blame on himself rather than throwing the QB's under the bus.   He said it was his fault for not providing special packages for each quarterback in just such a situation.  Maybe he needs to add the Wild Cat to his list of options.

Notre Dame Increases its Pedigree

More Blue-Bloods.

First, it was Nate Montana, then the Golic brothers Jake and Mike, Ben Turk, and Austin Collingsworth.

Now George and Josh Atkinson have verbally committed to the 2011recruiting class where Conor Hanratty has already said yes as well.

There mug shots are on the right side of the blog.

That’s number 17 and 18 for Coach Kelly. He probably has a ways to go yet with recent transfers to fill up the class.

Welcome aboard guys!

Sad, Wandering and Reflective Worthless Comments Concerning the Irish Snatching Defeat Out of the Jaws of Victory

Somewhat enjoyed my first tailgate experience and watching the ND-Michigan game live and personal.

12 Observations in no particular order.

1. Skunkbear fans are by far the most obnoxious bunch of morons I have ever had the unpleasureable opportunity of sharing oxygen with.  They should all be traded to the Iranians for the two remaining American hikers they are holding.

2. If Nate Montana had connected on the last play of the half, Coach Kelly would have been the first Coach in Notre Dame history to be carried off the field after his second game. 

3. There were way too ‘special recognitions’ (during just about every TV time-out and game pause opportunity). It began to mean absolutely nothing.

4. I’d trade D. Robinson for all five Notre Dame quarterbacks.

5. Have attended 10-15 IRISH home games, I have never heard the crowd so loud.

6. The stadium PA system sucks.

7. I have never seen a male baton twirler (Skunkbear band) and never want to see another one.

8. The Notre Dame defense was gassed on the last UM drive. Give them a break.

9. My theory of why normally the Stadium crowd is rather vanilla. Way too many geriatric Notre Dame fans that can only with great effort climb the steps to find their seats. Don’t know if they are very old alumni or have their name on a building.

10. Within 40 feet of our tailgate operation two separate groups were stone cold drunk and it was only 10:30 a.m. After the game when we returned, they were gone and they trashed there areas with cans, bottles, litter. No wonder the Administration does not want to host a night day, giving idiots like this an entire day to get liquored up.

11. After Rudolph ran into the end zone, I must have hugged ten total strangers and I was sober.

12. Skunkbear fans were way too numerous and scattered all over the place. Thank you Notre Dame fans that sold your ticket for a few extra bucks.

Blue Line to Notre Dame Stadium - September 11, 2010

GAME ON! GO IRISH BEAT THE WOLVERINES

The Saint Joseph River empties into Lake Michigan between the Twin Cities of Benton Harbor and St. Joseph. If you travel up the river South, it makes a precipitous turn at a famous Catholic University and meanders North and eventually rises within 20 miles of the most winning Team in College Football. Thus the unique connection between The University of Notre Dame and The University of Michigan.

Forecasted weather at kick-off (3:41 pm):

Isolated Thunder Showers (30%)

Temperature - 65 degrees

Wind - ESE - 10 MPH

Team Captains:

Armando Allen - Sr. - Tailback

Ethan Johnson - Jr. - Defense End

Las Vegas Odds

Michigan +4

Something New Added to Friday Notre Dame Football Pre-Game Activities

From 3:00 p.m. until they were finished Notre Dame fans got to observe the traditional painting of the gold helmets outside the stadium tunnel.

It All Boils Down to a Couple of Simple Issues

Wow, a ton of stuff has been written about the game Saturday. Analysis, opinions, guessing, dart throwing you name it.


Here at SAS we filled an old galvanized washtub full of Schneider Weisse with chipped ice. Vicki, one of our apprentice researchers volunteered to keep us fortified. [Man, I love this job]

It seemed the right thing to do considering all the hoopla that is building up over this great rivalry. By the time the ice had turned to liquid form and Vicki’s arms gave out we came up with two key game-breaking issues that Notre Dame has to, one solve and the other exploit.

The game is really a toss-up and should be exciting.

Special Teams appear to be about equal.

Of course, turn-overs are always important.

Home field advantage?  Naw, Notre Dame loses a lot at home.

Both coaches have a ton to prove.  One to keep his job, the other to show he earned the hire.

Both teams have young unproven players on both sides of the ball.  Last year they both stunk.

On defense, Denard Robinston has to be neutralized. He accounted for over 60% of the plays either passing or running against UConn. Rich Rodriquez definitely has found the quarterback of his dreams to run his offense. So either you blanket his receivers and give up the run or try and limit his running and allow man-to-man coverage in the secondary. We agree with the previous post concerning what to do. Put Notre Dame’s best defensive guy on Michigan’s best offensive guy.

On offense, test and pick apart Michigan’s secondary which has been hurt by graduation and injuries. Michigan will try and stop the running of Allen and Wood first.  That's the Big Ten thing to do.

It shall be interesting to watch which game plans are executed by both coaches.  More importantly, which one works.

You got to love college football.

Go IRISH, beat the Skunkbears.

BTW, here are the rest of the apprentices:
{I'm kind of Coors Light type of guy}

Cut the Grass or let it Grow Long?

Rich Rodriguez is 0-4 on grass, and ND Stadium of course is naturalgrass, plus he is 1-8 on the road with the real green stuff.
Keep the grass long to slow-up UM quarterback Denard Robinson to help prevent another 197 yards on 29 carry outing? But it will also slow up Armando Allen and Cierre Wood.  Decisions.  Decisions.

Notre Dame’s Problem

PROBLEM:

Wolverine quarterback Denard Robinson had a Heisman Trophy day against UConn this past Saturday.

197 yards rushing

19-22 in pass completions

Don’t fret about touchdowns or total passing yardage. This guy is for real. Speed kills. Coach Rodriquez has waited three years for this type of quarterback.

For all the highlights of Robinson turning UConn’s defense to tatters, his speed was well known - he ranked as the team’s third-leading rusher last year with 409 yards, five touchdowns and 5.1 yards per carry - and has repeatedly contended for the fastest Wolverine title.

In 2009, he completed 14 of 31 passes and threw four interceptions. Once he had a chance to analyze opposing defenses more with his coaches in the off-season, everything clicked. Ouch.

SOLUTION:

An honest to goodess spy! No, not Anastasia Kushchenko.  Manti Te’o!  With Notre Dame’s 3-4 defense, it offers up a linebacker to spy on the quarterback and react to his every move. If not, Robinston could have another Heisman Trophy day.

Please read this Coach Diaco.

Go IRISH beat Robinson and the Skunkbears.!

Even A Blind Squirrel Finds An Acorn Now And Then

For those that follow and comment on SAS, the game-day post will be up early Saturday morning, September 11th.

I’m going to the ND vs. UM game! My grandson would rather play 8th grade football than go to the game. I got his ticket! Go figure.

Watched ND vs. Navy twice on the road, Washington DC and Baltimore (W and W)

ND vs. Purdue on the road, (W), man I hate that place.

Seen ND vs. Pittsburgh on the road, (L), Boob Davie was up to his usual tricks.

Rooted for ND vs. PSU, Navy, AF, USC, SMU, UConn, BC,  at home, all with mixed results, but never the Skunkbears.

Taking the F-150, going to tailgate for the first time and meet my two sons and their friends. Brats, snacks, sodas, beer.

Will be in the White Field parking lot (hopefully close to the Credit Union. If anyone else is going to the game and wants to link-up and say hi, let me know so we can figure out how to do it.

Personal Note to Tulsa Irish: How'd things go at the hospital?

Go IRISH beat the Skunkbears

Stolen Notre Dame Locker Room Video Post-Purdue

Those that have been religiously following this blog know that SAS has developed a "Special” relationship with Russian spy Anna Chapman a.k.a. Anastasia Kushchenko. Her Purdue prediction was right on, let’s hope she is also correct with Michigan.

Anyway, she knows a friend of a friend and ‘obtained’ this tape for SAS.

http://www.uhnd.com/blog/notre-dame-football/guys-coach/


Enjoy.

Some ND vs. PU Numbers You May Not Have Seen

You number crushing Geeks want some digits? Here are a few unusual ones:


** PU and ND both had 20 First Downs

** ND had 10 Rushing and 10 Passing First Downs – Exactly what Coach Kelly preaches, even with his ‘Spread Offense’.

** ND had 2 Penalties for 15 yards, both were Special Team infractions. What do you think of that Coach Weis?

** ND Punt average 31.7, yes one was a pooch kick, but the longest was 35 yds. This was Ben Turk’s average last year.

** ND 4 Sacks for 34 yds. All in second half, nice adjustment Coach Diaco.

** 7 receivers were involved in catching Passes, 2 were running backs.

Floyd – 5

Rudolph – 5

Jones – 3

Wood – 2

Riddick – 2

Kamara – 1

Allen – 1

** All Purpose yrds. Allen 131, Wood, 122.

Freshman, Bennett Jackson on Special Teams had 4 Tackles, 3 solo. I could not tell if he lined up as a ‘Gunner’, if not, suspect he will this week.

Only 33 ND players saw action. Quite a low number considering the next man philosophy, substitution policy and kickers. 33 equals 11 for offense, defense, special teams. It really means a lot of offensive and defensive players were also a part of special teams. Here they are:

Notre Dame: 1B-SPOND, Danny, 2A-COUGHLIN, Patrick, 12-BLANTON, Robert, 15-McCARTHY, Dan, 17-MOTTA, Zeke, 18-KAMARA, Duval, 20-WOOD, Cierre, 21-GALLUP, Barry, 23-WOOD, Lo, 25-GRAY, Jonas, 28-COLLINSWORTH, Austin, 33-HUGHES, Robert, 35-TURK, Ben, 41-BURGER, Bobby, 46-FILER, Steve, 48-FOX, Dan, 50-KAVANAGH, Ryan,

54-McDONALD, Anthony, 55-SHEMBO, Prince, 58-SMITH, Brian, 60-COWART, Jordan, 62-FLAVIN, Bill, 66-WATT, Chris, 73-CLELLAND, Lane, 80-EIFERT, Tyler, 81-GOODMAN, John, 86-JACKSON, Bennett, 88-GOLIC, Jake, 91-NWANKWO, Emeka, 92-STOCKTON, Tyler, 94 WILLIAMS, Hafis, 97-RUFFER, David, 98-CWYNAR, Sean.

As a Loyal Son, can you pick out the 6 Freshman?