The Irish Roundup

Whoa.

2007-10-04T08:26:00.001-07:00

Thanks, Pat. And welcome, Blue-Gray Sky readers. Man, I feel like an internet movie star.

Talk of the Town

2007-10-03T12:23:00.000-07:00

A bit more than a month ago, just before Notre Dame's season opener against Georgia Tech, NBC's John Walters posed the following question:

Will freshman wide receiver Golden Tate emerge as a cult favorite, inspiring a freshman cheering section who dub themselves "Golden Taters" and toss Ore-Ida crispers after each score?

From what I've heard this hasn't happened quite yet, though a recent opinion piece in the Observer - written last week, while Tate was merely "our best young kick returner," and not yet college football's hottest young commodity - does include in its byline the suggestion that "Golden Taters" should become a staple at ND's dining halls. (No word on that one either.)

In any case, there's no doubt that Golden's been on our minds: based on a quick glance over the transcripts from Charlie Weis's Sunday and Tuesday press conferences, I see at least six questions dealing specifically with Tate, and a quick spin on Google reveals 99 news articles and 20 blog posts that talk about the superstar frosh - all of these since Monday.

That Tate has become a hit should hardly come as a surprise to any of the nearly 20,000 people who have watched his high school highlight video:

Put all of this together and there's reason to think that Golden Tate, and not George West, is the diminutive Irish receiver soon to be a household name.

While we're on the subject of names, though, let me just go on the record as saying that while "Golden Boy" is definitely okay, it's been done - more than once, in fact - and so I'd prefer something more along the lines of "Jumpman23" or even "His Airness," though if it turns out that Adidas won't allow those, I could definitely live with busting out a classic once again.

But all of this hype pales in comparison to what the kids at Keough Hall are up to:

I mean, you can't be an Irish legend until you've been immortalized on a bestselling t-shirt, right? At present they're available for 15 bucks via Facebook, though I wouldn't be surprised to see them in the parking lot a week from Saturday. Nearly 80 have been ordered already, and it's hard to imagine that there's a ceiling on how many of these could be sold when all is said and done.

In any case, freshmen of Notre Dame, I think it's time to make Walters's prediction come true.

Available at a Meyer near you, while supplies last.
Just make sure to defrost them first - we don't want anyone to lose an eye.

Some News and Notes

2007-10-03T06:26:00.000-07:00

Based on the reports of yesterday's practice from Michael Rothstein and Ben Ford, as well as the transcripts of Charlie Weis's press conferences from Tuesday and Sunday, here's an update on some of the major news swirling around the Irish universe.

First up, the quarterback situation. Weis said on Tuesday that he still wasn't sure whether freshman QB Jimmy Clausen was completely recovered from the injury he suffered against Purdue, though it was expected that he would be:

I'm not 100% sure what Jimmy (Clausen) is going to look like. He's supposed to be set and ready to go. I have to see that, you know? Some guys are set and ready to go, and they don't play for another two weeks. Other guys that are set and ready to go, they're ready to go that day. I'm going to have to see visually on the field how it goes right there, because (quarterbacks coach) Ron (Powlus) and I met today, and we didn't even script who was in for what plays because we figured we will go by what we see when they're out there.

He made it clear, though, that only an unexpectedly slow healing process would keep Clausen from starting against UCLA:

Q. If Jimmy (Clausen) is healthy enough, he's the starter?
COACH WEIS: That's what it would be. If he's healthy enough, he'll start.

Ford says, though, that during the stretch of practice he witnessed, Clausen "ran laterally, seemingly pain-free, which you'd think would be tough to do if he had an injured hip." So at this point there's clearly no reason to expect to see Evan Sharpley starting in his place on Saturday.

One point that Weis made in his press conference which seems to have been overlooked by many of those who've called for Sharpley to start on the basis of his performance against Purdue is that the basis for these decisions also involves what happens on the practice field:

I don't think there's ever such a thing where there are two guys that are equal. They might play like that in a game, but I think when it's all said and done, you have to evaluate just not -- not just solely by game day. Sometimes game day -- like in last week's case, both quarterbacks did a lot of good things, neither one of them were perfect, but I think the evaluation is based on a whole bunch of things, not just one game.

When asked how Sharpley has handled being Clausen's backup, Weis said that it hasn't been a problem, though he emphasized once again that nothing is set in stone for next Saturday's game:

Evan is probably one of the most prepared people on the team, so he knows whether or not he starts or not that he's going to be ready as if he is starting. Right now I can't tell you for sure exactly how this is going to go down. I don't know what Jimmy's health is for sure, I don't know how it's going to happen in a game, but I do know that Evan will be ready to play when his number is called.

So we'll see how this plays out, but at this point there's obviously no reason to expect that Weis is going to make any changes unless he's forced to.

Up next, other news on the injury front. As both Ford and Rothstein note, junior wideout David Grimes, who injured his ankle against Purdue, was absent from practice yesterday. Weis said in his press conference, though, that Grimes is healing surprisingly well, but that he's "questionable" for Saturday's game:

He was in much better condition than we were anticipating. He probably won't go today, I would say -- I can give you my day to day answer, but I would say he's probably 50/50 for the game. So if I went to my background -- I would call him questionable, not doubtful, but not probable, either. I would say he's questionable.

Meanwhile, sophomore offensive lineman Dan Wenger, who's been out the past two weeks with a leg injury suffered against Michigan but was expected to possibly be able to return for the UCLA game, was practicing with the team. Ford, though, says that Wenger looked to be "moving slowly," while Weis said in his press conference that Wenger, like Grimes, was "questionable" for Saturday's game - obviously we'll have to keep an eye on this one.

Ford also notes that defensive end Justin Brown, who also sat out against Michigan State and Purdue, looked to be moving a bit better in Tuesday's practice than he had the previous couple of weeks:

Justin Brown was still running gingerly, but at least this week he was running laterally with the rest of the team, which is an improvement.

Weis, meanwhile, called Brown "probable" for UCLA. Brown was supposed to be a "game-time decision" against Purdue, but he didn't end up making the trip to West Lafayette. Obviously getting him back and healthy is very important for the Irish, who are very thin along the defensive line.

No word on the health of freshman offensive lineman Matt Romine, who missed the Purdue game with an arm injury, or sophomore cornerback Raeshon McNeil, who has been rumored to have been seen on crutches this week.

Up next, a bit of news on special teams. Both Ford and Rothstein note that senior punter Geoff Price, viewed a preseason All-America candidate in the eyes of many after a very strong 2006 season, has apparently lost his starting position to sophomore Eric Maust, who replaced Price in the Michigan State game and handled all the punts against Purdue. Weis had this to say about the situation in his Tuesday press conference:

Q. With your punting situation, is Geoff Price healthy?
COACH WEIS: He is.
Q. So it's performance-based?
COACH WEIS: Eric (Maust) punted last week, and Eric will be punting again this week.

Weis also emphasized that he thought Maust did a "nice job" punting the ball against Purdue. Ford, meanwhile, notes that Price was holding the ball as Brandon Walker practiced kicking field goals - Evan Sharpley, meanwhile, was the holder for Nate Whitaker, who Ford notes didn't do as well - at least on Tuesday - as Walker did:

Walker, with Geoff Price holding, missed wide left from 32 yards and Whitaker, out of Evan Sharpley's hold, was good from that distance. But from there it was all Walker. He hit from 35, 40 and 43 yards, while Whitaker missed from those distances. So edge to Walker in the kicking game, at least Tuesday.

Once again, we'll just have to wait and see how all of this shakes out.

Finally, a few words on the talk of the town, freshman wide receiver Golden Tate. Weis was probably asked as many if not more questions about Tate than about the quarterbacks, and here's some of what he had to say:

I used Golden Tate this morning as an example to the entire team as what you can do by running full speed on the show team. We had this conversation on Sunday with the team. Sometimes when people are running the "look squad" to simulate the opponent's offense or defense, they look at that like it's a penalty. Other guys use it as a way to get themselves down the other end of the field, and that's what he's done. He's just gone down -- for the last two or three weeks he's easily been the best player on the field going against our defense. And when you watch the tape, and you see him make these plays, then you want to get him on the field on offense.
...
We have a guy who can run fast down the field and catch the ball, can go up and get the ball. We see that in practice every day, and if you go back to -- what game was it, the Penn State game where we threw it up the left sideline and it got called back for holding. He was in the game for one play -- no, for a couple plays, but one that we threw to, he goes up there and gets it, but it's not his fault it was called back. He's in a jump ball situation and he comes down with it. He has an uncanny ability to do that.

While Weis made it clear that Tate isn't going to be relegated to show team this week, he did emphasize that the Golden Boy still has a ways to go:

... we all found out the other day that he can run go routes and catch the ball in traffic. That's what he's done in practice every single day. Now we have to make sure he can run a handful of other routes and run them with some type of precision, so you're not guessing where he's going to be on different routes. That's what we're going to work on this week.

Weis emphasized that the "draw it up in the dirt" strategy he was able to employ with Tate on Saturday against Purdue can only get the team so far:

Q. When you see these guys making big catches in games and another one and another one, are there situations where maybe you will put them in on plays that they haven't practiced and say the play before, "Hey, this is what you're going to do, now go do it"?
COACH WEIS: Well, we sort of did that the other day, grabbed them and said, "Come in here and run a go," and they said, "What?" I said, "Run right by that guy," and the (defensive) guy is sitting there listening to you, and he's looking at you like you're a liar, and he runs right by him. You can't do that with all the routes, now, because sooner or later they figure that out.

Weis also went back to the comparisons he'd made before between Tate, who played primarily at running back until his senior year in high school, and fellow frosh Duval Kamara:

As we talked about the other day, Duval has been up the whole time because Duval was a more polished receiver. Golden just might be one of the best athletes on the team, and he's certainly one of, if not the fastest one on the team. So it's one of the things that we felt we needed. We need more straight-line speed to stretch this field right here, and he certainly does that. I think Duval is ahead in route running, but you can't coach speed. Either you have it or you don't.

Anyone who doubts that, of course, needs to take another look at this:

You keep climbing that ladder, big guy.

Youth Movement

2007-10-02T07:15:00.000-07:00

Against Purdue last Saturday, true freshmen and sophomores accounted for 48 of Notre Dame's 71 rushing yards (67.6% - sacks not included) and 268 of their 377 receiving yards (71.1%). This continued what has clearly been one of the stories of the season for the Irish: they start a true freshman at quarterback in Jimmy Clausen, and each of their three leading rushers (James Aldridge, Armando Allen, and Robert Hughes) and four of their six leading receivers (Robby Parris, George West, Duval Kamara, and Golden Tate) are just one or two years removed from high school. On the season, 362 of Notre Dame's 391 rushing yards have come via true freshmen or sophomores, as have 582 of their 822 total receiving yards - numbers good for 91.2% and 70.8% of the team's offensive output in those categories.

How do these numbers stack up to other Division I programs, whether national championship contenders or teams in "rebuilding" mode? [NOTE: While I've done my best not to include redshirt sophomores in these statistics, I've probably made some mistakes somewhere. Where possible, I've also tried not to include sacks in the rushing totals, though that doesn't really work for teams with dual-threat quarterbacks.]

Let's start with top-ranked LSU and USC. The Tigers start an upperclassman at quarterback in Matt Flynn, and while their #1 rusher is an upperclassmen, each of the five players who follow him in total rushing yardage are true freshmen or sophomores. Still, though, only 750 of LSU's 1117 total rushing yards, or 67.14%, have come from underclassmen - much less than Notre Dame's 91.2%. Meanwhile, among their receiving corps, LSU has only two underclassmen with more than 100 receiving yards on the season, and true freshmen and sophomores account for a total of 416 of their 1084 total receiving yards, or 38.4%.

USC, meanwhile, also starts an upperclassman at quarterback, but four of their five leading rushers are true underclassmen. On the whole, true freshmen or sophomores account for 71.2% of USC's rushing yards, still far less than the percentage for Notre Dame. Only two Trojan underclassmen have 99 or more receiving yards, though, and underclassmen account for only 330 of 898, or 36.8%, of their total receiving yards.

It also seems worth looking at a few other programs with third-year coaches. One such team is the Florida Gators, who start a true sophomore at quarterback in Tim Tebow. Tebow is also the team's leading rusher, and fellow sophomore Percy Harvin leads the team in receiving yards and is also their third-leading rusher. But on the whole, the Gators' offense is still much less dependent on underclassmen than Notre Dame's: 71.4% of their rushing yards come from true freshmen or sophomores, to go with 53.6% of their receiving yards.

The Fighting Illini of the University of Illinois are also in their third year under head coach Ron Zook. They start a true sophomore at quarterback in Juice Williams, but three of their four leading rushers - Williams is #2 - are upperclassmen, and underclassmen have accounted for only 267 of their 1278 rushing yards (20.9%) so far this season. Meanwhile, the leading receiver for the Illini is freshman Arrelious Benn, with 286 yards on the season, but overall their underclassmen have accounted for only 55.6% (438 of 787) of Illinois's receiving yards.

Finally, let's take a look at the University of Washington, in their third year under former Irish head coach Tyrone Willingham. The Huskies start a true sophomore at quarterback in Jake Locker, and he is also the team's leading rusher. But Locker is the only UW underclassman with substantial rushing yardage, and true freshman and sophomores have accounted for 503 of the Huskies' 804 yards on the ground so far, or 62.6%. Moreover, all of Washington's top receivers are upperclassmen: true freshmen and sophomores have only 17 receiving yards so far this year for UW, a mere 1.97% of their 861 total.

Here's a chart detailing those statistics:

What these numbers make clear is that Notre Dame's offense is MUCH more reliant on true freshmen and sophomores than other programs. Moreover, the fact that the Irish have fallen behind in each of their games so far this year means that very few of these numbers are based on performance in "mop-up duty": ND's depth chart lists a true freshman or sophomore at either first- or second-string for every offensive position except center. Thus far this year, a huge portion of the offensive burden has been placed on players only one or two years removed from high school - and judging by how things have gone, there is no reason to think this state of affairs won't become even more pronounced as the year goes on.

None of this is meant to excuse an 0-5 start that is the worst in Notre Dame's history. This team has underperformed, and they have no-one but themselves to blame for that. But comparisons like this certainly help to put things in perspective.

This weekend's Friday Night Lights roundup (10/1/07)

2007-10-01T07:57:00.000-07:00

Here's a rundown of how Notre Dame's current group of 19 committed high school seniors, as well as their primary recruiting targets, fared in their football games this past weekend. (Note that I'm no longer tracing the stats for Frostproof (Fl.) tailback Carlton Thomas, who committed to Georgia this past weekend.)

Commits:

David Posluszny's Hopewell (Pa.) team suffered their second straight tough loss, a 27-0 shutout at the hands of Chartiers Valley, to drop to 3-2 on the season.
Sean Cwynar's Marian Central (Ill.) team blew out Aurora Central by a score of 52-7, to move to 6-0 on the season.
Brandon Newman's Pleasure Ridge Park (Ky.) team moved to 3-3 on the season with a 41-6 victory over Seneca.
Hafis Williams's Elizabeth (N.J.) team fell to 2-1 on the season with a 36-3 blowout loss to Irvington.
Joseph Fauria's Crespi (Calif.) team upset national power St. Bonaventure, 25-9, to move their record to 3-1.
Braxston Cave's Penn (Ind.) team held off host Mishawaka, 20-13, to move to 7-0 on the season.
John Goodman threw for two touchdowns, one for 58 yards, as his Bishop Dwenger (Ind.) team defeated South Side, 35-5, to move to 7-0 on the season.
Mike Golic Jr.'s Northwest Catholic (Conn.) team defeated St. Paul's, 42-7. They now have a 2-1 record.
Lane Clelland's McDonogh School (Md.) team defeated Landon, 35-6, to move to 2-2 on the season.
Dane Crist was 20-of-30 passing for 313 yards (or 20-of-31 for 311, depending on whom you believe) and three touchdowns, including a game-winning 5-yard TD pass with five seconds left on the clock, as his and fellow commit Anthony McDonald's Sherman Oaks Notre Dame (Calif.) team defeated Saugus, 38-35, to move to 3-1 on the season. Crist also scored a rushing touchdown from seven yards out.
Ethan Johnson reportedly sat out yet again with an injured leg, but his Lincoln (Ore.) team still defeated North Medford, 34-21.
Robert Blanton had his fifth interception of the year as well as an 18-yard touchdown reception as his Butler (N.C.) team blew out Providence, 62-6. They now stand at 5-1 on the season.
Jaromis Slaughter's Tucker (Ga.) team was slowed down a bit for the first time this year, but they still defeated Southwest Dekalb 21-0, to move their record on the year to 5-0.
Darius Fleming's St. Rita's (Ill.) team suffered a disappointing 28-17 upset to Loyola, as they fell to 4-2 on the season. Loyola QB Peter Badovinac threw 40 times for 312 yards and three touchdowns as Loyola ran out of a no-huddle offense for most of the game.
Steve Filer's Mount Carmel (Ill.) team struggled against De La Salle, but drove for a 26-yard field goal with four seconds left to escape with a 38-35 win. They are now 6-0 on the season.
Kyle Rudolph's Elder (Ohio) team was shut out for the first time in nearly a decade as they fell to unbeaten St. Xavier, 18-0. Rudolph was limited to one twelve-yard catch and had to punt the ball nine times.
Dan McCarthy's Cardinal Mooney (Ohio) team ran their season record to 6-0 with a 21-0 shutout of St. Francis.
Omar Hunter's Buford (Ga.) team blew out Greater Atlanta Christian, 42-7, to run their season record to 5-0 and their overall winning streak to 43 games.

Recruits:

Michael Floyd's Cretin-Derham Hall (Minn.) team defeated Roseville, 49-7. Their record currently stands at 5-0.
Kenneth Page's A.C. Flora (Ga.) team lost to Elgin, 21-6.
Jonathan Baldwin scored two touchdowns - one on a 24-yard reception, the other a 45-yard interception return - as his Aliquippa (Pa.) team defeated Ellwood City, 47-0, to move to 4-1 on the season.
Trevor Robinson's Elkhorn (Neb.) team defeated Roncalli Catholic, 41-7, to move to 5-0 on the season.
Ryan Williams's Stonewall Jackson (Va.) team lost to Battlefield, 24-21, to fall to 3-1 on the year.
Cyrus Gray's DeSoto (Tex.) team had a big 33-14 win against Paola, to bring their record to 4-1 on the year.
And Chris Harper was held in check, with only 27 yards on seven rushes and 7-of-18 passing for 76 yards and an interception, as his Wichita Northwest (Kans.) team lost to Wichita Heighs, 10-7.

Giveaway

2007-09-30T13:36:00.000-07:00

Once we get past a 23-0 halftime deficit, a yet-again woeful running game, and the ongoing struggles of the ND secondary (in the first half, anyway), there are lots of different "glass is half-full" kinds of ways for Irish fans to conceptualize yesterday's loss.

One possibility, taken up for instance over at Classic Ground, would be to think of the game as a coming-out party for ND's underclassman wide receivers: seven catches for 93 yards by sophomore Robby Parris, six for 68 yards and a touchdown for freshman Duval Kamara, three for 104 yards and a touchdown - plus another where he could have taken it to the house but was underthrown - by freshman Golden Tate, and four catches for 37 yards by sophomore George West. (Junior David Grimes (three catches for 34 yards in the first half before going out with an injury) and fifth-year senior tight end John Carlson (five catches for 30 yards and a great leaping grab to give Jimmy Clausen his first career TD pass - the video is here) also had strong games.)

We could also talk about the play of the defensive line: Trevor Laws (six tackles, three for a loss and one sack) and the much-maligned John Ryan (also six tackles, two for a loss and one sack, starting in the place of the injured Justin Brown) both played tremendously, as did linebacker Joe Brockington, who led the team with nine total tackles. (As I noted yesterday, for some reason Derrell Hand, last week's replacement for Brown, didn't see the field at all. No word yet on any possible reasons for this.)

Another possibility, which is pretty ridiculous by my lights, focuses on the strong play of Evan Sharpley, and even argues that Clausen, despite having almost the same numbers, should be benched.

Meanwhile, a somewhat different way to think about Saturday's storyline, exemplified by OCDomer's post on the game, turns to the stat sheet to highlight the ways the Irish have improved, but also to bring out the extent to which having lost that game should be regarded as a disappointment rather than a sort of moral victory.

I think this last approach is pretty much the right one, though I want to take it in a somewhat different direction. Last week one of the ways I broke down the game was in terms of what I called Inexcusables: "a tendency for stupid mistakes, bad penalties, and other sorts of errors that are frankly inexcusable for a top-flight team (think Justin Brown getting tossed out of the GT game, Travis Thomas getting into a fistfight against PSU, and so on)." When I look back at the Purdue game and the sorts of mistakes that the Irish made, what I see is a case where what clearly could have been a win against a top-25 team turned into yet another disappointing loss, thanks in this case to many instances of the sorts of mental and physical mistakes that have no place on a top-flight team.

Based on my back-of-the-envelope notes, here's a narration of some of the key "Inexcusables" from the first half:

On the first series of Purdue's opening drive, the Boilermakers faced third down and two yards to go from the Irish 44 yard line. Curtis Painter was sacked on the play, but freshman linebacker Kerry Neal, who didn't factor in on the sack, was caught offsides, giving Purdue a free first down. This drive ultimately led to a field goal, and a 3-0 lead for the Boilermakers.
On Notre Dame's second offensive series, with the Boilermakers leading 10-0, the Irish faced fourth and one from the Purdue 35 yard line. Charlie Weis elected to go for it, but freshman tailback Robert Hughes was stopped for no gain.
After the Irish - led by Laws, who had two straight tackles for losses of eight and eleven yards respectively, though Painter did follow these up with a 40-yard completion to Greg Orton, on which Darrin Walls was burned badly - forced a Boilermaker punt on the ensuing drive, Tom Zbikowski - who did have seven tackles and a pick, but also missed pretty badly on some plays - let the ball bounce by him at the ten yard line, thinking it would carry into the end zone. It didn't, and was downed by Purdue just outside the goal line.
On the next drive, Clausen got out of his end zone right away, with a 17-yard completion to Grimes. But after two failed rushing plays - both by James Aldridge, who fumbled on the second one - Jimmy Clausen rolled to his left under pressure and then tried to throw across the middle to John Carlson, who was blanketed by the Purdue defense. Clausen's pass was picked off and returned to the Notre Dame 25, and six plays later - the last of them a John Ryan sack on third and five - the Boilermaker lead stood at 13-0.
A few drives later, with the score now at 20-0 Purdue, Sam Young was called for holding on first and ten. The very next play saw Armando Allen fumble the ball after catching a screen pass from Clausen. The Boilermakers recovered, and just over a minute later extended their lead to 23-0.
Next up, on Notre Dame's last drive of the second half, after two nice catches by Kamara and West brought the Irish near midfield, John Sullivan - who made this same mistake either two or three times against Michigan - snapped the ball over Clausen's head on second and five, for a seven-yard loss. Clausen got out of this jam, though, finding Golden Tate for a 36-yard completion on third and twelve. At this point, though, the Irish offense stalled, with three straight incompletions, and the team lined up for a 35-yard field goal attempt, to try and get on the board before halftime. The kick was blocked by Alex Magee and returned to the Purdue 46 yard line.
Finally, the ensuing Boilermaker drive saw David Bruton flagged for a late hit after a catch by Selwyn Lymon. He was bailed out, though, when Kyle McCarthy intercepted Painter on the very next play.

In sum, then: we have an offsides penalty that led to three points, a failure to convert on fourth and short from just outside field goal range, a foolish decision resulting in an interception that led to a field goal, a fumble that led to a touchdown, and a blocked kick that effectively took three points off the board - and those are only the cases in which ND's mistakes actually came back to haunt them.

While the Irish looked much better in the second half, though, it too was far from mistake-free:

On Notre Dame's first drive of the half, Michael Turkovich was called for holding on third and two from the Purdue 46 yard line, and two plays later the Irish had to punt the ball away.
After a Zbikowski interception and a solid drive resulting in Clausen's TD pass to Carlson, the Irish failed to convert on their ensuing extra point attempt.
After another solid defensive series and a solid drive that got the Irish to the Purdue 31 yard line, Junior Jabbie was held to no gain on fourth and one - the second time in the game that this had happened.
On the ensuing drive, Purdue faced third and 21 from their own 33 yard line. Painter came under pressure and tried to scramble for the first down, but freshman linebacker Brian Smith ran him out of bounds ten yards short of the marker. But Smith (at least I think it was him - the box score, though, says it was Dwight Stephenson) shoved Painter after he was clearly off the field - a ticky-tack call, but a foolish mistake in any case. On the very next play, after Dan Dierking was held to two yards on first and ten, Stephenson was whistled for a personal foul facemask call, giving Purdue yet another free first down, at the Irish 25. Then, once again on the very next play, Smith was caught offsides, moving the Boilermakers to the 20. The Irish defense held Purdue to a field goal, though, and the score stood at 26-6.
The next Irish drive, highlighted by a 43-yard bomb down the sidelines to a speeding Golden Tate on fourth and five from the ND 37, led to another touchdown: but this was followed up once again by a missed extra point, this time with Nate Whitaker kicking in place of Brandon Walker. What could have been a 26-14 game stood at 26-12.
A bit later, after the Irish had scored again (and hit the PAT this time) to narrow the margin to 26-19, Walls was flagged for holding on the very first play of Purdue's ensuing drive. This moved the Boilermakers past midfield, and they were in the end zone five plays later.
Notre Dame moved down the field quickly on their next drive, though, with a long completion to Parris and a personal foul against Purdue bringing them to the Boilermaker 18 yard line within a minute. But on second and ten from the 18, Evan Sharpley was intercepted - it is unclear whether he simply misthrew the ball, or whether Carlson or Duval Kamara might have run the wrong route - and Purdue had the ball back, with a two-touchdown lead and 4:33 on the clock.
Finally, after the Irish forced third down and four and called timeout with 2:16 on the clock, Walls was called for holding once again, ending any hope of a last-dash comeback as the Boilermakers were able simply to run out the clock on their next four plays.

Once again, then, and even if we overlook the holding penalties against Walls: we have two points taken off the board on missed kicks, a solid drive into opposing territory ending with a failure on fourth and short, an interception from well within scoring range, and a back-to-back-to-back trio of inexcusable penalties extending a drive that had been effectively stopped, leading to a field goal.

If the Irish are going to avoid going 0-8 to start the season, their so-far steady diet of these sorts of mental and physical mistakes is going to have to change. Some of them can be attributed to underclassman jitters, others to players trying to do too much to help a team dig itself out of a hole, and others perhaps to frustration. But they've got to stop, and it's hard to believe that the coaching staff doesn't know that.

(But hey - at least we're not the Bears.)

Missing in action

2007-09-29T17:33:00.000-07:00

According to Michael Rothstein, Dan Wenger, Matt Romine, Justin Brown, and Harrison Smith all didn't make the trip to West Lafayette for the game today. John Ryan started in Brown's place and played very well, with six solo tackles (two for a loss, including one sack), but at least according to the box score it doesn't look like Derrell Hand, last week's starter in place of Ryan, played at all.

We all knew that Wenger was going to be out at least until the UCLA game. Meanwhile, Brown was supposed to be a "game-time decision," and Romine was reportedly wearing a big cast and brace in practice this week.

But it's unclear why Smith - who had been playing on special teams, from what I recall [see update below] - didn't make the trip, and especially puzzling that Hand seems to have sat the game out. Anybody have any idea what happened?

[UPDATE: I was wrong about Smith playing on special teams. I just now managed to track down the season-long game participation statistics, and he hadn't seen the field in the first four games either. It still seems funny, though, that he didn't dress - Rothstein thought so as well.

One more note, though: according to that same game log, it doesn't look like Ray Herring, who had played in each of the first four games, saw the field today either. Not nearly as puzzling as the Hand situation, to be sure, but still worth remarking on.]

News and notes: Gameday edition

2007-09-29T06:21:00.000-07:00

I promised on Thursday that I'd run down anything interesting to do with ND's depth chart, so here goes:

At the right guard position, Chris Stewart and Dan Wenger are listed as the two backups to Matt Carufel. This is no change from last week, but what's notable is that both Stewart and Wenger are going to be missing this weekend.
As I noted on Thursday, with the departure of Konrad Reuland, freshman Mike Ragone is now the official third-string tight end. There were some reports from the MSU game that Ragone was seeing the field ahead of Reuland anyway, though, so this isn't a huge deal.
Derrell Hand, who started last week when Justin Brown was out with an injury, is still listed as the #3 LDE, behind co-#1's Brown and Dwight Stephenson, Jr.

Other than that, there's not much doing there.

A quick update on the injury front, though: as I mentioned earlier this week, Charlie Weis has said that Dan Wenger, who has a left leg injury, will definitely miss today's game, and will be back by next Saturday at the earliest. Meanwhile, Justin Brown, who sat out against MSU and reportedly still looked a bit hobbled in practice this week, is going to be a game-time decision today.

Also worth noting: the South Bend Tribune managed to get in touch with Chris Stewart on Friday, and here's what he had to say:

I’m trying to be careful not to say too much right now, because everything’s up in the air. I’m just trying to figure everything out first and then move forward.

Clearly a good sign for fans who'd like to see the young man return to the team. The official ND position is that Stewart has left the team for "personal reasons," with Weis's blessing.

Meanwhile, I know it doesn't quite count as Notre Dame news, but I thought it was worth sharing this snippet from a USA Today profile of Cal-Berkeley superstar running back Justin Forsett:

For Justin Forsett, February 2004 arrived with no place to sign on the dotted line.

The 5-8 running back assumed he was headed to Notre Dame, but the Irish offered scholarships to two bigger running backs. Which was news to him.

It would be easy to say Forsett, now a senior at California, had the last laugh. Notre Dame is 0-4. The school where he landed is 4-0. But holding grudges isn't Forsett's nature.

"It was a tremendous blessing for me to end up where I am," he says. "At the time I couldn't see it. I didn't know where I'd be after Notre Dame turned me down, and it definitely hurt. But God works in mysterious ways, and there couldn't be a better place than here."

So how did Forsett get from nowhere to here? From castoff to Cal's most valuable player so far as the No. 6 Golden Bears head into Saturday's critical game at No. 12 Oregon?

Before signing day in 2004, Notre Dame's running backs coach at the time, Buzz Preston, visited Forsett and his father, Rodney, and mother, Abby, at his high school, Grace Prep in Arlington, Texas. According to the Forsetts, Preston said Notre Dame would have a scholarship for him.

"We left the meeting feeling wonderful because we were on our way to Notre Dame," says Rodney, a minister.

About a week before signing day, Justin called Notre Dame, then coached by Tyrone Willingham. "I hadn't heard from them in a while," he says. "They told me they didn't need me anymore."

Preston, now at New Mexico, says the Irish never offered Forsett a scholarship. It wasn't for lack of ability; the Irish simply were looking for taller backs.

This much was certain: Forsett was blindsided by the news. "Forsett loses lone offer," read the headline on the Rivals.com recruiting site on Jan. 28, 2004.

After signing day passed, Forsett's high school coach, Mike Barber, a former NFL player, feverishly sent more highlight tapes to coaches around the country. None of the schools in Texas or Florida, where Forsett played his first two years of high school football, were interested. "Nothing. Nobody. Even Baylor didn't want him," Rodney says. South Carolina State was an option, but Forsett's goal was to play Division I-A.

Forsett's highlight tape landed at Cal.

"We watched his tape and thought this is too good to be true," coach Jeff Tedford says. "There's got to be something wrong with this kid. There's a skeleton in the closet somewhere. So we thoroughly investigated everything about him and brought him here with his father, and he's the greatest kid you ever want to meet."

(snip)

When needed the most, Forsett has shined. In Cal's opening win against Tennessee, Forsett ran for 156 yards on 26 carries. Last week against Arizona, Cal's offense stalled when Forsett was nursing ankle and quadriceps soreness. After the Wildcats scored 17 unanswered points, Forsett lobbied to go back in and led the Bears on their final touchdown drive.

Forsett is the Pacific-10's second-leading rusher (121.0 yards a game), behind only Oregon's Jonathan Stewart (125.8). He's also tied for the conference lead with seven touchdowns. "He's been a guy who's carried the load for us so far," Tedford says.

Not to beat a dead horse or anything, but if what Forsett says is true, then it's appalling: not just because an offer was pulled from a kid who's turned out to be this talented, but because of the incredibly shady way in which it was done. Next time somebody starts telling you about Willingham's classiness, make sure to bust this one out.

Oh, and next time you see Junior Jabbie or Travis Thomas get dragged down for a loss, remind yourself that at least they're tall.

(HT: GoshenGipper.)

Finally, a quick thought on today's game.

Earlier this week I argued that the key to beating Purdue is running the ball effectively. I think this was only half right: the other crucial component if the Irish have any hope of winning is stopping the pass. This BGS post talks about the improvement of Purdue QB Curtis Painter from last year - when he led the nation in interceptions - to this. When I first read it, I thought that his improved numbers - 68.7% completions, 16 TDs, and only one interception through four games this year - might be due to Purdue's weak schedule, but a bit more research proved that wrong: at this point last year, with an equally woeful foursome of opponents to start the year, Painter had thrown only 8 TD's and had been picked off five times. Make no mistake about it: the Irish are going up against a good QB tomorrow, and a downright scary offense.

Notre Dame fans are fond of pointing out that the team ranks eleventh in the nation in pass defense so far this year, but that statistic is a bit misleading, especially given both (1) the ease with which teams have run the ball against the Irish and (2) the degree to which these first four games have been blowouts. And as the South Bend Tribune pointed out today, when we consider pass efficiency defense, the Irish rank only 52nd nationally. The opening drive of the second half against Michigan State, which saw the Spartans convert through the air on 3rd-and-9 and 3rd-and-17 and then for a sixteen-yard touchdown, was a case in point of ND's struggles against the pass this year.

Ryan Mallett threw for three touchdowns against ND two weeks ago, and MSU scored four through the air last week. Tomorrow's game will be a huge indicator of whether first-year defensive coordinator Corwin Brown is making progress with this team. Expect to see plenty of frosh LB's Brian Smith and Kerry Neal (profiled in today's SBT, by the way), who played well in passing situations against the Spartans, but - according to Charlie Weis in his Sunday press conference - aren't quite ready to play consistently against the run.

No matter how effectively ND runs the ball today, unless the Irish can hold Painter to no more than three TD's passing and perhaps pick off a pass, Purdue will almost certainly win going away.

With that happy thought in mind, though, let's take a look back into the history of the Notre Dame-Purdue series, courtesy of YouTube ...

We begin in 1964, Ara Parseghian's first year as head coach of the Irish, as John Huarte leads the Fighting Irish past Bob Griese's Boilermakers. (You can see a copy of the program here.) Notre Dame would go on to go 9-1-0 that year, their only loss coming at the hands of the USC Trojans. Lindsey Nelson has the call ...

Next up is 1966, the year the Irish won their first national title under Parseghian. This game - a picture of the program is here - started off well for the Boilermakers, as Leroy Keyes returned an interception for a touchdown. But on the ensuing kickoff, Notre Dame's Nick Eddy took one of his own to the house:

This game also saw the famous duo of QB Terry Hanratty and wideout Jim Seymour, whom Time magazine would call "the hottest young passing combination in the US," hook up for three long passes, all shown here:

Up next is 1973, with highlights from West Lafayette. Notre Dame would go on to win the national title that year as well, under head coach Dan Devine:

And then we have 1977, another national championship season, as a young Joe Montana comes off the bench to lead the Irish past the Boilermakers (program pictured here):

Next up, let's fast-forward to 1996, as Allen Rossum - who looks SICKENINGLY fast in this clip - returns the opening kick for an Irish touchdown:

The next three clips - from 1999, 2003, and 2004 respectively - remind anyone who may have forgotten why Bob Davie and Tyrone Willingham were fired:

Ugh. I was there for that last one, and I think it is burned into my retinas for eternity. Ugh.

We can end on a positive note, though, with highlights from the last couple of years:

Anyway, enough messing around on the web. Time to start some proper pre-gaming.

Go Irish!

Attrition

2007-09-28T06:59:00.000-07:00

In 2006, after Charlie Weis's first season as Notre Dame's head coach and a 9-3 record, the Irish pulled in Rivals's eighth-ranked recruiting class: 28 players, with an average rating of 3.46 stars. Now three of those players - QBs Zach Frazer and Demetrius Jones, and TE Konrad Reuland - have all left the team, and another - OL Chris Stewart - is thinking of doing the same. In each case, these have been players low on the depth chart - Frazer was the #4 quarterback and Jones was a backup at best, Reuland was reportedly in a battle with freshman Mike Ragone for the #3 spot, and Stewart hadn't seen the field at all this year - apparently looking for a place where they'll have a better chance to play. Following up on a suggestion from domer.mq at Her Loyal Sons, though, it seems worth comparing this rate of attrition with those at other top programs.

Let's start with Southern Cal, which had the #1-ranked 2006 class according to Rivals, with 25 total players. That class has seen the following players depart (USC's current roster is here):

4* RB Kenny Ashley transferred to Ole Miss.
3* DT Walker Ashley transferred to Minnesota.
4* WR Jamere Holland was dismissed from the team.
4* RB Emmanuel Moody transferred to Florida.
4* DB Antwine Perez transferred to Maryland.
4* LB Joshua Tatum has left the team and is reportedly considering a transfer to Michigan.

Florida's second-ranked class is considerably more intact (official roster here), as their only transfer so far out of 27 total players was that of 3* ATH Derrick Robinson, who quit the team to pursue a career in professional baseball. But Florida State's third-ranked class has lost four players out of their original 31 (official roster here):

3* WR Brent Brewer left to play professional baseball.
4* OL Matt Hardrick transferred to South Florida.
3* LB Tim Rawlinson was declared academically ineligible and is currently at Pearl River Community College.
5* WR Brandon Warren left the program, but his request to transfer to Tennessee was denied by the university.

Similarly, Georgia's fourth-ranked class has lost three players of its original 28 (official roster here):

4* LB Akeem Hebron had some, err, "off-the-field troubles," and is reportedly planning on transferring to Georgia Military College.
3* OL John Miller left the team.
4* OL Clifton Gethers withdrew his commitment and enrolled at South Carolina.

And the University of Texas (official roster here) has lost five players from their original 25, which ranked fifth:

3* DB James Henry was arrested on two felony charges and has been suspended indefinitely.
4* DB Robert Joseph was suspended from the team as well and has decided to transfer.
4* QB Jevan Snead transferred to Ole Miss.
3* OL Roy Watts has transferred from the team.
4* OL J'Marcus Webb has also transferred.

In sum, ND's transfer rate so far is not much to worry about. As I said, all of the players who have left, or are thinking about leaving in Stewart's case, seem to have done so primarily because of depth chart issues, and when four-star highschoolers don't manage to get on the playing field, that suggests that the talent level - in ND's case, among the underclassmen - is very high.

Moreover, note that with an NCAA-imposed limit of 85 total scholarships, having a class of 28 can be a bit problematic. The Irish can get away with it - and indeed, can use all the bodies they can get - right now because of their incredibly small junior, senior, and fifth-year classes, but the size of the '06 class could have posed a problem down the line. That said, other schools make up for players who transfer away from their program with others who transfer TO it - whether from junior colleges or other D-I programs - and ND has a policy of not doing this.

Don't jump, though. At this point there's every reason to think these transfers have been a product of what's happened on the practice field and the players' inabilities to rise to the top, rather than ND's lack of success this season on Saturday afternoons.

A bit more on the latest news

2007-09-27T20:03:00.001-07:00

A brief article that appeared online this afternoon in the South Bend Tribune confirmed a rumor that had spent most of the day spreading like wildfire around the ND internet universe:

Notre Dame’s 6-foot 5-inch, 339-pound offensive guard Chris Stewart has left the school with the intent to transfer. ...

Stewart practiced at both nose tackle and offensive guard, but did not see game action at Notre Dame.

But an hour or so later, another article appeared that suggested that Stewart's departure might not be for good:

Stewart’s father, George, confirmed that the 6-foot-5, 339-pound offensive guard was flying home to Spring, Texas, Thursday with the intent to transfer, but George Stewart also said Chris left the door ajar back in South Bend.

Or at least his family is hoping so.

"I know he’s been a little homesick and he revealed to me he would like to come home and see his family, just visit with us,” George Stewart said via telephone. “Transferring is something he’s thinking about, but, really and truly, my family and I are hoping we can all sit down and talk and possibly iron out a few things and try to get him headed back to South Bend if possible.”

(snip)

Stewart was a second-team USA Today prep All-American coming out of Klein High School and enrolled early with running back James Aldridge and wide receiver George West in January of 2006 to get a head start academically and athletically.

He didn’t play as a true freshman, and then was moved to nose tackle in the offseason. He was moved back to offensive guard this fall and was laboring to move up the depth chart ever since.

Stewart will not accompany the team to Purdue.

“We’re going to visit over the weekend and see what we can do to help him,” George Stewart said. “We don’t want to see him miss out on a golden opportunity, maybe, because of a miscommunication or whatever. Usually there’s a miscommunication involved in incidents like this.

“I don’t quite know everything right now. One thing I do know is my feelings haven’t changed about Notre Dame. That’s why I wanted him to go there all along and I want him to, hopefully, be back up there next week.”

Similarly, Michael Rothstein cites an article from Irish Illustrated in which Stewart's father is quoted as saying that he's "not allowing him [Chris] to give up on it just yet."

On one level, this development is promising, since Stewart was a highly-regarded prospect coming out of high school and has a good chance to perform well for the Irish at some point in the future. On the other hand, if he really doesn't want to be at ND and he just comes back because his father pushes him, then that isn't the best thing for anyone. If it's just a case of homesickness, though, then perhaps a weekend back in Texas really will straighten it out. The fact that Ben Ford describes Stewart as having been "excused for personal reasons," which is probably the official line that the team is taking at this point, suggests that the Irish may be leaving the door open as well.

According to ND's official web site, Stewart hasn't seen the field yet this year, though he moved up to second string at the right guard position on the team's depth chart when Dan Wenger went down with an injury. Andrew Nuss, who reportedly switched from the defensive line to the offensive line earlier this week, is not listed on the depth chart as of yet.

Ford and Rothstein also report two other bits of injury news worth pasisng along. The first also pertains to the offensive line:

Freshman left tackle Matt Romine has a very large brace/cast on his left arm, going from well below the elbow to way up his bicep/tricep area. He was requested for freshman media chatting tonight, but was rejected.

Secondly, Ford notes that defensive lineman Justin Brown, who sat out against Michigan State, still looks a bit hobbled:

Justin Brown did not run latterally when the rest of the team did, and still ran pretty gingerly when moving straight ahead. I'm not sure what this means in relation to his availability for Saturday's game, but if he plays, it won't be at 100 percent.

There probably won't be anything revealed about this until game time Saturday, but we'll keep our ear to the ground.

Finally, one last bit of news along the transfer front, this time pertaining to Konrad Reuland:

Former Irish tight end Konrad Reuland told the Tribune Thursday he’ll take his time shopping for his new school and instead attend Saddleback Community College in his hometown of Mission Viejo, Calif., for the balance of the academic year.

He will not play football for Saddleback, a junior college power in California.

“This will make me eligible at my new school in 2008, although, I’ll have to sit out the first three or four games, as I understand the NCAA rules,” he said. “I just don’t want to rush into anything. Everything is looking up.

With Reuland's departure, freshman tight end Mike Ragone has officially moved into the third spot on ND's depth chart. I'll have a bit more analysis of the depth chart at some point tomorrow.

News and Notes: 9/27

2007-09-27T07:29:00.000-07:00

As noted by BGS, Michael Rothstein reported yesterday that freshman Andrew Nuss has moved from the defensive line, where he started the season, to the offensive line. This may have something to do with the injury to Dan Wenger, who Charlie Weis said will not be playing against Purdue:

"I'd say, optimistically, it looks like maybe UCLA," Weis said. "He's not going to be a go this week, but he's out there running around now. (UCLA is) what he's shooting for right now."

In other news on the injury front, defensive end Justin Brown still seems a bit hobbled in practice. Weis admitted that he "still doesn't look full speed," but insisted that Brown "looks a heck of a lot better than any time last week."

[UPDATE: Rumors abound that sophomore offensive lineman Chris Stewart is going to be the latest player to transfer from ND. This could have something to do with Nuss's move to the OL, though I didn't see Ford or Rothstein mention Stewart being absent from practice yesterday. We'll have to see.]

In other d-line related news, Derrell Hand spoke to the media yesterday for the first time since his arrest for solicitation:

He expressed regret and knew he did a bad thing. And more than anything else, Derrell Hand thanks those who stuck by him as he went through his suspension from the beginning of training camp until last weekend.

And in that time, the junior from Philadelphia went from suspended to starter. Hand had been suspended the day before Notre Dame training camp started in August for soliciting a prostitute in South Bend.

"I think I survived it pretty well," Hand said. "I have a huge supporting cast. What happened was unfortunate. I learned a huge life lesson and I'm just happy I got a second chance to be a part of this Notre Dame family.

"These first four weeks couldn't have happened any better."

An injury to starter Justin Brown placed Hand in the lineup in his first game back. He said it was difficult to hear himself associated as someone with bad character but had a bunch of people helping him out.

And he wasn't surprised with the way Notre Dame chose to handle it, by allowing him to stay in school.

"I feel as though I'm a good kid. I made a lot of close friends, students and faculty, and I just feel like what happened was bad but I feel Notre Dame handled it the way Notre Dame handles these things."

Best of luck to Derrell as he works to get things back in order. ND can certainly use him on the field, especially if Justin Brown is not 100%.

According to the Cincinnati Post's Jeff Katzowitz, former Irish QB Demetrius Jones might end up at the University of Cincinnati - Jones was at the Bearcats' practice on Wednesday, and UC coach Brian Kelly, who recruited Jones out of high school when he was the head coach at Central Michigan, said that he and Jones had been in contact:

We had a good conversation. We talked about the situation here and what we think our strengths are. He's in that evaluation process now. He's looking at his options. We're one of a few of the options he has. He thinks highly enough of us to drive five hours to come up and visit.

When Katzowitz got Jones on the phone yesterday evening, Jones denied rumors that he'd made a final decision, but said that watching the UC practice was "nice." More on this story as it comes in.

[UPDATE: It's official. Jones walked into Kelly's office this afternoon and told him he wants to play for the Bearcats. Apparently Notre Dame has given UC the go-ahead. Jones will pay his own way for the coming fall quarter, and then will be on scholarship starting in January once several seniors have graduated.]

Meanwhile, want another example of the difference between a respectful sports journalist and an inflammatory hack? Compare Al Lesar's article about the Purdue offense (it's a "work of art," the headline tells us) in today's South Bend Tribune with the latest screed from the Indianapolis Star's Bob Kravitz, who was recently, and rightfully, named "Asshat of the Week" by KGreen:

Here was Purdue football coach Joe Tiller's challenge for Tuesday's media briefing: Find something nice to say about this week's opponent, Notre Dame. Try to convince the media and, by extension, his players, that Notre Dame is still Notre Dame and not Apalachicola Junior College.

"They have the fourth-ranked pass defense in the nation," Tiller said flatly.

Give the guy credit: He said it with a straight face.

Holding up Notre Dame's pass defense is like complimenting the movie "Beer League" on its soundtrack.

Are you kidding me?

Of course the Irish have impressive pass defense numbers. It's because they have the 111th-ranked running defense in the nation. Nobody passes on Notre Dame because nobody needs to pass on Notre Dame. Opponents get huge early leads, then run off tackle the rest of the game.

Next thing, we'll hear that Notre Dame has a sparkling personality and practices good hygiene.

I'll let that one speak for itself.

Bob Kravitz: Still an asshat.

There's also a bit of recruiting news to report. According to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, Irish DL commit Omar Hunter received an official offer from USC on Tuesday, and expressed some excitement about it:

When Pete Carroll talks, recruits listen. Even ones already committed to Notre Dame.
Buford’s Omar Hunter visited with Carroll over the phone Tuesday and received an offer from the coach of top-ranked Southern Cal.

“It was pretty exciting. Southern Cal, that’s pretty big,” said Hunter, who verbally committed to Notre Dame in June.

That doesn’t mean the blue-chip defensive tackle has changed his mind about heading to South Bend.

“I’m sticking with Notre Dame for right now,” Hunter said.

At this point, there's no reason to worry too much about this, since Hunter has said that his commitment to the Irish is solid, and this sort of thing is really a normal part of the recruiting cycle. But it's certainly a situation worth keeping an eye on, and I can guarantee you that Weis and the coaching staff will be doing just that.

Pound it

2007-09-27T06:00:00.000-07:00

I know it's been discussed before, but it's worth emphasizing: if Notre Dame is going to beat Purdue this weekend, they're going to do it by running the ball successfully. Here's a breakdown of ND's last four games against Purdue: two losses under Tyrone Willingham in 2003 and 2004, and two wins under Charlie Weis in 2005 and 2006.

What these numbers make clear is exactly what most of us already thought: if you run the ball successfully against the Boilermakers, you can win the game, and if you don't, you can't. (Let me re-emphasize this point for all those bemoaning how historically bad our offense has been this year: in 2003 and 2004 Willingham managed an average of 57.5 rushing yards a game against PURDUE.)

When asked about his game plan for Saturday, Coach Weis said on Tuesday that a key aspect of it is "that you have to try your best to try to keep their offense off the field." Interestingly, though, a closer look at Purdue's numbers from last year doesn't necessarily bear out the specific importance of possessing the ball for long periods of time. Here's a game-by-game rundown of Purdue's wins and losses from the 2006 season, with their opponents' rushing statistics and time of possession:

So these numbers don't indicate a strong relationship between POSSESSING the ball, and so keeping the Purdue offense off the field, and beating the Boilermakers. They do, though, reemphasize the importance of gaining serious yardage on the ground, and also give further support to a point I made yesterday: namely, that Purdue is REALLY BAD at defending the run. (316 rushing yards given up to ILLINOIS?!)

Come Saturday, then, the best hope for Irish fans is to see a good deal of this:

Some news and notes

2007-09-26T12:06:00.000-07:00

According to both Ben Ford and Michael Rothstein, Irish offensive lineman Dan Wenger was absent from practice once again on Tuesday. Wenger suffered an undisclosed injury and has reportedly been seen around campus with a cast on his leg. ND head coach Charlie Weis didn't address this in his press conference on Tuesday, but he did say on Sunday that Matt Carufel looked "decent" playing in Wenger's place against Michigan State.

Another worrisome bit of news on the injury front comes from Rothstein's remarks on Justin Brown, who as noted earlier missed the MSU game with an injury:

Defensive end Justin Brown stretched with a trainer again and when the rest of the linemen were doing drills, he was off to the side, clearly hobbled. If we were to guess, we wouldn't think he'll be ready for Saturday, but it is still early in the week.

Weis said on Sunday that sitting Brown was a "game time decision," and that he'd be "able to go" in practice that day. ND is far too cagey about things like this to think we'll know anything about Brown's status before the Irish take the field against Purdue.

One other notable thing from Tuesday's practice reports is that, as Ford notes, it was "extremely physical at the start," much as it reportedly was through all of last week. Weis spoke to this issue in his press conference on Tuesday, saying that they planned to find a sort of middle ground this week:

Q. Could you kind of outline your practice week in terms of compared to what you tried last week and what you did last week?
COACH WEIS: We still have to have elements of last week in there, because I think last week helped us -- what we did last week helped us in the game. So today the first half of practice is going to be dedicated to ones versus ones, full speed, take them to the ground. What I didn't do was I didn't do full speed, take them to the ground on Sunday, because I had a bunch of guys beat up. So it becomes counter productive. You have to be objective, too. And you want to be tough, and you want to have a mentality at the same time you want to be intelligent and not do something stupid.
So today, they all know that we're going ones against ones and it will be the first hour of practice. Then we'll have a break and we'll practice special teams. And then after that break, the rest of the practice will be dedicated to Purdue first and second down.
Q. From that point, it's kind of Purdue the rest of the way?
COACH WEIS: I think it will be a little bit closer to a normal schedule come tomorrow [i.e., Wednesday].

Most of the press conference, as well as what's been said about practices so far this week, has been pretty standard stuff.

One other bit of news worth noting, though: according to the Chicago Sun-Times, former Irish QB Demetrius Jones has had a brief telephone conversation with Northern Illinois football coach Joe Novak, but he hasn't been practicing with the Huskies football team and in fact isn't even enrolled at NIU:

''The last I heard, he's not [enrolled],'' Novak said Tuesday at his weekly news conference. ''He has got a lot of things available to him.''
Jones was listed in NIU's online student directory two weeks ago, then wasn't listed last week. To transfer directly from Notre Dame to NIU and be eligible to play in 2008, he would have to have been enrolled by the 12th day of classes (Sept. 12) for this semester to count toward the year he would have to sit out.
He does have the option of enrolling in a school, such as Northwestern or Ohio State, that uses the quarter system and started fall classes this week.
A source familiar with the situation said Jones might have another option to be eligible to play for the Huskies next fall. The source said Jones has accumulated 40 credit hours at Notre Dame and could earn an associate's degree at a junior college by completing 20 hours by the end of next summer, then enroll at NIU.

This is a bit puzzling, since as the Sun-Times notes it contradicts much of what has been said in the media. It is unclear whether this has anything to do with ND's refusal to release Jones from his scholarship to play for NIU. Look for more details to come out on this soon.

By the numbers: Is there hope for the Irish against Purdue?

2007-09-26T06:33:00.001-07:00

When the o-4 Notre Dame Fighting Irish arrive in West Lafayette to face the 4-0 Purdue Boilermakers, they'll have their work cut out for them. Purdue is ranked #25 in the nation in the coaches' poll, and is just one spot out of the top 25 according to the AP. They also rank seventh in the nation in scoring offense with 48.5 points per game, and eighth in total offense with 527 yards per game.

Nor is Purdue the kind of pass-first, pass-second, pass-third, run rarely team that some might take them to be: the Boilermakers are averaging almost 203 yards per game on the ground, good for 29th in the nation, to go with their twelfth-ranked passing offense (324 yards/game). While ND head coach Charlie Weis said in his press conference yesterday that Purdue is still "a passing team first," one that runs the ball "to keep you honest," it's clear that this has worked well so far for them in both categories: they average almost six yards per rush, and have given up only three sacks in their first four games.

None of this bodes well for an Irish defense that, while it ranks 52nd in the nation in yardage against at 352 yards per game, is 91st in scoring defense (as BGS noted earlier this week, the chief reason for this disparity rests in field position: Irish opponents have had to go 45 yards or less on eleven of their 23 scoring drives). ND's defense looks good statistically against the pass, giving up only 120 yards per game (good for 55th in the nation), but this is largely a factor of the "blowout" quality of their losses: teams have run for an average of 232.8 yards per game against the Irish, leaving ND's rushing defense with a national ranking of 111th.

All of this adds up to a point spread that favors the Boilermakers by more than three touchdowns, and a general sense that Notre Dame's first-ever 0-5 start is all but inevitable.

But is it? Sticking just with the numbers once again, I think Irish fans can find a few reasons for hope:

The first lies in the extremely low quality of opponents that Purdue has played thus far. The Boilermakers blew out 1-3 Toledo, 2-2 Eastern Illinois, 1-3 Central Michigan, and 1-3 Minnesota in the first four weeks of the season: hardly a gauntlet of the sort that the Irish have faced. (For what it's worth, Toledo, Central Michigan, and Minnesota are ranked 86th, 107th, and 100th in the nation by SI, and Eastern Illinois is a I-AA team. Compare this to ND's opponents: both Penn State and MSU are either ranked or just outside the top 25 in both polls, while Michigan ranks 30th and Georgia Tech 44th.)
The second lies in the generally low quality of the defenses that Purdue has had to face. Toledo ranks 106th in the nation in total defense, giving up 476 yards per game, while Eastern Illinois (386 yds/game) ranks 99th, Central Michigan (509.8 yds/game) 115th, and Minnesota (543.3 yds/game) 119th. It sounds strange to say it, but the Fighting Irish will be the BEST defensive team that Purdue has faced so far this year.
The third point relates to the overall quality of Purdue's defense: while the Boilermakers rank 15th in pass efficiency defense at 97.3 yards per game, they've given up 147 yards per game on the ground, good for 61st in the nation, and last week's game saw Minnesota rush for 232 yards against them. This bodes well for an Irish running game that started to get rolling last week, with their three underclassmen tailbacks totaling 150 yards between them against a Michigan State team that ranks 26th in the nation in rushing defense. If the Irish can run the ball effectively once again and keep Purdue off the field, they'll have a shot.

In sum: this is going to be a tough one for the Irish, but the fact is that they've squared up against four quality opponents so far this season while Purdue has been able to cakewalk. Will the Irish win? I have my doubts. But look for them to put a scare into the West Lafayette crowd come Saturday.

(Team statistics courtesy of NCAA.org.)

Attention ND recruits: Charlie Weis isn't going anywhere

2007-09-25T05:30:00.000-07:00

When a poster on the IrishEnvy boards wrote that there were "reports out of Chicago" that Notre Dame head coach Charlie Weis was going to leave his alma mater to take up the head coaching position with the New York Giants, I was puzzled. I mean, I remembered reading an OPINION column from the Chicago Sun-Times in which Irish-hater and all-around asshat extraordinaire Jay "Mute Him, Please" Mariotti wrote this:

Don't be shocked, should the Flailing Irish start 0-8 and finish 2-10, if Weis seeks a convenient escape hatch in January: the New York Giants. How interesting that Tom Coughlin's tenure is ending as Weis, a New Jersey native and former Giants assistant under Bill Parcells, stumbles in his so-called dream job. ... Very quietly, as we see happen every year in the coaching racket, politics will move incrementally to airlift Weis from his South Bend nightmare and into the Meadowlands. The longer he stays, the more sheen he loses from his once-golden reputation. And with the Chicago Public League becoming a recruiting problem zone after the fiasco involving benched quarterback Demetrius Jones, who was used as an unwitting short-term pawn while designated hotshot Jimmy Clausen recovered from injuries, Weis is falling out of favor in too many places.

This, of course, is hardly a "report": it's just a columnist with nothing intelligent to say, making things up to stir the pot. But this didn't stop other newspaper and internet columnists, gullible bloggers, and - apparently, reading between the lines of that original post as well as this one - sports talk radio hosts from treating Mariotti's idle musings as if they were based on some sort of inside information.

On closer inspection, it turns out that Mariotti wasn't even the first columnist to "break" this non-story: almost a full week earlier, Akron Beacon Journal columnist George Thomas had written of "[r]umors swirling around Weis and his future and how the New York Giants would love to make him mentor to Eli Manning as that team begins its free fall." The fact that this sentence occurred just two paragraphs before the claim that "None of today's high school seniors were born" (!!) would, one might think, be enough to discredit such "rumors" altogether.

But it won't, nor will the fact that Mariotti and the rest of his ilk haven't got a leg to stand on, let alone anyone "inside" ND or the Giants organization to back them up, when they make claims like this. Mariotti happily reminds us, of course, that Charlie Weis reportedly called the Giants his "dream job" when he interviewed with the Giants back in 2004 for what is now Tom Coughlin's position. But even if that story - which is once again all that it is, mind you - is true it's hard to put much stock in what someone says when he's angling for a promotion. Meanwhile, Mariotti naturally fails to mention that Weis said a year or so ago, when first round of unfounded Weis-to-the-Giants speculation started rolling, that "I'm staying here until they fire me or I die."

My real gripe, though, doesn't lie so much with idiot sports journalists as with the nefarious ends to which desperate coaches will employ their musings. Georgia defensive tackle Omar Hunter, who committed to the Irish over the summer, has reportedly said that opposing coaches are using rumors like this one to encourage him to jump ship. This, of course, is scuzziness of the worst sort, but it's hardly unsurprising to anyone who follows recruiting much.

But Big Omar is not one to be swayed by such nonsense, nor - hopefully - are the rest of our recruits. By all accounts, Weis and the rest of the coaching staff have been doing a great of staying in touch with his committed players, to make sure that they're up to speed on what's happening with the program, that their questions are answered, and that they have no reason to worry about whether he'll leave his beloved alma mater hanging out to dry. That this kind of thing needs to be done is certainly clear enough to them after the fiasco that was the end of the 2007 recruiting season - and with defensive coordinator Corwin Brown as his right-hand man, there's no reason to think that Weis isn't more than capable of keeping this little brushfire under control.

Have you heard, though, that Urban Meyer and Pete Carroll are on the short lists for 0-3 Buffalo, St. Louis, New Orleans, Atlanta, and Miami? Watch out, kids ...

Look at me, Ma!
I'm a shameless rumor-mongerer and an all-around jerk!

Konrad Reuland is leaving Notre Dame

2007-09-24T12:56:00.000-07:00

After rumors began to surface yesterday evening that sophomore tight end Konrad Reuland, currently #3 on ND's depth chart at his position behind senior John Carlson and fellow sophomore Will Yeatman, was going to transfer from ND, they were quickly squelched as just that - rumors - and some even reported to have positive evidence of their falsity. Things looked a bit bleaker this morning, though, as an Eric Hansen article in the South Bend Tribune quoted Reuland as saying last night that "I've still got a lot to think about," and suggested that an answer would be forthcoming today.

Apparently that was accurate, as a current headline on Irish Illustrated announces that Reuland is in fact leaving the team, a report apparently confirmed by the same source who denied it yesterday:

the same source that told me yesterday he wasn't leaving told me today he's left. ... It's a small school (source didn't say where) , but he wants to play in the pac10 next year so he's going D2 im assuming or D3.

This last remark - that Reuland will transfer to a Division II or III school for the rest of this academic year and then enroll at a school in the Pac 10 for 2008 (he was recruited by both USC and Stanford out of high school) - seems to square with the rest of what's being said. It's perhaps worth noting that Konrad's brother Warren, a senior in high school, is currently committed to Stanford as a wide receiver.

Obviously this loss hurts the Irish, though clearly Reuland isn't the WORST person who might have left the team. Tight end is a position of real strength for the Irish, with Carlson and Yeatman ahead of Reuland on the chart, freshman Mike Ragone behind him, and five-star senior Kyle Rudolph committed to enroll next year. Nevertheless, Reuland's talents will surely be missed, both this year and on down the line.

Best of luck to Konrad - who has apparently handled all of this with real maturity - wherever he ends up. ND's youth movement just got a little younger.

[UPDATE: The SB Tribune is on it now, with this quote from Weis:

After meeting with Konrad Reuland on Sunday, he has decided he will leave the team and withdraw from Notre Dame. I appreciate all Konrad has done for Notre Dame, and I wish him nothing but the best.

HLS and SI have the story up as well, and so does Subway Domer .

One more thought, though: if ND applies the same standard to Reuland as they did to Demetrius Jones, then he won't be allowed to transfer to either Stanford or USC, since both of those schools are scheduled to play the Irish from now until eternity.]

This weekend's Friday Night Lights roundup

2007-09-24T07:09:00.000-07:00

Here's a rundown of how ND's current commitments and primary recruits did in their high school football games this past weekend.

Commits:

In a game that was televised nationally on ESPN2, Dayne Crist was 20-of-36 passing for 250 yards and a 27-yard TD pass, but it wasn't enough as his and fellow commit Anthony McDonald's Notre Dame Sherman Oaks (Calif.) team was upset by Birmingham, 28-21. Notre Dame was missing two of their starting offensive linemen, and so Crist spent much of his day on the run.
Ethan Johnson sat on the bench for the second straight week but his Lincoln (Ore.) team still managed to defeat Tualitin, 38-14. The results of an MRI exam performed last week on Johnson's injured knee are still unknown, at least to the media. [UPDATE: Johnson's knee injury is reportedly not very serious; he is improving week by week and it is not expected to have any long-term ramifications.]
Robert Blanton, who had four interceptions through his team's first four games, and his Butler (N.C.) team recovered from a disappointing loss last week and blew out Ardrey Kell, 49-7.
Jamoris Slaughter and his Tucker (Ga.) team shut out the explosive St. Pius offense and rolled to victory, 35-0.
Fresh off a disappointing loss to intracity rival Mount Carmel, Darius Fleming and his St. Rita's (Ill.) team came up strong, defeating Providence by a score of 21-17.
Meanwhile, Steve Filer and his Mount Carmel team defeated Brother Rice, 28-15.
Kyle Rudolph's Elder (Ohio) team suffered their second straight disappointing loss, falling to Lakewood St. Edward, 10-7.
Dan McCarthy threw as many interceptions - two - as completed passes, but he picked off a pass of his own and rushed for 214 yards on 17 carries including TD runs of 54 and 84 yards as his Cardinal Mooney (Ohio) team defeated Lake Catholic, 40-14.
David Posluszny's Hopewell (Penn.) team suffered their first loss of the season, a 31-15 defeat by underdog Blackwell.
Sean Cwynar and his Marian Central (Ill.) team shut out St. Edward, 30-0.
Brandon Newman's Pleasure Ridge Park (Ky.) team blew out Butler, 65-14.
Hafis Williams's Elizabeth (N.J.) team shut out Union, 20-0.
John Goodman scored on a seven-yard run and also threw a 48-yard TD pass as his Bishop Dwenger (Ind.) team blew out Wayne by a score of 40-8.
Braxston Cave's Penn (Ind.) team stayed undefeated, blowing out Riley 42-8 to move to 6-0 on the season.
Mike Golic Jr.'s Northwest Catholic (Conn.) team defeated Enfield 20-7, to move to 1-1 on the season.
Omar Hunter's Buford (Ga.) team blew out Wesleyan, 49-6.
And on Sunday, in their second straight game against a tough out-of-state opponent, Lane Clelland's McDonogh School (Md.) team lost to Malvern Prep, 46-7.
Finally, Joseph Fauria's Crespi team was idle this week.

Recruits:

Carlton Thomas rushed for 237 yards and three touchdowns as his Frostproof (Fla.) team improved to 3-1, defeating Sebring by a score of 35-0.
Kenneth Page's A.C. Flora (Ga.) team held off an upset to defeat Praylow, 27-20.
Michael Floyd rushed for 106 yards and an 11-yard TD run, caught three passes for 25 yards including a 14-yard TD, and also returned punts and saw playing time at cornerback as his Cretin-Derham Hall (Minn.) team defeated Stillwater, 42-14.
Jonathan Baldwin faced double coverage most of the night and was held to three catches for 17 yards, but his Aliquippa (Penn.) team still managed to rally in the second half and defeated Beaver Falls, 33-27, to move to 3-0 on the year.
Trevor Robinson's Elkhorn (Neb.) team defeated Plattsmouth, 30-13.
Cyrus Gray's DeSoto (Tx.) team was blown out by Louisburg, 56-19.
Ryan Williams's Stonewall Jackson (Va.) team defeated Freedom-Woodbridge, 28-14.
And Chris Harper rushed eight times for 20 yards and a touchdown, was 3-of-6 passing for 37 yards, and returned an interception 32 yards for a score as his Wichita Northwest (Kans.) team defeated Wichita South, 50-10.

That's all for now! We'll be back next week with more.

Highlights from Charlie Weis's Sept. 23 press conference

2007-09-23T20:38:00.000-07:00

The transcript is now up from Charlie Weis's press conference on Sunday, Sept. 23. Here are some of the key points.

On the status of Justin Brown, who sat out Saturday's game: "Justin is going to be able to go today [i.e., in Sunday's practice]. That was a game time decision where we just didn't feel -- he had rolled his ankle a little bit earlier in practice, earlier in the week, and it was a day to day type of thing where we weren't really sure whether or not he could go or not. But even right to game day, he just didn't feel that he could just push off enough on that day. It was close. It was close to him being able to go on Saturday, but according to both Justin and Jim (Russ, head trainer), he'll be back and ready to go. That's the answer to Justin."

On Geoff Price's struggles: "It was a tough day at the office. He's not bothered by an injury."

On freshmen linebackers Kerry Neal and Brian Smith, who played a lot in passing situations, and whether they'll see the field more on run downs: "[They're] spotty on run downs. I see them being in the two deep on run downs. I don't think that right now they're ready to be prime time every down players, but I think their progress has grown at a much higher pace than a lot of other people. One thing they've both shown is they can get after the passer. We definitely needed some edge pressure, which both those guys provide. And then different roles, I think they not only played themselves into the two deep on regular defense but put themselves close to being on the field on a more regular basis."

On problems with kick coverage: "The first thing that's got to happen is we've got to kick it better. That helps. Once you kick it better, the guys that are in one on one situations, which when you go back and watch it, you're going to see some guys unblocked at the point right there to make a tackle that are unblocked. I mean, when you have an opportunity to make a play, you've got to make a play."

On Jimmy Clausen: "Well, the two things that he does the best is he can read coverages and he can make every throw. They're the two things he can do, okay. Now, at this point, for example, and we had this conversation this week, at this point in his career what he's doing is calling plays in the huddle more than running the offense. ... And this is part of the evolution of a quarterback. When they first start playing early in their career, they relay the plays from the sideline to the guys in the huddle and then go to the line of scrimmage and run the play. That will grow while he's here, okay, from calling the plays to running the offense, and that is a natural transition that takes place over time. With any quarterback that's when everything changes."

On Matt Carufel, who made his first career start: "... he was decent. We were pretty good at the point of attack with the straight on physical stuff. Where we had a little bit more problem is with movement, you know, and I know you'll go back and watch it the way I do, but you'll see movement creating some more problems than just lining up. When we were just lining up smacking people in the mouth, I thought he held up fine."

Another topic that figured prominently in the discussion today was the level of emotion that the team showed in the locker room after the loss. This was a big area of concern for many fans, given the rumors that started to circulate after the loss to Michigan that the ND players may have given up caring. But according to Coach Weis, this is far from the case. Here are some of the highlights of what he said:

I think probably the thing that encouraged me the most of anything was how many people in the locker room after the game showed obvious emotion on the outcome of the game. It's probably the first time this year that I saw so many players that were moved by the game, and that is, more than anything else, the one thing that people don't get a chance to see, and it's probably the greatest reason for optimism -- how much they really care.

When asked to give an example of what he meant by this, Weis replied:

Well, when you go in there and you're talking to the team after game time, I think one of the things you have to do is make sure that you don't tear them down because you already know they're feeling bad. But when you look in guys' -- look in some of their faces and you see them to the point where -- not losing it but like where it's that important to them, where you look in their face and it's that important to them, that's when you know they're the type of players you want playing on your team. And sometimes it's one guy, sometimes it was two guys, but there was a bunch of them yesterday that looked like that. That is a very, very strong positive when it's that important to that many people.

And again:

As I said to them in the locker room after the game, I said, "fellows, you're either all in or all out, it's one or the other. The boat is going to sail with or without you. It's okay if you want to be out, but you're either all in or all out." And I'd say for the majority of the people, the majority of the people were all in.

When asked whether this last remark meant that there was also a minority that was "all out," Weis replied:

Those people I don't know yet. You don't know the answer to that question yet because when you're looking at 100 guys, you can't read everybody. I mean, you're trying to, but I'm not a mind reader, I can't read everybody. But you can see -- what you can see, you can see the guys that are undeniably all in.

Weis also said that it seemed to be specifically the "older guys" who were showing the most emotion. There's no question in my mind that this is a good sign.

So where do the Irish go from here? One thing Weis made clear is that he has no plans to abandon the "simple is better" strategy that the offense employed this past week:

Q. You talked last week about creating a niche. At least in the running game it looked like you made some good progress in that. Have you made enough where you feel like you can start getting creative and throwing in some more stuff?
COACH WEIS: Oh, I think that you -- let's not get to that creative (and) throw in too much more stuff. I think you have to put in breakers now. In other words, you can't just say, "okay, here's the handful of plays you ran last week. Let's run the exact same plays the exact same way the next week." Those coaches, they get the tape. They are not going to say "let's run the exact same plays the exact same way." I think you have to add on to it.
But I'm not trying to go overboard in anything we're doing. I'm trying to grow this. I say we're going to start with a core and go from there, and that's what we're doing. We established a core and we're going to kind of grow from there.

Weis also said that while he didn't think that this week's extra-physical, "back to training camp" practices led to fatigue in the second half, he planned to cut things back a bit this week:

I think it's important to make sure we work on being physical on both sides of the ball. The only way we can do that is ones against ones, which we'll be doing elements of that this week. Now, we will not do as drastic as it was last week because you also don't want to physically beat up your team. So there's the fine line in there of working on being physical and tackling and taking to the ground, which we will do, and at the same time protecting your team and getting them ready to play Purdue.

He also said that this week, unlike last week, the coaching staff and players will sit down at watch game tape:

One of the things we're going to do different than last week -- last week we didn't watch the tape. So this week we are going to watch the tape because there's plenty of -- unlike last week, especially on offense, there wasn't anything good to say. Now we can sit here and say, "hey, this is good, this is good, this is good, this is good. Okay, now, this is bad, this is bad, this is bad." So you can differentiate the two.
And then we go out to practice and we'll go ahead and work and clean up all the things that were bad, make sure we -- not only do we see them visually but we go out and try to rectify them and then you can move on. Where last week when you went right into training camp, you weren't even worrying about Michigan. You weren't really worrying about Michigan State. We were just worried about ourselves.
But now this week is a little different because we get a chance to go back and correct -- correct both visually and on the field what our problems were yesterday and then move on from there.

All in all, Weis said it was the "first time in a while" where a game left him with "several things I can walk out ... feeling good about." But at this point, all eyes are fixed on the future: "right now," said Weis, "we're trying to beat Purdue."

Sounds about right to me.

Postmortem: Notre Dame vs. Michigan State

2007-09-22T20:26:00.000-07:00

Despite a "back to training camp" mentality in practice this week, Charlie Weis's Fighting Irish came up short yet again this week, falling to 0-4 for the first time in Notre Dame's illustrious history. Here's my analysis of what went wrong (and, occasionally, right)

The turning point

Looking back at a game like this - so close through the first half, then out of hand so quickly - the question of what went wrong is a natural one. The answer, though, is quite obvious: just take a look at the first two drives of the second half.

The trouble started when ND's opening kickoff of the second half was returned 52 yards to the Irish 45 yard line. It took MSU less than three minutes to march down the remainder of the field on a drive that included two long completions on 3rd-and-9 and 3rd-and-17 respectively, topped off by a 16-yard touchdown pass to Mark Dell that increased the Spartan lead to 24-14.

The next nail was driven in on ND's very next drive. After an 18-yard rush by James Aldridge to the ND 42, the Irish picked up eight more yards on their next two plays and faced 3rd-and-2 from their own 50. But Aldridge and Robert Hughes were stopped short on consecutive carries, and the Irish turned the ball over to MSU at midfield.

The Spartans scored again two drives after this last big stop, to make the score 31-14, and the Irish didn't complete another first down until the game's final drive, long after the outcome was no longer in doubt.

By the numbers

In lieu of a lot of amateurish analysis of such things as blocking schemes, missed tackles, and so on, I've pored over the box score to find a few statistics that I think are especially helpful in encapsulating today's game from the ND perspective.

The good

With 18 carries for 104 net yards, sophomore James Aldridge became the first ND tailback to break the century mark this year. Aldridge and fellow underclassmen Robert Hughes (6 rushes, 33 yards, 1 TD) and Armando Allen (3 rushes, 13 yards) totaled 150 rushing yards between them, with an average of 5.6 yards/rush.
Maurice Crum Jr. led the Irish with 16 total tackles (6 solo, 10 assisted). David Bruton was next with 15 (8 solo), followed by Trevor Laws with nine (all assisted, as well as a fumble recovery) and Joe Brockington with seven (3 solo). It was nice to see Crum have such a solid week after being so quiet in the UM game.
Freshmen Kerry Neal - a sack, a batted pass, and two hits on the quarterback - and Brian Smith - three tackles, one for a loss - had solid games and showed a lot of energy. Look to see even more of them against Purdue. Fellow frosh Ian Williams - four tackles, one solo, from his DT position - also played well once again.

The bad

Jimmy Clausen - 7-of-13 passing for only 53 yards and a fumble - had a really tough day. In his postgame press conference, Charlie Weis made it clear that the decision to pull Clausen in favor of Evan Sharpley near the start of the fourth quarter was not based on Clausen's poor play or on a desire to "protect" the prized freshman, but was motivated by the fact that ND had to start passing the ball more and Sharpley was more experienced and so better equipped to run a "two-minute"-type of offense.
Wideouts George West - three catches for 25 yards - and David Grimes - three catches, two of them really difficult ones, for 24 yards - both had decent days, given how quiet ND's passing game was. But even given the continuing struggles of the offensive line, it's hard to see how a large part of the burden for ND's lethargic air attack doesn't fall on the inability of our wide receivers and tight ends to get open.

The ugly

Spartan tailbacks Javon Ringer and Jehuu Caulcrick shredded the Irish defense for 227 yards between them, on 46 carries.
The Irish netted only nine total first downs, only three of them coming in the second half. Of those three, two of them came on long runs by James Aldridge in ND's first two drives, and the last came on the last play of the game, a pass to John Carlson on 4th-and-6.
While Spartan QB John Hoyer completed only eleven of his 24 passes, those completions went for a total of 135 yards (an average of 12.3 yds/comp) and FOUR touchdowns.

The inexcusables

One of the biggest problems the Irish have faced over the past few weeks is a tendency for stupid mistakes, bad penalties, and other sorts of errors that are frankly inexcusable for a top-flight team (think Justin Brown getting tossed out of the GT game, Travis Thomas getting into a fistfight against PSU, and so on). Here's a rundown, based on my own back-of-the-envelope notes, of how ND did in these categories against Michigan State. (The moral in short: not well.)

Going nowhere on the ground

The play-by-play shows six rushing plays (sacks not included) for negative yardage, two for no gain, and four for only one yard.

Failing to convert on third- or fourth- and short

I marked down two key junctures where this happened: one on ND's third drive of the game, where Asaph Schwapp got the ball on 3rd-and-1 and was brought down for no gain; and the other, mentioned above, on ND's first drive of the second half, where Aldridge picked up one yard on 3rd-and-2 and Robert Hughes was then held to no gain on 4th-and-1.

Bad penalties

On MSU's second drive of the game, with ND leading 7-0, Brian Hoyer completed a 25-yard pass to the ND 24 yard line and was clearly pushed to the ground by Trevor Laws. The penalty was marked off half the distance to the goal, and the Spartans scored three plays later.
After ND held MSU on their third drive of the game, with the score tied 7-7, MSU punter Aaron Bates sent a kick out of bounds at the ND 17 yard line. Travis Thomas, who has had a remarkable tendency to commit bad penalties this year, was called for holding, and the ball was brought back to the 9.

Old-fashioned mental mistakes

On ND's first drive after the first MSU touchdown, Irish punter Geoff Price dropped the snap and barely managed to get away a 27-yard kick.
Inside two minutes to go in the first half, with ND facing 3rd-and-13 from their own 30 yard line, the Irish were called for delay of game.
Toward the end of the third quarter, with MSU facing 4th-and-2 from the ND 34 yard line, the Irish were nearly whistled for an illegal substitution but managed to call a timeout beforehand. On the very next play, MSU tight end Kellen Davis blew by a flatfooted Maurice Crum for a 34-yard touchdown catch.
Later in the third quarter, Price made yet another mistake, this time a punt that shanked off his foot and sailed out of bounds, for a net of only eleven yards.

Kick coverage

We've already discussed the opening kick of the second half, which was returned 52 yards to the Irish 45 yard line by MSU's Devin Thomas. The Spartans were in the end zone less than three minutes later, for a 24-14 lead.
In the middle of the third quarter, a 54-yard Geoff Price punt that was caught at the MSU 15 yard line was returned 18 yards. Ten plays and 67 yards later, the Spartan lead stood at 31-14.

Not getting rid of the ball on time

Jimmy Clausen seemed to have less of a problem in this area than in weeks past, but there were some times where he still held on for too long when he should have thrown it away. Obviously the key instance of this came near the start of the second quarter, when Clausen ran backwards as the pocket collapsed and had the ball taken right out of his hands by MSU's Jonal Saint-Dic.

Pass protection

ND only gave up four sacks for a total of 32 yards - an improvement after giving up 24 in their first three games, but still not satisfactory.

Injury worries

Any Irish fan whose heart didn't skip a beat when it looked like John Sullivan might have to leave the game mustn't have been following the team too carefully. With backup center Dan Wenger out indefinitely with an undisclosed injury, junior walk-on Thomas "The Man, The Myth, The Legend" Bemenderfer was ND's only remaining center. Thankfully, Sullivan was able to return.

One thing I didn't see talked about was the fact that defensive end Justin Brown sat out today's game with an undisclosed injury, with Derrell Hand taking his starting spot. It's unclear how serious Brown's injury is and from what I know it wasn't talked about much before the game, but here's what Michael Rothstein had to say about it earlier this week:

Justin Brown is looking a little bit hobbled these days. During a running lines drill the Irish typically do, every other player did side steps while Brown lugged along straight ahead. He also stretched with a trainer instead of another player and was doing calf and leg stretching maneuvers while the rest of the Irish were doing other stretches. And he looked very awkward doing so. As another reporter put it, he was the definition of 'gingerly.'

Yikes. As we all said after the Hand "incident", the last thing this team needs is a loss of bodies along the defensive line. We'll have to keep an eye on this one.

In sum, this game was obviously a huge disappointment, though there were signs of improvement - in particular the running game and some signs of life along the offensive line - that give reason for hope. But the things the Irish did wrong - in particular the second straight week of shoddy defense and tackling, a startlingly inept passing game, an inability to pick up crucial first downs on short yardage, a once-again bad job of covering kick returns after an improvement in this area against Michigan, and several key mental mistakes in big spots, not to mention the way things completely derailed after a couple of bad sequences at the start of the second half - give reason to be seriously concerned.

Charlie Weis and the rest of the coaching staff have got a lot of work to do. They're out of free passes at this point.

How good is ND's 2008 recruiting class?

2007-09-22T09:26:00.000-07:00

(This builds on something I posted a month or so ago at IrishEnvy, but it updates the numbers and goes in a bit of a different direction.)

As most people know, Notre Dame's current group of 19 committed players for their 2008 recruiting class is ranked #1 overall by both Scout and Rivals. As anyone who follows recruiting will be quick to remind you, though, the programs that have been the best at recruiting in recent years - Florida and USC in particular, with just 8 and 14 total commitments respectively - are just getting started, so it's hard to say where ND's class will be ranked overall when National Signing Day rolls around.

Nevertheless, we can get some sense of how to answer this question by comparing ND's class as it currently stands to Charlie Weis's recruiting classes from the past two years. At present, four of ND's committed players have received five stars from Scout.com, eleven have received four stars, and four others have received three stars. Meanwhile, Rivals has given five stars to just one ND commit, but fourteen others have four stars and the final three have three stars. As the following table shows, those numbers stack up pretty well against ND's classes from the past two years:

One thing this chart makes clear is that according to both recruiting services, the average star rating of an ND recruit has gone up each year under Charlie Weis, to the point where now our average recruit is just about a four-star player. (For comparison's sake, the average star rating in Tyrone Willingham's banner year of 2003 was 3.52 from Scout and 3.41 from Rivals.) So while our number of genuinely elite, five-star players still hasn't reached the level of a Florida or a USC, our overall player quality is more than respectable.

What's in a way even more interesting, though, is that the total number of "points" given to this recruiting class by both services is already higher than the number of points received by either of our previous two classes, including the group from 2006 which was nearly half again as large as our current class. Obviously there might be a bit of inconsistency in terms of how points are assigned from year to year, but it's instructive to compare the current class to the very top overall classes from previous years in this respect: in 2007, a total of 3,685 points would have been good for the #7-ranked class from Scout, and in 2006 this total would have been good for the #1 overall ranking. Meanwhile, Rivals would have given a class that received 2,226 points their #6 ranking in 2007 and their #8 ranking in 2006. (For comparison's sake, it's perhaps also worth mentioning that Willingham's 2003 class earned 2,338 points from Scout and 1,756 points from Rivals, though inter-year variability in how points are assigned is probably even more extreme here.) Once again, the possibility of year-to-year inconsistency in the assignment of points makes these statistics a bit hard to interpret, but they do give us good reason to believe that even if Notre Dame doesn't manage to land ANY more commitments for this year, the present group of 19 will be good enough for a top ten ranking from both services.

This last remark - that ND's current recruiting class is probably "top ten" caliber even as it stands - raises obvious questions about how good it will be if the class grows larger. But that's a post for another day.

Some thoughts on Chris Harper's recruitment

2007-09-21T09:58:00.000-07:00

An interesting article in today's South Bend Tribune discusses the intriguing possibility that the departure of Demetrius Jones might give ND a better shot in their recruitment of Kansas QB/WR/Athlete Chris Harper, listed as a four-star prospect on both Scout and Rivals, who will be an official visitor to South Bend this weekend for the Michigan State game. The article quotes Harper's high school coach, Weston Schartz, as saying that while Harper's interest in ND had previously been about a 7 on a scale of 1-10, "it's up much higher than that now."

The reason for this, of course, is that while Harper clearly has the ability to be a terrific wide receiver in college, he's made it clear that his real desire is to have a shot at quarterback - and ND's sudden lack of depth at this position clearly increases the odds that this might happen. Moreover, Charlie Weis said in a press conference earlier this week that he'd consider recruiting an extra QB in 2009, so long as it was someone who'd also be able to play at another position - a remark that seems clearly to apply to 2008 as well.

When this possibility first started being discussed, I wrote that in a way the Demetrius Jones situation could be viewed as a cautionary tale that would militate against recruiting Harper as a QB:

ND doesn't run an option offense, and with Clausen at the helm now and Crist coming on board next year it would take some serious self-deception for Harper to convince himself that he has a real shot at playing QB at ND. Such self-deception could, of course, be aided by the coaching staff if they wanted, but with the way the Jones situation panned out it's hard to imagine them leading a kid on when they know full well he'll end up unhappy.

This opinion squared with what Mike Frank was quoted as saying in an article on Harper in the Observer:

"He's kind of a combo guy and the Irish have a shot," Frank said. "The problem they're going to run into is he also wants to play quarterback and Notre Dame is recruiting him as a wide receiver. So, that could be a little bit of a problem. ... They have to convince him that wide receiver is his future."

My worry, in other words, was that if Harper was recruited as a possible quarterback, he might quickly be disappointed when he doesn't see the field in that capacity, which could lead to frustration and even a possible transfer. But the more I think and read about this, the more I think I was wrong.

Here's why: even if Weis and the rest of the coaching staff tell Harper that he has a shot to play quarterback, he has know fully well that he's not going to supplant Jimmy Clausen, and so that if he wants to have a chance to play during his first three years it will have to be somewhere else on the field. By all accounts he's more than capable of doing this as a wideout:

"He's not a pro-style quarterback that's going to drop back and throw 35, 40 times a game, but he's just a great athlete," Schartz said. "He could play receiver for anyone in the country. As a matter of fact, if he was playing receiver, I think he'd have 50 offers. But he doesn't play receiver."

This last sentence, though, comes with a big fat qualification:

"The only place he will consider, and maybe I'm talking out of turn here, but after my conversations, to play receiver at would be Notre Dame and the University of California," Schartz said. "And don't ask me why."

Because of Jones' departure, the Irish coaches have told Harper they are recruiting a quarterback who can play another position.

"All he wants is a shot, I think," Schartz said. "If it doesn't work out, he will get snaps as a freshman at receiver, he's that type of kid. I'm not kidding you. He can come in any place and play receiver."

In other words: it seems entirely possible that Harper might come to ND and play receiver for his first three years. At that point, with Clausen gone, he'd compete with Dayne Crist and whomever else the Irish have recruited in the meantime to be the starting quarterback. If this doesn't work out, he could either go back to wide receiver or be the backup QB for a year (or two, if he redshirts).

Harper's situation is unlike Jones's in that Harper HAS said he's willing to play WR for the Irish, while Jones always insisted that he wouldn't. If Harper does just this for his first few years, obviously he wouldn't be able to transfer even if he doesn't succeed in the competition for the starting QB position. As I said, this possibility is intriguing, to say the very least ...

Week four changes to ND's depth chart

2007-09-21T08:13:00.000-07:00

(Cross-posting from Irish Envy.)

After this week's free-for-all there were a few changes to ND's depth chart, but nothing really major. Here's a rundown, in what I take to be approximate order of significance and/or surprisingness.

Dan Wenger's undisclosed injury has him out for at least this week, with Matt Carufel starting in his place at RG and human planet Chris Stewart as the backup.
Duval Kamara has moved ahead of D.J. Hord for the #2 "X" receiver spot, with George West still the #1. Grimes, Parris, Gallup, and Tate are listed in the "Z" spot, in that order. Sorry Tate fans, looks like you'll have to wait a bit longer.
Just like last week, Sam Young will be starting at LT rather than RT, with Taylor Dever as his backup. The Paul Duncan-Matt Romine combination is at RT, with Duncan still the #1, for now anyway. Mike Turkovic is still the starter at LG, with Eric Olsen behind him.
Derrell Hand is listed behind #1a Justin Brown and #1b Dwight Stephenson Jr. at RDE.
Kerry Neal is now the #2 LOLB. Morrice Richardson, who had been the #2 there, moves to ROLB, where Neal had been the co-#2, but Richardson is #3 behind #1 Anthony Vernaglia and #2 Brian Smith.
The depth chart now lists Travis Thomas, James Aldridge, Armando Allen, and Junior Jabbie as all tied for the #1 RB spot, with Robert Hughes behind them. In week one, Thomas was listed as the lone starter.
And of course, Jimmy Clausen is our #1 QB, with Evan Sharpley listed as his lone backup.

Everything else seems to be the same as it was in week one. Ben Ford has some more thoughts here - they are worth reading, as always.

UPDATE: This exchange from Charlie Weis's Thursday press conference is worth noting in this connection:

Q. Not a lot of change in the depth chart. Did that mean the starters all showed you something this week?
COACH WEIS: The most important thing for us was not to create sacrificial lambs. That doesn't mean that there won't be quick hooks in some cases, okay? But if I all of a sudden start pulling people and say, `"this guy is going to start, this guy is going to start," the obvious thing that goes with it is, "well, it's their fault." I think we're all part of the problem. I think there's a lot more bodies that you might see show up in the game this week.

As is this one, which was discussed at UHND:

Q. The physical practices, I would think, would lend themselves for some players to look better than others just based on their style of play being more physical. I would think James Aldridge is a back that this is a week where it would be a chance for him to shine.
COACH WEIS: This is a James Aldridge-type of week. That's exactly right. I would expect to see James early and often.
Q. How has he relished this opportunity? Do you see him as a guy that knows this is his chance to step up and do something?
COACH WEIS: He knows that he's going to get plenty of opportunity. That's what he knows. So I would imagine he's very excited.

And finally, a couple of questions about our kickoff returns, where Armando Allen has been notably absent the past couple of weeks:

Q. Armando Allen no longer returning kicks?
COACH WEIS: He might be back there some returning kicks. Most of these kickers kick it to one spot, like this guy usually kicks it to one spot. Golden (Tate) will get the brunt of it. And with Junior (Jabbie) back there, Junior is a good returner, but he's also a very good blocker. So if you're going to feature one guy, we'd rather not Golden or Armando be the lead blocker. We'd rather them be the guy with the ball in their hands.
Q. Do you always want to have one blocker?
COACH WEIS: No, you want two returners if the guy sprays the ball all over the place because you would like two equally good returners. I think with Armando and Golden, we have two guys that are explosive returners. If a guy is going to hit the ball one spot all the time, that's when you use a returner back there with better blocking ability.

On the latest from Pat Forde

2007-09-18T20:20:00.000-07:00

Okay, so let me just say that I still think he's a dickhead, but Forde isn't entirely off here:

The Scourge of South Bend, And All Mankind

Of course all the accountability for Notre Dame's historic offensive collapse rests with Ty Willingham (2). The Dash deeply regrets not coming to that conclusion last week. It doesn't matter how many three-and-outs occur on the watch of the current head coach; just blame it on the last one.

The Dash has received a few hundred loving, affectionate e-mails from Fighting Irish fans insisting that they knew this horrific season was coming, thanks to the lack of recruiting by Willingham during his final two years in South Bend. Well, sure -- now that you mention it, the preseason pessimism was rampant. Just look at this August post from The Rock Report, a Domer fan blog, which averaged out season predictions from more than 3,000 Notre Dame fans and concluded the Irish would go 8-4: "For ND fans, if things were to break right, we're looking at a two loss season. If things were to break wrong, we're looking at a possible five loss season. Four losses looks likely from an ND fans(sic) point of view, but that's usually on the optimistic side." If that doesn't sound like a communal acknowledgement of a terrible season to come, what does? Though The Dash doesn't see anything in there about: "If things break wrong, we're looking at no offensive touchdowns through three weeks and a potential 0-8 start."

In keeping with September revisionist history, Notre Dame fans have unearthed evidence that Hurricane Katrina (3), high gas prices (4) and defaulted home loans (5) also are directly attributable to Willingham's tenure in South Bend, Ind.

Now the thing is, Pat, most of people's preseason optimism - the predictions of at least seven wins and whatnot - were exactly that: optimism. That's to say, they're the sort of predictions that come from fans who want to expect the best from their program, and OF COURSE they're going to exceed realistic expectations.

That said, it's ALSO true that we fans have been saying for years that ND was going to pay for Ty's poor recruiting with a down year or two. Did we underestimate how down the down years would be? Of course - but the idea that we didn't expect that two MAC-level recruiting classes would lead to a drop in performance is just absurd. For every post you can find on a blog or message board predicting 7-10 wins for this year, you'll find several others saying that this year (and next, to some extent) was going to be a tough year because of the lack of talent, a lack which is directly attributable to Willingham's piss-poor recruiting.

THAT said, the fact that ND's performance this year has been SO bad is clearly NOT Willingham's fault. This team has looked lost, frightened, discouraged, and downright heartless in its first three games, and a huge part of the blame for that falls squarely on ND's coaching staff. Should we be 0-3 right now, given our utter dearth of upperclass talent and the quality of opponents we've played? Probably. Should we have looked like the absolute worst team in I-A? Surely not.

Being mocked for our tendency to blame this season's awfulness on Willingham may sting a bit, but it's deserved. Unless our boys step it up come Saturday afternoon, we'll deserve whatever scorn Forde and the rest of the ESPN crew throw our way next week as well.

Rounding Up the National HS Football Rankings

2007-09-18T07:22:00.001-07:00

Here's an update on where some of our current committed players' and recruits' teams stand in the various national rankings.

S commit Dan McCarthy's Cardinal Mooney (Ohio) team, for which he plays QB but is primarily a runner, is ranked #8 nationally by MaxPreps, #15 nationally by ESPN, #11 nationally by USA Today, #18 nationally by PrepNation, and #13 nationally by Rivals. ESPN also has them ranked #3 in the Midwest, USA Today has them #2 in this group, PrepNation has them #3,
QB commit Dayne Crist and LB commit Anthony McDonald's Sherman Oaks Notre Dame (Calif.) team is ranked #23 nationally by ESPN, #19 nationally by USA Today, and #25 nationally by Rivals. They are also ranked #5 in the West by both ESPN and USA Today, and #4 in the West Coast region by PrepNation.
TE commit Joseph Fauria's Crespi (Calif.) team is ranked #22 nationally by MaxPreps.
LB commit Steve Filer's Mount Carmel (Ill.) team is ranked #17 nationally by MaxPreps and #30 nationally by Rivals. It is also ranked #6 in the Midwest by USA Today, #4 in the Midwest by PrepNation
DE commit Darius Fleming's St. Rita's (Ill.) team, which lost to Mount Carmel this weekend, fell from the ESPN and Rivals rankings, as did TE commit Kyle Rudolph's Elder (Ohio) team. St. Rita's is still ranked #10 in the Midwest by PrepNation.
WR recruit Michael Floyd's Cretin-Derham Hall (Minn.) team is ranked #40 nationally by Rivals, #7 in the Midwest by ESPN, and #5 in the "Midlands" region by PrepNation, and RB recruit Cyrus Gray's DeSoto (Texas) team is ranked #6 in the Southwest region by PrepNation.

(Via ESPN, USA Today (also here), MaxPreps, PrepNation, and Rivals.) Want to talk more about ND football and recruiting? Then head over to IrishEnvy ...

Irish Roundup: Friday Night Lights Edition, 9/17/07

2007-09-15T07:25:00.000-07:00

Here's a rundown of how our currently committed players and primary recruiting targets for the current year fared in their games this past weekend.

Commits:

In the biggest Chicago-area game this week, Steve Filer returned an interception 58 yards for a touchdown as his Mount Carmel (Ill.) team defeated Darius Fleming's No. 1 St. Rita's team, which had recently been ranked #10 in the nation by SI and #2 in the Midwest by Rivals, 35-19. Fleming had seven tackles for St. Rita's.
David Posluszny (pictured here) had nine carries for 57 yards and a 2-yard TD score, as well as a key 13-yard sack to end a potential scoring drive, as his Hopewell (Pa.) team blew past Ambridge, 32-7.
Sean Cwynar headed what was described as a "stellar defensive effort" by his Marian Central (Ill.) team - who suited up only 23 players - as they defeated Marmion, 35-0.
Brandon Newman's Pleasure Ridge Park (Ky.) team came up short on a last-minute comeback and fell to Eastern, 26-21, to drop to 1-3 on the season.
Jamoris Slaughter's Tucker (Ga.) team blew out Lakeside-Dekalb, 62-0.
Hafis Williams's Elizabeth (N.J.) team, which had been ranked #3 in the state, lost to Hudson Catholic, 14-7.
Lane Clelland's McDonogh (Md.) team came up short on their final drive and lost to Penn Charter, 3-0.
Joseph Fauria had a key 26-yard reception on fourth down and also caught an eight yard touchdown pass, but his Crespi (Ca.) team came up short against Centennial, 41-20, who had been ranked #4 in the nation by MaxPreps.
John Goodman returned the opening kickoff 93 yards for a touchdown, and his Bishop Dwenger (Ind.) team never looked back, defeating Elmhurst 52-14.
Dan McCarthy was five of six passing for 116 yards and a 24-yard touchdown, and scored two more TD's of his own, including a 13-yard run and as 70-yard punt return, as his Cardinal Mooney (Ohio) team, currently ranked #8 in the nation by MaxPreps, shut out Harding, 49-0.
Dayne Crist threw for 225 yards and two scores and ran another in himself from 23 yards as his - and fellow commit Anthony McDonald's - Sherman Oaks Notre Dame (Ca.) team defeated Lynwood, 35-13.
Braxston Cave's Penn (Ind.) team defeated St. Joseph's, 28-13.
Kyle Rudolph caught touchdown passes of 10 and 13 yards but it wasn't enough, as his Elder (Ohio) team was upset by La Salle, 28-19.
Omar Hunter helped his Buford (Ga.) team hold Avondale to 28 yards rushing on 29 carries in a 63-6 blowout victory.
Ethan Johnson sat out with a leg injury as his Lincoln (Ore.) team turned the ball over seven times and was held to minus-4 yards rushing in a 28-7 loss to Southridge.
Robert Blanton's Butler (Ga.) team fell to 0-3 as they lost to Burke County, 36-0.
Mike Golic, Jr.'s Northwest Catholic (Conn.) team lost their season opener, 27-21 to New London.

Recruits:

Carlton Thomas rushed for 142 yards on 21 carries, with touchdown runs of three and 34 yards, as his Frostproof team defeated Mulberry, 26-0, to improve to 2-1 on the season.
Kenneth Page's A.C. Flora (Ga.) team lost to Chester, 8-0.
Michael Floyd's Cretin-Derham Hall (Minn.) team defeated Woodbury, 42-13.
Jonathan Baldwin caught a six-yard TD pass and also scored on a two-point conversion as his Aliquippa (Pa.) team shut out Freedom, 26-0.
Trevor Robinson's Elkhorn (Neb.) team blew out York, 54-7.
Cyrus Gray's DeSoto (Tx.) team moved to its third consecutive 3-0 start as they defeated Anderson County, 48-20.
Ryan Williams's Stonewall Jackson (Va.) team defeated Forest Park, 27-6.

Want to learn and talk more about Irish recruiting, our our currently committed players? Want to discuss this article and others? Head over to IrishEnvy.com ...

Irish Roundup: Friday Night Lights Edition, Part II

2007-09-09T07:22:00.000-07:00

Here's a rundown of how those of our committed players and primary recruits for the '08 class whose games I didn't cover yesterday fared this week:

On Saturday, commit Jamoris Slaughter's Tucker team had a huge, 30-0 win against rival Marist.
Also on Saturday, commit Hafis Williams's Elizabeth team defeated Plainfield, 20-13.
And once again on Saturday, commit Lane Clelland's McDonogh School team defeated Archbishop Curley, 28-14.
And on Friday, commit Joseph Fauria caught two touchdowns as his Crespi team defeated Kennedy, 48-0.
Finally, the one major recruit I forgot about yesterday was Kenneth Page, whose A.C. Flora team defeated Mid-Carolina, 10-7.

Irish Roundup: Friday Night Lights Edition

2007-09-08T06:54:00.000-07:00

Here's a rundown of how our current group of commitments and major recruiting prospects did in their games this week.

Commits:

John Goodman's Bishop Dwenger team held off a late comeback by Northrop to win, 22-14.
Dan McCarthy scored three touchdowns - one each by a pass, a rush, and a 67-yard punt return - as his Cardinal Mooney team shut out Archbishop Hogan, 34-0, to extend their winning streak to 18 games. McCarthy was 5 of 7 passing for 117 yards.
Despite facing a constant pass rush and never having a chance to get comfortable, Dayne Crist (in-game photos here and here) was 13 of 26 passing for 176 yards (or maybe 12 of 25 for 166, depending on whom you believe) and also rushed nine times for 74 yards as his Notre Dame team defeated Canyon, 17-7. Teammate and fellow commit Anthony McDonald is (I think) pictured here, wearing #54.
David Posluszny's Hopewell team came back from a halftime deficit to defeat West Mifflin, 17-7.
Darius Fleming's St. Rita's team shut out Leo, 35-0.
Steve Filer's Mt. Carmel team, which plays St. Rita's next Friday, defeated Providence, 35-14.
Brandon Newman's Pleasure Ridge Park team blew out Doss, 47-6.
Braxston Cave's Penn team shut out Broad Ripple, 39-0.
Kyle Rudolph's Elder team defeated Oak Hills, 21-16.
Omar Hunter's Buford team dominated Cartersville, 40-0.
Sean Cwynar's Marion team scored 20 unanswered points in the second half to defeat Harrisburg, 20-19.
Ethan Johnson's Lincoln team lost to Tigard, 32-21 (video here). The game was liveblogged at the Oregonian, but Johnson seems to have had a quiet day so there's not much to read.
Jamoris Slaughter's Tucker team has a big game against Marist tonight. Hafis Williams and Lane Clelland also play their games today, while Robert Blanton and Mike Golic, Jr. are both off this week.
I haven't yet been able to find results for Joseph Fauria's Crespi team, which did play yesterday.

Recruits:

Carlton Thomas's Frostproof team lost to Lake Region, 14-13.
Michael Floyd's Cretin-Derham team shut out Hastings, 55-0.
Jonathan Baldwin's Aliquippa team blew out Sto-Rox, 42-6.
Jeremy Brown's Boone team lost to Timber Lake, 7-6.
Trevor Robinson's Elkhorn team blew out Gretna, 47-7.
Cyrus Gray's De Soto team pulled away late to defeat Summer Academy, 26-10.
And finally, Ryan Williams's Stonewall Jackson team lost in overtime to Clarke, 13-12.

I'll be back tomorrow to fill in the gaps in this coverage.

Today's Roundup: Post-Postmortem Edition

2007-09-03T07:00:00.000-07:00

Here's a rundown of what's being said about ND football in the wake of Saturday's debacle ...

News:

As everyone of course knows, Notre Dame lost to Georgia Tech on Saturday by a final score of 33-3. Local coverage of the game itself is provided by the South Bend Tribune (more here), the Fort Wayne Journal-Gazette (more here), the Chicago Tribune, the Sun-Times, the Indianapolis Star, and the Elkhart Truth. BGI has a quarter-by-quarter rundown of the game. For the masochists among us, some Tech-centered coverage is provided by the AJC.
Some coverage of Weis's post-game press conference is provided by the Elkhart Truth and BGI. Video of the press conference is available here.
So far as adjustments for next week go, Charlie Weis has said that he will announce in his press conference on Tuesday who the starter will be for next Saturday's game against Penn State. More coverage of the quarterback situation is provided by the Indy Star, the Sun-Times (more here and here), the Chicago Tribune, and the South Bend Tribune (more here).
Meanwhile, the loss is leading many who follow the Irish to reconsider their lofty predictions for the '07 season. For coverage in this vein, see the South Bend Tribune (also here, if you really need to see Jeff Carroll gloat), the Northwest Indiana Times, the Gary Post-Tribune, and Michael Rothstein's blog. And for a more hopeful outlook, check out this piece in the SB Trib.
For coverage of how our defense fared, see the South Bend Tribune.
And for coverage geared toward the offensive side of the ball, see the Fort Wayne Journal-Gazette, the Indianapolis Star, the Northwest Indiana Times, and the Elkhart Truth.

Views:

Ben Ford grades the players and coaches from Saturday's game.
Like many people, Ben Ford thinks it's time for Jimmy Clausen to start.

Players:

Demetrius Jones, who started at QB for the Irish on Saturday, was profiled in Sunday's Chicago Tribune. For what it's worth, he says that he DOES anticipate starting next Saturday.

Recruiting:

According to a free piece from Scout.com, WR recruit Deion Walker has a current "top three" of Penn State, Florida State, and LSU. He will be at next week's game as an official visitor to PSU, and says he is "considering" taking an official visit to Notre Dame. For what it's worth, his take on Saturday's blowout was that "it showed that they [ND] need wide receivers and made me think that it might be a good place to be and do some things."

And that's all I have to report for now. Hopefully there will be some more interesting and less debacle-centered news to pass along tomorrow.

Irish Roundup: Friday Night Lights edition, Part III

2007-09-02T08:25:00.000-07:00

I've already recapped how our current group of '08 commitments did in this week's HS football games (see here and here), but here's a rundown of how the major uncommitted prospects ND has been seeking did this week (I couldn't find anything on Ryan Williams - leave it in the comments if you know anything):

Despite sitting out most of the second half with cramps, Carlton Thomas - who arrived at ND on Saturday for an official visit (a sighting was reported here) - had 285 yards rushing, including a 98-yard TD, as his Frostproof team defeated Victory Christian, 14-0. This followed up a 228-yard effort in his season opener
Despite not even playing past the middle of the second quarter, Michael Floyd had three receptions for 77 yards and threw a 24-yard option pass on his team's first play from scrimmage as his Cretin-Derham Hall team overwhelmed Forest Lake, 56-7.
Jonathan Baldwin's Aliquippa team lost to Ambridge, 36-26.
Jeremy Brown's Boone team defeated Lake Mary, 10-3.
Trevor Robinson's Elkhorn team defeated Beatrice, 35-28 in overtime.
And Cyrus Gray's DeSoto team defeated Ottawa, 38-22.

Today's Roundup: Friday Night Lights Edition, Part II

2007-09-01T22:04:00.000-07:00

Here are the results from our current '08 commitments who played in Saturday games this weekend (the results from Friday's games are below):

TE commit Kyle Rudolph had four catches for 57 yards and two touchdowns, including a game-tying grab with 8:42 to go in regulation, as his Elder team moved to 1-1 on the season by defeating football giant Charlotte Independence (North Carolina), who had been ranked #3 nationally by USA Today, 41-34 in overtime in the Herbstreit Challenge (photos here). The loss ended Independence's 109-game winning streak.
DL commit Omar Hunter forced a fumble (see the first picture here) on a sack of the quarterback as his Buford team defeated Grove City (Pennsylvania), 34-7, also in the Herbstreit Challenge.
S commit Dan McCarthy, who quarterbacks his high school team, ran 20 times for 130 yards, completed two passes for 43 yards, and scored three touchdowns - two rushing, on a 43-yard pass - as his Cardinal Mooney team defeated Gateway (Pennsylvania), 27-6, once again in the Herbstreit Challenge. Before the game, Gateway had been ranked #10 nationally by USA Today, and Mooney was at #25.
Finally, DL commit Sean Cwynar's Marian Central team defeated Stillman Valley, 41-19.

I should also mention that all of the Herbstreit Challenge games will be shown today - that's Sunday - on the NFL Network. I'll be back tomorrow with team-related news and recaps of the, err, postmortem from yesterday's game.

Irish Roundup: Special Friday Night Lights Edition

2007-09-01T06:05:00.000-07:00

Here's a quick rundown of how our current group of commitments fared in their football games this week:

John Goodman, who plays QB for his HS team, had 71 yards rushing on eight attempts and two touchdowns, as Bishop Dwenger defeated Northside, 43-3, to improve to 3-0. Up next: Northrop (0-3).
David Pozluzny scored on a 26-yard touchdown run as his Hopewell team defeated Carrick, 48-14.
Robert Blanton's Butler team lost to Lackey, 47-0.
Steve Filer's Mt. Carmel team defeated St. Ignatius, 38-0.
Darius Fleming's St. Rita's team defeated De La Salle, 38-15.
Brandon Newman's Pleasure Ridge Park team lost to Indianapolis Cathedral, 35-7.
Braxston Cave's Penn team defeated Marian, 47-7.
Joseph Fauria's Crespi team defeated Birmingham, 20-6 (more here). (Photos here and here.)
Jamoris Slaughter's Tucker team defeated Miller Grove, 43-0. Video is available here (the fourth clip in the leftmost column of the little grid of videos).
The following players don't have league games this week: Mike Golic, Jr., Anthony McDonald, Dayne Crist, Ethan Johnson, Hafis Williams, and Lane Clelland.
The following players have games on Saturday: Sean Cwynar, Dan McCarthy, Kyle Rudolph, and Omar Hunter. I hope to be back tomorrow to review those results.

Today's Roundup: 8/31/07

2007-08-31T09:37:00.000-07:00

News:

Well, the secret is apparently out (or is it?) as to who our starting QB is, and no, it wasn't just the blogosphere that couldn't keep its proverbial mouth shut. (DomerLaw has a rundown of that whole fiasco here.) Charlie Weis, meanwhile, is NOT HAPPY. I only report the news, and it's not my role to comment on it - so in the spirit of "Just the facts, ma'am", I'll just, umm, report that I think it's a shame that certain people couldn't respect the desire for secrecy, and that it's a fact that a certain site isn't making it into my blogroll any time soon. More on the QB situation from the Fort Wayne Journal-Gazette, the Gary Post-Tribune, and OC Domer.
Meanwhile, there's FOOTBALL tomorrow! The geniuses at BGS preview the GT game here, and UND.com has a twenty-minute long highlight video to help get you totally psyched. The Fort Wayne Journal Gazette also discusses our expectations for the season, as do the Northwest Indiana Times, the Chicago Tribune, and USA Today.
Yesterday's practice is covered, as always, by Michael Rothstein and Ben Ford.

Views:

Scout.com's Mike Frank predicts an Irish win tomorrow.
Meanwhile, Pete at BGS seems to be going a little crazy.

Players and Coaches:

I know I already linked to it, but anyone who hasn't read the SB Tribune's profile of Corwin Brown needs to do so, NOW.
UND.com has the transcript of yesterday's press conference with Tom Zbikowski and Maurice Crum.
The Northwest Indiana Times discusses James Aldridge's role in tomorrow's game.
There's an AP article on Tom Zbikoswski's hopes for a resurgence this year.

Opponents:

BGS completes their position-by-position preview of our opponents with a discussion of their defensive backs, and sums things up here.
The AJC offers a Tech-centered perspective on tomorrow's game.

Recruits:

'08 QB recruit Dayne Crist is profiled in the LA Daily News.

Today's Roundup: 8/30/07

2007-08-30T05:46:00.000-07:00

News:

I'm not going to link to the - ahem - rumors that have - ahem - surfaced concerning the starting quarterback, except to say that (1) the Tech staff probably won't ever hear about them, (2) if they do, they'll probably just disregard them, and (3) if they DON'T disregard them, it's pretty much too late for them to do anything about them anyway. Or at least that's what I hope.
Yesterday's practice is nicely covered, as always, by Michael Rothstein and Ben Ford.
Dan Silver of BGI has a new installment of his ever-interesting News and Views column.

Views:

The guys at BGS do a great job of taking to task all the people who've been whining about Weis's decision not to reveal the starting QB. They also offer their in-depth - and remarkably optimistic! - predictions for the season, and ask you to offer your own.
SBT columnist Jeff Carroll goes after the university's decision not to punish defensive lineman Derrell Hand more severely. If Carroll were less of a vengeful jerkoff, I'd be inclined to take what he says with something less than a pillar of salt. But he's not, so I'm not. Carroll also covers some key questions for the upcoming season.
Jason Kelly of the South Bend Tribune offer some entertaining predictions for the '07 season.
The folks at ND Nation have put together an excellent piece on what we have to look forward to on Saturday.
The Chicago Sun-Times reminds us that our real focus should be on the defense, not the QB spot. The Gary Post-Tribune also discusses how ND is adjusting to the new defensive scheme.
Apparently our quintuplet of running backs is going to be known as the "five-headed horseman".

Players:

Rock's House is showing competing YouTube videos of freshman kick returners Armando Allen and Golden Tate.
UHND tells you what to expect from each of our freshmen this year.
Michael Rothstein offers a bit more perspective on the Ambrose Wooden situation, and Ben Ford has a nice article on Darrin Walls, who's moved ahead of Wooden on the depth chart this year.
The Observer discusses Trevor Laws's crucial role in anchoring the Irish defensive line.
The South Bend Tribune has an article on how Pilates - that's right, Pilates! - helped Irish offensive lineman Dan Wenger recover from a wrist injury, and on what he hopes to accomplish this year.
BGI has a nice article on fullback Asaph Schwapp's family ties.

Recruits:

Last night's Irish Eyes Power Hour has an interview with '08 CB commit Jamoris Slaughter.
'08 DL commit Ethan Johnson is profiled in the Oregonian, and '08 superstar WR recruit Michael Floyd is profiled in the Minneapolis Star-Tribune.

Opponents:

AOL Fanblogger Brian Stouffer nicely parodies the media response to the secrecy concerning ND's QB battle by jokingly taking GT coach Chan Gailey to task for his own secrecy.
GT quarterback Taylor Bennett is profiled in an AP article.
The Chicago Tribune discusses the challenges ND will face in the swarming Georgia Tech defense, and the Gary Post-Tribune talks about the challenge of picking up the blitz.

Alumni:

Finally, in another Post-Tribune article, former defensive lineman Chris Zorich voices some strikingly frank worries about the 3-4 scheme.

Today's Roundup: 8/29/07

2007-08-29T05:34:00.001-07:00

News:

The biggest news from yesterday is that junior nose guard Derrell Hand, who was arrested for soliciting a prostitute a few weeks back, has been suspended for the first three games of the season. Coach Weis says the decision to suspend Hand was his, not the school's.
Contrary to the BGI report that sophomore WR Richard Jackson will miss the entire season with a fractured wrist, Coach Weis says he has been practicing and will be available to play. Jackson was not, however, listed among the top seven receivers on ND's depth chart.
There was practice yesterday, the first twenty minutes of which are dutifully covered by Ben Ford and Michael Rothstein.
After practice, Weis told the players - but not the media - who the starting quarterback will be. The SB Tribune offers some insight into the QB situation, together with a quick rundown of some other news, and the Fort Wayne News-Sentinel has a funny piece about the impossible task of analyzing QB reps in practice to figure out who the starter is, together once again with a news rundown.
UND.com has transcripts of the press conferences with Charlie Weis and John Carlson and Travis Thomas.

Views:

eTruth's Ben Ford offers a rundown of the depth chart released yesterday, with a bit of commentary. Michael Rothstein weighs in with some analysis as well, as does the Domer Law Blog.
AOL Fanblogger Brian Stouffer offers some perspective on the Derrell Hand situation.
The Rock Report offers some sane analysis of what we should expect for the '07 season.
The IRT points out that with fans of both ND and GT expecting big wins on Saturday, something's gotta give. No prizes for guessing their pick.
I'm not sure if I should link to it, but the other day I failed to mention Stewrat Mandel's wonderful bit of, err, analysis of Charlie Weis's decision not to reveal the starting QB before the GT game. Shove it, Stewrat.

Players and Coaches:

The Observer has a nice piece on the status of the kicking game - where sophomore walk-on Nate Whitaker and freshman Brandon Walker are currently listed as co-starters. Walker is also profiled by the South Bend Tribune.
Ben Ford's eTruth blog has a nice piece on QB coach Ron Powlus.
The Fort Wayne Journal-Gazette has an article on freshman kick-returners Armando Allen and Golden Tate.
The South Bend Tribune has a profile of first-year defensive coordinator Corwin Brown.
The Chicago Tribune discusses defensive lineman Pat Kuntz and his crazy mohawk hairdo.

Recruiting:

'08 RB prospect Carlton Thomas is expected to be making an official visit to ND this weekend, and there are reports that '08 WR prospect Jonathan Baldwin may be visiting as well.

Opponents:

The Blue-Gray Sky continues their position-by-position analysis of our '07 opponents with a discussion of the linebacker position. In case you've missed it, they've already covered quarterbacks, running backs, wideouts, offensive linemen and tight ends, and defensive linemen.
The AJC reports that Georgia Tech coach Chan Gailey won't say whether freshman QB Josh Nesbitt will see the field in some special offensive sets.

Alumni:

Michael Rothstein's Irish Insights blog has an interview with former Irish defensive lineman Ronald Talley.
Patriots CB Mike Richardson, who seemed to be doing really well in camp, has broken his hand and will be on injured reserve for the season.

Today's Roundup: 8/28/07

2007-08-28T06:05:00.000-07:00

News:

Kickoff against Georgia Tech is just four days away, and the official ND athletic site has a huge rundown of notes for our season opener (in .pdf here).
The official depth chart for the start of the season has been released (in .html here), and while it doesn't specify winners of a few key battles (QB of course, but also RDE, ILB, and the kickers), there is still plenty to talk about. Most strikingly, as has been noted, it seems that sophomore Darrin Walls has replaced fifth-year senior and returning starter Ambrose Wooden at the LCB spot. Also notable: Armando Allen up there with James Aldridge and Junior Jabbie for the #2 RB spot, Will Yeatman ahead of Konrad Reuland as the #2 TE, and Allen and fellow freshman Golden Tate as the primary kick returners. UHND.com has more analysis here.
Rakes of Mallow has some more perspective on Sunday's open practice.

Views:

Ben Ford covers the top quotes of training camp from the ever-loquacious Charlie Weis.

Players:

The South Bend Tribune has a nice profile of freshman wideout Golden Tate.

Recruiting:

The LA Times has a profile of '08 TE commit Joseph Fauria.
And I know it's a few days old, but the Chicago Sun-Times has a pretty lengthy Q&A with '08 DL commit Darius Fleming.

Alumni:

Rhema McKnight has been released by the Chargers, who had picked him up after he was cut by the Saints.

Today's Roundup: 8/27/07

2007-08-27T06:33:00.000-07:00

News:

Yesterday's practice was open to students. NDNation has a rundown of student evaluations, and Jason Pham of IrishEnvy offered his own, typically lengthy take.
ESPN.com has an article about the many questions ND will be facing this year. The writer's hunch, which he inexplicably puts forward as a bit of breaking news, is that Demetrius Jones will be the starter under center.

Views:

Michael Rothstein's Irish Insights blog has a nice mailbag.
Ben Ford of eTruth continues his rundown of the "top quotes from camp" by covering the defensive side of the ball.
Tim Prister of the Indy Star has game-by-game predictions for the '07 season. His predicted finish: 9-4, with a victory in the Gator Bowl.
Steve Greenberg of the Sporting News thinks Charlie Weis is doing "a disservice to the Irish" by not announcing the starting QB in advance. John thinks Steve Greenberg is doing a disservice to the world by being alive.

Players:

eTruth's Ben Ford has a nice article on Brandon Walker and the other Irish kickers.
Yesterday's Indy Star had an article on Travis Thomas, and another one on John Carlson.
UHND has a profile of freshman linebacker Brian Smith, who really is a great story.
Yesterday's Sun-Times had an article on why Jimmy Clausen is a rock star.

Recruiting:

'08 WR commit John Goodman had a solid day at the QB spot as his HS team won their season opener.
'08 DL commit Omar Hunter is profiled in the Gwinnett Daily Post.

Opponents:

The AJC has an article about how Georgia Tech is trying to prepare for the possibility of facing each of our three quarterbacks.

Today's Roundup: 8/26/07

2007-08-26T06:10:00.000-07:00

News:

I don't think there was practice yesterday, so there's no real news to report either. Plenty of good stuff in the other categories, though!

Views:

Asshat of the Week Jeff Carroll (no, I'm not going to link to the piece itself) continued his ongoing gripe against Jimmy Clausen, saying blah blah blah ... well, why not just stick with reading the Rock's brilliant takedown?
Ben Ford's excellent eTruth blog has a nice rundown of the "top quotes of training camp" from the offensive side of the ball.
OCDomer has a bunch of predictions for the '07 season. The Sports Network has a season preview as well.

Players:

The SB Tribune has a nice article on the current freshmen.
Aussie punter Xavier Burton has been cut from the team.
The Chicago Tribune has an article on Tom Zbikowski's plans for a resurgence this year, and so does the Indianapolis Star.
Ben Ford has a nice article up on eTruth about how LB's Anthony Vernaglia and John Ryan are adjusting to the 3-4 system.
Ford also has an article about how Jimmy Clausen doesn't really mind being under the spotlight. The Chicago Tribune also has an article about him, this time about how he just can't please everyone.

Recruiting:

'08 CB commit Robert Blanton's ridiculous talent was apparently on display in his HS team's season opener.
The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette has a "blue chip chat" with '08 LB commit David Pozluzny. Check out the tough-looking picture of him.
'09 prospect Wesley Tate (yes, he's Golden's brother) apparently had a huge night in what was unfortunately a losing effort for his HS team in their season opener.

Alumni:

Michael Rothstein's Irish Insights blog has a nice interview with Darius Walker, who is still in the employ of the Houston Texans.
In case you missed it, Brady Quinn looked great again for the Browns last night, finishing 7-11 for 81 yards and one touchdown, with another 39-yard touchdown taken away from him on what was clearly a bad out-of-bounds call.

Six more days until football!!

Today's Roundup: Saturday, 8/25/07

2007-08-25T05:10:00.001-07:00

News:

Yesterday was Hound Jimmy Clausen ... err, I mean Freshman Media Day. There is a nice rundown of what the various kids said at the UHND blog: the defensive linemen (Williams, Nuss, Nwankwo) are here, the defensive backs (Gray, Smith) here, the linebackers (Neal, Smith, Nagel) here, the offensive linemen (Romine, Dever) here, the wide-outs and tight ends (Tate, Kamara, Ragone) here, and the running backs (Allen, Hughes) here. Michael Rothstein's Irish Insights blog offers some nice perspective (scroll to the bottom of the entry). There is video footage of the interviews with the freshmen (poor Jimmy Clausen gets his own full clip, of course) available at UND.
Charlie Weis also met with the media yesterday, which is nicely covered at Rakes of Mallow. Video footage is, once again, at UND.
And, oh yeah, there was also FOOTBALL PRACTICE. Ben Ford of eTruth has his daily rundown, and Michael Rothstein makes some observations as well. Blue & Gold has video here.

Views:

Matt Hayes of the Sporting News thinks Charlie Weis should tell us who's going to be starting. John thinks Matt Hayes should ... oh, never mind.
The ND/SMC Observer previews the upcoming season.

Players:

The Chicago Sun-Times has a longish article about John Carlson: his hopes for the season, and how close he is to his dad and his brother.
eTruth's Ben Ford has a nice blog rundown of yesterday's interviews with Jimmy Clausen. The big news, of course, is that Clausen confirmed that he had elbow surgery last year. The Chicago Tribune and Fort Wayne Journal-Gazette offer some perspective.

Recruiting:

A quick rundown: Florida RB Carlton Thomas will be visiting on 9/1 for the Georgia Tech game, but says he won't announce until he's made all his visits. Minnesota WR Michael Floyd is thought to have a top two of ND and OSU. Texas DE Chancey Aghayere may be making a token visit to ND for the MSU game, but don't bother getting your hopes up.
'08 verbal commitment Dan McCarthy (who will be a safety at ND) plays QB for a really good high school team. He had 128 rushing yards including a 70-yard TD to seal the victory in their season opener.

Just one more week until football ...