Notre Dame at Pittsburgh review

           It sure wasn’t pretty, but the Fighting Irish got the victory over the Pittsburgh Panthers on Saturday, 15-12. It was probably one of the most boring games I have ever watched. Besides the five scoring drives between each team the game was just penalty after penalty, and dropped pass after dropped pass, with the occasional run for no yards. It was a sloppy game that wasn’t really a “defensive battle” as much as it was “offensive ineptness”.

3 things I liked

Tyler Eifert- Eifert made a name for himself last season after filling in for injured starting tight end, Kyle Rudolph. This year there is no Rudolph, so Eifert has been the starter. He has had a good season but he definitely had the best game of his career on Saturday against Pitt. While the entire Panther’s defense was focused on stopping wide receiver, Michael Floyd, Eifert was open in the middle of the field all day. Eifert also made the game-winning catch in the 4^th quarter and finished the day with 8 catches for 75 yards. Eifert was born and raised in Fort Wayne, Indiana so it’s pretty cool to watch a fellow Hoosier make an impact for the Irish.

Jonas Gray- Gray is the “backup” (I explain this in a second) running back, playing behind Cierre Wood.  Gray is a senior, while Wood is a junior, so it’s nice to see Gray get a lot of touches in his final season. He has never been the starter during his career at Notre Dame, but he proved on Saturday that he has the talent to be a starter. Gray only ran the ball three times in the game, but his run of 79 for a touchdown was fantastic. He took the handoff, found the hole, broke through a couple of tackles, and sprinted into the endzone.

             
            Having Gray and Wood in the backfield gives the Irish offense a great advantage over opposing defenses. Both have their own style of running; Gray is more power while Wood is more finesse, but both have the speed to get into the secondary. Although Gray plays behind Wood, it’s not like he’s Wood’s backup. Both guys are great and either could start ahead of the other.

Defense- All everybody talks about is how incredible the offense is, but this unit deserves a lot of props for what they do. In four games this season they have given up eight touchdowns and seven field goals.  Check out these other defenses and how much they’ve given up:

#1 LSU- 6 TD’s and 5 FG’s

#2 Oklahoma- 7 TD’s 2 FG’s

#3 Alabama- 4 TD’s and 1 FG

#5 Oklahoma State- 11 TD’s and 6 FG’s

#13 Clemson-12 TD’s and 6 FG’s

Notre Dame- 8 TD’s and 7 FG’s

            
            Ok, so the Irish definitely aren’t anywhere near LSU, Oklahoma, or Alabama, but they’re just as good, if not better, than Oklahoma State and Clemson.  You have to remember though; Notre Dame’s offense has given up the ball 15 times, that’s the worst of any team in America.

            
            The Irish defense also racked up six more sacks against Pitt, proving that the defensive line for the Irish is a force to be reckoned with.

3 Things I didn’t like

Tommy Rees- You know I support you Tommy, but god did you make it hard to. Rees finished the game 24/41 on passing, with 216 yards and one touchdown, which isn’t a bad game at all. Then consider the interception and fumble he had and it’s pretty disappointing. Rees threw a lot of passes that left me shaking my head in utter confusion. Over and over he would snap the ball, drop back, and stare at the receiver he wanted to throw to, then try and force the ball to the receiver. Look around! Look at your other receivers! He makes it so obvious where he’s going to throw it. He needs to learn to look for 2-3 receivers each play, not just one.

Penalties- The Irish committed 8 penalties for 85 yards. That’s way too many esp. when the Irish offense turning the ball over and shooting itself in the foot every other drive.

           
            The worst of these penalties came in the 4^th quarter. The Panthers were punting near their own goal line and a Notre Dame defender went to block the kick and scraped against the punter’s foot. This was apparently such a traumatic and endangering play to the punter that the official called “roughing the kicker”. This resulted in the Panthers moving up 15 yards and getting an automatic 1^st down.

            
            The same call was made in favor of the Irish in the 1^st half, but even that penalty should not have been called. It appeared the Panther’s defender smacked into the Irish punter’s legs, but it was all an acting job by the punter.

            
            Moral of the story, there should be a better way to examine what actually happens during punting plays. It is absolutely insane to penalize a player that doesn’t affect the punter or the punter’s punting (That’s a lot, I know). There should be a 5-yard and 15-yard penalty, depending on how hard the defender hits the punter. In both cases on Saturday, a 5-yard penalty would have been appropriate.

            
            Not to keep harping on this, but I am SOOO sick of Big 10 officials at Notre Dame games. I swear the Big 10 wants the Fighting Irish to lose every game they referee.

Start time- I know what you’re thinking, “start time? How does that relate to the game?” Beside the fact that fans had to start the party a little earlier; it also meant this was the first game Notre Dame has had to play this season with a start time before 3:30 p.m. Before this they played a home game at 3:30 p.m., an away game in Ann Arbor(which is about 2 hours away from South Bend) at 8:00 p.m., and a home game at 3:30 p.m. Not only was this the first game that the Irish really had to travel to get too, but they had to wake up a few hours earlier.

           

             
            In my preview I noted that three keys to a victory would be: limit turnovers, don’t give up any big plays, and manage the offense. Notre Dame only had two turnovers, but did Rees did not manage the offense at all. Rees needs to learn that he has several people on the team that have big play capability and get the ball to those players. The defense did prevent Pittsburgh from getting any big plays as they held Pitt to just 268 total yards.

             I also predicted a final score of: N.D.-35, Pitt.-16. I was only a little off, right?

            Next up for Notre Dame is the Purdue Boilermakers and the Battle for the Shillelagh. The Boilermakers had a bye week so they’ve had an extra week to get ready for the Irish. The game is at 8:00 p.m. so the Irish should be good and ready to play.

Notre Dame at Pittsburgh preview

           
            The Notre Dame Fighting Irish are looking to even up their record at 2-2 after defeating Michigan State last weekend, 31-13. The Irish proved in their victory over Michigan State that they are a great team that is able to win every game they play in. If they play the same way against the University of Pittsburgh Panthers, they should have no problem winning the game.

            
            The Pitt Panthers are 2-1 with wins over Maine and Buffalo (oooohhhh I’m so impressed) and a loss at Iowa. The Panthers have a pretty mediocre team. They rank in the mid-50’s (out of 120 teams) in passing and rushing yards. Their defense is even worse. Their pass defense is ranked 119^th and total defense is 97^th. To sum things up here; Notre Dame should shut down Pitt’s offense, and Pitt’s defense won’t have a chance against Notre Dame’s offense. This doesn’t mean it’s gonna be a cakewalk though. The Irish need to come out and show that they are the best team on the field.

Keys to the game

Limit Turnovers- So I’m gonna stop asking for “no turnovers” because that appears impossible for the Irish. They had five in each of their first two games and three last week. That’s 13 in three games and the worst in America. Maybe there‘s a pattern here. 5-5-5-_.That means three this week!

Don’t give up any big plays- This means no plays that bring Pitt back into the game or win the game. This includes, but not limited to: kick returns for touchdowns, turnovers returned for touchdowns, long pass plays for touchdowns, and long runs for touchdowns. Notre Dame’s defense has given up several of these “big plays”. This was the biggest problem the Irish had in their loss to Michigan, esp. in the 4^th quarter.

Manage the offense- This one is for Irish quarterback, Tommy Rees. This isn’t gonna be a game where he needs to throw the ball deep every play and attempt to score touchdown after touchdown (like he’s had to do in the past three games). Rees just needs to keep the offense in rhythm and moving forward. Let the running backs, Cierre Wood and Jonas Gray, do the hard work on the ground. Then spread the ball around to the receivers and tight ends.

            
            Pittsburgh is nowhere near as talented as the past three opponents have been for the Irish; all of which have been fairly close games that weren’t decided until the final quarter. That being said, this should be a pretty easy game for Notre Dame fans to watch.

My predicted score: Notre Dame-35, Pittsburgh-16

So I decided to drop this bomb. Yeah, that's Taylor Swift, decked out in Notre Dame gear. Swift was on the sidelines for the Michigan State game last Saturday (9/17). I think this basically solidifies the fact that we were meant to get married.

Notre Dame Wins!

           It’s a good day to be Irish. The Notre Dame Fighting Irish won their first game of the season against the #15 Michigan State Spartans.  It should not have taken three weeks to write “first win of the season”, but better now than later. The Fighting Irish didn’t play clean, but they played hard on both sides of the ball and won 31-13.

-The score was 28-13 with three minutes left. If Notre Dame’s David Ruffer hadn’t made a field goal I would’ve been spot on with my predicted score of 28-14.

3 Things I liked

Defensive Front- I swear I need to be getting paid to do this.  In my preview of this game I noted that one of the keys to an Irish victory would be stop the run. Guess how many rushing yards the Spartans had? 29! 29 yards on 23 rushing attempts (Compared to Notre Dame’s 114 yards on 32 attempts). The Spartans had absolutely no success running the ball, which led them to rely on their quarterback, Kirk Cousins. Cousins had a decent game, but the pressure by Notre Dame’s defensive line got to the QB the entire game, due to the lack of a serious running threat. Cousins threw an interception, fumbled the ball, got sacked twice, and got knocked down after he passed probably a dozen times.

            Freshman Aaron Lynch, who I highlighted after the Spring Game, put pressure on Cousins during the 4^th quarter and was nearly impossible to stop. He is going to be a monster in a few years.

UPDATED 9/19/2011- I just read that Lynch finished the game with five tackles, a forced fumble, and a sack. I'm not sure how I missed all that.
Defensive Secondary- This unit finally proved itself. Although they gave up 320 passing yards, they were able to get an interception and a couple of near interceptions. They knocked the ball out of receivers’ hands and made solid one-on-one tackles. Harrison Smith and Robert Blanton had tremendous days. Blanton was the guy that got the one interception late in the game to seal the win. Smith made a couple of tackles in the backfield and was flying around the field throughout the day.

Running game- Everybody knows about the passing game that involves Michael Floyd, T.J. Jones, and Theo Riddick. Running backs Cierre Wood and Jonas Gray go their time in the spotlight on Saturday. Wood ran for 61 yards and two touchdowns and Gray ran for 65 yards and no touchdowns.  Wood also had six receptions. With these two playing solid it will be nearly impossible to stop the Fighting Irish offense. It’s a good time to be Blue and Gold.

3(2 this week) Thing I didn’t like

Turnovers- This was again a slight problem for Notre Dame. They committed three turnovers in the game, which now makes 13 in just three games. I’m hoping they break the all-time interceptions in a season record of 61. There are 9 games left, so all they need is six a game to break the record! Rees had one interception that was clearly his fault. Then later in the game he got sacked from behind and fumbled. There’s not much you can do to prevent a play like that from happening. Fortunately the Irish defense forced two turnovers against the Spartans offense.

Michigan State Trickery- Do the Spartans think they’re playing idiots? In the second quarter of the game, the Spartans had 4^th & goal on Notre Dame’s 10 yd line. They lined up for what appeared to be a field goal. When the ball was snapped the place holder picked the ball up and went to pass but was immediately tackled by Irish defenders. The Spartans tried to pull off the same play that beat the Irish last season in overtime. It didn’t work this time Sparty.

            
           With this first win Notre Dame is now 1-2. The schedule for about the next month doesn’t get much easier for the Fighting Irish. The next two games are on the road against Pittsburgh (2-1) and Purdue (2-1). The three after that are at home against Air Force (1-1), #23 USC (3-0), and Navy (2-1). USC has a lot of talent but they definitely aren’t the team they were a few years ago. Navy looked great against South Carolina and has beaten the Irish the past two seasons. If the Irish can win those games they’ll be at 6-2 and be in good position to make a final run for a BCS Bowl.

2011 Notre Dame Football Preview

            
            Being a Notre Dame fan in the 21^st Century has been incredibly difficult. I have seen four different coaches, two bowl game victories out of seven, three losing seasons, and a decade of domination by USC over the Irish.

            
            I wish I could say “this is the year Notre Dame returns to glory!” but I’ve said that twice in the past and it’s starting to get old. Notre Dame fans like myself have long been tantalized with this hope that each upcoming season will be the one that reasserts the Fighting Irish on top of the college football world. Every season begins like this one has, with dozens of articles predicting how the Irish will win 10 games and be in contention for a BCS Bowl. There are posts by bloggers like me with outlandish predictions about how we’ll blow out every opponent and every other player is a possible Heisman candidate. Notre Dame will get there at some point under head coach Brian Kelly, but we’re not there yet.

           

            
            The #18 Fighting Irish opened their camp with a problem that could be considered envious or disastrous. Who should be the starting quarterback? If you remember, this question has been lingering since spring practices in April. There are four quarterbacks at Notre Dame, with two in serious contention for the starting spot; Tommy Rees and Dayne Crist. Crist went 4-4 as the starter last year. Crist then got injured and Rees filled his spot and led the team to finish 8-5. Rees is my choice for a starter. He showed improvement in every game and had the dynamics to lead the team to victory.

Tommy Rees(#11) and Dayne Crist(#10) talk to Brian Kelly

            
            Notre Dame also brings back almost the entire defense. If I’m not mistaken, the only starter that will not be here for this season is linebacker Brian Smith. That means ten returning starters, including monstrous linebacker Manti Te’o. The starting defensive backs, safeties Dan McCarthy and Harrison Smith, and cornerbacks Robert Blanton and Gary Gray, are all hoping to be even better than last season. Notre Dame ranked 20^th  in interceptions in 2010 and had a fairly good pass defense, so it wouldn’t shock to me to see the Irish have a top 10 pass defense in 2011. Although, an important factor to having a good pass defense is having a good rush defense. Notre Dame should be great in that department too. As I said, Manti Te’o is back, and so are defensive linemen Kapron Lewis-Moore and Ethan Johnson.

            
            On the offensive side, returning wide receivers Michael Floyd, T.J. Jones, and Theo Riddick should provide excellent targets for whoever the quarterback is. The biggest question mark other than the quarterback position is how the running back position will play out. Last year’s starter Armando Allen is gone, and Cierre Wood and Jonas Gray have to fill his shoes. Notre Dame hasn’t had a dominant running back in a long time, mainly because the offense has focused on the passing game so much. Neither Wood nor Gray have to be game changers, they just need to be solid backs that don’t fumble and can break the occasional tackle.

Schedule for 2011

Sept. 3- vs. South Florida Bulls

Sept. 10- at Michigan Wolverines

Sept. 17- vs. Michigan State Spartans

Sept. 24- at Pittsburgh Panthers

Oct. 1- at Purdue Boilermakers

Oct. 8- vs. Air Force Falcons

Oct. 22- vs. U. of Southern California Trojans

Oct. 29- vs. Navy Midshipmen

Nov. 5- at Wake Forest Demon Deacons

Nov. 12- vs. Maryland Terrapins

Nov. 19- vs. Boston College Eagles

Nov. 26- at Stanford Cardinal

            There are several games to be excited about for Irish fans. The head coach of the USF Bulls is Skip Holtz, son of former N.D. coach, Lou Holtz. The Michigan game will be the first night game EVER at the more than 100-years old Michigan Stadium. That game will also see the teams wearing “retro” uniforms; I am not a fan of this. The big one for me is the USC match- up as I LOATHE the Trojans. It will also be the first night game in South Bend in more than 20 years. I’m going to the Navy game! The last game against Stanford could be an incredible match up if both teams match their preseason expectations.

            
            Looking at the schedule and referring to what I know about the current roster of players, I see Notre Dame going….…. 10-2. The easy wins are USF, Pitt., Purdue, Air Force, Navy, Wake Forest, Maryland, and Boston College. The Michigan and U.S.C. games are toss-ups for me. I don’t think the Irish will be able to beat Stanford, esp. after than man-handling the Cardinal did to the Irish last season. Anything less than 8-4 should be, and will be considered a disappointment.

            Look for a preview and review for each game this season. GO IRISH!

This is not me, I swear!