Notre Dame at Wake Forest Preview

            It’s a battle between 5-3 teams Saturday night when the Notre Dame Fighting Irish head to North Carolina to take on the Wake Forest Demon Deacons. The Demon Deacons hit the zenith of their season after they beat Florida State and moved to 4-1 on the season.  Since then they have snapped back to reality and lost two games, one to Virginia Tech and one to North Carolina. The Deacons have a pretty good offensive passing attack, one that ranks 29^th in the country. Their rushing game ranks 106^th though. The rest of their team leaves a lot to be desired, especially the defense. That defense ranks 55^th in the country in terms of yards given up so the Irish should have no problem moving the ball.

Keys to the Game

Offensive line- Notre Dame’s offensive line was dominant last week against Navy, and has been a solid unit all season long. This line has only given up five sacks all season. #1 LSU has given up seven sacks, # Alabama has given up eight, #3 Oklahoma State has given up 10, and #4 Stanford has given up four. Obviously the Irish offensive line is one of the best in the country, and even I will admit that has been the base for all of Notre Dame’s success. All those big runs by Jonas Gray and Cierre Wood started with the offensive line getting good blocks. All those deep passes by Tommy Rees were created because he had enough time to throw. I am giving credit to the big boys in the trenches that never get the credit they deserve.

Here are the offensive linemen on Notre Dame’s roster: Braxton Cave*, Mike Golic Jr., Bruce Heggie, Conor Hanratty, Andrew Nuss, Trevor Robinson*, Chris Watt*, Brad Carrico, Nick Martin, Matt Tansey, Lane Clelland, Taylor Dever*, Matt Hegarty, Christian Lombard, Dennis Mahoney, Zack Martin*, Tate Nichols, and Jordan Prestwood.

*- starters

Pass defense- As I noted in the intro, Wake Forest’s strength is their passing attack. That means it will be up to cornerbacks Gary Gray and Robert Blanton and safeties Harrison Smith, Jamoris Slaughter, and Zeke Motta to stop that attack. Deacons’ quarterback Tanner Smith has a 141.1 on the season and has thrown for 14 touchdowns. Look for Smith to go to his best receiver, Chris Givens.

Special Teams- Notre Dame’s kick return team has been pretty good so far. Return man George Atkinson III has scored two touchdowns on kick offs. While that unit is performing well, the punt return team has been awful all season. In the beginning of the season the biggest problem was punt returners fumbling the ball. Now the biggest problem is the lack of yards they’re getting on return. Notre Dame ranks near the bottom of teams’ net return average and I cannot recount one time when we had a punt return for at least 20 yards. If the Irish expect to be a Top 25 team they have to perform better on special teams.

      This game is very winnable for the Irish. They are a much more talented team that has depth at all positions. If they just go out and play the way they did against Navy than they should have no problem getting their 6^th win of the season.

Predicted score: Notre Dame-35, Wake Forest-14

      For all of you non-Irish fans, be sure to catch #1 LSU at #2 Alabama at 8 p.m. Saturday night. This is the first regular season #1 vs. #2 matchup in years and has been hyped up for almost a month. Whoever wins this will have an easy road to the BCS National Championship. It should be an incredible matchup between great teams, players, and coaches. I’m picking Bama to win 20-17.

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.

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!

Blue-Gold Game 2011

Rees or Crist??? That was the question that was asked after the 2010 Notre Dame Football season, asked during the off season, and will continue to be asked to head coach Brian Kelly until the September 5 opening game. Irish fans were hoping to see one of the two quarterbacks take the reins in the Blue-Gold game last Saturday, but neither Dayne Crist, junior, or Tommy Rees, sophomore, were able to take a step toward claiming the starting role. Each played only two quarters, and both had to struggle to play through a very dreary day in South Bend that was filled with unrelenting rain and wind. Crist went 5-11 for 34 yards; Rees went 7-14 for 61 yards and one interception.

                 

           Last season, Dayne Crist was named the starter and compiled a 3-3 record and threw 15 touchdowns and 7 interceptions, with 59% accuracy. In his seventh game, he was injured and Tommy Rees was called in. Notre Dame would end up losing that game, but as a starter Rees went 5-0, with wins against Utah, USC, and Miami in the Sun Bowl. Rees threw 12 touchdowns and eight interceptions, with 61% accuracy during his time as starter.

Crist is considered to be more mobile and also have a more powerful arm, but in my opinion he doesn’t have that killer instinct it takes to win close games. Rees seems to actually improve each game, and seems more determined to walk off the field with a victory, as evident by his undefeated record.I think Rees has to be the starter this season. Crist made the same lousy throws in every one of his games. I don’t know how many times it would be third down and long, Crist would drop back and throw it to a receiver that was two or three yards short of the first down, who would then get tackled immediately after catching it. EVERY game this would happen and I thought Crist would finally wake up and realize to throw the ball downfield, but he never did. If anybody can bring N.D. a national championship it will be Tommy Rees, and not Dayne Crist, guaranteed.

As for the rest of the Fighting Irish, three players definitely stood out. Aaron Lynch, Andrew Hendrix, and Everett Golson all had very good games.

 Lynch is a freshman defensive end that reminds me of a Jason Taylor-type player. He’s 6’-6’’ and 260 lbs. of pure mean.He is quick enough to chase down running backs and wide receivers, but big enough to break through the defensive line. In the game he had seven tackles and 1.5 tackles for a loss. His real attention –getter was a hit on quarterback Andrew Hendrix. Brian Kelly said of Lynch after the game “He played inside; he played outside. He's going to be a great addition”.

Andrew Hendrix is a sophomore quarterback who is efficient in the spread system, which Notre Dame now runs under Brian Kelly. He came in late in the second quarter and led his squad on a two-minute drive, but failed to result in any points. In the second half he ran for two touchdowns, and passed for 113 yards, and went 10-16.

Freshman Everett Golson is a freshman quarterback who really impressed me.  He only went 9-18 in passing and threw for 91 yards, but has a really strong arm. He ran eleven times for 74 yards though, and that seems to be his strength right now. When Golson was in the game, the running backs seemed to get more yards and more open holes. Golson would hold onto the ball and run sneak plays, which then forced the linebackers and safeties to bite on any play action. Golson also ripped off a great run of 23 yards, starting on the left side of the field, then cutting back all the way across to the right side of the field while breaking tackles and shaking defenders. Needless to say, I think this guy will get some playing time in the future.

All statistics were gathered from www.und.com