IndyCar Season Finale

            The final race in the 2011 Izod IndyCar Series takes place Sunday afternoon in Las Vegas. There are several interesting storylines heading into the season finale ranging from the championship being decided to Danica Patrick’s last race.

2011 Championship- There are two drivers who enter the weekend with the chance of exiting with the Championship trophy. Dario Franchitti and Will Power have been trading the lead all season, but coming into this race Franchitti has an 18-point lead over Power. Both have multiple wins this season, but only Franchitti has won a championship before.

From IndyCar.com, a breakdown of where Power needs to finish in order to win the Championship.

Dan Wheldon- This may be the biggest news coming into race weekend. If Dan Wheldon is able to win the race, he will win $2.5 million for himself and $2.5 million for a lucky fan. If you remember, Wheldon won the Indianapolis 500, so he’s going for another huge paycheck. Wheldon has only participated in one other race this season, and that was at Kentucky. The 2-time “500” winner from England will be starting at the back of the field, but expect him to be near the front by the final laps of the race.

            The $5 million contest was originally supposed to attract drivers from outside the IndyCar Series. It was open to all drivers from around the world that had not raced in more than half of the races in the 2011 season. Originally, there were thoughts that some NASCAR drivers would attempt the challenge, like Kasey Kahne or Robby Gordon. There was also talk that Travis Pastrana or James Stewart (of dirt bike fame) would participate. When no drivers expressed interest in racing besides Wheldon, it was decided that he could be a part of the contest.

Danica Patrick- It will be a bittersweet moment for everybody in the paddock when Danica Patrick completes her final laps in an IndyCar. For almost a decade, Patrick has been the face of the IndyCar Series and created one of the most dedicated fan bases in American auto racing. She brought national media attention to herself and the series when no one else could.

            Patrick though has had some controversial moments in her open-wheel career. For starters, she only won one race, and that was partly because she got lucky and won on fuel-mileage. She also started several disputes with opposing drivers, including Wheldon, Milka Duno, and Ryan Briscoe. During last year’s qualifying for the Indianapolis 500, Patrick blamed her pit crew for such a poor qualifying attempt, over the track’s public address system no less. The harsh criticism for her team triggered a chorus of boos from fans in attendance.

            It will be very interesting to see how IndyCar does without Danica. Whether or not she was being talked about in a positive note or was the butt of jokes, Danica was a name that was recognized by all racing fans in America. In fact, I know several people who only know her and none of the other drivers in the IndyCar Series.

Final Race for Chassis- The current chassis (or car body) has been the same since 1997. Needless to say, change was definitely needed. Next year there will be brand new bodies and engines in all the cars. These engines and different body parts will be made by Honda, Chevrolet, and Lotus. Maybe we’ll some drivers going all out since this is the last race for the cars, and nobody will have to spend any money on repairs.

-I’ve been confused on this subject for months. In August, there were reports that said that there would not be new bodies for the 2012 season. Then I read that this is the last race for the current body. Eventually I’ll find out, but if anybody knows anything further let me know.

Rookie of the Year- There are two rookies that are competing for this year’s award. American JR Hildebrand and Canadian James Hinchcliffe are separated by just eight points heading into Vegas. Even though “Rookie of the Year” is a somewhat minor award, don’t think these two are gonna treat it that way. This is an award that a driver only gets one chance in his life to win and an award that means a lot to each driver.

34 Cars- There will be 34 cars that take the green flag at Las Vegas, the most of any IndyCar race ever outside of the Indy 500. If this race is anything like the other 1.5 mile oval races has been, it should incredibly thrilling to watch. 34 drivers going over 200 M.P.H. just feet away from each other and the wall, it’s exciting just to type that.

Starting lineup for the IZOD IndyCar World Championship

1) Tony Kanaan- #82

2) Oriol Servia- #2

3) Ed Carpenter- #67

4) Alex Tagliani- #98

5) Ryan Briscoe- #6

6) Marco Andretti- #26

7) Ryan Hunter-Reay- #28

8) Graham Rahal- #38

9) Danica Patrick- #7

10) Mike Conway- #27

11) Helio Castroneves- #3

12) Wade Cunningham- #17

13) Soctt Dixon- #9

14) James Hinchcliffe- #06

15) JR Hildebrand- #4

16) Takuma Sato- #5

17) Will Power- #12

18) Dario Franchitt- #10

19) Sebastian Saavadri- #34

20) Alex Lloyd- #19

21) Charlie Kimball- #83

22) Townsend Bell- #22

23) Tomas Shecktler- #57

24) Davey Hamilton- #11

25) Vitor Meira- #14

26) Paul Tracy- #8

27) Jay Howard- #15

28) Dan Wheldon- #77

29) Pippa Mann- #30

30) Ana Beatriz- #24

31) Simona de Silvestro- #78

32) EJ Viso- #59

33) James Jakes- #18

34) Buddy Rice- #44

-I can’t believe that Dario and Will are gonna start next to each other! What are the odds of that?

            There are plenty of things to watch for in the race, but most important is the championship race between Dario Franchitti and Will Power. If Power wants to take home the hardware he’ll have a lot of work to do, and hope that Dario gets some bad luck. I personally can’t stand Dario Franchitti, so here’s hoping that he gets some bad luck.

            Be sure to watch how it all plays out Sunday at 3 p.m. on ABC.

Random Indy News

            Here’s a bunch of stories that I didn’t want to devote a whole article to.

            First up, the 0-5 Indianapolis Colts. The Colts lost their fifth game against the just as awful Kansas City Chiefs last Sunday 28-24. Indy was up 24-14 at halftime, but was unable to score any more points in the second half. A lot of people are screaming that the defense should perform better, but the offense also needs to keep scoring. It seemed like the offense was playing a lot more conservatively in the third and fourth quarter instead of attacking like they did in the first two quarters.

            As for the defense, I think the hate needs to be directed towards the coaching staff. Whoever is calling plays for the defense needs to be fired because the Tampa 2 (or Cover 2) is not working. Teams know how to beat the defensive system and are obviously doing it. Nobody facing the Colts is wondering what we’re gonna do next on defense, because they already know! Our defensive backs never blitz, and our linebackers rarely blitz. Opposing offenses know all they have to do is run the ball and throw short passes and they will score a touchdown in no time.

-I’ll have a more detailed story on the Colts season next week.

            
            Second up is the NBA Lockout and how it affects the Indiana Pacers. The first two weeks of the regular season have already been cancelled and it’s looking rather bleak that the two sides will be able to come to an agreement in time for the rest of the season to be played. The Lockout not only hurts the Pacers on the court, but off the court. The Colts are absolutely abysmal right now, and the city of Indianapolis has nobody to root for. How great would it be for this city to fall back in love with a successful basketball team? Ever since Reggie Miller retired the Pacers have struggled to become a relevant team in the NBA and even in Indiana. The Brawl in Detroit in 2004 and all the off-the-court incidents pushed away just about every Hoosier that was a Pacers fan.

            After last year’s push to make the playoffs the Pacers earned a lot of respect and appreciation from folks in Indiana. Although not many people turned out for the three playoff games at Conseco Fieldhouse, there was way more blue and gold in Indianapolis than I’ve seen in a decade.

            There can’t be too many other teams that this lockout hurts more than the Indiana Pacers. Indiana had high expectations coming into the 2011 season, and for good reason. When Frank Vogel stepped in as interim head coach midway through the season, he took over a beleaguered team full of young players that had never experienced anything but losing. Yet he pushed them to play their hardest in every game and the Pacers soon became one of the best teams in the Eastern Conference.  This really seemed like the year that the Indiana Pacers would return to relevance.

           

            Thirdly, the state of Indiana Hoosiers Football is embarrassing. I don’t know what’s going on in Bloomington but there’s no better word for it than embarrassing. The Hoosiers have a new coach this year, so that’s the main reason for their record of 1-5, but that doesn’t explain everything that’s awful about the team. How exactly does IU lost to the North Texas Mean Green? My god, you should never lose to a team with a cardinal direction in their name, but to lose to a team with a nickname like that? Come on. A school the size of IU’s should never be this horrendous.  
 UPDATE 10/14/2011 at 1:00 p.m. Indiana plays at Wisconsin on Saturday. Last year Wisconsin won the game 83-20. Some analysts are thinking the Badgers could get to 90 this year. I bet the Badgers win 75-14.

        

            Fourth, the Indianapolis Motor Speedway is getting ready for its winter slumber. All the official track events are over until next year’s Indianapolis 500. It has been a tremendous year for IMS and its fans. The Indianapolis 500 and Brickyard 400 had two of the best finishes IMS history, and the 500 finish was one of the best ever in auto racing.

            Next year, there will be three engine manufactures competing in the Indianapolis 500. Honda, Chevrolet, and Lotus are all supplying engines for IndyCar Series teams. I can’t find an exact number, but there hasn’t been more than one engine manufacture, Honda, in the Indy 500 in years. Changes are also coming to Brickyard 400 weekend. The Sprint Cup Series will be joined by the Nationwide and GRAND-AM Series in what is being dubbed the “Super Weekend”.

            Last up, there are rumors that Madonna has been chosen to perform at the Super Bowl XLVI Halftime show. I hope this is not true. Madonna is a great artist, but she is well past her prime. I don’t have a clue as to who ultimately makes the decision on who performs, but somebody needs to get their head straight. If the NFL or Jim Irsay (owner of the Colts) wants a Madonna-type singer, why not get Lady Gaga? Or going in a different, and better, direction, how about John Mellencamp? Mellencamp was born and raised in Indiana. He bleeds Hoosierism. It would be so awesome to see John in front of the whole world singing songs about Indiana and America.

If you’d like to see Mellencamp perform at the Super Bowl in Indy then go “like” my Facebook page: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Get-John-Mellencamp-to-perform-at-Super-Bowl-XLVI/175519059159941

Big 10 through Week 6

 Leaders Division Standings

#16 Illinois (6-0, 2-0) - I have a lot of family that are Illini fans, so it’s great to see them at 6-0 and bowl eligible. However, I’m not sold on them yet. Here’s who Illinois has beaten: Arkansas State, South Dakota State, #18 Arizona State, Western Michigan, Northwestern, Indiana. Those six have a combined record of 18-16, two aren’t even Division 1-A schools, and the only away game was against Indiana. Illinois will most likely be 9-0 by the time they play Michigan. If they get that win and become 10-0 then I will be impressed.

Penn State (5-1, 2-0) – Penn State is an average team that has padded their record up with cupcake teams. The Nittany Lions are getting wins because of their incredible defense. In the past six games Penn State’s defense has only given up five touchdowns. In the past five games the Lions offense has only scored eight touchdowns. If they expect to make a run for the division title they need the offense to start scoring more. The Lions have two winnable games before their final four games against Illinois, Nebraska, Ohio State, and Wisconsin.

#4 Wisconsin (5-0, 1-0) - The Badgers are a legit team. They have a powerhouse offense and a great defense. The offense is lead by quarterback Russell Wilson who has a strong arm and the capability to scramble for long runs. The offense can also rely on running backs Monte Ball and James White who are two of the best backs in the country.The Badgers only quality win came against Nebraska, but there isn't another team on their schedule who will able to slow down the Badgers.

Purdue (3-2, 1-0) - Even though Purdue has three wins, none of them have been against a decent team. Purdue had no answer for Notre Dame and lost to Rice by two points. Their wins were against Middle Tennessee, Southeast Missouri State, and Minnesota. Purdue is bad this year, and there’s a good chance their coach will be fired if there is no improvement.

Ohio State (3-3, 0-2) - Realistically, this is where the Buckeyes should be. Even though they are Ohio State and have great players,  there was so much turmoil in the off season. The Buckeyes have lost two straight and will probably lose two more as they have games at Illinois then against Wisconsin.

Indiana (1-5, 0-2)-The Indiana Hoosiers Football’s official slogan should be “when’s basketball start?” I don’t understand how this team can be so bad after a semi-successful season last year. You know your team is bad when you lose to Ball State. There’s a good chance that when the Hoosiers play Purdue in the Old Oaken Bucket game the Hoosiers will be 1-10 and the Boilermakers 3-8.

Legends Division Standings

 #11 Michigan (6-0, 2-0) - The Wolverines are led by their do-it-all quarterback Denard Robinson. Robinson has been unstoppable so far this season, and is again on everybody’s Heisman watch list. I’m not buying into the theory that the Wolverines are a really great team. Their only road game so far was against Northwestern. Their best win was against Notre Dame when they won on a last second touchdown. If they can go to Michigan State on Saturday and win I will be a little more impressed.

#24 Michigan State (4-1, 1-0) - The Spartans, much like the Wolverines, get a chance to prove they’re for real when they play Michigan this weekend. The Spartans best win came last week when they beat struggling Ohio State by three points. The game on Saturday against Michigan will be a great game to watch. It's not only a rivalry game but will decide who the leader of the division is.

#14 Nebraska (5-1, 1-1) - Nebraska was expected to be the second-best team in the conference and a huge competitor to the Wisconsin Badgers. That ship sailed after the Badgers beat down the Huskers 48-17. Nebraska can still win their division and get another shot at Wisconsin, but I honestly hope that doesn’t happen because it will be another blowout.

Iowa (3-2, 0-1) - Iowa didn’t come into the season with too high of expectations, which is probably a good thing. The Hawkeyes had a great chance of getting to 7 or 8 wins by November due to a weak schedule, but after losing to Iowa State and Penn State those hopes were dashed. Iowa can still get to 7 wins before they face Michigan and Michigan State back to back.

Northwestern (2-3, 0-2) - This was a team that a lot of people expected to get to 7 or 8 wins and a bowl game. The Northwestern Wildcats rely entirely on their quarterback Dan Persa, who has been battling an injury since the beginning of the season. When Northwestern won their first game of the season without Persa, it seemed like they had a well- rounded team. With or without Persa though, the Wildcats struggle.

Minnesota (1-5, 0-2) - What’s new here? Not a lot to say about the Golden Gophers. It does suck that they have a brand new, really cool stadium but no quality football team to watch.

            Before the season this is what I predicted the final standings would be:

Leaders: Wisconsin, Purdue, Illinois, Ohio State, Penn State, Indiana

- Well the Purdue pick was a huge leap of faith, and who knows; maybe they’ll get it together and finish strongly. I highly doubt it though. I still believe Ohio State will finish ahead of Penn State. Illinois is looking good though and should finish second.

Legends: Nebraska, Michigan State, Northwestern, Michigan, Iowa, Minnesota

- I really didn’t think Michigan would be 6-0, and I don’t think they’ll keep on winning. Flip Michigan and Northwestern I would have nearly nailed the standings.

College Football through Week 6

               Six weeks down, nine to go in the 2011 college football season. Three teams have really separated themselves as contenders for the BCS National Championship. Those three are #1 LSU, #2 Alabama, and #3 Oklahoma. All of these teams have victories over at least two ranked teams and have incredible talent on both sides of the ball. Besides those three there are about 5-8 teams that have a legit shot at playing for the national championship as well. That group includes Stanford, Oregon, Wisconsin, and Oklahoma State.

Here’s a breakdown of each conference through the first six weeks of play:

-numbers in parenthesis are overall record, then conference record.

ACC

Coastal Division Standings: #12 Georgia Tech (6-0, 3-0), Duke (3-2, 1-0), North Carolina (5-1, 1-1), #19 Virginia Tech (5-1, 1-1), Virginia (3-2, 0-1), Miami (2-3, 0-2).

                
            Georgia Tech’s option offense continues to confuse and demolish opposing defenses. They have to be considered the favorites to win the division. Virginia Tech will likely be the only team that can stop the “Rambling Wreck” to winning the division, but even they may have problems doing that. The Hokies only loss came at Clemson, but they have not been overwhelmingly successful in their five wins. Although North Carolina sits at 5-1, it will be a major upset if they can beat Georgia Tech and Virginia Tech.

Atlantic Division Standings: #8 Clemson (6-0, 3-0), Wake Forest (4-1, 3-0), Maryland (2-3, 1-1), North Carolina State (3-3, 0-2), Florida State (2-3, 0-2), Boston College (1-5, 0-3)

                
            This is just a dreadful division. Who would have thought the only ranked team this far in the season would be Clemson, and not Florida State? Clemson has so far won the award for “Most Surprisingly Successful”, while Florida State has won the award for “Most Surprisingly Disappointing”. Clemson has wins against Auburn, Florida State, and at Virginia Tech. This division is Clemson’s to win.

Big 12

Standings: #20 Kansas State (5-0, 2-0), #3 Oklahoma (5-0, 2-0), #6 Oklahoma State (5-0, 2-0), #25 Baylor (4-1, 1-1), #11 Texas (4-1, 1-1), Texas Tech (4-1, 1-1), #24 Texas A&M (3-2, 1-1), Iowa State (3-2, 0-2), Kansas (2-3, 0-2), Missouri (2-3, 0-2)

                
            As expected, Oklahoma and Oklahoma State are two of the top teams. The big surprise is Kansas State, which has looked good on offense and especially defense. Kansas State has two winnable games to get to 7-0 before they begin a four week stint that will prove if they’re legit.  On October 29^th they play Oklahoma at home, then at Oklahoma State, against Texas A&M at home, and Texas on the road. Baylor is also another surprise team that is lead by their senior quarterback Robert Griffin III, who is putting up great numbers and becoming a Heisman candidate.

-It has just been announced that TCU will join the Big 12 conference in 2012. TCU was to join the Big East, but it has abandoned those plans for the slightly more stable Big 12.

Big East

Standings: Rutgers (4-1, 2-0), #16 West Virginia (4-1, 1-0), Pittsburgh (3-3, 1-1), Cincinnati (4-1, 0-0), Louisville (2-3, 0-0), South Florida (4-1, 0-1), Syracuse (4-2, 0-1), Connecticut (2-4, 0-1).

                
            Behold the powerhouse conference in college football. Just kidding. I really feel bad for the writers that have to cover this conference for ESPN and other sports outlets. What is there to write about? Besides mediocre football it’s just teams ditching the conference for better ones. It’s really depressing that whoever wins this conference will be given an automatic bid to a BCS Bowl. Especially when the Mountain West Conference has TCU and Boise State, two ranked teams.

Big 10

Legends Division Standings: #12 Michigan (6-0, 2-0), #23 Michigan State (4-1, 1-0), #14 Nebraska (5-1, 1-1), Iowa (3-2, 0-1), Minnesota (1-5, 0-2)

Leaders Division Standings: #19 Illinois (6-0, 2-0), Penn State (5-1, 2-0), #4 Wisconsin (5-0, 1-0), Purdue (3-2, 1-0), Ohio State (3-3, 0-2), Indiana (1-5, 0-2)
Check the article posted above this one for a more detailed Big 10 analysis.

PAC-12

North Standings: #7 Stanford (5-0, 3-0), #9 Oregon (4-1, 2-0), Washington (4-1, 2-0), Washington State (3-2, 1-1), Oregon State (1-4, 1-2), California (3-2, 0-2)

                 
            The North, as expected, is a two-horse race between the Stanford Cardinal and Oregon Ducks. The Cardinal are led by their incredible quarterback Andrew Luck. The Ducks are led by their equally talented running back LaMichael James. The two teams meet on November 12^th in a match up that will most likely decide who wins the division.

South Standings: #18 Arizona State (5-1, 3-0), USC (4-1. 2-1), UCLA (3-3. 2-1), Colorado (1-5, 0-2), Utah (2-3, 0-3), Arizona (1-5, 0-4)

                
            When I wrote a season recap at Week 3 I said that this division was up for grabs between three teams, Arizona State, USC, and Utah. As you can see, the South is down to two teams, Arizona State and USC. The Arizona State Sun Devils already beat USC, and their biggest test the rest of the season comes this Saturday against Oregon. I doubt the Devils will be able to beat the Ducks, but they should be able to run the table the rest of the year.

SEC

East: #15 South Carolina (5-1, 3-1), Georgia (4-2, 3-1), Florida (4-2, 2-2), Vanderbilt (3-2, 1-2), Tennessee (3-2, 0-2), Kentucky (2-4, 0-3)

                
            Just when everybody left Georgia to die, they have come roaring back and look like the team they were expected to be. The Bulldogs lost their first two games of the season to #5 Boise State and South Carolina. This resulted in the population of Georgia grabbing their pitchforks and torches and trying to force Mark Richt out of his head coaching position. After those two games the Bulldogs won four straight to bring peace back to the Peach State. The Bulldogs have a very favorable schedule the rest of the way so I would not be surprised to see them get to 9 or 10 wins. That may not be enough to save Richt's job though.

                 
            Just as quickly as the Bulldogs bandwagon was emptying out, the Florida Gators bandwagon was filling up. The Gators won their first four games of the season in decisive fashion and appeared to be South Carolina’s biggest road block in the road to the division title. The Gators though have lost their last two games against Alabama and LSU, granted those are two of the best teams in America, but the Gators really aren’t that good.

                
            South Carolina is South Carolina. They have a highly talented team but they just can’t put it all together to win games. The Gamecocks are 5-1 and on top in the division, but I don’t get the sense that they are a national championship-caliber team.

West Standings: #2 Alabama (6-0, 3-0), #1 LSU (6-0, 3-0), #24 Auburn (4-2, 2-1), #10 Arkansas (5-1, 1-1), Ole Miss (2-3, 0-2), Mississippi State (3-3, 0-3)

                
            Like so many other divisions, this one is a two-team race as well. It just so happens that the two teams are the best teams in the country which makes it all the more compelling. Alabama and LSU meet on November 5^th in what will be the showdown of the year. Don’t be surprised if the winner of that game goes on to win the SEC Championship and then the National Championship.

                
            Watch out for Arkansas too, who is silently ranked #10 in the league and only has one loss to Alabama. If Alabama or LSU trip up the Arkansas Razorbacks are sitting in a good position to grab the division lead.

                
            
            Notice how much there is to write about for the SEC. This is, in my opinion, the best conference in college football. The other conferences, particularly the Big 10, have a lot of catching up to do to match the SEC in terms of talent.

Notre Dame vs. Air Force review

           Notre Dame was firing on all cylinders Saturday as the Irish routed the Air Force Falcons 59-33. The Irish put up 560 total yards of offense, with almost half coming in the air and half on the ground. There were three huge statistical stats that came from the game.

1. The 59 points scored by the Irish were the most any Notre Dame has put up since 1996.

2. The 92 combined points by Notre Dame and Air Force were the most ever at Notre Dame Stadium.

3. Freshman quarterback Andrew Hendrix ran for more than 100 yards. The first Irish quarterback to do since 2001.

            
            The most impressive is definitely the first one. It’s bizarre to think no Notre Dame team has scored that much in more than 10 years. Putting up 59 against a quality team like Air Force takes a complete team effort by the offense, defense, and special teams.

            
            At halftime, Notre Dame led 42-16. This is when I decided that the game was pretty much over so I decided to go eat at Five Guys (which was INCREDIBLE!). That said, I did not watch any of the second half of the game. With that said, I am basing everything I’m about to write on what I saw in the first half. Let’s be serious, I doubt the Irish were playing 100% in the second half anyway.

3 things I liked

Running Game- Air Force had no answer for any of the Irish offense, but running backs Cierre Wood and Jonas Gray had another terrific day rushing the ball. Wood had 10 carries for 66 yards and a touchdown while Gray had 7 carries for 69 yards and 2 touchdowns.

- I was just checking out the box score of the game on ESPN.com and 14 players for Air Force ran the ball! That has to be some kind of record.

Distribution of passes- Irish quarterback Tommy Rees threw to just about every wide receiver that’s on the roster. He completed passes to seven different players (two running backs, one tight end, and four wide receivers) and threw four touchdowns to four different players. Plus, Rees had no interceptions and completed 71% of his passes.

Theo Riddick- Notre Dame’s no. 2 receiver had another great game as he hauled in 8 catches for 88 yards. Although Riddick did not have any touchdown receptions, he provides an incredible complement to fellow receiver Michael Floyd. With Riddick playing the way he has the past two games it’s going to force defenses to stop double-teaming Floyd. If that happens, then watch out. One-on-one coverage on either of these receivers is an almost guaranteed touchdown. Riddick did however record a rushing touchdown when he was part of a reverse play in the second half.

3 (2 this week) things I didn’t like

Rushing defense- By the end of the game, the Irish gave up 565 total yards, 363 of those came on the ground. Part of me is thinking, “Who cares how many yards we gave up? We won the game!” The other half of me is thinking “I don’t care if we’re playing the Coast Guard and up by 100 point, the defense has to play better”. Judging by how well the defense has played before this game, I don’t believe giving up 300 yards is a major cause for concern. However, you know Navy is looking at this and thinking about how many yards they’ll be able to get with their option attack in a couple of weeks.

Rankings- This is the second consecutive week I’ve mentioned this. Every Sunday afternoon the “Top 25 rankings" are released. There are two of these rankings that most people pay attention to, the “USA Today rankings” and the “Associated Press Top 25" . Notre Dame made neither of these lists, however Michigan State did. The same Michigan State we soundly defeated in Week 3. Here are four teams that I do not believe are better than Notre Dame:

Houston Cougars (6-0) - Their best victory is against UCLA. That sounds good but UCLA is 3-3 and only lost to Houston by four points.

Penn State Nittany Lions (5-1) - Don’t get me started. If you recall, I said this team is ALWAYS overhyped in the preseason, plays a couple of weak teams, then gets beat down by a real opponent. They were demolished by Alabama in Week 2. Their best win is against Iowa at home. Ohhhh I’m so impressed!

Baylor Bears (4-1)- I can live with this, kind of. The Bears only loss came at Kansas State by one point and they beat TCU in Week 1.

Michigan State Spartans (4-1) - Give me a break. This is why I hate the “rankings system” in college football. Not only did Notre Dame beat this team, but they didn’t even play on Saturday! So the Irish win, while these guys sit at home, and they still are ahead of the Irish.

            
            This is why I hate the ranking system in college football and how it partially decided who plays for the national championship. People’s opinions should not decide who the best team is; especially people who don’t know what they’re talking about.

           

            
            So besides the defense what else wasn’t there to like? I thought the Irish played their best game of the season last week against Purdue. No, this was their best game so far and they seem to be getting better and better each game. I truly believe that Notre Dame is destined for great things the rest of the season and the future. Head coach Brian Kelly knows what it takes to win and is determined to make that happen.

            Notre Dame has a bye week so there is no game until October 22^nd. That’s when the USC Trojans come to South Bend for what is my favorite game of the year.

Notre Dame vs. Air Force preview

            
            Notre Dame’s sixth game, and last before a bye week, is against the Air Force Falcons on Saturday at 3:30. The Falcons (3-1) bring in one of the statistically best offenses in the country. Led by their do-it-all quarterback, Tim Jefferson, the Falcons have amassed 513 (364 of those are rushing) yards per game which is the 12^th best in America. Jefferson leads an offense that can change on the fly from option to precision passing.

Keys to Victory

Stop the run- I’ve listed this for the Irish defense for a couple of weeks now. In the first five games this season, the Irish have only given up 91 yards on the ground. That is incredible. It’s not like Notre Dame has been playing cupcakes teams either, 91 yards against five quality teams is really something to be proud of. If Notre Dame can shut down Air Force on the ground then they will shut down their whole offense.

Special Teams- Notre Dame field-goal kicker David Ruffer is really struggling this year. In the two seasons before, Ruffer has made 23 of his 24 field goals, but this year he’s only 3 for 7. Considering Notre Dame’s only losses were by three points in each game, those missed field goals are magnified more so than any other season. Air Force has already blocked three field goals this season, including one against Navy last week. This is important because of how bad Ruffer has been, and because the holder for field goals, Jordan Cowart, has a broken hand. The Falcons also have a kick returner who has big play potential, and has taken two kick-offs back for touchdowns in his career.

Run the ball- Air Force is ranked 24^th in stopping the pass, probably because everybody just runs the ball against them. Irish backs Cierre Wood and Jonas Gray appear to be unstoppable so it’s time to let them run wild. Keep handing them the ball and let them pound the Falcons defense. If the Falcons come and stop the run, then let Notre Dame quarterback Tommy Rees pass to Michael Floyd and company. There isn’t a lot the Air Force defense can do to slow down Notre Dame’s offense.

            
            The Irish need to handle the game like they did last week against the inferior Purdue Boilermakers. They came out on defense, forced a turnover, and immediately scored a touchdown on offense. They took the crowd out of the game and any pride the Boilermakers had. There were also no turnovers for the first time this season. For some reason, everybody believes that the Air Force Falcons have an unstoppable offense because they’re putting up ridiculous numbers. Look at who they have played: South Dakota, TCU, Tennessee State, and Navy. Yeah, a real impressive resume.

Predicted score: Notre Dame-35, Air Force-20

Colts at Buccaneers Review

            The Colts didn’t have enough for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers on Monday night as they lost 24-17 and fell to 0-4 on the season. The Colts had the lead until about a minute left in the 3^rd quarter and from then on the Bucs dominated the game. Although the Colts lead for almost the entire game, I never got the sense that we were gonna win the game. You could just tell that the Bucs were the better team. The two touchdowns we scored were 80-yd screen plays, which are impressive, but it’s not like we moved the ball down the field with strength and decisiveness. It was more of just a lucky play call.

3 things I liked about the game

Defensive line- Dwight Freeney, Robert Mathis, and the rest of the defensive line played a great game. They were able to put pressure on Tampa Bay quarterback Josh Freeman for the whole game and forced him to make some bad passes. Rookie defensive tackle, Drake Nevis also had another good game. He is going to be a great player, and a great compliment to Freeney and Mathis.

Joseph Addai- Addai had a good game considering he wasn’t getting much help from the rest of the offense. Addai finished the night with 11 carries and 41 yards. Addai’s biggest impact came in the part of the game that has no statistics, blocking. The Buccaneers blitzed the entire game and Addai did an excellent job of finding where he needed to be and getting him there. By blocking the oncoming rushers he was able to give his Curtis Painter a few split seconds he needed to make a pass.

Pierre Garcon- Well I was going to write about the great game Garcon had but I just looked back at his statistics and realized it was actually pretty awful. Garcon had two catches that yielded 146 yards and two touchdowns, which is awesome. But Garcon had the ball thrown to him eight times, and only caught the ball twice. You’re paid millions of dollars to catch a little brown ball. Do it! There were 30 passes by the Colts, and only 13 were caught. There were a few that were poorly thrown by Painter, but many of them fell to the ground because the receivers weren’t doing their job.

3 things I didn’t like about the game

Pass defense- It was almost nauseating to watch this unit Monday night. The Colts play a “Tampa 2” or “Cover 2” defense. This means you blitz four defensive lineman while two safeties split the field and cover deep passes. That leaves 5 defenders (usually three linebackers and two cornerbacks) to cover the middle of the field. It’s usually a decent system but the Buccaneers absolutely annihilated us by beating the system. Bucs quarterback Josh Freeman would take the snap, drop back, and throw a 3-6 yard pass to his running back that was in the middle of the field. The running back would catch the ball, turn around, and run for about 7 yards before being tackled. This doesn’t seem so bad, but the Buccaneers did this probably 10 times in the game and the Colts never did anything to stop it.

            I’m not claiming to be a defensive coordinator or genius, but I do know my X’s and O’s. If I’m in charge of the Colts, I would have the defensive coordinator show me he has official papers saying he’s legally blind, or else he would have been fired Tuesday morning. How hard is it run a few plays where the middle linebacker covers the running back with man coverage or zone? Do that a few times and at least make Josh Freeman think a little.

Jim Caldwell- He sucks. I was never a big fan of previous coach Tony Dungy. Caldwell is basically Dungy 2.0. He sits back, never talks or shows emotion, and lets the team handle everything on their own. It is so frustrating to watch other coaches be involved in the game and with their team, and then see Caldwell stand on the sideline like he’s got a stick stuck up his butt.

There were two calls that Caldwell made that were completely questionable.

1) In the second quarter, it was third and INCHES, like maybe one inch. Instead of going for it, we punt the ball away. For god sakes we have an awful team and realistically no shot at winning the game. Just go for it and try and keep the momentum.

2) I cannot for the life of me find the specifics of the incident so I’ll try and describe it the best I can. It was 3^rd down and maybe 6 to go with about 3:00 left in the game. The Bucs tried to get the first down and were unsuccessful but on the play there was a holding call against the offense. If the Colts accepted the penalty it would 3^rd & 16, and if they declined it would be 4^th & 6.

            
            It’s highly unlikely that Caldwell be shown the door this season since Manning is out. But he needs to show that he is capable of coaching a professional football team. Or else send him down to some pee-wee football league.

Adam Vinatieri- Everybody‘s getting some live this week. Vinatieri has five Super Bowl Rings and is probably the best kicker in NFL history. Adam is in 16^th year in the NFL and I’m afraid he may be past his prime. 16 years for a kicker isn’t exactly a long time but he hasn’t had a lower kicking percentage since his rookie season in 1996. Already this season he has missed two kicks out of nine. Unless he shows improvement it may be time to find a new kicker.

            
            
            There weren’t a lot of bright spots in the game against Tampa Bay, in fact the game showed just how many flaws there are with the Colts. We have receivers that can’t catch the ball. We have a defensive that can’t stop the pass and struggles against the run. We have no highly-talented quarterback. Worst of all, we have no leader to turn to. When Notre Dame loses, I always think, “Brian Kelly (the head coach) will get the boys back in shape and ready for the next game”. Can I think the same for Jim Caldwell? Absolutely not.

            
            The Colts face the Kansas City Chiefs on Sunday at 1:00 p.m. This will be a great chance for the Colts to get their first victory of the season. The Chiefs only win came against the winless Minnesota Vikings.

            The rest of October lines up as: at Cincinnati, at New Orleans, and at Tennessee. 0-8 here we come!