Notre Dame-Stanford Review

            Everybody in the college football world had their eyes on the Stanford-Notre Dame matchup. ESPN’s College Gameday and Mike & Mike in the Morning and NBC’s Sports Report were broadcasting their shows live from the campus of Notre Dame. The game even garnered more eyeballs than the SEC’s Top 10 matchup. Everybody who tuned into the game saw a hard-fought, physical, drag out knockdown fight that was won by the Fighting Irish on a 4^th down, goal line stand in overtime.

            The two teams traded momentum and scores all the way until the final seconds. Notre Dame’s final drive of regulation and only drive of the 4^th quarter began on the Irish’s own 16 yard line with 6 minutes left in the game. Down by 3 and a perfect season on the line, Everett Golson came the offense calm and under control and moved the ball close to midfield. On the next play, Golson scrambled out of the pocket and got hit hard by a Stanford defender. The young quarterback, Golson, suffered a concussion and was taken out of the game. Onto the field marched Tommy Rees, making his third “closing” appearance. Rees completed all four of his passes and moved the Irish into the redzone. Then Notre Dame kicker, Kyle Brindza, kicked a 20-yard field goal that tied the game at 13-13 at the end of the fourth quarter.

            The game moved into overtime and Rees remained in the game. Again he got the Irish into the redzone and threw a touchdown to TJ Jones. The Stanford Cardinal then had to score a touchdown or they would lose. They pounded the ball down and pounded. They fought their way into a 1^st & goal sitation. They stayed with the run and gained a few yards. 2^nd & goal and the Cardinal stuck with the run and they gained a few more yards. 3^rd & goal and they ran the ball once more but this time they gained nothing. 4^th down & goal with the game on the line. The crowd was roaring. This was it. Notre Dame’s perfect season and climb to relevance hung in the balance. Stanford quarterback Josh Nunes handed the ball to Stephan Taylor. Taylor got hit and spun around to try and maintain his balance but he was and hit again by an Irish linebacker. He was finally tackled short of the goal line and the Irish had won the game

            The game was not without controversy though. That final play was reviewed by officials because Taylor’s forward motion was stopped but his knee never touch the ground. After he was stopped, he squirmed and placed the football over the goal line. The referees ruled that since his forward motion was stopped and they blew the play dead, his attempt to put the ball in the endzone was irrelevant. You have to be lucky to be good, and good to be lucky. (You could also use the saying “Stanford lost its Luck last year. The Irish will always have theirs”)

3 Things I Liked

Tommy Rees- It’s time to show some love for the guy I heartily supported just one year ago. This young man has tremendous poise and heart to do what he does. He has been called upon three times with the mission of win when Everett Golson can’t. He has successfully performed that mission every time. He was the starting quarterback in 2011 but is the backup this year because head coach, Brian Kelly, believers Golson is the quarterback of the future. I also believe this and understand it and don’t argue with the thinking. It has to be hard for Rees to live with it though. Yet he does and he doesn’t let it bother him. There aren’t a lot of coaches or teams that could pull this kind of relationship off.

Passing Attack- Look who finally got the ball thrown to him, Tyler Eifert. The senior, All-American tight end has been nonexistent in the stats sheet for the first half of the season but finished with four catches for 57 yards and a touchdown against Stanford. Also getting involved was junior receiver TJ Jones. He had four catches for 52 yards and a touchdown. The Irish desperately need a go-to receiver and Jones may well be that guy, especially since Eifert is usually double-covered.

Cornerbacks- This unit had the biggest question mark on them when the season began. They started as a group of young players that would be forced to grow up quickly. Well, they have done just that. They held Stanford to 125 receiving yards and allowed no touchdowns. They also forced Stanford quarterback, Josh Nunes to throw two interceptions. Time for these young men to get some recognition. Starting cornerbacks: KeiVarae Russell (freshman) and Bennett Jackson (junior). Starting safeties Zeke Motta (senior) and Matthias Farley (sophomore).

3 Things I didn’t Like

Didn’t Capitalize- The game was tied 0-0 in the 1^st quarter. The Irish had an excellent chance to score early and set the tone for the rest of the game. They began a drive on the Stanford 16 but could not get a first down and settled for a field goal. When you start in the opponent’s redzone, you have to score a touchdown. Notre Dame also fumbled the ball on a field goal attempt right before halftime. Finally, the Irish got the ball in Stanford territory a total of five times but only scored three times with two of those being field goals.

Too Lucky- This game could have ended up as a Stanford victory if a few plays had gone the Cardinal’s way. I counted seven passes that Stanford receivers dropped that they were very catchable. Stanford also missed a 25-yard field goal in the 1^st quarter that would have given them an early 3-0 lead. The Irish also had a fumble in the second quarter that was somehow recovered by Theo Riddick when Stanford defenders were all around him.

Turnovers- This is Notre Dame fans’ worst nightmares after last season’s turnover madness. Notre Dame committed three turnovers in the game. Two were fumbles by Golson and another was an interception. One of the fumbles would have been difficult to prevent but you have to protect the ball if you expect to win.

Another thing I noticed was Golson rolling out of the pocket too early. Granted, Stnaford was blitzing on almost every play and his line was having difficulty protecting him. It just seemed like he would try to make a play with his feet a little too early and there were was still room in the pocket to make an accurate pass.

Final note: Notre Dame is ranked #5 in the latest AP Poll as well as the BCS Rankings. This is bull crap. #1 Alabama and #2 Oregon have yet to beat a team ranked in the BCS Rankings. Rankings should be: #1 Florida, #2 Kansas State, #3 Notre Dame, #4 Alabama, #Oregon.

Notre Dame-Stanford Preview

 It seems like every game on the Irish schedule is bigger than the next. This week is no different.  #7 Notre Dame hosts the #17 Stanford Cardinal in a game that is receiving even more hype since College Gameday will broadcast their show from the campus Saturday morning. This game is important on several levels. For starters, if Notre Dame wins it will be 6-0 and looking at a second half of the schedule that features just two ranked teams. Second, the Irish can notch a win against a great defense for the second time this season. Third, if the Irish win, there’s a good chance they will be in the Top 5 of the BCS Rankings that come out on Sunday.

Nobody really expected Stanford to play at such a high level like they have this season, especially after the departure of Andrew Luck and several key players on the offense. Yet they have found a way to win games and even upset the USC Trojans. They play very physically for 60 minutes and do not quit. Their first-time starting quarterback, Josh Nunes, has struggled at times but he has also produced some decent stats. This season he has thrown for eight touchdowns, 1,145 yards and has completed 54% of his passes. The entire Cardinal offense ranks 49^th in points scored, 62^nd in passing yards, and 74^th in rushing yards. While Notre Dame’s front seven should handle the Stanford offense, Notre Dame’s offense could have trouble scoring too. The Cardinal held their first four opponents to under 17 points. They have a solid defensive line and linebacker corps that is going to force Irish quarterback, Everett Golson, to throw the ball.

Keys to an Irish Victory

Challenge Stanford’s Secondary- This is the chink the Cardinal armor. Last week they gave up 48 points and 491 passing yards to the 3-3 Arizona Wildcats. Notre Dame has marginally better weapons at receivers and they should be able to beat Stanford’s cornerbacks and safeties. Last week was Golson’s coming out party, this week it’s the receivers’.

Pressure Josh Nunes- The daunted Irish front seven weren’t able to record any sacks against Miami last week. Even though they didn’t get sacks they were still able to force Stephen Morris out of the pocket and rush throws. Nunes has thrown four interceptions and has been sacked five times. The junior will also be without his best wide receiver. That will make his job even harder and the Irish secondary’s that much easier.

Be LOUD- Before the season started there was a huge movement for fans at Notre Dame Stadium to be louder and more, well more like real fans. I don’t know if there has been a noticeable improvement or not. I do know that the Irish faithful have an incredible opportunity to prove we are one of the best fanbases in college football if we are being loud and proud during the broadcast of College Gameday. Last week the show was at South Carolina and there was not any kind of fan interaction or noise being made. It has to be different at Notre Dame. We need chants the entire time!

Prediction: Notre Dame-20. Stanford-6

National Preview

Last week was a bit of disappointment as some of the heralded Top 25 matchups turned out to be duds. Florida handled LSU, South Carolina destroyed Georgia and Oregon blew out Washington. Florida State was upset at North Carolina State and the Texas/West Virginia games were exciting to watch and that made the weekend a little better.

This week we have four more Top 25 matchups but these are much less spectacular than the four there was last Saturday. A few Top 25 teams hit the road and have to be on upset alert. Besides those there are not a lot of enticing matchups.

Games are in order of scheduled kick off time. Predicted winners in bold.

#18 Louisville Cardinals (5-0) at Pittsburgh Panthers (2-3)

Wisconsin Badgers (4-2) at Purdue Boilermakers (3-2)

#15 Texas Longhorns (4-1) at #13 Oklahoma Sooners (3-1)

Iowa Hawkeyes (3-2) at Michigan State Spartans (4-2)

Duke Blue Devils (5-1) at Virginia Tech Hokies (3-3)

North Carolina Tarheels (4-2) at Miami Hurricanes (4-2)

#17 Stanford Cardinal (4-1) at #7 Notre Dame Fighting Irish (5-0)

#11 USC Trojans (4-1) at Washington Huskies (3-2)

#3 South Carolina Gamecocks (6-0) at #9 LSU Tigers (5-1)

#22 Texas A&M (4-1) at #23 Louisiana Tech Bulldogs (5-0)

Last week I went a measly 5-5. I whiffed on the Purdue/Michigan and South Carolina/Georgia games. Who saw those being blowouts? My season record is now 47-15.

Weekend Wrap Up

I’ve been swamped with homework and having to go to work so I’m behind on a few different articles I wanted to write. Since that’s the case, I’m going to abbreviate the three and put them all in here.

Notre Dame is 5-0

             The Fighting Irish had quite the weekend. They dominated the Miami Hurricanes and moved to #7 in the AP Poll and could be in the Top 3 of the BCS Poll next week. The Irish relied on their running offense to pound Miami into submission in the second half of the game. There were four touchdowns scored in the second half of the game and all were rushing touchdowns by Notre Dame. In fact, Irish quarterbacks only threw THREE passes in the second half of the 41-3 blowout. Although the running backs stole the show, young quarterback Everett Golson had the best game of his short career. He finished the game 17/22 with 186 passing yards and ran the ball six times for 51 yards.

              The early season success and a juicy matchup with #17 Stanford on Saturday have lured ESPN’s College Gameday to broadcast their traveling show from the Notre Dame campus. I will have a preview of that game later in the week.

            
            I’d also like to take this time to brag. I predict the score of each Irish game every week. I have been pretty close on some of them. Below, I’ve listed each opponent so far. The first score is what I predicted and the score in the bold is the actual score.

Navy: 34-10. 50-10

Purdue: 31-21. 20-17

Michigan State: 20-10. 20-3

Michigan: 34-16. 13-6

Miami: 31-6. 41-3

None of them are exact, but Navy, Michigan State, and Miami are damn close and Purdue isn’t too far off. The only one I really blew was Michigan but who saw a combined 19 points coming from that game?

CHUCKSTRONG

            It came as a shock when Jim Irsay announced Colts head coach, Chuck Pagano, had been diagnosed with Leukemia. Players, coaches, and fans were stunned but then rallied together to support a man that we have only known a few months. “CHUCKSTRONG” has become a rallying cry and has appeared on social media sites, t-shirts, and posters in Lucas Oil Stadium.  There was a short time for the Colts to grieve but they knew they had to move on from the traumatic news quickly and prepare for the game against the Green Bay Packers. The Packers were Super Bowl Champions in 2010 and came into 2012 as Super Bowl favorites because of their talented quarterback, Aaron Rodgers. Even if Pagano was on the sideline for the game, it was difficult to see the Colts having any chance at winning the game.

            The offensive coordinator and replacement for Pagano, Bruce Arians, led the team onto the field on Sunday afternoon as a head coach for the first time in his long football career. Indianapolis struggled from the beginning of the game and by halftime it appeared they were outmatched as the Packers led 21-3. I gave up on the Colts and believed there was no way they would ever mount a comeback. However, Coach Arians believed differently. He spoke to one of the FOX reporters before heading to the locker room before halftime and said he was going to continue to run the offense and defense the same way. He sounded calm and not the least bit worried that he his teams had shown no signs of even scoring a touchdown.

            On the first drive of the 3^rd quarter, Colts cornerback Jerraud Powers intercepted an Aaron Rodger’s pass on the sideline. Then Andrew Luck came out and led the Colts in a 39-yard drive that ended in a touchdown pass to Dwayne Allen. The score was 21-10 and a small glimmer of hope began to appear for the Colts. The next drive for the Packers was stopped and the Indy defense forced a punt. Luck came onto the field and led the offense back down the field and set up an Adam Vinatieri field goal that made the score 21-13. Now, Indianapolis was only losing by one possession. The crowd became alive and the energy was back on the Colts’ sidelines. The Packers couldn’t respond as their kicker missed a 52-yard field goal. Here came Luck onto the field again for the third time in the third quarter. The Colts got all the way to the Green Bay and goal line and Luck displayed his Robert Griffin III impression by running for a 3-yard touchdown. Although we failed to get the 2-point conversion, we were only behind two at the beginning of the 4^th quarter as the score was 21-19.

            The two teams went a couple of series without any points being scored. But finally the Colts were able to lead for the first time after Vinatieri made another field goal. With 4:44 left in the game, the Packers got the ball and in just two plays scored a touchdown for the first time in the second half. They led 27-22 and it looked like the comeback was over for Indy. The Colts had a different mindset though. They showed grit, toughness, and heart by going on a four-minute drive that had three third-down conversions and resulted in a Luck-to-Reggie Wayne touchdown. They were successful on the third-down conversion and led 30-27 with 35 seconds left.

            Celebration time, right? Surely there was no way that the Packers could comeback with only 35 seconds left. Rodgers proved just the opposite. In three plays he had the Packers at the Indianapolis 33-yard line with eight seconds left. Green Bay’s Mason Crosby lined up for the field goal attempt. The ball was snapped and Crosby began his kick. He got the ball off cleanly and it soared into the air. It went on a trajectory that appeared to be heading right through the uprights. All of a sudden, the ball veered to the left and the field goal attempt was unsuccessful. Colts win! It was jubilation on the field and inside Lucas Oil Stadium. Not only did we make a miraculous comeback, but we did it while our head coach was in a hospital down the street fighting his battle.

            The star player of the game, Reggie Wayne, also gave a game ball to Bruce Arians. He considers Pagano one of his best friends and it was Pagano that coaxed Arians out of retirement and come to Indy. He had not only stop in for the head coach, but he had to replace somebody he has known and respected for decades.

NASCAR Notes

             The NASCAR Sprint Cup Series playoffs or the “Chase for the Sprint Cup” concluded its fourth race and has only six left. Brad Keselowski is the points leader and Jimmie Johnson and Denny Hamlin trail him. Those three are considered the favorites to win the championship and one of them most likely will. Kasey Kahne, Clint Bowyer, Jeff Gordon, and Tony Stewart are still in the hunt, but they have to make up points in the next couple of weeks.  The other five drivers are too far back to make any kind of run.

           

Last week’s race was at the restrictor-plate track Talladega. These restrictor plate tracks create huge packs of cars that then create huge, multi-car wrecks. The race on Sunday was calm for about 187 of the 188 laps. On the final lap of the race, everybody was in a huge pack of four-wide cars all gunning for first place. It was thrilling to watch more than 25 of NASCAR’s best drivers be able to control their cars while traveling 200 mph within feet of each other. Any wrong move or slight mistake would cause havoc. Entering the final turn, Michael Waltrip and Casey Mears got made a run for the lead. Stewart, who was leading, turned down to block them. This was a slight mistake I just mentioned. Waltrip ran into the back of Stewart and caused him to slide up the track and in front of the pack of cars. Stewart got hit again by an oncoming car and almost went airborne. Cars went crashing into other cars, the wall, and the infield grass. By the end of the wreck only a handful of drivers were able to cross the finish line. Everybody else went straight to the garage or had to get towed there.

             This horrific crash brings up a few different topics. First off, should this kind of racing even be allowed? It’s ridiculous to bring million-dollar cars to a track where there’s a pretty good chance it’s going to get totaled. It’s even more ridiculous when you consider one of those big wrecks could seriously injure a driver or fan. Secondly, should a restrictor plate track be in the Chase? When you race at ‘Dega or Daytona, everybody’s cars are equal because you can only go so fast. This creates a lot of opportunity for drivers that don’t have the experience or talent to race up front and cause accidents, as was the case with Waltrip and Mears. Why should that kind of environment be involved in deciding the championship? It is completely asinine that a mistake by drivers like Waltrip, Mears, Terry Labonte, or David Gilliland could play such a big part in the outcome of who wins the Chase. I understand that there are risks at any track you race at, but if a guy spins out in Turn 3 at Atlanta, there’s a good chance nobody else will be impacted. That isn’t the case at restrictor-plate tracks.

            

            Finally, I have a radical idea that I have heard nowhere else and you’re the first people I’m going to tell. Have the Sprint Cup Series race the road course at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. The Sprint Cup boys have raced on the oval at IMS since 1994. The event was a huge success in the 90’s but in the past five years ticket sales have decreased and last year there were only about 140,000 sold. For 2012, IMS held a GRAND-AM race on Friday and Nationwide Series race on Saturday in the hopes of luring more people to the track for the Sunday race. That obviously did not happen. I have been to the last five 400’s and they have all been seriously boring. I love NASCAR and IMS, but if I consider the race boring then what do less avid fans think?

IMS has two options:

1) Let the event continue on and just be content with the attendance. NASCAR is struggling at all tracks to draw fans so IMS shouldn’t blame themselves. However, there is no way more than 200,000 come to Brickyard in the near future, especially when there are so many other tracks in the Midwest.

2) Make the Brickyard 400 a road course race. Many NASCAR fans are clamoring for a third road course race on the schedule and many want it in the Chase. NASCAR has also said it is interested in adding another road course but doesn’t where they would go. What would get more attention than a road course race at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway in the Chase for the Sprint Cup Championship? Plus, you could put this new Brickyard in place of the race at ‘Dega. It’s a winning situation for everybody. NASCAR would be happy to have the third road course. Fans would be happy to see a road course be in the Chase. IMS would be happy to have a new event. SMI and ISC would be happy because neither would gain nor lose a race.