SB Nation - Kyle Rudolph

Wrapping up the 2009 Season

BoilerTMill — Thu, 26 Nov 2009 15:04:41 -0000

Happy Thanksgiving everyone. I hope everyone out there has a safe and happy holiday. The posting will likely be scaled back slightly over the next few weeks before Christmas. The recent temp job I accepted is going to need me for some extra hours so that will cut into some of my writing time. I do have press access for the Wake Forest game next week, however, so that should be fun. If anyone finds any worthwhile news during the day feel free to post it via fanshot and I'll get it to the front page as soon as I can. Also, if you feel like doing a post of your own you can do it via Fanpost on the right. I haven't pushed these features too much in the past, but they are great ways to expand the community here. Now on with the football wrap up.

I am not quite sure what to think about this. When seeing some preseason predictions of 2-10, 1-11, 3-9 with maybe a pair of Big Ten wins, the 2009 Purdue football season looks pretty good. When you actually sat down and watched all 12 games, as I did (minus Northwestern) it is hard not to think that 10-2 was possible. That leaves me with mixed feelings. We were much better than advertised, but not as good as we could have been. Ultimately, 5-7 is probably about right based on the amount of inexperience we had on offense. Even then, those players overachieved.

That is what makes this season wrap up so hard. How do I put it in proper perspective? I guess we can look at each game individually.

Toledo W 52-31

This was the only game that one of the guys over at the Rivalry, Esq. Gave us coming into the season. It was with good reason too, as the Boilers were never seriously threatened and Ralph Bolden had a field day. The only major concern was poor tackling and poor coverage over the middle against Toledo's short drop passing attack. The tackling would be hit or miss all year long. Joey Elliott threw three interceptions, but two were tipped balls as we had the foreshadowing of turnovers. All told it was a good opener. We were in control throughout and never let Toledo get within two scores.

At Oregon L 36-38

And you thought the Ducks visit to Ross-Ade was letting one get away. Essentially, we handed Oregon 19 points in their home stadium. I called this as an upset Purdue win while everyone else predicted blowout and I was damn near right. We had a Duck team that would go on to steamroll USC beaten in their own house. An early interception deep in our own territory led to a field goal. Oregon later returned an interception and a bad snap for a score. We also had an extra point blocked, forcing us into a failed two point conversion attempt in the final minute. Still, this team didn't die when giving them those 19 points. We earned the respect of Oregon fans everyone, as they knew they were lucky to escape this one with a win. I know the guys over at Addicted to Quack have been big fans of Purdue all season because of this game. Unfortunately, "We had it," would become a theme for the season.

Northern Illinois L 21-28

Just an ugly game. If we played them 12 more times I would absolutely pick us 12 times. We had zero business losing this game and we know it, especially when Toledo would later beat Northern Illinois. Purdue got outclassed and outplayed in every phase, yet NIU still needed a late fake punt to hold us off. I am fully confident that we would have scored to tie if they had actually punted there. We should have never been in that position in the first place. Two fumbled punts and a penalty for roughing the kicker only allowed seven points, but they allowed NIU to dominate the time of possession. The offense never got on track until late in the third quarter. I said before the season that if we lost this game we had no business going to a bowl and I was right. It is the difference between a bowl and nothing right now. If we played this game today we win by three touchdowns, easy.

Notre Dame L 21-24

Another missed opportunity. After Jaycen Taylor gave us a late 21-17 lead we let Notre Dame drive down the field, converting a 3^rd and long and a 4^th and goal. The timeout called by Danny Hope before a late 3^rd and goal is unforgiveable. Even if they don't spike it they are running plays in the hurry-up. That means they are less likely to convert. I'll give Jimmy Montana credit though. His winning TD pass to Kyle Rudolph was a good one.

Northwestern L 21-27

This is the second worst game next to the Northern Illinois debacle. If we simply take a knee deep in our own territory late in the first half we save 13 points and three turnovers. Even with the mistakes we had a chance t win late but a pair of incompletions inside the 10 cost us the game. I am glad I was in Miami for this one. I thought ESPN's gametracker was stuck on repeat with all the fumbles. At least Northwestern had quite a season after this one.

At Minnesota L 20-35

This game was almost as bad as the Oregon game. Minnesota's offense was horrible all year, agaisnt us they barely tried to pass. One big pass completed to Eric Decker set up a game changing touchdown. From there the floodgates opened with more turnovers. This was capped by a backbreaking blocked field goal returned for a touchdown. It was almost identical to the figgie Chris Summers had blocked in 2007, only Minnesota actually held on to the ball for a score. This is yet another game I wih we could have back. If we could replay every loss I would predict wins in this order, from most likely to least likely:

Northern Illinois
Minnesota
Northwestern
Notre Dame
Michigan State
Oregon
Wisconsin

And of those, the only one I am sure we would lose is Wisconsin. I might pick Oregon, given how hot they can be. In the other five I would pick us right now.

Ohio State W 26-18

Quite simply, this is the biggest win the program has had in nine years since beating the Buckeyes in 2000. This was a better Ohio State team, but that win essentially sent us to the Rose Bowl, so it is bigger. Considering that three of our four Big Ten losses easily could have been wins, This could have sent us to the Rose Bowl as well, giving us a rematch with Oregon. With the way Ohio State has finished the season I am still shocked by this win. Without it, they would still be on a record Big Ten road winning streak. They would also be hoping for a miracle in the last two weeks for an outside shot at the national title. It was one of the most memorable games in Ross-Ade Stadium because it was completely unexpected. It also proved another preseason prediction of mine true: that we would end the losing streak against ranked teams. Ohio State was the only team that was ranked at the time we played them. Compare that to last year, where Oregon, Notre Dame, Penn State, Ohio State, Minnesota, Michigan State, and Iowa were all ranked at game time. If we win a conference championship in the next three years it will be because of this game.

Again, one of the happiest moments ever at Ross-Ade

Illinois W 24-14

This was kind of a boring game in retrospect. Everyone was still buzzing about the OSU upset. Illinois was awful before looking like a real football team the following two weeks. I would call this game the most dull of the season. We built a big lead and sat on it. That's what good teams do. It was nice not to have to hang on until the final seconds in a Big Ten win too.

Wisconsin L 0-37

Wisconsin Jumped Around all over us...

Did we show up in Madison? This was the worst game only surpassed by the NIU debacle. Yes, we were physically dominated in both games. At least you can expect it with Wisconsin. The Badgers played essentially a perfect game and we did not. There were absolutely no positives from this game, which made the next one that much more surprising.

Michigan W 38-36

Boiled Sports called the Ohio State game a sharpie loss. They were wrong. I called this a sharpie loss. I was wrong. The game will mostly be remembered for the simmering Danny Hope-Rich Rodriguez fued at the end, but I will remember it as HOLY CRAP WE JUST WON IN ANN ARBOR!!!! I don't care that it was over the first Michigan team to finish last in the Big Ten in over 45 years. Knowing our history since 1966 I thought we had no chance. It was stunning because we kept making big play after big play. We overcame yet another 14 point deficit to the Wolverines, and now we have a two game winning streak in a series where we have just 14 wins total. An alert reader is sending me a DVD copy of this game. They are awesome for that.

Michigan State L 37-40

This is the game where our bowl hopes officially died. It is probably about four games later than most people expected them to die. The play they died on was Michigan State's long TD pass after we had gone up 11. If the defense can force even a long scoring drive there the game is pretty secure. Instead, we gave up a long TD, had a figgie blocked, gave up another TD, got a figgie to tie, then promptly gave it back with a long kickoff return. This doesn't even account for the fact that we gave them seven points on the game's first play. It's a tough loss, but we had plenty of chances to make sure this one didn't matter in terms of getting to a bowl.

Indiana W 38-21

An important win because we shared the same record with IU coming in for the second straight year, but dominated the game. We showed that despite similar records, there is still a gap between Indiana and Purdue. It is now up to us to make sure it gets larger and not smaller.

There are tons of positives coming out of this year. We finished at .500 in the league after two straight seasons below. We were 4-2 in the last six games after being 1-5 in the previous six. We won a road game for the first time since 2007, and now have a two game road winning streak. We beat a ranked team for the first time since 2003. the next step is combining the two and beating a ranked team on the road. That is something we haven't done since winning at Wisconsin in 2003, and something we didn't do much under Tiller.

Offensively, we lose our quarterback, but we gain an experienced one in Robert Marve. If you go strictly by recruiting rankings, we can line up four star talent next year at guard (Ken Plue), running back (Al-Terek McBurse), receiver (O.J. Ross), Tight End (Jeff Lindsay, though he was a 4-star linebacker), and quarterback (Marve). Defensively we have to replace the entire secondary, but Josh Johnson, Chris Quinn, and Charlton Williams all have some playing experience. I think there is a certain guard on the basketball team that might be interested in a one year gridiron curtain call. At the very least, Kramer could provide much needed depth. It is safe to say he would be a fan favorite as well.

Just to show I am completely delusional, I think a 6-0 start next year is entirely possible. It is possible, maybe even likely, that Charlie Weis will be gone and Jimmy Montana and Golden Tate will both go pro. That evens the playing field in the season opener quite a bit. We have no excuse whatsoever for losing to Ball State, Western Illinois, and Toledo in the non-conference season. In conference play I believe we can beat Minnesota, Northwestern (our first two Big Ten games), Michigan (ignore this if they field a defense next year), and Indiana. Three of those games are at home, so they need to be wins (a sidebar, it absolutely sucks we beat the league champ, but still went 3-4 at Ross-Ade. WTF?). That leaves Ohio State (tough at home), Wisconsin (They tend to dominate us physically), Michigan State (toss-up road game), and Illinois (a wild card with their sheer talent) as tricky games. Notice three of those four are on the road. Michigan State should be better, while no one know what to expect from Illinois anymore. The Illini could just as easily win the entire Big Ten as they could finish dead last.

So what should we expect? In a down Big Ten everyone is looking to improve. I think we showed the most improvement over anyone as the season went along. If we keep it going into next year, I expect at least an 8 win season. We will return to a bowl unless we crap the bed in one of those three easy non-conference games. With a few breaks we might even challenge for the Big Ten title.

Yes, I have lost my mind.

Two reasons why people who blame the coaches for this entire mess are at the very least misguided

Nuss — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 19:19:48 -0000

The coaches have taken a lot of heat for the past almost two years now for what has transpired on the football field. That refrain reared its head again Saturday, after one play in particular.

Now, anyone who watches Chris Berman and Tom Jackson on Sunday afternoons knows that you do one thing, and one thing only, on a Hail Mary pass. Go ahead, say it with me ... "YOU KNOCK IT DOWN!" The wonderment, of course, spread from the notion that if we all know that, how in the world did Aire Justin and ~~Xavier Hicks~~ Jay Matthews not know it?

If only it were that simple.

Consider the following screen shot, captured at the moment when Golden Tate caught the ball (about 1:50 on the video), which I have so deftly illustrated to make my point.

The probability that Justin and ~~Hicks~~ Matthews could have knocked that ball down is minute -- or even nonexistent. Yes, it appears Justin is going for the catch. But I supremely doubt the outcome would have been any different had Justin or ~~Hicks~~ Matthews done their darndest to just get one hand up there and knock it down. This simply looks to me like a case of one team having an exceptional athlete and another team having two guys who simply don't possess the raw physical tools to make this play.

Seriously -- look at how high Tate is off the ground. We have one athlete on our active roster who could have gotten that high and made that play. And he plays on offense. Now, if you want to criticize the coaching staff for not putting him in on that defensive play, then fine.* But that's a different conversation.

* I'm not sure I buy that you could have put Jared Karstetter in, anyway. The Irish were a medium range pass away from getting into field goal position, as they still had a timeout left. The defense had to at least entertain that notion, and have a defense in that could account for that. Besides, when you start doing things like that, you often increase the likelihood of a breakdown.

Now, let me direct you to another play before bringing this back around to my overall point.

Remember that whole blocked PAT, with Chima Nwachukwu scooping up the ball and trying to run it back the other way for two? (I tried to find video, but alas, no luck.) Our 5-foot-11, 201-pound starting safety -- who started running with the ball while no one else was paying attention, and ostensibly had anywhere between a five- and 15-yard head start on the other team -- got tracked down by this guy:

Mike Ragone

#83 / Tight End / Notre Dame Fighting Irish

Height: 6-5

Weight: 251

Year: junior

And if he hadn't caught him, he was about to get caught by this guy:

Kyle Rudolph

#9 / Tight End / Notre Dame Fighting Irish

Height: 6-6

Weight: 260

Year: sophomore

This sort of thing happened over and over again throughout the game. The defensive line getting shoved around by opponents that outweighed them across the board. The offensive line flailing away at blitzers. Alex Hoffman-Ellis and Mike Ledgerwood squaring up to tackle Robert Hughes, only to meet him at the point of attack and get driven back three yards.

Which brings me to my point. Before you start pointing the finger at the coaches -- and goodness knows, I've done it enough -- please take into consideration what they're working with. I posted this numerous times on the game thread on Saturday, but it's worth repeating if you weren't there: MEN > BOYS.

There will come a day where we're once again able to compete with Notre Dame (and USC, and Oregon, and Arizona State, and ...). But as these two plays showed, we're not even in the same ballpark with these guys yet. Yeah, we can complain about scheme, and some of those points are certainly valid. However, that the coaches have been able to squeeze as much improvement out of these guys as they have this year -- facing such overwhelming physical odds -- says something.

We're heading in the right direction. It might not be as fast as you want, and you can argue that it might be a bit faster with another coaching staff. But there isn't a coach on earth that would have beat Notre Dame -- or most of the other teams on our schedule -- with what our coaching staff has to work with.

Golden Is Thy Name: Tate and Hughes Lead Notre Dame Rout of Washington State

CW — Sun, 01 Nov 2009 14:52:37 -0000

More photos » by BAHRAM MARK SOBHANI - AP

about 1 month ago: Notre Dame player Sergio Brown celebrates with a back flip after defeating Washington State, 40-14 in an NCAA college football game on Saturday, Oct. 31, 2009 in San Antonio, Texas. (AP Photo/Bahram Mark Sobhani)

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Some Irish fans - we'll call them the lunatic fringe - have been complaining that Notre Dame hasn't been blowing the doors off of teams because of their vast talent advantage, or whatever. Granted, every team they had played against Nevada had been a BCS team that either has a great win or very competitive game against a top team. We were not going to get a poor effort from them, and due to the abilities of Jimmy Clausen and friends, the Irish were 5-2.

This game - this weird Halloween night clash with a Pacific Northwest foe near the Mexico border - is what it looks like when you play a team where you have a dominant talent advantage. You control the lines on both sides of the ball, you get your back-ups plenty of reps and everyone gets to focus on enjoying the band and going home happy. There were obviously some very bad things to come out of last night: the injuries of still-unknown consequence to Trevor Robinson and Dayne Crist, plus Jimmy re-aggravating the turf toe. But the Irish did what they needed to do as they get ready for a tricky November slate, and now to the bullet points.

Golden Tate is a top two or three Heisman candidate at this point, and anyone who has him lower than that is simply voting for the big name quarterback who was supposed to be at the top of the ticket before the season started. All he does is score touchdowns - out of the backfield, on catch and runs, tearing the ball away from three defenders on a jumpball in the endzone - and jump into bands and refuse to get tackled at any point. He's amazing, he's got two go-ahead fourth quarter touchdowns (Michigan State, Boston College) and a huge game against Southern Cal. He played better as more of the defense focused on him after Michael Floyd's injury. Golden Tate is a Heisman front runner, and anyone who doesn't have him there doesn't deserve a vote.
Great work by the defensive line all night, as KLM led the team in tackles with five. Ian Williams had a pick, Ethan Johnson was a constant presence in the backfield and Wazzu running back Dwight Tardy didn't really get going into the second string was in. Hopefully they enjoyed rushing the passer this week, as the next game against Navy won't warrant too many of those opportunities.
Excellent game by Robert Hughes and Theo Riddick as Armando Allen sat a spell. Hughes had 182 yards of offense on 28 touches - just beautiful, gaudy numbers as he consistently provided a nice check down for Jimmy - while Riddick flashed some speed with 12 for 75.
Dayne really flashed the gun on that pass to John Goodman. Let's hope his leg(s) is okay, although it's not a good sign when the pain from an injury is so intense a player just drops the ball. Jimmy, please stay? Thanks.
Tony Dungy compared Clausen to Drew Brees at halftime. I like it.
Duval Kamara went from being written off by Irish fans to becoming a very nice part of this receiving corps. It was also nice to see Kyle Rudolph back in the mix at receiver, as well as Mike Ragone getting his first catch of the season (which seems impossible, yet is true).
As far as Irish bowl chances go, they are two very tough road games and two tricky home games away from winning out, so let's not get too involved with that. However, it is worth glancing at: If the Irish go 10-2 they will have a shot at a BCS game, a good chance at the Cotton Bowl (depending on how LSU looks in November) and become a virtual lock for the Gator. If they go 9-3, I imagine it's almost a definite trip to the Gator against the Canes or Hokies. There are all fine games against good teams, so the focus of Irish fans should be on just winning, baby.

Survivor: South Bend - Usual Suspects, Notre Dame Hold Off Boston College 20-16

CW — Sun, 25 Oct 2009 13:48:36 -0000

More photos » by Michael Conroy - AP

2 months ago: Notre Dame wide receiver Golden Tate scores the game winning touchdown in the fourth quarter against Boston College in an NCAA college football game in South Bend, Ind., Saturday, Oct. 24, 2009. Notre Dame defeated Boston College 20-16. (AP Photo/Michael Conroy)

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If you find yourself playing the lottery, it seems like the luck of the Irish will be on your side if you toss out 5, 7, 23 and 28. The Irish defense alternated between getting completely gashed by another true freshman quarterback and picking him off, while Jimmy Clausen-to-Golden Tate resulted in two touchdowns. (With Tim Tebow tossing two pick sixes and Mark Ingram almost fumbling Rocky Top into an upset yesterday, why not Golden Tate for Heisman?) Kyle McCarthy had two picks as he again was perhaps the only redeeming part of the secondary, while Manti T'eo continued to add to his legend, leading the team in tackles and piling up two and a half tackles for loss. Armando Allen and Duval Kamara also had nice games for the offense, while Brian Smith's late interception sealed the game for the Irish after they allowed an unimaginable fourth and 17 conversion.

A lot of teams found themselves in struggles yesterday, and the Irish were no exception, but at least the streak against Boston College is over and the teams is now 5-2 on the season heading into the extremely unnecessary and weird Washington State game in San Antonio. The defense did a fantastic job bottling up Montel Harris, but the secondary couldn't have looked worse most of the time, with the same usual suspects looking completely lost, or being in position and not making a play on the ball. On offense, Kyle Rudolph was a non-factor again (1 for 11), while Roby Toma and John Goodman served as the third receiver behind a nice little game from Kamara (7 for 60).

Parts of the team are progressing nicely (defensive line, in particular) but there are still a lot of issues to be worked out. Overall, though, I'll take 5-2 over 4-3, and while none of the November games are going to be easy, all of them are very much winnable. Let's see this team take care of business against Washington State, plug Michael Floyd back in against Navy or Pitt and close the season out strongly.

Preview: Michigan State vs. Iowa

LVS — Fri, 23 Oct 2009 23:32:02 -0000

[Given the time constraints, shorter than usual. --LVS.]

Your MICHIGAN STATE SPARTANS vs. the IOWA HAWKEYES

SPARTAN STADIUM, EAST LANSING, MICHIGAN

7:05 PM ET, BIG TEN NETWORK

WEATHER: 42 DEGREES, 30% CHANCE OF RAIN

Operation "make the season respectable" has largely succeeded following wins in the last three weeks. The opportunity to make the season special begins this week, as a win on Saturday would essentially put MSU in command of the Big Ten title race. The first two years under Mark Dantonio have yielded little grist for complaints; one of the legitimate gripes, however, is that we haven't played well in "big" games -- namely, those in which we're less talented but not absolutely overmatched. (Last season's debacles against Ohio State and Penn State being examples 1 and 1A, of course.) Well, the biggest opportunity of all has arrived. Iowa is undefeated but not unbeatable, and has historically struggled in East Lansing. A win on Saturday would not merely confirm a complete 180 in the season's fortunes -- not unlike what Iowa did last year, by the way -- but also signify a giant step forward for the program as a whole. Can we do it? I'm not wholly optimistic, but a big result isn't out of our reach.

WHEN MICHIGAN STATE IS ON DEFENSE: . . . they're playing a offense whose statistical mediocrity perhaps belies an ability to get things done when it's most needed. Iowa is currently sixth in the conference in both passing offense (47th nationally) and efficiency 58th nationally), and ninth in the league (93rd nationally) in rushing. But, 2 things: having a great defense certainly can make up for mediocre offensive play, and when Rick Stanzi is on, this isn't a terrible offense after all.

And unfortunately for us, Stanzi's coming off probably his most consistent game of the year: a 17/23, 218 yard performance against Wisconsin which included an absolutely gorgeous touchdown throw to Tony Moeaki. The STANZIBALL meme is justified; just ask BHGP:

But holy smokes, is Ricky Stanzi ever trying to raise peoples' blood pressure. For the second straight week, Stanzi threw what we considered his worst, most definitive, Stanziest of the STANZIBALLs, this one a game-opener to Donovan Warren who, with a different set of rules, could have crawled into the end zone unmolested. [ . . . ]

Stanzi's antics have now directly cost the Hawkeyes a touchdown in three of the last four games, a Jarrett Lee-like display that ended a whole lot worse for LSU last season than it has for Iowa thus far. In those three games, each of whom was an unranked opponent now and at kickoff, the average margin of victory has been five points. Obviously, you can't take points off the board in the middle of the game and expect the rest of it to play out exactly the same, but if Iowa wins all three of those games by an average of 12 points instead, we've got a much better comfort level and maaaaybe a better ranking thus far. Probably a moot point unless Iowa wins in Columbus, but something worth pointing out all the same.

That was following the Michigan game, in which Stanzi hit the STANZIBALL nadir by throwing an absolute gift to Donovan Warren; our defense hasn't been the greatest at forcing turnovers, but if one comes gift-wrapped, that could make a big difference in the game.

Stanzi's primary receivers are WR Derrell Johnson-Koulianos and TE Tony Moeaki, both of whom had big games against Wisconsin: DJK (easier this way) had 8 catches for 134 yards, while Moeaki had 3 catches for 55 yards. Moeaki, in particular worries me; we've had all kinds of trouble defending good pass-catching tight ends this season (Kyle Rudolph and Garrett Graham, in particular) and Moeaki is probably better than either--he's finally showing the potential that's been wasted by injuries during the past few seasons, and in 4 games this season, he has 20 catches (to lead the team!) for 247 yards and four touchdowns. He's a very difficult matchup for our linebackers and safeties (6'5", 250); hopefully we have some sort of scheme to slow him down.

MSU linebacker Greg Jones said the plan of attack is pretty straight forward for stopping a duel-threat like Moeaki.

"He can only do so many things at one time - he's (either) gonna block or go out for a pass," Jones said. "He's gonna use his size to his advantage, and if I was that big I would too, so it's gonna make it pretty simple."

Do your thing, Greg.

Meanwhile, in the wake of Shonn Greene's departure and Jewel Hampton's season-killing injury, Iowa has done a passable job in the run game -- led by freshmen Adam Robinson and Brandon Wegher:

RUSHING	GP-GS	Att	Gain	Loss	Net	Avg	TD	Long	Avg/G
Robinson, Adam	7-6	108	541	21	520	4.8	5	43	74.3
Wegher, Brandon	7-0	81	327	36	291	3.6	3	28	41.6

Robinson's statistics include a 91 yard, 1 TD performance against Wisconsin. Given the way that Jerel Worthy and Colin Neely have been playing the past few weeks, I definitely think we can stop Iowa's ground game. I'd just rather that we don't make the mistake Michigan did and sell out to get there:

Speaking of the rush, hello half of the state of Michigan: if Michigan's game plan was explicitly "Make Stanzi beat us," they went about it the correct way. Adam Robinson and Brandon Wegher were effectively minimized as threats, combining for 91 yards on 23 carries. Worse, the two garnered only three first downs on the ground (all Robinson in the third quarter), with Stanzi registering three of his own. That's not exactly the type of production that usually leads to Iowa scoring 30 points.
Fortunately, with Michigan putting 11 players, 4 couches, 3 cheerleaders, and Sad Michigan Girl in the box, that left the secondary very susceptible to big plays, and Moeaki's delay routes as the receivers ran off coverage led to two easy, easy touchdowns, the second of which accounted for Iowa's last points of the day.

Given our relative strength on run defense and the secondary's previous troubles, I'd much rather we do the converse: focus on stopping the pass and make the two freshman running backs beat us. (Sounds a lot like Iowa's probable game plan.) Of course, the two aren't mutually exclusive: cranking up the pass rush has gone a long way toward helping the secondary do its job; getting pressure at the line of scrimmage will obviously be beneficial for the run defense as well.

Finally, it's worth noting that we have 21 sacks in 7 games, and Iowa has allowed 15. Bryan Bulaga, Iowa's huge offensive lineman, is beastly when healthy, but he hasn't been all season, and looks to be a shadow of his former self. Please, please, please, get pressure on Stanzi.

Not our offense, but who cares!

WHEN MICHIGAN STATE IS ON OFFENSE: Ugh:

Big Ten Pass Efficiency Defense:

Rank	Name	Gm	Patt	Pcomp	PaPct	Int	IntPct	Yds	Ydsatt	Tds	TdPct	Rating	Win	Loss	Ties	Natl Rank
1	Iowa	7	215	106	49.30	15	6.98	1169	5.44	5	2.33	88.69	7	0	0	5

Big Ten Turnovers Gained:

Rank	Name	Turnovers Gained
1	Iowa	22

Big Ten Passes Intercepted:

Rank	Name	Passes Intercepted
1	Iowa	15

. . . and that's my agita about this game distilled into three tables. Iowa's pass defense forces tons of turnovers and makes good quarterbacks look absolutely horrible.

Darryl Clark's statistics are particularly scary. This is a very, very, very good Iowa secondary. Amari Spievey is an NFL player, Shaun Prater is solid and is additionally some sort of talisman for the defense (he didn't play in the defense's worst outings of the year), and the two safeties -- Tyler Sash and Brett Greenwood -- have combined for 8 interceptions. Combine that with two excellent linebackers (A.J. Edds and Pat Angerer) and a havoc-wreaking defensive end (Adrian Clayborn) and . . . uh, yeah, you'll understand my pessimism during the BHGP podcast.

Giving Cousins time will be absolutely key; 3 of his 4 interceptions this year have come when he's pressured. If he's hurried, he's going to make mistakes and Iowa will capitalize. If he has time . . . it's not going to be pretty but I have enough faith in Cousins to believe that he'll be able to move the ball. Iowa only has 13 team sacks on the year -- not an overwhelming number for a defense of this caliber -- and we'll need to minimize that number on Saturday night.

Iowa's defense, on the other hand, can probably be run upon:

OPPONENT	ATTEMPTS	YARDS	TOUCHDOWNS
Northern Iowa	32	84	0
Iowa State	34	190	0
Arizona	25	148	0
Penn State	33	109	0
Arkansas State	25	80	0
Michigan	45	195	3
Wisconsin	33	87	1

(N.B.: John Clay wasn't exactly himself for most of the game last week.) Those aren't horrible numbers by any means, but they aren't lights-out, either -- sixth in the conference. If there was one week where we'd massively benefit from a breakout game by Larry Caper -- yep, this is it. If we can start picking up some yards on the ground, we might be able to get Greenwood and Sash to cheat up and thereby take away their ability to snag Cousins' passes away. (Also a worry: the ability of our freshman RBs to hold onto the ball. Please, no fumbles.)

That, ultimately, is my key to the game: we have to get something done on the ground; we weren't great last week against Northwestern, and that isn't going to cut it this week. Our passing game is very good, but their pass defense is better, and if Cousins has to throw the ball 40 times, this game is not going to end well.

FINAL PREDICTION: A few weeks ago, before Michigan went to Iowa City, Brian wrote this:

The prediction below is weird: it builds in what appears to be a 50-50 shot at Iowa having one more game-crippling mistake than Michigan. I think if M gets that game crippling mistake they will be in it at the end with a chance to win, possibly attempting to defend and Iowa game-winning drive. If they don't I think they end up in a hole and threaten to break out of it from time to time but never actually do so, with the cold and the crowd and the Iowa defense finally reining in Forcier when the game's on the line.

Of course, Michigan did get that game-crippling mistake, and Iowa still won. Iowa's resiliency has been remarkable. They were down early to Wisconsin, Michigan, and Penn State, and yet, they didn't panic: they let their defense assert itself and chipped away until the other team, battered and broken, had nothing left. This is an awfully impressive team: by far the best we've played. They're not unbeatable, and we've been pretty resilient ourselves: we were 1-3, and now, if we win tomorrow, we're probably the favorites to win the conference. But to get there, we'll have to play much better than we have at any time this season -- a Michigan game-type effort, minus the 4th quarter collapse -- and we will have to be there to take pick up and take advantage of the giveaways that Iowa will almost inevitably make.

It's a night game, the team will be hyped, the atmosphere will be unbelievable, and we've got something BIG to play for. I wouldn't be at all surprised if we pulled this game off -- a la Wisconsin in ~~'05~~ '04 -- but to predict a win is just a step too far, I think. Iowa 24-23.

The Holy War and the Big Finish

Brian @ BCI — Fri, 23 Oct 2009 18:05:24 -0000

More photos » by Santiago Flores - AP

3 months ago: A new billboard facing the Notre Dame campus is shown on Aug. 31, 2009 in South Bend, Ind. The billboard, offers a not-so-subtle reminder to Notre Dame coach Charlie Weis that the past two seasons have not been up to the standards of the storied Fighting Irish football program. (AP Photo/South Bend Tribune, Santiago Flores)

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Brian: Jeff is already on his way to Austin this weekend to participate in the Livestrong Challenge (good luck Jeff!) so you are left with me and my thoughts on tomorrow's Boston College-Notre Dame game. Let's take a look at the matchups on both sides of the ball ...

Boston College Offense vs. Notre Dame Defense. While we all know about BC's offensive woes on the road at Clemson and at Virginia Tech, the Eagles' offense is much further along now than they were in week 3 or even as recently as week 6. Last week you could see Dave Shinskie and the Eagles offense rebound from the poor performance in Blacksburg and expose a lifeless NC State defense, particularly in the run game. Luckily for the Eagles tomorrow, Notre Dame's defense - while not as punchless as Tom O'Brien's unit - is still not very good. The Irish rank 63rd in the country in rush defense, 96th in pass efficiency defense and 104th in total offense. Sobering numbers. I think there is something to be said for the Irish playing deep into the fourth quarter in each of their first 6 games - the defense hasn't been able to stop much of anything.

In the running game, with Josh Haden unavailable, the Irish will likely focus on Montel Harris this week and on containing him. Hopefully Rolandan Finch can fill in for the injured Haden. The onus will certainly be on Dave Shinskie and the offensive line to give Shinskie time to work. The Eagles may be facing a bit of an uphill battle on the offensive line without the services of starting left tackle Nate Richman, who was seen with a walking cast on his left foot. Jon Tenuta runs a blitz-happy 3-4 package that the offensive line will have to pick up quickly if the Eagles have any chance of moving the ball. The offensive line has played fairly poorly in both of our road games, but something tells me they will have it together more this weekend. The Eagles have a tendency to get up for this game. If the Eagles can get the ball in space past the blitzing Irish front 7, they should have success moving the ball.

In the receiving game, BC can't afford as many dropped passes as they had last week, especially with the weather forecast for tomorrow. (Seriously, what is up with the rain following me to BC games this year? Clemson, Florida State, Notre Dame?!). Jordon McMichael is back in the lineup which is a good thing.

Boston College Defense vs. Notre Dame Offense. While I have a hard time trying to hold back vomit when I hear about Jimmy Clausen and his Heisman campaign, Clausen is a very good quarterback. Notre Dame is very much a pass first, run second offense, and Clausen has plenty of weapons in the receiving corps to burn the Eagles through the air. The Irish will be glad to have the services of Robby Parris, who injured his right knee, hip and ankle on Notre Dame's fake field goal attempt in the fourth quarter against USC. Thankfully, Michael Floyd - who is by far the Irish's best offensive weapon - will still be out this weekend. The go-to receiver will be Golden Tate and Kyle Rudolph is also a threat at the tight end spot. While Clausen won't burn you with his legs like Tyrod Taylor or Russell Wilson, he can definitely find his spots as a more pure-pocket passer a la Riley Skinner or Christian Ponder.

While you will undoubtedly hear all about Boston College's struggles on the road this season, I think you will see the Eagles put in a much better performance on the road in South Bend this weekend. The game with Notre Dame always seems to bring the best out of BC. Also, having been to both Notre Dame Stadium, Lane Stadium and Death Valley, Notre Dame Stadium is certainly the least hostile of those three environments. With the weather forecast calling for plenty of rain and a high in the mid-40s, I expect a low-scoring, methodical (read: ugly) affair, with neither team pulling away until late in the fourth quarter.

Big Finish

Jeff: In HD's article on BC-ND today, Jim Ramella - a huge fan of the movie Rudy - is quoted as saying, "I mean, who didn’t want to go to Notre Dame as a kid?" Ramella said. "There’s no movie about Boston College." Your thoughts?

Brian: Give it some time, Ramella. I'm sure a movie could be written about The Miracle in Miami or Herzlich's story in the next few years. Besides, Rudy is overrated as a movie. That's right. I just went there.

Brian: The city of Charlotte - led by former Bank of America CEO Hugh McColl - is selling Swofford and league officials on the idea of keeping the ACC Championship Game permanently in Charlotte. Your thoughts?

Jeff: It's probably the right thing to do but why not wait to commit to Charlotte until after next year's game at least. The problem is that if next year Clemson ends up playing Virginia Tech in Charlotte, of course it would sell out. We really need to see how Charlotte would do if BC played Miami or a matchup similar to that.

Jeff: HD has now jumped on the Eagles bandwagon and has BC playing in the ACC Championship Game. Some sort of reverse jinx going on here?

Brian: I don’t know. It seems like she changes her mind every week, and she’s had too many back-handed compliments about BC for me to take her seriously.

Brian: The Wake Forest blog Blogger So Dear came out with his 2009-2010 basketball preview and has the Eagles finishing 10 of 12 in the ACC regular season standings and staying home come tournament time. Really? Your thoughts?

Jeff: What happened to the Eagles finishing 3rd or 4th in the conference and perhaps being ranked nationally?

Jeff: Blue and Gold Illustrated writes that the Irish’s six game losing streak to BC is a streak on par with Notre Dame losing four straight to Northwestern (1959-62) and four straight to Air Force (1982-1985). Your thoughts?

Brian: Losing to Northwestern and Air Force four straight years is way worse than losing six (or potentially seven) to the Eagles. C'mon now.

Brian: DeLeon Gause will honor the memory of Connecticut cornerback Jasper Howard, who was stabbed to death on Saturday night. This weekend Gause will wear Howard’s No. 6 instead of his normal No. 9. Gause and Howard competed against one another in high school in Miami. Straight class, no?

Jeff: Yep.

Jeff: You're heading to the game tomorrow. Are you gonna try to hang out with all the students in the RV lot? Or are you going to realize you are too old and they don't want you there and do your own tailgate?

Brian: I'm only a week older than you are dude. Are you suggesting you can't hang and tailgate with students anymore?

Brian: Last one, you’ve already sold your prediction rights to Rakes of Mallow, so no more predictions this week. In Bob Ryan’s article this week talking about the BC-Notre Dame series, he suggests that if BC loses this week, Notre Dame would be more likely to reschedule the Eagles. Agree?

Jeff: I want to say no because I would hope that they are not that shortsighted that one game result will make a difference in rescheduling the Eagles. Had they won the last six I think they would have already signed a deal.

Pick 5

Brian: Last week I knocked the cover off the ball going a perfect 5-0, while Jeff struggled and turned in a 1-4 performance. Up 9 games with half a season to go, pressure is on to keep my 9 game lead on Jeff.

Boston College (+8) at Notre Dame
Georgia Tech (-5.5) at Virginia
Wake Forest (+2.5) at Navy
Central Michigan (-8) at Bowling Green
Iowa (0) at Michigan State

Jeff:

Arkansas (+6.5) at Mississippi
Clemson at Miami (-4.5)
Penn State (-4.5) at Michigan
Louisville at Cincinnati (-18)
Oregon State (+21) at USC

Five Good Minutes: Rakes Of Mallow

Brian @ BCI — Wed, 21 Oct 2009 12:00:49 -0000

More photos » by Michael Conroy - AP

Notre Dame WR Robby Parris attempts to score in front of USC's Taylor Mays on a fake field goal during the first quarter of USC-Notre Dame. Parris would be injured on the play and is doubtful for this weekend. (AP Photo/Michael Conroy)

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The Eagles now take a three week break from ACC play and face the Irish this weekend. What could be better than Holy War week?

To preview this weekend's game between the Eagles and the Irish, we welcome CW from Rakes of Mallow to the blog for Five Good Minutes. Welcome!

BC Interruption: Notre Dame's defense can't seem to stop anybody lately. Jon Tenuta's defense currently ranks 104th in total defense and 117th in pass defense. What do you attribute to the Irish's poor play on defense? Personnel? Scheme? Tenuta? A little of A, a little of B, or maybe all three?

Rakes Of Mallow: Up front I’m getting more comfortable with how the line and backers have been playing the last few games after some interesting performances early on. They contained Joe McKnight and the USC run game well, although you would have liked to see some more pressure. The game prior the line held up at the goal line against nearly a dozen attempts by Jake Locker and company. Obviously Montel Harris is very good and the Irish will have to focus on slowing him, but the front of the defense has been playing well. There are still some issues with just plain tackling.

The secondary? I can comfortably say the answer is all three. Irish fans have no idea what’s going on, and would have rated this unit as the trustworthiest coming into the season with the talent assembled and rather solid prior results recorded. Beyond Kyle McCarthy’s sterling play at safety, the secondary has been a trainwreck, with guys running around aimlessly as receiver after receiver streaks freely downfield. At practice this week, there’s a competition for Harrison Smith’s safety spot underway, which is nice, because Harrison had some difficulties on Saturday. Despite his middling results so far this season, it’s very possible David Shinskie will have a nice little Heisman campaign started by midway through the third quarter.

BCI: Speaking of Heismans ... much has been made about Jimmy Clausen and his potential Heisman campaign. How has Clausen been able to succeed this season? Who are the playmakers on offense whose names we'll hear called frequently on Saturday?

ROM: Clausen has been able to succeed because he’s grown into probably the best passer in the country. He’s deadly accurate, throws a great deep ball, and between the improvements of the offensive line and Clausen’s growing pocket presence, he hasn’t been sacked nearly as much as in his first two seasons. Irish fans are just enjoying Clausen for the rest of this season, as his name keeps creeping up Mr. Kiper’s big board.

Clausen’s main weapon is Golden Tate, a former high school running back who has morphed into an All-American candidate at wide receiver. Now a junior, Tate has progressed from a guy who could just run fly routes to a complete receiver who occasionally enters the backfield for some exciting Wildcat (or GoldenEye, if you’ll allow) formations. For his size he is amazingly difficult to bring down, and I can safely say he will break a big play or two in this game. Kyle Rudolph is a beast at tight end and has two critical fourth quarter catches so far this season (and almost had a third against Southern Cal), while Robbie Parris was fantastic as the second wide receiver opposite Tate against the Trojans. All-world talent Michael Floyd has been sidelined with a collarbone injury and isn’t likely to return for a couple more weeks, but if you see Number 3 improbably step onto the field, that is not a good sign.

BCI: It seems that every week Notre Dame is either winning or losing close games late in the fourth quarter. Why would Notre Dame be a 10 point favorite to anyone?

ROM: A fantastic question! Not really sure, although I’m thinking this may be more of a lingering effect of BC’s implosion in Blacksburg than anything else? I honestly don’t know, but I’ve found college lines are a whole lot screwier than the NFL, where Vegas usually dominates. I imagine the money is going to shift it towards the Eagles by a tick, but yeah, not sure why it opened so high rather than trying to sucker in some overly confident Irish partisans (I don’t even know if that group of people exists, but Vegas would want to milk them just in case).

BCI: It's safe to say USC is the #1 game you wanted to win this season. Does Boston College come in at #2 given the losing streak? What does the BC-ND series mean to Irish fans?

ROM: I think Michigan would have been #2 or #1A, at least for me, just because I really hate them. My feeling toward the BC-ND series is sort of ambivalent, but not in the obnoxious "I don’t care about BC/FREDO" sort of way, just in that I don’t have any prior experience with the Eagles that gets me particularly fired up for them. I wasn’t an Irish supporter until starting classes there in August 2004, so I don’t have any sort of grudge from 1993 or 2002, nor do I hail from the New England area, so I don’t have to hear about it after Eagles victories. I’m not sure I’ve ever even had an extended conversation about this series with an Eagle alum before, now that I think about it. I want to beat Boston College Saturday because the Irish haven’t in a while (partly because of good BC teams, partly because Notre Dame didn’t get a crack at them in either ’05 or ’06) and because I wouldn’t be able to deal with the "Hold me, I’m Irish" emoposting that would implode the Irish internets in the aftermath of a loss.

BCI: How secure is Charlie Weis' job? Does a close loss to Southern Cal warrant a stay of execution? What if the Irish lose to both BC and Stanford and go 0-4 against rivals this season? Then what?

ROM: A lot of insane Irish fans wanted Weis to go 11-1 or better to keep his job, but they are think it’s 1977, wonder why Notre Dame doesn’t use a fullback on every play and are still getting over the fact women are now allowed to enroll at our fine university. A realistic expectation for Weis going into this regular season was 9-3, but I don’t think the coach would want that third tick to come against Boston College in the aftermath of the USC loss. If Weis finishes up at 8-4 or better, I don’t think he’s going anywhere, but there will be some howling for his head if he drops one more game, let alone two.

I also wouldn’t list Stanford as a rival. I’m not sure there’s an Irish fan that would list them in the top five of teams they really get fired up to play/beat. It’s USC, then Michigan, then a hazy mix of a half dozen teams in which BC is prominently included. It’s not a matter of who any potential losses are coming to over the last six games, just that they’re happening at all that’s going to turn up the heat on Weis.

BCI: Last one. Notre Dame's two losses on the season have come against true freshman quarterbacks - Tate Forcier and Matt Barkley. Do you expect a third true freshman to beat Notre Dame this weekend? Make a prediction. Who wins this one? What's the score?

ROM: I’m not going to try and glean anything from Eagles games, since they’ve been so topsy-turvy this season, so let’s just go with the prevailing trend this season and say Irish win a close one late? I like the ND defenses chances at bottling up Harris – he’ll probably hit triple digits, but it won’t be like the numbers against NC State – but the BC defense dominated this game last year, and while the offense is light-years ahead of where it was November 2008, Clausen has to go out there and put some points up. I usually avoid making predictions, but since you asked, I’ll say 30-21 Notre Dame, with a late, late touchdown turning a 23-21 nail biter into something a little more comfortable.

BCI: Thanks for joining us CW.

For more information on the Notre Dame Fighting Irish, be sure to check out Rakes of Mallow.

University of Southern California Trojans at University of Notre Dame Fighting Irish: The Preview

CW — Fri, 16 Oct 2009 13:00:42 -0000

More photos » by Michael Conroy - AP

2 months ago: In this photo made Oct. 3, 2009, Notre Dame quarterback Jimmy Clausen, left, celebrates a touchdown against Washington during an NCAA college football game in South Bend, Ind. Clausen isn't the same quarterback who walked out of the Los Angeles Coliseum seven games ago following USC's 38-3 win over Notre Dame that he describes as the toughest loss of his life. (AP Photo/Michael Conroy)

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This game needs little introduction. It is perhaps the greatest rivalry in college sports, with no conference affiliation or in-state feud to sustain it, just a quest for continued excellence and national titles on both sides. The fact the rivalry has lost some of its luster in recent years also needs little explanation as, save for one fantastic game in 2005, the Irish have been little more than a speed bump for the Trojans as they roll to top five finish after top five finish. If Charlie Weis and Jimmy Clausen want their Notre Dame careers to take the next step, they need to win this game. Considering how the last few games have gone (the Irish haven't scored a touchdown in two years during two rather humiliating contests), there is some work to do.

Irish Defense vs. Trojan Offense

Clausen vs. Pete Carroll's defense gets all the headlines, so let's start on the other side, with Matt Barkley squaring off against Jon Tenuta's defense. Barkley beat out Aaron Corp and Mitch Mustain to become starting quarterback out of camp and is undefeated in that role, but the offense revolves around a meat grinder of a running game, with five monsters blowing giant holes in the defense for a variety of tailbacks. With Stafon Johnson still recovering from that awful throat injury, all-world recruit Joe McKnight is the featured back, a dazzling player more than capable of catching the ball out of the backfield. McKnight is the consummate home run hitter, and helping to clear the way is one of the bigger x-factors in the game, Stanley Havili. There are few fullbacks in the country that are capable of taking out a middle linebacker on one play and splitting out to wide receiver and catching a fifty-one yard fly route on another like Havili did against Cal. Allen Bradford will spell McKnight, and depending on CJ Gable's health, you may see him or Marc Tyler get a few touches over the course of the afternoon. With Anthony McCoy a capable blocker and pass-catcher at tight end, the Irish will have to be wary of the passing game even when Southern Cal goes to a power running formation.

The aptitude of the Trojan running game raises an interesting question: Do you sell out to stop the run, loading up the box and sending in a variety of run blitzes, or do you respect Barkley's arm? Notre Dame Stadium was as loud as any venue in the world in 2005, but I'm not sure how rattled Barkley will be after leading a fourth quarter comeback in the Horseshoe. He hasn't been asked to do a whole lot, but he's been absurdly competent and has the arm to make any throw the Trojans ask of him. If the Irish front seven can't at least put a dent in the Trojan rushing attack, then there isn't much of a chance of slowing this offense. If there are eight or nine in the box, Barkley is going to play action and find Williams, or the returning Ronald Johnson, or McKnight, or Havili, or one of the talented tight ends. I wish it were more complicated than that, but I don't think Barkley is going to lose this game for the Trojans if the Irish drop it into his lap. Perhaps that's a strategy you have to try, but I don't think it will end well.

If the Irish can limit big plays - a tall task against an offense like USC possesses - there's a chance the Trojans shoot themselves in the foot trying to string together long drives. They have been awful on third downs, not particularly disciplined when it comes to penalties and have a penchant for putting the ball on the ground (which is one reason Washington pulled off the upset, along with Barkley and Taylor Mays missing the game).

This Irish defense has had issues, yes - that's perhaps the understatement of the season - but there have been flashing moments of brilliance. A good Purdue offense was held scoreless for nearly three quarters. Washington's offense only mustered three first half points after their opening drive. There have been massive breakdowns at horrible times, yes, but this team has the potential - the coaching, the recruits, the motivation, the home crowd - to stop the Trojans. It will take everyone playing at their peak, but the Trojans have been slowed before, and this Irish defense has stood up to some talented offenses when need be. If they don't wrap up the speed merchants who are going to be getting the ball most of the game, be prepared for another game like 2008, or 2007, or 2003, or 2004...

Irish Offense vs. Trojan Defense

When it's strength versus strength - Weis' offense versus Carroll's defense- something will have to give. As I wrote about earlier in the week, neither team has played a unit anywhere near the caliber of the one they'll be facing off against tomorrow. A lot of Irish fans seem to want to establish the run first, but lining up in the I-formation and pounding the Trojans might resemble a suicide mission. Their defensive line is deep and talented, and their linebackers can cover ground on anything going outside. When the Irish run, it seems like a fine idea to keep the Trojans spread out with three or four wide and use the strength of the Notre Dame offensive line - Robinson, Olsen and Stewart - to pop some draws up the middle. If the Trojan front isn't as formidable as it seems (and it seems awfully damn formidable), then adjust and take a few more cracks at them. However, I have no desire to start the game with an I-formation and a two yard loss just so some fans get their fullback fix. (That being said, welcome back, James Aldridge. We need all hands on deck for this.)

Jimmy Clausen is the best player on the team, and while the Irish need balance, they're also going to need a Herculean effort from their QB1. We can pine about how this game would be different with Michael Floyd, but he's a few weeks from returning and Clausen will just have to make do with the tremendous talent remaining at the skill positions. Golden Tate will draw a lot of attention from the Trojan defense, but Weis has been playing a shell game with him since Floyd's injury, and I don't see him suddenly making it easy to bracket his main playmaker. Kyle Rudolph will face some athletes who are more than capable of matching up with him, but he's already shown he can come through when it matters. My primary concern is the continued lack of a definite answer at the second wide receiver position. Whether it's a consistent rotation or one standout performer, someone is going to need to give Clausen somewhere to go when Mays is blanketing Rudolph and a double team has latched onto Golden.

The Trojan pass rush is among the best in the nation, and if Paul Duncan and Sam Young don't seal the edges to protect their quarterback, this offense is going to look like it did in the lights of the Coliseum last year. If I were Weis, I would lean on the no-huddle spread. Not a hurry-up, but simply getting to the line in an effort to limit USC's substitutions, which will in turn limit the effectiveness of that tremendous defensive line depth. Quick drops, quick reads and keep them guessing. Toss in some pro formation and wildcat to keep things interesting, but the Weis offense has always been at its best when it's spread out, in a rhythm and keeping the defense off balance. This will obviously be impossible if there are a flurry of false start and illegal motion penalties, so it would be nice if those were at a minimum.

The Trojan defense hasn't given up a passing touchdown all season and Mays gives the cornerbacks an ability to press up and take chances, but if Clausen can't effectively move the ball through air, the Irish have little chance. He'll need some help from his running backs, but the biggest match-up on the field is how Clausen deals with the pressure, reads Carroll's coverage and finds the correct option. He was 11 for 22 for 41 yards and two interceptions last year, but that Jimmy is long gone. The 2009 Jimmy Clausen is up for this challenge, and I think he'll respond well to it.

Inane ramblings and a vague prediction

Over the past five years, I think I've been respectful of - perhaps even deferential to - the Trojans. They've been the class of college football in the 21st century, continually finishing at the top of the polls and one amazing Vince Young performance away from seven straight Orange/Rose Bowl wins, with victories in Lincoln, Columbus, Auburn, South Bend, Fayetteville, Charlottesville and Landover (against Virginia Tech) thrown in just for fun. I almost never feel good about an Irish game going into it, and especially not against the Trojans, but I find myself oddly at peace about this clash. (There's a very good chance that I've just accepted the fact that if Notre Dame loses this game, the majority of Irish literature I read daily on the internet will become unbearable. As you read on, do not discount this fact that I'm just looking at this whole thing through shamrock-colored glasses because I've experienced the alternative and it's too unbearable to contemplate.)

As I've stated all week, these men of Troy do not jump off the screen at you like some of their past versions. They are obviously dripping with talent, but it's raw, and it's beatable. Washington already knocked them off. Ohio State was very close. The rest of their opponents were either tin cans or a Cal team that was still trying to get its torso back in order after Oregon had ripped its heart out the week prior. People are correct to say this is a giant test for the Irish, but they're downplaying what it means to the Trojans. It won't have any effect on their Rose Bowl chances - the trip to Autzen on Halloween will most likely decide that - but as far as national championships go, there are no more toe stubbings available for the men of Troy.

Of course, Notre Dame and Charlie Weis have considerably more to prove, as there are still plenty of questions after dodging raindrops to a 4-1 open to the season. The Irish lost to the only team with a winning record they've played, and barely survived against a slate of mid-tier Big and Pac Ten teams. But every game, they show off something new that gives fans a little bit of hope. Against Michigan, it was finding two key touchdowns and a necessary pick to rally from an eleven point fourth quarter deficit. Against Michigan State, it was recovering from the loss of their best weapon on offense and another fourth quarter hole in front of a home crowd that was more anxious than supportive. The next week it was domination that slipped away due to a couple poor defensive possessions, but Clausen-to-Rudolph fixed everything. Then there was goal line stand after goal line stand against Washington, the reemergence of Robert Hughes, the ridiculous production of Golden Tate, and again, Clausen-to-Rudolph.

Everyone wanted this team to just be great from the word go in September, but teams usually can't just flick a switch. You have to learn greatness, and more importantly, earn it. This squad bottomed out in November of 2008, with the losses to Pitt, Boston College, Syracuse and Southern Cal. Perhaps it was in Hawaii, or the practices in the cold of the South Bend winter before, that made them look like a completely different team as they mauled the Rainbow Warriors. It's a look in the eye that hasn't faded since. They kicked the crap out of Nevada, punched Michigan in the mouth repeatedly with Armando Allen, then showed tremendous guts in three straight games where lesser teams would have just said "You know what? We're losing. We'll put it together and go get them next week." The offense is a well-oiled machine, led by the best passer in the country who has a support system that has him in ideal conditions to earn that rating. The defense has the horses to slow up Troy, and for the first time in a few years, there's a placekicker that inspires confidence when he walks onto the field

Then you have the intangibles, and the mounting frustration of being on the wrong side of a beat down every season. There's a west coast quarterback who could have followed in the path of two recent Heisman winners in his own backyard but didn't, and has gotten his ass handed to him the last two years for that decision. There's a freshman receiver playing against his hometown school who wants to show them that he also made the right choice, and a freshman linebacker who'd love nothing more than the same thing. No matter how long these guys have been on this team - three months or going on five years - they've never beaten USC. Most of them have never even been close, and for the few fifth year seniors who started to storm the field like the rest of us in 2005, they have to have a burning desire to just take back control of this series and get the respect they want.

Since the dazzling 2005 offense moved on, games like the Rose Bowl against Penn State where the Trojans storm out to a giant lead are the exception, not the rule. The way USC wins is by slowly grinding you, continually throwing haymakers on both sides of the ball until you just break down and end up on the other side of a three touchdown loss. Normally it's a touchdown here and a field goal there and next thing you know some freak tailback is taking a wheel route seventy yards for a score and you immediately realize there's no way your favorite is coming back. They have the swagger and the confidence that no matter what the situation is, they'll make a play and win because hey, they're USC. For the first time in a long while, Notre Dame has a little bit of that same confidence. It's not a confidence where they can slip n' slide on the sideline four days before a giant rivalry game, but it's growing. There is no doubt that the Irish have to play great to win, and they will need some breaks and a little bit of luck along the way. But - and this is a little different from the past few seasons - they have shown over the last six games that greatness is attainable. Maybe it's not there consistently yet, but the flickers are there.

If USC has any lapses, like trailing 3-0 against San Jose State after the first fifteen minutes, Notre Dame will have points on the board. They have to have points on the board after the first quarter. They need touchdowns, not field goals, and need to continue the trend of doing a relatively good job of protecting both the ball and their quarterback. The numbers tell you the USC defense is good, and I don't doubt that it can consistently deal out some pain, but they have not had to deal with a quarterback like Clausen yet. (Locker is good, but he's still learning Sarkisian's system and hiccups were inevitable, like at Stanford. Pryor is still a mess and Riley looked like a deer in the headlights from his initial drive-ending pick on.) If the Trojans can't slow down the Irish, then the pressure goes onto Barkley. He's been calm, cool and collected up until this point, but he's also been either been out in front or in low-scoring slugfests in his other four starts. How will he respond to a shootout, on the road, in front of a crowd that's ready to burst with another chance like 2005? (Probably pretty well, but it's a potential factor that could lean towards the Irish.)

I loathe making predictions and have no idea how things will go Saturday, but all I can say, for really the first time this season and for the first time in years against Southern Cal, is that I like our chances. I will most likely end up eating these words come darkness tomorrow, but for now, I am at peace. Backs are against the wall, echoes are awakened and there are seven years of pent-up frustration that need to be released at some point.

October 17th around 3:30pm seems like as good as time as any to begin.

Go Irish, Beat Trojans.

Mid-Term Report Card: Grading The Irish On Their Bye Week

CW — Fri, 09 Oct 2009 16:16:38 -0000

More photos » by Michael Conroy - AP

3 months ago: In this photo taken on Saturday, Sept. 5, 2009, Notre Dame center Eric Olsen lines upp against Nevada during an NCAA college football game in South Bend, Ind. (AP Photo/Michael Conroy)

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There is obviously gigantic room for debate on almost all of these positions, but this is what I'm starting with. I went back and forth on a lot of them, but since they are just completely arbitrary grades, be gentle. In general, I think I was very demanding with the offense and a little more lenient with the defense, with games later in the season being weighed as more important, especially with young players.

Quarterbacks: A

I think this is the only legitimate grade here, right? James Clausen currently has the highest passer efficiency rating in the country. He leads the country in yards per attempt, has twelve touchdowns to two interceptions (one of which was a Hail Mary-type throw at the end of a first half, the other a perfect toss to Armando Allen that was volleyball set right to the defender). He is moving around in the backfield a thousand times better than last year, feeling the rush, avoiding it and stepping into the pocket to deliver smart bombs. With all of the natural biases and hatred harbored against him (some of his own doing, like the entire College Football Hall of Fame thing, some not), he has forced himself into the Heisman conversation and onto Kiper's big board. He's led four consecutive fourth quarter comebacks (the first of them forgotten after a failure to run out the clock and Forcier's counterpunch), he appears to be an awesome tutor and supporter for his understudy, his teammates seem to absolutely love him and he has great celebrations, from understated fist pumps, to jumping into a lineman's arms, to simply flashing the guns, like he did after the touchdown pass to Rudolph.

The only bad things I can say about Clausen at this point are that he was erratic in the first quarter against Michigan before settling into cold-blooded killer mode (which he did by halftime when he gave his team the lead) and that awful lateral/pass that got returned for a touchdown against Washington. Really, that's about it. He hasn't missed a beat with the loss of Michael Floyd, and as long as he's in the game, Irish fans can feel very good about their chances.

As far as his back-up goes, Crist has done a great job in relief, even though all of the bubble wrap hasn't even been removed yet. He led a bunch of great drives in the Purdue game and showed off his arm in mop-up time versus Nevada. Evan Sharpley continues to look astute on the sideline and I'm very confident in his ability to come into a game and handle business if need be.

Running Backs: B+

I originally had this as a "B," but then I started thinking about how Armando Allen was a top fifteen rusher before Purdue and how he simply destroyed Michigan. Or how successful the Wildcat was against Michigan State in the red zone, including that touchdown pass from AA. Then how even though Allen couldn't go late against the Huskies, Robert Hughes put the team on his shoulders and just cranked out tough yard after tough yard, including the critical two-point conversion (probably) and game-winning touchdown. Hughes was attempting to shed his "Thunder" label earlier in the season, but has embraced his role as a power guy - a quick one, but not a dancing back - and made a statement to fans and the coaching staff that he's back.

Save for a few young mistakes, the help in pass blocking has also been very good, assisting the offensive line in their efforts to protect QB1. You'd like to see Jonas Gray a little farther along (his fumble versus Michigan was a killer), but Theo Riddick has shown some pop as a freshman (admittedly, on a scant seven carries). When you consider that the starting fullback has been out since the opener and both Allen and Hughes are averaging over five yards a carry on the season, I think the "+" is acceptable here.

Wide Receivers: A-

This should probably be a straight "A" for the absurd efforts of Golden Tate and the late St. Michael Floyd (COLLARBOOOOONE), but I'm knocking it down a little bit because A) No one has clearly stepped up to replace Floyd opposite Tate and B) Every time they show St. Michael on the sideline in civilian attire, a little more of my heart breaks. (Plus I'm trying to be overly pessimistic here to get street cred with the dregs of the messageboards.)

Michael Floyd was on his way to an all-world season when his fragile clavicle betrayed him. He would get an A for his efforts so far this season, because from his absolute domination of Nevada to the gravity-defying touchdown against Michigan, he was perfection. Following a few dropsies in the Michigan game, Golden Tate took it upon himself to double his efforts in his wingmate's absence, catching the winning touchdown against Michigan State, switching to a running back/Wildcat to help out Crist against Purdue and setting up the touchdown in overtime against Washington. Versus the Huskies, Tate had ten touches for 275 yards of offense, which is patently absurd. His sweat glands also seemingly secrete some sort of grease that makes him impossible to wrap up and tackle, which is a handy talent for a receiver to have.

After the very top of the depth chart, things get a little hazy. Almost as if the stats were trying to prove my point for me, Duval Kamara, Robby Parris and Shaq Evans each have seven catches on the season. Parris has a touchdown, Evans has been steadily trending upward (4 for 34 in the last game) and sadly, Deion Walker hasn't gotten much burn at all. Tate and Kyle Rudolph force the defense to pay a lot of attention to two players, so it would be nice if this second tier could really take a step forward against Southern Cal, either collectively or with one lone wolf taking the leap and wrestling control of a starting spot.

Tight ends: B+

Kyle Rudolph has two go-ahead fourth quarter touchdowns in the last two weeks and is simply an impossible match-up against most teams. (Sadly, Southern Cal can just throw Taylor Mays on him, which could be the most interesting showdown of them all on the 17^th.) Rudolph's run blocking could be a little more dominant, but he's such a force in the passing game, I can honestly say "Who cares?". Bobby Burger has done a great job in his role as back-up tight end/H-back/fullback, although he's not really a threat in the passing game at this point. (He also had a bad false start at the goal line versus Washington which was very much not good.) The lack of fun, sexy Mike Ragone times - or really any depth at the position - is troubling, and why this group also takes slight nick.

Offensive line: B+

I'm not going to even pretend like I can explain to you the particulars of how an offensive line works, why this one is working well or what the great individual plays have been, but I can say this: after the debacle of the last couple years, this line is significantly better in every capacity. How much of that to credit to Coach Verducci and how much goes to the natural maturing process of young linemen, I have no idea, but I'll take it. Clausen has been kept clean most of the season - there have been some issues at the tackles with speedy defensive ends on obvious passing downs - and the running game has oscillated between "perfectly effective" and "absolutely dominant," so I couldn't be prouder. The tackles have struggled a little, but you can't say enough about the interior of the line just consistently dominating up the point of attack. Some unnecessary false starts and certain plays just falling apart from the word "go" knock the grade down a little, if only because they are very much avoidable and unacceptable for a veteran corps.

Defensive line: B-

This was going to be a lot lower before the Washington game, but after the trio of goal line stands, I have to heap some credit onto the guys up front. There is a definite trend upwards in the last two games, as the unit helped to suffocate a good Purdue running attack before repeatedly stone-walling Jake Locker. After having only two tackles the entire season prior to last Saturday's game, Kerry Neal had seven against the Huskies. KLM had another seven, while Ethan Johnson had five. Everyone up front has a handful of tackles for loss, and again, I think every Irish fan is pretty happy with how things are moving over the last couple games.

This unit is extremely young, but you can see lights starting to click, as Ian Williams is shedding blockers at the point of attack and the Johnson/KLM combo becomes more and more active. John Ryan has even gotten into the act, with a sack, a tackle for loss and a deflected pass. Bonus points tacked on for Johnson's extra point block versus Michigan State, which cancelled out one of the few Nick Tausch miscues of the season. There is a long way to go, but there are positive signs that the opponent's offensive line is going to have more and more difficulty as the season progresses. (Hopefully.)

Linebackers: C-

Again, trending upward, but there have just been too many missed tackles and not enough big plays to justify a high grade here. Some of it could be the youth attempting to adjust to Tenuta's scheme, but the blitzes aren't getting there, and when they do, there seems to be a strong aversion to wrapping up. (Brian Smith's shoulder block on Polk late in the Washington game is a perfect example of these troubles.) Barely anyone finishes runners off, and pass coverage is not what you would expect with a bunch of very athletic guys out there. In Tenuta's scheme linebackers are supposed to shine, but that is not happening through five games.

Before an injury hampered him against the Huskies, Darius Fleming was slowly starting to emerge, with seven tackles for loss and two sacks. Brian Smith has been solid, although he hasn't approached the ceiling some Irish fans thought he had in the preseason. The shining, sparkling gem of the group is Manti Teo, who had his reins loosened considerably against Washington and responded with ten tackles. As Tate, Floyd and Rudolph took the receiving corps to the next level, hopefully Teo can lead the advancement of the linebackers to an elite unit. The talent is there, but until tackling becomes more certain and coverage tighter, this group will have a lot of room for improvement.

Kyle McCarthy: A

Remainder of the Secondary: D

First off, let us bask in the glow of McCarthy's season thus far. Forty-nine tackles, three picks (one of which saved the Michigan State game, another turning the Michigan game in Notre Dame's favor), two passes broken up and a huge (CLEAN) hit on fourth down to end the Washington game. McCarthy's season has been so good that when he didn't dive to catch Locker's fluttering pass near the end of regulation, everyone was surprised and/or disappointed. He almost never misses a tackle, wrapping up perfectly every time - and there are a lot of times. He's almost always in the right place at the right time and without him, this Irish team would almost assuredly be well below .500.

The rest of the secondary? Not so good. Whether they're having the same troubles as the linebacking corps in adjusting to Tenuta's scheme, or simply being instructed to play soft coverage, there just have barely been any plays made by the defensive backfield. Outside of McCarthy, the unit has two picks on the year and many, many more misplayed balls that turned potential interceptions into big plays for the opponent. Tate Forcier and Kirk Cousins both looked like Heisman candidates against the Irish, and Joey Elliott wasn't far behind. Notre Dame is 105^th in the nation in pass defense, (linebackers struggling with coverage have assisted with this number) and with McCarthy's sterling play, that's simply unacceptable. Going into the season this is the unit many Irish fans had the most faith in, and so far in 2009, that trust has not been justified.

Special Teams: B

On one hand, Nick Tausch has been nearly perfect in his role as placekicker, basically winning the Washington game with his foot. On the other hand, there are still no touchbacks on kickoffs, kickoff coverage has not been stellar and punting has been so bad that Weis had to make a switch before the last game. Theo Riddick has shown a nice burst in the kick return game, but really the only good thing consistently happening on special teams is the marked improvement of the place-kicking. This was originally lower, but after so many seasons of the field goal kicking being an adventure, there's a nice bump for consistency in that realm.

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There is a lot to talk about here, and this is just an attempt at being a conversation starter. So please, play nice, use YouTube/stats whenever possible, and most importantly, enjoy your weekend.

Once More, With Feeling: One-Legged Jimmy Clausen and Irish Pull Out Win At Purdue

CW — Sun, 27 Sep 2009 14:22:45 -0000

More photos » by Darron Cummings - AP

2 months ago: Notre Dame quarterback Jimmy Clausen reacts to the crowd after Notre Dame defeated Purdue 24-21 in an NCAA college football game in West Lafayette, Ind., Saturday, Sept. 26, 2009. (AP Photo/Darron Cummings)

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It's never easy, and sometimes it ain't pretty, but a fourth and goal pass to Kyle Rudolph gave Notre Dame the win at West Lafayette Saturday night. Without their top receiver, top running back and top quarterback (for part of the night), the Irish gritted out a win against a very game Boilermaker team.

There are a multitude of issues to address before The Hurt Locker comes to town Saturday, but a win is a win is a win.