Official Notre Dame Football Thread

[FirstTimer]

Neither is Crist.

He's not as accurate as he needs to be, no. But people are REALLY quick to forget some of the passing performances he put up last season. I think Cirst not being a good passer and not being a great fit for this offense are two really seperate issues. Frankly, Rees isn't a great fit for this offense either. And let's not forget, if Notre Dame's defense played the way it did for Crist the way it played for Rees down the stretch last season the QB controversey we saw would have been much more "muted".

[FirstTimer]

From South Bend too...not a good sign.

Meh. it is what it is. Kid wasn't that heavily recruited when Notre Dame offered. Tried to sneak one by. Other teams got hot to him and now some bigger schools are looking at him. He wants to take the entire process and go through it now that some big schools(Oregon, LSU etc) are looking at him.

[FirstTimer]

Just not a good sign that a kid that plays his home games at School Field (just down the road) is being stolen from ND for another school.

Maybe, maybe not. If he recommits later then it's a non-issue. Nothing I'm worried about now.

[FirstTimer]

Navy

The Good

-Michael Floyd. Notre Dame came out and made an effort to get Floyd involved early and often. There was an obvious mismatch with Navy’s secondary and it was exploited time and time again. It makes you wonder where some of these quick passes were during the USC matchup. We saw a few for that game and they worked.


-The offensive line. An entire month without a sack and the Irish currently have two running backs putting up staggering numbers in the run game. Enough can’t be said about the progress this line has made in the last two seasons, especially in short yardage situations(sans the Michigan debacle), which under the previous regime were always an issue.

-The defense. Dominated Navy everywhere. Everyone on the defense deserves a lot of credit but in particular players like: Manti Te’o, Stephon Tuitt, Louis Nix, Jamoris Slaughter, Robert Blanton, Harrison Smith, and Darius Fleming stand out. A year after an absolute embarrassment Notre Dame came out and absolutely dominated a very good rushing attack.

-Dayne Crist. It was a great sight to have Crist on the field and playing well a week after an awful goal line situation that I believe we are all familiar with. The pump fake Crist had on the scramble was a great moment late in the ball game and as good as it is to see Crist on the field it’s obvious he oozes talent and after watching Tommy Rees soft toss the ball around for three quarters you can’t help but become “re-intrigued” with what Crist can bring to the table, especially with his ability to run. It would have been an amazing moment to have Crist go in for a touchdown on the keeper play but that moment will have to wait.

-Crazy Train. ALLLLLLLLLLLLL ABOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOARD!!! HAHAHAHAHAHAHA. Loved the playing of it once and the crowd reaction to it was awesome. Cult in game music created.




The Bad
-The swing pass/lateral for a fumble. Cancel this play forever. Now. Seriously.


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Notre Dame now enters into a very tricky part of the schedule for the next two weeks. Going down to Wake Forest for a Saturday night game against a team that until last week had been a surprise team on the college football landscape and facing a defense that while they haven’t performed that well, does have some good athletes on the edges is no small task. The opening line had the Irish being favored by 14 points. No way the gap between these two 5-3 football teams is that wide. Maryland the week after at a “neutral site” at Fed Ex Field will also be a challenge for a team that doesn’t have any room for error if they want to avoid more public scorn. Notre Dame has a tremendous chance to enter the Stanford game at the end of the season at 8-3. An upset there, depending on the way the polls fall gives Notre Dame an outside shot at sneaking into the top 14 of the BCS late in the season assuming the three wins over Wake, Maryland, and Boston College are somewhat impressive. Don’t expect it to happen, but it will be an interesting development to keep an eye on as the season moves into the final month of the regular season. The Champs Sports Bowl seems a foregone conclusion at this point but the 1% chance of a BCS bowl still looms. Internally it’s still being used as a motivational ploy. Wake Forest and Marlyand are far from “locks” as far as wins go but going on the road against two solid opponents while having a very good rushing attack, a dominant force at wide receiver, and a defense that has been good for a vast majority of the year makes this ACC road stretch less intimidating than it could have been otherwise.

Go Irish. Beat Demon Deacons.

[FirstTimer]

Great inside look at The Gug

[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Oel8H-Fs3z4&feature=channel_video_title"]Irish Connection - Episode 20 - Nov. 2, 2011 - YouTube[/ame]

[FirstTimer]

During Kelly's radio show yesterday he said a Jumbotron is on order.

Not sure if he was joking or not.

[FirstTimer]

I didn't hear the show so not sure the tone but I can't imagine it's serious if someone hasn't picked up on this? Just odd that Kelly says this and nothing is reported/

[FirstTimer]

Some of the worst officiating I have seen has been going on.

The Gray TD run, the "late hit", the Harrison Smith PI on a ball thrown 10 yards out of bounds etc. Wow.Also, how Wake wasn't flagged for all the post play shit talking is unreal.

Aaron Lynch and Tuitt beasted last night though.

Teo was REALLY quiet.

[padman59]

The injuries are starting to mount on defense. KLM done for the season, and both Johnson and Te'o hobbled.

Rees can be a frustrating QB to watch. Those two picks were horrible.

Did anyone else notice that the punt return team simply doesn't block anymore? I don't know whether the coaches have made the decision to only fair catch punts, but the fact that someone (either the players or coaches) have essentially conceded that part of the game is a little disheartening.

[FirstTimer]

These look like shit. Maryland will probably come out in their turtle-shelled helmets too.

Are thoe seriously for the game this weekend?

What jerseys are they going to wear?

[Irish]

[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VK46a9h2RcY"]Irish Connection - Episode 21 - Nov. 6, 2011 - YouTube[/ame]

Great recap of the game for the people that missed it(Even though I am sure everyone that frequents this thread never misses a game.)

Is Blanton the best corner at ND for at least 10 years now?

[Irish]

I don't think the helmets are that bad. And maybe somebody can fill me in on what the Shamrock Series is supposed to be? Is it just what ND is calling neutral site games?

[FirstTimer]

From UND:

Nov. 7, 2011


Notre Dame - The University of Notre Dame will celebrate its Shamrock Series football matchup Saturday against the University of Maryland by wearing specially-designed helmets when the Irish take the field for their 7:30 p.m. EST game at FedExField in Landover, Md., to be televised by NBC Sports.

Created in partnership with adidas, the Shamrock Series helmets are covered in 24-carat gold leaf and feature green shamrocks on each side and a leprechaun decal on the back. Handcrafted with meticulous detail, the gold-leaf helmets combine Notre Dame's rich football heritage with the program's bright future. The helmets have been handcrafted by Troy Lee Designs of Corona, Calif.

This marks the first in a series of uniform features that will be utilized for Notre Dame's Shamrock Series contests. After the 2011 game at FedExField, the Shamrock Series in 2012 moves to Soldier Field in Chicago for a game against Miami. In 2013 the Shamrock Series matchup against Arizona State will be played at Cowboys Stadium in Arlington, Texas. The Irish will showcase uniform variations in their annual Shamrock Series games but otherwise will wear their standard uniforms the rest of the season.

"Notre Dame football has one of the most iconic looks in college football and to celebrate the Shamrock Series, our team wanted to create a special new element for their uniforms for Saturday's game," said Mark Daniels, director of football for adidas.

Beyond the new helmets, the Irish jerseys and pants for the game against Maryland Saturday will be identical to those worn a year ago at Yankee Stadium against Army - including green adidas TECHFIT jerseys. New for the Maryland matchup, the Irish will wear adidas adizero gloves featuring a gold palm and adjoining shamrock logo plus white adidas cleats.

The Shamrock Series games for 2011 and 2012 are presented by Sprint.

SICK!

[FirstTimer]

Shaq Thompson cancelled his Michigan visit.

ND is one of his top schools.

Also sounds like David Perkins is gone for good. He really wants to get out of the midwest and go away for school.

[Irish]

Thompson is down to Oregon and Washington.

Damn shame too because he would be a legit DB on the squad. With Darby and Shepard, then Thompson back deep with Eliar Hardy, that is a championship secondary.