Postgame Analysis- Tulsa- 28, Notre Dame- 27

I don't even know where to start to talk about the Notre Dame-Tulsa game that involves family-friendly language. What a fiasco.

The best part about watching the game was that I got to watch it with my father who was visiting for parents weekend. He told me stories of the Notre Dame glory days, when the fullback ran the ball up the middle on first down and it was successful 99% of the time. It helped keep the two of us from losing our minds.

The blocked point after that was returned by Tulsa. Dayne Crist's season-ending injury. Tulsa's punt return for a touchdown. Notre Dame's defense giving up a 3rd and 26. A few questionable calls by Coach Kelly.

I miss the glory days.

Game Ball-

I thought long and hard about this one. I had a few candidates in my head but they all made too many or too big of mistakes for me to give it to them. I was going to give it to Tommy Rees for stepping in for the injured Crist, but then he threw the game-ending interception. I was going to give it to Kapron Lewis-Moore (#89 on the d-line) for deflecting a number of passes, but he was beat on the outside too many times for my liking. Finally, I decided on cornerback Gary Gray just because he continues to impress me with his ability to square up, wrap up and make the tackle. Plenty of the other Irish defenders would do well to take lessons from him.

Positives (spoiler alert: this list is very short)-

-The tribute to Declan Sullivan at the beginning was very appropriate and touching. (Read more details of the accident here.)

-Once Crist went out, Rees did do a better job than expected. After what happened in the Michigan game I'm sure most Irish fans were expecting much worse. He was the first freshman quarterback in Notre Dame history to throw for four touchdowns in a game. If only he could stop throwing off his back foot...

-Michael Floyd was able to play today so his hamstring injury is obviously doing better.

-Iowa creamed Michigan State 37-6. Woohoo!

Negatives-

-Injuries are piling up. Crist is done for the year with a ruptured patella tendon in his left knee. Theo Riddick is out for 2-3 more weeks. Nose tackle Ian Williams is out 4-5 more weeks with a sprained MCL. Armando Allen was out this game too. His hip was probably bothering him again and his absence was very noticeable in the running game.

-The run game was basically non-existent. They piled up a grand total of 70 rushing yards. Against Tulsa. The Golden Hurricanes were starting to look worn down at the end of the game, so why didn't Brian Kelly take advantage and pound the ball? Especially with an inexperienced backup in at quarterback. Putting the outcome of the game solely on Rees' shoulders was too much to ask of a freshman QB with little to no real-game experience.

-Turnovers. Again.

-Notre Dame always seem to fail to dominate on either side of the line of scrimmage, and that is where the game begins and ends. Tulsa was in the Notre Dame backfield too often for my liking (despite only registering one sack) and Notre Dame didn't get enough consistent penetration from the defensive line.

-As my dad and I were discussing, and Brian Kelly has hinted at, there may be a mental problem with the team. They've come to expect mediocrity and so they're sort of looking out mainly for themselves and waiting to "escape" to the NFL. This is just a theory but it makes sense in some ways.

Notre Dame is 4-5 going into the bye week on a two game losing streak. Utah is up after the bye week.

Postgame Analysis- Navy- 35, Notre Dame- 17

I would like to apologize to our readers for not writing a post after Notre Dame's game against Western Michigan last week. I did watch the game, but had some family stuff to deal with at home over the weekend and then a very stressful work week back at school.

(If I had posted something, it would've been a lot of ranting about giving up on the run way too early and letting Western Michigan hang around for too long.)

Anyway, back to the task at hand:

Navy- 35, Notre Dame- 17

Remember when Notre Dame won 43 straight games against Navy? Remember when playing a game against Navy might as well have been a guaranteed 'W' on the Irish schedule?

Me neither.

I don't know if this game was more or less heartbreaking than last year's triple overtime loss. Granted, Dayne Crist was missing his best three targets (Kyle Rudolph, Michael Floyd and Theo Riddick were unavailable due to injury) but in theory Notre Dame had plenty of talent to beat the Midshipmen. Notre Dame marched down the field on the opening drive but Navy made a huge goal line stand to force a turnover on downs. From there it only took them three plays to go 99 yards to score a touchdown. Notre Dame never quite recovered from that early blow.

Maybe Notre Dame got too comfortable after winning three-straight games. Maybe Navy was still riding the momentum of their come-from-behind win last week. We can sit here and speculate all day, but when it came down to it, Navy wanted it more and was much more fired up to play than the Irish.

Game Ball-

Backup quarterback Tommy Rees for putting together Notre Dame's best drive of the game at the end, even though it was in garbage time. He was 6-of-7 for 79 yards on the drive. It wasn't a bad idea to stick him in that situation and let him get a little playing time and he looked pretty confident.

Positives-

-Strained hip or not, Armando Allen still looked good (when they used him). He's not the biggest running back out there but he's very strong and physical for his size. Even more importantly, he keeps his legs moving until the whistle.

-At least Tommy Rees put together a nice fourth quarter drive on that last touchdown, right? Granted Navy had pretty much taken their foot off the gas at that point, but it was still a pretty drive. Notre Dame's offense actually did a decent job of moving the ball but made costly mistakes at all the wrong times.

-Other than one untimely pass interference call, Notre Dame was not flagged at all during the game. Not committing stupid penalties is always a plus. Too bad no one really notices how much a team in penalized until it starts costing them games.

-Navy could beat us by 50 points and we would still have a better mascot than them. I'm sorry, but those "Fear the goat!" signs that Navy fans bring to games fail miserably at sounding intimidating. There's not even an actual term for the irrational fear of goats. My roommates looked it up after one of them caught a glimpse of a "Fear the goat!" sign. The closest term is "zoophobia", which is the fear of animals in general. Ohh, what now Navy?! (Yes, I know there is an actual story behind why Navy's catchphrase is "Fear the goat!" Yes, I know I'm really, really pushing it here. But I couldn't think of anything else positive to say about Notre Dame's performance today. Forgive me.)

Negatives-

-Where to start? I'll go for the most obvious; the run defense. We all knew going into this game that Navy favors the triple option offense. It's their bread and butter. Their trademark. They've only been running that offense for the past ten thousands years. So why, why, why did Notre Dame look so ill-prepared to defend it? Navy quarterback Ricky Dobbs attempted TWO passes the entire game. We all knew Navy would be running it to the outside all day and that's been an area of weakness for the Notre Dame defense, so it makes no sense that they wouldn't put a majority of their focus on that aspect of the game. Fullback Alexander Teich rushed for 210 yards (a season and I think a career best for him), averaging 8.1 yards per rush. He's not even Navy's first string fullback! Starter Vince Murray was out with a knee injury! Navy's rushing offense alone put up almost as many yards as the entire Notre Dame offense. Coach Kelly claimed the defense made adjustments at halftime, but it didn't show. The run defense was flat-out ugly any way you look at it.

-Dayne Crist took a step backwards this game. Again, Rudolph, Floyd and Riddick are all hurt which made his task all that much harder, but I don't know who or what he was throwing to some of the time. The timing on his interceptions couldn't have possibly been worse either. Some of this can be chalked up to missing his top three targets, but there was definitely something off with Crist today.

-As always, I would've liked to see the Irish run the ball more. I was willing to be more lenient in this category, given how fast they fell behind and were playing catchup the entire game, but handing the ball off to Allen and Wood more often would've taken some of the pressure off of Crist and the younger, more inexperienced receivers.

-I bet you all thought I was going to forget my traditional rant about turnovers, didn't you? No such luck. Once again, Notre Dame lost the turnover battle. As I mentioned two paragraphs above, Crist's pair of picks came at what might have been the worst possible times. The first one, at the end of the second half, was especially brutal. Notre Dame had the ball deep in their own territory with a little over two minutes left in the half to try and put together a scoring drive (the Irish were down only 14-10 at this point). Crist throws an INT to De'Von Richardson at Notre Dame's 30 yard line. Navy scores a touchdown to make it 21-10 going into the half and they would also get the ball first coming back from halftime. What a difference one touchdown makes, huh? Navy scored 14 points off of Notre Dame's turnovers. 21, if you count the turnover on downs at the Notre Dame one yard line that led to Navy's first touchdown. If Notre Dame scores that TD on their first possession and Crist doesn't throw those interceptions, it's a completely different ball game even with the horrendous run defense.

Notre Dame is now 4-4 on the year. Tulsa is looming next, a team with a decent running attack but a weak defense. Hopefully the Fighting Irish can rebound against a very beatable Golden Hurricane squad.

Injury Update

The Fighting Irish faithful received some sad news today. Tight end Kyle Rudolph, one of Notre Dame's premier offense players, is out for the rest of the season due to a hamstring injury.

The Cincinnati native sustained the hamstring injury in preseason camp and reaggravated it on Saturday's 23-17 victory over Pitt. Apparently Rudolph's hamstring pulled away from the bone (ouch) because of an injury to two of his tendons. The injury will require surgery and recovery could take up to six months.

Coach Kelly acknowledged that the injury is a huge blow to the Irish, but he expects backup tight ends Tyler Eifert, Mike Ragone, and Jake Golic to step in and help the offense. He added that he does not know how the injury will affect Rudolph's draft status or if he'll choose to return to Notre Dame next season.

Here's to wishing Kyle Rudolph a complete and speedy recovery. He is a vital part of the Irish offense and will be greatly missed for the rest of the season.

Postgame Analysis- Notre Dame 23, Pitt 17

That one got a little too close for comfort, huh? Notre Dame was up 20-3 at halftime and then the final was 23-17... Again, a win is a win, but is it too much to ask for Notre Dame to put an opponent away early instead of letting them stay in the game?

Still, the Irish hung on and are now 3-3 on the season. At the end of the day, that's what matters most. I just wish the finish hadn't been quite that exciting.

Game ball-

The birthday boy, quarterback Dayne Crist. On his 21st birthday, Crist played arguably his best game of year. He looked poised and confident, never put the ball in harm's way, threw for 242 yards while completing (roughly) 61 percent of his passes, and ran in a touchdown. As Brian Kelly said, he is improving with each game. Happy birthday Crist!

Positives-

-Notre Dame capitalized on Pitt's mistakes. They were able to come away with points off of Sundari's interception, and scored touchdowns on their drives following Pitt's two missed field goals. Ultimately, those two missed opportunities were the difference in the game.

-The Irish also exploited their opponent's weakness. In this case, it was Pitt's secondary. We all knew coming into the game that Pitt had a soft secondary, and Crist and his receivers took advantage of it. Wide receivers Michael Floyd, Theo Riddick and true freshman T.J. Jones all played great (other than Riddick's iditoic offensive pass interference penalty).

-NOTRE DAME WON THE TURNOVER BATTLE! I REPEAT, NOTRE DAME WON THE TURNOVER BATTLE! Pitt had two turnovers and for the first in a game this season, Notre Dame had none! As I said above, Crist did not make any dangerous throws. They protected the ball well. It was heartening to see them on the positive end of the turnover battle for the first time this season.

(Note: Armando Allen actually did fumble later in the game, but was ruled down before the ball came loose. We got lucky on that one, especially because Pitt would've recovered the ball on ND's 15 yard line.)

-I have to give a shoutout to Notre Dame's special teams, especially field goal kicker David Ruffer. Not only has he made all of his field goal attempts on the year, but he calmly drilled in a 50-yarder today. Ruffer has now completed his last 16 field goal attempts in a row- a school record. Not too shabby for a walk-on, huh?

Punter Ben Turk had a good game as well. He also deserves an Oscar nomination for his acting performance on the roughing the passer call against Pitt. He made a fine show of going down hard and making sure the ref saw him limping to the sideline.

-Gary Grey. Having a cornerback who can tackle is a wonderful thing. I also liked what I saw from safety Harrison Smith. Particularly when he intercepted Sundari.

-The run/pass ratio was pretty even. It's always a plus when a team has a balanced attack on offense and don't have to rely on your quarterback or running back alone. It also makes a team harder to defend. That's why Notre Dame going up early on Pitt was an advantage. Pitt has an excellent run game, but because they fell behind so early they had to throw the ball more and play catchup, which took them away from their strength on offense.

Negatives-

-Notre Dame went a little bit backwards with penalties today. It wasn't so much the number of penalties that was the problem. It was mostly that they took the penalties at the most inopportune times. The two that stick out to me were Riddick's interference call which called back a touchdown, and Braxton Cave's huge holding penalty.

-I'd like to see the Irish dominate on both sides on the line of scrimmage a little more. The game starts and ends at the line of scrimmage. It's hard to complain about the defensive line when they had a multiple-sack game, but they need to be more consistent with their pressure. The offensive line is also better than last year, but they still struggle at times.

-I bet you thought I was going to make another Brian Kelly visor joke here, didn't you?

-Finally, Notre Dame needs to develop a killer instinct. This is the second week in a row where they were dominating with a considerable lead only to let the other team get back in the game. Just like against BC, the Irish were on a roll, then seemed to get comfortable and take their foot off the gas, which let Pitt hang around for too long. This game could've- should've- been over soon than the end of the fourth quarter. Notre Dame fans have seen too many horrendous fourth quarter collapses recently. They need to be able to deliver the final blow and end games like this early.

Notre Dame now has a two-game winning streak going, a breathe of fresh air after a 1-3 start. They will hopefully be over .500 this time next week. I don't care to imagine what will happen if they lose to Western Michigan.

Week 6 Preview

Another week down in the college football season. There were several storylines coming out of the college football world after Week 5.

• Oregon jumps Boise State in the polls going from 4 to 3

I think that this wasn’t all that shocking. Yea Boise won by 59 points, but that was against New Mexico State and arguably one of the worst FBS schools in the nation. Oregon on the other hand put up 52 and beat another top 10 ranked school by 21 points. I almost believe that Oregon should have leap frogged over Ohio State. Oregon has played a tougher schedule than Ohio State and has won in a more convincing fashion.

• Denard Robinson has another 200-200 game and looks like the front runner for the Heisman

Can anyone stop “Shoelaces”? At this point in the season he looks like a lock to win the Heisman. With Terrelle Pryor suffering a minor injury last week and Mark Ingram having an average day, they all took a step back compared to Michigan’s QB. Still none of the experts are giving enough love to Oregon’s tail back LaMichael James. He’s now second in the nation in rushing only behind Robinson. He ran for 257 yards against a very tough Stanford defense. I don’t know how you can still put Boise State quarterback Kellen More ahead of him.

• Alabama blows away Florida in a much anticipated SEC match-up

• Oregon comes back in a big way against Stanford

• Oklahoma holds up against Texas in the Red River Rivalry

• Michigan State shuts down the Wisconsin run game and looks like a Big 10 contender with shoelaces coming up this week

• Iowa’s defense looks unstoppable even against a high school looking offense in Penn State

Now this week’s Top 25 Predictions and My Game of the Week

1. Alabama vs. 19 South Carolina

My pick: Alabama

Inconsistent play in the South Carolina quarterback Stephen Garcia keeps the Gamecocks from upsetting the top ranked Tide

2. Ohio State vs. Indiana

My Pick: Ohio State

Terrelle Pryor puts up big numbers as the Hoosiers face another tough quarterback assignment

3. Oregon vs. Washington State

My Pick: Oregon

Oregon wins in a landslide. No. 1 offense vs. a bottom 5 defense. No chance for Washington State

4. Boise State vs. Toledo

My Pick: Boise State

Broncos are way too much for Toledo to handle

5. TCU vs. Wyoming

My Pick: TCU

The Horned frogs continue to roll

6. Oklahoma off

7. Nebraska vs. Kansas State

My Pick: Nebraska

The Corn Huskers led by quarterback Taylor Martinez beat up on the Wildcats

8. Auburn vs. Kentucky

My Pick: Auburn

Back in SEC play, The Tigers win fairly easy in Lexington

9. Arizona vs. Oregon State

My Pick: Oregon State

The Rodgers brothers go down and steal one from the Wildcats

10. Utah vs. Iowa State

My Pick: Utah

The Utes go into Ames and walk all over the Cyclones

11. Arkansas vs. Texas A&M

My Pick: Arkansas

Ryan Mallett throws all over the Aggies but the Aggies keep it a game in the Jerry Dome

12. LSU vs. 14 Florida

My Pick: Florida

In a battle of defense Florida’s home field gives them the win.

13. Miami vs. 23 Florida State

My Pick: Florida State

Christian Ponder leads the Seminoles as Jacory Harris makes one to many mistakes.

15. Iowa off

16. Stanford vs. USC

My Pick: Stanford

The Cardinal come out swinging after a tough loss in Eugene. Look for a big game from Andrew Luck against a sub-par USC secondary.

*My Game of the Week*

17. Michigan State vs. 18 Michigan

My Pick: Michigan State

Kirk Cousins has his way with the last ranked Michigan pass defense in a shootout. Denard Robinson has a big game passing for the first time this season.

20. Wisconsin vs. Minnesota

My Pick: Wisconsin

John Clay gets back on track with a big game against the Golden Gophers.

21. Nevada vs. San Jose State

My Pick: Nevada

All Wolf Pack run game in this one.

22. Oklahoma State vs. Louisiana-Lafayette

My Pick: Oklahoma State

High powered Cowboy defense runs and throws all over the Ragin’ Cajuns

24. Missouri vs. Colorado

My Pick: Missouri

Blaine Gabbert throws all over the Buffalo at home.

25. Air Force vs. Colorado State

My Pick: Air Force

Number 1 rushing team in the country keeps it going against a far inferior opponent.

Postgame Analysis- Notre Dame 31, Boston College 13

Victory!!!! Notre Dame snaps their three-game losing streak with a 31-13 victory over Boston College. It wasn't perfect, but a win is a win. And hey, they beat a team they were supposed to beat (*cough* Charlie Weis *cough* Syracuse *cough*).

Notre Dame as a whole put in a much better performance than last week, although they really had nowhere to go but up from the Stanford game.

Game Ball-

This is a little snippet I decided to add each week about the Notre Dame player that I thought really stood out in the game. This week's game ball goes to sophomore wide receiver Theo Riddick. I really liked what I saw out of him tonight. He looked especially good after the catch. Riddick is still a bit raw- he IS only a sophomore after all- but if he can continue to improve over the course of this season, he should be a dangerous weapon next year.

Positives-

-Obviously, the offense was much, much better this week. They were able to actually establish a rhythm, especially in the first quarter. Their attack was also much more balanced this week. Dayne Crist handed the ball off almost as much as he threw it. I absolutely loved their touchdown drive in the third quarter. Not only did the Irish convert several big third downs and mix up the play calling, but it was exactly the kind of drive I was talking about in my post last week; it was a time-consuming drive that allowed the offense to get into a groove, burned minutes off the clock, and gave the defense a rest. I guess Brian Kelly reads my blog posts.

-The defensive line did a much better job of getting pressure on the quarterback. It took them a while, but they did wind up with four sacks on the game. Granted, Boston College does not have the most physical offensive lineman in college football, so there is still plenty of work for ND to do on this front, but I was pleased to see them getting to the quarterback more this game.

-The receivers are doing a great job of blocking downfield, which comes in handy when Armando Allen breaks loose.

-Notre Dame did not have a single penalty in the first half (other than a holding call, which was declined) and only had one or two in the second half. This is the sort of discipline the Irish haven't seen in years, and it was a glorious sight to see. Okay, glorious is pushing it a bit. But it was very refreshing to see them penalized so little. Taking fewer penalties is one aspect of the game that I feel is often overlooked, but gives teams a better chance of winning.

-Brian Kelly did not wear a visor this game! More proof that he reads my blog posts.

-The defense was excellent against the run. Granted, BC doesn't exactly boast a high-powered running attack, but you know you did something right if you hold a team to only five rushing yards on the night. The defense did an excellent job on third downs as well. BC only converted two or three the entire game.

Negatives-

-TURNOVERS, TURNOVERS, TURNOVERS. Notre Dame had two interceptions this game, but lost two fumbles and Crist threw one interception. ND is now about -4 on turnovers for the year. This week's turnovers didn't end up being costly- BC only got three points off of them- but good teams will find a way to capitalize on those kinds of mistakes, just like Stanford did last week. The easiest way for a team to beat themselves is off of turnovers, and that's what will happen if Notre Dame doesn't start taking better care of the ball.

-The offense needs to adjust quicker and find more consistency. I'm willing to cut them some slack on the consistency front, as Crist is still getting comfortable with his role as starting quarterback and developing chemistry with his receivers. Also, the players are still learning Kelly's offense, which is very different from Weis's. But the BC defense made some adjustments after giving up 21 points in the first quarter, and it took the Notre Dame offense too long to readjust their scheme accordingly.

Work still needs to be done, but it was great to see Kelly get a "homecoming" win with a number of his friends and family watching. Notre Dame's next four games are very winnable. Pitt is up next, then West Michigan (if they lose to West Michigan, I may give up on life and join a convent), Navy, and Tulsa. We can't write them up for four straight wins just yet, but it could very well happen! GO IRISH!