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.
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