Hells yeah bitches! Bowl eligibility is finally hear… only a few weeks later than originally planned, but it is finally done. The biggest positive may not even be the fact that they are bowl bound, but they have done it in the face of adversity and with solid defense. I couldn’t be more pumped for U$C… but I’m getting ahead of myself as we have to get over this Hangover first.
We will make this a little quicker than normal…
I’m not sure if the venue could have been any better. Seriously, I was sitting down and was in awe of what exactly was happening at Yankee Stadium. I was a little bitter too, and kept saying to myself, “I should have went to this game. What a fucking dumbass.”
As one of the greatest Subway Alumni in existence, I felt that I may have betrayed the nation, and myself by not attending. From everything that I could see, the whole event was well planned, well done, and well worth the trip. From the pep rally to the pregame, to the postgame; everyone involved, including NBC, did a great job.
With that said…
Show some respect, NBC. NBC’s lust for dollars hit rock bottom. You know exactly what I am talking about… the interview with Johnny Lujack. NBC cut him off in the middle of a story, only to cut away to a commercial because of an injury on the field. Disgusting.
Offensively, they did what they had to do. Tommy Rees threw only 20 passes for the second week in a row, and completed 13 of them for the second week in a row. Rees did make a very bad mistake on the opening drives interception in the endzone, but in hindsight, it may have been a blessing in disguise. We can’t afford to have Rees too overconfident before we play U$C. It’s not that I think Rees is anywhere near cocky, but I like young quarterbacks to be aware of the danger involved with their every decision.
As far as the running game is concerned, I can’t believe they almost doubled up on the passing attempts. Notre Dame ran the ball 38 times on Saturday night. 38 times they ran the ball, and I should of been happy as a pig in shit, but I was screaming at the TV for more carries for Cierre Wood. Wood carried the ball only 14 times and gained 88 yards. 12 yards away from burying a bad stat by the Notre Dame offense in 2010. Notre Dame has not had a player rush for over 100 yards this season. Wood was averaging over 6 yards a carry and only needed 12 yards to end that stat. Three carries should have been more than enough. It doesn’t really matter, but it does matter.
Tyler Eifert is looking like an absolute stud. Is it possible for one team to have two candidates for the John Mackey award? The reason I ask, is that Eifert and Rudolph could both very well be in the running for this award in 2011. Eifert has played very, very well in the absence of Rudolph and he led the team in receiving Saturday night with 4 catches for 78 yards and 1.5 touchdown(s). It isn’t just his stat line that impresses, it is the way he does it. Watch Eifert closely, and you will see a TE that runs as well and as smoothly as you will ever find at the position, and I think we are only scratching the surface of his potential.
David Ruffer is an absolute gift from Touchdown Jesus. Ironic, isn’t it? This gift of field goals from our loving “Touchdown” Jesus. Ironic, or not, that is exactly what we have with David Ruffer as he connected on his 14th and 15th consecutive field goals of the season, a Notre Dame record; and his they were also his 19th and 20th consecutive field goals of his career; also a Notre Dame record. All of this, from a kid who played golf instead of football in high school. I guess I finally found a reason to like golf.
Defensively, this unit has evolved greatly over the course of the season. The improvement has been slow, and it has had a few bumps in the road (Navy), but it is coming around at the right time of the year… November, with a trip out to Los Angeles to face those fucking assholes, U$C.
I have already given a ton of love to the defense, and in particular, Bob Diaco and Darrin Walls. But the performance by this Irish defense against the Army offense was a total group effort. Notre Dame’s top 5 tacklers included Te’0 (9), Walls (7), KLM (7), H. Smith (6), and Slaughter (5). Between the 5 of them they still only accounted for less than half of Notre Dame’s tackles for loss with 2. The other 3 were a combination of Blanton, Gray, Fleming, and H. Williams. Everyone was in on this action.
Robert Blanton is more useful than a swiss army knife. Blanton has been used all over the secondary this season, but Saturday night, he was used outside of that unit. As Notre Dame basically used a 4-4 defensive front, Blanton was positioned as an outside linebacker. I think the move was brilliant. Blanton got beat a few times, but even then, he recovered well. Blanton was the key piece in this gameplan as the Irish relied on their 4 man front, and had injury issues with others.
I am going to leave it at that. It was a nice victory and a redemption for the defense in this 27-3 win over Army, as well as proof that Notre Dame football can be a physical brand- even under the flag of the spread offense. The Irish will face their toughest test of the season when they travel out to LA to face the Condoms of U$C. I don’t give a shit about U$C’s record, their douchebag coach- whatever. U$C is still U$C and we have still not beat them since Bob Davie was roaming the Notre Dame sideline. Focus. Focus and determination can lead us to victory, redemption, and a resurrection of a proud powerful program. GO IRISH!
