Welcome to the Irish Blogger Gathering on Subway Domer. Friends, we are only a few days away from the BCS National Title Game and I gotta tell ya… HOLY FUCKING SHIT I'M READY TO KILL THIS MOTHERFUCKER.
This week, Your Emperor was blessed to have ND Tex from Her Loyal Sons to interrogate. He doesn't like my rules- THERE ARE NO RULES IN NAM!
We better get this thing rolling before I break the screen, but be sure to also check out Inside the Irish and also Strong And True for your Emperor's thoughts.
Let's IBG this thing:
Is it just me, or is most of the Notre Dame fanbase on the web as silent as the grave as far as the actual game goes? It seems to me like most of our fans were hell bent crazy about tickets, recruiting, tickets, reliving the 2012 season, tickets, reliving the undefeated season, tickets….
Firstly, the holidays just happened. That already moves people away from Twitter and the blog/forum scene. People also needed a chance to unplug as well. I know I did. Gave me time to reflect on the season instead of focusing on the next game.
On top of all that, I don't really think we know how to react to success. It's easier to focus on the success we had rather than expect success in the unknown. To be honest, the majority of the fan base has probably felt that way most of the season. Surely somewhere along the line we were going to screw it up, but that never happened. Now we face the "almighty" Alabama, and I think most Irish fans just "know" that they are a team to be feared, especially with the Irish being at least a 10-point underdog in every book known to man. The fear of the unknown has just multiplied.
In the end, we haven't experienced this kind of season in decades, much less the Internet/Twitter era. I think everyone's at a loss for how to handle this.
Alabama has a great defense. Running the ball against the Crimson Tide could be a very tough task. Still, the running game is vital to the success of the offense, and in turn, the key to winning this game. How will/should Notre Dame go about using the running game to move the ball and score some damn points?
Misdirection and tons of it. Whether it is read options, fake jet sweeps, designed QB runs/draws, or even simple counter runs. The Irish have to keep Alabama on their heels and force them to at least honor different points of attack. If we just run straight ahead or do simple pitches, Alabama will read and react without issue and put us into a hole that will be hard for Everett to lead us out of. If Notre Dame is able to do this, we will be able to move the ball against them.
This may be cheating, but since I make the rules… Talk about ANY aspect of this game that you like. Please be descriptive, make a point, and use a youtube video to slam it home. Also, give us your prediction please.
How many questions did you just ask, five? Yeesh.
Anyways, one of the major things that I'm focusing on is the injury situation with Alabama center Barrett Jones. The Irish defensive success begins and ends from the inside and that means Louis Nix III needs to have a huge game. An absent or hobbled Jones would make this worlds easier for Irish Chocolate. If Nix causes issues, Alabama's offense will find themselves in a nightmare.
And by issues, I don't mean that Nix needs to be in the backfield making tackles, but forcing at least two linemen on him every play and being able to handle them. That frees up the rest of the defensive line and linebacking corps to either one-on-one matchups or free shots. That means Manti Te'o can destroy people and the Irish pass rush has a better chance of introducing AJ McCarron to the Sun Life Stadium turf.
Solid play by the front seven means the life of the defensive backfield becomes loads easier. It's one large chain reaction and it all starts with solid nose tackle play by Nix.
As far as a Youtube video, I wish Nix's karaoke skills were on the Youtubes right now, but it isn't. So instead here's the goal line stand against Stanford"
Note that on 2nd and goal, Nix was out and Stanford had a huge surge up the middle. The next play, Nix is back in and actually gets knocked back; however, Stanford is so worried about him another blocker goes after Nix again (whom he avoids) allowing room to open up for everyone else. Finally, on the final play, Nix attracts a double team and stands his ground, allowing for the rest of the Irish defense to finish the stand.
Prediction: ND 21 – Bama 17 — CRYSTAL TROPHY AND 'BAMA TEARS Y'ALL!
Cue more Irish Chocolate
