The Irish Blogger Gathering returns to its secret castle, far away in the mucky-muck to once again talk, question, and gut bomb the Notre Dame Football season.
It's GAME WEEK y'all, and this week the Irish host Temple to kick off the season. So, in honor of that, I ask UND's blogger, Aaron Horvath ZERO questions about Temple.
He pays me back in the most devilish way possible. Be sure to check out my answers over at Her Loyal Sons, and you can check out even more at NDNation.com and at NBC's Inside The Irish. So LET'S GO…
Despite a 12-0 regular season last year, there has been a lot of negativity surrounding the Notre Dame Football program in 2013. How important is it for the Irish to not just get off to a good start against Temple, but to utterly destroy the Owls? Will that be enough to quiet many of its detractors? [ducks]
Well, this is a tough question to answer. You will never quiet detractors of Notre Dame because the detractors of Our Lady's university just don't like Notre Dame. They are the ones that if you asked them who would win in a game of one-on-one between the defense-less Bill Murray and Oscar Robertson, they would go with Murray because it is not the common opinion.
Anywho ,I don't think there is a lot of negativity surrounding the program on the field as there are a bevy of returning monogram winners. But to silence the so-called critics a few things need to be seen during the first game against Temple.
– Tommy needs to show (for the 19th time as a starter) that he can throw the ball. Honestly, I think Tommy Rees is going to surprise many people this year. Honestly it is unfair to him that if he plays well he will surprise people. He is in the top-5 of many passing categories in Notre Dame history and holds a 14-4 record as a starter. But nonetheless, look for a solid performance from Tommy.
– Solid Showing from the defense is the most important thing to look at in opening weekend. The defensive line needs to dominate in the trenches and force Coach Ruel to throw the ball on the Irish secondary.
If these two things come to fruition and happen, doubters will be silenced heading into a big week two matchup with the Wolverines under the lights.
Give me your MVP's on offense and defense for Notre Dame this week. Also, give these two individuals a NEW nickname.
-Offensive MVP-George Atkinson III- Look for George's speed to overwhelm the Temple defense and prove his ability to also run between the tackles as well as in the pistol and I sets.
I doth give George Atkinson the nickname, King George III. For no apparent reason than the his name is George and he is the third generation of George's. And no, I'm not going to use King Louis III for Louis Nix.
-Defensive MVP-Ben Councell- With the unfortunate loss of Danny Spond, Councell was forced in to the presumptive favorite to see major minutes this fall in the linebacking corps. Councell put on solid weight in the offseason and with the help of the training staff at Notre Dame has raised his speed back to where it was prior to bulking up. Look for a big game from Councell. Dark Horse candidate – Matthias Farley.
Nickname for Ben is either General Councell (as in General Counsel) or Not Your Common Councell.
This is a pretty emotional week- COLLEGE FOOTBALL IS BACK! I need 3 YouTube videos to get my mind, body, and soul prepared for this week. Help me. HELP ME!
One of my favorite videos to watch, not many great Notre Dame moments, but Ed Reed, Coach Rhodes, Deshard Choice, Adam Taliaferro and others really make this a great pump-up video.
Let's just say, thank goodness Louis Nix is pretty good at this whole football thing
I believe this last video needs no introduction. (Editor's note: Sorry you guys. Sorry)
OWLING
