Irish have that 2:30 feeling

8 straight weeks of football got you down? Boss man keep riding you? You need a 5-game energy drink - that is, assuming you make it through the day to make that coveted appointment with one of your bowl game tie-ins.

Did you just lose a game to a lowly competitor? Do you feel as if sometimes you just can't hold on to the ball, or fit that pass through a 30-foot gap in the defense, or even can't muster that last ounce of courage to stay off a cut-block? Keep your feet! You need a shot of adreneline.

Stop sleep-walking and grab a 5-game Energy. It will help you pwn through the likes of nagging staff accountants, such as Tulsa and Army. It can help you understand the fluent languages of that new foreign guy in the office who's just making it rain (Utah) or possibly get that cool new promotion over an old rival (USC). Ok, let's not go that far - I mean, you did just lose that big account to Sam (Navy). It seems like just yesterday you used to own him in sales, and now he's just outworking (and outsmarting) you.

Yep, you can do it too. All in a small bottle of citicoline, tyrosine, phenylalanine, taurine, malic acid, glucuronolactone, and caffeine (shorthand: pride). Take a swig, fellas - it can't hurt.

rabes

**Side effects may vary. Please consult a doctor (Lou) if your losing skid lasts longer than this weekend.

Brian Kelly's Wake Up Call

You Got Served Coach Kelly! Welcome to the position of Head Coach at the University of Notre Dame where every week is the biggest game of the season. Now you know. Or did you not already know. If the fake punt by Michigan State did not open your eyes, here's your sign: Navy dominated you 35-17 racking up 438 yards.

As I watched the Navy offense move the ball at will against the Irish defense, a few thoughts crossed my mind. The biggest one being: coaching. In his post game press conference, Kelly stated, "I've got smart coaches. I've got dedicated coaches. They're not dummies." Wait, what? I'm pretty sure Navy made the defensive coaches look like idiots. Where was the game plan? Where were the halftime adjustments? Especially after giving up over 250 yards of offense in the first half alone!

Kelly and his staff proved they have no idea how to stop the wing-T offense. The linebackers were slow and out of position. The D-Line was being dominated all over the place by smaller guys. Notre Dame had far superior talent on the field. Take that out and it leaves two things: execution and coaching. In my opinion, execution is a result of coaching. It's the coaches job to put players in the right position to win. It's the players job to execute. While both were lacking on the field Saturday, coaching stood our more because of one stat line: Navy scored on 5 of the first 6 possessions.

I understand there is a lot of misdirection, resulting in missed tackles, confusion, etc. But ND had one stop through three quarters - ONE!!!! What was talked about at halftime? Anything? With a coaching staff that had a clue, I would expect the Irish to make some stops, not yield two more touchdowns by the end of the 3rd quarter. So get a clue Kelly as you certainly do not need anymore hints.

-DH

A Budding Rivalry

Move over USC, Michigan, and Michigan State!! The game I now most fear on the Irish schedule is Navy. Having beaten the Irish three out of the last four, Navy is now considered a big game. Having beaten the Midshipmen for 44 straight years prior, Notre Dame had traditionally chalked up Navy as a "sure win." Not anymore. The Irish got dominated by an undersized and less talented squad to the final tune of 35-17 on Saturday, to fall to 4-4 on the season.


HEISMAN BABY

DANYE CRIST - Made you laugh right?


ROCK SOLID

DAVID RUFFER - Ruffer nailed a 45-yarder to put the Irish on the board. Ruffer has set numerous school records this year, and is currently 13 for 13 on FGs and 22 for 23 on PATs, with the lone miss being blocked. Ruffer is quietly on his way to a great season, although having just given him praise, he will inevitably miss a FG next week.


GET HIM OUTTA THERE

DAYNE CRIST - 19 0f 31 for 178 yds - 1 TD, 2 INT - A week after a shaky performance in a dominating win, Crist followed up with a shaky performance in a dominating loss. At times, Crist moved the Irish offense at will. However, Crist's two interceptions were very, very poor reads and extremely costly - a potential 17-14 Irish lead at the half turned into a 21-10 deficit from which the Irish never recovered. Crist was pulled in the 4th quarter for back-up Tommy Rees who went 6 of 7 for 79 yds on a TD scoring drive. This will no doubt establish a heated QB battle for the remainder of the season.

HARRISON SMITH - Navy attempted three passes the whole game - two were completed for a total 71 yards. The third resulted in blatant, grade school pass interference on Smith who pathetically ripped the receiver to the turf. Better yet, had Smith actually looked for the ball, he probably would have intercepted it.

IRISH DEFENSE - The Irish D gave up 367 yards on the ground. The Irish D were at the mercy of Navy all day long. Navy scored on 5 of its first 6 possessions, converting on 10 of 13 3rd downs throughout. The lone stop came late in the 2nd quarter, but was quickly negated by a Crist interception. Navy punted only three times in the game, with the other two coming in the 4th quarter with the game out of reach.


WAIT WHAT?

There were many moments during that game at which point I knew it was over. I still cannot believe what I saw and experienced watching the Navy-Notre Dame game. Navy could not be stopped. Notre Dame failed to execute time and time again. At the end of the day, if you can't stop an offense, you can only hope to outscore them. However, the problem is, you can't turn the ball over - which Crist did twice - maybe three times if you consider the opening drive turnover on downs. Bottom line, the Irish turnover margin is -1 on the season and is 1-3 when losing the turnover battle.

-DH

That's More Like It

The IRISH dominated in every way on Saturday in a 44-20 thrashing of Western Michigan to move above .500 since the season opening victory, standing at 4-3. It was a boring game that reminded me why Notre Dame prefers a tougher schedule. Nonetheless, the Irish rocketed out of the gate with an 80-yd TD pass from Crist to Floyd on the first play from scrimmage. While one could say the Irish never looked back after that play, the reality is the score was 27-17 at half after the defense relinquished a late score in the final two minutes.


HEISMAN BABY

MICHAEL FLOYD - 9 rec for 157 yds - 3 TDs - Western Michigan did not have the size or speed to match up with Floyd, who took advantage with a big day. Floyd's TD receptions were from 80, 32, and 2 yards out, proving he's a threat from all over the field.


ROCK SOLID

CIERRE WOOD - 11 carries for 94 yds - TD - Almost non-existent in the first half, the IRISH run game exploded in the 2nd half for over 150 yards with Wood leading the way. Wood's 39-yard TD scamper in the 3rd broke the game open. It's nice to see Wood finally starting to get comfortable in the IRISH offense, especially with the injury to Allen.

DARIUS FLEMING - 2 tackles, .5 sack, INT - While the stats do not jump off the sheet, the impact hit me hard. The pick by Fleming was not only a great read, but could not have come at a better time, as Western Michigan was getting the ball back having tied the game at 7 in their last possession. Furthermore, the Irish immediately capitalized off the turnover with a John Goodman 32-yard TD pass to Floyd to put the Irish up seven and in the driver's seat.


GET HIM OUTTA THERE

DAYNE CRIST - 18 of 28 for 255 yards - 3TD, INT, Rush TD - While the stats seem impressive, Crist's performance left a sour taste in my mouth. His 80-yard TD bomb to Floyd was underthrown and went the distance as a result of poor tackling. His 39-yard TD pass to Eifert was way late and Crist barely got the ball off before being sacked. And speaking of sacked, Crist got canned three times, all of which I felt he could have avoided and/or thrown the ball away. This, along with some poor throws, makes me feel a little uneasy about the progress of the Irish signal-caller moving forward.

MIKE RAGONE -1 rec for 12 yds - Ragone reached for a Crist pass only to knock it up in the air for the easy interception by Western Michigan. There's no player I have more sympathy for than Ragone, but with Rudolph out for the season, it's the perfect opportunity to step up.


WAIT WHAT?

4TH DOWN CONVERSIONS - Up 34-17 midway through the 3rd quarter, the Irish were facing a 4th and 2 at the 2. With a chance to put the game away, Kelly decided to go for it, resulting in a 2-yard TD pass to Floyd on a brilliant play. I love the gutsy call and the hit-em-while-their-down mentality. It is great to develop amongst guys that have struggled in win in their careers.


-DH

Pitt-iful Progress

The IRISH squeaked out a 23-17 victory on Saturday over the Pitt Panthers. Nursing a 17-3 halftime lead, as well as a 20-3 lead early in the 2nd half, the Irish offense sputter all 2nd half, relying on the Irish defense to hold on to the victory. The win pushes the Irish back to .500 sitting at 3-3.


HESIMAN BABY

MICHAEL FLOYD - 7 rec. 59 yds - TD - Floyd catches just about everything thrown his way, with one or two hands. Not to mention, penalties negated another 90 yards and a TD for Floyd.


ROCK SOLID

HARRISON SMITH - 11 tackles, INT - With Pitt's fullback effectively blocking Te'0 all game long, it was up to Smith to step up and stop the run. And outside of a dropped interception to seal the game, Smith was all over the field making plays.


GET HIM OUTTA THERE

JAMORIS SLAUGHTER - I'm no guru, but I'm pretty sure the point of being called a "safety" is to not get beat deep. Well, Slaughter slipped up and got burnt deep on the long Pitt TD pass to Baldwin.

THEO RIDDICK - You have to take the good with the bad when it comes to Riddick. He makes great plays, and then drops the ball. His pick play on the Floyd touchdown was pathetic. I'm convinced Floyd would have scored even without the pick.


WAIT WHAT?

DAYNE CRIST - While Crist looked great on paper (24/39 for 242, TD - Rush TD), there is still lots of room for improvement. Floyd luckily snagged the poorly under thrown TD pass. Then, Crist missed a wide open Floyd in the end zone. Floyd missed a wide open Rudolph on the out and up. His accuracy is the red zone leaves much to be desired.

-DH

Baby Steps

The IRISH unloaded on woeful Boston College on Saturday, dropping 21 points in the 1st quarter in route to a 31-13 dominating victory. It moved the Irish to 2-3 on the year, ending a three game skid. But more importantly, there were positive and tangible signs of improvement.


HEISMAN BABY

DAYNE CRIST - 24 of 44 for 203 yds - 2 TD, Rush TD, INT - Crist led an effective Irish offense to quick 21 points and the Irish never looked back. The rushing TD was a great and welcoming addition to the offense.


ROCK SOLID

CARLO CALABRESE - 10 tackles (3 TFL) - 1 sack - Carlo was all over the field, especially in the BC backfield where he effectively blew up plays.

ARMANDO ALLEN - 19 carries for 90 yds - TD - 26 rec yds - Allen again proved his reliability in the Irish offense in what is quickly becoming a very productive season.


GET HIM OUTTA THERE

CIERRE WOOD - HOLD ON TO THE BALL SON!


WAIT WHAT?

IRISH D - While the Irish defense gave up 270 yards of offense to BC, only 5 of those yards came on the ground! This is a vastly improved IRISH D that seems to get better and better with each game.

-DH

Pathetic

The IRISH got dominated in all aspects of the game in a humiliating 34-6 loss to Stanford. While the final score was 37-14, I do not approve of pity points, and thus fail to believe in the true final score. Not to mention, I stormed out following the ugly pick six, along with what seemed like the whole stadium. The game was truly a step backwards for the progress of Kelly's 1-3 Irish squad.


HEISMAN BABY

We got a long ways to go.


ROCK SOLID

MANTI TE'O - 21 Tackles was the most recorded by an individual in a game since 2008.

IRISH DEFENSE - Even though the Irish D yielded 30 points, they also forced three turnovers, and managed, for once, to not hand out the Heisman trophy to Cardinal QB Andrew Luck.


GET HIM OUTTA THERE

DAYNE CRIST - Crist was inefficient all day, and the pick six was the nail in the coffin. The worst part about it was we had no one else to put in.

WILDCAT OFFENSE - The Irish were moving the ball great on their opening drive, only to stall after attempting the wildcat spread on five straight possessions! Are you serious!?!


WAIT WHAT

I love the courage to go for the first down on 4th and 1 sitting at midfield, but is a hand-off to Allen the best play you got coach?!?!? It makes me wonder what they even talked about during the timeout right before.

-DH