Manti Te'o.This five-star recruit has done nothing but impress since he first came to South Bend at the start of the 2009 season. Te'o currently has (unofficially) 127 tackles on the year. He is on pace for 138 tackles by season's end, which would put him at 11th all-time for ND single season tackles. Te'o already has the most tackles in a given season of any Notre Dame defenseman in the last 16+ years. The obvious leader of this defense, Te'o has taken it upon himself to improve everyone's play, even that of a five-star linebacker.
Accurate QB.
Eight interceptions in four games. 18-years old. Weak arm. There, we got all the negatives out of the way. In spite of himself and his critics, freshman Tommy Rees is 3-0 as a starting quarterback at the University of Notre Dame. And don't look now (OK look now), but after the bowl game, Rees should plant himself firmly as #3 all-time in ND's record books as the most accurate passer in a season. Here are the top 3.
Highest completion percentage by a ND quarterback in a season (min: 100 attempts)
Jimmy Clausen, JR. (2009) - 68.00%
Brady Quinn, JR. (2005) - 64.89
Tommy Rees, FR. (2010) - 62.96
I guess you could say, when coupled with his 8 picks, that this means when Rees makes a mistake, he goes all out. But I'd view it as the ability to sustain drives. When he doesn't find himself throwing to the other colored jerseys, Rees has shown the ability to drive the Irish down the field and garner enough points to win the game.
Defending our End Zone.
A common problem from the Weis era was the inability to stop opposing teams from reaching our end zone (or kicking FGs -- but mostly it was the touchdowns that killed us). This season, and particularly the last three games, the Irish has proven that they can withstand the opposition's push for the goalline. Even in the Stanford game, the D was able to hold the Cardinal offense to FGs for the early part of the day. (OK OK Navy -- don't go there) This season, the Irish have given up an average of 20.5 points a game. In the past 16 seasons of Irish football, only three other ND defenses have held opponents to less:
Average points per game by ND opponents (1995-2010)
1996 - 15.08
2001 - 19.55
1997 - 20.38
2010 - 20.50
2001 - 19.55
1997 - 20.38
2010 - 20.50
Give credit where it is due, Bob Diaco has done a very good job with his squad this season, and has shown the ability to learn from his mistakes and become better. If this trend continues, and it is definitely a trend, and the offense starts to click, then the Irish could be dangerous come next fall.
Rushvember
Remember the days when Notre Dame would drop a delicate squat in November? The turn of the weather marked the hibernation of our fundamentals and discipline. Last year, we were 6-2 with high hopes for a money bowl bid. You know the history: lost four straight; head man now coaches the offense in Kansas City. This season, the team has gotten stronger, missed less tackles, held more blocks, and WON games as the weather got colder. Part of this evolution into a fundamentally sound and tough football team displayed itself in our run game.
Compare the yards per carry (YPC) and rushing yards per game (YPG) in November from this year to last:
2010
YPC -4.33
YPG - 143
2009
YPC - 3.39
YPG - 89
Kinda like comparing Kenny G to Jim Smiley. You can't mistake the two. The hope is that this statistic, as well as the others mentioned above, can carry over into next season. With a solid head man in place, who is the reason behind a lot of this, I don't have many doubts.
So throw away your game of CandyLand and put down that imaginary Harry Potter book. Our hopes for this team are real. And notice I did all of this without even mentioning Brian Kelly. Oops.
rabes
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