When Irish Eyes Are Crying …

Well, that certainly hurt! Notre Dame got an old-fashioned butt-whupping from the Michigan Wolverines at South Bend today, losing 47-21 and looking poor in almost every facet of their game. Even Fighting Irish head coach Charlie Weis had to admit it:

No. 11 Michigan finally put a Big Blue bruising on the second-ranked Fighting Irish in a 47-21 rout Saturday — the most points scored against Notre Dame at home in 46 years.
“They deserve their just due,” Irish coach Charlie Weis said. “I think it’s important to understand that team just came and whupped us pretty good.”
Indeed, they did. Chad Henne threw three touchdown passes to Mario Manningham, and Michigan intercepted Brady Quinn three times, forced him to fumble and shut down the rest of the Irish offense.
Michigan ended a two-game losing streak against the Irish and a three-game slide at Notre Dame Stadium. The win likely silenced doubters who questioned Michigan after a 7-5 season and two less-than-impressive wins to open this season.

The loss could hardly have been any more devastating. Brady Quinn misfired most of the day, tossing three interceptions and barely moving the Irish offense at all. Receivers dropped balls and the running game never got on track. Meanwhile, the Wolverines ran all over the vaunted Irish defense and rolled up 340 total yards within sight of Touchdown Jesus. Five turnovers killed any Irish hopes of a comeback.
Needless to say, the national-title hopes went down the drain, along with Quinn’s contender status for the Heisman Trophy. Only the eighth time that the Irish have given up 40 or more points at home in their entire history, the result will likely push the Irish all the way out of the Top Ten … and deservedly so.
Next week, the Irish have to go on the road to face Michigan State, which has given them no end of trouble over the years. They need to regain their composure and their A-game quickly if they expect to compete for a BCS bowl bid this year.

Fighting Irish Lion-Tamers

Brady Quinn broke out with a 25-for-36 effort and three TDs while the ferocious Irish defense kept consistent with another outstanding effort as Notre Dame easily dispatched the Penn State Nittany Lions, 41-17. The score doesn’t accurately reflect the rout as JoePa’s team added two touchdowns late in the game to take the sting off the beating:

Brady Quinn and the Notre Dame offense were as good as advertised in Week 2.
After an unimpressive opening game, Quinn, Jeff Samardzija and Co. returned to their fantastic form of last season in a 41-17 victory over No. 19 Penn State on Saturday.
Quinn, the Heisman-hyped quarterback, was 12-of-16 passing for 150 yards and two touchdowns in the second quarter alone as fourth-ranked Notre Dame opened a 20-0 lead. The defense and special teams chipped in, too, breaking the game open in the third quarter by scoring one touchdown and setting up another as the Fighting Irish cruised. The game was essentially over at halftime.
“What I liked was the first half was meticulous,” Irish coach Charlie Weis said. “We had it about 19 minutes out of the 30 minutes. That’s not just offense. That’s offense and defense.”

Quinn mixed it up well. Four receivers had five or more receptions, with all four having more than 55 yards. Quinn’s three touchdowns also went to three different receivers. He has Samardzija as a big target, but he also sent seven to Darius Walker, allowing him to add 72 receiving yards to his 56 rushing, while tight end John Carlson rolled up the most receiving yardage with 98.
The Irish defense played tough, but perhaps Travis Thomas may be the toughest of the unit. He played both sides of the ball, forcing a fumble that got returned for a TD in the third quarter. He also had three rushes for 44 yards, including one bruising TD. The defense allowed Penn State to move the ball, but they kept the Nittany Lions out of the end zone until long after the game was decided. Penn State actually had more first downs than the Irish and rushed for more yardage — the Irish only gained 14 more yards overall — but the Irish D got three turnovers while their O never coughed it up once.
After this, no one should doubt Notre Dame’s place in the #2 position behind Ohio State, who beat Texas rather convincingly this evening. I doubt that even Penn State fan and longtime CQ reader Monkei will argue that ranking this week.

A Narrow Escape

Notre Dame started its 2006 campaign with a near-stumble against Georgia Tech, a team regarded as a test for the pre-season #2 team in college football. The Fighting Irish escaped with a 14-10 win and likely a lower ranking:

The best thing you can say about Notre Dame’s game against Georgia Tech is that it’s over. And if the Fighting Irish don’t figure how to play more like the No. 2-ranked team in the country rather than something from the Also Receiving Votes agate, then they can pucker up and kiss the Holy Trinity of college football goodbye.
We’re speaking, of course, of the national championship, the Heisman Trophy, and Lee Corso wearing your mascot’s headgear near Cardinals Stadium come Jan. 8. Notre Dame remains in the team picture for all three, but only because ND’s 14-10 victory came in the first week of the season, not the last. …
There’s no nice way to say it: for the first 30 minutes of this game, Tech turned ND into a bumblin’ wreck. The Yellow Jackets left bee stings all over the Fighting Irish’s ranking, quarterback Brady Quinn’s Heisman hype, and coach Charlie Weis’ reputation as an offensive mastermind.
Tech led, 10-7, and had a first-half shutout until Quinn scored on a quarterback draw with 11 seconds remaining and no timeouts left. It was the lowest first-half point total during Weis’ 13-game tenure and it produced the usual panic from visiting Golden Domers.

I didn’t get a chance to see the opener, as I spent the evening at the movies with the family, but after reading this I’m glad I missed it. I would have definitely joined the panic, and I was 1500 miles away from Georgia Tech.
The Irish have this maddening habit of playing up or down to the level of their opponents, and they also have spent the last few seasons coming out of the gate very slowly — both in games and in seasons. They tend to finish stronger than they start in both perspectives, but it isn’t easy to overcome the handicap they give away.
The upside is, of course, that the Irish won the game and that their second half appeared somewhat better than the first. The defense tossed a shutout in the second half on the road, an impressive feat against a skilled opponent. Brady Quinn managed to put up some decent numbers and show some leadership in rallying the team. Darius Walker ran for 99 yards — not great, but not bad at all. The Irish have plenty on which to build.
They’d better build fast. The legendary Joe Paterno and his Penn State Nittany Lions pay a visit to Touchdown Jesus next week, followed by Michigan and then a road game at their bete noir, Michigan State. It’s a grinder of a schedule, and what’s worse is that CQ commenter Monkei will be on my backside this entire week about the Penn State game.
Let’s go, Irish. Don’t make a Monkei out of us.

Fiesta Bowl Live Blog

I’ve started this a bit late — I kept falling asleep waiting for the game to start when I was going to prep for this post.
4:10 PM CT – Two minutes into the game, and the Irish have driven the field for an impressive score. Brady Quinn got a couple of chances to air it out, and the Irish topped it off with a long run off-tackle for the score. 7-0 Irish, 12:59 left in the first quarter!
4:15 – OSU picks up a first down, but only after all the receivers got covered …
4:17 – Troy Smith hits a wide-open receiver (Ginn) for six points. Tied up at 7-7, 10:02 left Q1. Looks like a shooting match here today, folks.
4:27 – So far, the difference to me is that the Irish have been able to run the ball — and they’ve stopped the Buckeyes on the ground. We’ll see if that continues.
4:30 – OSU holds at about midfield – first punt of the day fair-caught at the 10. ND needs a three-and-out.
4:31 – The Nokia commercial about the “lady” who gets offended by a man offering his number for her cell phone is … weird, man. What’s that supposed to teach us about Nokia — it’s for losers?
4:34 – The Irish need a spy on Troy Smith. They did a nice job picking up the screen on the next play, though.
4:38 – The Irish get the first break of the game — Troy Smith fights off a sack he should have taken and winds up coughing up the ball. The Irish live off these turnovers and they have ony 15 yards to go for a TD.
4:40 – OSU defense stiffens, forces a 4th down … and the Irish fail to convert. Bad move. Should have taken the easy points at this stage of the game.
4:41 – I was wondering what Hugh was doing, but he doesn’t appear to be live-blogging the game. His co-blogger, the lovely and talented Mary Catherine Ham, is spending today learning about good winterizing and the virtues of wood-burning fireplaces, and the limits of influence that a blog award brings.
4:45 – OSU has started running the ball a bit more effectively now, but they commit a stupid penalty after getting a first down.
4:51 – Ginn starts off the second quarter with reverse for 68 yards and a TD. He almost hot-dogged it too early, but made two remarkable cutbacks to fake out the pursuing Irish defenders and stumble into the end zone. OSU 14-7. Dang.
4:58 – Notre Dame gives up a three-and-out — not a good way to answer the score. A good punt still gives OSU decent field advantange. The Irish have to continue to run the ball — it’s worked so far during the game. Why they used three straight passes on this series is kind of baffling.
5:03 – Note to Krum: it’s always the retaliation that gets called. IOW, stop being stupid and FOCUS ON THE GAME, not the trashtalking.
5:09 – The option is really effective against the Irish defense. If they can’t get a turnover here, OSU could really put them behind the eight-ball.
5:10 – As I was writing that, the option pitch coughs up the ball and the Irish recover.
5:17 – Yeah, I wouldn’t believe me either, but it was the truth …
5:17 – Brady tosses it deep as a reminder to OSU not to get to comfortable coming in close on defense.
5:20 – Weis has spotted something on the slant; it seems to have suddenly opened up for the Irish.
5:25 – Good punt coverage puts the ball on the two. The Irish need a defensive hold here.
5:27 – I’ve never heard of that before — the ref stopped play and used the public address system to scold ABC for its camera placement! OSU gets the first down, and then scores on the next play. Not looking good for God’s Team.
5:37 – OSU wants to go in for the kill at the end of the half. They own the big play today, no doubt …
5:43 – The Irish block the chip-shot field goal to take something positive into the halftime locker room. HALFTIME.
5:57 – That was a great moment during halftime when Tostitos brought Lt Vera home and surprised his girlfriend — and then he surprised her again by proposing on national TV. Good thing she said “yes”. It brought a tear to my eye, but who among us didn’t have a moment of thinking, “What if she says ‘No’?”
6:11 – The Irish finally force OSU to punt after Brent Musberger noted that the Buckeyes had converted all of their third downs in the first half.
6:16 – Can we stop talking about Brady Quinn’s sister being AJ Hawk’s girlfriend? Brady’s sister is cute, but I didn’t wait six weeks for this game just to live it vicariously through her angst.
6:26 – “Can Baby Brother and the Quarterback Guru regroup?” BLEAGH. I have always despised Brent Musberger, and now I remember why. The Irish special teams, however, come up big with a second blocked kick to keep it to a two-touchdown gap.
6:31 – Going back to the slant, it’s still working …
6:35 – The Irish take advantage of the short game that OSU allowed and drove the field for a TD. The Irish blew the PAT, but still stay within a TD and a 2-point conversion despite getting thoroughly outplayed so far. 21-13.
6:42 – Is it a fumble or an incomplete? Looks like a fumble to me, but I’m biased. The Irish defense is still playing with some heart …
6:46 – No fumble, and the Buckeyes get a FG finally on their third try. 24-13. We’re still in it, but I’m not sure we deserve to be. OSU has outplayed the Irish on both sides of the ball, and only through some scrappy play and turnovers have we remained in the game.
6:53 – Last quarter, and the Irish can still come back, but they’d better play better than the first three if they’re going to do it.
7:07 – OSU adds a field goal, but that only puts the game out to 14 points — still a two-TD game. Unfortunately, I may have to run out before the game finishes. I have a dinner date with my granddaughter, of which she just called to remind me. (“Grandpa, when are we going to eat pizza?”) I may have to catch this on the radio the rest of the way.
7:13 Samardziaj finally pulls one in and puts the Irish back into the long game…
7:22 – Gotta run. Granddaughters trump the Irish. It looks like the Irish may be ready to score, and I’ll be listening on the radio. Thanks for hanging in there with me!

The Irish Say ‘OlĂ©!’

The BCS has announced the game lineups for the major bowls this season, and the big news isn’t that the USC Trojans will meet the Texas Longhorns for the national championship; that merely fulfills a foregone conclusion after yesterday’s results. No, the big news is the return of Notre Dame to the ranks of the major bowls with an invitation to the Fiesta Bowl to face the Ohio State Buckeyes on New Years Day:

In his rookie season as Notre Dame coach, Weis has the Fighting Irish (9-2) in the BCS for the first time since they lost the 2001 Fiesta Bowl 41-9 to Oregon State. They automatically qualified for a spot by finishing sixth in the BCS standings.
“I think it’s a great tribute to our coaching staff and our players that they were able to turn it around that fast,” Weis said.
While some complain that Notre Dame has bulked up this season on a weak schedule and gets too much credit for a 34-31 loss to USC, the Fighting Irish are college football’s top drawing card.

The only people who don’t appear to appreciate this matchup are Oregon fans, who complain that they have one more win than Notre Dame and Ohio State and should get a BCS matchup. They should talk to the writers who rank the teams — or better yet, take their complaints to the NCAA. They have yet to explain why Division III teams have a playoff system but their top division somehow can’t survive with a rational post-season system. In my opinion, the NCAA could easily build a 16-team or 32-team playoff system that allows for all division champs and a limited number of at-large teams to play in the bowl games as rotated by the BCS now.
The other conflicted person is Hugh Hewitt, whose beloved Buckeyes play against his favorite Fighting Irish. I knew that this dissonance would drive Hugh crazy, and indeed it has. He has adopted the Jerry Brown Fan Rationing System, only rooting for the Irish on even-numbered days, while cheering for the Buckeyes on odd-numbered days. That means on January 1, he will be backing Ohio State instead of God’s Own Team. He may forgive Hugh, but the Irish will make Hugh serve a difficult penance on New Years Day.
Step back from the brink, Hugh. We’re here to help.

Irish Survive Inspired Stanford To Qualify For BCS

Rally, sons of Notre Dame …
The Fighting Irish finished their first season under Charlie Weis with a spirited comeback in the final minutes against Stanford to run their record to 9-2 and qualify for a BCS berth for the first time in years. The Irish put an exclamation point on an unexpectedly successful maiden season under Weis as the Golden Domers announced their return to national prominence:

Darius Walker ran 6 yards for the winning touchdown with 55 seconds remaining and took a direct snap to run in for the 2-point conversion, and the sixth-ranked Fighting Irish became all but assured of playing in one the four marquee bowl games with a 38-31 victory over Stanford on Saturday night.
Brady Quinn passed for 432 yards and three touchdowns but also threw two interceptions, and Notre Dame survived a wild final few minutes for its fifth straight victory since a 34-31 loss to No. 1 USC on Oct. 15. Walker ran for 191 yards on 37 carries.
The Irish (9-2) won seven of their final eight games under first-year coach Charlie Weis …

I missed most of this game because I took the family out to see the latest Harry Potter film, which I thoroughly enjoyed, and then out for a late dinner. In fact, I only saw the final two minutes of the game, running inside the house when I heard that Stanford had scored late to go up by a point as we pulled into the driveway. Stanford’s tough play did not surprise me at all. I saw them play the Irish at South Bend last year, when the Irish struggled to get past them at home, and I expected a tough game this year on the road.
This year, though, has seemed charmed for the Irish. They might have competed for a shot at the #3 slot if it hadn’t been for an inability to win at Michigan State, a problem that has plagued Notre Dame for a decade and through three head coaches. As it is, they likely will play on New Year’s Day, perhaps against the equally-admirable program at Penn State with the legendary Joe Paterno on the other sideline.
Now that will be one heck of a game!

Game Day

I’m completely exhausted from my wonderful day at the nation’s most storied college football stadium. After a cold and blustery day yesterday, Game Day turned out to give us beautiful weather, at least for most of the game: sunny, mid-50s, and light wind. The weather had kept us from touring the campus yesterday, but we got a chance to show the Admiral Emeritus the Golden Dome and other highlights today.
After a strange first quarter where Holy Cross appeared to be wearing the Irish football uniforms, allowing the 1-7 Syracuse Orange to gather a 3-0 lead, the Irish finally showed and wound up winning a critical victory for the BCS-enabling win. The Irish topped the Orangemen, 34-10.
Anyway, too tired to continue tonight. Thanks to CQ reader TJB for the kind gift of the tickets — the FM, Admiral Emeritus, his wife, and myself enjoyed the day tremendously.
UPDATE: I really was so tired that I didn’t realize I’d left off the last part of that last sentence …

Hitting The Road

The time has come to roll, ladies and gentlemen! The second annual pilgrimage to the Golden Dome is on its way. We will leave the house in a few minutes to start heading towards South Bend and our weekend at Notre Dame. Blogging will be light today, but this time our hotel has Internet access — so I will be able to do some blogging over the next few days. Many thanks to those who offered better route options than trans-urban Chicago … we’ll try Joliet instead and see how we do.
Shake down the thunder!
UPDATE, 4:58 – Made it to Michigan City after about nine hours on the road, including an hour outside of Rockford for lunch. We’re a bit stiff and it took us about an hour to get the energy to unpack and get settled, but now we’re thinking about finding a bite to eat. The internet access here is excellent but hardwired, so I’ll go out and buy a long cat-5 cable so I can run the computer from the bed.
This is the first time I’ve taken a long road trip with XM satellite radio. I liked it, although I have to use the FM link to get it to play on my car stereo, and passing trucks with heavy communications equipment often interfere with the transmission. I listened to CNN and Fox, so I kept up with a couple of news stories all day. I’ll have a few things to write about the hysterical John Murtha later on tonight. Right now, I’m going to catch up with e-mail and comments and then get some grub while we wait for the Admiral Emeritus to arrive.

The Second Annual Notre Dame Pilgrimage

With the Fighting Irish playing like national contenders again in the first season of the Charlie Weis era, the timing couldn’t be better for the First Mate and I to make our second trip to see Touchdown Jesus, the Golden Dome, and the Notre Dame football team play on their home field. Last year, we made our way to our very first visit to South Bend by car, and we took 3 hours getting through the center of Chicago. Thanks to my brilliant navigation, I turned an eight-hour trip into a twelve-hour grueling marathon.
This year, I received tickets to the Syracuse game for next Saturday from loyal (and generous!) CQ reader TJ B. Thanks to his generosity, I will be able to invite my father, the Admiral Emeritus, along for the trip, although he and his wife will fly in from SoCal rather than drive. I decided to drive it again this year, but instead of listening to Mapquest and taking the urban route again, I’ve purchased a mapping program to re-do the route for better efficiency. Chicagoans should feel free to check this out and let me know in the comments if this improves my route, or if I’m just as insane as last year.
I figure that instead of taking 90 all the way through Chicago (and into Gary), I’d take 294 down to 80 and bypass most of the metro area around the Windy City. Then I’ll take the 80 East out to the 94 to Michigan City, where I will be staying during the weekend. I figure it will only cost me an extra 20 miles, but it should save me that bumper-to-bumper traffic that got us stuck the last time.
We’ll be leaving early on Thursday morning, and this time my hotel has Internet access, so I will be taking the camera and updating CQ readers about all of the campus activities to which we can gain access.
Shake down the thunder!

Shake Down The Thunder!

The Fighting Irish of Notre Dame have exploded out of the gate to start the 2005 season. First they trounced Pitt on the road 42-21, and today convincingly beat #3 Michigan, 17-10. The Irish never trailed against the highly-regarded Wolverines and led by two touchdowns until the final three minutes:

Charlie Weis’ college coaching career is off to a big start.
No. 20 Notre Dame stunned No. 3 Michigan on Saturday, making Weis 2-0 as a college coach. The former New England Patriots assistant outfoxed Dave Wannstedt’s Pittsburgh Panthers last week and had the Irish well-prepared to face the rival Wolverines.
It was the first time since 1918 that a first-year Notre Dame coach opened with back-to-back road wins.

Brady Quinn ran a ball-control offense, completing 19 of 30 for 147 yards, or 4.7 yards per completion. He spread the wealth, connecting most often with running back Darius Walker, who also ran for over 100 yards, but five different receivers had multiple receptions. The defense stood tall against the Wolverine offense, holding them to only 335 yards and 15 first downs. They stuffed Michigan on third down, only allowing five of eighteen conversions, and they also grabbed an interception and a fumble.
The Irish have gone several years since anyone took them seriously. With Brady Quinn maturing at QB and the defense showing its usual imperviousness, we could have a very good chance at a BCS bid. Michigan State comes to South Bend next…