Things that make you go HMMM

I am speechless. I really have nothing to say. Both teams played hard. Both teams brought everything they had to offer. Both teams played their hearts out. It is to bad that only one team could win. It is to bad that three calls (bad calls, good calls, no difference) change the outcome of this game.

The first call that I was unhappy with is the screen pass to Allen. He was in bounds, there is no proof that he was out. Every angle showed him in, there was not angle that "clearly without a doubt" showed him out. If that is the case, the call on the field must stand, TOUCHDOWN.

There is the holding call on Sam Young. Young is allowed to have his hands inside, and on the replay they were. The Michigan d-linemen was blocked by another ND linemen and put sideways. I can understand why the ref called this if he did not see the other linemen, but it was NOT the correct call. We would have been down to the four yard line, and I think we would have had another TOUCHDOWN.

The whistle on Allen on his touchdown run. ESPN counted and there was seventeen NCAA players that "quieted the crowd" on Saturday. Only Allen was given the flag. The rule reads that you can NOT make gestures to the crowd that are unsportsman. Such as pointing to the crowd in a show of disrespect. The Michigan QB sure pointed to the crowd on two different occasions, but no flag was thrown. And there is no doubt that on one occasion he pointed to the ND fan section. SO NO 15 YARD FLAG.

Did you know that Michigan will NOT allow any other refs but BIG TEN refs in their stadium for games? Typically you are allowed to bring refs from you conference on away games, and ND (yes they are independent but they use Big East refs) allows outside conference refs. Again, things that make you go HMM..

CHEERS!!!

Out of the Gate

Notre Dame needs to come of the gates on fire. Attack from the opening kick off and once again, throw Michigan off their game plan. I know they want to run the ball, actually my dog knows they want to run the ball. So take away their ability to do that, and make these freshman go up and down the field through the air.

I know it's easy to just say, "Hey, score lots of points. And do it quickly!" but with this team, they can actualy do that. Once again, put this game out of reach by at least 2 scores by the end of the 1st quarter and watch this Michigan team, that has no depth, struggle to make up the difference.

Jimmy has a good day, Rudolph has a career day, and Allen does just enough to keep the defense honest. 38-13 is what I"m gonna predict for this game as Michigan gets exposed in the secondary and the lack of depth, and Notre Dame's special teams make 2 huge plays to put this out of reach. Clausen throws for 250 and 2 TDS with Allen getting 70 and 70 with 2 TDs.

'Nough Said!

First Ten Minutes...

I want the Wolkpack to get the ball first. I want a three and out, and then I want a score in 30 seconds. I want Clausen to walk off the field shaking his head again, and for the entire Nevada team to see it.

We need to be unstoppable. It has to be Jimmy's time. Lots of three and outs today by the D, and lots of 10+ yard plays by the O. I need Armando to create problems for Nevada to loosen up that D. I need Duncan to hold down the backside, and I need Young to plow the road for our backs. That being said, Jimmy just has to be Jimmy.

Explosion plays are one thing, knowing you can not stop someone in the first 30 seconds of a game, well, thats just hell. I would love the score to be 28 to nothing after the first quarter. I want to shut everyone up. I want the critics to be quieted. LETS GO IRISH! Cheers!

Explosion Plays!

This game needs to be uptempo and determined entirely by the Notre Dame offense. Nevada runs the ball. And even though they do it well, it's hard to game plan a 50/50 run to pass offense when you're down 3 scores.

Notre Dame needs to have explosion every possession. Whether it's Allen exploding for a 20 yard run, Tate exploding for a 40 yard catch, or an explosive screen play (that we all know is coming). Explosive plays helps to damage the defense's will. Don't get me wrong, I'll take the grind it out game if we can continually move the ball, but I feel with Nevada's ability to run the ball and create offense themselves, we need to explode out to a big lead and kill their game plan.

'Nough said.

Wolfpack Presents Problems...

So I agree and I do not agree with Martinez (as usual). I think this is going to be an even tighter game, and I see us coming from behind.

This is a team that is led by a very good dual threat quarterback in C. Karpernick. The kid rushed 161 times for over 1,200 yards. That's more than any Irish running back has done in two years, hell he averaged 7.0 yards a carry. And if that is not scary enough he also had over 2,800 yards passing. He was almost a 20/20 quarterback, I think that has only been a handful of times. I think this QB is for real and we have to contain him every snap.





Oh I am not done there. The Wolf Pack's running back is just as scary. Via Taua is on the Doak Walker watch list and for good reason. He rushed for 1500 yards last year and scored 15 touchdowns. This is what makes this team tough to defend against.



Their defense returns a lot of people as well. I do not care what they were ranked last year. That was last year. I can not go and say anything about how they are still going to be bad when I am preaching how Notre Dame will be good this year after last years performances. I am a firm believer that the more people you return, the better your team is going to be.

We are going to need a great game from our D-Line. I think the linebackers are going to be really busy making reads against the Nevada playmakers, and our secondary CANNOT cheat up. I think if the D-Line can blow plays up it will give our linebackers a chance to make some plays. I think Harrison Smith will be all over the field, but I would rather not have him lead the team in tackles. I want our ends to be monsters. I am curious to see Kapron Lewis-Moore, remember that name for the game.

We are going to have to score as well.....Jimmy and the Gang should be able to take care of that. I am looking for a HUGE game from Kyle "Santa's Little Helper" Rudolph! Nevada is going to be all over Tate and Floyd, that should leave Kyle in the open. Jimmy will have 250 passing. Armando will have a decent day, nothing to special. I think he will get 190 yards and 2 touchdowns.

Final Score ND 49 Wolf Pack 31

Cheers!