Notre Dame survived another close game, defeating the Washington Huskies 37-30 in overtime. Down 24-22, the Irish needed consecutive goal line stands late in the second half of saturday’s game, to limit the Huskies to a 4 point lead, and give Jimmy Clausen and the offense the opportunity to reclaim the lead with just over a minute left to play. A touchdown pass from Clausen to Kyle Rudolph, followed by a two point conversion by Robert Hughes, put the Irish up 30-27. The Huskies answered with a field goal which sent the game into OT.
Hughes would score again in overtime, on a 1 yard touchdown run, and Kyle McCarthy and Harrison Smith knocked away a 4th and 19 attempt by the Huskies, to secure the Notre Dame victory. The Irish improve to 4-1 following the win.
More to follow later.
Shazamrock,
I did not see that. Very interesting! Seems like the SEC is one squared-away conference. Big 10, not so much. Given that players seem to be getting faster and officials seem to be getting older and more incompetent, I would suggest more video-reviewable plays. Unfortunately, that hasn’t helped ND (or some other teams) either! It’s a problem w/ no easy solution…
College football is big business. I don’t think anyone will argue about the vast sums of money that is generated and changes hands.
TV deals, product sponsership, advertising, ticket sales, bowl games, ect..
You would think with this kind of revenue at stake that the NCAA would have more involvement and more stringent guidlines regurding officiating. The officials, at least at the major college level should be full time. They should be physically fit, have training, watch films, be graded and assigned games based on preformance.
It’s time that we rid the game of Realestate and Insurance salesmen who moonlight part time on Saturday afternoons and live 20 minutes away from the home town college that they Ref.
I think you make excellent points.
Somebody anybody please let me know if any of our corners has a pick this year. I think not.Who in the world coaches the corners . Not one player other than Mc goes for the ball. All the other backs & corners wait for the catch, Walls is always one step behind & never sees the ball Come on Charly get a DB coach!!!!!! Please…
ND has played there butts off on offense but i can not stand what they are doing on defense. The defense of line looked fantastic on the goaline, but you have to remember they could not stop Polk from busting through for big gains during the middle of the 3rd and mostly the 4th quarters. The linebackers also need to be able to fill those gaps and be able to contain the outsides. Tackling was horrible…Mccarthy should not be the only one to make big tackles at crucial times…I did like seeing Manti making plays he has a bright future at ND….I dont think Weis is the problem anymore i think it is the blitzing schemes that Tenuta draws up and calls…they blitz so many times but yet very rarely even reach the quarterback
now the recipe to beat SC is to not let them have great game on the ground so they can set up play action passes…let the freshman quarterback have to beat us….defense needs to study on tape on what Washington and Ohio State games against USC both of those games were physical and thats what Notre Dame needs to do unfortunatly we’re playing with finesse on the outsides and that can lead to getting crushed….
by the way we have a better offense then what Cal has, they’re one dimentional they dont have a passing game or an experiance qb…
prediction USC 27 ND 21 but im hoping that im wrong
Brian Smith said he hates pursuit drills the most a couple of weeks ago.
It’s funny (not really) how it shows on Saturdays.
Until CW beats USC he will never have job security. The defense will have to show up in 2 weeks. ND is not going to march up and down the field on USC’s defense. They will be able to score at least in the 20’s but if our defense can’t stop SC and hold them under 20 they will loose. SC has not allowed a team to march up and down the field on them all year long and I expect the same in two weeks. I think we have the best offense in the country, but with out Micheal Floyd it will be hard to score 30 on SC. They have two weeks to look at film and get it right. I am praying they can.
anyone see kerry neal and kaprom lewis moore? they were making impact plays all game and neal did a great job of taking down locker on 3rd down in a pressure situation.. and to all the people that say ND Stadium isnt loud.. that place was ROCKIN!!!!
The secondary is horrible. walls gets beat all the time. Blanton gives to much of a cushion(scared he is going to get beat) GARY GRAY is the man and the best of the DB. Harrison smith sucks also. he got ran over a few times yesterday. Why is Gary Gray not starting???
Probably in part because he wasn’t enrolled during Spring camp.
Locker is for real….good luck to the rest of the PAC 10 having to deal with that kid…wow! And the RB had great leg drive…what was his name?
Too early to say that about Brown and Tenuta. You can watch any pro game and find corners doing the exact same thing. Shut down corners are few and far between. We knew Locker was good and accurate…he is more than that.
cliff: blanton should have had that picked. i was going crazy when i saw how he went about trying to make and interception there. they got to be smarter than that they play d1 football come on.
Supposidly Corwin Brown is an up and coming genious and John Tenuta is one of the best. Oh my god are we in trouble. All offense and no defense doesn’t work in any sport.
I’m proud of the defense line/linebackers for their goal line stand…x3! I will admit I didn’t think they had it in them however they stepped up. Now as far as the DB’s, they are timid and playing reaction football– case in point is on the last Washington drive Blanton had good position and waited for the ball instead of going up and getting the ball…result is a 30 yard pass play…I had this same discussion with someone on this site…you have to go get the ball not wait for it to come to you…BASIC fundamentals! Corwin should recognize this and coach this or replace Blanton. I think Gary Gray is the best corner we have…and I think you give slaughter a chance…obviously the players they are playing are not getting it done…
Never again let Pac 10 officals come in to south bend to call a game. That flag happy umpire (the distant cousin of the guy who threw the flag for a ridiculous illegal block in the back call 30yds behind the play when Rocket’ took it to the house, Orange bowl ’91) threw that flag against Idub for plowing the center (bushlike)!!Who just about pulled a big ten Armondo shh finger celebration penalty when Bobo’ Hughes ran in for the 2-pt conversion. On film you can see him just huntn for the call with his nose in the pile 1 second after the whistle blows and throws the celebration flag?? Thank God the head official overruled him!..or it could of been ANN Arbor all over again.
SC is tough upfront, period..Not to mention #2, Tmays(study up on him, Jimmy). Make no mistake…This SC team might be as good as the SC ’05 team even without Reggie bush. Living on the WEST Coast, I get to see them quite a bit..Studied a lot of film on them…Bottom line…We need to disquise a lot of coverages with Dlineman dropping back in coverages on 3rd down and getting our best open space tacklers to contain #4 who looks to cut back every run. Forget the three day layoffs..Get in the weightroom guy and study film…Mixed in some extra gassers and lets play ball…SC just threw up 30 on Cal at home who had should of been ND running back, Javid BESt.
Game Plan…5sacks..1 int…1 fumble recovery…field position…stay in your lanes….wrap and hold.wrap and hold.Wrap and hold…Run with anger up the middle…Smash the teeth of #93, #94, #91…Olson, move your feet on back side chop blocks (wasn’t your fault Jimmy..Jump rope or something. Your feet could cost us the game..the war) and as Lou always says,”Hold on to the football!”.
SC 11pt favorites…With the exception of the Nevada game Irish haven’t covered all year!
Slogan…”Streak stops at 7 Cause God’s coming down from Heavin”
Its our time, guys…Keep Prayn…
coz.
I’ll save the weis bashing for another day and focus on the defense for now. I thought the line and one linebacker looked great at times, but once again the secondary looked pathetic! Oh and that one linebacker? He looked like Ray f-ing Lewis out there in the first half! There was absolutely no excuse to keep him off the field in the first 4 games. He’s obviously the best and most inspired player on the field and should’ve been out there all year. Cant wait to see him beat down SC! Go IRISH!!!
Congrats to those kids for fighting to the end. They won because of their fight and desire to win not Weis’s coaching. The kids saved Weis’s butt with this win. Defense better but still suspect. Would love to have a totally healthy offense, they could do some damage. But thanks to Tate, Hughes, Rudolph, and JC for holding down the fort. They are scoring points but defense still giving many up. They have a tough schedule ahead and could still end up with 3 or 4 loses. Hopefully not.
As far as Weis, he is not head coach material. He can recruit and that is it. My god, he doesn’t even look or act like a head coach. Do you think working around athletes all your life you would want to lose a few pounds? He looks dazed half the time on the sidelines. Maybe it is a food coma.
just tighten up the defense, and Clausen keep doin what your doin.ND 31 SC 21 THERE I SAID IT
Folks, first of all, I’m a Domer. I played from ’79 – ’82.
Second, I’m a realist.
Third, I think Weis is a sub-par college football head coach.
Do I enjoy watching ND finally win the close ones instead of losing them? Yes, of course. But ND was EXPECTED to win these close games. I look at all of this drama as a sure sign that ND’s defense is really bad. Goal line stands notwithstanding (it more of UW’s lousy play that kept them out of the end zone).
Problem is, ND cannot keep this up. Did you see the Cal / USC game? Their offense will shred ND’s defense. SHRED. ND’s defense has made every game close, but an explosive offense will expose it. ND has not seen an explosive offense yet. USC is explosive. We’ve all grown accustomed to mediocrity, so we’re just happy to beat average teams that take us down to the wire. It’s a false sense of security. Unless Tenuta & Co. pulls off a miracle, USC will run and pass all over ND. However, looking at how the defense tackles and easily offense can drive on them, I project a very long day.
ND’s remaining schedule is going to be very hard. Stanford, BC and Pitt and Navy are much better than we had earlier thought. In fact, Stanford will be more difficult to contain as any team outside of USC. Something’s gotta give.
Defense is the key and just can’t give up big plays and let opposing team roll and get into a rhythm. Penalties must be contained.
I’ll say a prayer to Our Lady.
How does he compare to Faust? Maybe he was sub par? Also, not sure too many predicted the the Huskies would beat SC. One game at a time.
GO IRISH!
You claim to have played for ND back when…? Does that make you an expert on football today? I don’t think so. Why are you voiceing concerns about the Stanford game in late November? As a former football player (if you really are) you know better than to be looking beyond the next game.
In Jimmy we trust. We go as Clausen goes. The defense needs to stop a team in the fourth. The strenght of this team was suppose to be the secondary and it sucks. Gary Gray should be starting, sit Walls he is horrible, sit Blanton to much cushion and for God sacks use someone other than Sergio Brown as a nickel corner. Harrison Smith is looking better, Play Teo, Smith and Flemming at Linebacker and d-line is coming along. If this team had a defense it would be a top ten team.
jack- very well said…G. Gray should start…and Blanton is horrible (this year)! Sergio is killing me…
All I have to say, “Roughing the Snapper”… really? At least we got our own “Bush Push” (ND version name needed). Great game. Go Irish!
Washington was 0-12 last year. Is it surprising they have some things to work on? Willingham hurt this program and it will take time to bring it back to where the program should be.Desire and effort is not the problem and neither is the Coaching.Just time!!!Notre Dame football and its supporters should realize this better than anyone!!IT TAKES TIME… a long time.One of the most enjoyable games to see in a long time.That said…Keep playing Teo AND Hughes…Their DESIRE and EFFORT will be contageous.Defensively…….please someone instruct these players to put a shoulder into the ballcarrier and DRIVE them down into the ground.STOP GRABBING,STOP REACHING,STOP WAITING FOR THEM TO COME TO YOU!!On special teams…….guys it is necessary to hit everybody on the other team on kickoffs.Hit them!!On defense,you just hit and drive the opponent into the next day…Defensive backs need to find the football.Look for it at some point in time during your coverage.It helps to know where the ball is for you to knock it down or maybe pick it off.Hey Defensive Coaches what’s with third and – fill in the blank yards to go! lets just play some football on defense not just the few, the proud and the aware,all eleven guys!If the ball carrier isn’t down the whistle hasn’t blown then hit em……
Olympics passes us by, ND wins, Michigan loses, what else couls someone in Chicago want? Well, maybe a deep dish from Giordanos. Im proud of this win but im not sure what to say about the defense. They played out of their tree on those goal line stands, but once again they allowed a team with an inferior offense to march right down the field for a tie or winning drive when it counted. I was really shocked considering the kick off allowed us to pin them down on their own 10 on the tying drive for UW. We need to be able to shut people down in the 4th like we did on those goal line stands. Im hopeing as well as other people have posted that this was the turning point for our D.
My last comment for this game was that Clausen played outstanding. It might be knit picking but he threw a couple very dangerous lobs and didnt seem too bothered by that one which got picked up and returned for a TD behind the line of scrimmage. To me it looked like his turf toe might have effected him in this dept. A week off should really help.
Defensive secondary is gonna catch up with them at some point.USC will stomp them if they play like that.Blitzing is only effective if they get a lot of pressure on him and not leave them in man coverage.Will be interesting on the 17th.If the Irish are going to beat them this is their best chance in a long time
Washington is a quality team and well coached…good win for ND.
In my opinion…
Our corners were horrible…offensive line was outstanding and played inspired.
Nepachris is spot on. D line was solid and linebackers good considering there playing a big running qb. The db’s. Excuse me if i say this, but am i the only one who believes darin walls(#2) is the worst player in the NCAA. Week after week he gives up the biggest plays ie., michigan twice in a row with 11 seconds left, michigan state…. yea he picked that ball off at the end but it was 4th down and actually lost the irish yards., and gave up the lead changing touchdown againts washington. I played corner too and you do get picked on, but you gotta draw the line at some point.
And as for Clausen. If ND had any sort of defense, they would be 5-0 and Jimmy would be up there in the Tebow talks. If you score 30 points a game, you should win the game. The only reason they are is because of clausen. Not to mention, he’s already getting buzz on ESPN for Heismen simply on stats.
Weis. DO NOT FIRE. DEMOTE. TO OFFENSIVE COORDINATOR. END OF STORY.
One more thing…. Can we label this team the “Cardiac Kids” ?
Jimmy Clausen has grown into the system very nicely. The offense appears to have taken the next step to be successful. And Charlies play calling is keeping the defenses off balance for the most part. If and when the defense can show the same improvement, then we will have a BSC bound team. Last but not least, Charlies recruiting has been and will continue to be very good. In fact it could even get better with quality wins down the road. I believe the future is bright for ND Football my friends. With the off week and USC in town next, we should be ready for a barn burner.
d line played well. linebackers looked good with manti being in there. secondary??? do we have one? looks like 11 on 7 out there. absolutely pathetic showing for the “strength” on this defense.
jimmy for heisman! 244 yards receiving, tate, wow! nice to see kyle used effectively again. very nice to see crossing patterns again. the middle of the field was open all day.
tackling needs to be addressed this whole week. how many tds called back because of the o line? offenders should be running til they puke.
roughing the snapper??? really pac-10??? don’t tell me your going to be a problem like the big 10 are you? criminal investigations needed in “ncaa” officiating.
Are you serious? Chris Polk scored the touchdown. Replay overturned it when there was CLEARLY no evidence to overturn it. Roughing the snapper was a make up call by the official who called the Polk play a touchdown. The Two point conversion, no replay? He was a yard short. What Notre Dame alum was in the replay booth? Why was that not reviewed? Now, there is a criminal investigation!
Welcome to our world. We’ve had at least 4 touchdowns called back w/ no evidence whatsoever to do so. The 2point conversion by Walker did look like his knee was down. But, just like ND vs. Michigan, it was NDs fault for losing first, the officials second. Same goes for Washington. They had 3 goal line stands! And 7 downs in a row. Blame yourselves first, not the officials.
JDH, Did you happen to see the exsessive Celebration call agianst Georgia this past weekend by SEC officials?
What a terriable call. Left the door wide open for a LSU win.
Today I read where the head of SEC officials issued a public appology to Georgia for what was clearly a poor call. My respect for the SEC just went up.
Nobody has made more rotten, and obvious bad calls than the BigTen. But you know what you get from them when you issue a greivence? A BIG F.U followed by the single finger salute. I hope the BigTen gets completely shut out of the BCS.
I agree with Scav 100 percent.
Defense needs THE MOST improvemnet.
Furthermore, offense is hot.
Mixing it up more would not hurt things.
( The running game against Purdue was working and was very impressive.)
IF our Beloved Fighting Irish can put the teams away earlier -we will, indeed be very tough to beat.
Clausen is ON FIRE!!
ON FIRE!
If ND beats USC next week, does that make Jimmy the front-runner for the Heisman? This kid is on fire and how many other QB’s have led their team to leads in the 4th in 4 consecutive games?
If this team can tighten the screws on defense, they will be very hard to beat the rest of the year. The defense needs the same swagger the offense has, maybe the goal line stands and overtime defense will give them the confidence they need.
Has to be 1 or 2 in the Heisman race with a USC win. But, just like the complaining about not being in the top 25, who cares right now? Just keep the focus and intensity. Win, win, win. Everything else will take care of itself.
(Not implying you were complaining Scav, just making a point. I saw how Weis was complaining about the top 25 today…)
I agree, ’82. Why the hell can’t Domers just be happy we won? (A: “because if we’re gonna criticze when we lose, we have to be fair/objective and criticize when we win”) It’s bull-feathers. Everyone just shut-up. We won.
Dig it.
89,
Why should we accept mediocrity?! This mind-set will soon enough turn ND football into the Chicago Cubs. Loyal fans, losing team. Are you a Cubs fan ’89?
4-1 mediocre? this team refuses to lose anymore. i am starting to believe jimmy when he said they will never feel like that again, referring to the michigan loss.
What a close game!!! I really thought that ND would pull away and get a comfortable lead by the 4th qtr. I like the fight and confidence that this team has in its ability to win, late. Remember we lost those games last year. My hat is off to the D!! The work at the goal line was stuff of legend.
I cannot wait for all the Charlie haters to start posting about the WIN. So amusing…
Fire Weis
can someone shut Tom up because my zipper is stuck!
Good one! You’ll be crying when the season is over you idiot!
I don’t hate Weis. But I also can’t say he’s a great or even good college head football coach. The Weis apologists are juts as ridiculous in their lack of objectivity as the Weis haters.
i am neither, to be a team you need a coach. i am behind this team win or lose. why cant the anti weis guys wait til the season is over and judge the results then. we just beat a team that played their asses off very much like they did against usc, except our result was a win. all i say is wait and see. what would you do tom? fire weis in the middle of the season with a 4-1 record? how about at the end of the season with possibly a 10-2 record?