We’ll get into matchup elements below, but let’s first examine four significant data trends that will, largely, be ignored by the sports entertainment hype industry wearing the “journalism” mask.
(1) An Inconvenient Tide Truth-The 2012 Bama defense is much more vulnerable than 2011’s.
We will compare the three “big” games in each season. In 2011 Bama, with an easy SEC East rotation, looked to two divisional challengers in the SEC West, LSU and Arkansas. Now the Razorbacks had played in the 2011 Sugar Bowl. They had Tyler Wilson at quarterback, and were coached by Bobby Petrino, before, apparently, he read Pirsig’s “Zen and the Art of Motorcyle Maintenance” and Nabokov’s “Lolita.”
The Tide held Petrino’s scoring juggernaut to 14 points, 14 First Downs and 226 TOTAL YARDS!
In the regular season game against LSU, the Tigers got 15 first downs, 9 points and 239 total yards.
In the BCS championship rematch, the Tigers got 0 points, 5 first downs and 92 TOTAL YARDS.
Breathtaking and Suffocating. But then first rounders Mark Barron, Dre Kirkpatrick, and Donta Hightower, along with second rounder Courtney Upshaw graduated with two other defensive starters, 5th rounders Dequan Menzie and Josh Chapman. They didn’t just have great NFL “measurables” but they were, expecially Hightower, Kirkpatrick, Upshaw and Barron, GREAT college defenders.
Sure at Bama they prefer to reload rather than rebuild, but the defense that allowed 11 first downs, 7.6 points and a miserly 182 yards to its three biggest opponents is in the archive. The FORMER Tide defense.
This year, the Tide faced three BIG foes. The rematch with LSU, the game with A&M and the SEC championship against Georgia.
LSU got 22 first downs and 435 yards on the way to scoring 17 points, MORE THAN THEY GOT IN TWO GAMES IN EACH CATEGORY AGAINST THE TIDE IN 2011.
A&M amassed 23 first downs and 418 yards on the way to 29 points in the victory in Tuscaloosa.
And in the SEC championship, Georgia’s Bulldogs got 18 first downs and 394 yards on the way to 28 points.
In a year, the Bama defense, in the big challenge games, went from giving up
11 first downs to 21 first downs.
From 182 ypg to 416 ypg.
From 7.6 ppg to 24.7 ppg.
Against the quality opponents.
The Tide’s defense this year is formidable, but vulnerable, and a mere shadow of the 2011 defense.
(2) Notre Dame’s defense responded best against the biggest opponents. The five biggest challenges on Notre Dame’s 2012 schedule, at the time the games were played, were, in order, Michigan State, Michigan, Stanford, Oklahoma and USC. Two of those teams, Michigan and Stanford, had played in BCS bowls in 2011 and USC was ranked #1 preseason.
The Irish allowed no touchdowns at all to Michigan State and Michigan, an UGLY defensive score to Stanford and one touchdown each to OU and SC. That’s two offensive touchdowns to those five opponents. When pressure was greatest, the defense was greatest. CLUTCH.
(3) as previously documented, the October Notre Dame offense was more prolific than the September Notre Dame offense. The November offense was more productive and efficient than the October offense. Extrapolations of anything are risky, but good coaching and a growing quarterback are rational explanations for the uptick. While not assured, it would be expected that, ceteris paribus, the January 7th offense will be the best offense that Notre Dame will have had all season.
Now for the data-starved, we delve into stat-geekery. All true students of stat know that the mean is pablum, while the MEDIAN is the red meat for the adult statistical palate.
This chart shows the medians for points, first downs, rushing yards, passing yards and total yards, calculated for September, October and November (note, yeah, the total yards doesn’t compute but the Median is ciphered for each cell, thereby the apparent anomaly.)
| Month | Points | First Downs | Rushing Yards | Passing Yards | Total Yards |
| Sept | 20 | 17 | 108 | 187 | 335 |
| Oct | 25 | 19 | 242 | 186 | 428 |
| Nov | 26 | 24 | 222 | 254 | 480 |
Now there are two ways to turn this hologram. You can look at the season’s averages and see a mediocre, ineffective Irish offense. Or you can turn the hologram, and see the narrative, the progression, the organic offense, the dynamic evolution. A quarterback, a coach, an offense getting better before our eyes. Excellent! the media and ephemeral analysts will underestimate this offense.
(4) Kelly has experience preparing for, and winning, playoff games. Lots. From 2001-2003, Kelly’s Grand Valley State teams were 11-1 in the playoffs, losing only to North Dakota by a 17-14 tally in Florence, ALABAMA, in 2001. And nobody ENCIRCLES the wagons like the Fighting Sioux
In 2006, Kelly’s Central Michigan team whomped OHIO for the MAC championship in Detroit.
This is not his first rodeo, and while the level of competition is as night to day, there is a transportable skill and competence set in preparing and winning multiple playoff (sudden death) games in various locations.
Now to the matchups
WHEN ALABAMA HAS THE BALL
A word about the Alabama offensive line. This may be the best OL in College Football since SC’s line of 2005 with Sam Baker, Winston Justice, Deuce Lutui, Ryan Kalil and Jeff Byers, a great college player. Fluker was a phenom coming out of Foley in ’09, #1 OL and 3rd best player in America. Caused a stir at his all star game. Cyrus Kouandjio, the younger of the two Dematha brothers, came up in ’11, rated #1 tackle and 4th best player in America. He caused a stir at his all star game, and was focused on diet and agility, seeking to be a “transitional” offensive linemen. Don’t underestimate these guys.
Lacy and Yeldon are the best pair of running backs we will have faced all year. Yeldon can fool you, he glides, unlike the choppy Lacy, but Yeldon covers ground quickly in the open field. both were 1,000 yard rushers.
Nevertheless the Notre Dame front seven is America’s best.
There are two HUGE challenges and one sizable challenge for the Notre Dame D.
(1) Diaco and Elston MUST play the depth. Day, Springman, Schwenke, Councell, Calabrese Ishaq have to play a lot in the first three quarters, probably more than they played in tight games all year. This takes guts and discipline, because you are watching the guy with less talent on the field, while the more talented player smolders on the sideline. But it is a sine qua non of victory. Our starters are great but will need to be fresh in the fourth quarter and a potential overtime.
(2) The secondary must significantly improve its tackling ability and execution. There will occur one or two plays when Lacy or Yeldon are isolated against one of our secondary people. They can not get juked. they must wrap up, they must bring the man down. Russell, Jackson and Shumate. Motta, Farley and Barati. Their coaches know this. These could be pivotal, game changing plays, one way or the other.
There is a third sizable challenge.
(3) Bama runs screen plays as well as any team in college football. They disguise them, and they block beautifully downfield. Our D is very good at screen recognition. We have to limit Bama’s screen effectiveness.
McCarron? he’s good, but not transcendent. He has done well when the Tide runs well. Heck, we’ve faced the Purdue duo, Landry Jones, Nunes, Morris, Nelson, Sunseri, Rettig, Price. We faced a nice batch of quarterbacks. McCarron is not a clear knockout over many of them.
Amari Cooper is a great player, but we DID face down Lee and Woods. And the Oklahoma bevy of receivers was vastly better than the crew we will face on January 7th.
The tipping point is their front line against our front seven, and our tackling of the Bama runners by our secondary. If we lose there, the game is lost.
SPECIAL TEAMS
Jeremy Shelley did not miss any of his 11 field goal attempts. PERFECT. Brindza can not miss more than one in the game.
Saban tried a fake punt against Georgia. The conservative Irish approach on special teams is appropriate. Merely stop the fake punt or field goal. For the year, in Steele’s composite rankings, Bama finished 13th, the Irish 34th. The “do no harm” approach worked for the Irish. Again, don’t LOSE the game on special teams.
WHEN NOTRE DAME HAS THE BALL
This gets interesting, and we incorporate, by reference items (1) and (3) from the intro. Bama’s defense is not as good as in 2011 and the January 7th Irish offense is a far cry from the September 1st Irish offense.
We have balance. We have three guys who can run the ball, though Atkinson’s inconsistency is maddening. Riddick and Wood run well, and are resilient enough to keep at it when their early runs are stuffed.
To be most effective PASSING, Golson’s runs must be limited, probably in the single digits. Bama hits like we do, and we can not afford to get Golson banged up. Called runs must be judicious.
We have no Floyd, but there are receiving assets. There are:
Wily vets: Toma and Goodman
Hard Knock guys: Riddick and Jones
Young, tall, fleet, the future: Daniels and Brown
America’s best receiving tight end: Eifert
Saban is going to be annoyed when he finds out that he and Smart cannot cover Eifert one-on-one.
Saban/Smart have not had to face the Stanfordesque double TE packages that Notre Dame will throw at them.
No one, yet, has had the temerity to try to “outmuscle” Alabama’s defense.
Kelly/Martin will throw some of that at them.
Notre Dame’s big weapon is Golson’s marvelous ability to leave the pocket, keep his eyes downfield and complete the pass. Saban and Smart love to do things by the numbers, and Golson is a scheme wrecker.
Golson’s challenges?
(1) ball security when running-his biggest risk
(2) he must continue to throw the ball away. In this game, an incomplete pass will often be an outstanding play.
Kelly/Martin challenges?
(1) first down-if the Irish average four or more on first down, they’ll be in good shape
(2) If they average three or fewer, they’ll be in bad shape
(3) keep Golson on the linear progression he’s been on all year.
(4) challenge Bama deep with Daniels and Brown. A couple successful intermediate to deep balls can change the calculus of the Tide defense.
(5) The offensive line must play its best game of the year. Saban will not blitz often, but he and Smart are creative at altering the blitzes and disguising them. Expect them to challenge Notre Dame’s right guard.
THE X FACTOR
J.D. Salinger, the author of “Catcher in the Rye” wrote a collection called “9 Stories.” In that was a wonderful story about a precocious child entitled “Teddy.” One thing Teddy thought was that when Eve handed Adam the apple that it was infected with “logic,” thereby cursing mankind to make mundane rather than great, creative decisions.
We have the most charismatic defensive coordinator, perhaps assistant coach (perhaps Joe Moore, you can still be charismatic and be a chain smoker of Camels) since the great Johnny Ray. He’s just a different breed of cat, alternately quoting and referencing Thomas Aquinas and Freddy Krueger, categorizing his linebackers by their werewolfness. Diaco is thorough and nothing escapes him, and in the privacy of his office, probably realizes that this will be the last time he coaches a Notre Dame defense in a championship game. Realistically, he’ll have moved on at this time next year. But there is something inspired in Diaco. He touches players differently and more deeply than almost anyone else. It’s not logic, it’s just Diaco.
There’s a coach in Norman they call “Big game Bob” Well, our Bob gave our 5 toughest foes just two offensive touchdowns, in the aggregate. That’s pretty “Big game.” And he and his men will be ready for a virtuouso performance.
Buckle your chin straps boys. It’s gonna be a doozy!
Go Irish.
I guess that now a team that goes 12-0 against one of the tougher schedules in the country and that plays in the NC game sucks. I also guess that by that bit of moronic logic there are 119 teams in the FBS that suck. Never overestimate the ignorance of anti-ND trolls and haters. There’s always way more idiocy around the corner. Just be patient and wait. It’s coming.
Buckeye Atheist,
Well, devine justice has prevailed! Your boy Urban Renewal got exactly what he deserves! OHIO STATE and NO TITLE! A perfect match made in heaven! Bless his heart! I wonder if he will tell the folks at OSU that ND is still his dream job like he did in Utah and Florida? A scrupulously researched well known dilemma, Hahaha! In Urban’s case only greed is #1! Of course his medical condition forced him into psychodrama retirement! Only Urban would want the OSU job since he could no longer win in the SEC. The cupcake Big Nothing 10/12 is definately the perfect home for Urban! I’m sure you will agree on that note. Hahahaha!
Merry Christmas Atheist!
JDH:
I concur. “Browneye” is clearly here to shit on our parade and to do so without a glimmer of argument or intelligent thought.
Here clearly was bred and raised by a pack of wolves and has therefore no sense of how to behave. He thinks it’s OK to go into someone else’s home and shit on their rugs.
Of course, all he’s do is simply create another gay screen name and pass himself off as someone else.
On the positive side, JDH, we can continue to kick the shit out of this “douchenozzle” (great word!) for as long as we’d like.
@ Frank / any Mods- Is there any possible way we can ban this Buckeye douchenozzle? He is really stinking up these boards. Is there really any point to having him here?
I stated on this site at the start of the season that I thought Notre Dame was a year away from winning the National Championship. I was extremely impressed with the talent level that Kelly continues to bring in but I felt they would be too young and inexperienced (though talented) to win it this year, particularly given an extremely difficult schedule. I really thought a 8-4 or 9-3 regular season followed by a bowl win was more realistic. What a season they have had – they are well ahead of schedule. I truly believe they are going to win the National Championship on January 7th! This is a special group and I have had a peace about it since the Oklahoma game – this group of young men is going to become National Champions! Here come the Irish of Notre Dame!!
Haha
There you go cherry picking again. Way to pick out one part of my post and then try to spin it out of context. If you actually read beyond that part, and your comprehension skills are at least that of a 4th grader, I was pretty clear that I wasn’t specifically talking about the outback bowl. No, you latched on to “outback bowl” and away you went. Much like you have latched on to the word “rape” regarding the football player. It’s obvious that is as far as you got in any post, column, article, or blog written about that case. The player touched her breast. That’s it. Under Indiana law that is an unwanted sexual advance which by itself does not constitute rape or sexual assault. Hence why no criminal charges were brought against said player. The sick part of this is you don’t give 2 shits about that girl and are only bringing it up as ammunition. You are truly a sad individual.
By calling us hypocrites for our feelings on the clarrett situation because of what happened with Rees is directly comparing the two. How can I be anymore clear on this? Help me help you.
Are you so delusional as to think the buckeyes fans are beloved across the country? You must by the way you keep bringing up how much everybody hates us. I have heard from countless Michigan fans and fans of other teams how classless buckeye fans are. How they hate going to the shoe in fear of being spit on, things thrown at them and even racial slurs. Real nice. I will also clue you in that most of us don’t really care how we are viewed. We defend our team just as any other fan and if that makes us wrong then so be it.
GO IRISH
Michigan fans hate Ohio State? News at eleven!
It is hilarious to see you defend the defenseless when it comes to indiscretions at ND. Everyone else is guilty but not ND. As for the girl, you are playing semantics. She was also threatened, told to keep quiet by another player and committed suicide so don’t tell me “that’s it”.
And to JC, a special kind of idiot, why are you bringing religion into it? I can see why you guys don’t think misdeeds being swept under the rug is wrong, it’s been going on for years right? Nobody is jealous of Notre Dame believe me.
Buckeye Atheist,
Keep it clean Mr. Motto.
Your just a Atheist without a soul.
Your hilarious with the OSU indiscretions. And your the convict defending the convicts.
Merry Christmas Atheist.
Playing semantics? Seriously? You think a hand on a breast is the same as a rape? You must not have daughters.
Defenseless? NO charges filed. I highly doubt the same police department that has made a sport of raiding parties that the football team is known to be in attendance is covering up a rape case for a football player. It’s a conspiracy right?
The fact you are here is proof enough of your jealousy. Get over it. OSU broke the rules. Doesn’t matter how stupid you may feel the rules are. They knowingly broke them. Also stop pretending that it was just a sweater traded for tattoos. The reason they got caught is because the guy that ran the tattoo shop was under investigation by the Feds for his involvement in a drug ring. Minor details right?
GO IRISH
Now, that’s the JC I know and respect, even if we don’t always see eye to eye!
Good job, JC!
Keep giving the trolls hell!
Merry Christmas to you and yours!
What about it Buckeye!
So what exactly are you? A Wiccan? A Pagan? A Satanist? A boring Atheist with an axe to grind with ND? Your already beyond just an uglified polemicist! Visceral jealousies of ND is one thing, however, your beyond the pale with this tsunami vendetta against ND!
So again, what exactly are you? I suspect, more than likely, an unemployed “White Atheist Angry Male” on food stamps raining on our ND parade…eh? Furthermore, your inartful and insidious-zombified-dogma
of ND vs OSU is incurably self-absorbed on your part.
So tell us Buckeye! What exactly are you?
Merry Christmas by the way Atheist! If it talks like an Atheist it is an Atheist!
Southy,
Good to have you back. Where you’ve been,bro?
Yeah, Southy, things have been quiet and peaceful among us. Except that we’ve had a most unwelcome guest who thinks that he can just waltz into our home and dump on us. I guess some people must have been raised by a pack of wolves or something.
“Buckeye” is an idiot. He gets getting his brains bashed in by some of us here and just keeps coming back for more, like a meth addict. Well, I for one, will try my darnest to keep from feeding his addiction for getting “brain jammed” (to quote “Sad Warrior”). Unless he calls me out personally. Then all bets are off.
Been away for awhile, seems quiet and peaceful on here.
Happy holidays, Go Irish!
SFR
This is all just to funny to me really. He can chase his tail all he wants, I will continue to be here setting the record straight. The irony of someone telling ND fans to enjoy their 15 minutes of fame is laughable. Ahh I remember my first beer.
JTRAIN,
You don’t really expect “Buckeye” to respond to you, do you?
Shaz has asked him pointed questions. No response, just BS. JDH has asked him pointed questions. No response, just BS. I have asked him pointed questions. No response, just BS. You have asked him pointed questions. No response, just BS.
Look, my Irish brethren, this is a troll who’s sad and pathetic life revolves around ND. He hates that! So he wants to come on here for us to abuse him so he can somehow get off on that. I know, it’s sick and demented, but it is what it is.
Other than trying to piss on our parade, shit in our home, spew BS, and or utterly get intellectually sodomized by us here, can anyone recall “Browneye” actually make a football related point. You know, if he’d come on here and talked Xs and Os, and kept the discourse above reproach, that’s one thing. I’d respect someone for doing that. But that’s not what this troll is about or has done. No. he prefers BS to facts. Shitting in other people’s homes instead of displaying even a modicum of common decency.
In the end, JTRAIN and friends, you just can’t polish a turd!
I hope “Browneye” is at least getting some pleasure from being beaten again and again. After all, he’s a sadomasochist.
So what is your definition of significance? I was assuming you had to be talking about nat’l championships because that would be the only argument to ND being insignificant any year. No team gets the face time ND does be it deserved or not. When pundits spend days talking about a team that makes them significant, like it or not. Bowl games? Really? Give me a break. Winning the outback bowl doesn’t make you significant by competitive standards. What I am saying here is you are significant either by championship or by coverage. There isn’t much in between. Once again you try to make a point by cherry picking the past and once again you have been called out. We on this board have now come to expect as much from you. It’s much easier to debate someone when you already know their strategy. Thanks for making this easy. Enjoy the bowl season.
GO IRISH
I guess you haven’t been watching BCS bowl games the last few years, why would you? Especially after we obliterated you and your coaching genius Weis in the Fiesta.
JTRAIN, you say you whole family is Ohio State, what happened to you? Were you dropped on your head as a child?
You guys keep saying that ask pointed questions and I don’t answer, what are you talking about? What I have seen is unfounded accusations like one of you clowns accusing me of saying Ohio State has better academic standards than ND, Ohio State players having better graduation rates than ND and ND not deserving to be in the NC game.Those are lies, I never said any such thing.
What I have said and have been very consistent in saying is 1. When I discuss football I couldn’t care less about academics. If my son were playing football there I would but otherwise why should I? and 2. I have said that ND fully deserves to be in the NC game, they did their job BUT not only do I think they will lose I think there are at leat three other teams that are better (Georgia, Florida and LSU). Given the way you guys have trashed the actual Heisman winner I would love to see A&M play ND in a bowl game, I’m sure they would give you all you could handle.
As for scandals, I couldn’t care less if a player goes to class. His parents should care, his coach and his AD should. As for criminal conduct, yes Clarett was a major disappointment but I guess that’s no different than a starting QB getting drunk and roughing up a cop? Or a girl accusing a player of sexual assault and then committing suicide when it gets covered up and she is made to look like the villain? But those things would never happen at ND would they?
I will wait patiently for your excuses.
No excuses here. Oh so its bcs bowls now? Well there really weren’t that many bcs bowls between ’70 and ’02 seeing as the bcs began in ’98. Do you know what ND was doing in that time? 3 nat’l titles and were cost themselves a 4th by not showing up against BC. Though you could argue they deserved at least a share considering they beat the team that won the title heads up.
That’s the difference between ND fans and most. We as fans actually care about the kids we cheer on Saturdays. We don’t care for the idea of pimping these kids out then sending them out in the world with nothing more than the “honor” of playing for the university.
You have got to be kidding me. Are you really comparing the Rees situation to clarrett? Uh…no. That’s ridiculous and you know it. Tommy didn’t have a car full of guns and a bulletproof vest.
Congrats! You have graduated from a troll to a flat out jackass.
First of all, you mentioned the ‘Outback Bowl’ somehow intimating that’s what the Buckeyes were used to playing in.
I am not comparing Rees to Clarrett, what I am doing is pointing out the hypocrisy. Just look at the vitriol aimed at Ohio State here and some idiot here even linked Tressel, Pete Carroll and Jimmy Johnson to Jerry Sandusky.
So a coach covering for a player who sold a sweater to get a tattoo is comparable to a coach being a pedophile?
What about a program covering up a sexual assault? Or a program with their share of alcohol related dustups like Yeatman, Floyd etc.
You care about the kids you cheer on Saturdays you just don’t care about the girl they may meet a party on Saturday night?
Recruiting violations or a kid selling a sweater are against NCAA rules and ND is clean there, congratulations, but rapes and DUI’s are criminal actions and ND is not so clean there are they? You guys conveniently forget to mention those don’t you.
That’s why everybody hates ND, your fanbase is a bunch of self-righteous hypocritical jerks!
Except that with the Seeburg case (i.e. the “rape” you keep mentioning) the burden of proof was not met. It was investigated independently by law enforcement and they found insufficient evidence of a sexual assault. I wasn’t there and neither were you. We have the rule of law in this country. May that young lady RIP. Unfortunately, while she was alive, she suffered from some pretty significant mental illness. But since the burden of proof wasn’t met, it must be a conspiracy, right?
As for the alcohol-related offenses, there is no excuse for them and the players paid the consequences. No excuses and they were dead wrong, period.
Also, why are you still here? I’ll ask you again, are you enjoying yourself? What are you hoping to accomplish? What do you want from us?
The mere fact that this buckeye is wasting his time here reflects the sad sorry state of his useless existence.
But that’s buckeye fans for you.
To make an argument that academics don’t matter is silly. If academics don’t matter then there is no reason to be a college sports fan. You root for the team because of the school. The pros are for people who don’t care about education and principles.
I do find it interesting how every so often some loser comes on here pretending to know it all only to get humiliated. Because by continuing to trespass and argue with a group you wouldn’t dare to in person, you show what a social misfit you are buckeye. You should get counseling.
At least you seem like a whiny wimpy buckeye fan. The kind that is probably afraid to be around the typical Ohio hick. You probably got laughed at by those folks once or twice and hope that since no one here can see you that you can get away with being a putz for a while.
You’ll only dig yourself in deeper here. I’m sure one of your friends if you have any will tell you what a loser you are for intruding. Go away and let us have our discussion.
I couldn’t care less about osu or its fans. They do nothing to better the world. But quit bothering us in our own group.
Buckeye fans cheer for a dirty rotten team. They are therefore sorry losers.
The only one who needs meds is clearly you, “Buckeye,” since you’re the one full of loathing and hate.
You know perfectly well the inuendo implied in your comment. So now you get called out and want to back track like a little bitch. Re-read your post, troll!
Like I said, you’re classless. Just read your last sentence above. You want to come into our home and shit on us. That’s fine. We can take it! But it speaks volumes about the tasteless scumbag you are and the trolls of the parents that bred and raised you. They must be very proud that their son grew up to be just like them, gutless, classless, and clueless.
Regardless, I’ve grown tired of picking on you, little man. It’s too easy and no longer even fun. You get called out and then back off after proven wrong over and aover again. You get asked point-blank questions and never reply to them. After a while one feels dirty bitch slapping a mental midget like you, “Buckeye.” Kind of like stealing candy from a baby, if you ask me. Shaz is right, screw you and the horse you rose in on!
Continue to prove how classless you are, but unless you want to take about the nuts and bolts of the game instead of making bold predictions, I’ll leave you to your mad, hateful rants.
JTRAIN knows more about Ohio St. in his little pinkie than you know in your entire body. I’ll just sit back and enjoy reading his points to you go unanswered. You’re very good at not answering questions, brainless.
Ohio St.=Scumbag players and coaches galore throughout its sad history! Now on self-imposed probation!
ND=#1 team at the end of the regular season, unbeaten and untied, AND #1 team in the classroom! Historic first!
I’ll take those fifteen minutes anytime over Ohio St.’s rancid history of cheating and scandals, troll!
You must be off your meds. Your comments are rambling and filled with anger.
My comment about Duke basketball was about the fact that they think they are better than everyone else but at least their record of winning is better than yours.
You team is in the National Championship game this year – enjoy your fifteen minutes. That’s about how long it should take to see that your team is in over it’s head.
I challenge “Buckeye” to name one major academic scandal involving the ND football team. In fact, when was the last time the NCAA put ND on probation for an academic scandal or even investigated it for academic improprieties?
See, the problem with “Buckeye” is that he makes this shit up as he goes. ND is to college football what Duke is to basketball? Really?! Duke basketball, like UNC basketball and football, have been repeatedly under investigation by the NCAA, including very recently. UNC is on probation now in fact. But not ND, “Buckeye”! No sir, unlike “The” (what penis envy!) Ohio St. Univ., ND isn’t on probation.
Yet again “Browneye” “Buckeye” gets his facts confused with his a-hole, which is the part of his anatomy he uses to think and speak. I guess you couldn’t even get into Ohio St. so you just enrolled in beauty school. That explains a lot, actually.
God this guy is pathetic! What a trol!!! I guess he most really enjoy getting his shit kicked in by the rest of us here!
Buckeye doesnt get his Shit kicked in. He prefers to get his Shit Pushed In. haha
“Buckeye,”
ND has actually won 2, not a lot, but still not 1.
Yet again, your facts are wrong, “Buckeye”. You’ll no doubt say big deal, 1 or 2 bowl wins. That’s not the point, idiot. The point is that this most recent factual error is added to all the others we’ve documented. Your tenuos hold on reality and soul-eating hate have no doubt impaired your judgment and understanding of facts.
True enough, this site isn’t closed. But just because some one doesn’t have a “Keep Out” sign on their house doens’t mean you’re able to go in and say and do whatever you want. There are social rules and norms of conduct. Perhaps if your lame ass parents had spent more time raising you properly you’d realize that! Perhaps you would allow people to come into your home and disparage you. I don’t know. But most decent and sane human beings (words that don’t apply to you, “Buckeye”) wouldn’t. Nor would they go to someone else’s place and take a dump on them.
In the end you’re just a hateful, half-wit troll who doesn’t know the difference between a fact and a fairy tale.
BTW: You never did answer me back about whether or not you still believe in Santa Claus.
Oh really buckeye? So osu hasn’t had a “20 year period of insignificance”? Hmm. So what happened between 1970 and 2002? By my count that’s 32 years. What is it like to have such a selective view of history? Yeah you have every right to come here and spew your garbage. I also have the right to walk down the street and say mean things to little old ladies but it doesn’t make me right. See where I’m going here? You say ridiculous things and when you get called out you claim to be victimized. Sorry “DUDE” but that just isn’t going to fly here. Guess what pal if you want to debate ND and OSU football I’m right here. I got news for ya, I know as much about your beloved buckeyes as you do. So I can do this all day. I live in Ohio. My whole family are buckeye fans. If I wanted to discuss football I had to learn my stuff. So go ahead chief, come at me.
GO IRISH
If I was talking about NC’s I would have said NC’s. If ND loses on Jan 7th were they not significant this year?
What does ND have, one bowl win since 1994? The Buckeyes have never had a drought like that. They could or should have won NC’s in 1996 and 98, their own fault that they didn’t, but they were in the discussion. There have been a lot of season’s in the last 30 years when ND has been insignificant.
If that’s me saying mean things does that make you a little old lady?
I truly hope Kelly and Company can keep this team sharp for the game. Hopefully the scouting report is solid. Hopefully they’ve worked on speed, conditioning and maintaining strength. Hopefully they’ve worked on timing and game speed conditions. finally, I hope the defense is a bit pissed off.
Oh..and..
GO IRISH
I agree with JTRAIN, Golson is a better pure quarterback than Manziel.
Have another Guinness and GO IRISH!
Yes and I agree with you that a team that goes 12-0, vs a schedule that has 9 bowl eligible teams and 11 bcs aq conference opponents, is “not THAT good”. Pass that s*** to the left…..
This has been fun guys. You always know you have someone by the short hairs when they can’t even answer your questions.
Sad Warrior,
I’m glad to contribute to make your season a bit merrier!
However, I get no satisfaction from “brain jamming” “Buckeye”. I feel like I lose dignity and brain cells every time I respond to one of his idiotic diatribes. This man is clearly mad at something. Like JDH says there’s a scratch in his soul he juuust can’t seem to get to. So he tries to make all around him miserable. You know the old saying about misery loves company.
I hope you get to watch the game. More importantly, I hope all of us get to enjoy an Irish win. Best New Year’s gift ever!
Merry Christmas, Sad Warrior, to you, yours, and your fellow heroes!
Peace.
Shazz, SFR, JDH, and others, we are enjoying your comments immensely! Especially when you brain jam that ‘Buckeye Idiot.’ This has boosted morale and kept it high. The comments help a great deal. Minds are distracted at this time of year. Hoping to watch the GAME livetime. We plan on watching ‘Undefeated’ albeit a tad later than you guys.
Take care and we all send you a very Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!
And of course, GO IRISH! Hooah!
In college football, the teams we see at the start of the year, are rarely the same teams we see at the end of the year.
I no longer consider Everett Golson a red shirt freshmen.
After a spring camp, a preseason camp, a full 12 game sdhedule, and all the practice time that goes along with that, he has gained the experience of a seasoned starter.
Now add the fact that he has had time to heal up, and work on his game, to go along with that well earned experience, and he could be something really special in this game.
Over the years I’ve seen some great teams that were built on size and power.
I’ve seen some built on pure speed.
But the ones that have size, speed, and power, Those are the truely special ones.
With our over all team, I see plenty of size, excellent power, and much improved team speed.
Think for a minute about our roster. The big guys. Our Linemen. The Guys with power. Our Runningbacks, linebackers, tightends, and Safeties. Guys with speed, runningbacks, WR’s, slot recievers, guys in our secondary, punt/kick-off returners.
The coaching staff has done a pretty good job of getting the most from those talents.
With extra time to heal and prepare, I exspect that trend to continue.
If I was Alabama, I’d be a little concerned.
Shaz
To add to your point on Golson, he is going to improve much more than mccarron. What I mean is, we know what we will see in mccarron. Solid, smart, and will make good decisions unless the defense forces him into some bad ones. He’s been around the block. He is who he is at this point. Golson, however, is nowhere near his potential. It doesn’t necessarily mean he will be lights out in the championship game but I think we will see some things he hasn’t shown us on a consistent basis all season. Remember how many times he missed Daniels WIDE open this year? Remember him overthrowing Chris brown half the season. I expect we will see much less of that moving forward.
All homerism aside Golson is a better pure quarterback than Manziel. Take Manziel’s running away it would be like taking away an arm. Golson on the other hand is always looking downfield for the throw. He scramble not for yards but to extend the play and get the 20yd pass as opposed to the 10yd run. That is where I think he will sting Alabama. They have issues on their perimeter. If Golson can keep the play alive the receivers/tightends will get open. This is gonna be fun!!!
GO IRISH
Shaz,
Agreed! Time to put away childish things, such as bitch-slapping “Browneye”.
I think ND just needs to focus on starting out strong. Bama has an experience edge in NC games. True. That might be an edge for them.
I say that experience might be (as supposed to will be) an edge for Bama because experience hasn’t always been the key to success some make it out to be. For instance, although Chuck Noll’s Steelers were new to the SB when they played Bud Grant’s Vikings in Jan. 1975, and the Vikes had already played in the big game 2 times, the Steelers started strong and neutralized Minnesota’s supposed advantage in experience and speed. The rest, as they say, is history.
If ND plays with passion and isn’t afraid of the big stage or the Tide, this will be a tight, close game. To me a 1 point win is just as good as a 40 point win. No style points needed now! (Having said that, wouldn’t it be nice to start partying at the start of the 4th quarter because ND is blowing out the Tide!)
Shaz,
Want a laugh? Just read the latest from “Buckeye” above.
Wow! That’s his best shot at us.
Notice how he doesn’t address a single one of your points, Shaz.
Like the mental midget he is, he gets caught up on the word “dude”.
No one thinks they’re perfect, except, of course, for “Buckeye” who does think that his “analysis” is infallible. So, if anyone here is so delusional as to think they’re perfect, it’s “Browneye”.
Remember when this BS artist tried to convince us with “facts” that Ohio St. was on par academically with ND? Result: Proven wrong.
Remember when this BS artist tried to tell us the Ohio St. football players graduated on par with those from ND? Result: Proven wrong.
Remember when this BS artist tried to convince us ND wouldn’t make it the NC game? Result: Proven wrong.
And always proven wrong by the facts. Like the non-NCAA and non-ND report on college athletics and academics I linked that showed ND at the top and Ohio St. at the bottom.
We may not be perfect, “Buckeye,” but compared to you we might as well be. Heck, even “Anus Eagle” was right more often than you. That must make you a complete moron!
SFR,
Screw him!
He just got smacked with a rolled up newspaper.
He was totally outed and punk’d.
It was easy.
But We got bigger fish to fry.
It’s almost the start of bowl season.
I’ll be watching a lot of games… and none of them will have OSU!
Interesting fact.
Notre Dame played in the very first game of college football Saturday game way back in the first week against Navy, in Ireland, in that 9:00am kick-off game.
And now Notre Dame will play in the very final game of the college football season on January 7th.
And you better believe, we’re gonna finish what we started!
Excellent work, Shaz!
Sadly, you sophisticated analysis and level of discourse will go right over the head and through the ears of “Buckeye.”
If I may pile on a bit to your impressive rejoinder, Shaz, let’s not forget Ohio St. “great” Art Schlichter and his multiple arrests or legendary Ohio St. coach Woody Hayes sucker punching a Clemson player in the 1978 Gator Bowl. If there’s one thing Ohio St. doesn’t stand for it’s class! (Apparently, Ohio St. football players also rarely attend class.)
The bottom line that poor, little “Browneye” can’t seem to accept is that ND won all its games AND is playing for the NC. I can just imagine this pathetic troll in his well-worn “He Man Masters of the Universe” pjs clutching his “Buckeye” stuffed tow he’s slept with ever since his lame parents gave it to him as a baby, having night-sweats and nightmares about ND even being in the NC game. I can only imagine how long he’s going to wet his bed if ND actually wins the NC!
Not just a sick person but a sick, sick person, wow that hurts.
You guys are pathetic. I won’t be here to gloat when, yes when, ND loses big because it is a given.
However, if the stars align and somehow ND turns back the clock by about forty years and pulls an upset which one of you women gets to give the Sally Field accptance speech – “you like me, right now, you like me”?
Before you collectively get your panties in a knot I have to say that you finally got me. Not with the sophmoric humor, childish insults and general lack of reasoning. Nor with the female-like sensitivity or the holier-than-thou faux elitism that has a special place among ND fans. No, it’s because you called me “Dude”. How old are you? You’re not really Johnny Utah are you? I will really miss the “sophisticated analysis” even though it is ridiculously one-sided. I guess that’s why there are only about five or six people who post comments here because if you don’t agree you get criticized but then you criticize everybody and everything. What is it like to THINK you are perfect?
AMFer’s – maybe.
SFR is dead on target. My questions to our beloved guest will go unanswered. Even he doesn’t know why he’s here. Trying to fill some deep need and scratch an itch that he juuust can’t reach. Speaks volumes though.
Interesting how he is here not only to help us ratchet down our joy and euphoria, but also to provide salient insight and criticism with statement like “sophisticated analysis” (sarcasm) and “ridiculously one-sided”.
Thanks for that Buckeye. Until you showed up I had no idea that we, on this site, are supposed to provide such things. I had no clue we had to meet some benchmark, some litmus test of journalistic integrity. I was under the impression, erroneously, that the members of this site came to discuss ND football on our own terms, not the terms of outsiders like you.
Gentlemen, from now on, can we please try to argue both sides of every issue? Can we please increase intellectual integrity and dissect all-things related to ND so that it satisfies Buckeye, PhD.?
Thanks in advance to all of you. After all, we are obfuscating instead of elucidating, and it makes Buckeye sort of butt-hurt.
JDH,
Apparently this undesirable interloper is not aware that some of us here have been highly critical of this or that aspect of ND’s play this year. He apparently doesn’t read some of our in-game posts. If he did, then he’d realize that many of us don’t drink the cult kool aid he accuses us of doing.
The difference between our criticisms of ND and “Browneye’s” is that we want ND to be great, and no one or no team becomes great by having themselves patted on the back and not receiving valid criticism. “Browneye” criticizes ND because he hates the team, the school, the faith, whatever. Like other haters who bring up the Declan Sullivan (RIP) tragedy, his criticisms aren’t constructive. Instead, he’s just trying to be hurtful because he’s so clearly someone who’s so full of hurt he doesn’t know what to do but try to hurt others (all the while really only hurting themselves!).
As for only 6 people commenting on this site, poor “Buckeye” is wrong once again. This post alone has almost 20 different people posting comments, and that includes “Buckeye” and “Al L.” who unlike “Buckeye” has had the decency of good sense to drop it.
So, yet again, “Buckeye” has his facts wrong. What’s new?!
Buckeye,
This is not a blog for outsiders. This is for ND fans and alum or those with positive attitudes toward the school. Yes the whole school. Espn, CBS, or FOX are for losers like you.
But we do have to apologize for calling you “dude”. Obviously since the sex change operation you just haven’t been emotionally stable as a woman.
But keep rooting for a cheating joke of a school in Columbus. And tell all your Buckeye friends that they wasted their joke of an education. The Buckeye’s will never compete without cheating or ignoring academic standards.
Go Irish!
Sorry, I didn’t see the sign that said NO OUTSIDERS ALLOWED or I wouldn’t have come here to dummy people like you with logic.
You should apologize for using ‘dude’ because it is outdated and only dufus hipster wannabes used it anyways.
I don’t have numbers to prove it but I would think there are as many successful people who attended Ohio State as those that went to Notre Dame. What I do know is that you will have a snide comeback, sans facts however, because that is what you do.
By the way I did not attend The Ohio State University although I would be proud to have done so. No, I am a football fan and a fan of the team with the largest fan base in college football. The numbers do prove that.
You talk of cheating but everybody ‘cheats’ except ND – according to you. The Buckeyes will always compete if only because you don’t set the rules. They have never had a twenty year period of insignificance like ND but that’s due to … cheating?
Look, you hide behind the academic standards but ND is to football what Duke is to basketball – without the winning! So you guys can criticize EVERY school that is successful on the field and I’m the miserable one?
Every other team is garbage, except for the ones that you beat on a regular basis, and every other website is garbage so the only reasonable, successful and, from some of the weird sexual comments, macho people are ND supporters?
How could I be so wrong?
“Sorry, I didn’t see the sign that said NO OUTSIDERS ALLOWED or I wouldn’t have come here to dummy people like you with logic.”
Dummy people? Is that a serious comment? Ok.
You’re right. There is no sign that says NO OUTSIDERS ALLOWED. But there is sometimes a big difference between what you can do and what you should do. You don’t have the situational awareness or intelligence to understand the difference. Also, I’m guessing you are less than 20 years old, based upon your writing style and aSSitude of entitlement.
Even after you have repeatedly shown the door, you continue to stay. No one wants you here. You will not change us.
For the 3rd time I ask, “Why are you here?”
SFR,
I’ve been to some big parties in my life, real blowout bashes.
I can tell you, there is always a gate crasher, always party pooper.
For ND, it comes with the territoy.
But the fact is that ND is already a winner. Already a Champion.
Remember… “they” all said it couldn’t be done.
That a school like ND, that sets the highest of acedemic standards, values, and integrity, could compete at the highest level in college football and win.
Not in today’s age of cheating, scandle, and win at any cost mentality.
They were wrong. They were always wrong. And they always will be wrong.
We went from unranked to number #1
Win or lose on January 7th… at least we did it the right way. Our way. The ND way.
And nothing they say or do can ever change that, tarnish it, or take it away.
Life is good, make sure you take the time to enjoy it!
JDH,
This “Buckeye” is a sad, pathetic troll, who accuses me of living in my mother’s basement when in reality he’s the loser who’s either homeless or lives with his lame parents (lame parents who raised a lame child!). BTW, “Buckeye,” I’d give away everything I have to have my mother with me so I could live in her basement! But you probably wouldn’t understand such devotion to parents!
Your questions will go unanswered, JDH, because this emotionally crippled human being can’t look at himself in the mirror. He can’t stand to see how ugly his reflection is. You really have to be sick to go out of your way to go to some one else’s home and crap on their rugs. Well, that’s what we have in “Buckeye”. My guess is that this guy is some anti-Catholic bigot who hates ND because it’s a Catholic school. Believe me, JDH, I’m familiar with this type of bigotry from close range.
The bottom line is this, my friend: If ND loses “Buckeye” will unleash his venom because that’s what vipers and emotionally sick people do. If ND wins, this little bitch will pack his vagina with him and not be heard from again until ND is down and he can slither out from under the rock he lives and rub the Irish’s failures in our face.
This is a sick, sick person, JDH.
“Buckeye,”
You must like it because you keep coming back for more!
Dude, the only hater here is you. We wouldn’t even know you were alive if it weren’t for the fact you stuck your nose in our business. You hate ND. Fine. But then why come to a ND website unless you’re a sado-masochist or delusional troll. Who’s the real hater, asswhipe?!
As for the name calling, that’s the level of understanding of a gutless troll, who hides behind a screen name and tries to piss on other peoples’ parades. Frankly, you and your level of analysis don’t serve much better than to be called out, and the best way to do that is to call a spade a spade. If you don’t like it, fine, do us all a favor and leave. Easy as that. (But, then again, I guess you like to be verbally and intellectually sodomized and that’s why you just come back for more!)
Like I said, “Buckeye,” I fully expect a loser like you to gloat over another person’s misfortune. So, if ND loses, no doubt your sick self will come on here to rub it in. That’s sick, but I guess that’s what emotionally crippled people do. On the other hand, if ND wins, I haven’t heard you reply to my challenge to come back here and take it like a man (and we know you like to take it from a man!). Pussies like you and “Anus Eagle” like to dish it out but then can’t take it. I’m sure if ND wins you’ll take your vitriol and vagina elsewhere and hide behind some other gay-ass screen name and cry about how ND sucks.
Every time you come on here you make yourself more and more pathetic and loathsome, “Buckeye.” Like I said your parents sure raised a winner. But then I guess the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WO4tIrjBDkk
Oh, BTW, “Buckeye,” perhaps you should join, if you’re not already a member, the Westboro Baptist Church. I’m sure the “Rev.” Fred Phelps would love to have you join him and his drones demonstrate at the funerals of the children murdered in CT. last week. After all, by your own statement, you can’t wait to come on a ND website after the football team loses the NC to gloat. Who does that other than a sick, demented, pathetic troll like you?! I’m telling you, “Buckeye,” Westboro Baptist is the place for you. You should feel right at home with those nuts, picketing at the funerals of children and dead veterans who served our nation with dignity and paid the ultimate price for it.
Dude, you want to come on our site to rejoice in our defeat? Really?! You’re a real scumbag, man (and with you I use the term many very loosely)!
Yeah, “Buckeye,” like the troll you are, you’ve now revealed your true, pathetic personality disorder in full to all of us here. You’re pathetic excuse for a life is apparently so miserable that it revolves entirely on ND losing a football game. My God, man, should we be worried you’re going to kill yourself or someone else if ND wins?!
What happened, “Buckeye,” did your mommy not love you as a child? Did the big boys at school bully you? Did the girls make fun of you? Did your gay lover leave you for another man?
I’m not going to even debate football with you since you clearly are in the throes of a desperate homosexual panic and need to try to make others as miserable as you are. For you this is clearly more than just ND football. Can’t reason with the demented. I suggest immediate psychological counseling, “Buckeye”.
One last time, “Buckeye,” Ohio St. isn’t playing for the NC. ND is! Does your tenuous hold on reality not allow you to internalize that?! In your fantasies you may wish Ohio St. wasn’t a scum bag school full of cheats and reprobates of all kinds, you may indulge wishful thoughts about the Buckeyes not being on probation and playing Bama for the NC. But reality is, sad, little man, that none of this is real. You’ve made it all up in your feverish, deformed mind. Hate to break it to you, troll, but Santa and the Easter Bunny aren’t real either, in case you were wondering.
The only reality is that win or lose, ND made it to the NC game while Ohio St. is at home for the Holidays!
Live with it troll!
PS: You say you’ll be here to brag when ND loses. Do you have the nads to come on here if ND wins, or will you go the way of “Anus Eagle” and take your vagina with you?
Agree with all your points, JTRAIN. It would take an exceptional effort on Lynch’s part to convince the ND family he should be welcome back. Lynch perhaps even has to make a commitment to play for at least 2 more seasons, in addition to the hypothetical stipulations I mentioned above, for this to be even a consideration. I also agree with you on Lynch’s propensity for undisciplined play. That’s why I said he would have to be open to the coaching staff’s discipline and training techniques to minimize, if not altogether eliminate, dumb fouls and plays.
Hypothetically, if the kid really wants to come back and even go without a scholarship for a season to do, agrees to play 2 more seasons (which he’d have to do as a minimum to prove himself to NFL scouts), and commits himself to be more in control and learn his assignments on the field, then that’s not much of a risk to get an All-American caliber DE. But that’s a lot of ifs and I’m almost sure the stars are not going to align in young Mr. Lynch’s favor at ND.
Too bad. His poor mother must be sick to her stomach.
Also remember lynch was a walking personal foul by his own admission. Think how many games that would have cost us this year. From a pure football aspect I would love to have him but I’m not sure the reward outweighs the risk with mr lynch.
So your saying there is a chance.
JTRAIN,
Can I make, with all due respect, and only for the sake of argument, a counter-argument.
Let’s say this rumor is true. What if young Mr. Lynch were offered the following options, take them or leave them. He could return to ND if 1) he privately addresses his coaches and teammates and personally explains himself and his reasons for wanting to return, 2) makes a public “Mea culpa” to the entire ND community, and 3) agrees to forgo a scholarship in the spring and summer (and perhaps even in the fall, depending on recruitment numbers) and pays his own way for that period of time. I think if Mr. Lynch is willing to agree to these terms that would speak volumes about his commitment to ND.
Recall that we’re going to be without KLM next season. And, yes, we do have some talent in S. Day and J. Jones. But Aaron Lynch is a “plug-and-play” (to use a Mike Mayock expression) DE. Now, of course, he’d have to improve his discipline both in terms of his on-field aggression and assignment discipline, but can anyone here really deny that this kid is a singular talent?
I know my argument will be unpopular with many. I, too, was very resentful of Lynch. But I’m willing, under some strict conditions, to give this kid one final chance.
SFR
Solid points.
I say this respectfully, just lack of better term, in a perfect world those 3 conditions of reinstatement would be great. Thing is, Kelly has this team bought in to commitment to the process. I think it could be potentially damaging to the message to say “well you bailed on us but boy you sure can get to the qb, so we’ll let ya slide”. I remember when a lot of people said that this was a critical blow to the d-line. Well the guys came together and they are much better for it. Also from a recruiting standpoint there is already at least one top flight d-lineman committed and we are chasing another. Scholarships are getting thin for this class and remember lynch would have to sit out another year. Realistically he only plays the one year after that. I don’t see it as worth the risk of losing a commit or potential commit that is going to be around longer from a depth standpoint.
Those are interesting stipulations, SFR. If the twitter info is true, yeah, AL maybe regrettting his decision. I don’t believe he would ever be allowed back unless he was admitted strictly by academic standards amd allowed to try out s a “walk-on.” However, tthe D did well without him. I wish Mr. Lynch all the best. Maybe he’ll become a S Florida icon, if he stays there.
Go Irish
Word on twitter street is Mr Aaron Lynch has asked to come back to ND. He has been told “thanks but no thanks”. Sorry kid but you made your decision and now you have to live with it. Everybody except 1 person (girlfriend) told him not to leave. His mom, coaches, players, and former players all advised against it and he did it anyway. Kudos to the coaching staff for moving on. Though I think there are regulations against transferring back to a school that you transferred from. There are also exceptions that you can apply for but why waste time on someone that has already quit on you once. I have no I’ll will for Aaron and I do hope it all works out for him but many of us said when he left that he would regret this decision, he obviously does.
If Alabama wins then congratulations to them. However, if Notre Dame wins then one analytical point to observe and discuss might be the merits of kicking the crap out of poor programs. Looking at games like Western Kentucky, Florida Atlantic, West Carolina, and fiasco’s this year in Missouri, Arkansas ( led by John L slap myself Smith ), and Auburn, some will wonder if Alabama got much out of playing those teams. Notre Dame on the other hand, tinkered and experimented throughout the year. And so some games that were close might have been otherwise, although perhaps then the team might not have developed later in the season.
Let’s see how this plays out and if the Irish are ready to prove their progression.
By the way, I love that Louis Nix and Zach Martin are staying. But why not, when your school offers true degrees with a very high national academic rank to boot, and your program doesn’t cheat. Winning the National Championship would be some much sweeter with true student athletes. ND and only a few other Div 1 schools have that. Go IRISH!!!
JDH:
“Buckeye” + “Al L.” = little bitches!
SFR- I’m telling you. It is the most bizarre phenomenon ever. I honestly think it’s a type of pathology or psychosis in some people and I’m serious. I know people (like Buckeye probably) who, with great anger (not in trash talking fun) have used this formula all year:
ND will lose to Team A. (ND beats Team A)
Ok fine, but Team A wasn’t as good as we thought.
ND will lose to Team B. (ND is lucky and Team B obviously played a bad game.)
(Repeat 6 more times and now ND is undefeated and going to the NC.)
“What about Declan Sullivan?! You may be playing for the NC, but Brian Kelly basically murdered a child, so FU!”
Understand, Declan (may he RIP) was never mentioned during the season, only when the haters had no other recourse.
It’s like nothing I’ve ever seen.
JDH,
You may not be a psychologist but you sure could play one on TV!
That’s right on. These haters are sick, pathetic people, who can’t stand to see other people but themselves be happy. So in their misery, they want to have company and thus turn into loathing little trolls. Yeah, that’s right, Al L. and Buckeye, I’m referring to both of you pathetic trolls!
Like I said, JDH, fully in agreement with your analysis above, this ND team could beat the ’85 Bears and still we’d here about how Da’ Bears really weren’t that good and how ND got lucky. Total BS!
Merry Christmas to you and yours, my friend!
It is also absolutely disgusting for these morons to bring up Declan Sullivan. As if they do it because they are motivated by this deep and loving care of him/his family, and student safety in general. Give me a break.
They do it only to throw hatred and couldn’t give 2 craps about his death or a grieving family and university. Disgusting.
Merry Christmas SFR! We have much to be thankful for.
A few side notes.
May God bless and keep the victims of all the terrible shootings that have taken place lately.
And may God bless the long time rector of Cavanaugh Hall, Fr. Matthew Miceli. He was a character, but he took good care of all of us who lived there during our time at ND.
Dreadful oversight on my part.
Can we please all recall in our prayers the victims and families of yesterday’s tragedy. These poor families!
Puts our petty arguments here into some perspective.
God bless the babies who are now at rest with the Him and those families who need His guidance and the power of His presence as well as the presence of His power now more than ever!
Well said. My thoughts and prayers go out to all that we’re involved. With two little kids of my own, my heart goes out to all of those families that lost a loved one; and to those who were fortunate not to lose. May God bless them all.
Duranko-
Great analysis-
Patrick, and SteelFanRob, your refutations and troll attacks were well warranted and right on.
ND 35- Alabama 17 . . . unless Coach gets too cautious with the lead.
If he does, ND 27- Alabama 17. And I’ll be back after the game, win or win bigger!
I hope they don’t get too cautious. You can never afford caution against the SEC. You have to out gamble them, especially when they are down.
I notice thy you didn’t come back after the game as you said you would. 42-14 roll tide roll!!!
duranko,
It will be my pleasure to meditate on your Christmas devotional! Will do so in a few minutes.
As for it being intense, if we can recall that the story of Christmas doesn’t really come full circle until Good Friday and Easter, then we should all be able to respect how intense the grace of God really is!
Sola gratia Dei!
Merry Christmas to All!
steelfanrob
the following is re the Christmas season and not pigskin.
rob, shoot me an email address at DickArrington65@yahoo.com
and I will transmit to you a special Christmas meditation.
It’s on Luke 1, and it’s a little intense.
Anybody else wants it, let me know, but just a cautionary note-
I’ve known most of the recipients for more than five decades, through
life, birth, death, peace and war. It’s a little in your face, so
do not be surprised if it’s a little intense.
God bless all.
Meanwhile I must ponder the mysteries of the unicorn and Jimmy Hoffa
at the 50 yard line, disclosed by Patrick. Until this day I had not
understood that they had a unicorn impale Jimmy before he got buried.
Every day is a learning experience!!
Preach it, brother, preach on!
I could give two $!#%&#*@ what an Ohio State or Alabama, or LSU or USC, or K-State or Oregon fan think. Quit trying to match up Florida Atlantic vs Wake Forest to determine the mythical game that would have taken place, had both teams faced each other, with a unicorn on the 50 yard line, Jimmy Hoffa at the 50 yard line and the magic bullet flipping the coin toss.
Bottom line is this – ND vs Alabama for all the marbles. And in the game of football, you don’t need to be the best that year, the best the past 5 years, or the best the past 100. You just need to be the best THAT day.
So hate all you want. Analyze it all you desire. It means nothing. What does matter is the mindset, execution and play of two football teams on one day in January.
Well done Patrick
Hey Buckeye,
To counter your fuzzy math, W Carolina is not even in the FBS, so there is no comparison to any team the Irish played. Rather than going team by team for comparison, I suggest an evaluation of the entire season. We can start with the math of season record: Irish 12-0; ‘Tide 12-1. Next let’s look at overall wins and loses of opponents played: Irish 83-62; ‘Tide 81-74. Next up, opponents with a .500 or better recor: Irish 10; ‘Tide 7. The top 2 opponents for the Irish are 11-2 Stanford and 10-2 Oklahoma, both wins for the Irish, one at home and one of the road. Alabama’s top 2 opponents 11-2 Georgia and 10-2 Texas A & M one a neutral field win and one a home field loss.
Did Alabama look better against Michigan than Notre Dame? Absolutely. Did Notre Dame look better against a Divison 1-AA opponent than Alabama? Oh that’s right, they don’t play 1-AA schools, ever.
In the end, the National Championship game will be a great game with the country’s 2 top defenses. As I see it through my Irish biased eyes, if Golson continues in his maturation process between now and game time I give the edge to the Irish. He is no Johnny Football, but he will stretch the ‘Tide defense horizontally and then get the ball down the field vertically. A & M laid out a game plan for Kelly & Co to follow. If they can execute, they can win.
Kelly+green,
Awesome analysis!
Buckeye’s a little slow on the uptake so it might take him a while to figure out you just destroyed his attempt at sophistry (look up the definition, Buckeye).
Sorry trolls and haters you won’t get anything accomplished here but get your butts handed to you by people who can actually make points and back them up with facts.
Here’s a fact, Alabama is 10 point favorites.
Here’s another fact, Alabama 41 Michigan 14 vs. ND 13 Michigan 7 – with 6 turnovers.
I have consistently made points and backed them up with facts, if you don’t like those facts that is your prerogative. I didn’t engage in sophistry, I didn’t bring up W. Carolina and some ridiculous adding and subtracting of rankings to make a certain schedule look stronger or weaker.
By the way, I am an Ohio State fan, I thought that would be obvious. However, I do not see the game through scarlet colored glasses, nor crimson for that matter, but instead form my opinion based on what I see on the field. I don’t know if you or your green-with-envy friends can say the same.
If you don’t want someone to respond with honest and informed opinions you should cease making fallacious arguments yourself.
Facts:
Alabama-Michigan was the first game of the season for both teams. Michigan was a better, but not great team, later in the season.
Alabama-Michigan isn’t a rivalry game like ND-Michigan. Rivalry games played later in the season are different than early season non-conference games. Anyone who knows anything about college football knows that.
Oh, and by the way, genius, how many TOs did the Buckeyes need to beat Michigan playing in Columbus, OH?
The only fallacious arguments here are yours, troll.
Go get a life, find a woman (or a man if that’s the way you lean), and make her/him miserable, since you clearly are a miser and miserable soul to come on our board.
One last fact, troll, ND and not Ohio St. is playing for the NC!
Live with it!
Ohio State dominated Michigan but kept them in it with penalties and allowed them two big plays with bad tackling. Unlike ND who were the recipient of six turnovers and still only scraped by.
I love the ‘rivalry/early season – late season argument, is there no end to your excuses?
Remember, you brought up the Buckeyes not me but I would love it if they were the ones to put an end to this charade. Unfortunately that luxury falls to Alabama but our chance will come and we will do what we usually do, bomb you guys back to the stone age or at least back to when there leather helmets. A time when ND did the majority of it’s winning.
You are the miserable one friend. I see it in every one of your responses. You are thin skinned and insecure about your team. That is why you make excuses and react angrily when someone points out the obvious, obvious to everyone but you. With a little bad luck ND could have at least three losses this year but they are undefeated and good for them. If you expect the rest of us to kneel at the feet of ND football because of this season you are sadly mistaken, this team is not THAT good.
I don’t think you have the balls to go on another board because you wouldn’t be among your acolytes, patting you on the back for your inane drivel. You and people like you are the real reason most people don’t like ND and are referred to as haters but it’s not hate, it’s just disagreement. If you can’t see that I feel sorry for you.
Jan. 7 can’t come soon enough for me, I will tell you in advance – I told you so!
Why are you here and what do you want? You don’t appear to be enjoying yourself.
I ask again: WHAT DO YOU WANT?
Please ask yourself: “Do I feel better or worse when I go to UHND.com?” And please be honest with your answer.
Are you gaining or losing?
SFR,
“Browneye is a little slow”
Thanks for pointing that out good buddy!
Appreciate it!
Now we know why ol stinker is so full of himself!
Seems he “backs it up” with more than just his fantasy facts.
Shaz,
“Browneye”! That’s even better than “Anus Eagle”!!!
“Browneye”: Better thin-skinned than small-minded any day.
The reason neither I nor anyone here I know of go on other boards is because we’re not scum-sucking trolls like you! Why would I even want to read the inane ramblings of idiots like you on an Ohio St. board? I lose enough brain cells reading your lamentably ignorant remarks here.
Bottom line is this: Your own words just above these condemn you and prove that your penis must be as small as your brain. That’s perhaps why you need to get on here to get humiliated over and over again.
You’re a sick, warped, frustrated little man who needs to go to someone else’s place to crap on them. Your lame parents sure brought you up right, “Browneye”!
Can’t you do better than some juvenile name calling or sexual innuendo? Of course you can’t because your comments reek of someone holed up in their mother’s basement surrounded by old VHS tapes of Rudy.
If you can’t debate, you must hate. You guys criticize everybody that doesn’t fawn over ND football. They are cheaters or haters, you even criticize the announcers that do ONLY ND games! That takes a speacial kind of insecurity to think that they are against your team.
Most people I know are football fans first but you guys are ND fans first. That’s fine but it precludes you from having any objectivity whatsoever. I can be objective and I care just as much about my team as you do yours.
Alabama 31 ND 10, enjoy the game.
Is this “better”?
On January 4, 2011, Ohio State completed its season with a 31-26 win over Arkansas in the Sugar Bowl. The Sugar Bowl win “would” have marked Ohio State’s first bowl victory over a Southeastern Conference opponent in TEN attempts, but the win was later vacated due to NCAA violations.
Ohio State ended up with an 0-1 record for the 2010 season after vacating wins for NCAA violations.
0-1… that’s funny!
It took OSU 10 attemps (TEN!) to beat a SEC team, and to even win that one, they had to cheat to do it?
That’s funny too!
On March 8, 2011 Jim Tressel was suspended for 2 games, and fined $250,000 for not informing the university and the NCAA that he had information that 5 of his players received improper benefits from a tattoo shop. The 5 players were suspended for the first 5 games of the 2011 season. Tressel’s suspension was also later increased to 5 games for being a low down dirty stinkin yellow, gutless, liar.
The NCAA filed a letter of allegations in late April, 2011 with Ohio State University alleging that Tressel lied to the NCAA in December, 2010 when he claimed to have no knowledge of the players activities with the tattoo shop. He is also to have knowingly used ineligible players during the 2010 season.(Surprise, surprise)
Not every college football program are cheaters… but yours’ certainly is… hater!
Yes we have “Rudy”, but there is no need to buy a vhs tape.
It is shown regularly on several US Networks.
What we don’t have is Reggie Germany.
Who is Reggie Germany?
He was Ohio State wide receiver Reggie Germany, who was suspended for having a 0.0 GPA. (Hilarious!)
(I think his team nicname was Mr. Blutosky)
Ohio State was able to “USE” Reggie during the regular season, but unfortunetly, when grades (or lack there of) for his finals came out, Poor Reggie could not make the bowl game that year.
(don’t you two guys now work summer jobs together as “Carney’s”?)
We also don’t have the former Ohio State team captian Matt Wilhelm and his fellow teammate and lineman Ken-Yon-Rambo who sued each other in court!
(I think it was Wilhelm who claimed he found a little “K-Y” in his jockstrap!)
And who could forget our all time Ohio State favorite wack job… Maurice Clarett
Big Mo!
He was recruited by Ohio State right out of Juvenile Hall (For B&E)
Maurice could do it all… and he did.
From Pounds of weed, and bricks of coke, to stolen cars, and Armed robbery.
Knowbody did more with less!
At least his time in Nutville wasn’t a total waste.
He did take some of the most renowned courses offered at OSU, like Golf, fishing, and softball.
Now that’s not hate or criticism, I just thought I could do better and that you might need a little help being a bit more objective about your team.
Rudy ! RuDY ! RUDY !
Hope the coach stays with the plan and not try “cute-sy” plays, if the game is winnable. I believe Kelly has matured alot this year, and he doesn’t have to prove that he’s the smartest play-caller on the field. His faith in EG has grown as the QB has grown, but he’s still a young player on the largest stage possible.
Great to take a win over a team that people down here in SE think will crush the Irish. Think about it. Kelly and Diaco built themselves an SEC defense. We will surprise them. We will win more easily than people think. Go, Irish. Show them.
Yea you showed us your sec defence alright.
Yea, and you showed us your spelling. Go back to 3rd grade moron!
You can call me a moron all you want but It doesn’t change the fact that your team sucks.
MORON!
The ND fans look at the “cupcakes” and say that Bama’s numbers are inflated. Remember one important element, none of those “cupcakes” scored points against Bama. None of them took Bama to 3 OTs to win a game. I would rank BC, Wake and Pitt equal to those teams. The common team both played was MI. We beat MI on a neutral field while ND struggled at home with a 6 point win.
There is much more than just “one” important element to remember.
ND’s weakest opponents were Wake Forest (Ranked 117th) and Boston College (Ranked 122nd)
Alabama’s weakest opponents were Florida Atlantic (Ranked 131st) and W.Carolina (Ranked 199th)
Math, where you come from, might equate that to being equil, but it doesn’t cut it around here.
(Just so you don’t have to strain yourself, that’s a ranking difference of 91 spots between those four teams. Better keep your day job)
ND engages in a home and home series with both, Wake & BC, out of respect for their programs.(Same for PITT)
Florida Atlantic & W.Carolina are home games ONLY for Alabama.
Wins bought and paid for with little consideration for a competitive game to which the paying fans should be entitled to.
Michigan and ND is a long, and tradition rich rivalry game.
Alabama and Auburn is also a long, and tradition rich rivalry game.
The biggest difference being that Michigan is ranked 18th and Aubrun is ranked 80th.
(80 minus -20 = a difference of 62)
Should we stop now, or are you thirsty for more?
Sorry…
The BCS has Mich at 18, the AP at 19, Other polls 20th
Take your pick.
As usual you don’t get it. Your math is as fuzzy as your spelling – equil?
You cherry pick the numbers that suit you but let’s be honest here, what is the difference between a team ranked 117th and one ranked 199th? It only matters if they play each other no? Otherwise either of those teams should get crushed by any top 25 team.
All you can do is look at the ‘tough’ teams they play and then common opponents. Common opponent(s), no contest here. Tough teams? ND played one, Stanford, and some aren’t sure ND should have won that one. USC and Michigan State were supposed to be tough but those teams embarrassed themselves this season. Alabama beat LSU (in Baton Rouge) and Georgia (on a neutral field) and both of those teams would destroy any team ND faced. None of Alabama’s three biggest wins were at home and if McCarron didn’t cough it up in the red zone against A&M they would also be undefeated and nobody would give ND a chance in this game.
ND has respect for Wake, BC and Pitt, that’s great, they are just not good football teams.
So you can denigrate the Bama fan with your “where you come from” comment because that’s what you do but you can’t obfuscate the truth with your fancy math skills. The truth is that Alabama has a stronger resume. I believe in rivalries but you can’t change the fact that Alabama obliterated a Michigan team that ND struggled to beat on it’s home field with Michigan turning the ball over 5 times.
I will stop now because I don’t think you can take any more.
ND played 1 tough team? Really? I guess OU is a horrible team all of a sudden? Or just average? Their 2 losses were to top 10 teams and they didn’t lose by much. Ala played 3 tough teams and ND played 2 very tough teams and a couple others that are no slouches. USC still has playmakers and can hurt you 10 different ways. They have a sucky coach. And even if the Stanford TD should have stood, it wouldn’t have won the game for them. It would have tied it so saying we shouldn’t have won is not accurate. We likely would have still won. But when the ref blows a play dead before the ball is over the goal line, it’s not a TD no matter what the haters want to say. Miami is good on offense but sucks on D. We held them to 3 points. USC put 40+ points on Oregon, they scored 13 on us. OU scored 13 I believe. Teams that have been averaging well over 30 points/game scored less than 20 on ND. ND sucks, huh? They will get killed by Bama? How many points has Bama averaged against their good opponents? ND will likely hold them to 10 less than their average and that would be their average against non-cupcakes. ND has played their best offensively against some of their weaker opponents (Other than Navy, Miami, and WF). Our QB is getting better each week and our RB tandem is a good one. ND may lose this one but I don’t think it will be the beat down that most Bama fans and ND haters think it will be. If you do, you definitely have not paid any attention to ND games this season, only the stats.
Why, on earth, is this Buckeye guy still here? It is the weirdest thing with Ohio State fans. They are inconsolable and delusional at the same time in regards to their own team not being able to play in the post season. So they feel this urgent need to tell ND fans “how things really are” and that we really shouldn’t be as happy as we are.
I have friends and acquaintences (OSU fans) who are doing the exact same thing, repeatedly.
It is so bizarre. I say again: It would never even occur to me, in a million years, to go to another team’s blog and start pissing in their Wheaties.
@Buckeye,
Again, you either must be an Ohio St fan and ashamed of it since you won’t identify your true allegience, or you have some weird way of identifying yourself as an Alabama or SEC fan.
Either way, you are intruding on an ND only blog. Go to ESPN or FOX or CBS or your own team’s blogs to spew your needling rants. This is our blog.
As for Alabama, well they are a fine football team. But they have not proven that their schedule is markedly different in strength to Notre Dame’s. The SEC notoriously does not play very many teams away from home and certainly does not play in the manly kind of weather that made football famous in the first place. True fans remember the Ice Bowl between the Packers and the Cowboys. Let’s face it, until the South comes and plays outside in the elements, they can’t claim to be tougher.
As for Ohio State. They are cheaters. They have no ethics. And perhaps Urban Meyer can clean them up, but the average Ohio State fan would deny the existence of God, or betray our country to our enemies if it meant the Buckeyes could win an national championship.
Bama played backups throughout the Michigan game since it was a blowout.. Michigan dominated ND, but DR fumbled away the win, over and over.. DR was the most dynamic player in the nation… Prior to the Bama game, now he’s never mentioned
What is it with these trolls?
They need to get on our ND board to do what exactly. Do they think they’re going to convince us ND is irrelevant? That ND is unworthy of the NC game? That we should all become Tide or Buckeye fans? They can’t be that stupid or delusional, can they?!
Some of their points are valid. Fine. Go make them on ESPN.com or on your own boards.
The other thing is, where do these pathetic trolls go after proven wrong? Do they ever come back to apologize, recant, repent, take it like men? Where is “Angry Eagle” after ND started dominating BC? Where’s that Miami fan who was so sure ND couldn’t match Miami’s speed? He even promised to comeback for the ND-USC game since he, too, hated the Trojans. I guess ND gutted the Hurricanes so badly that he was to ashamed to come back on here.
I guarantee you that these little bitches like “Buckeye” and “Al” will either disappear from here or come up with a bunch of lame excuses if ND wins the NC.
I’ll be happy to take back calling them little bitches if “Buckeye” and “Al” somehow man-up, find the honor and courage to come back to this site and give ND its proper respect if it wins the NC. If they come on here to gloat if ND loses, however, that still makes them little bitches!
I just love it. They are inconsoleable because we get to enjoy an undefeated team that’s going to the NC. All their incorrect prognostications and hate has gotten them nowhere, so they are doubledowning.
They troll here to “tell us how things really are” and try to rain on our parade to steal some thunder.
Well haters and trolls, you have no thunder because it’s all been SHAKEN DOWN. Go crawl in a hole somewhere with a mirror handy and reevaluate your sad lives.
Here’s the million dollar question to Buckeye and any other hit and run coward that comes on this site:
“WHAT DO YOU WANT FROM US?” Are you expecting us to concede something? To come to some epiphany as a result of your pontificating and pseudo-intellectual obfuscation.
Not going to happen. Piss off.
nice discussion! Irish win 24-17
Gidday Again Pete, Mate you keep setting the bar on your articles “just out of reach but not out of sight” and keep getting better. Great read. This article among the “plethora” of pieces being churned out by all and sundry (is there really another 23 days to go for scribes to keep bombarding us with the why’s and where fores of this game) is one of the few I have read that exposes the soft underbelly of THIS years Alabama team. Too many so called experts are handing the game to the Tide based on their past history rather then putting the 2012 squad under the microscope as you have. This team has “deficiencies” So many of their season stats are inflated by A. playing 3 “cupcake” Div IIA teams and B. several of this year’s SEC foes were well below par (see Auburn, Arkansas, Tennessee, and Missouri) compared to past seasons. Watching the Georgia and A&M and LSU games really is the more accurate formula for judging this current ‘bama as a NC caliber opponent. As you have so accurately shown when doing this Saban’s squad this year compared to the 2011 team is definitely “beatable”. If the Irish finish this game with ZERO turnovers and Rees does not enter the game for even ONE play then I would figure the ND “fairytale” season finishes with a NC. Cheers Mate and a Merry Xmas to you and yours, Dale
Yep Notre dame was awesome. And bama sure looked vulnerable in that game LOL.
ChrisJ, you are correct about Golson. Kelly has been building to this
moment since last Spring, subject to Golson’s doing what is required.
I suffer from mathitis, but I think he’s on a linear progression.
He, and the numbers show it, was better in October than September, better in November than October, and this should be his best performance.
Two quick things:
(1) There is only one defense to prepare for, Bama’s/
(2) Kelly and Martin will have had 6.5 weeks of teaching/film time
since the SC game.
Kelly will be ready. Golson will be ready
Great points again, Duranko. You could clearly see his progression month to month. Man, I can’t wait!!!
Awesome article! Agree with everything u said. Only thing i would add to that is the fact that ND has something magical about this team that makes it almost impossible for them to lose. They always find ways to win, even if its with some luck (how else can u explain the 3OT pitt game)…Go irish!! been waitin for NC since i was a kid
Let’s be honest…this is all about Everett Golson and the game he has. The defense is the defense. They will be there with no letdowns. Riddick and Wood will take care of business on the ground. I feel like Golson has gotten a little bit better each game. Kelly has really molded him into something special and the only time he’s really been asked to do a lot is in the Pitt and Oklahoma games and what did he do…come through bigger than he ever has. This kid is special. I love watching how he has matured as a player and leader. I think we are all going to witness something special out of him for this championship game. Go Irish!!!!
Haha!!! Notre dame stunk up the field on that day.and golson what a joke.