UHND 2007 Army All American Bowl Live Blog

Ok, lets get it started…

12:50 – Well, early reports are starting to come out that Matt Romine will pick the Irish today. Romine would be the highest rated offensive linemen in this class if he does indeed pick Notre Dame today. Now, if we can have a couple of Lorenzo Booker type last minute change of hearts…

12:59 – Ah the fun begins. Robert Hughes won’t be announcing today per the Chicago Tribune. Hughes will visit Michigan and Ohio State. I don’t think any of this matters for Notre Dame though. Everything that’s been said about Hughes makes it seem like playing time is the ultimate deciding factor for him and with Aldridge, Prince, and Allen in the last two classes, I think Hughes might see the Irish backfield as a bit too crowded.

1:02 – Two minutes in and they have already referred to Clausen as “The Chosen One.” We might not get a lot of commitments today, but it sure would be nice to see Clausen light it up and show why he is the best quarterback in the country.

1:06 – Lemming make shis first appearance and he is grinning ear to ear.

1:07 – First “declaration” of the day and its Matt Romine to NOTRE DAME. Come on NBC, you could have given us ND fans a reason to watch just a little while longer.

1:09 – Clausen’s first pass is a STRIKE. He completed a nice slant and had the ball right on the money.

1:13 – West Team goes for it on 4th and 14? Did Charlie tell the West coaches to help him prepare Clausen for going for it on 4th down a lot? Pass interference by Marcus Gilchrist keeps the drive alive.

1:14 – Lemming just pulls a Beano and says he thinks Clausen will win a Hesiman. Hey Tom, please shut the hell up and let Clausen play a college down before mentioning him for the Heisman.

1:17 – Trattou just breaks up a Clausen pass on 3rd and goal. Trattou hurdled over the tackle and made a nice leaping pass breakup. Lemming seems to think he will end up at DT for Notre Dame, but this kid has difference making defensive end written all over him.

1:22 – Declaration #2 – Chris Little to Florida State. This was expected, but it still stinks. Little would have made an amazing tackle duo with Matt Romine.

1:24 – Arrelious Benn makes his first catch and thousands of “I still can’t believe is he going to Illinois” posts litter internet message boards across the land.

1:29 – Ryan Mallet enters the game. I hope the Alamo Dome can contain Mallet’s passes. I heard he once threw a ball through a brick wall… under water… with a defender on his back… while playing on a broken leg… left handed.

1:33 – Everyone in the recruiting world calls these “declarations” commitments or announcements… so why must NBC call them declarations? Meanwhile, Major Wright should be Notre Dame’s top rated recruit on their board… the kid can flat out play and just nearly intercepted a Ryan Mallet pass in the end zone. I hope he didn’t break his hand on the play because I don’t know if you’ve heard from Michigan fans, but Mallet has a STRONG arm.

1:41 – Delivery guy just got here, updates will be less frequent…. Bad news Irish fans, the french fries I ordered ended up being those terrible Buger King-style ones with that weird coating on them. Damnit.

1:50 – This QB Fanuzzi just had Jones wide open for a touchdown and under threw him by a lot. East picks it off and is back in the game.

1:53 – JaMarcus Russell just threw another touchdown to Early Doucet, N’dukwe was was the closest defender in coverage some 15 yards from the play.

1:59 – Some gigantic Samoan just “declared” to Oregon.

2:01 – Somewhere Dan Marino is smiling in appreciation of Ryan Mallet’s mobility and running skills.

2:02 – Nice little cut by Joe McKnight there. If ND could somehow get back in the race for McKnight I would do cartwheels. Well maybe not because cartwheels are hard to do for a guy my size. Funny story though, freshman year of college we’d always come back from parties and try to do cartwheels in the hall and….. oh wait… nevermind….

2:05 – Aw… that we cute with Kamara, Little, and Clausen saying Go Irish. For those of you worried about Little decomitting and going to North Carolina, hopefully that puts some of those rumors down.

2:06 – And Ben Martin ends up picking Tennessee as reported yesterday. I’m still really surprised with this one. This one sucks and is probably just the beginning of a string of disappointments for the Irish today. Oh well, at least the Turkey club I ordered was pretty good.

2:10 – Can we please see Clausen again now?

2:13 – Couldn’t they have given Clausen this award before so he didn’t have to sit out another series? Fanuzzi looks a little more settled down this drive. Had a nice pass over the middle dropped by his tight end…. Ragone would have caught that if he were healthy…. and playing on the West squad but you get my point.

2:20 – Somewhere Bill Deidrick is smilling at that little bubble screen two yard gain.

2:21 – Nice defense by Gary Gray in the end zone. Gray is going to be a hell of a corner for the Irish. With Walls and McNeil from last year the Irish will have playmakers in the secondary for the next 3-4 years. And Gray makes another good play, nearly intercepting a Fanuzzi pass.

2:23 – Why do are there more updates about this Fanuzzi kid than Clausen at this point? I don’t know either.

2:30 – Half time – time for a quick shower.

2:40 – R U serious? Anthony Davis to Rutgers. Nice pickup for the Scarlett Knights.

2:46 – Chris Rainey, what were you thinking? You brought the ball out to like the 3 yard line. The official was making the touch back motion right in front of him so the “he thought he had to” argument doesn’t hold any water.

2:49 – Everson Griffen just got JACKED up. Only negative you could find in his game today though. The USC commit has been a holy terror out there today.

2:50 – Kamara just got his first catch which went for the first first down for the East squad.

2:52 – I’m starting to just feel bad for Aaron Hernadez. He’s having a tough day with a couple of drops that have hit him squarely in the hands. Still waiting to see Greg Little get involved in the game for the East.

3:02 – Luther Davis just commited to LSU – the second defensive tackle for the Tigers today. This can’t do anything but help the Irish with Will Blackwell. Blackwell could step into the 2 deep from day one if he comes to Notre Dame. Maybe a little bit of silver lining for us Irish fans today.

3:07 – Ugh, this one really sucks. Lorenso Edwards would have been a HUGE recruit for Notre Dame and the loss of him really hurts this defense especially in light of Martin picking Tennessee earlier.

3:11 – Notre Dame is now 1 for 3 today with Romine picking the Irish and Martin and Edwards going elsewhere. Michael Williams and Chris Donald both have Notre Dame as one of two finalists…. but unless one has a major change of heart it looks like we’ll finish second as we have way too many times this year…

3:14 – Um, is Jimmy Johnson coaching the West squad? Up 22-0 and you fake the extra point and go for two? You stay classy West team.

3:17 – Great return by Devine, that kid is FAST. I’d love to see the East get back in this after that fake extra point by the West. Throw it to KAMARA!

3:29 – Michael Williams selects Michigan as expected. Then a minute later we get to see Arrelious Benn and Martez Wilson in Illinois hats – that takes the sting of all these losses away just a… oh nevermind.

3:31 – Martez Wilson with a nice rush on Fanuzzi. Fanuzzi had one nice drive, but other than that, he doesn’t look in the same league as Mallet and Clausen. His arm strength looks suspect and he just doesn’t look too comfortable out there today.

3:43 – Clausen caps off a fairly uneventful day for him with a fumbled snap recovered by the East.

3:44 – And a minute later Chris Donald picks Tennessee capping off one of the more miserable days in recent Notre Dame recruiting history.

3:45 – Duval Kamara just barely missed a touchdown which would have put the East on the board.

3:46 – Greg Little makes a great adjustment to the ball in the air and comes down with the only points for East so far. Little and Kamara could both see the field next year with ND losing both Samardzija and McKnight. None of this year’s freshmen made much of an impact this year leaving the door wide open for both.

3:55 – Game Over.  West wins.  Nice shot of Nagel, Trattou, Little, Gray, and Kamara at the end there, but who was the clown behind them trying to get on camera?

3:57 – Not a good day at all for the Irish.  ND had legit shots at Martin, Donald, and Edwards down up to and during this week so to lose all three its a major disappointment.  Charlie has a ton of work to do between now and Signing Day.