Once again, Greetings fellow You Gabbers!...and just like that, the 2011 college football season is now half-over. 

It is now time for Irish Shu to look back and assess how things have gone thus far for my beloved Fighting Irish of Notre Dame.

The short version?...they’re a step down from where I predicted they would be at this point as far as results are concerned, but they’re right about where I expected them to be as far as progress, execution and gelling-together.  I had predicted they’d be at 1 loss right now and they’re at 2.  They could just as easily be an undefeated team right now if only they’d had their shit together when they came-out of the gate….I know, I know, “and if the queen had balls she could just as easily be the king.”  Whatever.  The breaks happen as they do and it is what it is…okay, that’s enough clichés for now.

Looking at it game by game:

SOUTH FLORIDA:  I was, indeed,  nervous about this game…and for good reason, as it turned out.  The Irish had a tough first test against Coach Skip Holtz (aka Lou Jr.) and a Bulls team that was a favorite to win the Big East crown.  The game was twice interrupted by the stadium being evacuated due to lightening storms which was a bad omen in itself.  On top of that the Irish struck their own thunder by committing 5 turnovers to South Florida’s 0 – the most costly of which came on ND’s opening drive when running back Jonas Gray fumbled while driving to the end zone and USF’s Kayvon Webster scooped up the loose ball and ran 96 yards for a score that would set the tone for the rest of the game which ended in a stunning 23-20 Irish loss.  Ironically, Notre Dame finished the game with double the total yardage of South Florida…an advantage nullified by those costly turnovers as well as an inability to finish drives on offense.  A quarterback switch from starter Dayne Crist to Tommy Rees did not help the outcome and it is still baffling, to me, that Crist lost the starting role after playing only one half and never got it back.

MICHIGAN:  ACK!!!  Notre Dame beat Michigan’s asses up and down the field nearly all game long and dominated in both time of possession and total yardage only to lose 35-31 to the honey badgers...er, I mean Wolverines because they just didn’t give a shit! (kidding – that reference is for the Beeze – he’ll get it!).  No, it was because of the damn turnovers, again.  The Irish had 5 in this game to Michigan’s 3…and they almost won, anyway, but the defense forgot to finish the damn game and let quarterback Denard Robinson drive for 80 yards in just 3 plays and 28 seconds to score the winning TD with just 2 seconds left in the game.  Dipshits!  FINISH THE DAMN GAME NEXT TIME!  ASSHOLES!!!  I hate losing to Meat Chicken, can you tell?

MICHIGAN STATE:  The only thing that would have pissed me off more than losing to Meat Chicken would be losing to Sparty in the same season…fortunately, that didn’t happen.  Notre Dame FINALLY got it together and beat the Spartans 31-13.  NOT an easy team to have to bounce-back against but despite 3 turnovers and a pretty good day by State senior QB Kirk Cousins, they got it done.  This time, it was Sparty who got snake bit as they had a better game than the Irish, statistically (except in the running game – they only had 29 yards which is well-short of what is typical for them), but were also done-in by penalties and 2 turnovers; the more costly of which was an interception by cornerback Robert Blanton who returned it 82 yards to the Michigan State 12 with under 4 minutes left to seal the win.  Another helpful big play was an 89-yard kickoff return for a touchdown from freshman running back George Atkinson III.  Again, this was a much-needed win against a team which, at this writing, is ranked #15, is fresh-off a win over the same honey badgers that beat the Irish in Ann Arbor (and just didn't give a shit), and has not lost a game yet to anyone other than the Irish.

PITTSBURGH:  This was another game I was nervous about because it was on the road against a pretty good Pitt team that I thought would go in very motivated to make a good showing for Tony Dorsett and John Majors – 2 Pitt icons who walked out of the tunnel with the team at the start of the game.  Pitt did put-up a pretty solid fight, but lost 15-12 to an Irish team that really didn’t put it together until they needed to.  A 4^th quarter drive by Tommy Rees that saw him go 8 for 8 and finish with TD and 2-point throws, both to tight end Tyler Eifert was nearly the only successful drive he could put together against a Pitt defense that came-in with the nation’s 119^th-ranked pass defense.  Other than that, a second-quarter, 79-yard scoring run by Jonas Gray were the only big plays the Irish offense could muster…but as it turned-out, it was all they needed.  The Irish defense did the rest as they kept Pitt running back Ray Graham in-check and held Pitt to just 12 points.  Credit Rees for this much though; Pitt’s D keyed on the great Irish receiver Michael Floyd and double-teamed him throughout thus limiting him to 4 catches for the game, but Rees grew-up and managed to find his other receivers when he couldn’t find Floyd.  The Irish win also came in spite of 2 turnovers to Pitt’s 0…it also peaked my interest that, 5 nights after this game, this same Pittsburgh team bounced-back and THROTTLED by a 44-17 score the same South Florida team that beat the Irish in their opener.  College football is, indeed, strange sometimes.

PURDUE:  Despite this game being at Ross-Aide, I didn’t think the Irish would have much trouble with Purdue and, indeed, they did not.  Simply put, Notre Dame’s offense really started to peak in this game, the defense played as-usual, and they simply had too much talent for the Boilermakers as they dominated in a 38-10 rout that easily could have been even more lopsided than it turned out.  The biggest improvement was that they FINALLY managed to finish a game without turning the ball over.  Rees finished one of his better games 24 of 39 for 254 yards and 3 touchdowns as he picked-apart a Purdue D unit that couldn’t contain the Irish receivers.

AIR FORCE:  The backs of the odd-numbered Air Force players’ jerseys say “service” above the numbers instead of the player’s last name.  The backs of the even-numbered players say “freedom”.  We certainly thank ALL of our military personnel for both their service and our freedom…but after this game, the backs of the Falcon’s asses had a huge footprint on them.  59 to 33 – the most combined points ever scored in a game at Notre Dame Stadium in a game that showed just what the Irish offense can do at full potential.  7 Irish players scored touchdowns in this game and, for the second game in a row, the Irish did not turn the ball over.  There was some bad news despite the rout – the Irish defense let the Air Force option attack torch them for 363 rushing yards, most of those coming around the ends…something that future opponents will take note of.  The Irish did throw-in a new wrinkle; that of sophomore quarterback Andrew Hendrix and his ability to run…and he did that for 111 yards and almost a touchdown in change-of-pace duty.  The reason I originally predicted this game as a loss is because I thought the Irish D would not be up to the task of shutting down the option…well, they weren’t, but luckily the Irish O was clicking on all cylinders to more than pick up the slack.

So, now that the first 6 games are in the books we look ahead to the remaining games that come after the bye week.  The 2 upcoming games against the Pac 12 opponents in USC and Stanford appear to be the toughest…not that there aren’t some other teams there that couldn’t bite them, too. 

My big concern is with special teams.  George Atkinson III has been a pleasant surprise on some kickoffs, but there has been little to celebrate other than him.  Punt returns have been poorly handled if handled at all.  Michael Floyd has stepped into the job, but hasn’t taken off with it yet.  And what’s up with David Ruffer???  The guy came into the season as a Lou Groza Award semifinalist after going 18 for 19 on field goals last year and now he’s only made half of his attempts this year.  We’ll see if he can right the ship.

Team health, however, has been a bright spot as injuries have been minimal – a sprain here, a bruise there and not much else.  Let’s hope that keeps up.

We’ll see how the rest of the season plays-out.  GO IRISH!!!

PS I gotta hand it to B.O.B. – on my last blog when I predicted how my Montana Grizzlies would do, he said “look out for Sacramento State!” He was right.  The Hornets have handed the Griz their only Big Sky Conference loss so far and they may make more noise in that league yet.  We shall see.

Yep, it's that time!  Irish Shu is ready to rock on fall Saturdays with the arrival of college football and I now offer my annual preview of my beloved Notre Dame Fighting Irish...but first, a brief digression:

Those who know me best know that I couldn't care less about baseball...but if it involves a team of 12- and 13-year-old boys from my home state of Montana kicking ass in the Little League World Series, you bet I'm gonna give a shit!  With that in mind, I offer a belated CONGRATULATIONS to the boys from Billings for giving us the greatest-ever showing for any team from the Big Sky state!  They not only qualified for the LLWS, they beat the teams from South Dakota, Louisiana and then the eventual series champ from California before the Cali team came back in the losers bracket to win a revenge game against them in the National Championship.  Way to go, boys!!!  You may not have won it all, but you sure done us proud!  Thank you.

…Onto the business at hand now.

Notre Dame Coach Brian Kelly now enters his 2^nd year at the helm of the Irish.  Last year certainly had it’s trials for him:  new team, new schedule, and a new system.  Season-ending Injuries to key personnel such as quarterback Dayne Crist, running back Armando Allen Jr. and tight end Kyle Rudolph didn’t help, nor did the death of student videographer Declan Sullivan in a scissor lift accident during practice…but Kelly managed to right the ship after the tragedy and guide the team to a 4-win finish to the season, including a Sun Bowl win against Miami – a team which, as we know, is having some pretty severe problems of it’s own these days.  I think Kelly has the team going the right way for a great year.  They’ve had a year to get acclimated to his system and his staff and there was an upswing of momentum after the Tulsa loss which followed the Sullivan tragedy.  The biggest factor in that upswing was the defense – the unit really came into it’s own and held the last 4 opponents to just 39 points (just under 10 points per game), including only 3 to a Utah team that averaged 33 points per game and finished its season with 10 wins and that was no fluke...speaking of which:

Defense:  Loaded.  8 starters return on the unit that, as I said, really improved as last season evolved.  The one you hear about most is linebacker Manti Te’o who had 133 tackles last year….but you cannot overlook 5^th year senior safety Harrison Smith who was a particularly solid player, as well.  Smith is a hard hitter, a sure tackler, and he saved the Irish at USC last year with a game winning interception and then picked off 3 more passes against Miami in the Sun Bowl.  The Irish are lucky he came back and was granted one more year, because they’ll need him back there.  His fellow secondary starters are good and have experience, but there is not much depth behind them which is what the critics are picking-on.  The remaining linebackers and the D-line are a plus, as well…it would take some space for me to list all the good players in those areas (and my pal, the Beeze already named a bunch of them in his preview) but suffice it to say there are a bunch of them.  They are good, big, strong, fast, and they have depth.

Offense:  Pretty loaded, as well.  They return 9 starters including the quarterback and pretty-much all of the receivers.  It’s very encouraging to me that the Irish have 2 quarterbacks with a good amount of starting experience returning…and as I’ve said in a previous blog, I don’t remember the last time the Irish had THAT going for them.  Dayne Crist won-out as the starter ahead of Tommy Rees despite cries from the public that Rees was 4-0 as the starter and Crist was 4-5 before he got injured…but those numbers are deceiving.  Not that Rees wasn’t good, but it was the improving Irish D that was the difference in his wins.  Statistically, Rees did have the slightly-higher completion percentage of 61% to Crist’s 59% but Crist threw fewer interceptions in 9 games (7) than Rees threw in 4 (8).  Also, Crist is overall more athletic and, as the more experienced senior, is a better leader.  The receivers are one of the best groups in the nation.  Michael Floyd is the leader and will finish his senior year as the BEST receiver Notre Dame has ever had…provided he stays healthy and avoids the booze.  Despite a somewhat injury-plagued career, Floyd has 171 catches for 2,539 yards and 28 touchdowns.  He needs only 9 more catches to break Jeff Samardzija’s record for most career catches and only 169 more yards to break Golden Tate’s record for career yards.  Playing along with him will be speedy T.J. Jones and Tight End Tyler Eifert, who was a pleasant surprise after Rudolph went down with his hamstring injury.  The Irish did lose a couple O-Linemen to graduation, but the ones they have coming back got a good amount of playing time last year and are seasoned.  The weak spot?  Running back.  Gone from last year are Allen and power back Robert Hughes.  Back this year are Cierre Wood and Jonas Gray.  Both Wood and Gray got in a few snaps last year but don’t have a ton of experience.  There are only a couple underclassmen behind them, though return specialist Theo Riddick, a converted receiver, is an option to go back to the backfield if injuries warrant it.  My feeling is that IF Wood can stay healthy; the moment is his to seize.  Behind that O-line he could break out and do surprisingly well.

Special teams:  The Irish were very good last year and could do even better this year.  Lou Groza Award semifinalist David Ruffer is back after going 18 for 19 in field goals last year.  Frosh Kyle Brindza will lend another strong leg for punting and kickoff duties, and the return specialist, Riddick, is the fastest man on the team and is poised for a breakout year.

With that, let us now get to my game-by-game predictions in the traditional poetic form.

Ahem:

9/3 vs. South Florida:

Lou’s son Skip is back in town.  In the Big East, Bulls contend.  BJ Daniels is a good QB, but won’t win in South Bend.

Irish win…but it may be close.  This is a tough team to have to open against.

9/10 at Michigan:

The first night game in the Big House.  Retro unis, too.  Denard Robinson is prepped to run, but coach Brady Hoke’s too new.

Irish win.

9/17 vs. Michigan State:

Kirk Cousins is back once more.  He’s made it tough, indeed!  The problem is, he’s all Sparty now has….and he’s NOT all they need.

Irish win.

9/24 at Pitt:

Wannstedt, Baldwin, and Lewis are gone, but they still have Tino Sunseri.  Todd Graham takes over a rebuilding program…of the Irish, I’d be leery (or “Larry”, depending on how you pronounce the kid’s name.  I can’t tell).

Anyway, Irish win.

10/1 at Purdue:

Purdue just ain’t been the same since Joe Tiller left the place.  Danny Hope sure ain’t no Joe….but he’s got to save some face.

He won’t – Irish win.

10/8 vs. Air Force:

The reigning Commander-in-chief winner is awesome with the run.  ND is due for a snakebite, hate to say it, but this is the one.

Falcons win…hope I’m wrong, though.

10/22 vs. USC:

The Irish will have had a bye, and time to heal from the Air Force loss.  SC is not what they once were, and ND will be the boss.

Irish win.

10/29 vs. Navy:

Like Air Force, Navy loves to run.  The Middies have owned us of late.  But Irish will learn from the AF loss, and thus clean the Navy plate.

Irish win.

11/5 at Wake Forest:

The Deacons are table-scrap-feeders in the not-powerful ACC.  They’ve already lost game 1 to Syracuse…do you REALLY think they’ll beat ND?

Me neither.  Irish Win.  This one won’t even be close.

11/12 vs. Maryland @ FedEx Field in Landover, MD

The Terps are good and are near home, but the ACC won’t have prepared ‘em.  ND will have jelled and want the win more than Randy Edsall will have repaired ‘em.

Irish win.

11/19 vs. Boston College:

Montel Harris, the ‘Eags bright spot, is already on injured reserve.  ND was once BC’s lil bitch, but now the Irish do have the nerve.

Irish win.

11/26 at Stanford:

The Season finale’ at Palo Alto will see the Irish vie for a BCS bid.  They’ll face Heisman Finalist Andrew Luck, and he’s one helluva kid.

Cardinal win…again, would LOVE it if I’m wrong.

And then…

The Irish snag a BCS Bowl – and board a flight to battle.  They’ll save their best for their last game, and the opponent, they will rattle.

Irish win.

So, overall I have them winning about 10 (11 if they win the bowl game) and will get a BCS bowl ONLY if they win the 10…they could get bit by one other team such as Michigan State or USC, but I don’t think they’ll lose to both.  I say 9 wins at worst despite this year’s schedule being a bit tougher than last years’.

Other predictions:

Montana Grizzlies:  Nate Montana’s with the Griz…alas, he’s the 3^rd string..  The starting QB’s looking pretty good.  Big Sky?  They might win the thing.

Nebraska:  New year, new league for the Huskers - who are now in the Big 10.  They won 10 games last year in the Big 12; they may win 10 again.

Colorado State: the now's not good, beloved Rams, 2 players arrested to start.  Boise State is now a Mountain West foe – for much wins, you’ll need more than heart.

WELCOME BACK COLLEGE FOOTBALL!!!  It’s about damn time!  WOO-HOO!!!

 
I figure I better get this done since the Irish kick off their season Saturday...And in case you don't know, that guy above, Manti Te'o is going to be a big factor again this year...

Te'o, (133 tackles last season) leads a Notre Dame defense that showed steady improvement throughout last season...And the heart of the defense is Te'o and his fellow linebackers...Playing in the 3-4, he is joined in the middle by Carlo Calabrese, a run stopping machine...Seniors Anthony McDonald and David Posluszny add depth at middle linebacker...Sophomore Kendall Moore hopes his play on special teams will help get him in the rotation...

Senior Darius Fleming and sophomore Prince Shembo will be the starting outside linebackers with senior Steve Filer getting plenty of time in the rotation...Junior Dan Fox hopes to see more playing time either at the middle or outside, after having a great spring...

As good as the Irish look at LB, they look just as good at quarterback...


Dayne Crist will once again be the starter, no matter how much Irish fans fell in love with Tommy Rees late last season...Crist and his skill set are perfect for coach Brian Kelly's offense...Much of the playbook went un-used when Rees had to step in...While he is a excellent passer, he lacks the all-around athletic ability of Crist...Of course Crist has to stay healthy, something that has happened the last couple years...

If injury strikes, Rees, while he has experience, may not be the guy, as Sophomore Andrew Hendrix, who has the strongest arm of the bunch, is breathing down his neck...Hendrix is also a very tough and physical runner...Behind him is Freshman Everett Golson who is the fastest and most athletic of all the QB's...

With Armando Allen, and Robert Hughes now gone, the bulk of the running back duties fall to Cierre Wood...


Wood has a great speed, and excellent vision, and should do well in the spread...For the tougher yards, that Hughes pounded out, the Irish will look to Jonas Gray to be tougher, and hold onto the ball...But the Irish are thin at RB...Freshman Cam McDaniel will most likely be the third back on the team, and will get a look on kick returns...

At Wide Receiver, the Irish will look first and foremost at Michael Floyd...Floyd of course needs to stay healthy for once, and stay out of trouble...Personally I was disappointed that he wasn't hit with a tougher punishment for his latest DUI...

Behind Floyd is TJ Jones, and play-maker, Theo Ridick...Seniors John Goodman and Deion Walker need to step up this year...While undersized, Robby Toma (5'9", 175) seems to make all the tough catches, and makes a nice slot receiver...

Tyler Eifert is looking to be the next in a long line of excellent ND Tight Ends...Fifth year senior Mike Ragone is trying to comeback from countless injuries...Look for Sophomore Alex Welch to get some looks this year...

The Offensive Line is loaded with experience, and depth...Junior left tackle Zack Martin is one of the best in college football...He'll be joined by Chris Watt on the left side...Senior Braxton Cave anchors the line at center...Next to him on the right is seniors Trevor Robinson, and Taylor Dever...The Irish have 3 seniors to work in the rotation, including the versatile ANdrew Nuss...The Irish also have 5 freshman and a couple of sophomores waiting in the wings...

Lead by senior ends, Kapron Lewis-Moore and Ethan Johnson, the defensive line should be just as good as the linebackers...Junior Sean Cwynar will start at Nose Tackle, but Hafis Williams and Louis Nix will get plenty of playing time...But the player to watch, is early enrollee DE, Aaron Lynch, (6'6", 260) who by all accounts was the most impressive player in the spring game...


While, raw, the Irish coaching staff love his skill and athletic ability...Another top recruit, and DE, Stephon Tuitt (6'5", 270) could also find his way into some playing time...

Now we come to the Secondary, which will be lead by fifth-year senior, safety, Harrison Smith...


Smith is an intense, hard hitting, athletic player who was the teams second leading tackler last season...He needs to be even better this year, if the Irish defense is going to continue to progress...Playing the other safety spot will most likely be Zeke Motta, who stepped in when Jamoris Slaughter went down with an injury last year...Slaughter should still get plenty of playing time, and may be the teams nickel back, since the Irish are so thin at corner, and having played corner in the past...

the Irish have two excellent corner backs in Robert Blanton, and Gary Gray...Both have plenty of experience, quality cover skills, and both play the run very well...But behind them is youth and inexperience...Sophomores Bennett Jackson and Lo Wood need to really step up, or the Irish could be in trouble, if either Blanton or Gray get injured...

As for special Teams...the Irish have an excellent kicker in David Ruffer...Freshman Kyle Brindza will push for kick-off duties, and to take the punting job, as he has shown to have the teams most powerful leg...The Irish have plenty of talented players to use in the return game...Look for Theo Riddick and Bennett Jackson to get the first cracks at it...

I expect 10 wins this year...The Notre Dame schedule is not a walk in the park...They open Saturday against a good USF team, that has an underrated, multiple-threat QB in B.J. Daniels...And lots of team speed on the defensive side of the ball...This game should give us a good read on what the Irish really has as a team...

Stay tuned...

Go Irish!

The Beeze.
 

 
I'm pretty sure that's what Coach Brian Kelly said to Michigan State head coach, Mark Dantonio after the Fighting Irish's loss to the Spartans Saturday Night...Why? Let me tell you...

It seems for the past ten years, every game between these two teams is a down to the wire battle...Always a back and forth, whoever has the ball last wins type of game...Saturday's game was shaping up to be the same...

The Irish got on the board first with a touchdown pass from Dayne Crist, to Michael Floyd...The Spartans answered back in the second quarter and even though both teams moved the ball pretty well, the game went to halftime tied at 7...Then the 3rd quarter happened...

MSU's Edwin Baker scored on a 56 yard run...Crist answered back with a ten yard strike to Tight End Kyle Rudolph...Then MSU freshman running back Le'Veon Bell took one in for 16 yards...The Irish drove back down again, and Crist hit Theo Riddick with a 15 yard TD pass...Riddick had a nice game, 10 receptions, for 128 yards and the TD...

Then the Irish defense nutted up and held serve...(Look at that, I just used a Tennis term) In the fourth quarter Crist hit Floyd again on for a 24 yard TD pass...The Spartans responded with a 24 yard TD pass from Kirk Cousins, to B.J. Cummingham...The Irish got the ball back, and were stopped on a fourth and one on their side of the 50...I really thought that call was going to cost ND the game, and make me truly hate Brian Kelly...The Notre Dame defense has had trouble closing games, and now they needed to make some big plays, and they did...Shutting down the Spartans and pushing them back into their own end of the field...Both teams would get the ball one more time and exchange punts...Then it was on to overtime...

Notre Dame got the ball first, and the Spartan defense stepped up again, and made them settle for a field goal...Now the pressure was on the Irish defense again...Now I'm pacing around the living room...trying my best not to wake the rest of the house...Win or lose, I'm going to make some kind of noise...

So what happens...The Irish defense shows up big, and pushes the Spartans back...Now they are lining up for a 46 yard field goal, with an inexperienced kicker...The call that Dantonio makes next can only be described as the 'I have balls 10 times bigger then you' call...FAKE FIELD GOAL...Holder, Aaron Bates takes the snap, takes a couple steps right, pulls up, and throws a 29 yard pass to tight end Charlie Gantt for the game winning touchdown...And I puke in my soup...

My hope of the Irish winning a minimum of 8 games is quickly slipping away...Turning the ball over 3 times and giving up 477 yards(274 passing, 203rushing) is going to beat you more times than not...

Crist finished with 369 yards passing, and the 4 touchdowns...He completed 32 of 55 passes...Floyd had 6 receptions for 81 yards, and 2 TD's...Rudolph caught 8 for 80 yards and 1 TD...Armando Allen caught 6 passes for 70 yards, and carried the ball 13 times for 71 yards...

There is plenty of talent on the offensive side of the ball, but the defense keeps getting beat for big plays...Some on the ground and some through the air...The corners are good, but the safeties seem to get beat deep...The biggest problem the defense has had is finishing games...Well they played well in the 4th and OT, but got beat down in the 3rd...So now the goal has to be for the defense to play a complete game...

Seriously, I need to puke...I don't know if I can handle another long, painful, season...Oh, and Mark Dantonio, great call...I hate you!

Later, The Beeze.

 
In what may have been the most exciting game on Saturday, I had to watch my Fighting Irish lose to rival Michigan...By Michigan I mean the one man wrecking crew that is Denard Robinson...

The Notre Dame offense put up 535 yards of total offense, which is a bit surprising since starting Quarterback Dayne Crist was out for most of the first half after losing vision in his right eye on a one yard touchdown run...The lack of depth, talent, and experience at QB showed...But Crist let his team back from a 21-7 deficit in the second half...Late in the 4th quarter Crist connected with Tight End Kyle Rudolph for a 95 yard touchdown strike...The Irish were up 24-21...It was time for the defense to do what they couldn't do under Charlie Weis...It was time to finish...

But Robinson wouldn't be denied...He lead the Wolverines on 72 yard game winning drive...Michigan goes up 28-24 with 27 seconds left...Notre Dame has one last shot...I guess the defense still needs to work on that finishing thing, huh?

Crist quickly moved the Irish into scoring position...With six seconds left he had one shot at the end zone, but didn't give his talented group of big receivers a shot for a jump-ball...Instead he sailed the ball into the Michigan band...

Another bitter loss to Michigan has ruined another weekend for me...That said, watch out Big-Ten...Looks like Rich Rod has his QB and system in place...Everyone in Michigan was ready to shit-can this guy, but I think that has changed after last weeks win over UConn, and now this win over ND...Now the question is how far can Robinson take this team? Another question...Are the teams in the Big-Ten ready to try and stop this guy? Denard Robinson is going to make things a little more interesting...

For the Irish...Watching this game film won't be fun...Something tells me it's going to be a tough week of practice for the defense...

Later, The Beeze.