Deja vu....? I feel like we've been here before.. GO IRISH!

Something just seems very familiar about this season?...

It's always.."But wait till they play _________."

OR

 "When they play ________ they  will get tested!"

OR

"We won't know who they are until they play ________."

This is old hat for Notre Dame fans, until we stand holding

the trophy we will NEVER receive the respect we deserve

because...We are Notre Dame!

It's like all the people that "HATE" on that one guy that

graduated with them from High School, that actually  

accomplished something...

It wasn't his work ethic...."He got lucky!"

It wasn't his dedication to his craft..."He met the right people!"

It wasn't being a good businessman..."It was, right

place right time!"

You want respect?...You gotta SHOW UP!

EVERY DAY-EVERY PRACTICE

on

EVERY SNAP of EVERY DOWN!

We beat Purdue...I was there!
That's what we were SUPPOSED to do!

Lucky "Maddy Marie" necklace and all!

So what did INDY prove to us...Well one thing is,

this is NOT the 2012 squad!

That we do, what we should do, to teams that are not on our

level...We beat them, and it's not even close!

We beat them...

48-17 

37*-0

30-14

The same margin of victory for other squads is 

"DESTROYING" someone...for ND it's 

"struggling"? 

A Washington State team that LOST to Rutgers,

and then LOST to Nevada takes the Ducks 

to the brink of destruction and what....

"OREGON SHOWS WHO THEY ARE!"

"Marriotia is a Heisman champion!" 

vs Washington State? by a TD??

LSU losses to an UNRANKED team at home 

and what?....Not a peep? 

But ND shuts out Purdue in the 2nd half and wins by 

more than 2 TDs and we..."Struggled" ?

Not a word about their 2nd TD being off a
fumble in the red zone??? 

We beat the teams on our schedule walking away, 

that we should beat WALKING AWAY!

3 games so far this season, entering the 4th 

quarter, NONE were even close!

That's the difference between 2012 and today...

That's what I expect to see Saturday...but we have to realize

that there are 2 sets of standards in college football..

We beat Purdue on a "neutral site" by 16 and we were

 "sleepwalking"?

ESPN:
Oregon had "INJURIES"

ND was playing without :

Redfeild/Collingsworth
Luke/Russel
Ishaq/Trumbetti
Grace

Daniels/Hunter
Amir for 1/2

Not a word on ESPN about our "injuries"?

We shut Michigan out at home in an "historic" game

and...The game was "Closer than the score showed."?

"Michigan had 4 turnovers!" -Howard

Yeah...we were leading 21-0 before the 

1st one!

This is the college football world we live in, so you have

to stop and step away and do some "analytical" 

research to form an "educated" opinion of the 

state of Notre Dame football.

What have we learned so far? 

WE ARE:

We have no clue yet how this team will react to:

1. Hostile environment

2. We have O line issues

3. We have 5 players in "LIMBO"

4. Injuries

5. Can we come from behind?

6. Can we close out a close 4th quarter game?

We are a work in progress right now...We've proved only 

one thing so far...WE BEAT WHO WE SHOULD BEAT!

Now...moving forward do we beat teams that are on our

level...Or maybe a step above?

Who steps up when adversity shows it's ugly head? 

We have allowed 1 TD in the 2nd half in our first 3 games!

Are we really that good at 1/2 time adjustments?

Is Van Gorder as good as we hope he is?

Is Everett as good as we think he is?

We have questions, and we will take one step closer to answering 

them on Saturday night vs Syracuse!

Who is Syracuse?

We know they are good at the Freshmen 15!

Football?

They've played the 78th Strength of Schedule

They have impressive wins vs:

Central Michigan..but so did Kansas..?

They beat Villanova by 1 pt...

(yes in football!)

Then got beat pretty well by Maryland!

Who may just be the worst team in 

the Big Ten...I know, that's hard to believe!

They are 54th vs the pass

They are 26th vs the run

And..the O seems like they can 

score...vs? Who they'e played?

This game for me is like thowing spaghetti

against a wall...let's see what sticks!

We need to "experiment" a bit with Cuse!

Try a guy here and there and see how it
works out!

Get Tori some touches, get the O line fixed!

Throw some things in the game plan you've not
tried, and see how they work!

Get the game out of hand early...and let Malik
close it out throwing the ball around!

Now...at no point do I feel I know how to coach, 

but from my pub I have two eyes and some things 

have jumped out to me!

First thing?...It's time feed the BEAST!

Let's take a walk through our 11 offensive possessions.

Drive one: FOLSTON: Great field position, Folston had
a few good runs...ends in TD!

Drive Two: CAM: stalled drive missed field goal

Drive Three: BRYANT: Starts on our 20, Huge
plays from Bryant, we get to the ONE foot line
can't punch it in..ends in points FG!

Drive Four: FOLSTON: After the Purdue fumble,
we fumble and hand the ball right back!

Drive Five: CAM: He lines up in the back field for ONE
run for 4 yards...Golson goes 5 wide we score TD!

Drive Six: FOLSTON: Holding call costs us big..PUNT

Drive Seven: BRYANT: We start on our 38, few good
carries HUGE 3rd down catch to convert, and we score..TD

Drive Eight: CAM: punt

Drive Nine: FOLSTON: We start on our 30, has few good
carries, great screen pass catch..an illegal formation call
costs us, and we kick a FG...Points!

Drive Ten: BRYANT: After Butlers pick we are on
Purdue's 45...now heres the "X FACTOR" of Bryant
even being on the field...We run read option and Golson
takes off for yards...The D when he's in the game focuses
on him, and even when he doesn't touch the ball he
makes an IMPACT!...FG points!!

Drive Eleven: CAM: Joe's pick puts us in a position to
just end the game by taking a knee..we run 3 plays
and PUNT!

I may not be a coach...but I can see a play maker when I see one!

FEED THE BEAST!

I love Cam..don't get me wrong..but until Bryant needs
a break, and Folston is outta breath...let him watch, then
bring him in to close the game!

We are about to have the opportunity to make
statements on the national stage!

Let's get our issues worked out so we
can do exactly that!

GOD BLESS AND GO IRISH!

Well..What did we learn? GO IRISH!

There's an old saying that if something walks like a duck..

Quacks like a duck...

Has feathers like a duck....

It's a duck!

WOW...That game didn't exactly go the way my 

Michigan buddies thought it would....Or the way 

I thought it would....Well since Kelly has had all "HIS" players

in the seats...He's 2-3 vs the Wolverines.

Including a HISTORIC ass whipping, we all witnessed 

last weekend...So what did America learn?

To the educated they learned...VanGorder can 

fist pump is ass off, better than ANY member of the 

Jersey Shore!

We learned that Golson is as legit as advertised!

Our overall team "speed" is what we'd thought it was...

And...Michigan is...Not as far away as you think, from

running things in the Big Ten...

Yep...you read that right!

Let me take you for a bit of a trip down memory lane!

Imagine this lineup vs ANYONE with 

"Brian Kelly" as coach..

QB-Jimmy Clausen 

*currently with the Chicago Bears

WR-Golden Tate

*super bowl champion now with Detroit

WR-Michael Floyd

*currently with Arizona 

Slot WR-Theo Riddick

*currently with Detroit 

TE-Kyle Rudolph

*currently with Minnesota 

RB-Robert Hughes

*currently with Arizona 

RB-Armando Allen

*former Chicago Bear

OLine-John Sullivan

*currently with Minnesota

OLine-Sam Young 

*currently with Jacksonville

OLine-Trevor Robinson

*currently with Bengals

Oh..and on the D?...

LB-Manti Teo

*currently with San Diego

DT-Trevor Laws

*former Eagle

DB-Harrison Smith

*top 15 NFL draft pick

current with Minnesota

DB-Darrian Walls

*currently with NY

DB-Robert Blanton

*currently starting for Minnesota 

DT-Ian Williams

*currently starting for San Fran

Ryan Harris-Jonas Gray-Fasno-Fleming

Carlson-Bruton

See where I'm going here????

Charlie could recruit talent!

Charlie could call plays!

Charlie could destroy a buffet and burp 

his way through a presser!

CHARLIE COULN'T DEVELOP TALENT!

Michigan has a few simple issues to fix 

but they are dealing with a double edged sword!

With their schedule Hoke could trip his way 

to 8 wins...If he splits Penn State and O$U,

which neither look very good, 

lose to MSU..which is gonna happen...

He's 9-3, and he's safe!

You just put a band aid on a issue rather than 

a stitch!

Hoke- Early success with already developed talent,

then recruited well and couldn't ever put it together!

Weis- Early success with already developed talent,

then recruited well and couldn't ever put it together!

Tell yourself whatever you need to hear Michigan nation!

But if it walks like Charlie...

Recruits like Charlie...

Eats like Charlie...

And loses like Charlie...

It's Charlie!

HE'S YOUR WEIS!!!

This doesn't come from me "hating" Michigan...Very opposite 

actually!  I don't "dislike" Michigan unless they are facing 

Notre Dame!

Coaching...that's your issue!

He's not paying attention to the little things!

Exhibit A:

HOW THE HELL IS THIS A D-1 LINEMAN!

Look at him...look at his lack of traps???? 

Has he been in the weight room?

Where does chin one end and chin two begin?

He's out of shape and got MAN HANDLED by a first year

starting soph NT!

It was legalized assault what Jarron Jones did to this kid!

I LIVE IN COLUMBUS OHIO!!! 

You don't think I "kinda" grew up rooting for MICHIGAN

at least ONE DAY A YEAR???

One of my longest and closest friends in the world

LOVES MICHIGAN (notice the

Denard T-shirt) as much as he loves 

butchering the English language!

Trust me we've celebrated "Birf-Days" together!

Hell...he told me yesterday he expects us to 

re-match in the four team playoff???

 Yeah...he bleeds Maize and Blue!!

This is from the HEART!

Your one great coach from returning to GLORY!

And this ain't him!

You have NFL caliber talent ALL OVER that team!

It's just not gonna happen with Hoke...

Now...on to our beloved IRISH!

It's gonna be a long night and hopefully paramedics

will be standing by....cause Purdue is HORRIBLE!

They've played the 171st Strength of Schedule!

And they are 1-1

They have quarterback issues!

They have the 97th ranked rush D so this should

be a fun night for this guy!

With teams averaging almost 200 yards on the ground 

per game, they are  47th in pass D...there's another

210 yards in the air!

They beat a horrible Western Michigan team by 11!

They got ass crammed by Central Michigan!

And now they get the IRISH full of confidence, rolling

and hitting on all cylinders and in a dome!

Yeah...this could be like the first 30 seconds of a

Tyson fight in his prime!

So next time your sitting around and decide to criticize

the direction of THE Notre Dame Fighting IRISH...

Take a good long look at the list of NFL talent...that 

Notre Dame didn't get a chance to fully enjoy!

Thanks Coach!

SPEED KILLS

GOD BLESS AND GO IRISH!

Cheers my IRISH family....Here's to you!  

SUCK IT MGOBLOG! 

What?...GO IRISH!

CON~FU~SION: noun: The state of being bewildered

in one's mind about something.

This is the only way I can describe the Notre Dame 

vs Michigan games say...oh the last

EIGHT YEARS!

It was an pretty normal series..until!

It started in 2004 when Darius Walker erupted on UM 

and then again when UM was no.3 in the country and 

ND went in under Weis, and then did it again!

Flash forward...Now, NEVER, in all my years of watching

college football have I seen my Irish lose to a team they 

were better than more...than Michigan!

In fact I think the only team luckier than Michigan 

playing Notre Dame is Ohio State playing Michigan!

So this game in my opinion is a bit confusing!

I mean we all know we don't like each other!

The best team rarely wins...

It's week two so it's extremely hard to understand 

who either team is...

Michigan sounded clubbed Appy State

Which was like watching this pup spend the 

weekend at Michael Vick's house!

Now with that being said Appy still rushed for 

over 4.3 yards per carry and converted 2 outta 3

4th downs, and Appy is HORRIBLE!

This game was dominated by Gardner and Funchess 

who make no mistake are dangerous!

Now which Gardner is gonna show up?

The one we faced last year, or the one Toledo almost beat? 

Funchess...not a blazer but good size and hands!

Green DESTROYED a defense that may be 

"slightly" better than most really good high 

school teams...So what can we get outta this? 

NOTHING!

Notre Dame soundly took apart Rice.

Now don't come at me with this "Rice won ten 

games each of the last two seasons!" crap...
Yeah..they did, vs AIR!

Rice "Tresseled" it...They played NO ONE!

So here's Rice...

Slightly bigger...Slightly meaner...

Really small dog!

Granted Rice does have a legit 1st round 

draft pick on their D line, that we didn't hear

his name ALL DAY!...But the supporting cast around

him was pretty weak...

ND dominated every aspect of the game..and 

THEY SHOULD HAVE!

But with that being said a few things did jump out to me.

1. The game was clean: Penalties/mental errors etc. 

2 Penalties in the ENTIRE game..

2. Golson is no longer "Stepping over dimes

to pick up pennies!" 

What I mean by that is, in 2012 when the pocket would 

break down he'd jet!!

Now...when he sees that 5 to 7 yard run he continues to 

buy time, and look down field, for the 20 or 30 yard 

pass rather than the 5 yard run....Maturity! 

3. SPEED: WR-SPEED RB-SPEED LB-SPEED

This is the fastest overall team I'd say that ND has 

had in over 30 years!

Top to bottom!

4. BIG FROSH...The Freshman now blend in with the 

rest of the team...the size difference between them and 

the rest of college football is nothing!

So what should we expect?

Well that's the tricky part...on paper ND is the favorite,

Vegas realizes it!

Michigan's O line?...Better?
We'll see!

Does Michigan have any other receivers?...

All 3 TDs Funchess!  Out of the 16 complete

passes almost 50% went to Funchess!
We'll see!

Can Michigan's secondary keep up with the speed

that ND has at WR?...Sparty couldn't..We know 

that Peppers isn't 100%!...
We'll see!

Now flip that coin to the IRISH!

Did we really play as vanilla of a D scheme as 

Kelly led us to believe vs Rice?

We'll see!

Is the O line really as good as we think?

We'll see!

Is Golson really as good as he looked..or was that

just a great example of 4 and 5 star players

vs 2 and 3 star players? 

We'll see!

ARE WE REALLY GONNA HAVE
A RETURN GAME?

We'll see!

Each team has something to prove!

Notre Dame wants to show Michigan that

when they asked for the series to end...it 

was no big deal to us!

Hence the announcement today!

Hoke in my opinion is coaching for his job

this season...I mean UM will only take so many

7 win seasons and losses to "big brother" and

 Ohio State before the "Michigan man" 

is shown the door.
Is he the Charlie Weis of Michigan football? 

So this..."end" of a great series is playing right into
the hype machine and about to be on full display
on NBC....
We'll see!

I'd love to tell you what you want to hear, and that I'm
predicting a slightly closer game than Rice...but if history
has shown us anything. It' s that ND has had gun fights with
Michigan numerous times in the past.  The outcome wasn't
talent...the outcome wasn't coaching...the outcome wasn't a
lack of weapons...It just seemed like they were using a
weird gun...

Let's get 2014 off on the right foot this year boys...
And not shoot ourselves....

GO IRISH & GOD BLESS!

ATTENTION
UPDATE ON THE SUSPENDED PLAYERS!

The committee is meeting right now!

They got a team of monkeys working around the clock to
make a decision on a investigation that was
"supposedly" over A WEEK AGO!