(photo by Associated Press) Jimmy Clausen threw for a career high 347 yards and three touchdowns and the Irish defense was very opportunistic, intercepting Stanford three times, as the Irish held on for a 28-21 victory over the Stanford Cardinal on Saturday and improved to 4-1.
The Irish took a 28-7 lead into the fourth quarter and closed out the game by forcing Stanford to a turnover on downs with 2:24 left. Stanford got the ball again with eight seconds left but fumbled on their own 10 yard line to end the game.
Clausen, who has had back-to-back career games in terms of passing yards, (275 and 347 yards respectively) looked to have total command of the offense this week as he completed 29-40 passes. His three touchdown passes were from 21, 48, and 16 yards out.
Michael Floyd led the Irish receivers with five catches for 115 yards. Floyd and Clausen connected on a 48-yard touchdown pass late in the second quarter to give the Irish a 21-7 halftime lead. The Irish put the finishing touches on with a 16 yard touchdown reception to Kyle Rudolph. While the Irish running game struggled, 83 yards on 27 carries, the passing game dominated the Stanford defense winning the time of possession 33:20 to 26:40.
The Good
Clausen clearly is coming into his own with the passing game. He threw the deep ball very well today connecting on seven passes of 20 yards or longer. He spread the ball well, completing passes to seven different receivers and did not turn the ball over.
The Irish played a bend but do not break style on defense. On their first offensive possession Stanford drove from their own 26 down to the Notre Dame 34 before David Bruton intercepted a TavitaPritchard pass. That interception led to a 21 yard touchdown pass to Armando Allen to give Notre Dame an early 7-0 lead. On their second possession, the Cardinal drove down to the Irish 29 yard line and Pritchard threw his second interception of the game. On the day, the Irish defense had three interceptions and sacked Pritchard five times.
Punter Eric Maust had two punts that pinned Stanford inside of their own 5-yard line.
The Bad
The Irish defense was run all over today. Stanford averaged 6.6 yards per carry, led by running back Toby Gerhart's 104 yards. The Irish have to go back to the drawing board and develop a better game plan against the run as they travel next week to Chapel Hill to take on the 4-1 North Carolina Tar Heels who demolished the 24th ranked UConn Huskies 38-12 yesterday. The Heels are averaging 120 rushing yards per game.
The Ugly
Field goal kicking is an area that greatly needs to improve. Brandon Walker was 0-2 in field goal attempts (41 and 47 yards). Neither field goal was close. Charlie Weis says that in practice Walker is constantly put in pressure situations and continues to come through. Unfortunately for Weis, Walker is 1-7 on field goal attempts for the season with his only made field goal (41 yards) came last week against Purdue.
What's Next
Notre Dame will travel to Chapel Hill this week to take on the North Carolina Tar Heels in a battle of 4-1 teams.
Coming off an impressive second half showing against Purdue which made the Irish 3-1 on the young season, Notre Dame welcomes the Stanford Cardinal to South Bend this Saturday afternoon. Coming one week before the Irish visit Chapel Hill, and likely their toughest opponent before USC, this turns into an immediate trap game for the Irish in my eyes. So, what does Notre Dame have to do on Saturday to be ensure a 4-1 record when they travel to North Carolina next week?
In order to win Saturday the Irish will have to slow down the Cardinal running game, something Notre Dame failed to do in their only loss of the season at Michigan State. Stanford is just as much run-dominated as MSU, but the Cardinal lack the talent MSU offered. Toby Gerhart will get the bulk of the carries for the Cardinal as he enters this weekend with 74 carries for 421 yards this season, an average of 5.7 per. Stanford will also look to Anthony Kimble who enters with 248 rush yards on the season and an average of 5.3 yards per rush. Simply put, Stanford is going to try and use the run to beat Notre Dame and keep the game as low scoring as possible. It will be up to the defense to be able to answer the call and stop Stanford. Force them into third and longs, obvious passing downs because:
Led by quarterback TavitaPritchard (61/108 for 691 yds, 4 TD, 4 INT) do not expect to see the Cardinal relying on their passing game to win the game. Pritchard is an average college quarterback at best and will cough the ball up under pressure, so I would like to see a score or two set up by way of the interception on Saturday for Notre Dame. Get to Pritchard and make him make a mistake or two, its bound to happen...again.
The wideouts Stanford brings to South Bend are not quite as talented as the grouping we saw a week ago from Purdue, but they bring more depth at the position. Ryan Whalen is the go-to receiver, but four other receivers (Doug Baldwin, Richard Sherman, Tony Gerhart, and Austin Gunder) all have eight or more receptions. These wideouts will leave a mark if not taken seriously, but are a very average group that the secondary should be plenty-able to handle.
On offense we will likely see Notre Dame attempt to run the ball as they try to find the same success they had in the second half of the Purdue game. Armando Allen enters the weekend as the number one tailback after his coming out party last weekend. Let's hope this wasn't a one time thing for 2008 and that Allen can begin to be counted on to pick up yards. A week ago he wasn't trying to be fancy, just using his speed and outrunning defenders. Depending on whether or not the offensive line shows up to play the same way, Allen and company may be in for another big day on the ground, Stanford has allowed over 3.5 yards per rush three separate times already this year, going 1-2 in those games. As usual, Robert Hughes and James Aldridge should also see carries.
What about the passing game of Notre Dame - how will it effect the outcome of Saturday's game? Any time you have playmakers left and right like Notre Dame has in Tate, Floyd, and Kamara, expect them to be a major part in the contest. Arizona State was able to pass the ball all over the field against Stanford and won going away. This week we will use the run to set up the pass and see close to the same results, I have to figure. Stanford does not offer the same kind of athletes that Notre Dame does in the position matchup here and, if given time, Jimmy Clausen could be in for another big afternoon.
Notre Dame enters this weekend with the best kick coverage in the nation, in large part because of the play of everyone's favorite grinder, Mike Anello. Sadly, the field goal unit is amongst the worst statistically. The good news is that Brandon Walker made a field goal to put the Irish up by three possessions last week. Let's hope that helps his confidence and carries over to this week. Aaron Zagory enters Saturday as a true weapon on special teams for Stanford as he has been good on 6 of 7 field goals this season. Give the edge to Stanford there.
In order to win Notre Dame can't get caught looking ahead to North Carolina next weekend and I am scared to death of this occurring. If the Irish are able to not entirely stop, but simply contain the running game of Stanford, it should be a runaway. If not, the Irish may be in for a scare.
I expect to see Notre Dame struggle defensively in much of the first half before they find success in slowing down Stanford. However, I do not see any way that Stanford slows down Notre Dame enough to win it at the end.
Nick (4-0) Says: Notre Dame 39 Stanford 27 Mark "Freshly-50" (4-0) Says: Notre Dame 42 Stanford 24 Sidenote: Anyone else want to see David Grimes catch a touchdown pass to make up for last year's BS that occurred out west?
An already solid start to Notre Dame's class of 2013 got a little bit stronger on Wednesday as Nyshier Oliver became the fifteenth commitment to the Irish who rank 14th in the nation according to both Scout and Rivals in the recruiting front. What will Nyshier do for the Fighting Irish when he breaks out the gold and blue next fall?
Oliver, a likely safety, is rated as a 4-Star safety on Scout while Rivals grades him slightly lower as he comes in at three stars as an athlete. Oliver has played on both sides of the ball in high school and will be able to add depth at whichever position Charlie Weis and company decide to have him play at Notre Dame.
Oliver originally committed to the University of Tennessee before withdrawing his commitment in mid-August. A day after those events occurred Charlie Weis offered a scholarship in which Oliver accepted Tuesday night.
Notre Dame now has 15 commitments for this years recruiting class and are ranked 14th in the nation in both the Rivals and Scout rankings. From all of us at Domer Sports Report, welcome to Notre Dame Nyshier!
2010 recruit Kayla McBride has verbally committed to play basketball for the University of Notre Dame. The 5-foot-11 McBride, from Erie, Pennsylvania, called Notre Dame women's basketball coach MuffetMcGraw on Monday night with the news. She said she had seen enough to be able to make a decision.
Notre Dame is getting a good one in McBride. She is currently rated as the number 33 recruit in the ESPN Hoopgurlz Super Sixty for the class of 2010. She was being recruited by many of the top programs, including Connecticut, Bowling Green, Ohio State, USC, Stanford, Duke and Vanderbilt.
It is no secret that Notre Dame covets 2009 recruit Skylar Diggins. But, in Kayla McBride, they are assured of a guard in a similar mold.
So, why did McBride choose Notre Dame? McBride said, "I love the coaches, players and their style of play. Just as important, I feel Notre Dame is the best fit for me academically, athletically and for my future. There really is no other place like Notre Dame."
According to her coach, Doug Chuzie, Notre Dame is getting a highly skilled player. But, it is not just her physical skills that puts her in the elite category. "My favorite thing about Kayla's game is her competitive streak," Chuzie said. "I'm not sure what is more important to her winning or not losing. She brings enthusiasm and toughness with her every day to both practice and games. Kayla's passion for the game of basketball is absolutely contagious."
Ironically, McBride will not have to change school nicknames. She currently plays for the Irish in high school. And her AAU team name? None other than Irish AAU 17U (17 and under).
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A year ago we remember the match up in which the Irish waited until they trailed, 23-0, before showing any signs of life in West Lafayette. That game was a coming out party of sorts as Golden Tate emerged on the scene with a touchdown on three receptions for over 100 yards receiving. As the story goes, we all remember that it would take until week one of 2008 to hear from Golden in such a way again.
When the Boilermakers enter South Bend this Saturday they will be led under the Golden Dome one last time under the reigns of head coach Joe Tiller. Tiller, who will retire at the end of the season became Purdue's all-time winningest coach last week, passing Jack Mollenkopf. Tiller looks to finish his career against Notre Dame right at the .500 mark as he enters Saturday 5-6 all time against the Fighting Irish, but only 1-4 in South Bend. Often under appreciated, one can not argue that Joe Tiller has put Purdue football back on the map after a rough start to the 1990's.
The Boilermakers come in fresh off of a come from behind win against familiar foe, Central Michigan. Trailing by one with under two minutes to go, Kory Sheets took a handoff 46 yards to give Purdue their second win of the season. What must Notre Dame do in order to keep Purdue from leaving South Bend with a 3-1 mark Saturday? Lets take a look...
The Purdue offense enters dangerous as usual, led by very possibly the most pro-ready quarterback in next years NFL Draft, Curtis Painter. Painter may not have the same kind of weapons around him like he has in years past, but is still a dangerous quarterback who will not let the hectic Notre Dame blitz get in his head. Painter is coming off of an impressive 27-of-36 showing against Central Michigan where he threw for 261 yards and a touchdown. One negative of Painter so far this fall, his interception total matches his touchdown total with three a piece. Don't worry too much about him fleeing the pocket, but when Notre Dame blitzes it will be important they get to him in a hurry because he will make them pay if they fail to.
Kory Sheets carries the bulk of the weight in the Purdue run game as he enters leading the team in touchdowns with six, and two of them coming one week ago. Personally, I would like to see the Irish slow down Sheets and make Painter beat them. I'm not saying Painter is a bad quarterback by any means as I have already stated how pro-ready he is, but his receivers this year aren't quite the receivers of previous Purdue teams.
Kevin Smith, Greg Orton, and Desmond Tardy are Painters go-to guys, all averaging over 50 yards a game this season. On third down and long Irish fans be wary as these will be the weapons of choice, don't expect any of these three to be the reason Purdue may walk out victorious on Saturday, if they do it will because of Kory Sheets.
The inability to run the football killed multiple drives early on in this past Saturday's game against Michigan State. This is a game where there should be no excuse for the Irish to not be able to run the football effectively. If they fail to, there will be nobody to blame besides themselves.
Purdue enters this week having major problems stopping the run. A week ago Central Michigan was able to spout off just under four yards a carry for the entire afternoon against the Boilers. Previous to that, Oregon ran all over the Purdue defense in a game they averaged 7.1 yards per carry, on their way to a 306 yard day on the ground. As I stated, expect Charlie Weis and Notre Dame to try and use the combination of Robert Hughes, Armando Allen, and James Aldridge. If Notre Dame can't run the football against Purdue, then I am scared to see what the rest of the season brings in this department.Although Purdue is better against the pass than they are the run, they have still had troubles this season in stopping teams through the air. The Ducks of Oregon aired out right at 200 yards of passing offense while Central Michigan's Dan Lefevour threw for 291 yards a week ago. The defensive line is the strong point of the Purdue defense, but if the Irish line can give Jimmy Clausen time, much like they did against Michigan, expect Clausen to have a big day if the running game fails.
Remember the game plan against Michigan which was to try and use play-action early on to take advantage of the weak secondary of the Wolverines? Expect the exact opposite this Saturday. I fully expect to see Notre Dame come out and try to pound away at the Purdue defense on the ground, then setting up a play-action deep ball. Then again, if the Irish have success running they may not stop either.
Special teams on both sides of the ball will be an exhibit in what not to do this Saturday. Both Purdue and Notre Dame enter this weekend with subpar field goal units. Sadly the edge probably does go to Notre Dame in this department as they have at least covered kicks slightly better than Purdue to this point in the season. I hope this game does not come down to field goals because it could last until eternity if it did.
I would like to see a few things from the Fighting Irish this Saturday that would let me breathe easier and be able to expect a win.
1 - Stop a Third and Long...Please! Each opponent has converted a third down and long this season and wound up getting points as a result. It would be nice to see the Irish not allow a Purdue first down this weekend when they give the Boilermakers over seven yards to get.
2 - No Dumb Penalties...Enough said but I'll say more! A week ago we saw Sam Young get called for a personal foul while the Irish were setting up show in their first possession of the game. It may not have directly amounted in points for Michigan State, but it killed any hopes of Notre Dame picking up a third down and did not help in the field position battle. Its a little thing but it goes a long way at the end of the day.
3 - Turnovers...Must win this battle! The last two weeks Notre Dame has been given a free lesson in winning the turnover battle. Michigan was obviously for the better and MSU for the worse. Win the turnover battle, convert turnovers into points and 9 out of 10 times you win the game.
4 - Let Golden make a play! Golden Tate has emerged as legit playmaker on this offense. There aren't a whole lot of go-to guys like this on Notre Dame for the time being. He's a weapon and a proven go-to guy so far this season. When he gets touches good things happen, so make sure he gets the ball in his hands.
Prediction Time:
The Irish run game takes steps in the right direction while mixing in some long passes along the way as well. After seeing amongst the best running games in the nation a week ago Notre Dame slows down Purdue in that aspect...
Nick (3-0): Notre Dame 27 Purdue 21 Mark (3-0): Notre Dame 34 Purdue 21 Joe (2-1): Wait to See...
Like to talk about Notre Dame sports? Have a gripe? Are you excited about the upcoming game? Are you still dwelling on the past game? Well, we are the place for you! Domer Sports Report now has a chat room.
Initially, Domer Sports Report will have scheduled chats, regularly, on Thursdays at 8. The first one will be held on Thursday, September 25, 2008. To be taken to the chat room, please click here. It's easy. All you do is choose a user name, enter it and click login. In a few seconds you are there. You all are invited. We hope to see as many of you as possible over in our chat room. So, whether you love Notre Dame or are an opponent, you are welcome!
We'd also like to invite you to our message board. The board seems to be building up nicely, lately. But, the more, the merrier. So, come on over and join in on the fun. There is also still time to enter our prediction contest.
We also have exciting news for the future. We are currently researching the possibility of having an internet radio show. Once we finalize the plans we will let you know. So, we hope that you will join in and participate. You can just listen or actually call in with your comments and questions.
Joe, Nick and I (Mark) look forward to seeing you in chat as well as on the message board!
Two years, its really been that long? It seems like just yesterday I was sitting by my computer in my dorm room, listening to all the things in the world that went wrong for the Spartans in East Lansing by none other than Mike Valenti. In a way, that was a turning point for MSU as they struggled the rest of the season and replaced John L. Smith with Mark Dantonio after 2006. Needless to say, its been a change for the better in Spartan-land.
The Fighting Irish of Notre Dame hit the road this weekend for the first time in 2008 as they enter East Lansing in hopes of improving to 3-0 on the year. Fresh off of a 35-17 victory over Michigan, the Irish must improve on a few aspects of the game if they hope to pull an upset as they enter as 8.5 point underdogs to a 2-1 Michigan State team.
When Michigan State has the Ball:
Irish fans meet Javon Ringer.
Remember him? Hes the guy who has been tormenting the Irish for the past decade or so it seems when its really only been the past three seasons. He will enter Saturday just shy of 500 rushing yards with a total of 498 as he runs for just under five a carry at 4.8 yards per attempt. Simply put, stop him or even slow him down and the chances of pulling out a win in East Lansing sky rocket.
What is concerning about the fact that Ringer is the go-to man offensively is how the Irish performed last week against Sam McGuffie of Michigan. Only a freshman, McGuffie was able to scrap off 131 yards on twenty-five carries. Ringer is bigger, stronger, faster, and more experienced than McGuffie so the Irish defensive front will have no choice but to improve before this weekend.
Michigan State fans were very high on Brian Hoyer entering this season after he showed potential in his first season as the starting quarterback a year ago. Unfortunately for Spartan fans, Hoyer has struggled through the first three weeks of 2008, completing only 44% of his passes with just one touchdown thrown. The good of Hoyer? He's thrown just one pick so far in 75 attempts. It's obvious what this means Irish fans - make Michigan State put the ball in the air. Be able to do so and the Irish should be in business.
The Irish will also find a very capable deep threat in East Lansing this Saturday with Mark Dell. He has been the go to man for the Spartans in passing situations as he has hauled in over a third of the teams 36 receptions with thirteen of his own for 320 yards. BJ Cunningham is thrown to about half as much, but has still pulled in eight catches, averaging 17.4 yards per reception. Sure the stats with this are a bit intimidating, but remember, Hoyer's percentage of completed passes and know that getting pressure on the quarterback will be key. If the Irish can "make" him make a play instead of "let" him make a play they should be okay in pass defense.
To sum up the defense as a whole this weekend, I feel the Irish should do all in their power to control the running game and take their chances against Michigan State's passing game. Hoyer hasn't seen quite a defense like Notre Dame's so far this season. Do I mean the Irish bring that great of one to East Lansing? No. I mean what Notre Dame's gameplan consists of, which is blitz, blitz, and blitz again for the most part. To a quarterback that has not seen it before or at least - this season, this can reek havoc, expect the Irish to try and use that to their advantage in obvious passing downs.
When Notre Dame has the ball:
We saw Jimmy Clausen come alive in the fourth quarter against San Diego State and keep the momentum going into the first half against Michigan. Obviously, the weather and score of the game changed the Notre Dame gameplan for the second half, but the key stat to me from one week ago was the number 3.3. The Irish entered with a struggling running game and faced one of the best front-seven units in college football with Michigan, a team that was allowing right at one yard a carry against opponents entering last Saturday.
The Spartans bring a defense to the game Saturday which struggled very much against Cal in week one. Allowing 467 yards of total offense that day, as Michigan State struggled to find a way to slow down the Bears. I hope to see good weather this Saturday in East Lansing because this is a game where I feel the Irish are capable of throwing the ball around once again.
Coming off of last week it is easy to say this, but against Michigan State, I feel that it will be crucial for Notre Dame to get an early lead and to not turn the ball over. Golden Tate has been the go-to guy so far when the Irish have needed a play and for the most part he has come through for the Irish in 2008. The defense of Michigan State has allowed big plays this year, there is no reason why the Irish shouldn't be able to break one or two again this week.
Michigan State brings in talent, but a lot of question marks still lie in their defense where experience is not there in most respects. I feel that this game is going to turn into a shootout to some degree based on both teams defenses.
Notre Dame is facing a front-seven which is not nearly as talented as that of Michigan was. What does that mean exactly for the Irish? Success in establishing a running game as well as the ability to give Jimmy Clausen time to throw the ball down field. I would be surprised if the Irish offense can't put at least 24 points on the board this weekend.
Looking at special teams, that of Notre Dame's has come on very strong this season. Last week there were only two real mishaps, one when Armando Allen fielded a ball that was going out of bounds and gave the Irish poor field position, the other when a third quarter punt was partially deflected. Other than that special teams came up huge for Notre Dame, keeping Michigan deep in their own territory, something they need to do to Michigan State again this week.
I'll be honest, before writing this article and researching Michigan State a bit more, I did not like the Irish's chances too much in East Lansing. However, if Notre Dame can catch a couple of breaks and be able to do the things I talked about they should be in it late in the ballgame and we all know anything can happen then.
Unfortunately, I feel this week will be a bit of a hiccup for Notre Dame as Javon Ringer will prove to be just too much to handle.
Nick(2-0): Michigan State 34 Notre Dame 28 Mark (2-0): Michigan State 24, Notre Dame 13 Joe (1-1): Michigan State 34 Notre Dame 31 OT
...and they say Notre Dame fans never think their team has even a chance of losing. Let's hope for the best on Saturday.
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(photo by Associated Press)
