Kanka's Sports Page: 10/01/2004

Wednesday, October 27, 2004

“Why Carlyle Holiday Sometimes Misses Catching Punts” – An Inside Look at the Bob Davie Years

by Ellen Fitzgerald - Special to KankaNation

[Editor's Note: I wanted to massively edit this for flow, as I, too, have the same problem of thinking of things to add as background as I'm typing. But, I decided to leave it as is to capture the true essence of Ellen.]

Ok now I’m sure most of you all are thinking, “What does Carlyle Holiday’s performance this season have anything to do with his former coach, Bob Davie?” Well, to the untrained eye, they have absolutely nothing to do with each other, but to someone, like myself, who had the unique opportunity to observe Coach Davie on a daily basis, it has some meaning. I hence, give you my theory on this topic with a side order of some humorous Bob Davie stories.

Back when I was under the tutelage of Bob Davie, who I like to call B Diddy, Carlyle Holiday was a mere back up quarterback to Matt “I like to walk like a model” LoVecchio. Because of this, he had a bit of extra time on his hands. Now, in those days, the quarterbacks used to have their practice area, where they would congregate at the beginning of practice, right where us managers were shagging punts for the kickers. Now, one day, early in the season, a few female mangers, including myself, were shagging punts for the kickers like we did at the beginning of every practice.

Before I continue I guess I should explain how the beginning of practice went. The mangers get to the practice fields very early to set up the field, play manager football, and hang out. Towards the end of the manager football game, the kickers show up and a while later the rest of the team trickles in. As more players come, the mangers get practice rolling by tossing the ball around with the QBs and shagging for the kickers. As this is going on the coaches jog in.

Now back to the matter at hand. So one day, Coach Davie comes into practice and notices that female mangers are shagging punts for the kickers. This causes him to stop mid jog and approach us. He looked around with that confused look that you all know so well then said in his infamous Texas accent, “I don’t want you girls catching those footballs”. We all just stared at him and wondered why; we knew that we were doing a good job, but then he continued with his reason. “Girls shouldn’t catch punts because you might knock your teeth out and if you knock your teeth out, no man will marry you.” And he was serious.

Now a bit more background information for you. Bob Davie was seriously obsessed with other people’s love life. Apparently he is a very happily married man who loves his wife, and her cooking, very much and wants the same for others. He was always asking the graduate assistants about their dates while running defensive plays, trying to set up football players with mangers, and giving the female mangers tips on how to get a man.

So this brings me to my theory about Carlyle Holiday. I’m guessing that during the 2001 season, while he was just a back up quarterback, he was hanging around when Bob Davie told the female mangers that they should catch punts. He probably didn’t hear the whole thing since he is applying this to himself even though he is not a female. I guess he still wants to make his old coach, the man that recruited him to run the option at Notre Dame, proud of him by letting the ball bounce or missing it entirely so he won’t lose any on his teeth and will meet a nice girl and live happily ever after.

Ellen Fitzgerald is a periodic contributor to KankaNation. She is the website’s expert on sketchy stories involving old Notre Dame football players and all things that go on at Giant’s Stadium. In addition, she is a brilliant theorist on such sporting issues as “Why the Best Defensive Players Have Crazy Names and Hair” and “Why I Don’t Believe in Offensive Pass Interference”. She can be reached at efitzge2 @ alumni.nd.edu.

Tuesday, October 26, 2004

The Weekend in Review
100% Guaranteed Not Lip Synced

NCAA Football

Florida State 20, Wake Forest 17: Wait, where was I on this one? Was this on TV? Why did Florida State play so crapily when it wasn't raining? How did Xavier Beitia not miss the winning field goal?

Georgia 20, Arkansas 14: So, Georgia apparently isn't invincible. Or, maybe I'm just an idiot. But, Bullgod QB David Greene sure did up his draft stock with 382 passing yards in this one.

Texas 51, Texas Tech 21: Note: If ND goes 6-5 and accepts a crappy bowl bid versus Tech, RUN THE BALL! Texas ran for 351 yards, enough to overcome 403 passing yards from Texas Tech.

Michigan 16, Purdue 14: Hey, finally a big win on the road for Chad Henne. Meanwhile, Kyle Orton continues his Heisman-killing (and NFL career improving) campaign. Passing yards from his last four games: 385, 275, 235, 215. Those test must be really tough, huh?

Tennessee 17, Alabama 13: Watch a tape of this one, folks. Tennessee's run game can be contained. Freshman Erik Ainge can be contained. Meanwhile, Alabama got it together on the ground. The Vols are a beatable team.

LSU 24, Troy 20: So, when do the guys in the mustard blazers start passing out those cool little Fiesta Bowl stickers in Troy, Alabama?

Mississippi State 38, Florida 31: This was the straw that broke former Orville High head coach Ron Zook's back. Let the rumors start flying.

Texas A&M 29, Colorado 26: So, was this Colorado's week to show up or not? Either way, A&M looks to be on the right track.

Pitt 41, Rutgers 17: After a rough start, and a near loss to Furman, Pitt appears to be back on track, led by QB Tyler Palco.

tOSU 30, Indiana 7: Before you start praising the Buckeyes for getting back on track, know this: I watched this game, and Indiana looked like they have 11 Deion Sanderses running around on defense. Not so good.

The NFL

Eagles 34, Browns 31: As my dad put it, "a loss is a loss." No matter how you look at this one, the Browns are still 3-4, and Terrell Owens is still making the front page of sports websites.

Chargers 17, Panthers 6: Say what you want, but the QB who actually wants to play for San Diego (Drew Brees) is getting the job done. They're 4-3. In a division where only the Broncos are playing well, I wouldn't be surprised if the Chargers make the playoffs.

Lions 28, Giants 13: I didn't get to see this one, but I know Ellen at least likes me to comment on the Giants. The stats were OK, but it looks like they just couldn't put it in the end zone. Detroit holding Tiki Barber to 70 yards on the ground helped, though.

Dolphins 31, Rams 14: What happened in this one? Field position. Only two of Miami's scoring drives were shorter than 50 yards. One of those drives that were longer ended with a 71 yard TD pass.

Chiefs 56, Falcons 10: If Atlanta had one bright spot in this game, it was Allen Rossum's 75 yards punt return TD.

Patriots 13, Jets 7: I missed the second half of this one, but apparently it didn't matter. Neither team could score after halftime, and the streak continues.

Packers 41, Cowboys 20: Highlight of this one? Tony Fisher's 8 yard TD pass, which was pulled in nicely by Bubba Franks. Terry Glenn was 0/1 passing in this game, begging the question: When was the last time two or more non-quarterbacks completed a pass in the same game?

Bengals 23, Broncos 10: Where did this come from? Cincinnati couldn't come close to a competent offense last week. The blame, perhaps, goes to Denver's defensive coordinator. The Bengals said, "I wonder what happens when we throw at Champ Bailey." It worked the first time, so they kept going that way. Meanwhile, there was no safety help for Bailey, probably because it's been assumed that he didn't need it. Test and ye shall be rewarded. Fail to adjust, and you will be punished.

MLB Playoffs

Red Sox over Yankees: Finally, I can talk about this one. And, finally, the Sox got the breaks. Of course, they weren't really breaks. They were a case of the umpires doing the right thing. When an umpire was out of position, or wasn't sure of a call, he was smart enough to swallow his pride and call a conference. I would have gone nuts if the would have called a forfeit after that A-Rod call. Seeing the riot geared cops was good enough, though. Now we know that re-enacting 10 Cent Beer Night in the Bronx would be a terrible idea. I appreciate the Sox playing the role of underdog, but waiting until Rivera is in in the 9th when you're down is a bit much. Boston didn't fear Mariano, and they were rewarded, twice. The pitching staff was dominant after the blowout, lead by gutsy work by Curt Schilling, a great start by Derek Lowe against a lax game 7 Yankees lineup, and the pleasant surprise of Bronson Arroyo's relief dominance. I was going to to rip on Mark Bellhorn (mediocre defense at second and all he does is walk or strike out - I can do that!) and Johnny Damon (I can hit .100, and I probably have a better arm!), but the few hits they had in this series were absolutely clutch. Speaking of Damon - you'v all seen those "Jesus is My Homeboy" shirts by now, right? Spotted a "Damon is My Homeboy" shirt in the Fenway stands - looks just like the real thing, only with a picture of Johnny Damon. Extremely well done. Meanwhile, the Yankees just rolled over and died. Is there some rule that, once you join the Yankees, you have to become a whiny jerk? Because that's what happened to A-Rod. Poor baby must be frustrated. My favorite (or least favorite) part of this series? The post game reactions from the Yankees. They were incredibly depressed, and it almost seemed as if they wanted everyone to be sorry for them. Yeah, right, like there aren't 27 other teams sitting at home right now.

Cardinals over Astros: Little was expected from the Astros, but they put up quite a fight. It was so close that, after the Sox were down 3-0, I was going to write that I wished that this series was the World Series. These teams were so evenly matched in this one. Carlos Beltran started on a tear. Brad Lidge was a workhorse - 7 scoreless innings, 14 K's, 1 hit, and two walks over the course of 4 games. Had the Astros won this, and had Beltran not been the talk of baseball, Lidge had a very good argument for series MVP. Meanwhile, I absolutely scared myself as my predictions from 2 weeks ago started to come true. I mentioned that Houston would make a series of it, but I didn't think it would be quite this close. I was also very pleasantly surprised when Brandon Backe put his money where my mouth is. Backe gave up a single hit in 8 innings of shutout ball in a game five win. With all that said, St. Louis was just too good, and they won a series where the road team never won a game.

Red Sox vs. Cardinals: Boston may have won the first two, but this series isn't over yet. St. Louis has a huge advantage at home. Not only are the Cardinals built for the National League game, but their manager is also built for it. Sure, David Ortiz at first can turn your hair gray, but can he be any worse than Manny Ramirez in left? Terry Francona may have managed in the NL with the Phillies, but with the trouble he had with substitutions in the AL, do you really think he will handle the double switch well? Take into account Tony LaRussa, who is a managerial GENIUS, and these next 3 games will be good ones.

Saturday, October 23, 2004

1. This was in no way DJ's fault. There, that's my analysis for the game.

2. Theoretically, everyone here now has 2 full weeks to whine and gripe about the coaches and the team. Well, guess what - you don't. Any Monday Morning Quarterbacking/Coaching or reference to the BC game will be nuked. Period.

That is all.

Thursday, October 21, 2004

ND Football 2004
Issue 8: Boston College

BC Rush Offense vs. ND Rush Defense

Boston College seems to always have a good rusher in their backfield. This year, it's Andre Callender. Callender has only played in three of BC's 6 games due to a groin injury, but he should be healthy in this one. When he's playing, Callender has averaged 97 yards per game. When he's not, AJ Brooks and LV Whitworth are combining for 143 yards per game. Brooks is their version of Darius Walker, a true freshman with games of 95 and 160 yards this year. Put it together (and consider that my math sucks because Callender and Whitworth have only played 3 games each), and BC is gaining 162.3 yards per game on the ground. The line appears to be a plus for them as well - with a rushing attack like that, and only 7 sacks given up in 6 games, they would have to be.
Notre Dame has played the run well this year, considering the competition. They're giving up 105 yards per game on the ground, but have only surrendered 4 rushing TDs. Look for leading tackler Mike Goolsby to play big in this one - he's still not happy with the outcome of the game at ND two years ago, and he's looking for revenge. With run stopper Brandon Hoyte as the team's #2 tackle, and improved play by the rotation of defensive tackles, look for ND to once again play bend-but-don't-break against the run in this one.

ND Rush Offense vs. BC Rush Defense

Who will it be this week? It appears that defenses have finally figured out Darius Walker. Plus, he's becoming less agressive hitting the holes as of late. That being said, he's still averaging 77 yards per game. Ryan Grant had a big game against Navy, but this inside runner and his injury bug may have a little more trouble against a slightly bigger team. It won't be impressive, but the combined attack, with help from an outside run or two by Marcus Wilson, should be able to get the job done.
BC is giving up 99.5 rushing yards per game, but I'd warn you to check their schedule before calling that a good stat. Their leading tackler is linebacker Ricky Brown with 35. Another man to watch is DT Tim Bulman, with 7 of the team's 34 TFL. This is a quick team, so ND will have to look to the misdirection and good blocking - just not on third and short.

BC Pass Offense vs. ND Pass Defense

His last name isn't Hasselbeck, but Paul Peterson is still a rather efficient passer. Peterson is averaging 233.7 (two thirty three point seven! hoo hoo!) with 10 TDs and 6 interceptions. Like Brady Quinn, Peterson likes to spread the ball around. He has hit 14 different receivers, and he's not afraid to throw it to his backs. The leading receiver is wideout Grant Adams, with 27 catches and 67.7 yards per. Right behind Adams are #2 receiver Joel Hazard and... fullback Mark Palmer. Hazard and Palmer have caught 35 balls between the two, and are both averaging about 29 yards per game. Throw in no less than five more guys averaging more than 20 yards per game, and this is a very balanced attack.
Against a balanced attack, Notre Dame's D will have to be good from top to bottom. As mentioned above BC has given up only 7 sacks this year, but Justin Tuck will look to change this. ND's top 4 linebackers have combined for 8 sacks. If they're playing agressively against the run, they can get into the backfield and get to the quarterback. However, you'll probably also have to see them in coverage as well. I have a feeling our linebackers are athletic enough to cover their fullback and tight ends, but it will be the running backs they'll have to look out for. The defensive backs will have to play as a unit in this one, and that could come down to coaching and playcalling. Adams isn't a superstar, but even if you shut him down, there are plenty of other places to go. The entire ND 11 will have to give it their all on every play to prevent giving up the big play to the Eagles.

ND Pass Offense vs. BC Pass Defense

There have been some complaints about Brady Quinn lately, but I can't complain about a kid who doesn't turn 20 until next Wednesday, but is still throwing for 237 yards per game with 9 TDs and 5 INTs. Quinn has increased his receiver total this year to 18 as well. Notre Dame has basically put together a Big 5 of key targets for Quinn. Rhema McKnight is still The Man for Quinn, with 10 more catches than anyone else on the team. Anthony Fasano continues to be the best "safety valve" a guy could have. Maurice Stovall is stepping up as a clutch go-to guy this season, while Matt Shelton is proving he can be a big play threat no matter where you give him the ball. Just when you think you have those four figured out, along comes Jeff Samardzija for a first down along the sideline.
Pass defense has been the pride for this quick Eagle team, giving up a scant 176 yards per game. The stars are defensive end Mathias Kiwanuka and corner Will Blackmon, but free safety TJ Stancil has been a solid performer as well. Kiwanuka is second on the team in tackles, and has put up a staggering 9 tackles for loss, including 4 sacks. Blackmon has 29 tackles and 2 picks, while Stancil is third on the team with 32 tackles. Notre Dame will have to rely on good blocking and throwing the ball away from Blackmon - which could mean a big day for Stovall or Shelton.

Special Teams

Ryan Ohliger is 6-9 in field goals on the year, with a long of 42 and one miss each in the 20+, 30+, and 40+ range. Don't be confused about Ohliger's leg strength, though, as he does have 4 touchbacks on the year. Punter Johnny Ayers is exactly what you would expect from an OK, up and down team - an average of 37.2 yards, with a long of 57, 3 touchbacks, and 10 of 30 punts inside the 20.
On returns, Blackmon is again the guy to watch. He averages 10.6 per on punts, and a whopping 35.3 per on kickoffs. He already has a 96 yard touchdown off of a kickoff this year. Not so good. You can tell it's team discipline, too, as Grant Adams, the other kick returner, has an average of 27.7 per. BC also boasts a blocked punt this season.
On coverage, BC is slightly above average on kickoffs - 15.4 yards per - and slightly below on punts - 9.8 per.
For Notre Dame, DJ continues to be a pleasant surprise. He's 7-9 on field goals with a long of 47, and carries a 42.5 yard punt average with 17 of 42 inside the 20. Bobby Renkes is averaging 60.7 yards per kickoff, 5.3 yards better than Carl Gioia. Renkes also has 3 touchbacks.
Notre Dame's return teams have been, well, disappointing. Chase Anastasio has a decent 20.8 yard average per kick return, but his long of 40 is by far the best return for this team on the season. Carlyle Holiday somehow has an 8.4 yards per punt return average, despite continued single coverage on the opposing gunners.
Coverage teams have been two separate entities for the Irish. The kick coverage team has an OK avearge of 22.1, but they have given up 2 TDs on the year. Hold your breath in this one. Meanwhile, the punt coverage team has put up a nice 6.9 yards per average, lead by the fired-up play of the gunners flying down the field.

Look for a big game from
Grant, Stovall, Fasano, the DTs, Goolsby, and Hoyte.

ND 20, BC 16: Two by Grant (one long drive, one short after a turnover) and two by DJ. BC gets a field position TD (starting around their own 40), a return TD, a missed extra point, and a figgie. Just an ugly, ugly game.

Go Irish, Eat Bagles!

Wednesday, October 20, 2004

The Weekend in Review
Guaranteed No Ignorant Anti-BCS Whining (but don't rule out ignorant pro-BCS whining)

NCAA Football

West Virginia 31, UConn 19: So wait, WVU wasn't ranked on a single BCS computer poll? I wonder why.

Miami 41, Louisville 38: This was a great game until Louisville first decided to channel the spirit of Buzz Preston on punt coverage, and then decided to make Brock Berlin look good.

Wisconsin 20, Purdue 17: Poor Kyle Orton hasn't played well in the past two weeks, because he actually has to go to class. Two tests and a paper in classes that rival Andy Katzenmoyer's have taken a lot out of Orton. SportsPickle puts it best, though: "Kyle Orton successfully salvages any hope for a decent NFL career by blowing Heisman." My Buddy Matt did have a great point though - how was Wisconsin, an undefeated team with the #1 defense in the country, not ranked higher than #12? Well, give the SEC some credit, even those teams with losses, but he does have a point considering the parity this year in the top 25.

MSU 51, Minnesota 17: Um, OK. Run defense anyone? Or should the Gophers just join the PAC 10, where they don't have to worry about run defense and "cold" weather?

Iowa 33, tOSU 7: The Ohio State defense made Iowa QB Drew Tate look like an All-American (331 passing yards, 24 rushing, 4 total TDs). Meanwhile, the Iowa defense made the Buckeyes look like they don't have a quarterback or running back. Oh, wait. Nevermind.

Louisiana Tech 41, SMU 10: The top competition isn't doing much for LaTech's record (4-3), but it sure is doing something for their playing ability and talent, isn't it?

The NFL

Browns 34, Bengals 17: So, Pete, you had Lee Suggs as a fantasy receiver for this game, right? Because he had 100 receiving yards and a TD in this one. This was some game for the Browns offense - they basically put 51 points on the board. On Bengals TD came on a 5 yard fumble recovery. Cincy followed with a field goal coming off another Cleveland turnover, on a drive that basically started and ended on the 25 yard line. The only time Carson Palmer could put any sort of drive together was for 50 yards and a TD - again following a Cleveland turnover. Highlights abounded for the Browns. Jeff Garcia continues to be the anti-Tim Couch - Garcia is great at home but terrible on the road so far, whereas Couch was the exact opposite. Garcia had 310 yards and 4 TD passes, including a "record tying" 99 yard bomb to Andre Davis. William Green added 115 yards on the ground, but the best story from this game was Chad Johnson. Early last week, Johnson sent a bottle of Pepto Bismol to each of the Browns DBs, saying that they'll need it after trying to cover him for 60 minutes. Well, it was the Browns DBs and the Dawg Pound who had the last laugh. Johnson finished with 3 catches, but he dropped the ball more than I do. The Dawg Pound was in top form sign-wise. "#85 Head Bungle" was topped only by a picture of Johnson superimposed on a toilet with the caption, "Johnson is about to get a bad case of the Browns."

Patriots 30, Seahawks 20: When you're up you're up, and when you're down you're down. Struggling teams (like my fantasy team) always somehow find a way to lose. Teams like the Patriots, when they're winning, can always find ways to dig deep and keep the streak alive.

Packers 38, Lions 10: Detroit was the unfortunate bystander in Green Bay's sudden decision to prove that they really don't suck this year.

Broncos 31, Raiders 3: Well, Clinton Portis may be proving me wrong in Washington right now, but it still looks like Denver's backs are usually a product of their great line and system.

Steelers 24, Cowboys 20: Rivers? Manning? Palmer? Who are those guys?

Vikings 38, Saints 31: So, Minnesota does really have other receivers besides Randy Moss? Maybe this means he'll start taking plays off again. But, maybe I'm just still dumbstruck that Urban Meyer nearly got both him and Allen Iverson to play football for ND. Speaking of ND, Courtney Watson looks like he was a good pick in the second round, even for a terrible defense.

Rams 28, Buccaneers 21: I won't lie to you: I was watching baseball.

Other Miscellanous Ramblings

OK, I'll start with the BCS thing, since I mentioned it in the subtitle. The first release of the rankins stirred controversy right at the top. Despite being #2 in both polls, Oklahoma was only 3rd in the BCS, due to low computer rankings. A guy on the BCS committee did make a great point, though: Oklahoma has only beaten one ranked team, and has played only 1 road game so far. Meanwhile, Miami, the current BCS #2, has already beated two ranked teams. As much as I hate Miami, he does have a point. As my dad and I were discussing this point, we came to the conclusion that anyone who argues that Oklahoma should be #2 in the BCS right now is an idiot. No sooner do we finish this thought, but then I walk into the living room and see Kirk Herbstreit on TV... arguing that Oklahoma should be #2 in the BCS.

I've already argued that a playoff wouldn't solve anything. Right now, we're arguing who #2 and #3 are. With a playoff, we'd just be arguing who should be #8 and #9, or #16 and #17. The polls are stupid, each in their own way. The writers don't know what they're talking about - they only have their jobs because they're too uncoordinated to be players and too dumb to be coaches (take me for example). As for the coach's poll - do you really think the coaches have the time to sit down and watch every other game going on that weekend? If you want to better the system, have some coaches (preferrably not some 1AA playing, blowout-minded state of Florida coaches) and sit them down with the computer nerds, and have them come up with an unbiased formulas. Then, put in a few checks and balances. What do you do if there isn't a clear #2? What if you do if there are four equal #1 teams? Figure this stuff out beforehand, don't just whine about it later.

Not convinced that the press has no idea what it's talking about? Take it from Urban Meyer, courtesy The Tampa Tribune: ``I'll hear the people who have absolutely no idea about college athletics - and they're actually getting paid to give you their opinion on college athletics - and what they consider a quality opponent,'' Meyer told the Salt Lake Tribune. ``I just hear some of the comments [from] people wearing a tie behind a desk that really have no, absolutely no clue. And I can say it, because I do have a clue, because that's my job.

``What I think people need to do is go travel around and look at the personnel. Watch 'em practice. Get up from behind that desk and playing golf and doing whatever those people do and go evaluate.''

OK, so John Kerry isn't exactly a big sports person. But, it's not like becoming president puts you in charge of hiring Notre Dame's football coach. Dah, who said that. Of course, if Kerry was in charge of that, he'd probably end up hiring MSU band director John Madden, or some guy named Irving Meyers.

In case you were wondering: Yes, seeing the breakout Carlos Beltran is having in the playoffs does get Gammons-esque people like me excited.

So, I was flipping the other day, and I came across "True Life: I'm a Jersey Shore Girl" on MTV. I decided to watch it to get a little insight on the life of Ellen and her friends. My Lord, it was a bunch of excited Ellens running around! I couldn't take it! Who said that?

An absolutely great sequence of rumors I heard the other day: If Butch Davis has a bad year this year, he's fired. If Davis is fired, he replaces Mack Brown at Texas. Add to that the fact that Nick Saban is "openly excited" when asked about the possiblity of becoming the Browns' head coach some day, and you have an "openly excited" Kanka. Saban was an Browns assistant under Bill Belichick before leaving for MSU and later LSU. Don't get me wrong, I'm still rooting for the Browns to do well this year, but you can't pass up on a true good coach like Saban.

Favorite cheer heard at Fenway over the weekend, with Gary Sheffield at bat: "Who's your dealer?" I almost fell of the bed.

So, Jeff Garcia is apparently dating the Playboy Playmate of the Year, who moved to the Cleveland area for him. When Tim Couch first started in the NFL, he dated then-Playmate of the Year Heather Kozar, later a Barker Beauty (no relation to Bernie Kosar). Now, if you're the Browns GM, is there any excuse for not signing any single QB in the NFL?

Speaking of Couch and Heather Kozar, here's there dating history:
1. Couch dates Kozar.
2. Couch introduces Kozar to friend Cade McNown.
3. Kozar leaves Couch for McNown.
4. McNown sucks it up and is cut.
5. Kozar leaves a jobless McNown to return to Couch.
Good, good.

Positive Punlicity, Part 1: Purdue Blogs on FanBlogs.com The Purdue preview and "Beat Purdue Memories" got good reviews from one Purdue fan.

Positive Publicity, Part 2: Heavy-Equipment-Rental.com's page on Charlotte Bobcat tickets Apparently, they Googled "Charlotte Bobcat tickets" and didn't pay too much attention to the results before posting them.

Transaction Wire

Browns get former Pitt standout Antonio Bryant for Quincy Morgan. Both were complaining about reduced playing time, so the front offices thought a change of scenery would be good. The problem: both received reduced playing time for continually dropping wide-open passes. I'm starting to wonder why I wasn't involved in this deal.

Chargers trade draft picks for Keenan McCardell. All part of my fiendish KankaMatic plan. Bwahahahaha....

Seahawks get Jerry Rice. Hey, someone needs to teach their receivers that their job is to actually catch the ball.

Here's Looking at You

Rhema McKnight - Mike Brown

Fun Googling KankaManiacs' Names

Yet another nomination for first dance at my and Ellen's wedding

Dave's foray into the "leisure/entertainment business That's what I thought you said.

I knew Meg was old, but 1935?!

When Meg's not looking, Mike's a bass player in the UK

Lisa a Head Athletic Trainer? Do they know she hasn't finished med school yet?

Cronk, Air Force operations chief

Gee, Nick, you really let yourself go

Klondike can now brag that his girlfriend is a model

Hey, Klondike really was an Astrophysics major!

Sunday, October 17, 2004

ND 27, Navy 9

Quarterback: Brady Quinn didn't do much in this one. Then again, he didn't have to -- and that's not always a bad thing. Quinn did go 11-20 for 130 yards.

Running Back:

Courtesy AP/Bill Kostroun
Well, it may be safe to say that Ryan Grant is back to his 2002 form. Coming of a 2 touchdown game against Stanford, Grant had 2 more touchdowns and 114 yards against an overmatched Navy team. Marcus Wilson proved that he can be a decent outside threat from time to time by scoring on a 33 yard run. Of course, with proper blocking and two healthy legs, anybody should be able to run around the outside for a decent game. Darius Walker had a bit of an off game with only 26 yards. Walker isn't hitting the holes as hard as he was against Michigan. He'll get that back with time. With two good options at running back, we can afford to let the freshman have an off day once in a while. In garbage time, Travis Thomas and Jeff Jenkins combined for 24 yards and no fumbles - a moral victory for Thomas.

Fullback: Well, they didn't touch the ball, but they blocked well this week. That'll happen when you're a fullback.

Receiver: The leaders were Matt Shelton and Rhema McKnight with two catches each. Shelton had a 30 yard grab in the seam, and added 10 off of a screen pass. Maurice Stovall and Jeff Samardzija combined for 2 catches and 19 yards.

Tight End: Well, Notre Dame carries 6 tight ends, and apparently they're each taking turns when it comes to playing the games. This week, it was John Carlson with 2 catches for 17 yards. Anthony Fasano also added a catch for 18 yards.

O-Line: It was a good day for the Irish line against an undersized opponent. Notre Dame had 204 net rushing yards. There were only four plays that resulted in negative rushing yards, and none of them were sacks.

D-Line: The line combined for 33 tackles, including sacks by Greg Pauly and Derek Landri. Landri also added a fumble recovery. In case you didn't notice, Justin Tuck lined up as an outside linebacker across from Derek Curry for most of the game. This 3-4 look is something Kent Baer hasn't shown before, and it was very effective against the option. Tuck did drop down into a 3 point stance on obvious passing downs. It is nice to have such a versatile defensive end, and I'm sure Tuck's time as a linebacker during his skinny freshman year helped.

Linebacker: It was a big day for the Irish linebackers. Brandon Hoyte led the team with 16 tackles, followed by Mike Goolsby with 12. The "chain gang" had sacks all around - Corey Mays had 2, and Hoyte and Goolsby each had one. And boy were the sacks huge - it wasn't until the fourth or fifth designed pass play that Aaron Polanco was able to drop back without getting sacked.

Safety: It's normally the strong safety who has a big day against the option attack. Tom Zbikowski did have a decent game with 8 tackles. But it was Quentin Burrell who flew o the ball, ending the game with 11 tackles, including .5 behind the line of scrimmage.

Cornernback: Well, when the linebackers won't let the opposing QB get passes off, the corners don't have to do much. Trust me, this isn't a bad thing. Dwight Ellick and Preston Jackson had a tackle each.

Kicker: Bobby Renkes is proving he has a stronger leg that Carl Gioia, wind or no wind. Renkes had two touchbacks, and pinned the Midshipmen deep all game. DJ (Ellen loves him, and probably told him so this weekend) had field goals from 47 and 20 yards out.

Punter:

Courtesy AP/Bill Kostroun
Is DJ the only guy who can tackle on special teams? Well, no, Maurice Stovall and Chris Vaughn have made nice plays this year, but it's nice to see your kicker get in and make a nice form tackle. DJ averaged 41 yards on 4 punts.

Kick Returner: Justin Hoskins had returns of 16 and 22 yards, and a fumble. Nothing special, yet, but blocking always helps.

Punt Returner: Carlyle Holiday had 3 returns for 1 yard. When you're not blocking the gunners, I don't think there's anyone who can get a good return off.

Special Teams: Well, see the above for my thoughts on our return teams. As for our coverage teams - they're playing very aggressive football as of late. This can be a blessing and a curse. Everyone's swarming to the ball, which has resulted in very short returns for the opposition. However, if the Irish leave their lanes to fly to the ball, they can still give up some big returns.

It's NSS meeting time again this week, so I'll see you Thursday morning with the Weekend in Review. Just in time for next weekend to start, hooray.

Thursday, October 14, 2004

ND Football 2004
Issue 7: Navy

Navy Rush Offense vs. ND Rush Defense

Navy rush offense... let me see here... apparently, they run the option or something. Their 267.4 yards per game are the 6th best in the nation. The Notre Dame defense should be familiar with Navy's top two rushers - QB Aaron "don't call me Placido!" Polanco (who had good playing time against ND a few years back) and punishing FB Kyle Eckel. Both are believed to be 8th year seniors. Polanco is the outside threat at 92.8 yards per game, while Eckel rumbles up the middle at at 77.4 ypg clip. Eckel has twice as many points this year as kicker Geoff Blumenfeld with 38 (6 TDs, 1 2-point conversion). Polanco is the team leader with 7 TDs on the ground. Other than these top two the rest of the Navy offense is evenly-balanced icing on the cake.
Notre Dame is giving up 86.8 rushing yards per game, but.... On the positive side, Ken Baer's option defense has always relied heavily on the strong safety. If he can maintain his discipline, SS Tom Zbikowski can be big in this game. Heavy-hitter Chinedum Ndukwe could also be key in a backup role. To combat Kyle Eckel up the middle, the Irish have tackles Greg Pauly and Derek Landri, backed up by inside linebackers Mike Goolsby and Brandon Hoyte. Goolsby and Hoyte have played the run well all year, and Pauly and Landri have been coming up big as of late. It won't be pretty, but if the Irish defense can maintain its discipline, they should be able to contain this option attack - relatively speaking, that is. (Note: Joe Yonto had a great option defense that shut down Texas in the Cotton Bowls of the 60s. Maybe we can hire him back during service academy weeks.)

ND Rush Offense vs. Navy Rush Defense

Darius Walker is averaging 87.2 a game, and that's been a very consistent number as of late. Ryan Grant will be back again this week to set up the 1-2 punch. Theoretically, the Notre Dame line should be able to out-physical the height- and weight-regulated Navy line. However, the offensive playcalling never seems to be able to take advantage of it. Too many counters and traps, mostly while the running back just stands there and the quarterback has to run all the way back to him, should give an assumingly athletic Navy front 7 time to create havoc in the backfield. However, a straight ahead attack could mean a big day for the Irish.
Navy is giving up 143.6 rushing yards per game, which again should theoretically make things easy for the Irish. But, then again, youneverknow. Linebackers Lane Jackson and Bobby "Don't Worry, Be Happy" McClarin are the leading tacklers on a team with 30 tackles for loss on the year - only 9 of which are from sacks.

Navy Pass Offense vs. ND Pass Defense

Aaron Polanco has been surprisingly effective for an option quarterback - a stark contrast from Chance Harridge of Air Force in 2002. Polanco is completing 63.8% of his passes for 112.6 yards per game. He does have 3 interceptions to only 2 touchdowns. The leading receivers (and by "leading" I mean "more than 3 catches on the year") are Jason Tomlinson with 8 catches for 34.6 YPG and running back Eric Roberts with 6 catches for 97 yards. (Roberts, by the way, is also the #4 rusher on the team.) Due to the fact a pass is basically a gimmick play for the Midshipmen, Navy is averaging 12 yards per pass, or 18.8 per reception.
Notre Dame is giving up 263.7 passing yards per game, but may I remind you that stats like that didn't come against teams like Northeastern. The key here is for the ND rush defense to play well, thereby making it easy for the passing defense. If Notre Dame can consistently force 3rd and 12s, they can put pressure on a Navy offense who isn't built to pick up big yardage in the air. I would say that forcing 3rd and 7s or 3rd and 8s would be enough, but there's nothing that doesn't say that Navy won't run for the first down - and get it - on a 3rd and 7+.

ND Pass Offense vs. Navy Pass Defense

All sources I've seen have Brady Quinn playing on Saturday. Quinn continues to develop into a solid Division 1 QB. 254.8 YPG, 9 touchdowns, 5 interceptions, 16 different receivers. Rhema McKnight comes in as the leading receiver with 24 catches and 61 yards per game. Anthony Fasano (I've seen nothing about his health this week), a very juvenated Maurice Stovall, and Matt Shelton all have 45+ receiving yards per game. All four should be able to flat-out out-athlete the Midshipmen. The only trick will be to not rely on the pass too much. Unless, of course, Quinn decides to once again the ND game record for TDs in the first half.
Navy is giving up 179 pass yards per game, but it's not like they've been facing Texas Tech or the '99 St. Louis Rams. Along with the 9 sacks mentioned above, Navy also has 7 interceptions on the year. The interception leaders are safeties Hunter Reddick with 3 and DuJuan Price with two. Of course, safety Josh Smith is second on the team in tackles, and Price has only 4 on the year, so that probably means Price is more of a nickle/dime back. Or, perhaps Price has just benefitted from opposing teams chucking up desperate bombs in garbage time.

Special Teams

Placekicker Geoff Blumenfeld's struggles have been well-documented. Blumenfeld was 0-4 on the reay before hitting the game winner against Air Force two weeks ago. A loud, pro-ND crowd can rattle this guy and cost Navy some points. The punting duties have been shared between Blumenfeld and Eric Shuey, and they have a combined 37.5 average. On coverage, Navy has a good 16.4 average kick return yards against and a decent 10 yard average on punt returns.
Kick return teams have been average for Navy. Jeremy McGown and Trey Hines are combining for an average of just over 20 yards per. On punts, Jason Tomlinson is picking up a paltry 5.6 yards per return.
DJ (Ellen loves him) has been a decent field goal kicker - 5-7 with misses in the 30-39 yard range and the 40-49 yard range. On punts, he continues to be a very pleasant surprise, with a 42.7 average, a long of 59 that he's hit several times, and 15 of 38 yards inside the 20. Statistically, the Notre Dame kick coverage team has looked mediocre, with 23 yards per return. On the field, they've been worse, with 2 return TDs given up already. Fortunately, the punt team, lead by Chris Vaughn has been solid as of late, with a 6.5 return average given up on the year.
The kick return team has been less than extraordinary. The overall average is a paltry 18.8 yards, lead by Chase Anastasio with a 20 yard average and a long of 40. It appears that Anastasio has started to figure things out - now all he needs is for the other 10 guys to block like a team. On punts, Carlyle Holiday has a decent 10.1 yard average, but his long is only 21 yards. Of course, when you have single coverage on the gunners, you're not going to be going very far.

Look for a big game from
Quinn, Grant, Stovall, Zbikowski, the inside of the D-line, and DJ.

ND 24, Navy 17: Rhema, Darius Walker, [insert your favorite defensive player on a fumble recovery here], and one by DJ. (For Navy: Eckel, Polanco, and a bend-but-don't-break ND defense that leads to a 1-3 field goal performance.)

ND Football 2004
Issue 7: Navy

Navy Rush Offense vs. ND Rush Defense

ND Rush Offense vs. Navy Rush Defense

Navy Pass Offense vs. ND Pass Defense

ND Pass Offense vs. Navy Pass Defense

Special Teams

Tuesday, October 12, 2004

The Weekend in Review
2001 ND Role-Playing Power Forward Edition

NCAA Football

USC 23, Cal 17: USC was once again "just good enough," even with Aaron Rogers's 23-23 start. If they kept up this level of competition, they'd definitely go down once or twice. However, saving a surprise from Notre Dame or UCLA in the last two games of the Trojan season, USC has an easy ride from here on out.

Tennessee 19, Georgia: Well, I was wrong. I thought UGA would be the team to beat this year. However, they play in the tough SEC, where teams are continuing to beat the crap out of each other. If USC had a schedule that read Tennessee, Georgia, LSU, Florida - well, we wouldn't be calling them the best team in the country then.

Auburn 52, LaTech 7: OK, let me rephrase that. If USC had Louisiana Tech's schedule - then we wouldn't be calling them the best team in the country.

Purdue 20, Penn State 13: A close win against a team that hasn't been given too much credit vaults Purdue to #5. The next two weeks are at home against Wisconsin and Michigan. Assuming Lloyd Carr doesn't baby Chad Henne, these next two games will be a great test of Purdue's legitimacy and of Kyle Orton's Heisman hopes.

LSU 24, Florida 21: What a comeback drive by the Tigers. Once again, no one's safe in that conference.

Wisconsin 24, tOSU 13: So, not picking up Ben Roethlisberger and Brady Quinn was a good idea for the Ohio State offense? Perhaps not.

Oklahoma State 42, Colorado 14: Wait, what? OK State was #21? What's going on?

Texas Tech 70, Nebraska 10: Note to ND Athletic Department: if the football team goes 7-4 and 6-5 and gets invited to a bowl against a team like Texas Tech, Boise State (Boise's not a state), or Fresno State (Fresno's not a state) - decline! For the sake of the program, decline!

Army 48, Cincinnati 29: Well, first of all, congrats to Bobby Ross. Second of all: "Cincinnati is no longer a cupcake." Riiiight.

NFL

Steelers 34, Browns 23: So, who was the best quarterback taken in this year's draft? I know my answer to that question, even if he "only" had 231 yards this week. Meanwhile, Cleveland looks absolutely lost out there. I'd go into detail, but then I wouldn't be able to finish writing about my trip highlights before it's time for work tomorrow morning.

Patriots 24, Dolphins 10: Tom Brady had a whopping 76 yards passing. If Bill Belichick was a coach on the hot seat, this would just be another ugly win that moved him closer to a firing. But, since he's a winner, it's just another case of knowing exactly what it takes to win and doing it.

Rams 33, Seahawks 27: Seattle rolled out to a big 24-7 lead at the half, and the Rams looked like they could do no good. But then, the Seahawks decided to play ultra-conservative on offense, and slip into a soft zone on defense. Considering a) St. Louis's hole on defense is its secondary, and b) Marc Bulger and Mike Martz's offense is built around picking apart lazy defenses, of course it was all over for the Seahawks. Bulger threw for about 275 yards in the second half/overtime, and outscored Seattle 26-3.

49ers 31, Cardinals 28: Arnaz Battle has a 71-yard punt return for a TD, and it's not even mentioned on SportsCenter, or in the postgame recap? Oh, why would it, when Tim Rattay has 162 of his 417 passing yards dumping the ball off to Eric Johnson.

Ravens 17, Redskins 10: Hey, I wonder who they're going to mic up for this game? I can't wait to find out! Dah.

Titans 48, Packers 27: So, you're Brett Farve. You're defense sucks, so you try to do everything yourself. Then, you realize that doing everything yourself causes you to suck.

MLB Playoffs

Red Sox over Angels: This was the battle between Gammons's team and the most Gammonsesque team out there. The Angels, despite their World Series win a few years ago, were still the Who Dat team as far as marketability went. Hampered by the injury bug and a rotation that can't contend with Curt Schilling and Pedro Martinez, Anaheim fell to Boston.

Yankees over Twins: Harold Reynolds laid into Ron Gardenhire for his use of the pitching staff. Joe Nathan went 3 innings - 2 more than he's used to or has ever gone before - in game 3, and was gassed at the end. Johan Santana pitched game 4 on three days rest, the first time in his career he's ever started on short rest. As a result, he could only last 5 innings in a game where a long, strong start was what the Twins needed. Then again, when Santana and Nathan are really the only go-to guys on your staff, there's not much you can do.

Cardinals over Dodgers: Bud Selig must be having a field day with the drama in this year's playoffs. Case #1: this battle of traditional National League powehouses. Even with the powerful Cards on the verge of a sweep, Lima Time comes out of nowhere and wills LA to a 4-0 shutout. But, in the end this "Nintendo lineup" (a phrase coined by Geoff Jenkins after Larry Walker was added in St. Louis's #2 slot) was just too much for a surprisingly weak Dodger pitching staff.

Astros over Braves: The drama continues. Now, it's the "they're not supposed to be winning anymore" Braves against the "playoff 'B' curse." Not only were the Astros left for dead at midseason... Not only did Jeff Bagwell and Craig Biggio come up huge... Not only did they do so in the face of friend Ken Caminiti's sudden death... But the world finally got to see the newest Killer B - Carlos Beltran. To top that all off, it took all five games of the series - including a few last at-bat wins. And, if I may be Gammonsesque for a second, allow me to give it up for young Houston starter Brandon Backe, who has been just great lately - including a spot start that won the Wild Card in game #162 of the season.

Red Sox vs. Yankees: Oh, like we didn't see this coming. How can the Yankees win? By being the Yankees. How can the Red Sox win? Curt Schilling will have to be healthy, and they'll probably need two wins out of him. Pedro Martinez will have to figure out the Yankees - at best he'll go 1-1, and the Sox will need that one win. Then, the Sox will need to pull out a surpise win from out of nowhere - maybe Bronson Arroyo and his cornrows can answer the call.

Astros vs. Cardinals: You know, when I think about it, this series will be much better than most people think. Everyone knows the Cards are a juggernaut, but let's take a look at the Astros. They have pitching - Pettitte, Clemens, game 5 winner Oswalt, and, oh yeah, that Backe guy. Good pitching beats good hitting, especially in the playoffs. Add to that some surging superstars - the three killer B's. Plus, the Astros win in the X-factor department with the token "overly fired up old Hispanic bench infielder" in Jose Vizcaino. While Tim McCarver is going on and on about Bernie Williams's speed (actual quote) in the postgame, I'll be flipping over to see how this one turns out. (Of course, the Braves did take the Astros to 5 games, so maybe I'm an idiot and this one will be over soon.)

Sightings

The celebrities and quasi-celebrities who have been spotted at Notre Dame football weekends this year (not counting pep rally speakers, unless they were run into on the street). I know I'm forgetting people, so feel free to fill me in.

Michigan: Dick Vitale. Spotted outside the Bookstore Friday evening, he asked the Bones and several other bandos to play the Victory March for his grandkids. Martin Inglesby. Spotted hanging outside of Legends on Friday night with a random ex-small sport athlete, much as they hung out outside DeBartolo while at school.

Purdue: Rick Mirer. At Corby's Friday night with his wife and parents (at least I'd assume). Mirer is currently a 3rd stringer with the Lions, but is originally from the Elkhart/Granger area.

Stanford: Kelley Siemon. Spotted standing 3 feet from Kanka and Dave at The Backer Friday night. Kanka: "This is up there with the time Alicia Ratay touched my arm at Heartland. Kelley also stayed to watch Trombone Circle Saturday morning. Dave (to Kanka): "She must have come back to look for you." Pat Hayden. Spotted by Kanka walking towards the Dome on Saturday morning, dressed in mismatched, undersized sweats, as if he was 7. Kanka: "I didn't know if I wanted to say, 'hi, it's nice to meet you,' or punch him in the mouth." Harold Swanagan. "Booty" was at The Backer Saturday night. Ruth Riley. Spotted walking in front of Sarah Paulson and her friend Kristen at one point during the weekend. Sarah (not knowing who she was): "Wow, she's tall." Kristen: "That's Ruth Riley." Sarah: "Oh."

Monday, October 11, 2004

ND 23, Stanford 15

Quarterback: A true college sophomore is bound to have an off day every once in a while. However, Brady Quinn was just good enough in this one. The important thing is Quinn's status. Quinn suffered a concussion on the drive (and by drive I mean 3-and-out) following Stanford's late go-ahead TD (other sources say it may have occured during his QB sneak TD). Word has it he will be back for the Navy game.

Running Back: Ryan Grant was back this week, and his presence was helpful. Besides getting around the corner for 2 TDs, Grant also put up 69 yards on the ground. Darius Walker is continuing to prove himself as a reliable and consistent ground gainer with 89 yards this week. I'd rather see 80-90 yards from him every week than see him get 120 one week and 25 the next.

Fullback: Rashon Powers-Neal picked up 4 yards on 4 carries. One of those carries even came while he was lined up as a fullback. Gasp - you can do that? RPN and Josh Schmidt each had a catch, for 10 and 8 yards, respectively.

Receiver: There wasn't much except for those two big plays by Rhema McKnight and Maurice Stovall. The two combined for 6 catches and 110 yards, and they were the only receivers with any catches in this game. Matt Shelton hasn't been getting open now that he's no longer a secret weapon. Shelton did, however, have a nice pass breakup on a sure interception in the end zone.

Tight End: With Anthony Fasano down with a shoulder injury, Jerome Collins had 3 catches for 45 yards. Collins must have great hands if he's moved ahead of Jared Clark and Marcus Freeman. Clark has be relegated to special teams (other than some run blocking in Fasano's absence), and Freeman has fallen off the earth since the BYU game.

O-Line: When your start quarterback gets concussed, and you don't have a solid backup option, that's not so good. Of course, I haven't studied the tapes (not that I ever have), so maybe the three sacks were due to poor blitz pickup. Walker and Grant have been doing a fine job taking out blitzing linebackers, but some times there are just too many people out in patterns, and not enough people in to block. ahem We have 6 tight ends, and we are allowed to use them to block on pass plays. ahem

D-Line: This wasn't the dominating performance I was hoping for from this unit. Rumor has it that Justin Tuck (2 tackles, 1.5 for loss) was playing through an injury for most, if not all, of this game. Defensive tackles Greg Pauly and Derek Landi did have some success, combining for 9 tackles.

Linebacker: This unit combined for 11 tackles, including 1.5 for loss. Derek Curry had ND's only sack. Brandon Hoyte saw limited playing time due to the need for nickle and dime packages (hey, we're allowed to use those?) and had 1 tackle.

Safety: Tom Zbikowski lead the team with 7 tackles. Chinedum Ndukwe saw some playing time, and responded with a tackle and a pass breakup. Ndukwe appears to be a tough-nosed hard-hitter.

Cornerback: Preston Jackson left the game early for an unspecified reason. NCAA 2005 starter Mike Richardson stepped in and had 5 tackles. Dwight Ellick had 6 tackles and managed to interrupt two straight passes intended for Stanford receiver Evan Moore on a key drive in the second half.

Kicker: DJ (Ellen loves him) had a 38 yard field goal. Sophomore Bobby Renkes handled the kickoff duty at the beginning of the game. He has a decent but not exactly powerful leg. Of course, he was also aided by a strong wind when Notre Dame was kicking from the north end zone towards the south.

Punter: DJ punted 6 times, and put 3 inside the 20. His long was 51 and his average was 43.7. Ellen, if the Giants ever have punting problems in a few years, I think DJ would be a great option if your dad could get him a tryout.

Kick Returner: Chase Anastacio was perhaps a single move away from the first big return of the season at one point. Of course, before he had a chance to fake out the kicker, a Stanford player was just able to trip him up. A solid return game is desperately lacking on this Irish team. Anastacio or Justin Hoskins may have a big return in them, but the blocking that sets up a big return is a team effort.

Punt Returner: Carlyle Holiday had two returns, one for 3 yards and one for -1. But, I wouldn't put the blame on him. Part of the problem was that he was positioned a little too close, so his first move always had to be back to get to the ball. Being new as a punt returner, I would imagine that it's a coaching responsibility to make sure Carlyle is positioned correctly. Also in Carlyle's defense, on every punt, Notre Dame lined up with only one bracket guy on each Stanford gunner, as opposed to the traditional two each. I have a feeling that even Rocket Ismail and Tim Brown would have trouble consistently putting up decent returns with only one guy covering each gunner.

Special Teams:

Courtesy AP/Joe Raymond

Coming into this game, I was 120% sure that Stanford would return a kickoff for a touchdown. The return coverage in the first half only made me fear it even more. However, in the second half, both the kick and punt coverage teams absolutely clamped down. Fisher freshman Chris Vaughn lead the charge. On punts, Vaughn would get to the returner not too long after the ball did.
Some comments on the botched punt:
1) As the picture clearly shows, it was Corey Mays who made the hit here. Some sources (ahem UND.com ahem) reported that Jerome Collins was the person responsible.
2) The "hit" wasn't even a "hit" in the non-fundamental, lead with the shoulder and hope he falls over, Ray Lewis/Robert Griffith sense, even though it appeared that way from the upper deck seats that most readers of this column had at this game. Instead, Mays wrapped up punter Jay Ottovegio and violently yanked him to the ground.
3) This wasn't as much of a case of good special teams play by the Irish as it was a case of Ottovegio sucking at life. With 8 guys in the box on the punt formation (see above), you would have thought that one of them could have picked the ball up and run with it a little. (subnote a: Yes, I realize that some of those 8 guys did back up into coverage. subnote b: Yes, I also realize that the general rule of a loose ball is for a "skills" guy to pick it up if he has a clear shot, but for a lineman to just fall on it.)

Ah, the Weekend in Review should again be a good one. I might have to start an official Sightings section, too. As a teaser, can you guess which of these three womens' basketballers were on campus this weekend?

Courtesy AP/CNNSI.com

Thursday, October 07, 2004

ND Football 2004
Issue 6: Stanford

Stanford Rush Offense vs. ND Rush Defense

For a PAC 10 team, Stanford has a very respectible 137.5 yards per game on the ground. JR Lemon leads the team with 84 yards per game, and 6.9 per rush. However, those stats are a shade influenced by his 82 yard sprint against USC (still, an 82 yard run against USC is nothing to sneeze at). Backing up Lemon is Kenneth Tolon with 41.8 yards per game.
On the other side of the ball, ND has been giving up 90.8 rushing yards per game. Mike Goolsby,, Derek Curry, and Brandon Hoyte are 1, 2, and 3 respectively on the team in tackles. They've also combined for 10 tackles for a loss. On the defensive line, it's almost as if people have been taking turns having good games. The line has many movable parts, and it seems as if they've solidified as a unit.

ND Rush Offense vs. Stanford Rush Defense

A unit that gains 108.2 yards per game will also see the return of Ryan Grant. The combination of Grant and Darius Walker is much more reliable than the combination of Walker and anybody else (at least until Justin Hoskins starts seeing good playing time). If Grant is asked to be the power back up the middle, he could have a very nice day.
Stanford is giving up 85.5 yards per game on the ground. Throw out BYU, who doesn't run all that much, and the average is hovering around 100. Judging by the numbers, this team is lead by a deep, aggressive linebacking corps. Stanford won't be a pushover, and the Notre Dame offensive line won't manhandle them, but with the right playcalling the Notre Dame backs should put up good numbers on Saturday.

Stanford Pass Offense vs. ND Pass Defense

Redshirt sophomore Trent Edwards split time as a starter last year, but he did not play versus Notre Dame in 2003 due to injury. Edwards is averaging 230 passing yards per game. That doesn't sound too effective for a PAC 10 team, but his 61% completion ratio and 7 touchdown passes do sound very effective. The passing game is split between four key guys, each with 12-19 catches and 49-62 yards receiving per game. Tight end Alex Smith appears to be the go-to guy with a team-leading 19 catches, while the three receivers are looked upon for the big play. 6'7" Evan Moore leads the team in touchdowns (4) and yards per game (62), while Mark Bradford and Justin McCullum have long gains of 76 and 50, respectively.
Notre Dame's pass defense will have to rebound from a 413 yard, 4 touchdown performance against Purdue. The way Stanford spreads the ball around, the Irish will have to play together as a team. The way Stanford can break the big play, the coaching staff will have to scheme well enough to cover for this young Notre Dame secondary's weaknesses against the deep pass. On a positive note, Stanford has surrendered 11 sacks on the season. Justin Tuck should break the all-time Notre Dame sack record in this game. With the success of DT Darrell Campbell in last year's game, look for Greg Pauly, Trevor Laws, or Derek Landry to be in the backfield and add a sack or two.

ND Pass Offense vs. Stanford Pass Defense

276.8 yards per game. Sixteen different receivers. Long pass. Short pass. Brady Quinn has proven he can be a good Division 1-A pocket passer. Now, after last week's game, Brady just has to prove he can find the end zone again. Many of his TDs have come on runs after the catch, but if he can throw the ball accurately into the endzone, we'll be in very good shape. Rhema McKnight re-established himself as a playmaker in the last game, and I think it was the waking of a sleeping giant. Of course, if he's not open, Quinn can always look for Anthony Fasano in a hole in the zone. So many options, the passing game should be nothing to worry about.
On the other side of the ball, Stanford is giving up 235 passing yards per game. They have 6 picks by six different people, which tells me this is a good team defense. Having given up only 2 passing TDs, this tells me they have a very good team defense. Also spread out are the team's 8 sacks, with no one having more than 2.

Special Teams

Kicker Michael Sgroi is 3-6 with a long of 41, missing from 42, 49, and 22. The misses are from lack of accuracy, not from lack of leg strength. His strength is evident in his 8 touchbacks on 23 kickoffs. Punter Jay Ottovegio has been more or less average - 39.1 per with a long of 59 and 2 touchbacks.
Stanford's return teams will cause problems for the Irish. TJ Rushing averages 37.6 yards per kick return, and already has a 99 yard TD. The punt returners haven't been as successful, but the Cardinal have blocked 3 punts in 4 games. Coverage teams for the Cardinal have been average so far - 18.4 yards per kick return; 11.4 per punt return.
DJ continues to be a solid kicker and is turning into a very good punter. He's 4-6 with a long of 45 on field goals. Punting, he has an average of 42.5, a long of 59, and 12 of 32 punts inside the 20.
Special teams seemed otherwise overlooked by ND (to quote an NDNationer during a discussion about the band trip: "Can we leave Buzz Preston and take a band member instead?") Notre Dame's return averages match Stanford's coverages almost exactly. Notre Dame's punt coverage team has been good, but their kick coverage team must must must maintain their lanes in this one. The defense will have enough trouble defending the long pass; there's no reason to put their backs even closer to the wall with a return TD.

Comparative Stats

Both teams have played BYU and Washington this year. This is how they stacked up. Offensive stats are yards for; defensive stats are yards given up.

	vs. BYU	vs. Washington
Stanford Rush Offense	72	144
ND Rush Defense	22	112
ND Rush Offense	11	146
Stanford Rush Defense	41	91
Stanford Pass Offense	297	254
ND Pass Defense	263	223
ND Pass Offense	265	266
Stanford Pass Defense	288	211

Look for a big game from

Grant, Quinn, McKnight, Tuck, the "Chain Gang"

ND 24, Stanford 20: McKnight, Fasano, RPN (short drive after a turnover), and 1 by DJ

Tuesday, October 05, 2004

The Weekend in Review
"No Fun(ding) in Band" Edition

NCAA Football

Georgia 45, LSU 16: This is the point where I realized that Georgia didn't lose too many people from last year (among others, QB David Greene is back), and said, "holy crap, they are really good."

Northwestern 33, tOSU 27: It was only a matter of time before the Buckeye defense would no longer be able to carry their offense, although they did try. A return and a turnover accounted for two of OSU's 3 TDs. It was also only a matter of time before Mike Nugent missed a clutch kick in OT, although the Northwestern O proved it wouldn't have mattered anyways.

Virginia Tech 19, WVU 13: Well, this was the only halfway decent team on the Mountaineer schedule, and they lost a close one. Hopefully the pollsters remember this game when they want to truly judge West Virginia's talent.

Auburn 34, Tennessee 10: Holy crap is the SEC good this year. Hopefully Ken Baer watched this one. QB Eric Ainge threw four picks and had a fumble. If played right, ND-Tenn will be FSU 2002 all over again.

Louisiana Tech 28, Fresno State 21: With LaTech's schedule the past few weeks, Fresno State's #17 ranking made them look easy. Of course, RB Ryan Moats's 236 yards also made Fresno State's WAC run D look easy.

BC 29, UMass 7: Do I need to start a weekly "The Big East isn't easy enough, so let's play a I-AA team" segment?

NFL

Browns 17, Redskins 13: This was by no means a pretty game, unless you're a huge fan of bad offense. On the positive side, the Browns once again had a good game against a great runner, holding Clinton Portis to 58 yards. The Skins' only touchdown came after converting a 4th-and-7 when the Browns came with an all-out blitz (somewhere, TMQ weeps). In the second half, the Browns offense finally decided to show up, and they put together two who touchdown drives. A shutdown D held a Washington mediocre offense to a single field goal in the second half, and the Browns escaped with a win in Cleveland.

Giants 14, Packers 7: Are the Giants that good, or are the Packers just that bad? The Packers have fallen apart after (or during) the Chicago loss. That, and Tiki (Ellen loves him) has been playing like a man possessed under Tom Coughlin's system. I give credit to linemen Luke Petitgout and Chris Snee. Well, no, I really don't want to give Snee any credit.

Broncos 16, Tampa Bay 13: I have a feeling I may get kicked out of the house if my dad finds out Quentin Griffin is on my fantasy team. That's how bad the hatred is. I'm still surprised my dad hasn't switched heartburn medicine after John Elway started endorsing his (ironically causing him more heartburn...).

Major League Baseball

First, Ichiro. He ended the season with 262 hits, breaking George Sisler's 84-year-old record. "But Sisler got his hits in a 154 game season!" OK, let's look at what should matter, than: at bats (I could go with plate appearances, but Baseball-Reference.com doesn't track the year-by-year leaders in that category). The most at bats logged in a 154-game season was 696 by Woody Jensen in 1936. Now, let's look at how many at bats Ichiro had when he got 257 and 258. He went into game 160 with 256 hits in 690 at bats. Starting the game with two hits in his first two at bats, Ichiro had 258 hits through 692 at bats. Argument over, hats off to Ichiro.

Twins/Yankees: Let me start by saying I don't want either of these teams to win. The Twins are a bunch of whiners who fold when the pressure to stay on top shows up. And, the Yankees are the Yankees. Any other team would be able to manhandle the Yankee pitching, but the Twins will most likely fall apart when facing the Yankee mystique - unless, of course, the Twins find some way to let Johan Santana pitch all 45 innings of this series.

Red Sox/Angels: Two great teams, but I don't know if the Angels have it this year. Bartolo Colon has been lost on the West Coast, and the team wasn't to deep in the rotation to begin with. The loss of Adam Kennedy and Jose Guillen was huge, so it's up to the Jeff DaVanons of the team to step up (and I won't be surprised when they do). Curt Schilling and Pedro Martinez should dominate a five game series, even though Pedro isn't facing Cleveland. The Sports Guy does a good job analyzing this series in his latest column.

Dodgers/Cardinals: The Dodgers get screwed by the luck of the draw here. Unless Eric Gagne can become the entire LA bullpen, the Cardinals roll. Of course, if the Cards have the lead before it's even time for LA to go to the bullpen, it's over even sooner.

Astros/Braves: There's a theory that players whose names start with B fold in the playoff. The Astros have never won a playoff series with Bagwell and Biggio, so what did they do? Add a Berkman and a Beltran. Hopefully the B rule does not apply to ND alum Brad Lidge, who set a new record for K's by a reliever in a season with 157. This one will be close, but I think the Braves will once again just find a way to win this series, even with Jaret Wright as a #1 starter.

Finally, in case you missed it last week, here's how Cleveland pitcher Kyle Denney's night went after a no decision in his final start against the Royals. As is tradition, the Indians participated in some harmless fun by making their rookies dress up in various outfits for the bus ride to the airport. Denney wore a female USC cheerleader's outfit, complete with blonde wig and knee-high leather go-go boots. On the ride to the airport, someone shot at the Indians' team bus. The bullet flew into the bus and lodged itself into Denney's leg. The team trainers pulled the bullet out, and the veteran Indians players were nice enough to give Denney his regular clothes back for his trip to the hospital. Denney spent the night at a Kansas City hospital, but was basically fine. Here's the best part, though: the thick boots Denney was wearing most likely prevented severe damage by the bullet to Denney's leg. You can't make this up.

The part where I ramble on about my weekend at ND

Immediately upon arriving at ND, we reported to the stadium, where apparently the helmets are being painted during the day now. The managers have also moved the painting to an inner entrance ramp of the stadium, where there isn't a good view from outside the gates of the stadium. That, of course, didn't stop Todd from taking pictures. The outlet store was closed, but we were able to meet the band in front of the dome before Friday marchout. Good Lord, I don't recognize anybody anymore. We did visit the band's practice for a while, and there we ran into people we did recognize. First, it was Mothball, who is the Cal Ripken to Sam Sanchez's Lou Gehrig as far as consecutive years at ND go. We both were duped into buying $2 candy bars for some local parochial school. Mothball lamented that this was probably the 8th candy bar he's bought this season. Good, good. Next, who did we run into but Mike Hannigan. He is actually done at ND, but he was back in town for the game. Not only that, but he had passed the Bar earlier that same day. Congratulations, Mike.
From practice, we went to the pep rally - my first opportunity to see a whole one. We started wandering around the JACC, and I noticed that the trophy room was open. Todd started immediately photographing the Heisman trophies, as I wander around to check out the various other memorabilia. Then, who comes up the steps from Gate 1 but Justin Tuck and Mike Goolsby. Todd of course has to wish them luck. Soon later, a few more players enter, then a few more. Todd's right there, and he's like a 7 year old kid - loving every minute, saying hi, and wishing the players luck. Fortunately, Todd had studied the Michigan program on the way up, so he was able to put faces to names. We really lucked out by standing in the exact spot where the players come enter before the pep rally. Not even catcalls of "Freshman!" from a random student could deter Todd from his stargazing.
The pep rally itself was a good one. The skits featured a Chuck Lennon impersonator and a person in a #44 jersey (Tuck) playing like Terry Tate. "Tuck" took turns sacking Kyle Orton, Kelly Ripa, and a "nerdy pollster." Not bad. Then, it was time for the real pep rally to start. We were high in the cheap seats, but looking straight on at the podium. As the team came out, I see a familiar man in a familiar suit. "Is that Hank Aaron?" Yes it was! It was a great speech, and there were scattered boos from the crowd when he mentioned a "certain someone in San Francisco." Following Aaron was Mike Goolsby. The following is a paraphrasing of Goolsby's speech, but the length is about the same: "Wow, I can't follow Hank Aaron. Cheer loud tomorrow. Go Irish!" After Goolsby was receivers coach Trent Miles, who group up in Boilermaker country. He offered this anecdote from his childhood:
In class one day, as a big Purdue game was coming up that weekend, the teacher asked who in the class was a Purdue fan. Everyone raised their hands, except Miles. When asked why he didn't raise his hand, Miles explained that he was a Notre Dame fan. Probably pulling the Katie Alpha Face, the teacher asked Miles why he liked Notre Dame instead of Purdue. "Because my family likes Notre Dame." Flustered and upset, the teacher asked, "What if your family were morons? What would you be then?" His response: "A Purdue fan." Zing! Miles also ended his speech with the first a-bomb spoken at the pep rally podium since Rocky Boiman's graduation.
For Friday night, the decision was Corby's. Upon entrance, who do I see but Marcus Barlow. Marcus is happy to see me, but tells me, "I'm off to The Backer right now, 'cause that's how I roll." Corby's and The Backer in the same night? Brilliant! We make our way out to the patio, and Todd swears he'd seen Rick Mirer. He was right. I looked around a little, and we weren't the only group of guys having the "That's not him! Yes it is!" discussion. I had figured that Mirer had been cut in the preseason, but apparently he's the Lions' third stringer this year. It turns out he's originally from Elkhart, so I'd imagine he was in town visiting his parents (who were also there). Fantastic. Todd decides he needs to take a picture of Mirer by pretending he's taking a picture of Yonto and Jessica in front of the Corby's patio sign, and I decide I need to act like I don't know Todd. Then the rain started, so we decided to move to The Backer. There was a distinct lack of people that Ellen loves there, but it was still a good night.
Saturday morning brought another trip to the Alumni window. We were lucky, too, as they were down to single tickets as it got to my turn in line (we only needed one extra on top of the 4 I already had). After some wandering around, and a brat at the Fisher stand, we needed to wait by the dome for the rest of our party to arrive. While there, a man who looked like a bigger version of Darius Walker, complete with a navy "D. Walker 3" jersey, walked by. Right behind him was a man identified at the Washington game as Walker's dad - baseball cap, sideburns, 'fro and all. The jerseyed Walker must be Darius's older brother. Shortly after the sighting, Todd's brother, brother's fiance, and brother's fiance's 5-year-old son arrived. In case you're counting (and Paul Epstein tried), Todd is not related to the 5-year-old boy... yet. The rest of the party waited to watch the team come out of mass, while I wandered over to Concert on the Steps. There I saw two familiar faces. "Cronk! ... I mean... Cronks!" It was the married couple themselves, doing very well, thank you. After Concert, it was a quick stop at inspection (I had nothing), then off to the stadium.
We'll skip the game part about the game, but I will mention this: you should have seen young Noah's eyes light up while the band danced, just as they did when he looked up at the dome from the inside, and just as they did when the travelling band showed up right behind us to play the Victory March. Noah definitely knows the tune to the Victory March (and loves it), and he can sing along if someone else sings the words. Did I mention Todd's brother also watched Rudy with Noah on Thursday night? And that Todd gave him a kid's sized navy #1 jersey? This kid is going to be fired up about ND.
After the game, the rest of the party had to take off. I was able to get to Morrissey mass just in time. I believe the mass was said by Father Jay - a stocky man with dark hair and a beard, right? He even mentioned NDNation in his homily. How about that. Afterwards, everyone decided to sell me out for their girlfriends. Good good. So, I decided to randomly wander campus just like good old times. Excellent, even if it was boozeless. Just like old times, the night also ended with crappy network TV - this time a show called "She Spies." This show is almost intolerably bad, but they do get credit for throwing a "Who said that?" into a conversation - with the correct useage. Sunday morning was relatively uneventful, except for "goodbyes" that were really "see you next weeks."

Miscellany

To help fund a band trip to Tennessee, click here. I'm considering sending in the ticket money I would have used to possibly go to the Pitt game.

A scene from the Washington game: Klondike shows up at a place where the band is gathering. The first person he sneaks up on is Yonto. After greeting him, and everyone else he rememebered, Klondike looks around and asks, "hey, where's Yonto?" Uh, he was the first guy you saw, remember?

So, apparently there are postgame masses in the main rehearsal room of the band building now. The only thing is, the first time they had this mass, at the Michigan game, no one thought to first erase the Picks from the chalkboard. So, as Aflac's parents joined him for mass, they were greeted by this message, stretched across the top of the chalkboard in big letters: "ND: NUMBER OF PICCOLOS AFLAC HAS TRIED TO GET WITH. MICHIGAN: NUMBER OF PICCOLOS AFLAC HAS ACTUALLY GOTTEN WITH."

Ah, you've been great. I'll be back Friday morning with a Stanford preview, then I'll see most of you this weekend for the game.

Monday, October 04, 2004

Purdue 41, ND 16

It started with the breaks beating the boys, and then it just got a lot worse. Let's get this over with.

Quarterback: Brady Quinn set a Notre Dame Stadium record for passing yards with 432. He hit 10 different receivers, once again including himself. The only thing he didn't do was throw the ball into the end zone (his only passing touchdown came from good after-the-catch running by Rhema McKnight). I'll tell you what - Purdue's defense must get rolled every week in practice. Whenever we played Purdue's game - dinking and dunking passes down the field - we moved the ball rather effectively. But again, it's not about yards, it's about points.

Running Back: When will I learn? Purdue had good rushing stats coming into the game. Being a Big 10 team, they didn't disappoint with that run defense. Again we tried to run Marcus Wilson up the middle, and again he went nowhere. Darius Walker's fumble was unfortunately the beginning of the end for the Irish. On a positive note, the backs did do a decent job of picking up the blitz on most plays - including Walker (I believe) taking out a much larger linebacker on a big pass play.

Fullback: Again RPN lined up behind Josh Schmidt, and this week he scored a two-yard touchdown.

Receiver: Rhema McKnight is back. He had 113 yards, including 40 on his touchdown. Matt Shelton and Jeff Samardzija also had good games. Shelton is seeing more routes that are testing his open field skills; he's decent in that respect, but he's still best at being a straight burner.

Tight End: Anthony Fasano had a huge game (155 yards receiving, in fact), and even showed he had some moves in the open field. If Fasano had turned in this type of performance for Miami, ESPN wouldn't stop calling him the next Shockey or Winslow for the rest of his career.

O-Line: Seven sacks and 76 rushing yards. Then again, there is a thing called "max protect" that you're allowed to use every once in a while.

D-Line: The two sacks by the ND line (one by Abiamiri and a combination by Tuck and Pauley) are the only two given up by Purdue all year. Kyle Orton had time all day to throw, so I'll give credit to the Purdue line in this one. By the way, with Tuck's half sack in the game, he is now a half a sack away from the Notre Dame all-time (and by all time I mean 'since sacks were first counted') record.

Linebacker: OK, so my knowledge of football coverage schemes is limited to the NCAA Football line of video games. But bear with me. There were at least four plays in a row where Taylor Stubblefield, their best receiver, was lined up in the slot, with a linebacker in coverage! And it wasn't just cover linebacker Derek Curry - runstoppers Brandon Hoyte and Mike Goolsby got their chances too. Good good.

Safety: Apparently, Quentin Burrell and Tom Zbikowski somehow combined for 12 tackles in this one. I say "somehow," because they sure didn't get them from helping out the corners. It wasn't their fault, though. First, Purdue ran many 4- and 5-wide receiver sets. Second, personnel mismatches often required Zbikowski to play up on a receiver, leaving Burrell alone to cover both sides of the field on the deep ball (or to line up to help one of the linebackers cover Stubblefield).

Cornerback: Well, when you a) don't get much safety help against a great passing quarterback, and b) line up a 5'7" guy against a 6'9" guy on an obvious fade route situation, there's little you can do. It was obvious coming into this game that the corners were susceptible to the deep route, and to the idiot fan (me), it didn't appear that the playcalling helped. Correct me if I'm wrong, though.

Kicker: Carl Gioia did a decent job, but he tried to rely on the wind a little too much, and started to put the ball in the middle of the field. That led to trouble, as we all know. DJ (Ellen loves him) made from 26 and missed from 44.

Punter: DJ is (or should be) starting to make a name for himself as a punter. In the "one of the few positives from this game" category is DJ's line: 3 punts, 148 yards, 49.3 average, long 59, 2 inside the 20.

Kick Returner: Nothing exciting yet, but it could just be the blocking.

Punt Returner: One return for five yards. Gary Godsey could have fallen down and gotten 5 yards. He did also Beat Purdue. Twice.

Special Teams: Well, I guess that's what you get when you pick a special teams coach at random. Just as the Moneyballers are now rethinking the importance of defense and baserunning in baseball, hopefully ND will soon realize the importance of a good special teams unit.

It should be an exciting Weekend in Review tomorrow, and I'd almost dare to say it will top next weekend's events. Stay tuned....

	DAYS
	HOURS
	MINUTES
	SECONDS
UNTIL FOOTBALL

Wednesday, October 27, 2004

“Why Carlyle Holiday Sometimes Misses Catching Punts” – An Inside Look at the Bob Davie Years

by Ellen Fitzgerald - Special to KankaNation

Tuesday, October 26, 2004

The Weekend in Review

100% Guaranteed Not Lip Synced

NCAA Football

The NFL

MLB Playoffs

Saturday, October 23, 2004

Thursday, October 21, 2004

ND Football 2004

Issue 8: Boston College

BC Rush Offense vs. ND Rush Defense

ND Rush Offense vs. BC Rush Defense

BC Pass Offense vs. ND Pass Defense

ND Pass Offense vs. BC Pass Defense

Special Teams

Wednesday, October 20, 2004

The Weekend in Review

Guaranteed No Ignorant Anti-BCS Whining (but don't rule out ignorant pro-BCS whining)

NCAA Football

The NFL

Other Miscellanous Ramblings

Transaction Wire

Here's Looking at You

Fun Googling KankaManiacs' Names

Sunday, October 17, 2004

ND 27, Navy 9

Thursday, October 14, 2004

ND Football 2004

Issue 7: Navy

Navy Rush Offense vs. ND Rush Defense

ND Rush Offense vs. Navy Rush Defense

Navy Pass Offense vs. ND Pass Defense

ND Pass Offense vs. Navy Pass Defense

Special Teams

ND Football 2004

Issue 7: Navy

Navy Rush Offense vs. ND Rush Defense

ND Rush Offense vs. Navy Rush Defense

Navy Pass Offense vs. ND Pass Defense

ND Pass Offense vs. Navy Pass Defense

Special Teams

Tuesday, October 12, 2004

The Weekend in Review

2001 ND Role-Playing Power Forward Edition

NCAA Football

NFL

MLB Playoffs

Sightings

Other Stories and Quotes from the Weekend

Monday, October 11, 2004

ND 23, Stanford 15

Thursday, October 07, 2004

ND Football 2004

Issue 6: Stanford

Stanford Rush Offense vs. ND Rush Defense

ND Rush Offense vs. Stanford Rush Defense

Stanford Pass Offense vs. ND Pass Defense

ND Pass Offense vs. Stanford Pass Defense

Special Teams

Comparative Stats

Look for a big game from

Tuesday, October 05, 2004

The Weekend in Review

"No Fun(ding) in Band" Edition

NCAA Football

NFL

Major League Baseball

The part where I ramble on about my weekend at ND

Miscellany

Monday, October 04, 2004

Purdue 41, ND 16

ND Basketball: Where are they now?

“Why Carlyle Holiday Sometimes Misses Catching Punts” – An Inside Look at the Bob Davie Years