Josh Adams over 200 yards rushing; mostly right up the middle. Great job by the center Sam Mustipher......
Notre Dame <r>Whatever ND is paying Elko they need to double it. I still can't believe this defensive transformation! <E></E> <E></E></r>
Fabulous win by the Irish. When they blocked that punt and had looked so dominant against our OL, I was not in a good place! Irish however did what Lou always said you do, answer a score with a score. We did even more than that. We've now faced 2 all-world DE's Chubb and the kid at Boston College that were supposed to be unstoppable. Well we ran over, under, and around both of those guys. Chubb, to be fair, played a pretty good game and made some excellent plays. I never would have thought we'd run for over 300 yds vs the #6 rush defense and I really thought we might have a hard time slowing down Ryan Finley. When I watched him vs Louisville he looked like his hero Tom Brady, but we handled him pretty well. He made some great throws and that TD throw and catch for their only TD was gritty and clutch by Finley in the face of our blitzer and he put it where his guy could make a play and that guy made a hell of a play. The DB's were supposed to be the weakness of our defense, but they have steadily improved over the season and had a great game vs Finley. The Josh Adams for Heisman campaign. I love it, I hope that we don't start running him into the ground to get him enough carries to put up Heisman like numbers at the expense of getting the other RB's some work in the rotation and maybe getting him injured. Some improvement by Wimbush in the passing game, baby steps though ...steady improvement and growing confidence...I like it. Coney...where has that guy been....Nyles Morgan is quietly having a good season, Tevon Coney has blasted on to the scene and everything he does is not quiet!
Notre Dame <r>There's going to be some POd people when the first playoff rankings come out next week. If they hated the Irish before they'll really be angry now cause ND is about to throw a wrench into it. <E>8)</E> <br/> <br/> By the way, after not making the Top 25 ranking at all preseason and only able to crawl into it after about the 5th game the Irish are looking good for now. <E></E><br/> <br/> <E>8)</E></r>
I just want to finish in the final 4. Everyone waxing poetic about us now will turn against us down the home stretch if we are able to run the table.
Great wins by both Notre Dame, Ohio State and Georgia. As usual the number of undefeated teams goes down. TCU and Penn State are the latest. An interesting side note. Georgia and Alabama cannot both finish undefeated. One of them has to lose by the end of the SEC Championship game. Of course they could both lose a game by then also but that only leaves Wisconsin and Miami as the other possible undefeateds with a shot at the final four. The first playoff rankings Tuesday. This should get fun.
One stat that I find amazing. We have allowed only one rushing TD in 8 games. ONE! Also, our streak of no opponent scoring more than 20 points remains intact. In a 180 degree reversal from last year, this team gets stronger as the game goes on. IMO it's a combination of a successful approach to strength training and team chemistry. Our DBs are doing something we haven't seen in years. They're closing fast. As the announcers said a couple of times, we completely took away NCS's short passing game.
If Wimbush could pass with any consistency this team would be completely unbeatable. His running almost makes up for it but is very high risk, Kelly gets the MVP. He came to grips with the fact that the old ways did not work and made the changes in his approach. He went out and found some really good coaches and it has made all the difference in the world. Elko simplified everything on defense and now the players just play. He simply lets great atheletes be just that. How great is it to see the TE back in the game plan? One game at a time.
You were not alone Doc. I thought that McGlinchey looked like a human pylon the first couple of series. However as the game went on he adjusted to the NCS speed and had a very good game. Mustipher is starting to get some deserved notice. Like everyone else I'm enjoying the Coney Dog dominate. Depth at LB is always a good thing. Wimbush did a good job at protecting the ball yesterday. With our running attack it's good that he completed all his handoffs. I am disappointed with his deep throws. He missed 2 or 3 open receivers who had beaten their men. We don't seem to get that many opportunities and it was a shame to miss out. Hope his ankle holds up. Lastly it seems that BK has finally awakened to the fact that a powerful running game can win football games. Keep remembering Brian "run the damn football."
Notre Dame <r><QUOTE><s> </e></QUOTE> Corey,<br/> <br/> I agree. If we keep winning it will take care of itself. I have to confess though, as probably the most optimistic ND fan in the country, even I couldn't imagine things going as well as they have so far this year for the team. I would have settled for an improvement on both sides of the ball and finishing with 8 or 9 wins and no search for a new HC. Instead it appears that we will end with at least 8 or 9 wins and have a shot at finishing in the top 10. <br/> <br/> At the beginning of the game yesterday I felt like here we go, it's finally caught up with us. Our first real taste of adversity and maybe the balloon bursts. No, the Irish are a different type of team now, they got up and proceeded to play the game the way they have been thus far, running the ball and being physical on both sides. It worked again. <br/> <br/> NCSt was obviously the best and most physical team ND has played thus far and the Irish beat them soundly. Who would have believed that Brian Kelly would be the HC of a team that plays like this?! Hell, we're not even throwing the ball 20 times a game and still winning! <E>:shock:</E><br/> <br/> Oh, the defense, we use to be a defense that made average opposing QBs look like Joe Montana in our own house. Now, we are making good QBs look average at best. <E>:shock:</E></r>
Kirk Herbstreit's Sunday morning Top Four for Oct. 29. In order. !. Alabama 2. Georgia 3. Notre Dame 4. Ohio State
Alabama and Georgia should be 1 and 1A. One of them will have at least 1 loss by the end of the year.
Notre Dame <r>Not that it matters at this point but:<br/> <br/> Coaches poll is out. ND is #8. Miami is #6. <E>:shock:</E> <br/> <br/> I guess the Irish still have some people to convince. Fine, I'll wait.</r>
KP, The Irish and Miami play each other soon, that will hash itself out one way or the other. Tim, I'm with you. One of my good friends is a Georgia fan who really don't like each other's teams too much but we're in the weird situation of rooting for each other's squads on Saturday now. One thing he finds laughable, but I don't, is that I'd play Georgia again even between the hedges. Our game plan against Georgia still relied a little too much on Wimbush throwing to carry the team. Now, we've settled into an identity and we'd just run right at those speed rushers. When we played, we tried running around them too often and even more often, we tried to pass off the straight drop. This team since then just keeps hitting you in the jaw until you bend or break.
Wimbush looked done when he limped off the field, and of course as we all know he came back. He has an ankle sprain and that's why he came back with that Spat tape on the left ankle. He is such an important part of the running game I hope he recovers quickly. It will allow defenses to focus more on the RB's if it's evident that Wimbush isn't going to run or can't really run. Nyles Morgan apparently has some sort of chronic shoulder injury that he'll just have to play through the season. If we are doing well vs Wake Forrest maybe get Greer Martini some snaps at MLB, can't move Coney from his slot. I was wondering why McIntosh was the guy at the end of the game and not Tony Jones Jr or Dexter...Jones had a hip pointer and Dexter was battling cramps. I have to say, Deon runs hard. Mack is likely out with concussion protocol vs Wake. With Smythe playing so well and the freshmen Kmet and Wright I think we'll be fine at TE. As far as the polls, the only one that counts will be out this week from the committee. I don't expect to be in the top 4 but right on the edge so that if we keep playing like we are that we'll have our shot. But it's good to be solidly in the top10 again.
Notre DAme <r>Corey,<br/> <br/> Sometime as I was watching the USC/ASU game last night, I realized that I was rooting for USC to win. I didn't think that could happen <E>:shock:</E> <br/> <br/> I still don't think I could ever find a reason to root for michigan though. <E>8)</E></r>