1) Travis Thomas moved to outside linebacker to a) get him on the field and b) increase speed at that position. Interesting move. http://www.fortwayne.com/mld/journalgazette/sports/colleges/15217052.htm 2) Coach Weis' comments on preseason ranking. No surprise to those who have heard him say this in the past, but the timing is good for those like me who fret over the preseason media hype. http://www.fortwayne.com/mld/journalgazette/sports/colleges/15217060.htm
If the Irish find suitable Lbs and get better play from the D-backs they will be very hard to beat. I think the #1 key to their success is getting consistent pressure on the opposing QBs.
I think the Travis Thomas move to LB is interesting, and I note that they are going to give it a couple of weeks..which is not a very long time. Weis is on the record as not being a guy who likes the tailback by committee approach. He likes one guy to take control, and last year that was clearly Darius Walker, if Walker stays healthy all year then the guys behind him aren't going to see the field very much. That makes the move of Thomas to LB not very risky and given how much time Travis has spent at RB moving back if Darius gets injured won't be much of a problem. I also saw where Derek Landri is up to 285 or 290 and still cat quick. That bodes well for our defensive line. I hope that Charlie was right when he said that he expects a much improved defense this year. If we have a good defense then we should be in for a very good year. Terry
:idea: re: Travis Thomas to LB Even with Aldridge hurt, Charlie must have a lot of confidence in Prince, Schmidt and Jabbe to make this move. It looks like Walker will get the lion's share of the carries again with Schwapp at FB. Watch for the Irish to run Schmidt and Schwapp together as a jumbo backfield down near the goal line... re: injuries to Harris, Anastacio, Aldridge I've learned to be very suspicious of what Charlie sez... This is the same fellow who claimed that the Irish would never use the green jerseys...even as he had a box of them sitting right next to him in his office... He's now saying that Aldridge "may" not be ready for Georgia Tech and he says that Harris won't practice for two weeks, but he "probably" will be ready in time for GT. This is a cagey fellow. Unless they're gone for the season, like DJ Hord, I'm not going to rely on any injury reports from Charlie... .............................JO'Co
:?: I notice on the Notre Dame roster a player named Jake Richardville from Bishop Dwenger High School in Ft. Wayne, Indiana. Hey Sid, know anything about this guy?
Jim, I've never heard of him. He wasn't a standout player in HS, but who knows? Obviously, he's a walk-on. I'll have to check him out.
I've gotten conflicting reports on Aldrich. Commish was on campus a few weeks ago and it didn't sound good. I wrote to Mike Frank and he indicated that he'd spoken to someone who had played bball with Aldridge the prior day. I sure hope the original info I got was wrong.
Charlie is sure impressed with the speed of Munir Prince. I'll sure be interested in seeing what he can do if Charlie is impressed! Terry
ND preseason <r>Terry,<br/> <br/> You are right, the video stuff on UND is great! I'm really excited about Prince too. Even the stuff we were hearing about him while he was still in HS ball was great. Something tells me he will be on the field early for a freshman and help the team a lot his freshman season. <E>8)</E></r>
:idea: I'm curious to see who the kickoff returners are going to be. Munir Prince and little George West?
A little side note....Everyone talks about ND's defense being so weak yet they return most of the defense. Now as far as Ohio St, they rank them above ND and don't talk about their D when they have 9 new defensive players...... Also can't wait to see Prince play in the first game SPEED
:idea: I like the early reports on the freshmen Olinemen. Chris Stewert entered in January at 6'5" 400lbs and he's reported to Fall camp under 340lbs after some "encouragement" from Charlie... He's been described as your basic roadgrader. Center Dan Wenger and Sam Young are getting some praise, especially Young. It looks like the OL will be in good hands when the seniors leave at the end of the year...
:idea: Kick-off returns is the reason that George West was offered a scholarship. He's listed at 5'8" (ha ha) and he may be our new Joey Getherall. He was some kind of kick return phenom in Oklahoma and a lot of his opponents refused to kick it to him at all. I'd like to see what all the fuss is about...
Here is an article on Anthony Vernaglia: http://www.fortwayne.com/mld/journalgazette/15259807.htm Note this quote from him: It's nice when you can find a kid from the left coast who isn't soft. (Hand to ear listening for the earth rumbling when JO'Co and Rick read this) :twisted: :twisted: :twisted:
8) Actually, I'm getting used to it and by this time Vernaglia's probably used to it too. There's an entire America out here, that folks back east don't know anything about. I remember when Tennessee Tom came visiting out here for a UCLA-Tennessee game at the Rose Bowl... After the game, I stepped into a restroom to recycle some of Tom's Gentleman Jack. The entire place was filled with Tennessee fans (more than 100 of them) talking about the game, which had ended in a Vol victory in the final seconds after they had been outplayed for most of the 2nd half. They seemed stunned that UCLA was so good, because NONE of them had ever heard of the Bruins! They were asking each other questions like, "What league do they play in?" One answered, "The Western Conference" and that seemed to satisfy most of them. "What was the name of that quarterback?" "He was pretty good!" (Cade McNown) "Doesn't USC play in that league?" Not one fellow in there knew anything about the Bruins, despite the fact that UCLA's all-time records were virtually identical to those of Tennessee... I suppose it will always be this way, until they finally abolish the Electoral College and California starts choosing their presidents for them as they almost did in 2000. Maybe that's what it will take to get their attention... ...............JO'Co
There was one Tennessee Fan there that knew about, and had respect for UCLA. :wink: I also remember a UCLA fan leaving around halftime to go watch the hated USC trojans. I think his name was Chico or something like that! :lol: I enjoyed the heck out of that trip. I think that was in 1997. I also remember going to the 1994 game where Peyton got to play several downs after our starting QB went down with a season ending knee injury. TRIVIA for you sports fanatics: Peyton was the third QB that Tennessee sent in that day. Jerry Colquit was the starter that went down. Who was the Backup QB that played most of that game. He is still a fairly large sports figure today.
it wasn't halftime <r>i know you're kidding, but.....<br/> <br/> actually we left with 2 minutes left to go, which spared me the heartbreak of UCLA's RB coughing up the ball while UCLA was trying to mount a come from behind, game winning drive.<br/> <br/> however, this ain't no angel fan here folks.<br/> <br/> that was an all day thing. we split the UCLA-TN game early so we could make the kick off (and sit thru the entire game for) USC vs Florida State.<br/> <br/> die hard fans are everywhere. some of us just aren't happy watching/talking one team <E></E></r>