OK Ralph the big one, the one we've been waiting for...Catholics vs Convicts and all that stuff. Somehow though instead of being a big game for both teams no doubt fighting to get to the playoffs or a New Years 6 bowl game...it's now the desperation bowl with both teams going in reverse. Irish having only won 1 time in the last 5 games and the Canes on a 3 game losing streak. Both teams seem to be struggling in the same area's defense and OL. Both have QB's who are reportedly NFL bound, big strong guys who can throw it a mile. Major difference is that Mark Richt still has the support of Miami fans and Brian Kelly has lost the support of a large portion of the ND fanbase. Kelly though has been assured that he will coach the Irish in 2017. Richt of course being in his 1st year has no such worries, he's rebuilding the Miami program. I have no clue if we'll be competitive, Va. Tech got to the Miami QB quite a bit we'll need to do that as well. VaTech passing game looked good against the Cane defense, I think our WR are better than Va.Tech and nobody is touting the Va.Tech QB for the NFL. So maybe we can get the offense back on track, it was MIA vs Stanford.
Sid, You made me laugh this evening when I didn't think it possible, thanks... I've watched both teams play this season and have been disappointed with the inconsistency by the stud QB's, OL and defenses. We are rather young and seem to lose our focus, ahead by 21 points is normally a good thing but it means we will take the next quarter off mentally. I just don't know which team will show up to be honest but would have to say that talent wise ND has the edge in this one... Thought this would be a major game between both schools but it has dwindled into something only the fans care about...
I think the Irish will win this one but we are more than capable of losing it. Our quick strike, avoid the run offense can snatch defeat from the jaws of victory with just a couple of turnovers. If I were Mark Richt I would mix some swing passes in with a constant assault on the middle third of the defense.
Good luck to my Notre Dame brothers, I am old enough to appreciate the game first and the young men involved but still rooting for my team. Regardless it will turnout by the effort given and may the best team win....
ESPN 30 for 30 is doing a special on the 1988 Miami vs ND game. It was the Catholics vs Convicts game. http://www.und.com/sports/m-footbl/spec-rel/102616aak.html
Good luck Ralph! We're going to need it. I hated to see this series end, no matter how much bad blood was building up. There's been a lot of bad blood with USC over the years. The respect is earned in time and it felt like we pulled the cord right at the cusp of this becoming college football's best rivalry.
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<iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/08jQIWpCa1Y" frameborder="0"></iframe> So the big play, the Cleveland Gary fumble on the goal line, do you think in today's instant replay system that would have been called a TD? I think it might, it seems like he did get the ball over the goal line and then lost control when the ball hit the ground.
Taurean Folston in an interview was non-committal about returning to ND for a 5th year, saying he wanted to wait and see what plays out. His stats this year are meager to say the least. 45 carries for 195 yds, and 54 of that coming on the opening play of the Texas game. He's been injured every year at ND, this year he missed Syracuse and NCState due to a sprained ankle. That can't make NFL scouts very eager to draft him. To me there is no doubt that he should come back, the entire OL will return and while they have not been what we hoped for this year, the year isn't over so they can still improve, they should be an experienced dominant type of OL next year and they will not only have all 5 starters back there are a couple of freshmen OL's who are redshirting that could challenge for playing time and provide great depth. If he graduates and moves on to the NFL he'll be an undrafted free agent and might go through several camps before he can even make a regular season practice squad. But Arian Foster did that and had a great run with the Texans when he was healthy. His other option is to graduate and then transfer somewhere and play his Sr. Year. Doesn't really seem like a better option than staying at ND though.
Reminiscing about the '88 game: I took my entire family to that game. We were sitting a couple of sections to the right of the flagpole in the north endzone facing the field, about 20 rows up. The pregame tussle at the tunnel entrance happened in front of us. It's the only game I've ever been to where it was so loud, I could not hear myself or the person next to me talking. I'll never forget it.
LOL! You really couldn't see clearly what was going on with all the big players surrounding the action, but you knew it was some sort of tussle.
So all this time Sid has been hiding the secret that he instigated the brawl... What a game, what an era...
Commish and I were seated in the second row of the south endzone. We had nothing to do with the fight.....but, we helped knock down that 2 pt. conversion.
Besides the Cleveland Gary fumble, there was also another key play that went against the Irish, Rob Chudkinski fumbled right before half time and they called it a catch, not an ND fumble recovery and the Cane's went on and scored. Also that last TD, if you watch the catch it looks like he traps the ball and never controls it, in fact when he pops up he doesn't have the ball it's rolled out of bounds but the ref never saw it. Reportedly at an event where the 30 for 30 film was previewed both Lou said he never saw that play and Johnson said that with today's rules/replays that it probably wasn't a catch. When you think about how instant replay has changed things, no other play has been more impacted IMHO than the catch, the whole control the ball to the ground the zoom in to see if if any part of the foot touched the white line, etc. Maybe the fumble has been the next most impacted play.