Well we haven't really talked about this game for obvious reasons....it's too painfull to contemplate what Bob Davie might come up with for this weekend. Michigan State has TJ Duckett a big fast bruising TB who likes to pound away inside...welllllll geee that's nice since we failed to even slow down the Huskers inside game. I'll bet he's licking his chops at the thought of our DT's. Supposedly the only injury amongst the DT's was their tailbones from getting knocked on their keysters by the Neb OL's. MSU has a green OL, but we more than even that up with poor DT play. On Offense, after watching our vaunted new passing game deteriorate into swing passes to backs and jump balls thrown to our shortest reciever (Javin Hunter is 5'9"). Oh yeah and then there is the super tricky delayed deep handoff that Rogers claims is purposely that way to freeze the LB's...funny thing is they haven't seemed to freeze, they seem to eat it up. Is there a Geneva Convention regarding LB reactions that they aren't following? And heck you know how adept Rogers is at altering the gameplan when it doesn't work early in the game. I mean look at the Bowl and the Husker game, he really made great adjustments at halftime in those games. I hope after this season that Donavan McNabb will hire him as a valet or something. He's the worst offensive coordinator in college football. Positive thoughts...well I here that the Warren Golf Course is in tip top shape for the annual O'Keefe Wooden Birdie competition Friday Morning. And Sat will be sunny and bright and the campus will be beautifull the beer cold, the Brat's hot and yummy..who knows maybe the players will lock Davie and Rogers in the restroom and we'll have a great victory! One can always hope! Go Irish. Terry
It feels so bad I don't know what to say about the Irish anymore. We are wasting lots of talent on this team, that is for sure. Davie and Rogers need to take a hike, NOW! Trouble is, it ain't gonna happen till things get much worse. We go 8-3 and Davie will be back next year. Jeez, I can't believe I have to hope for a losing season for Davie to be gone. All the alumni with the deep pockets need to start letting their feelings be known the way they did previolusly to get rid of the former AD. We should win Sat but somehow it wouldn't surprise me if mich st. blew us out in our own house again!! Anguishing in El Paso, Tim
The fact of the matter is that Bob Davie has never beaten Michigan State, isn't it? I can't remember them beating MSU once in the Davie era... Last year they had them beat and pissed it away on the last play of the game (I still can't believe that happened)..I thought the other games were all tailkickings!?!? If they get whooped again, it's time to start a job hunt
If the kids haven't lost faith in their coaches, they should have. A team can't go on the field doubting their preparation and game plan. I heard that one explaination give for the poor offensive performance in Lincoln was the loud crowd noise. (what a freakin' surprise.) Since ND stadium is kinda quiet these days, there's a chance that we might be able to put together a TD scoring drive of more than 4 yds. (and it only took 4 plays too.) The best hope that MSU is overconfident. IF they aren't, they should be.
One thing MSU has that can make a difference, and it's not thier coach...it's they have great skill position athletes...Charles Rogers is a Randy Moss Clone and both thier Qb's and throw the ball down field and in thier offense that actually means down the field and putting pressure on the CB's. If we can't stop Duckett (and I doubt we can) then those QB's are going to be hitting those big WR's every time we crowd the line to stop Duckett. Terry
Terry: I think Davie is primarily responsible for this debacle. I seem to remember Syracuse having a pretty versatile offense while he(Rogers) was there. What we saw against Nebraska looked like a Pop Warner game plan. I think Davie is terrified of taking chances or even running a middle of the road offense. Hence the delayed handoffs and two yard passes. I hope I'm wrong but I think we're dead meat Saturday. [This message has been edited by George Krebs (edited 09-18-2001).]
The game is getting more coverage here than normal since MSU is the opponent this week. Of news is the move of Vollers from rt. tackle to rt. guard. Brennan Curtain is slated to start at RT. LoVecchio will be starting.