*Notre Dame* - On Vacation

Discussion in 'The Mainboard' started by Thoros of Beer, Feb 3, 2016.

  1. theregionsitter

    theregionsitter Well-Known Member
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    He seems to be developing quite a reputation
     
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  2. laxjoe

    laxjoe Well-Known Member
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    Pretty savage of bilal to put a hit on drue so he could get on the team
     
  3. Bert Handsome

    Bert Handsome I'm sorry, the card says Moops
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    Saw this in Sampson's mailbag, considering that we have produced a decent pipeline of receivers into the NFL, the one that was by far on the best trajectory to start was Stephenson.

    Freshman WRs in Kelly's tenure:

    2010: T.J. Jones — 23 catches, 306 yards, 3 TDs
    2011: None
    2012: Chris Brown — 2 catches, 56 yards
    2013: Corey Robinson — 9 catches, 157 yards, 1 TD; Will Fuller — 6 catches, 160 yards, 1 TD
    2014: None
    2015: Equanimeous St. Brown — 1 catch, 8 yards
    2016: Kevin Stepherson — 25 catches, 462 yards, 5 TDs; Chase Claypool — 5 catches, 81 yards
    2017: Michael Young — 4 catches, 18 yards
    2018: Kevin Austin — 5 catches, 90 yards
    2019: None
     
  4. Wicket

    Wicket Fan: ND, PSV, Pool FC, Cricket, Urquel, Dog Crew
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    yeah so there is one caveat to that and thats the new 4 game regulation
     
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  5. AbeFroman

    AbeFroman You touch me, I yell RAT!

    Does he have a short fuse or something?
     
  6. Red Rover

    Red Rover Neck water faucet, mockingbirds mocking
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    Irrelevant information

    What are their PFF blocking grades?
     
  7. Beeds07

    Beeds07 Bitch, it's Saturday
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    He got into an altercation at the end of his senior season and missed the all-star circuit or something like that.
     
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  8. Voodoo

    Voodoo Fan of: Notre Dame
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    Yeah I don’t know why but I get some serious Shembo vibes from Botelho. Feel like it’s only a matter of time until he does something crazy.
     
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  9. IHHH

    IHHH Well-Known Member
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    People are just saying that the guy is really aggressive on the field, shembo threw a goddam desk at his teacher in high school before coming to nd.

    maybe you are right but I would not worry too much about bothelo.
     
  10. Rise

    Rise Well-Known Member
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    Just watched the highlights of the USF game. Holy shit the citadel is slow
     
  11. Red Rover

    Red Rover Neck water faucet, mockingbirds mocking
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    Bothelo put a kid in the hospital and his reason for playing football is because he can hurt people without getting in trouble for it

    Kid has a screw loose for sure
     
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  12. IHHH

    IHHH Well-Known Member
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    well, I guess I was wrong.
     
  13. theregionsitter

    theregionsitter Well-Known Member
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    Right Kinnda Guy #RKG
     
  14. IHHH

    IHHH Well-Known Member
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    maybe he actually put a kid in the hospital that was dying on the sidewalk and he saved him by doing so

    let’s not jump to conclusions here
     
  15. beist

    beist Hyperbolist
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    Personally I want all our defensive players to have a little bit of Aaron Lynch in them.
     
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  16. DetroitIrish3

    DetroitIrish3 Well-Known Member
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    Dyslexia and amphetamine abuse?
     
  17. beist

    beist Hyperbolist
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    Maybe and yes
     
  18. Beeds07

    Beeds07 Bitch, it's Saturday
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  19. nexus

    nexus TMB’s TSO
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    Oh cool now our MAGA players are telling the guys that cover them to stick to sports?
     
  20. Beeds07

    Beeds07 Bitch, it's Saturday
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    Wut?
     
  21. nexus

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  22. beist

    beist Hyperbolist
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    I’m not sure he’s on the team anymore.

    also I think he called ND football subpar.
     
  23. Wicket

    Wicket Fan: ND, PSV, Pool FC, Cricket, Urquel, Dog Crew
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    nm, didnt load the full tweet. Let MAGAs maga, once youre in too deep on maga you cant be saved anymore
     
  24. Thoros of Beer

    Thoros of Beer Academy Award-Winning Actor, Tim Allen
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    To be fair to Logan, subpar is a generous characterization
     
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  25. laxjoe

    laxjoe Well-Known Member
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    who is that? is he on the team right now?
     
  26. NilesIrish

    NilesIrish Not a master fisher but I know bait when I see it
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    Yeah, grad student ol. He appears to suck.
     
  27. laxjoe

    laxjoe Well-Known Member
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    ‘Like 27 things had to go wrong’: When lightning struck for USF at Notre Dame

    [​IMG]
    By Matt Fortuna and Pete Sampson 1h ago[​IMG] 4 [​IMG]
    The last time South Florida visited Notre Dame, the Bulls were double-digit underdogs led by the son of a former Irish head coach — fitting parallels leading into Saturday’s game at Notre Dame Stadium, where a 25.5-point underdog with an offensive coordinator named Charlie Weis Jr. will look to do the impossible again.

    In other words, USF hopes lightning strikes twice. Just like it did on Sept. 3, 2011.

    The Bulls, then in their second year under Skip Holtz — son of Lou — were 10-point underdogs. The Irish, in their second year under coach Brian Kelly, entered as the AP preseason No. 16 team, with BCS bowl dreams on their minds.

    Then five turnovers, two weather delays, one quarterback switch and a five-hour, 59-minute game happened, throwing everything on its head in South Bend, Ind., in the wake of a 23-20 upset.

    “You can’t start winning until you stop losing,” Kelly said afterward. “And the things that we did today out there obviously go to the heart of how you lose football games.”

    “I didn’t want to make this about me,” Skip Holtz said then. “But it was an emotional moment for me.”

    “Today was probably the most strange game probably anybody has ever been a part of,” Notre Dame quarterback Tommy Rees said after the loss.

    Fortunately for all, the radar looks clearer for this Saturday, with temperatures in the 60s and sunshine all around. And this will be the second game of 2020 for both the Bulls and the Irish, the matchup having come together quickly after Notre Dame’s original Sept. 19 opponent, Western Michigan, had its season get postponed in the Mid-American Conference.

    Jeff Scott is a first-year head coach. Kelly, meanwhile, overcame the frustrations of that USF game — and much of his first two seasons with the Irish — to make it to Year 11.

    Still, seeing USF and Notre Dame on this week’s slate is enough to stimulate flashbacks among the last outing’s participants, even all these years later.

    “As soon as they put that on the schedule, it was a full-on trigger,” former Notre Dame right guard Mike Golic Jr. says today. “One of my least favorite memories, and unfortunately through my first three years at Notre Dame, whether it was Tulsa, UConn or Syracuse, we had a couple hellscapes.”

    For Notre Dame, re-living that loss may be just that — a hellscape, even if the USF loss, and so much of the misery of that 2011 season, laid the groundwork for the program’s best days in two decades. For USF, that win was euphoric — and not at all indicative of what was to come, considering the program won just seven more games in the ensuing two seasons, resulting in Holtz’s dismissal.

    For one special day, though, Holtz and USF reigned supreme. And the seeds for that moment, it turns out, were planted on the bus ride to the stadium.

    The buses took off from Michigan City, the way they do for every visiting team to Notre Dame Stadium. A helicopter followed USF’s 40-mile path to game day from above. Mark Snyder, the Bulls’ defensive coordinator, sat up front next to Holtz. When the Bulls arrived to campus, they were pulled over by campus police, flummoxing all aboard.

    “Our strength coach gets off the bus, like, ‘What’s going on? What are y’all doing?’ ” Snyder says now. “And here comes like a truck or sirens or something, and Notre Dame drives by us. All their buses blow by us.

    “We’re on the same route to the stadium. We thought the helicopter was following us. Obviously it was following Notre Dame. And the police pull us over — four buses, five buses, however many we had — the leprechaun comes by, doing whatever he does, and then you see the Notre Dame bus. I saw BK in the front seat, as they passed us. I’m like, ‘Are you kidding me? They’re pulling us over to let Notre Dame go by?’”

    Finally, the USF buses received the all-clear to proceed toward the stadium. As the first bus pulled up, nobody moved, waiting for a cue from the still-seated head coach.

    Once Holtz rose, he let out a primal scream: AHHHHHHH!

    “And the door opens and f—–’ there we go off the bus into the locker room,” Snyder says, laughing. “Yessir, that started the whole thing. I’m like, Well, I think our guys will be ready to play.”

    Then the actual game started.

    Kelly’s offense, in its second year, with a familiar starting quarterback in Dayne Crist, looked like everything it was hyped up to be. A 31-yard completion on the first play of the game. A 26-yard pass two plays later. On and on it went, going 79 yards in just seven plays, the Irish attack on its way to making past coach Charlie Weis and his “schematic advantage” nothing but a distant memory.

    “The first play of the game I rotated my safety weak, again taking away Michael Floyd,” Snyder says. “I didn’t double him; I just had personnel there in the flat. And he swing screens to the tailback to the field and it went (31) yards and I’m like, ‘Holy … Here we go.’ And then they were marching down the field. They did a good job. And then we hit the goal line and we put our goal-line personnel in. He put his personnel in.”

    That Notre Dame personnel included linebackers Carlo Calabrese and Steve Filer, along with defensive lineman Ethan Johnson, part of the Irish’s jumbo package. Jonas Gray took the handoff from Crist, USF safety Jerrell Young jarred the ball loose and off the rails this game went.


    Snyder: Kayvon Webster picked it up and went 96 for a touchdown. People still send me the video of me running down the stands with him. He blew right me. So we got a little confidence going there. We settled in.

    Andrew Hendrix (Notre Dame reserve QB): That was pretty jaw-dropping, because everything starts the way you draw it up. You have all your scripted plays and you’re moving the ball down the field, and obviously if we score there we probably win. And then all of a sudden that happens and it’s pretty deflating.

    Golic: Everyone was a little bit stunned, because the momentum of a new season, new expectations, and in an instant everything kind of flips on you. It was that cold reality that, All right, football is insane, and all the hopes we had in the offseason don’t matter once we kick off.

    Chuck Martin (Notre Dame safeties coach): Usually when things happen like that, it goes that way (the jumbo formation). They usually go away in a hurry, that’s how that works.

    Kapron Lewis-Moore (Notre Dame defensive end): We did a little jumbo package. I know the defensive players, just so you know, we knew we weren’t getting the ball. We were just in there to block.

    The tone, in many ways, was set. Three drives later, with USF having already kicked two field goals and with Notre Dame’s offense finally threatening to score, Crist was picked off by DeDe Lattimore in the end zone. With the Irish set to get the ball back three drives later, Theo Riddick muffed a punt, which Victor Marc recovered for USF at the Irish 20. The Bulls settled for a field goal and a 16-0 lead, which ended up being the halftime score.

    “Theo’s first day as a punt returner,” Martin says. “In my four years, I would argue is as good as any football player I coached at Notre Dame, and we coached a lot of good ones during my four years. It was his first day back there and he — I think we lost two of them, right?”

    Yes, although he recovered one of them.

    Still, the turnovers — and the long day — were only just beginning for the home team.

    Thanks to lightning, halftime ran two hours, 10 minutes long. Irish fans in the stands were soaked and miserable. Irish fans elsewhere went as far as to demand a quarterback change, which sounded hyperbolic until it wasn’t.

    Notre Dame players relished the opportunity to recharge. USF, naturally, wanted to keep momentum going.

    Golic: We needed a full reset. Guys were getting changed out, fresh pads. After two and a half hours, your warm-up doesn’t matter. Nothing else matters. It’s a little microcosm of what everyone went through sports-wise this summer. Like the NBA shutting down midseason, nothing you did before matters.

    Dan Fox (Notre Dame linebacker): Even at halftime, I just felt like we were gonna win. I don’t know what it was. I knew that we had more talent. We just had to put it together. It was a matter of time, and I feel like time ran out.

    Snyder: We were scattered all over the place. We were in the tunnel. I sat back with the defense. The grounds crew, you know how they get the lawn mowers and all that stuff? They had a couch back there, an old beat-up couch. I sat on the couch. They had a lounge chair. Players are on the floor, players are in the locker room, players are down the hallway. It wasn’t the best of conditions. And we’re eating pizza, Domino’s pizza.

    Hendrix: You hate to say this, but it’s one of those games that starts so poorly, and you never wanna say they wanna be there more than you do, but them beating Notre Dame is way better than us beating USF, as bad as that sounds. Then the lightning and storms happen, you go to halftime, you don’t know if it’s gonna be called.

    Martin: I forgot about the two lightning delays. That was awful. Glad you brought that up. Glad you called me.

    When play finally resumed, the Irish defense forced a three-and-out. Then, Rees came out with the offense to start the second half, a role that he would not relinquish the rest of the season.

    Surprising? Not if you knew Kelly.

    Snyder: Not really, because I had a few people tell me to be ready for Tommy.

    Fox: I just knew from Kelly’s past, like at Cincinnati, he wasn’t afraid to have two quarterbacks. He was playing a bunch of guys. I don’t think there was an announcement. I just think it happened. I wasn’t surprised. That’s not a knock on Dayne Crist, but I knew how BK operated in terms of performance. You have to perform.

    Golic: I think knowing how much ball Tommy had played the first time Dayne had gotten hurt, I think everyone kind of understood. It had been a close (camp) competition. Personally, I was bummed for Dayne because I knew the amount of work he put in coming back from injury.

    Hendrix: Tommy had ended the (2010) season so well that we just needed something, anything. I think he almost threw for 300 yards (296).

    As smooth as the offense looked under Rees, mistakes still plagued the Irish. David Ruffer missed a 30-yard field goal attempt late in the third quarter that could have cut the USF lead to 16-10. The two teams exchanged touchdown drives to make it 23-13. After a Rees rush to open the Irish’s penultimate drive with 4:03 left, the teams were sent to the locker room again, with this lightning delay lasting 43 minutes in real time and an eternity for a Notre Dame team that knew it would need a miracle to avoid one of the most disappointing opening performances in school history.

    Instead, on the first play out of the break, Rees was picked off by Young, who had now forced the first and fifth turnovers of the game.

    A Rees touchdown pass to Floyd with 21 seconds added some window dressing, but USF recovered the Irish’s last-ditch onside kick attempt.

    “It’s hard to do and lose by three,” Martin says. “I’ve probably been in a minus-five turnover game, but it wasn’t a three-point game. It was probably a 30-point game.”

    The final carnage: A 23-20 USF win, despite Notre Dame outgaining the Bulls 508-254. Four Irish fumbles, two of which USF recovered. Three interceptions from two Irish quarterbacks. Two lightning delays tallying two hours, 53 minutes.

    Notre Dame went 2-for-6 in the red zone. USF went 3-for-3.

    “Some games come down to one play,” Martin says. “That game came down to like 27 things had to go wrong for us to lose, and it seems like they all went wrong.”

    “I saw my parents after the game and my dad was soaked,” Fox says, “and he just looked at me and he was like, ‘That sucked.’”

    The 2011 opener ended up serving as a microcosm of the Irish’s season — and something of a pivot point for Notre Dame football under Kelly. Five more turnovers ruined another 500-yard outing the following week at Michigan, leading to a 0-2 start. Notre Dame, which ended up having two players drafted in the first round the following spring (Floyd and Harrison Smith), finished 8-5. In retrospect, that record is fairly impressive, given that the program finished 118th (out of 120) nationally in turnover margin.

    The flat finish to 2011 that ended with a loss to Florida State in the Champs Sports Bowl, coupled with fatigue from the hype around yet another coach promising to restore the Irish to glory, left Notre Dame out of the following season’s preseason AP Top 25 poll.

    Hendrix: There was the vibe that we couldn’t get out of our own way. At that time, I really feel like the culture was different than it is now. Now it has more of a relaxed vibe, more confidence probably. Coach Kelly came in and the program was in shambles at that point. So there was so much we needed to fix. And at that point we really hadn’t had any of the success we thought we’d have. I think Coach Kelly felt that pressure, too. Everyone was so uptight just waiting to get the monkey off our back.

    Martin: You’ve got to have some scars on you that, you get to the point you know how to win those games. And we certainly at that point, Game 1 of Year 2, we weren’t battle tested enough.

    Fox: Every inch matters. Every little thing matters. A turnover on the 1-yard line is the difference in a game that’s only one play. One play can change the whole course of your season if you lose early in a season, especially at Notre Dame with no conference championship to play for — well I guess this year they do, which is weird — but it forced us to know every single play.

    Lewis-Moore: I remember how the next year, that was our whole thing, you had to win close games. You’ve been through it. You know what it feels like. You’ve been in that moment before. I feel like anything in life, experience is the best teacher.

    With a penchant for winning close games — five of which were decided by one possession or fewer — Notre Dame ran the regular season table the next season, going from unranked to No. 1 before falling to Alabama in the national title game. Kelly and the Irish have operated on a higher plane ever since.

    It may have taken a game that still sparks visceral reactions to help get them there.

    “When the game was over, I don’t even think I showered,” Snyder says. “I was already soaking wet.”
     
  28. laxjoe

    laxjoe Well-Known Member
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    got it.

    and to be clear, that wsan't a dig at him ("this guy's a nobody, who cares what he has to say?!"*). i realized watching the game on Saturday that I know maybe 10-15 guys on the team at this point, and definitely no back-up OL

    *although that is true
     
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  29. Druce

    Druce Fuck football.
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    His twitter bio refers to him as a "has been" though some may argue that he's a "never was" ironically much like nexus
     
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  30. nexus

    nexus TMB’s TSO
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    that was 100% a shot at Sampson for correcting/teasing Trump’s mouthpiece. His social media is full of ghoulish pro-Trump shit.
     
  31. nexus

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    If that Hawaiian kid is going to snap and beat the shit out of someone I have just the target
     
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  32. NilesIrish

    NilesIrish Not a master fisher but I know bait when I see it
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    Practice fights don’t normally get you kicked out of school :notobamanotbad:
     
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  33. Thoros of Beer

    Thoros of Beer Academy Award-Winning Actor, Tim Allen
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    Sampson has every right to criticize Trump's mouthpiece, being one himself.
     
  34. Beeds07

    Beeds07 Bitch, it's Saturday
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    ....resists urge to look at Pete's timeline.
     
  35. CTownND

    CTownND Well-Known Member
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    I think the joke is Pete is a mouthpiece for Kelly.

    Pete seems moderate to slight moderate liberal from his timeline posts.
     
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  36. Bert Handsome

    Bert Handsome I'm sorry, the card says Moops
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    Well his viewpoints are at odds the sportswriters in my timeline that think it's a travesty that college football is being played and found no joy in watching games last weekend because it is endangering lives. So by that measure you could call him siding with MAGA.
     
  37. Voodoo

    Voodoo Fan of: Notre Dame
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    The 4HL hates Sampson because they think he's too liberal.
     
  38. Bert Handsome

    Bert Handsome I'm sorry, the card says Moops
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    Found Thoros' burner account

     
  39. SD_Irish

    SD_Irish El Mas Chingon
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    That should be a badge of honor then. Notre Dame home boards are just as bad as most other teams' boards.
     
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  40. Thoros of Beer

    Thoros of Beer Academy Award-Winning Actor, Tim Allen
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    This one is by far the worst

    I assume most of you also post at Domer Domain
     
  41. NilesIrish

    NilesIrish Not a master fisher but I know bait when I see it
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    Uhnd, duh.
     
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  42. Beeds07

    Beeds07 Bitch, it's Saturday
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    :edmond:
     
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  43. IHHH

    IHHH Well-Known Member
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    you follow sportswriters from the big ten?
     
  44. Bert Handsome

    Bert Handsome I'm sorry, the card says Moops
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    Chicago area in general. About once a month I unfollow one of them. I'm down to just a few now
     
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  45. Beeds07

    Beeds07 Bitch, it's Saturday
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    Not sure if you saw the story, but it's Chicago sports talk related. Dan McNeil from WSCR got fired for saying Maria Taylor dressed like a hooker on MNF.
     
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  46. IHHH

    IHHH Well-Known Member
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    my god, how stupid can people be. That’s like begging to get fired.
     
  47. Bert Handsome

    Bert Handsome I'm sorry, the card says Moops
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    Saw that

    Mcniel coming back and the shakeup that ensued was the beginning of the end for me with listening to the score.

    Bernstein is dull in the earlier time slot, McNiel sucks, and Parkins being paired with him lowered him to his level.
     
  48. Bert Handsome

    Bert Handsome I'm sorry, the card says Moops
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    It was a guy that has been fired multiple times but brought in good ratings in the early 2000s. A few years back they fired the black guy that liked to talk about social issues and brought him back to cater to the stick to sports crowd. The station didn't even deny it either only it was worded that they wanted afternoon drive to be fun.
     
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  49. IHHH

    IHHH Well-Known Member
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    oh my
     
  50. a1ND

    a1ND Bold & Spicy
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    i forgot how much i missed reading this article during football season. it's the best article of the year IMO

    1 — Opening kickoff and both Kyle Hamilton and Jeremiah Owusu-Koramoah are running under it. Big hit by JOK to start the season but I gotta tell ya, I love this approach by Brian Polian (and Brian Kelly) for Game #1 when uncertainty defines opening day.

    2 — Wow that’s Jimmy Clausen in a Duke helmet! And here I thought the Jurkovec matchup was going to be intriguing…

    3 — Duke goes Pistol, and apparently this wasn’t something they showed last season per BK and JOK. (Nothing like a 21-yard gain to start the season on the road.) I miss the Pistol at ND—that was far and away Tommy Rees’ best formation for the 2013 Irish offense.

    4 — Fourth-and-3 and it’s Kyle Hamilton. Noah Gray might be your best player, Duke, but you’ll have to look elsewhere if The Condor lines up against him. Irish ball.

    5 — Stuff, Sack, Check Down to a covered Kyren Williams. Well that was fun, I guess Duke wasn’t surprised by Notre Dame’s opening salvo.

    Looked like Javon McKinley broke free down the post on second down, but it took a week-and-a-half for him to get there and Book had already bailed on the route.

    6 — Almost a full line change by Mike Elston for Duke’s second drive: Ovie Oghoufo (Daelin Hayes), Jayson Ademilola (Myron Tagovailoa-Amosa), and Jacob Lacey (Kurt Hinish) but Ade Ogundeji stays in rather than Justin Ademilola (who’ll enter soon, if I recall).

    7 — How did Kyle Hamilton tip that Brice pass on the roll-out? The length is remarkable.

    8 — Ovie Oghoufo does not yet trust what he sees.

    9 — First Stuff of the day for the Irish as MTA explodes through a block and Shayne Simon stays home on the boundary. Violent play by MTA…Hinish and White were there as well.

    10 — 55 yard catch-and-run by Eli Pancol as a diving Crawford and lunging Brown miss ankle tackles (Brown not close) and Bracy eventually catches up inside the Duke 10-yard line. Of note…Crawford got up and caught up as well, running by Kyle Hamilton in the process. That’s remarkable hustle.

    11 — Hinish sheds a block, 5-yard loss. That’s how you respond and put the underdog behind the chains with goal-to-go. I’ve been a fan of that kid since he showed up in a jersey that didn’t fit and a too-long towel at Culver Academies three summers ago.

    12 — Isaiah Foskey with his first big play of the season, third-down pressure untouched off the boundary as he hits Chase Brice on the release. Bracy, Foskey, and Hinish saved four points over the last four snaps.

    Clark Lea dialed up a Buck/Mike blitz with Hinish dropping into the middle zone on that third-and-goal from the 12-yard line. No Nickel needed with Jeremiah Owusu-Koramoah as your slot defender..

    Duke settles for a field goal and a 3-0 lead late in the first quarter

    13— Words I’ve been waiting months to type: Kickoff to Chris Tyree one yard deep…

    Quality return of 38 yards (last year’s long was 45 yards and against New Mexico, to boot) and a heckuva lead block by Jafar Armstrong

    14 — Welcome back to Stuff City! Maybe this line just needs time to gel after 107 starts…

    15 — 3rd-and-4, Book throws unnecessarily wide of Tommy Tremble wide open dragging underneath…but I’d like to see Tremble make that catch, too. Hard to describe why that seemed like a tough ball to catch, but it did. Low and outside when uncovered isn’t ideal, I know that…

    PUNT. WHOLLY COW ISAIAH PRYOR! Best hit of the year so far and some old school punt coverage from the gunner.

    Pryor was at least partially moved to Rover, by the way. (Not sure if that’ll stick this week.)

    16 — Really enjoyed Dungy’s insight into David Cutcliffe’s coaching style vis a vis their concurrent time spent with Peyton Manning (Cutcliffe was his quarterback coach). Manning telling Dungy “I need to be coach hard” due to his time with Cutcliffe was enlightening.

    On a related note, I remember when Doug Flutie used to talk about that pass he threw really far and I enjoyed it every time as well…

    17 — Tyree Stuffed on his first carry, then misses a blitz pickup as Rocky Shelton buries Ian Book from the blindside…that could’ve been worse. Book’s ensuing pass to Tremble gains 10 yards, 10 short of the first down and Jay Bramblett is back for more.

    That’s 9 plays for an aggregate 0 yards: 3 stuffs, 2 sacks, and a missed throw included.

    You know what’s not included in that ugly total? A turnover, which is why the Irish trail just 3-0.

    18 — Lot of drag routes, eh? Goodness this is boring. What happened to attacking the seams?

    19 — Really like Nick McCLoud’s competitiveness. He plays like he’s still mad about being under recruited in Year 5.

    20 — Irish ball again and the first quarter ends in fitting fashion as Williams is Stuffed for a gain of 2 yards. I preferred Spring Practice No. 1, at this point…

    21 - Kyren Williams is obliterated in pass protection but that counts as an executed block in the end as Book finds Tremble for a first down on 3rd-and-5.

    22 — McKinley just ran a drag route in which all three Duke linebackers covered him at one point yet — isn’t that an indication for Book that his deep target (Lawrence Keys) will be open crossing deep? Plenty of time but Book forces a check down miss to Williams instead.

    23 — He’s like Teddy KGB: “Check, Check, Check…”

    24 — Jay Bramblett!! Dillan Gibbons!! Brian Polian!! What a call on 4th-and-8!!

    You might ask ‘Why do they need to fake a punt to gain yards vs. Duke?’ And you’d have a point, but quit being a downer, Notre Dame is playing football and Bramblett is their leading rusher at this point!

    25 — Book to Mayer…get used to it. (Nice throw by the struggling QB as well.)

    26 — Pretty design on a backside screen to Armstrong, and that’s the best he’s looked since the first drive of 2019. Finishing with power, which has to be his calling card because he’s not making many miss while staying on balance.

    27 — Four TE package here with Tremble as an offset fullback and that’s a memorable first touchdown for Kyren Williams—stopped cold, undercut…but he stays up and fights in.
    ?Aaron Banks put his man on skates on that block.

    I have faith in the 2020 Irish running game if two things materialize, actually, three:

    A.) Book’s top receivers return (and are thus getting open)
    B.) Book is better
    C.) Kyren Williams gets a better chinstrap.

    7-3 ND near the 11:00 mark

    28 — JOK with a STICK On Deon Jackson. What a Signing Day steal in ’17. I compared him at the time as a cross between Sergio Brown and Michael Stonebreaker—amazing he’s trending closer toward the latter.

    29 — Bracy with consecutive quality plays in coverage, Hamilton on the slot blitz, and the Blue Devils have to punt.

    This is where you figure ND’s OL will begin to impose its will…

    30 — Four-and-out…

    31 — Paul Moala targeted twice in zone coverage but the result is the same: two passing first downs. Looked a little out of sorts as on the second snap—a 12-yard slant—he aligned at Rover, moved over to boundary, and was directed back to Rover by Drew White.

    32 — Jalon Calhoun catches a post at full speed for 25 yards, lowers his head into Nick McCloud, and pays the price as shoulder pad beats head. Tony Dungy dissects how veteran running back Deon Jackson made the play possible by leaving his assignment to pick up the front-side blitz.

    This is good stuff so far by Dungy—one of the last coaches I thought would get into broadcasting upon retirement, honestly.

    33 — Chase Brice is flat-out dealing on this drive. He’s going to be the best quarterback on the field for the second straight week when Boston College comes to Durham on Saturday…

    34 — Did they call pass interference on JOK? That’s pretty weak. Kiss of death, however, as its 1st-and-goal at the 10 yard line.

    35 — Kyle Hamilton’s strength saves a touchdown at the two-yard line as Brice beats the blitz.

    36 — 2nd-and-goal and Jackson is Stuffed by Ade Ogundeji at the ankles and Justin Ademilola holding his gap. The Goal Line D showed that pair flanking Hinish, MTA, and Jacob Lacey—who did not hold the point. Foskey aligned outside Ogundeji while White and Jack Kiser were inside ‘backers with JOK in man coverage (moved pre-snap). Nick McCloud the lone CB and Shayne Simon…wait, why not Hamilton ? (Simon was blocked a bit too easily. I”m going to have to re-watch this game and only watch the Bucks.)

    37 - I have a theory that Kyle Hamilton should be in the goal line defensive package in that he should be in every package.

    38 — FOSKEY with the play of the half on third down, staying home backside on a Brice boot for the sack in space. Thats high-level stuff by the redshirt-freshman who, by all accounts, should’ve bit hard inside but did not. Outstanding coaching (and listening).

    Liufau came in for Simon on that third-and-G from the 2-yard line, FYI.

    Duke’s Field Goal cuts the Irish lead to 7-6 with 3:15 remaining.

    39 — I counted about 16 missed blocks on that kick return by Tyree.

    40 — Beautiful tunnel screen to Kyren Williams (looks like last August!) as its Hainsey with the seal in space and Kraemer with the pancake 8 yards downfield. 75 yards just like that. And I’ll apologize to Williams, he was plenty fast on that play despite getting tracked at the 10-yard line.

    Not a blazer but he was scooting.

    41 — Interception as Ian Book attempts to squeeze it in on first-and-goal to a well-covered Tremble. Just no reason to throw that pass. Odd route combination too with four flooding the crowded boundary.

    That seems to naturally create tight windows for a quarterback.

    42 — Book seems flustered post-snap by the end result, but that pass had little chance for success. His last interception—six games and 122 passes ago—also in the red zone (Virginia Tech).

    43 — Daelin Hayes does a lot of little things well out there…did he get too big?

    44 — 1:50 remaining, three timeouts remaining for the Irish and Duke has to punt. Call timeout. Call timeout. Call timeout. Call timeout.

    Give me a reason not to call timeout here? Afraid Duke will go on 4th-and-4 at its own 40?

    Clock bleeds to 1:13 after the fair catch. That’s okay, it’s not as if 37 seconds has ever helped on an end-half drive…


    45 — I don’t think Book knew he had a free play (offsides was a tick before the snap and flag was thrown away from Book’s head angle) which makes this overthrown pass (interception) to Keys incredibly bad.

    46 — Irish have to use a timeout (following Joe Wilkins’ first career catch) and Kyren Williams picks up a first down on third-and-short. Good call by Rees as Duke wasn’t going to sell out against the run with 47 seconds left…Irish not all that quick to the line but Duke is offsides anyway.

    Tremble seemed confused a few times in the first half on alignment. He was, however, the No. 2 ranked run-blocking tight end per PFF over the weekend.

    47 — Bunch at the bottom and Joe Wilkins (second career catch) gets out of bounds after a 20-yard gain. Now Wilkins helps out Book with 13-yard comeback. His first three career catches and ND is at the Duke 46. Kid came to play in a pinch… speaking of which, Kyren Williams with a crucial blitz pickup.

    48 — Jon Doerer is great. Seriously, 18 for 21 since the outset of 2019 with four half-ending field goals (at UGA and from 52 vs. USC, to boot). This one from 48 yards out.

    10-6 Irish at the half and that was some poor clock management by Brian Kelly, et al.

    49 — Just struck me…It is SURREAL to watch this happen with people wearing masks as they exit the field in a 1/8 full Notre Dame Stadium. Consider this reality if it was brought to you on March 5 following Notre Dame’s lone spring practice?!

    In fact, this might be the place to ask: Who is the Irish Illustrated subscriber that predicted (to me) that the NCAA Tournament might shut down? (In February!)

    50 — Williams has the best spin move by an ND runner since, when? Riddick? Their frames are too dissimilar for an apt comparison outside that maneuver. Darius? (Too tall?) Another guy that knew how to spin to his advantage, however.

    51 — The officials sure were rusty for this one. Speaking of which, Ian Book throws high of Williams on a slant and it’s Punt No. 5 in 8 possessions (with a TD, Pick, FG) to date.

    52 - Drew White can fill a gap, eh? Really like the use of Bo Bauer in this game too, however. You have to ignore the ‘Snap Minimum’ for this but Bauer graded best (just ahead of JOK) among ND linebackers per Pro Football Focus. (JOK 63, White 44, Bauer 22 snaps, respectively.)

    53 — Jalen Calhoun nearly ruins the football season by fumbling and falling on Kyle Hamilton’s ankle.

    a pox on you, Calhoun!!

    54 - Tremble, Wright, and McKinley pave a path along with Hainsey over the right side and Williams does the rest, running through another first hit for a 13-yard gain.

    55 — I agree with Dungy that Book needs to take off a bit more if only to mix it up and stress the defense at the second level.

    56 — That’s an outstanding catch by Joe Wilkins. Leading receiver this coming Saturday? (One Irish Illustrated subscriber believes Wilkins will lead the position group on the season.)

    (Tremble will lead the team, I believe.)

    57 — Book’s QB power over the right boundary (3rd-and-3) was Notre Dame’s lone short-yardage Stuff of the contest.

    58 — I did not give Aaron Banks his just due on 4th-and-1…not only Eichenberg, Tremble, and McKinley handle their business to allow Williams an easy 26-yard score, but Banks manhandled his assignment at the point of attack and into the second level.

    Dungy informs us that was an inside gap to the left by design but Williams instinctively bounced it outside. Amazing how much more Super Bowl Champion coaches catch than I watching a game live, isn’t it?

    17-6 ND at the midpoint of the third quarter.

    59 — Williams frame resembles Allen Pinkett, but Pinkett was much faster (ran some track at ND). Williams’ low center of gravity (yes, like Lucas) really aids his cause upon contact.

    60 — Pressure by Jayson Ademilola (and late, JOK) should’ve forced a Brice pick but DJ Brown drops it. Come on, man…

    61 — Bauer, Lacey, Oghoufo on a Stuff. If ND can continue to build on and stick with this rotation they’ll be rolling 11-deep up front (and maybe Rylie Mills) and 6-7 deep at linebacker by October.

    That was a heckuva play by Bauer to attack…Simon got caught up in the Wash.

    Gotta watch the Bucks and wide receivers almost exclusively in the first half when I’m in the Stadium this week.

    62 — Daelin Hayes plays the boundary flat well to force a punt on Third Down. Hayes is a player to watch (on TV) when you’re frustrated with his sack total at mid-season. Watch how much he aids the cause elsewhere…

    63 — SOMEBODY GIVE TYREE A CREASE FOR CRYING OUT LOUD!!

    64 — Banks has to make that block on Dimukeje but the future situational NFL pass-rusher was too quick, and trips up Book on a designed 3rd Down Draw that was expertly called and otherwise executed.

    Bad punt by Bramblett and Duke starts at the ND 39-yard line.

    65 — Crawford will (and has) make plenty of plays this season to make up for this reality, but receivers are going to put him on his backside almost weekly when he doesn’t come low enough to make the ankle/knee tackle.

    66 — Not sure if Brice/Gray suckered Hayes, Liufau, or both, but that was a pretty play design for 19 yards on a Brice roll left, popping it over the second level’s collective heads down to the 5-yard line.

    67 — Two plays after I disparage Crawford, he lays the wood on a sideline smack just short of the goal line to set up 3rd-Down. I’ll take that kid, err, GEN-Xer on my team any time…

    68 — Too easy touchdown by Brice on the ensuing snap. To be fair, Duke’s six guys easily handled ND’s six guys. Like the design by Cutliffe to split four players out and take defenders out of the box.

    17-13 and we have a game entering the 4th Quarter

    69 — Holy Cow Book. That’s a touchdown to Kyren Williams on a backside boundary screen with THREE linemen and two defenders out in front. 75 yards down the drain.

    He ranked 48th among 49 quarterbacks per Pro Football Focus over the weekend, FYI. That miss seals it.

    70 — Dungy can’t believe it. AND WHAT A CALL by Rees!!

    71 — Tremble, Banks, Hainsey, Kraemer all blow up the right side and Williams rips off 13.

    72 — I think we’re going to see a great Notre Dame running game over the next two weeks.

    73 — Are people that well-covered? He has all day in the pocket. Are they just watching when he scrambles?

    Alright, I’m committed to watching the receivers Saturday from the box.

    74 — Books lets it rip to Avery Davis, his first catch of the game on 3rd-and-5. His last catch was on 3rd-and-7 vs. Va. Tech, by the way. So strange.

    75 — I don’t mind that Book missed Keys on that deep cross to the field…I do mind that is was his first such shot downfield.

    76 — Kind of mad about both, I suppose…

    77 — 3rd-and-7 and All Pro Michael Mayer just shedding fools out here…

    78 — Peanut Butter and Jelly…Corn on the cob and butter…Armstrong and Run Stuffs…

    79 — Jahmir Smith behind Patterson (mainly) and Banks on 3rd-and-1. Just Move ‘Em Out, Line. Well done…

    80 — Book misses a low on a wide open Mayer who is clearly wondering if his Covington Catholic QB would’ve missed that throw early in the 4th Quarter…

    81 — A STRIKE to Avery Davis. One of Book’s two best throws of the day for a 3rd-and-10 touchdown from the 17-yard line. Kyren Williams with the blitz pickup. Davis’s last three catches have been third down conversions. Sure they were over a seven-game span, but let’s not get bogged down in the details…

    24-13 ND with 11 minutes remaining

    82 — Duke Three-and-out. That’s Clark Lea for you. Unleash the hounds (this time Ogundeji) on a 3rd-Down swing pass.
    83 — Tyree takes it 25 yards out of shot-guns split-back. Is the the ’94 Niners or Notre Dame? God Bless you Tommy Rees for that formation.

    Eichenberg, Banks, (Williams!) Patterson, Kraemer, and McKinley all take their defenders for a ride.

    84 — Mayer slips out of the backfield to the 17-yard line. First Down at the Duke 30 and if ND punches it in here, my Game 1 score prediction will be exact. I can hardly contain myself…

    85 — Tyree slips on the cutback (and had room)…Tyree strung out at the boundary (nice D)…3rd-and-13, Book has 37 seconds to throw, no one open on some uninspired routes, and Doerer the Magnificent makes it 27-13.

    The dream is over. Exact predictions are maddeningly tough to achieve. I know I got USC 45 ND 27 in 2016 but no one seemed to care. Go figure…

    86 — Houston Griffith. I mean…what was that? How do you Olé whiff that badly on Chase Brice in space? I’m losing faith …And DJ Brown? Pinballed off of Brice? It’s not RICE, it’s BRICE!

    87 - Owusu-Koramoah shuts down this late drive with a blitz off the slot, and Brice drops the football attempting to pass, ending the threat.

    88 — Duke isn’t bad…don’t think they’re that good, either? Predictions? 6-5? (so 6-4 in their next 10?)


    Irish 27 Duke 13…I think the running game will impose its will over the next two weeks, but they can’t do that in October if Austin and Lenzy aren’t back to threaten secondaries.