As I mentioned last week, Tom Zbikowski, Trevor Laws, John Sullivan, and John Carlson were selected to play in this year's Senior Bowl. Unfortunately, per Blue Gray Sky, Carlson was unable to play due to illness.Also unfortunate is the fact that I wasn't able to see the game, so this recap comes completely from the stat sheet (PDF). Zbikowski started for the North, and recorded five tackles, good for fourth best on the team. He also recovered a fumble.But to Notre Dame followers, the Senior Bowl was finally Trevor Laws' moment in the sun. Coming off the bench, Laws recorded six tackles, good for third on the team behind big names Dan Conner and Xavier Adibi. Laws also had a sack, and ran a fumble recovery back 6 yards. Laws played hard all year during a difficult season, and got little attention for it. But his performance during the Senior Bowl, and during the week of practice leading up to it, should raise his draft stock considerably.UPDATE: Michael Rothstein of Irish Insight
Notre Dame was shut out of the Hula Bowl and the East-West Shrine game, but Tom Zbikowski, Trevor Laws, John Carlson, and John Sullivan were added to the Senior Bowl roster this year. The Senior Bowl is the most prestigious of all postseason graduate bowls, as it features a heavy dose of NFL scouts and coaches.The game is next Saturday, January 26, at 3:00 Eastern. Now the bad news - it's on the NFL Network. (However, if you do get the NFL Network, you should also be able to watch the full week of Senior Bowl practices leading up to the game.)
If you're like me, you've had a difficult time following Notre Dame's winter sports after graduating. Football is easy - you just turn on the TV every Saturday, and there they are. But the basketball and hockey teams play at irregular times during the week, and they're not always on TV. That's why I came up with this consolidated schedule, complete with TV listings. In the words of a certain SDH card swiper, "Enjoy."Click here to see the entire schedule in a new window.
There's probably not a senior high school football player that has a tougher act to follow than Nate Montana.Yes, he's the oldest son of Ringgold High graduate and NFL Hall of Fame quarterback Joe Montana.Like his father, Nate is headed to Notre Dame.
Unlike his famous dad, Nate won't be going with much fanfare. He'll be an invited walk-on, hoping to land a scholarship in 2009 While his father
Mitchell Blatt from the fine Juiced Sports Blog (do I have a link to them in my sidebar yet? I really should add one) graciously wrote up a preview for the ND-Duke game. I'm posting it here, so I can continue to whine about being too busy to do my own previews.Oh, the tradition. Notre Dame. Knute Rockne. Rudy Ruettiger. NBC.Duke. Steve Spurrier starting his career there. Good basketball team.Read the entire preview at JuicedSportsBlog.com
No regular preview again this week (unless someone wants to write one). As an aside, I couldn't believe how lost I was watching the BC game after not previewing that game. I humbly hope that at least a few of my readers feel the same way.We'll start with some news: Evan Sharpley will start at QB for the Irish, and unless John David Booty makes a semi-miraculous injury comeback, Mark Sanchez will call signals for the Trojans.I will leave you some video inspiration, in honor of the 1977 Green Jersey Game, which will be commemorated this Saturday. First, some game clips from the BGS Video Vault. Second, with all due respect to Irish Round Table, Fire It Up!
Quarterback: It's quite obviously a rebuilding year at this point. But here's the question: do you go with Jimmy Clausen (20-7-2, 60 yds), quarterback of the future, and let him learn the offense on the fly? Or do you go with Evan Sharpley (29-11-0, 135 yds, TD), whose experience and playmaking ability lets everyone else on the field learn the offense on the fly? In other words, yes we'd like Clausen to gain experience and learn the offense. But with Sharpley in there and able to throw the ball downfield more, the young receivers are gaining valuable live experience.Running Back: BC has a stout run defense, and it showed. Not counting two sacks and an errant Geoff Price knee, the Irish attempted only 18 runs. James Aldridge ran 5 times for 17 yards, Armando Allen 3 for 9, and Robert Hughes 5 for 6. Allen added 3 receptions for 16 yards.Fullback: Asaph Schwapp had a decent day with the ball. He had 1 carry for 4 yards and 2 receptions for 22 yards.Receiver: In this game, Robby
Quarterback: Sometimes you need to do just enough to win. As far as Jimmy Clausen is concerned, the important things I'm taking away from this game are his three QB sneaks. Only two were successful, but one was for a TD. More importantly, this is the first time I can remember Clausen running sneaks. This shows that he believes he has the toughness to get the first down, and that Coach Weis has faith in Clausen to execute the play.Running Back: It was tough running again for the Irish, but James Aldridge did pick up 52 yards on the ground, and another 18 in the air. Armanda Allen added 19 yards on 3 rushes and 3 yards on 2 receptions. Allen also hit John Carlson on a ten yard pass late in the game. Is Allen becoming the poor man's Darren McFadden? Travis Thomas had another rough day, picking up 1 yard on two carries.Fullback: Asaph Schwapp was finally able to gain some positive yardage, picking up 2 yards on 1 carry.Receiver: Robby Parris started for the injured David Grimes and
Sorry for the abbreviated preview; it's midterm week. Oh, and the baseball playoffs are on.UCLA Rush Offense vs. ND Rush Defense36 Khalil Bell and 28 Chris Markey have shared time for the Bruins. Bell is averaging 20 rushers and 104 yards per game, while Markey is averaging 16 and 81. Bell has 4 rushing TDs to Markey's 3.Trevor Laws now leads the Irish in total tackles with 41, and in tackles for a loss with 4.5. Maurice Crum is second on the team with 20 tackles, and Joe Brockington is right behind with 38.ND Rush Offense vs. UCLA Rush DefenseJames Aldridge is starting to see more and more carries for the Irish. He's now averaging 8 rushes and 43 yards per game. Armando Allen is averaging 6 and 20. Robert Hughes is trying to become the short yardage back; he's averaging 4.7 yards per carry. Travis Thomas has struggled, averaging just 1.2 yards per carry.Linbackers 51 Reggie Carter and 55 Korey Bosworth each have 4 tackles for a loss, trailing only DE 44 Bruce Davis. UCLA's to
The Irish have played two good halves this year. Unfortunately, those two halves haven't come in the same game. Notre Dame spotted Purdue a 23-point lead, and try as they might, they just couldn't come back.Quarterback: Purdue defensive coordinator Brock Spack wisely chose to shut down the run and force Jimmy Clausen to make plays. However, surprisingly, Spack put very little pressure on Clausen, and the freshman QB was able to make plays. Clausen completed 18 of 26 passes for 169 yards, with a TD and a pick, before leaving due to an injury. However, it probably wasn't the rib injury that knocked him out. Clausen also injured his left foot, and had trouble planting on it. This caused him to lose some touch on passes downfield.Clausen was replaced by Evan Sharpley, who performed rather well, completing 16 of 26 passes for 208 yards, 2 TDs, and one interception. Despite what ESPN commentator Andre Ware said, there is no QB controversy. Both Irish passers played well, and the sta
Purdue Rush Offense vs. ND Rush DefensePurdue has feasted on lesser opponents so far this season, so much so that their pass-happy offense is averaging 202.8 rushing yards per game. They're led by senior 24 Kory Sheets, who is averaging 25 carries, 94 yards, and a touchdown per game. Sheets is backed up by 25 Dan Dierking, who is averaging 6 carries and 39 yards per game. WR 9 Dorien Bryant has 6 carries through 4 games, and FB 44 Frank Halliburton has 3 rushes in as many games. QB 12 Curtis Painter has been credited with a total of 7 carries and 13 yards this season.Notre Dame's run defense has been porous, to say the least, giving up 232.8 yards per game on the ground. Though the Boilermakers like to pass, Sheets and company are probably licking their chops at those numbers.ND Rush Offense vs. Purdue Rush DefenseNotre Dame is finally starting to establish itself on the ground. James Aldridge is the leading rusher, averaging 8-9 carries and 43 yards per game, and more importantl
"They played the way they did in the first half because of the full-contact practice. But... they played the way they did in the second half because of the full-contact practice." - Mike
"You gotta believe. This school was founded on faith and on belief. I told you last week how when Notre Dame burned down, Father Sorin said the mistake we made was that we didn't build it big enough. Everything
The Notre Dame baseball program has opened up fall practice after a disappointing 2007 season which...
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MSU Rush Offense vs. ND Rush DefenseOnce again, MSU's backfield feature some familiar faces. 23 Javon Ringer and 30 Jehuu Caulcrick have shared the load this year for a team that is averaging 194.7 yards per game on the ground. Ringer has the slight advantage in carries per game (18 to 15) and yards per game (85 to 72). But Caulcrick has been the man in goal line situations, scoring 6 of MSU's
Not many positives came from this one. Two things did stand out to me, though. First, there's that old adage about controlling the line of scrimmage. On both sides of the ball, Michigan move the line of scrimmage two yards on every single play. They dominated the rushing stats 289 to -6. But ND's rushing stats would have been a lot worse if it wasn't for James Aldridge's performance against
I took quite a bit of glee is watching Michigan destroy Notre Dame last season. Then again, beating Notre Dame anytime before this season could be considered an accomplishment. Unfortunately, beating them in in 2007 is nothing to crow about, as the Fighting Irish look totally inept.This is no "Cripple fight," as the Wolverines are delivering an ass kicking.As I watch the Wolverines systematically dismantle the Golden Domers, I'm not taking a Hell of a lot of joy from what is going to be a big Michigan win. This game hasn't been all that much fun to watch. It's sad to see a team with just as much history as Michigan look so...so...Indiana-like. It's sad, even when it's a team you love to hate, as I do the Irish.This year's Wolverines are not that good of a team, at least by Michigan standards, and possibly by any standard. Coming into this game, the Wolverines were a team back on it's heels, reeling from 2 embarrassing losses. They are being lead by a first year freshman QB, Ryan Ma
Michigan Rush Offense vs. ND Rush DefenseFor another year, 20 Mike Hart is Michigan's workhorse. At this point, he's one of the few things that's gone right for UM. Hart has averaged 24 carries and 158 yards over the first two games, and has 3 total rushing touchdowns. Backup 4 Brandon Minor has also gotten his fair share of carries, averaging 10 rushes and 4- yards per game. WR 86 Mario
Quarterback:
Courtesy AP/Gene J. Puskar
Well, it's a start. Coach Weis kept things simple at first, allowing Jimmy Clausen to throw only screens and swing passes. He handled those well, and threw downfield later on. Despite his early success, though, Clausen completed just over 50% of his passes, was sacked 6 times, and threw a pick
Running Back: Four backs combined for 25 yards on 16
Penn State Rush Offense vs. ND Rush Defense33 Austin Scott steps in as Penn State's starting tailback this year. Last week, he ran 11 times for 47 yards and two scores. He's backed up by 20 Rodney Kinlaw and 22 Evan Royster, who both had good showings against Florida International to the tune of 8 carries and 8+ yards per carry. Starting fullback 34 Matt Hahn did not have a carry in the game,
Georgia Tech Rush Offense vs. ND Rush Defense22 Tashard Choice returns as Tech's starter, after averaging 105 yards on approximately 20 carries per game in 2006. Choice also had 12 rushing TDs in 14 contests. With the departure of Reggie Ball and Calvin Johnson, Choice is arguably the centerpiece of this offense. He'll be aided by an offensive line that returns four starters. 20 Jamaal Evans
Defensive LineSpotlight: Pat Kuntz
GTacklesTFLSacks20061248158Also Returning: Justin Brown, Neil Kennedy, Trevor Laws, Dwight Stephenson, Jr.
Lost: Casey Cullen, Chris Frome, Derek Landri, Travis Leitko (graduation), John Ryan (position change), Ronald Talley (transfer), Derrell Hand (?)
Gained: Paddy Mullen, Kallen Wade (DNP as freshmen), Andrew Nuss, Emeka Nwankwo (freshmen)
One reason for
QuarterbackSpotlight: Demetrius Jones
GAtt-Comp-IntYdsTD2006DNPAlso Returning: Evan Sharpley
Lost: Brady Quinn, Dan Gorski (graduation), Zach Frazer (transfer)
Gained: Darrin Bragg (position change), Justin Gillett (walk-on), Jimmy Clausen (freshman)
Those who do listen to Charlie Weis seem ready to annoint Sharpley as the starter. Those who don't listen to Weis seem ready to give the job to
Maybe this was how the season was supposed to end. The underdogs had overachieved all season. They pushed the mighty #1 seed to the limits, but in the end the favorites prevailed.
It didn't look like this would be a fair fight. Other than the diminuative Ivory Latta, everyone on the North Carolina squad had a distinct size advantage over their Notre Dame counterpart. Yet this was a very
Editor's note: regular readers may scroll down to see the winner of this year's KankaNation Laetare Medal.
Notre Dame stormed out of the gates, playing like the team who had more tournament experience, even if most of that experience didn't come from its current player. The lead touched double digits, and things were looking good. Cal's top scorer Devanei Hampton was held to 2 points in the
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