A win is a win is a win. Sure, we'd like it to be by 30 and not 3, but we gotta take what we can get, you know?
wooderson | Email | Homepage | 10.23.06 - 4:46 pm | #

They aren't quitters. I just wish our o-line was more consistent.
UncleSmokeyStank | Email | Homepage | 10.23.06 - 4:56 pm | #

Don Criqui does a fine job....but I sure miss the voice of Notre Dame football...
schwappy | Email | Homepage | 10.23.06 - 5:31 pm | #

You get in line to play Notre Dame, you get to recruit against Notre Dame and you make it one of the biggest games on your schedule, a mini-bowl game if you will. Your players have break-out games and everyone performs over their heads. Yep. Bring it on.
PhilB | Email | Homepage | 10.23.06 - 7:16 pm | #

Don't forget, in addition to the two mascots, UCLA also brought their juggler.
Jeff | Email | Homepage | 10.23.06 - 7:19 pm | #

I really enjoy reading those kinds of analyses, since I don't have Tivo and I don't know enough about football to know all the schemes and covers etc.
Erik '04 | Email | Homepage | 10.23.06 - 7:50 pm | #

Two mascots, band juggler, and the crazed towl-waving coach.
Jack | Email | Homepage | 10.23.06 - 8:06 pm | #

You're right Schwappy, Tony R. would have done that last td proud.......

In other news, you got to love Charlie at his presser. Here he is taking on some turd (SBT?) who calls him essentially a liar (re-read the transcript - CW was right)

Q. You talked about bringing more pressure and you were unhappy about the fact that sometimes the safeties or whoever didn't get to the quarterback

COACH WEIS:
I didn't say anything about the safeties.

Q. You said the blitzers didn't get to the quarterback

COACH WEIS:
It could be linebackers. You're putting words in my mouth.

Q. I know it was the safety.

COACH WEIS:
Write your own story then. What are you asking me for?
Mike | Email | Homepage | 10.23.06 - 8:13 pm | #

Maybe someone else mentioned already but I just noticed after watching the video that Mcknight did a great job of not committing a foul on that touchdown play. You can kind of see him pulling himself away the last moment. Too many times I've seen players commit illegal block in the back penalty in that situation.

I enjoy this blog very much.
Hyung | Email | Homepage | 10.23.06 - 8:55 pm | #

Tony R. may have done that last touchdown proud but he would have messed up most of the rest of the game. He was great in his time but was really slipping those last three or four years. He was long overdue to be done. Criqui is doing a fine job in his stead.
Club 23 Irish | Email | Homepage | 10.23.06 - 10:34 pm | #

I thought Karl was extremely composed and respectful despite what must be a very frustrating loss, and showed alot of class during his press conference. Here's hoping the Bruins have some things to celebrate as the season goes on.
iNDy | Email | Homepage | 10.23.06 - 10:35 pm | #

Actually, I thought Dorrell was too emotionless. Kinda reminded me of Tyrone; disaffected by the game. I love that Weis gets excited by big plays and shows his emotions.

Half the time when Tyrone was coaching, I couldn't tell by his demeanor if ND was getting beat by 3 or 31.

Dorrell came across as too robotic (not Robot Genius) and blase. Most uncool. Who would you rather play for?
Big Tobacco | Email | Homepage | 10.23.06 - 11:04 pm | #

New trio of linebackers...returning bad-mediocre secondary and C- line mean one thing, we have one loss and we'll take wins. If we win like that against the service academies it will upset me.

We go into USC with one loss and hopefully an undefeated SC, I like our chances. Talk about the line, the D, whatever, same stories as last year and a better SC team just got a win. I will take this game on the shoulders of Quinn and his last chance to beat SC at SC to secure a BCS.
Irish Fan | Email | Homepage | 10.24.06 - 12:08 am | #

I think we take what we hear from the talking heads too seriously. UCLA is a much better team than there record shows. Don't misunderstand they're no Auburn or Tennessee but they could just as easily be 6-1 as 4-3. Put them in the Big East and they may be conference champs.

I'll take a win against a good and fired up team anyday.

It seems to me that whenever a team is beat by ND they're instantly devalued but if they beat ND it shows how great that team is. Well, you can't have it both ways.
brad Chicago | Email | Homepage | 10.24.06 - 1:32 am | #

Great point Brad

This UCLA team is a solid team. And like someone mentioned before, ND is everyone's bowl game and everyone's best shot. A win is a win is a win

Go Irish!
Smitty2183 | Email | Homepage | 10.24.06 - 8:06 am | #

The emergence of Brockington will be a good thing. If ND can play a 4-3 instead of Nickel when teams are in a two WR set, ND's pass coverage will get better. Zibby and Ndukwe won't have to play the run nearly as much. Lambert is getting better every week. Richardson? You still don't hear his name called much. If ND could just find someone to come off the edge opposite Abiamiri...

The only issue I have is tackling. Some people think ND is arm tackling. Not from what I see. The problem is the arms aren't involved. The DB's try to knock people down and rarely try to wrap up, Zibby included. That might work on a 5'10" WR but you have to wrap up 6'3" WR's.
SeanH | Email | Homepage | 10.24.06 - 8:10 am | #

"The only issue I have is tackling."

I agree! I've been saying the same thing since the Penn State game. Even in that good defensive performance, poor tackling technique was apparent. Zibby seems to be the one most prone to try to knock WRs down without wrapping them up, but he's not the only one. (And Zibby may just appear to be the most prone to it, since he's the safety and has unfortunately been involved in missed tackles on several long TD plays against ND.)

Tackling technique definitely needs to get better by the end of the season. We've been getting away with it lately (Purdue, UCLA, etc.), but that can't continue indefinitely. If we don't wrap up Jarrett and Smith et al., USC is going to make us pay for it. So will any bowl game opponent.
Andrew | Email | Homepage | 10.24.06 - 8:40 am | #

The boys at EDSBS have a nice post about their time spent in South Bend.

How did you all like playing host to those "southern boys."?
Tony | Email | Homepage | 10.24.06 - 9:10 am | #

I agree about the tackling issues. Ironically (at least it seemed to me) the best tackler on the team on Saturday was Brockington. I hope he continues to play well. I like the combination of him, Crum, and TT. Their speed is going to be big facing a run-first, run-second, run-third,, pass-maybe team like Navy. Hopefully with them, we can stretch the play to the sideline and keep the run in check.
Chris | Email | Homepage | 10.24.06 - 10:13 am | #

Did anyone else notice that (other than the final TD play) we got virtually no Yards After Catch (YAC's) the whole game?

I miss Tom Pagna, probably the greatest and most knowledgeable football color guy I've ever heard.
Terry Butz | Email | Homepage | 10.24.06 - 10:18 am | #

I agree with you about the YAC yards, Terry. I haven't had a chance to watch the whole game over again, but I don't remember a whole lot of YAC. Is this by design this year? Or is it just the difference in the teams we're playing?

Watching the UND video I noticed two things.

1. On the first play from scrimmage, Grimes does a phenomonal job of stopping his drag route to make his defender hesitate for a split second to open up Quinn's window to Samardzija on the sideline. I'm very pleased to see that kind of play out of Grimes.

2. On Samardzija's TD, McKnight was open on a deep in around the 20 yd line. Had Quinn not been able to pull the defense with his pump fake, I believe he could've hit McKnight with only the safety a step behind him.

Anyone else agree with me on this?
Ryan | Email | Homepage | 10.24.06 - 11:51 am | #

I don't see much difference between Alabama's record in the SEC and UCLA's in the Pac10. Tennesse was behind Alabama for 56 minutes and Ainge's numbers were pretty much identical to Quinn's.

It wasn't a great weekend for one loss teams but ND, Cal, Tennesee, and Texas all won through. They're all BCS worthy.
canuck | Email | Homepage | 10.24.06 - 12:47 pm | #

Ryan: I saw McKnight to but Quinn was already flowing to his right and would have had to throw across his body. Plus McKnight was bracketed, at least before the pump fake.
SeanH | Email | Homepage | 10.24.06 - 1:36 pm | #

i actually thought the criqui td call was fantastic. that's raw emotion at the end, not announcer-speak. i could listen to it all day.
tjf | Email | Homepage | 10.24.06 - 2:18 pm | #

Sean -

I wasn't saying that McKnight was the better option, I agree that Samardzija was the correct choice. I was just amazed at the play call and how well it worked.

I'd love to listen to Charlie break down game tape.
Ryan | Email | Homepage | 10.24.06 - 3:20 pm | #

"It wasn't a great weekend for one loss teams but ND, Cal, Tennesee, and Texas all won through. They're all BCS worthy."

I guess I think you guys are being a tad generous. Notre Dame has beaten 1 ranked team in the last 2 seasons -- a Georgia Tech team that is now rated #21. Your 1 win against a ranked opponent was by a small margin, while your loss was in a home blowout.

By comparison, Texas beat #19 Oklahoma and #20 Nebraska, Tennessee beat #12 Cal and lost by 1 point to #9 Florida, and Cal beat #25 Oregon by a wide margin. Their 1 losses were by 17 at home (to the #1 team), by 1 at home, and by 17 on the road, respectively. Notre Dame's loss was by 26 at home (to the #2 team).

Your resume is looking a little thin by comparison to that group. I'm not sure you really look like a BCS team, even with 10 teams getting in the BCS or championship games this season.

You'll get your chance at USC, but it's a good bit easier to talk about how you're going to beat USC than it is to do it.
William Swann | Email | Homepage | 10.24.06 - 3:32 pm | #

william... come on man. actually look this shit up before you start spouting it off.

Last year, the ND UM game was a match between ranked teams. we beat them.

this year, PSU was ranked when we played them in week two. We beat them.

so i don't know where you got this "beating one ranked team in two years" thing.
domer03inbmore | Email | Homepage | 10.24.06 - 3:52 pm | #

come to think of it, pitt was also ranked when we played them in week 1 of 05, but I will happily grant that pre-season ranking don't mean dick
domer03inbmore | Email | Homepage | 10.24.06 - 3:56 pm | #

I need some help understanding something. The penalty for defensive holding is 5 yards and an automatic first down, right? Why then was UCLA given 10 yards (and no first down) when ND was penalized for holding on UCLA's final punt of the game? The hold must have taken place before the kick, or UCLA would not have been allowed to kick again. So, why wasn't UCLA given a first down on the penalty?
morphew90 | Email | Homepage | 10.24.06 - 4:04 pm | #

Before the touchdown pass with 30+ seconds on the clock, Quinn only threw deep once (over throwing McKnight in the endzone). Is it me, or does Quinn rarely go deep? I see a mountain of screen passes, and some to the WR's and TE's across the middle, but the deep ball doesn't seem to be in Quinn's repertoire. Is Weis not confident of Quinn's deep ball ability? It seems to me that to have a chance in the NFL, Quinn needs to be able to be consistent on the deep ball. I haven't seen evidence of that all season. And for god's sake, someone tell Weis that Walker up the middle with no other back in the backfield really surprises no one. Honest to god, the UCLA fans behind me yelled on more than one occasion, "#3 up the middle!" BEFORE the play, and they were right more than half the time!
Tom | Email | Homepage | 10.24.06 - 4:07 pm | #

You bring up yards after catch. Ever notice on the replays from the end zone that Quinn doesn't lead his receivers quite enough. They have to slow down, occasionally a corner will get a hand in to deflect it, or the receiver is brought down by someone catching up to him.

Well, I figure good enough to complete the thing under pressure. Whats he got? three quarter of a second to see, decide, and fire.

Not under pressure, Quinn is better able to keep them underway.

The first pass right to Walker allowed him to catch behind scrimage and run for a first down.

And as to the hop balls at DW's feet, I agree those are deliberate intentional groundings in the vacinity a covered receiver meant to look like a shitty pass.
Judge | Email | Homepage | 10.24.06 - 4:28 pm | #

University of Buffalo brings two mascots to games also... Victor E. Bull and Victoria S. Bull
Mike | Email | Homepage | 10.24.06 - 5:25 pm | #

I dub thee William, d-bag extraordinaire.
IrishHoffy | Email | Homepage | 10.24.06 - 5:37 pm | #

I love it when people make fun of ND's schedule. Let's see, the three losses in the past two seasons have been: lost on the final play to U$C (the #2 ranked team last year and now), Michigan (ranked last year when ND won and now the #3 team), and tOSU (the #1 ranked team). ND is 3-1 in the Big 1? and 2-0 in the Pac-10 and beat #21 GT (likely the second best team in the ACC). Somebody remind me why being in a conference would make the schedule tougher?
JohnWA | Email | Homepage | 10.24.06 - 6:04 pm | #

Forgot about Michigan St. last year. That one was a bad loss.
JohnWA | Email | Homepage | 10.24.06 - 6:05 pm | #

The best part of Criqui's call is the strangled, not-Freudian-at-all "He's going in!"
Klug | Email | Homepage | 10.24.06 - 6:42 pm | #

"Is Weis not confident of Quinn's deep ball ability?"

I have no confidence in Quinn's deep ball ability. We don't get YAC because Quinn often under throws and receivers pull up; or he over throws them. Sometimes he gets lucky and our incredibly talented (and tall)WR's lay out for a pass that was over thrown. I rarely see Quinn hit someone down field in stride (except for Carlson over the middle) -- never a WR on the sideline. It's a good thing Quinn has two tall WR's, or we might never get a deep pass.

Not to slam Quinn too hard -- he does a lot of things right; just usually not the deep ball.
Jeremy | Email | Homepage | 10.24.06 - 8:42 pm | #

"Last year, the ND UM game was a match between ranked teams. we beat them.

this year, PSU was ranked when we played them in week two. We beat them.

so i don't know where you got this "beating one ranked team in two years" thing."

Actually, I'm getting it from the final season rankings. Where you're ranked early in the year (or mid-way) is not that important, since you haven't played many games.

Michigan finished last season ranked #25 in the AP poll and unranked in the USA Today coaches poll. Penn State is currently unranked in any poll, so your win against them this year is not a win against a ranked opponent.

I bring these things up only because a bunch of you guys are talking about "deserving" a BCS bowl birth this year. Those births are a little more "open" this year, since there are 10 slots instead of 8. You may or may not be a top 10 team, but before counting yourself in that club, maybe you should actually win a game versus a top 10 team.
William Swann | Email | Homepage | 10.25.06 - 11:23 am | #

"Actually, I'm getting it from the final season rankings. Where you're ranked early in the year (or mid-way) is not that important, since you haven't played many games.

If that's the case, than why bring up Texas, Cal and Tenn's records against ranked opponents this year in your original comment? If mid-season rankings aren't important for purposes of evaluating Notre Dame's performance, neither are they important for comparing Notre Dame to other teams. Either mid-season rankings matter or they don't. Pick one.
Robb | Email | Homepage | 10.25.06 - 1:04 pm | #

William Swann,

If thats the case than tOSU has only played and beaten one ranked team. Your logic is flawed.
Stupidity of youth | Email | Homepage | 10.25.06 - 2:55 pm | #

"If that's the case, than why bring up Texas, Cal and Tenn's records against ranked opponents this year in your original comment? If mid-season rankings aren't important for purposes of evaluating Notre Dame's performance, neither are they important for comparing Notre Dame to other teams. Either mid-season rankings matter or they don't. Pick one."

I brought up the most updated rankings. In the case of last season, that would be the final season rankings (obviously), and in the case of this year, the current rankings.

The person who posted saying Notre Dame had beaten a bunch of ranked teams this year and last listed the rankings as of the week of the game. So, in his mind, beating Penn State in week 2 was a win over a ranked team, even though their ranking was based almost entirely on preseason expectations. Their current ranking, on the other hand, is based on about 2/3 of a season's actual games -- which has to be good enough because it's all we have to go on.

I compared all teams, Notre Dame and everyone else, based on the same criteria -- the most current rankings.
William Swann | Email | Homepage | 10.26.06 - 11:13 am | #

"If thats the case than tOSU has only played and beaten one ranked team. Your logic is flawed."

That's right. OSU beat #5 Texas on the road by a wide margin. And they won every other game by a wide margin. That's why they're #1. The other 3 major undefeated teams have less impressive records:

Michigan beat #11 Notre Dame on the road, and no other ranked team.

USC beat #13 Arkansas and #20 Nebraska, but has struggled in several games.

West Virginia hasn't beaten a ranked team.
William Swann | Email | Homepage | 10.26.06 - 11:14 am | #