Duke Coach Used to be Notre Dame Assistant back in the Day (Singular)

As you might know, the Notre Dame Fighting Irish are preparing to play the Duke Blue Devils this weekend, so each team is getting ready to take on their opposing sides. Fighting Irish QB Jimmy Clausen is figuring out the Duke secondary. The Notrte Dame linemen are trying to find a way to plug up holes for the Duke running backs. And Notre Dame coach Charlie Weis is no doubt researching Duke coach Ted Roof to figure out what he is likely to do this upcoming weekend. You would think that Charlie Weis would have a better idea, though, given the fact that Roof used to be a defensive coordinator for the Irish. Of course, he was only part of the Notre Dame program for part of a day.

You can read the whole story in detail at the Duke Chronicle. The short version? Apparently Roof was hired on with the Irish as defensive coordinator as part of a package deal with former Georgia Tech head coach George O’Leary, who was all set to take over the Notre Dame head coaching position. O’Leary got the boot after a few hours on the job, taking Roof with him. You really can’t blame Roof for much of the mess, but it’s still an interesting fact that you will, I’m sure, hear about if you watch the Notre Dame game on TV. Makes you want to get tickets, huh?

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Permalink - Posted in General on November 14, 2007 - Post a comment

DNA Test Results from “The Gipper”

A few weeks ago the body of George ‘The Gipper” Gipp was exhumed from his Michigan gravesite for the purpose of a DNA test. The exact reason for the test was not given at the time, but now we know the truth. The test was conducted on behalf of a woman who claimed that she might be the long-lost descendant of the Notre Dame football legend. However, the body’s DNA showed no relationship between the woman and Gipp. Clearly those family members who were mad about the grave-tampering right off the bat were even more angry to hear that the test results came back negative. You can read some of their statements at the New York Times, or the ESPN digested version of the Gipper grave scandal ending.

As you probably already know, George Gipp was a football hero from Notre Dame lore who set all kinds of records in his day. He died his senior year after a bout with pneumonia, and allegedly he told then-Notre Dame coach Knute Rockne to “win one for the Gipper” when the team was facing overwhelming odds. Rockne did just that in a game just a few years later, making the “win one for the Gipper” phrase immensely famous. It is immortalized in the movie “Knute Rockne: All-American,” wherein a young Ronald Regan plays George Gipp.

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Permalink - Posted in General on November 13, 2007 - Post a comment

Notre Dame Falls to Air Force Ground Attack

The Notre Dame Fighting Irish suffered their ninth loss of the season, a school record, this past Saturday when they fell to the Air Force Falcons 41-24. The Falcons dominated the game through their superior running attack, compiling a total of 285 total rush yards on the day (compared to Notre Dame’s 58). Jimmy Clausen made the start at quarterback for the Irish, and although he had probably the best game of his collegiate career so far, he was unable to get the Irish into the game in the second half. Clausen finished the game with some admirable stats. He completed 22 out of 40 attempts for a total of 246 yards, threw three touchdowns and had no interceptions, leading to a single game RAT of 131.41. Not bad at all for the freshman, especially considering the fact that some people were questioning the move to put him in after Evan Sharpley had done so well in a few previous games. Of course, the Notre Dame offensive line was a major problem, as Jimmy Clausen was sacked six times for -39 yards.

Air Force was also all over the Notre Dame rushers too, so it was hard for the Irish to keep up with Air Force. They were tied at 10-10 most of the way through the second quarter. Then in the fourth quarter Notre Dame  came within 10 points, and people were thinking about a comeback. However, Air Force dashed those hopes by putting the game out of reach in the final minutes. 

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Permalink - Posted in General on November 12, 2007 - Post a comment

Clausen to Start for Notre Dame vs. Air Force

Coach Charlie Weis stated yesterday that freshman Jimmy Clausen will start for the Fighting Irish this Saturday in Notre Dame’s upcoming game against Air Force. Weis said that Clausen had shown marked improvement in his practices, has gained a better perspective from his time on the sideline, and is back to 100% after being banged up a few weeks ago. This news comes after Weis had elected to start senior Evan Sharpley for a few weeks, which coincidentally correlated with a dramatic increase in offensive efficiency, especially in the Notre Dame passing game.

Since it’s Friday and the weekend is almost here, it’s the job of the Notre Dame Fighting Irish football blog to give the readers something to laugh at themselves about. So in the spirit of good humor, take a look at a fake news story at TheOnion.com. There’s a lot of gloom in the Notre Dame nation nowadays, but perhaps this will cheer you up as you prepare for the game against Air Force. In case you haven’t gotten your tickets yet, there is still just a short time to buy. Notre Dame Stadium should once again fill to capacity, so getting your tickets online is a great way to go.

To get Notre Dame Fighting Irish football tickets, go to StubHub.com.

Permalink - Posted in General on November 9, 2007 - Post a comment

Notre Dame Looks Ahead

There’s been a lot of talk about the game last weekend, because Notre Dame lost to Navy, and that never happens. In all of the digestion and hype, we here at the Fighting Irish blog have forgotten to focus on the game coming up. The Irish will play the Air Force Falcons this Saturday, and it would be great if you were to get some tickets to see it go down live. If you saw the Navy game, you saw one of Notre Dame’s best offensive performances of the year. The Irish played like they could win the game, and that’s a breath of fresh air for a lot of loyal fans in South Bend and the rest of the United States.

Do the Irish have a better shot of beating the Falcons than they did against the Midshipmen? Well, by the numbers, we can see that the Falcons are better than the Irish in a few key areas, but worse in a few others. The Irish are better at both passing and defending the pass, but Air Force, like Navy, is a superior running team. Air Force ranks ninth in the nation in rushing yards per game and third in rushing attempts, so it’s fair to say that Notre Dame will have to come up with another solid ground defense to keep the Falcons from getting into the end zone.

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Permalink - Posted in General on November 8, 2007 - Post a comment

Weis Criticism Picking up Speed

With the latest loss to Navy, one that broke an NCAA record streak of wins over the Midshipmen, fans of the Fighting Irish football team are feeling more frantic than ever. The season has been one of the worst in Notre Dame history. And whenever anything bad happens, people want to blame somebody. In football, when a team is failing to live up to expectations the coach is usually the first to be blamed. Therefore, Charlie Weis is going to get his share of criticism as the season comes to a close and especially as people start to analyze everything in the offseason. But the case against Charlie Weis is growing momentum already, as several major sports news websites have had articles about how he is awful and should be fired. Whether you agree with that opinion or not, there is defiantly a larger anti-Charlie movement this year than last.

Even some websites that aren’t necessarily specifically about sports or Notre Dame football have gotten in on the Weis bashing. Slate has an article, published before the Navy loss, that’s titled “The Worst Football Coach in the Universe.” The case is compelling. But as with most things in life, there are a number of reasons for things going badly, and Notre Dame’s season so far is probably no exception.

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Permalink - Posted in General on November 7, 2007 - Post a comment

Navy Relishes Victory over Notre Dame by Cancelling Class

You can tell that the United States Naval Academy is happy about something when they cancel class for a whole day in order to properly celebrate. The game that they are celebrating is a football victory over one of the worst teams in Division-I. Navy beat the Notre Dame Fighting Irish in dramatic fashion, a triple overtime win with Notre Dame on the two yard line.

The problem with this is that the game happened on Saturday, so there should be plenty of time to celebrate on some sort of weekend day immediately after Saturday. It would be great if there was a day of the week that came after Saturday that did not have any classes scheduled. Oh well. It’s probably just best to use the whole day Monday to celebrate, right? I mean, it wasn’t like Navy was the best rushing team in the nation, and Notre Dame had perhaps the worst offense in the nation, right? Honestly, I think that Navy is going a little overboard here. If my football team lost 43-straight times to the Irish, and then I had to wait until the third overtime to beat them in a year that is unequivocally the worst in Notre Dame history, then I might be a little more humble.

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Permalink - Posted in General on November 6, 2007 - Post a comment

Notre Dame’s Streak over Navy Ends

Notre Dame lost to the Navy Midshipmen this past Saturday in triple overtime, breaking a streak of consecutive Fighting Irish victories that had lasted an NCAA record 43 games. The Irish failed to score a two point conversion on their final possession in overtime after keeping pace with the Midshipmen all game. The streak was probably more important to Navy than to Notre Dame, because when you are on the right side of the streak, there doesn’t appear t o be any problem. Of course, if the Midshipmen were going to break the streak, it might as well have come this year while the Irish are really struggling.

Of course, there’s tons of silver lining for Notre Dame fans in this game. For one, the Irihs offense finally got going. The 44-46 score might be a little deceiving because there were so many overtimes, but even by the end of the game the Irish had scored 28 points, and they weren’t off of interceptions, either. Evan Sharpley started at quarterback and was completely effective, throwing for 140 yards and two touchdowns on 17/27 completions and no interceptions. Notre Dame running backs combined for 235 yards. The Irish actually combined for more total yards than the Midshipmen.

To get Notre Dame Fighting Irish football tickets, go to StubHub.com.

Permalink - Posted in General on November 5, 2007 - Post a comment

Lou’s Pep Talk before the Notre Dame Game

If you are in need of some inspiration before the Notre Dame-Navy game, then you should check out the preview sponsored by Remington, which will really get you confident about the chances that the Irish have in the game. Technically, they will be the underdog in the game, but the Fighting Irish have the advantage of a 43-game winning streak over the Midshipmen. That’s an NCAA record that Notre Dame would like to keep going, if at all possible.  You can read down the let side of the page and get a good review of some of the more memorable highlights of the all-time matchups between the two independents, and that’s probably the best thing to do when you are an Irish fan right now, look at the history.

Then there is also a video of former Notre Dame coach Lou Holtz giving an inspirational pre-game pep talk for before the game. This one is highly recommended, not only because you can see why Lou was such a great motivator, but because you might not expect who the intended audience of the speech is supposed to be. There are lots of stats and figures at the bottom of the page, but the real highlight of the preview of the Holtz video.

To get Notre Dame Fighting Irish football tickets, go to StubHub.com.

Permalink - Posted in General on November 2, 2007 - Post a comment

Wide Receiver Improvement for Irish

This season has been all about improvement for the Irish, who are 7-1, but look like a much better team than they were in the beginning of the season. There have been a lot of areas where the Notre Dame Fighting Irish have gotten better, but perhaps none is more obvious than at the receiver position. Notre Dame lost its two starting wideouts last year to graduation- and one to minor league baseball. The process of getting players at that position has been a struggle, because the cupboards were almost empty. Plus there were some quarterback issues, to say the least.

There’s a good article to read about the Notre Dame receivers at ChicagoSports.com. You might be surprised to find out that the one of the starters actually wasn’t drafted to be a wide receiver, but a running back. You’ll probably have a lot more respect for what the receivers have been able to accomplish this season after you read Brian Hamilton’s article. Getting thrown into a situation like starting wide receiver for the Irish can be quite a challenge.

To get Notre Dame Fighting Irish football tickets, go to StubHub.com.

Permalink - Posted in General on November 1, 2007 - Post a comment


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