Weis To Wait For Knee Surgery?

If you were at the Notre Dame game this past weekend, or you got to see the game on TV, then you probably noticed that Coach Charlie Weis had to leave the game for a time in the second quarter. He returned with a brace on his left leg, and completed the game in crutches. Those watching on replay got to see that Weis was taken down by a Notre Dame player when he was inadvertently pushed out of bounds at about the 50 yard line. Weis landed awkwardly on his knee, and reports indicate that he suffers from both a torn medial collateral ligament and a torn anterior cruciate ligament.

It’s uncertain whether Weis will have surgery during the season, but it could happen when the Irish have a BYE week a few weeks from now. Either way, Weis is not planning on having surgery anytime soon, and it’s probably more likely that he’ll go the whole season without going under the knife. Right now Weis is pushing a four-legged cane around, and he’s not very active. He should get better over time, and you can expect that he’ll be on the field this Saturday for the Michigan State game.

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Permalink - Posted in General on September 16, 2008 - Post a comment

Notre Dame Gets Revenge Against Michigan

The Notre Dame Fighting Irish took their revenge on the Michigan Wolverines this past Saturday. Even though the rain made sure that the vengeance was served moist, the Domers were able to extract plenty of sweetness in beating Michigan, one of their main football rivals, by a score of 35-17. If you’ll remember, the Irish lost last year’s meeting between the two teams by a score of 38-0.

While the Irish played well, and Jimmy Clausen especially looked like the quarterback he’s supposed to be, it’s hard not to mention that many of the opportunities that the Irish got were from Michigan turnovers. The field was sloppy and wet, and the Wolverines could onto hold onto the ball. They fumbled the ball four times and threw two interceptions.

Also of note- Charlie Weis was the topic of conversation pretty much all game, as he was in crutches and a leg brace for most of it. A Notre Dame player accidentally crashed into Weis after a play. The injury didn’t look good at all, and it’s expected that he’ll have surgery on it sometime this season. More on that to come, we’re sure.

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Permalink - Posted in General on September 15, 2008 - Post a comment

Know EVERYTHING about Michigan-Notre Dame

Have you ever wanted to know everything there ever was to know about the Michigan-Notre Dame series? If so, we suggest you check out the Notre Dame-Michigan pregame page at UND.com, the official athletics website of Notre Dame athletics. In addition to giving you a lot of useful info, like game time, the channels to see it on, and some of the key historical facts about the series, it also gives you enough trivia to use up the rolling scroll function on your mouse. Some of the interesting facts include:

  • With the exception of the years 1983, 1984, 1995, 1996, 2000 and 2001, Michigan and Notre Dame have played each other every season since 1978.
  • Only Michigan , Florida State, Ohio State and Nebraska have all-time winning records against Notre Dame, with a minimum of five meetings between them.
  • Average margin of victory in the series all-time is just five points.
  • The Fighting Irish are 0-3 when they play on the date of September 13th.

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Permalink - Posted in General on September 12, 2008 - Post a comment

Checking Out the Enemy: Michigan

Notre Dame and Michigan. Two of the biggest rivals in all of sports, not just college football- although in college football there are probably only a handful of other rivalries that cause more of a stir. The two programs are set to do battle this Saturday, and you’d be wise to either get some tickets to the game, or make sure your favorite couch is going to be unoccupied for the whole afternoon, because this one ought to be good. Both teams enter the game not looking entirely sharp. The Irish struggled for most of their first game versus SDSU before eventually looking Irish and gaining a win. Michigan lost their opener to Utah and then barely beat Ohio (not State).

Even though Michigan and Notre Dame are the two winningest college football programs in history, one of them is going to lose this weekend. Will it be Michigan? According to their team report at CBS, they are going to start QB Steven Threet behind the center, but they aren’t all that set with him at the position. On offense the Wolverines have three injuries to check out. Take a look at the CBS Sports page about Michigan to get the scoop.

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Permalink - Posted in General on September 11, 2008 - Post a comment

Coach Weis: “To Hell With Michigan!” (?)

The hottest college football buzz in the nation right now is the controversy surrounding Notre Dame football coach Charlie Weis’ offseason comments about the Michigan Wolverines. Apparently (and you can watch a YouTube video about this if you care to hop on over to the site) Coach Weis was at a pre-Blue-Gold game breakfast with fans, supporters and others, and he made a few statements about Michigan. Weis claimed that Notre Dame would make a statement against San Diego State, then would field plenty of excuses and whining from Michigan. Then he said, “To hell with Michigan.”

The comments, especially the last one, have been the subject of many an internet chat room and message board. In Weis’ defense, the comments were a reference to an old Michigan coach, coach Bo Schembechler, who used to say, many a time, “to hell with Notre Dame.” Back then it wasn’t as big a deal. But today, this kind of thing is the inspiration of multi-million dollar websites, billions of blogs and posts (including this one) and the death of thousands of innocents. Well, maybe that’s a little too much. But still, the comments are getting blown out of proportion. There’s just no context anymore. And no sense of humor. Hopefully, all this hullabaloo will go away when the Irish blow away the Wolverines this weekend.

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Permalink - Posted in General on September 10, 2008 - Post a comment

Reflecting on Last Weekend’s Win vs. SDSU

It’s only Tuesday, so fans like us can still get into the win that the Notre Dame Fighting Irish got last weekend versus the San Diego State Aztecs. While the players and coaches will have to focus on the task at had- preparing for the upcoming Michigan game- us fans can still revel in the glory.

However, in retrospect, many people are saying that this win was not what the Irish really wanted coming out of the offseason. People wanted a huge blowout, but instead, the game was close right up until late in the fourth quarter. If you take a look at the Team Report for the Irish, you’ll get a sense of what the basic line on the game is for most folks. However, Irish defensive end Pat Kuntz offers some optimism in the face of the nay-sayers. According to the “Notes/Quotes” section of the Team Report, Pat Kuntz had this to say:

“It’s the first game of the year. You can’t always expect to come out right away clicking on all cylinders. I thought we came together well at the end. Once we started clicking, it showed in our performance on the field.”

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Permalink - Posted in General on September 9, 2008 - Post a comment

Irish Win Home Opener! Notre Dame 21, SDSU 13

The Notre Dame Fighting Irish were victorious in their opening game this past Saturday, beating the San Diego State Aztecs 21-13 before a sell-out crowd at Notre Dame Stadium. You can read all about the game at ESPN, if you didn’t get a chance to see it nationally televised and you weren’t at the game. Jimmy Clausen had one of his best games in his career, racking up 237 passing yards and throwing 3 touchdowns. He had two interceptions, but one was off a deflection off the chest of a Notre Dame receiver. The game was very close until the fourth quarter when the Irish put it out of reach with a pair of touchdown passes thrown by Clausen.

For those in attendance, it was great to see the Irish get a win, even though it wasn’t by as much as we predicted here on Friday. A win is a win, and when you don’t have a pre season, you have to work some of the kinks out in the opener. The Irish did look like they steadily improved as the game went on, especially on offense. One of the most positive things about the game was Jimmy Clausen’s accuracy in the second half, when the game was still undecided.

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Permalink - Posted in General on September 8, 2008 - Post a comment

San Diego State Hobbling into Notre Dame Game

We hope you have tickets to tomorrow’s game against the San Diego State Aztecs, because the closer we get to game time, the more we like the odds that Notre Dame is going to come out and make a huge statement. With the latest news that the Aztecs are feeling some pain on their defensive line, the Irish offense is chomping at the bit to get out there and deliver a show.

Apparenly there are several starters on the SDSU defensive line either out or nursing injuries, which means the offensive line of the Irish will have a much easier time. Thats a really good thing. Last year the line got hammered week after week. Notre Dame gave up the most sacks in the nation, and the rushing attack was one of the most pitiful in the country. Big things are expected in the game, and the Irish will deliver. That’s right. It’s Friday and we’re going to start this season off with a bold prediction. Notre Dame wins by over 30 points. See you here on Monday.

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Permalink - Posted in General on September 5, 2008 - Post a comment

Setting a Standard for Victory

Much like any confrontation you enter into, you need to set up a decent strategy for success, and benchmarks by which you can measure victory. We’re of course talking about America… ‘s team, the Notre Dame Fighting Irish. When they hit the field this Saturday at Notre Dame Stadium going up against the San Diego State Aztecs, they will be measured not just by the scoreboard, but by how their achieve their points.

In an article by Stewart Mandel of Sports Illustrated, some clear objectives are set. While we won’t give away his exact numbers, clear guidelines are stated in terms of offensive productivity on the ground, in the air, and in the pocket. Defensively, the Irish need to contain the Aztec passing game, though, clearly that’s going to be nearly impossible. Containment is the key, though. Read up if you wan to score the game from the seats of the stadium or your sofa.

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Permalink - Posted in General on September 4, 2008 - Post a comment

Checking Out the San Diego State-Cal Poly Game

Notre Dame Blog readers are well aware that the Irish are set to play the San Diego State Aztecs for their home opener this upcoming Saturday. While the Irish are expected to roll over their Mountain West Conference foe, knowing everything about your opponent is key. The Fighting Irish coaches are no doubt looking over the SDSU game film from last weekend to detect any weaknesses that the Aztecs might have.

We did our own brief scouting from looking at some of the highlights and reading up on the game. Breaking down the stats is also helpful. The Aztecs were able to more the ball on offense pretty well when they were throwing the ball, as they raked up 352 total yards through the air (and just 27 rush yards).

On defense, the Aztecs look weakest when they are defending the run. They allowed Cal Poly rushers to go for 263 yards on the ground. If Notre Dame can establish a good running game, then they might have a better chance of winning on Saturday.

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Permalink - Posted in General on September 3, 2008 - Post a comment


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