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Craic Back Atcha by Kayo
“What's not to like about what happened today,” Brian Kelly asked after Saturday’s game. Other than Tommy Rees’s “On the Waterfront” wanna-be look, nothing.
Seeing Drew Pyne get some snaps would have been nice, but that’s just a quibble. Seeing Audric Estime get some carries…that was mouth watering.
Mouth watering is how he became a middle linebacker sized halfback.
I really liked the idea of letting seldom-used seniors hold on extra points. Good one, Coach Kelly.
Take that, Rudy!
If it can be monetized, he will gladly take it.
Watching Georgia Tech’s offensive line has given me an appreciation for the Irish OL
At various times this season, people thought Irish OL coach Jeff Quinn’s job should be in jeopardy. I don’t know if that’s still the case, but one thing is certain: if there’s a short list of replacements, Georgia Tech’s OL coach Brent Key isn’t on it.
Coach Key is coaching the wrong position. His work was quite effective for the ND defensive line.
In addition to six sacks, the Irish defense had nine quarterback hurries. I wasn’t counting when I watched the game, but I wouldn’t be surprised to learn that Jordan Yates was hit hard on every one of the hurries.
I think Yates must have hit hard on Coach Collins’ daughter and having to take every snap against that rabid Irish defense was his punishment in lieu of running stadium steps.
If the punishment fit the crime, I’d guess there was a very bad breakup.
Isaiah Foskey got his 10th sack on Saturday, tying him with Mike Gann and Bert Berry for fourth most in a season by a Notre Dame player. Third place, Victor Abimiari’s 10.5, is there for the taking next week. Passing Stephon Tuitt’s 12 is doable with two games left, and it will be good news for the Irish defense’s overall performance if he overtakes Justin Tuck’s 13.5.
I’d like to prophesy that Isaiah will one day set the career sack record, but I don’t think he’ll stay long enough.
If a three year limit to service is the price of recruiting great players, I’m in for getting as many as possible.
Suddenly kick returns are a thing.
I especially like it when we have just the one.
Don’t forget adventures in punt returns.
Media question of the week: “When you looked at where your team started this year and where you are now, did you think you'd see this much improvement?” I would have become a certified Kelly lover had he answered, “No, I thought we would suck all season.
I’m sure Kelly had confidence that the offense would improve, because that’s his side of the ball. But there was a while there when he probably worried that he had VanGordered another DC choice.
I measure defensive coordinators in degrees from Absolute VanGorder.
I mused about the Big 12 deserving a Pinkel nomination two weeks ago. A conference nomination is an idea that’s time has come with six SEC teams (Georgia, Texas A&M, Mississippi State, LSU, Kentucky, and Tennessee) preparing for their rivalry games against opponents their scout teams would pummel.
Signing up to be SEC Pinkel bait must pay well, because the New Mexico State Aggies agreed to back-to-back paddlings with their 56-13 loss to Kentucky following up last week’s 59-3 demolition at the hands of Alabama. One hopes that they can find enough healthy players to put on the field for next week’s Pinkel Bowl.
There is a lesson for independents. Underperform if you want to play more games against SEC teams.
USC’s SID Tim Tessalone had some Hardin-worthy notes amid the bad news after the Trojans’ 62-33 loss to UCLA. (1) USC is now 10-2 in its last 12 home games against UCLA, (2) The 95 combined points by USC and UCLA today were the most in the history of the series, and (3) USC entered the game fifth nationally in red zone offense and was 5-for-5 today. A silk purse is a nice accessory, don’t you think?
University of Sow Couture? My nomination goes to Florida’s Assistant AD Matthew Hutchison. I was curious what the Gator media folks would do to gussy up the performance that doomed Dan Mullen’s tenure at UF. Hutchison didn’t disappoint. He notes that “with today’s loss, Florida falls to 5-6 against Missouri and 2-3 against the Tigers in Columbia.” But “Florida is still 2-1 vs. Missouri across the last-three meetings and 4-3 against the Tigers dating back to 2015.” The latter caveats are just shameless cherry-picking. Face it, Florida---your peer program is Mizzou. That’ll get a coach fired every time.
Florida is Mizzou without the climbing wall.
Asked about Jack Kiser’s ankle injury, Kelly said, “Yeah, nothing structurally, high ankle. We feel pretty good about it.” Kiser, the guy with the painful sprain, queried, “What do you mean we?”
Like Peter Pan believing in fairies in order to bring back Tinkerbell, Kelly needs to believe Kiser’s ankle is “nothing,” because we’re running out of healthy linebackers.
Easy solution: Audric Estime.
Who looks more like a halfback when carrying a football, Audric Estime or Myron Tagovailoa-Amosa?
I’m reserving judgment until I see MTA try to hurdle a tackler.
Sounds like a great idea for a practice drill.
Playoff clutter removed: Oregon, Michigan State, Wake Forest. Next up (or down): Michigan.
Speaking of Oregon, the Ducks are typically the team that looks to make a fashion statement, but in their game against Utah, it was the Utes who were sporting a unique look. Although it wasn’t immediately obvious, it finally occurred to me what they were going for with those helmets.
As for the rest of the CFP contenders, it should go without saying that Michigan will go down---because they suck.
One gets a massive head wound from riding without a bicycle helmet .
Kayo
Bacchus
Kayo