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Craic Back Atcha by Kayo
Stanford had the fifth worst run defense in Division 1-A, yet Notre Dame came out passing. “Stanford’s run defense is bad. They knew it. They knew we knew it. They expected us to run, but we pulled the old switcheroo on them,” Brian Kelly probably said after Saturday’s game.
The logic of it is simple.
It seemed to catch Stanford Defensive Coordinator Lance Anderson off guard.
Stanford won the coin toss and took the ball. Kelly immediately turned purple.
Most teams that win the toss defer. Shaw knew it. He knew Kelly knew it. Kelly expected Stanford to defer, but Shaw pulled the old switcheroo on them. The logic of it is simple.
It seemed to catch Brian Kelly off guard.
I know Notre Dame only has two Ademilolas, but it seemed like five or six on Saturday.
The Ademilola brothers were definitely standouts in the game. They combined for 9 tackles, two sacks and 3 new NIL deals.
Rocco’s, Bruno’s, and Barnaby’s?
Kevin Austin is an example of this team’s growth over the course of the season. Talented but inconsistent early, talented and consistent over the final four to five games. Crawl, walk, run. He’s running now.
And wearing his big boy pants, too. Austin has emerged as our big play receiver, averaging 18.6 yards/reception including a 61-yarder on Saturday.
How does he run in those things?
The offensive line has gone from crawl to walk, but it’s still holding onto furniture while navigating the room.
It was a source of frustration that the Irish ground attack wasn’t more effective against Stanford’s truly putrid rush defense (127th ranked in FBS, two spots ahead of Kansas). ND averaged 4.8 yds/rush, a nice bump above our 4.2 ypc for the year, but well under the 5.7 ypc that the Cardinal has given up this season.
The logic of it is simple.
Chris Tyree: Fast. Tyler Buchner: Also fast
Looking forward to Buchner’s continued progression: crawl, walk, run, pass.
The table can’t be set better for him to grow as a passer next year. A better line (presumably), an emerging star receiver (Kevin Austin, who I assume will return), and a pro-caliber tight end. He might even get a good offense to run.
"The to-do list is as long as you think it is," said Stanford head coach David Shaw, reflecting on his team’s 3-9 season. "The mode is really two-fold,” Shaw continued. “One is never lowering our expectations. We will not. I will not be a part of that, and that will not be a part of this program. We expect to compete for Pac-12 championships. Number two 2 is really doing a deep dive with a lot of different things, both in process and structure.” That deep dive is, indeed, likely to uncover a lot of number two.
To think it was just a few seasons ago that Stanford was setting the standard for high performance training and for recruiting student-athletes (non-ironic category). Don’t look now, but the aspirational peers have flipped.
Duke, Georgia Tech, and Stanford have reverted to their normal states of suckage. I guess that leaves us with Michigan as the definitive aspirational academic-athletic peer.
Like so many other D1 schools, Florida has implemented electronic ticketing; but Gators fans who bought tickets are “able to memorialize their moments at the Swamp” by purchasing commemorative tickets.” They cost $15 per ticket per game or $50 for the entire season. This idea is better than a Viagra prescription to Jack Swarbrick.
First, thanks for that mental image. Second, yes, it’s hard to believe that Savvy Jack hadn’t already thought of that angle. He so seldom leaves a marketing opportunity unexploited.
One man’s marketing opportunity is another man’s treasure.
I found that Florida ticket nugget while browsing FloridaGators.com looking for a Hardin Award nominee, and the website’s Senior Writer Chris Harry didn’t disappoint. “Florida has won two two straight in the series — Mullen exited a resounding 2-0 against the Seminoles — with a pair of blowouts.” Harry wrote in his game preview. Is that a better nominee than Notre Dame’s litany of records set for 11-win seasons and wins over a five year period? Maybe not, but it tickled my fancy because Mullen also exited with a resounding 5-6 record when he was dismissed earlier in the week.
Mike Houck is the football media relations staffer for Oklahoma (for now; Lincoln Riley’s move to USC may be a package deal). After OU’s loss to Oklahoma State in Bedlam, Houck notes that the Sooners’ “streak of six consecutive Big 12 championships will come to an end. By the time a new champion is crowned next week, OU will have been Big 12 champs for 2,199 consecutive days”---which is just another way of saying that it’s been six years. I hope they’ve enjoyed their run. Perhaps a future OU note will inform us that it’s been 2,199 days (and counting) since Oklahoma joined the SEC and the Sooners will still not have won a conference championship.
Little known fact: It’s been 3,199 days since Oklahoma had a decent defense.
There aren’t any major conference Pinkel Award nominees because all of their match-ups are rivalry games (real and contrived), so it’s time to choose the season’s winner. My half of the honors was a close call, but I chose Oregon vs. Stony Brook over Nebraska vs. Fordham based on travel distance. Oregon went to more trouble to import its patsy.
If Oregon wins the Pinkel Award, it will be the most impressive title it wins this year, even if the Ducks defeat Utah in their rematch in the Pac-12 championship game. I’m still pumping for West Virginia for scheduling LIU-Post. The Mountaineers went the extra mile not only to find a patsy, but to find one that nobody else even realized had a football team.
The schools’ certificates are in the mail.
What’s more fun than an ugly uniform contest?
What ugly uniforms?
Uniforms? I didn’t notice any uniforms.
I knew Michigan had a good chance to beat Ohio State when I saw snow at Michigan Stadium.
So, Bo made it to the game after all.
He gave Lloyd Carr a tour before the game.
How much guidance will AAC and Big Ten refs get from their conference commissioners’ offices over the next week?
The AAC is the wild card. They have no experience in “high leverage” officiating, so the scramble to put in the required infrastructure should be fascinating. Meanwhile in the Big Ten, the Tammany Hall of college conferences, playing the game will be just a formality.
What’s the over/under on the number of B1G Championship refs who live in Michigan?
What’s the word?
Iowa’s about to get the past participle of the other “F” word.
Flushed?
No, really… What’s the word?
As long as that word isn’t paired with “on,” I have no problem with it.
Party on, Bacchus!
Kayo
Bacchus
Kayo