Irish Defense Has a Chance to Get Well Against a Struggling Offense

As disappointing as Notre Dame's defense has been this season, Michigan State's offense has been equally disappointing. I don't care that they put up 55 points last week against Youngstown State. That is not an FBS team so it is not the same level of competition. Against FBS teams Western Michigan and South Florida, they were only to manage one offensive touchdown in each of those games. Defensive Tackle Shilique Calhoun had three touchdowns in those games which is more than any offensive player.

The Spartans have been back and forth on quarterbacks Andrew Maxwell, Connor Cook, and even Tyler O'Connor. It appears as though they have settled on Cook.

Michigan State's leading rusher is Jeremy Langford with only 200 yards.Those are even skewed due to playing the FCS team last week. No receiver even has 100 yards.

That seems like it would be a chance for Notre Dame to get well. The pass rush has been there but they haven't got the sacks they had last year. Not having Manti Te'o and Danny Spond in the middle to intercept or knock down the ball is huge. But the lack of an offensive threat should make a difference this week. Having said that, Purdue struggled offensively in it's first two games and they still gave the defense all it could handle.

However, this offense really lacks speed and our defensive line should dominate their offensive line which has had a tough time protecting the quarterbacks. The Irish defense has a chance to get well again this week. They better because if they can't stop this offense, I am not sure who they can stop.

Tyler Eifert To Play In First Monday Night Football Game

 Ordinarily,a game between the Cincinnati Bengals and Pittsburgh Steelers is not one that I would have any interest in. Although it is a great rivalry, I just have no feelings good or bad for either team. But I am very eager to watch the game to tonight though because I want to see what Tyler Eifert can do at the next level. In his debut, he was the teams second leading receiver with 5 catches for 47 yards. That is not bad for a debut, but we Irish fans would like to do better. He has a young quarterback in Andy Dalton who has looked good in spots but the jury is still out on him. Eifert also works with a promising young receiver in AJ Green. I look forward to watching him tonight.

Notre Dame's Win Against Purdue Is Nothing to get Excited About

Let me just break it down. Purdue got blown out to Cincinnati. They barely beat Indiana State. In those games, Rob Henry barely had 300 yards combined and failed to throw a touchdown. He also had two interceptions. So allowing him to throw for 256 yards and 3 touchdowns is absolutely unacceptable. The Boilermakers didn't even belong on the same field as the Irish.

The defense did play better in spots in the second half but still let a couple sloppy plays result in big gains. Their inability to stop on third and long just gets on my nerves. The offense took awhile to get going but they did have a great second half. Tommy Rees once again was phenominal with another 300+ yard passing game and two more touchdowns. Most importantly he did not throw an interception. DaVaris Daniels was his favorite target tonight with 8 catches for 167 yards and two touchdowns.

The one offensive concern was the the running game. It was non-existant until that last drive when Cam McDaniel stepped up and ran the clock out with tough running. McDaniel also had the only rushing touchdown. Amir Carlisle had a really bad night with only 16 yards and a fumble that could have been a disaster.

What is really concerning is the schedule ahead. Our next opponent is Michigan State who seemed to break out of an offensive funk by putting up 55. Granted it was Youngstown State, but Purdue did nothing against that level of talent. Michigan State will also be the toughest defense Rees and the offense have seen so far.

It won't get any easier after that. Oklahoma put up 51 against Tulsa with Blake Bell throwing over 400 yards and 4 touchdowns. If that isn't scary enough, they now have two weeks two prepare while Notre Dame is dealing with the Spartans.

Arizona State also put up 32 against Wisconsin and USC broke out of it's funk and put up 35 against Boston College. Even Pittsburgh who we play later score 49. Honestly, I am not sure how this defense will stop any of them. Can Rees and company keep pace with them? The defenses will get tougher.

I am glad the team got it together in the second half but I am not optimistic at this point about making a BCS Bowl. I hope I am wrong.

Rob Henry Is No Devin Gardner

Going into tonight's game against Purdue, I would be very disappointed if this game is not a blow out. Purdue has not looked good. They got blown out to Cincinnati and barely beat Indiana State an FCS team. Their quarterback Rob Henry only has 311 yards passing. Tommy Rees has more than that in both of his games. Henry has no touchdowns and two interceptions. He is averaging a low 5.3 yards per pass.

Notre Dame's defense took their lumps last week against Devin Gardner and Michigan. But I watched the replay several times on Big Ten Network. Each time I watch it, I think more and more that the defense was actually better than the numbers indicate. The pass rush was there most of the night, but Gardener was amazing with his escapibility. He was forced to scramble and make plays, but he did. Kevare Russell had a rough night covering Jeremy Gallon. But to be fair, you can only cover a guy for so long.

But it is clear that Rob Henry is not Gardner and the defense should eat him alive with the pass rush. With Kewan Short now in the NFL, there is no reason why the Irish offense shouldn't light up that scoreboard. This should not be close and with more tough games ahead, the Fighting Irish should settle for nothing less than making Purdue sorry they were ever born.

Amir Carlisle Needs to be the Featured Runner

I just love the picture up top. Here is a guy that used to play for USC but realized what their program was becoming so he left and came to Notre Dame. Amir Carlisle had to sit out last year when the Irish had that magical year. However, the good thing was that he was able to learn the system and work with guys like Theo Riddick and Cierre Wood. During last Saturday's tough defeat to Michigan, Kirk Herbstreit said that Carlisle reminded him of Riddick. I totally agree with that except that I do believe that he has potential to be a better runner but not quite as good of receiver.

Through two games, he has 19 carries for 132 yards with a 6.9 yards per carry average. That is an indication that we need to give him the ball even more. He should have at least 15 carries a game.

I understand that the first couple weeks Coach Kelly wanted to kind of feel it out to see who was the best back. To me, that is clear that it is Carlisle. The next highest runner is George Atkinson with 13 carries for 71 yards and 5.5 yards per carry average and one touchdown. That is not too shabby either so I certainly do not want to discount Atkinson. However, I think his role should really move to more of a third down specialist. He seems to be more of an open space guy than a pure runner. I think he would excel in that role. He is also explosive on kickoff returns.

Cam McDaniel has also looked good with 13 carries for 69 yards and a 5.3 average. He is the muscle of the group so his role should be for short yardage and goal line situations. He can also be used as a change of pace every now and then. When the defense is tired of chasing Carlisle, then bring in the truck. McDaniel can also be used for additional pass protection when the situation calls for it.

Yes, the Irish needed to assess the position the first couple of weeks to see who the featured runner would be. It seems clear to me Carlisle is the man while Atkinson and McDaniel have their roles. As good as Carlisle looks above I think he looks better below.

Tommy Rees Haters are an Embarrassment to Real Notre Dame Fans

Tommy Rees haters have reached a new low. I see many of them still hating on the kid regardless of the fact that he has thrown for almost 700 yards and 5 touchdowns in two games. All they seem to focus on is the interception that led to a Michigan touchdown. They make it sound as though that was the difference in the game.

They seem to forget that a year ago Everett Golson did the same thing twice. The difference was that the defense rose up and turned them back. This year was different. All quarterbacks have bad interceptions sometimes. It is a matter of limiting them and having more good plays that outweigh them. Anybody who doesn't believe Rees has done that this year is just ignorant.

Rees is not the reason Michigan scored 41 points. The defense is accountable. I am tired of the nonsense I hear from Rees haters. He has so far been the team MVP. It is embarrassing to call them Notre Dame fans.

Manti Te'o: Does One Player Make That Much Difference?

With this article, I mean no disrespect to Zeke Motta, Kapron Lewis-Moore, or Danny Spond. They were all huge pieces of that great defense a year ago. But it is one thing to be a leader and it is another to be THE leader. There is no doubt of who the leader of that defense and really the team was. Sometimes you really don't understand just how much of a great player is until he is gone.

Manti Te'o was a great player, but on paper the Fighting Irish have the linebackers to replace him. The problem is that as great as he was, the defense is not missing the player but the leader. Comparing the performance against Michigan this year compared to last. Te'o had the game of his life with 3 interceptions and he raised the game of all the players around him. The players all tackled well last year and now this year this same group is missing those tackles. That can't be a coincidence.

It reminds me of what happened about 8 years ago when Brady Quinn graduated. He was the heartbeat of that team that had a great offense that went to two straight BCS bowls. When he left, the offense was so inept that they took about 4 games before they scored a touchdown. The team went 3-9 that year.

Now I don't think Notre Dame goes 3-9 this year as there are some differences. All of Quinn's weapons such as Jeff Samarjidza and Darius Walker all left too. This time there is still a lot of veteran players on that defense such as Louis Nix, Stephen Tuitt, Dan Fox, and Carlo Calabrese. One of them needs to become that leader. Being a leader is not something you can just do though. It has to be in your personality. I am hoping one of those guys takes that roll like now.

Another guy that might have to take on more of that role is Tommy Rees. I know he is not on defense but the quarterback is generally the leader of the whole team. Tom Brady, Peyton Manning, Ray Lewis, and even Te'o last year have been known to inspire the whole team.

Getting back to the question, it made a difference when Quinn left and the Indianapolis Colts won two games the year Manning was hurt. Look at the Baltimore Ravens also. They went from Super Bowl champs to getting demolished on opening night without Lewis.

Notre Dame's defense is clearly not the same without Te'o. They got manhandled against Michigan and they honestly didn't even play that great against Temple despite only giving up six points. The bottom line is that somebody needs to step up and be the face of this team. If it is not from the defense, then Rees or possibly TJ Jones needs to step up and be that face.