Notre Dame vs. Michigan: Irish Blogger Gathering Questions

Her Loyal Sons provided the questions this week, covering everything from the first game of Brian Kelly's tenure to why Michigan sucks so badly.  (And my, do they suck.)

1) You've now seen Notre Dame Football: The Kelly Edition, Volume 1, Episode 1.  Was it everything you thought it would be?  Were characters missing from this episode that you were expecting to see featured?  Did it strike you as a carbon-copy of Kelly's Cincinnati teams, or is there something discernible between the 2 programs beyond the colors of the uniforms?

I thought there might have been a few more fireworks and deep passes, but this was what I expected a Brian Kelly team to be at its core: well-coached, fundamentally strong and uninterested in committing stupid penalties or dumb mental errors that could cost the team the game.  And then there's that other thing they did that Kelly teams often accomplish: win.  This didn't really strike me as a carbon-copy of the Bearcat teams I watched the last couple years because things weren't as contingent on the quarterback.  Kelly has started repeatedly that his last couple Cincy teams were outliers in the run-to-pass ratio, and I imagine he'll be returning to his roots of churning things out on the ground at Notre Dame.

2) Pick one positive play, offense or defense, by the Irish from last Saturday that you feel serves as a bit of metaphorical foreshadowing for the 2010 Irish.  Extra points if you can stretch the metaphor to fit Kelly's entire tenure at Notre Dame.

Purdue's fourth down play at the goal line that resulted in an interception.  It was the perfect defensive call that left the offense completely flummoxed, finished off by an athletic play from a lineman, the type of guys that are going to be needed to be successful in the future of college football.  Great read by Bob Diaco, great execution by the defense and a good grab by Ian Williams, who should have just knocked the ball down, but hey, I'm not going to ding him for a little extra enthusiasm in the first game of the season.  The Irish haven't seen good defense in a while, and with everyone staying in their role and performing like that fourth down play on a consistent basis, I don't see any reason why the next decade of Notre Dame defenses can't compete at a high level.

3) Pick another play, offense or defense, by the Irish from last Saturday again, but this time, make it a negative play.  Tell us how that play serves as a bit of metaphorical foreshadowing for the 2010 Irish.  And again, bonus points for stretching it over Kelly's tenure.

Let's take the easy one and say the safety, where perhaps the wrong call was made by the coaching staff, only to have that error circled in bright green Hi-Liter when the offensive line went the wrong way and got Armando Allen killed.  If you'll let me cheat, I would say Dayne Crist running the option also falls under this category, as players trying to learn a new system make mistakes on the offensive end that costs the team points.  I don't think this will stretch across Kelly's tenure, but it could be a repeating problem in '10 as the kinks get worked out.

4) You know us, we're stat geeks.  Give us a stat that we should be watching this season that will A) Tell us something enlightening about the 2009 Irish and/or B) Tell us something enlightening about the
average Top-5 teams at the end of the 2010 season.

I think an important number for the Irish is going to be the number of big plays (ten-plus yards, twenty-plus yards, however you want to define it) given up versus the number of big plays the offense achieves.  Against Purdue the Irish only allowed one play longer than twenty yards (the unforgivable Marve touchdown run), but kept gashing the Purdue defense for fifteen-to-twenty yard gains on the ground.  If the Irish limit their opponents' big play potential - something that hasn't happened in the last couple coaching regimes - and keep rushing for long gains while tacking on some deep tosses to Michael Floyd, I think we're in for a very successful year.

5) Notre Dame is currently a 4 point favorite in the coming Michigan game.  You get 3 points for being at home.  The AP poll actually ranks Michigan higher than ND.  ND is 1-4-1 in the last 6 games with Michigan in which the Irish were favored and 9 and 6 in the last 15 games in which Michigan was favored.  Does any of this worry you?  Why or why not?

I think you can throw most of that out.  The line should be right around three, as these teams seem pretty even and the Irish have homefield advantage.  One reason why the favorites have such dismal records in the Michigan/ND series is that the games are played so near the beginning of the season that there isn't a lot of data for the bookies to go on.  I don't think Notre Dame is going to come in with a lack of motivation because they're the favorite, nor do I think Michigan being a slight underdog will provide that extra vim and vigor they need to prevail.  These teams played a very close game last year and I think the line reflects the "Who the hell knows?" nature of the contest this year.

6) Last week, Frank at UHND put the Gathering on the spot with our predictions for the season.  After week 1, are there any of those predictions that you'd like to alter?  Any upon which you'd double down?

I'm liking all of my predictions thus far, although I'm a little wary of Landry Jones as my darkhorse Heisman pick after one week of Oklahoma scuffling.  I also wouldn't mind selecting Ryan Kerrigan as the best defensive player ND will see all year after that performance, but I have little doubt Greg Jones will also put in a fine campaign.  But all-in-all, I don't feel like anything in Week One shook my confidence that much.

7) Describe in no fewer than 30 words why you hate Michigan.

Because they constantly whine about everything, acting like their losses are so much worse than anyone else's (INFINITE SADNESS, BOOOO) and their wins are so much more glorious, like they're the Midwest equivalent of Red Sox fans (TAWMY FACKING BRADY).  They have apparently never lost a game cleanly in their entire existence, and I wake up every day and thank God that they hired Rich Rodriguez, the perfect coach for a team of general studies and kinesiology majors.  It was annoying when Lloyd Carr was the head coach, because he was just a curmudgeony old man that didn't have a lot of inherently villainous traits.  But Rich Rod?  Oh baby, between the constant crying and the shredding of documents and the taking-then-not-taking the Bama job and then leaving his alma mater - his alma mater! - in the lurch after he choked away a trip to the BCS title game?  These two are a match made in heaven. 

Michigan fans love to make Returning to Glory jokes at Notre Dame's expense, and they're deserved, because the Irish's last title was in '88.  But before their split national title in '97, do you know when Michigan's last championship was?  1948!  Notre Dame at least won titles in the 50's, 60's, 70's and 80's.  Oh, and Michigan didn't let Notre Dame into the Big Ten's predecessor out of fear and jealousy, then stopped scheduling because the Irish beat them (BOO HOO) and now they complain that Notre Dame should just join the Big Ten.  Along with thanking God that Rich Rod is their coach, I also say a prayer that the Irish stay independent and never join the conference with twelve teams that still calls itself the Big Ten.