A sports blog by and for Midwest Sports Fans
The USC Trojans (5-1) travel to South Bend to play the Notre Dame Fighting Irish (4-2) for the much-prized Jeweled Shillelagh.
This marks the 83rd time these two teams have played each other, and it’s always one of the most important games of the season, regardless of how each team is playing beforehand.
The old “battle for the Shillelagh Trophy” will ensue this Saturday when the Fighting Irish of Notre Dame (2-2) travel to West Lafayette to take on the rival Purdue Boilermakers (3-1).
Notre Dames’ 15-12 win against Pittsburgh last Sunday was anything but pretty, but it was a must-win game on the road if the Irish have any hope of playing in a major bowl game.
Purdue is coming off a whopping 59-0 victory over Southeast Missouri State, but the Boilermakers will be facing a much bigger test this Saturday.
This Saturday, the Notre Dame Fighting Irish will try to avenge the “tragic” 31-28 loss they suffered at the hands of the Michigan State Spartans last season.
Michigan State has jumped to an early 2-0 record, defeating both Youngstown State and Florida Atlantic.
The same cannot be said about Notre Dame.
After being humiliated last week against Stanford, the Notre Dame Fighting Irish take on rival Boston College this weekend. Boston College has won the previous five games against the Irish.
Notre Dame needs a win badly. It’s been three straight losses, and after every loss the situation looks more and more ugly for Brian Kelly and his team. The morale seems to be down. The toughness and aggressiveness just isn’t there; but, this week the Irish play a team they can beat.
It’s time for another weekly dose of college football, as Notre Dame hosts an impressive Stanford team on Saturday.
Notre Dame was hoping for some better results the last two weeks. They could be 3-0, but instead they’re 1-2. Those two losses all came down to one play, as most games usually do.
This week, the Fighting Irish hope to gain some momentum for when they play Oregon and USC, as in the next few weekends, but it’s going to be hard to get through this week with a win.
It’s the third week of the 2010 college football season and the Notre Dame Fighting Irish (1-1) find themselves facing the wrath of another Big Ten team.
This time it’s the Michigan State Spartans (2-0), a team coming off a 30-17 win over Florida Atlantic; the Irish (1-1) are coming off a loss to the Michigan Wolverines.
The matchup is important for both teams. Notre Dame is looking to stay about .500 while Michigan State is looking to carry positive momentum into its Big Ten schedule.
The Michigan Wolverines marched into South Bend on Saturday and came out with a hard-fought victory over the Fighting Irish. All you’ll hear about the game from the national sports networks and talking heads is how great Michigan played, and how Denard Robinson is better than Michael Vick and Vince Young combined.
But anyone who actually watched the game knows the real story. Notre Dame was the better team, and simply beat themselves. [Read more...]
It’s week two of the college football season and we have another great Midwest matchup for you this week. It’s the Michigan Wolverines going head-to-head with the their rivals, the Notre Dame Fighting Irish.
Both teams come in off a win in their season opener. Michigan is coming off of a 30-10 victory over UCONN while Notre Dame played well in a 23-13 victory over Purdue.
Both teams went into Week 1 not knowing what to expect, but are confident after solid victories to open the season. Still, there are looming questions for both teams that must be answered, and some of them may be answered this weekend.
Were Notre Dame fans expecting an Irish victory on Saturday against Purdue? Of course. Like Cubs fans, hope springs eternal for the Irish fan base. But after the last eight years, there was really no way to predict what ND’s on-field product would look like.
The most surprising part of Saturday’s 23-12 Irish victory? The competence shown on both sides of the ball. [Read more...]
Week one of the 2010 college football season seemed to just sneak up on us.
If you’re a fan of Indiana football (the state, not the university), you have to enjoy this first week match-up between the Notre Dame Fighting Irish and the Purdue Boilermakers.
Both teams come into this season with a lot of mystery to them. They both begin 2010 with a new quarterback and an inexperienced backfield, which makes analyzing and predicting that much harder; but it also will lead to some surprises…some bad and some good.
Fall practice is under way, and expectations are already bordering on unreasonable. Yes, it’s football season again in South Bend.
This year the Fighting Irish have a new head coach in Brian Kelly, and supposedly a fresh attitude to go along with him. It’s always difficult to deduce any real meaning from sound bytes following a coaching change, as it’s usually the same old “new attitude” stuff followed by random quotes about “practicing harder than ever.”
Ultimately, time will tell on the Brian Kelly era; but, for the record, early reviews have been nothing but positive.
Coach Kelly has a tough task ahead of him this season. After back-to-back years of underachieving under Charlie Weis, Notre Dame fans and players are hungry for a winner. In typical fashion, the biggest keys for the Irish this season also are the biggest question marks for this team.
Here are three keys for the Irish offense in 2010:
According to ESPN Brian Kelly will be the new head football coach at Notre Dame.
Two sources have told ESPN writer Chris Mortensen that Kelly has accepted the offer and will announce at the team banquet later today that he has taken the job.
Jimmy Clausen and Golden Tate have officially announced that they will be heading into the NFL draft, a decision that I agree is both the smart and best choice.
Both players had a tremendous year, and they were often in the Heisman talk, but Notre Dame’s record of 6-6 killed those chances. Still Clausen and Tate made it clear that they were ready for the next step.
With the season winding down for the Fighting Irish there is a question that’s just as big as whether Charlie Weis will return.
What will the future be for Jimmy Clausen and Golden Tate?
It was another disappointing outcome for Notre Dame fans and their players. Senior day at Notre Dame was spoiled by the Huskies.
Once again you can’t blame the offense because the Fighting Irish’s offense played very well today. They did a very nice job of balancing the running and passing game, but once again the defense let this team down. The Irish let thew Huskies run all over them, with the Huskies running for a total of 231 yards and two TDs.
And you can’t overlook the dedication that UConn showed all game. You could tell they were playing with a purpose. This was UConn’s most memorable win in its existence because it is the first time they have won since cornerback Jasper “Jazz” Howard was stabbed to death.
Jazz this is for you,” UConn coach Randy Edsall said. “Best win we have ever had.”
