A sports blog by and for Midwest Sports Fans
Week 13 of the college football season is upon us, and we’re at the home stretch. The turkey and stuffing and his been eaten, bowl games are just around the corner, and the final full week of regular season games still what should be very entertaining games for our viewing pleasure.
Week 8 of college football is here will hopefully deliver another exciting week. Last week we saw South Carolina barely etch out a win over Mississippi State, LSU continue their dominance, Illinois lose to Ohio State, and Oklahoma State beat Texas.
So settle down, relax, and get ready for another great weekend of college football. As always, here are some of the marquee games to pay attention to this week and then the entire college football TV schedule for Week 8, plus a link below to another fantasy college football freeroll tournament from our friends at Daily Joust.
The obvious answer to this question is, “Well, most schools aren’t in the Big Ten.”
One could just as easily ask, “Why isn’t Cincinnati in the Big Ten,” or, “Why isn’t Ball State in the Big Ten?” (Actually, don’t be surprised when you see my “Why isn’t Iowa State in the Big Ten?” article.)
But Notre Dame is different.
Not only is Notre Dame situated near the center of the Big Ten’s geographical footprint, but it also has existing football rivalries with Michigan, Michigan State, and Purdue.
Notre Dame is third on the list of the all-time winningest college football program, joining Big Ten schools Michigan, Ohio State, and Penn State in the top ten. (I’m focusing on football because football was largely responsible for the formation of the major athletic conferences and because football continues to drive conference expansion and realignment today.)
The Big Ten, more than any other major conference, cherishes and guards its academic reputation. And Notre Dame, by almost any measure, is an academically elite institution.
More significantly, the Big Ten wants Notre Dame.
The richest conference in America—a league that dominates the region in which Notre Dame resides and whose members get to be part of a prestigious collective of top-flight research universities—has been courting Notre Dame for two decades, and America’s favorite Catholic football-playing university has consistently responded, “No thanks. We’re good.”
Why?
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.
Week two is now in the books. Arizona State upset Missouri, Notre Dame collapsed against Michigan, South Carolina avoided an upset by Georgia, and LSU continued their dominance.
Week three is not without its share of what should be exciting and entertaining games, and here at MSF we want to make sure you get to see all of them.
Here are some of the marquee games to look at this week, then the entire college football TV schedule for week 3. [Read more...]
Week 1 is over and, once again, we found out that Notre Dame was too highly ranked at the beginning of the season. Also: TCU was shocked by Baylor, Ball State somehow beat a Big Ten team, Boise State’s offense is still dominate, and Oregon’s offense might not be invincible after all.
Week 2 brings us more exciting college football action, and here at MSF we’re making sure you don’t miss any of the games you want to see.
Here are some of the marquee games to look at this week, then the entire college football TV schedule for week 2.
I tweeted 140 characters worth of musings on said topic last night, but figure I can elaborate a bit more here, as this college basketball season seems to present more deserving men for Coach of the Year than in years past.
As we motor forward during March Madness 2011, here are the leading candidates for the top coach in college basketball for 2011.
Despite a surge of popularity in the past decade, especially at the pro level, football will always play second fiddle to basketball in the state of Indiana. With this in mind, after Sunday night’s embarrassing loss to San Diego on national television, I recommend it’s time for Hoosiers to figuratively and literally turn the calendar to hoops season as we approach December.
Apparently the Carolina Panthers made their rookies dress up in stupid outfits for Halloween.
How do I know this? Because the blog Cat Scratch Fever has a picture of former Notre Dame QB Jimmy Clausen dressed up as the purple Teletubby. And on Clausen’s Twitter account, it says, “no just I dressed up along with all the other rookies lol.”
LOL indeed Clausen. LOL indeed.
Immediately, I thought of another Notre Dame “legend” who looks good in purple. The question is, who looks better?
Ah…Championship Week in college football.
Every Midwest fan has the pleasure of looking toward the, err, the MAC Championship? Ohio Bobcats vs. Central Michigan Chippewas? And on a Friday night?
I’d rather go on a bar crawl with friends, see a movie, gouge an ice pick straight into my eyes…anything but watch that game.
(Not that I don’t try. The 11:00am contest last Friday between Ohio and Temple had its one viewer before I changed the channel immediately at noon when better games kicked off. I will say the first hour of Ohio-Temple was way better than standing in line waiting for a Black Friday sale item in the freezing cold. But sorry, you can’t trick me with your lone game this upcoming Friday night as if it is anything special before the REAL championship games on Saturday.)
Thinking about this obviously led me to fantasizing about something I have been dreaming about since high school.
Can we start calling Notre Dame “Sucker Punch U” now? At least for this week?
The sucker punching started this past Saturday, when Mike Brey, Tyler Harangody, and the Fighting Irish lost to Jim Calhoun and the UCONN Husk–wait a minute, crap…got that mixed up.
Let’s start over.
The sucker punching started this past Saturday when Charlie Weis, Jimmy Pickles, and the Fighting Irish lost to Randy Edsall and the Connecticut Huskies in South Bend.
It continued early on Sunday morning when Jimmy Clausen was sucker punched at a bar in the wee hours of the morning.
And then this morning there was more sucker punching with the reports that Clausen’s family has sold their home in South Bend.
But does this latest sucker punch really amount to much, or is it much ado about nothing?
I’m an Indiana basketball fan, so you might think I’d have a little bit of empathy for what the Notre Dame football program is going through.
Nope.
Literally adding injury to insult, Notre Dame starting quarterback Jimmy Clausen was reportedly involved in a fight outside a South Bend bar at 2:30 am on Sunday morning. Clausen apparently sustained at least one black eye as a result of the scuffle.
We have received unconfirmed tips to Midwest Sports Fans that Clausen was threatening to give another bar patron a “golden tate” and the subject of the threat did not take too kindly.
I’m kidding…I think.
It was the same scenario for the Irish, just a different but better outcome this time…all thanks to Michigan State.
Michigan State again gave their opponent a second chance, only for it to bite them back in the butt.
Late in the 4th quarter, Michigan Sate was down 30-33. Michigan State’s WR, Larry Caper, beat all of the Irish’s defense. He was wide open. All he had to do was catch the ball. Instead the ball was too high, and while Caper got his hands on the ball, he wasn’t able to catch it.
It would have been a TD and given the Spartans the lead, and maybe even the game, but it only led to an Irish interception that would clinch the game for the Irish.
The hero tonight?
Kyle McCarthy is the big man on campus this weekend for Notre Dame. His interception at the 4 yard line, with 57 seconds left, sealed the win for the Irish. A win that they needed really badly. Last week, Notre Dame let Michigan come back and beat them. A loss that put even more doubt on the team, including head coach, Charlie Weis.
The Irish aren’t even close to showing that they are the real deal. They won the game, and while thats all that matters in the end, having another late night scare shows that this team doesn’t know how to finish a game. It was another scare for loyal Fighting Irish fans. A scar that not many fans want to endure 2 weeks in a row. A scare that kinda ticks you off.
One thing that will make fans happy is Jimmy Clausen continues to play extremely well. He threw for 300 yards with 2 TD passes and no interceptions. He is looking like a great leader for a team that needs one. He has played very well this year, and is a reason why the Irish should be hopeful this and next year.
A huge blow to the Irish is the loss of WR Michael Floyd. Floyd suffered a broken collarbone when he landed in the endzone. He leads the nation in receiving yards per game (160), and in yards per catch (29.1). Luckily, Golden Tate and Clausen were able to pick up the slack, something they might have to be doing for some weeks. It’s not yet known how long Floyd will be out.
Overall a win is a win. However I am beginning to doubt this defense that, in the first week, looked very strong. They have given up two straight 30+ point games. A team can’t expect to win when their defense gives up that many points in a game. Defense should be the main thing for the Irish to work on this week in practice.
The Irish’s season depends how the defense plays. Look for the defense to step it up next week.
This game is not as hyped up as the Michigan-Notre Dame game, but it’s still a big game — maybe even bigger — for the Fighting Irish.
Let me just say one thing looking back at last weekend and then we can get into the preview: Notre Dame lost the Michigan game because of terrible, crazy, offensive play calling.
What were they thinking when they called two pass plays with the lead late in the 4th quarter!? Run the ball and make Michigan use their timeouts! It was just dumb play calling at its “finest”.
Now back to the ND-MSU preview. Before we delve into the analysis, here are the particulars for Saturday’s matchup:
Michigan State at Notre Dame
Notre Dame has to win this game, and on paper Notre Dame is the stronger team; but this is sports, and if you haven’t found out yet that anything can happened in sports, well you’re not a very astute fan.
So while Notre Dame should win this game, don’t count out Michigan State too easily.
Despite the 30+ points given up against Michigan, Notre Dame’s defense has improved dramatically. While the Irish offense is explosive, I believe it is their defense that will be the key to this game. Defense wins football games, as the old adage goes, and Notre Dame has the defense to do beat Michigan State, along with the offense to back it up.
Michigan State needs to stay to the basics of football. That is playing smart football, not giving up many turnovers, and converting on chances. Michigan State is running against the wind in this game, but playing smart football can make all the difference.
This game will go to the team with the better choices, play calling, and whoever converts on the others mistakes. Those are fairly common things you have to do to win a football game, but not many teams can do that in a game, and they end up paying the price for not sticking to the basics.
Overall I see Notre Dame winning this game comfortably. if not, then maybe Notre Dame isn’t as good as they were hyped to be.
Michigan and Notre Dame meet in Ann Arbor on Saturday and this year it will actually be a game worth watching. It will also be a game played in one of the only stadiums — The Big House — that is large enough to hold both schools’ massive football egos.
The last two meetings between these teams were sloppy blowout games and neither team ended up having a good season. But this year both squads look to be back on track and the rivalry is being revived.
Last week, Michigan coasted to an easy 31-7 victory over Western Michigan, scoring all of their points in the first half. Freshman quarterback Tate Forcier solidified himself as the starter for the Wolverines while fellow freshman Denard Robinson flashed the speed and big play ability that quarterbacks in Rich Rodriguez’s system are known for having.
Rich Rodriguez’s spread option offense was effective against the Broncos, as Michigan racked up 242 rushing yards from 8 different ball carriers. The problem for the Wolverines is they are currently without a go-to running back. Backup quarterback Denard Robinson was the leading rusher with 74 yards.
In Notre Dame’s season opener, the Irish shut out Nevada 35-0 with Jimmy Clausen throwing for 4 TD’s. Claussen showed poise in the pocket, completing 15 of his 18 attempts.
Charlie Weis and the Fighting Irish look ready to make it back to another bowl game this year, and possibly even compete for a BCS bid. The offense that was in complete disarray two seasons ago is now finally coming together.
Saturday’s matchup between these two bitter rivals is an intriguing one. Both teams have shown vast improvement from last year, but this will obviously be the first real test for each squad with Rodriguez and Weis both seated firmly on the hot seat to bring their teams back to the elite level of college football.
Before we get into an analysis of the matchup, let’s take a quick look at the particulars:
#18 Notre Dame (1-0) at Michigan (1-0)
Notre Dame comes into the game a slight favorite and rightfully so. Clausen is starting to fill in the void that was left when Brady Quinn left for the NFL draft. (Side note to Notre Dame fans: please don’t treat Claussen like the “golden boy” as you did with Quinn. Thank you.)
To win the game, the Irish must provide strong pass protection for Clausen and allow him to spread the ball around. Michigan, on the other hand, needs to pressure Clausen and limit his ability to locate WRs Golden Tate and Michael Floyd down the field. If Michigan tries to get in a shootout with Notre Dame, the Wolverines won’t be able to keep up with the Irish’s high-octane offense.
If Claussen can put up 300-plus yards passing Michigan won’t have a chance. Tate, a speedy and talented young receiver, could be the X-factor with his big play potential.
Michigan needs to control the pace and the clock by running the football over and over. Forcier looked good passing the ball last week, although he only put the ball in the air 20 times. He completed 13 of those passes for 175 yards and tallied 3 TDs. You might look at those stats and think the Wolverines should throw more.
On the contrary, Forcier’s efficient passing was set up by 50 rushing attempts at 4.8 yards per pop. Michigan would do well to follow attain a similar run:pass ratio. Forcier will have to be smart with the ball again when passing plays are called. An improving Irish defense picked off two passes last week and will be licking their chops going up against a freshman making only his second start.
This game can go either way and will likely be decided by one or two key plays. Notre Dame comes in ranked #18, but when playing in the Big House all rankings go out the window. [Editor's note: as do Division 1-A and 1-AA classifications...right App State?]
Rich Rodriguez will have the Wolverines amped up to start the game and the Irish will have to take the fans out of the game early. Luckily for Notre Dame fans and the embattled Weis, the Irish have an experienced quarterback to rely on in Jimmy Clausen, who is no stranger to pressure, expectation, and hostile environments.
In this high profile matchup between two of the all-time giants of college football, Clausen’s experience will most likely be the difference.
My prediction for this game: Notre Dame- 31 Michigan- 24
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* – Notre Dame / Michigan helmets image credit: The Onion
* – Charlie Weis photo credit: AP Photo/Carlos Osorio via WSBT-2
* – Denard Robinson / Tate Forcier photo credit: Said Alsalah/Daily via Michigan Daily
* – Jimmy Clausen in high school photo credit: Pre Pro Sports
