Put to Sleep

Nothing can better describe the 33-7 trouncing of the Washington Huskies by the Irish on Saturday, than "put to sleep". Here is a list of everything that was "put to sleep" last Saturday night in Seattle:

• Willingham's tenure at Washington  -  a good man, but a poor football coach. I have always respected him, but have also felt ND made the right move in firing him. Washington held onto him into his 4th year, and I'm afraid that will cost them a lot in the future.
• Willingham's firing by Notre Dame  -  anyone watching the game saw the two programs and the directions each coach had led his team. Weis has ND on the rise, while Washington may be the worst team in the country. I don't enjoy the misery of Willingham, but I am glad that people who hold the "ND is racist" thoughts about our firing Willingham, no longer have anything left to say. The man was not a good football coach, he deserved to be fired, and he is still owed $5M by Notre Dame and a few more $$M by Washington. I feel sorry for him not, best of luck to Ty in his future.
• ND's road game troubles  -  the Irish first road win this season was against an awful opponent, but it was still a dominating win 3000 miles away from home.
• Me, on the couch  -  for having to watch the 2nd half. ND was killing Washington, and being his style, Weis never runs it up on other coaches, particularly with the potential sensitivity of the ND / Willingham connection. The Irish could have scored 60 points, easily, but decided to pull back the reins, run the ball, and put all 2nd stringers in for nearly the entire 4th quarter (and some in the 3rd).
• The Embarrassment of missing a bowl game in 2007  -  with a record of 5-2 and 4 winnable but difficult games left, the Irish are almost assured of a bowl birth for the 2008 season. Early reports have the Cotton Bowl as an option if the Irish can get to 8 wins, which would be in good shape if the Irish can beat either Boston College or Pittsburgh (this weekend).

Here is how the Vatican's predictions went for the Washington game (see Friday post below):

Prediction 1  >>  Jimmy will throw for 310 yards, 3 touchdowns, and the biggie - ZERO interceptions.   Jimmy threw for a little over 200 yards and 1 TD, but did have 1 interception that was a tipped pass (not his fault). One of his worse games actually, but Washington was so poor defensively, that nothing more was needed.

Prediction 2  >>  The Irish will finish with 500 yards total offense, 310 in the air and 190 on the ground.  Irish finished with 459 yards of total offense, so not a bad call. We beat the ground prediction with 252 yards on the ground, easily the best Weis ground game of his tenure. The passing total was 207 yards.

Prediction 3  >>  Armando Allen hits the 100 yard rushing mark and scores 2 TDs  -  one on the ground, one in the air. Armando was held without a touchdown, as James Aldridge had both running back touchdowns. Aldridge had 84 yards, leading the way for the Irish with his best game of his career. Allen played well also, notching 62 yards. True Freshman Jonas Grey even chipped in 61 yards.

Prediction 4  >>  Irish field goal kicker Brandon Walker misses a short field goal early; his replacement David Ruffer comes in and makes a kick.  Good for Brandon Walker proving me wrong. He nails both field goals he attempts, and Ruffer misses an extra point late in the game. Walker still has the job, but the walk-on David Ruffer is still intriguing if he can get past the goose bumps.

Score prediction  >>  I predicted Irish 38, Washington 17. Not too far off, as the Irish scored 33 points and Washington scored 7. I under estimated how easily we could score on Washington, as we could have hung 50 pts easily. I also underestimated how bad Washington's defense is. They are awful. My record picking the winner in ND games is 6-1, while my record against the spread is 5-2. (I predicted every game's winner correctly, save for the North Carolina game. I also predicted a cover in the Michigan St game, but was wrong. I predicted winning but not covering against Purdue, and was wrong there as well).

 

Big week for the Irish, hosting Pitt this weekend in South Bend. I will be there, ready to cheer the Irish on to a for sure New Years Day bowl with a victory. We are going to pass the ball on their defense, and they are going to run the ball. Both gameplans will be obvious - will be interesting to see what gives. Prediction later this week, for all you gamblers out there.