The Irish Roundup

Let’s all give out a big shout to 2008 Irish WR commit John Goodman, who joins Sean Cwynar, Michael Floyd, and Dan McCarthy as the fourth Irish recruit to win Player of the Year honors in his home state:

Goodman is The News-Sentinel’s PrepSports Football Player of the Year because his numbers are almost unbelievable. As Bishop Dwenger’s quarterback, the senior completed 95 of 175 passes for 1,697 yards and 16 touchdowns, with only two interceptions.

Goodman was also the Saints’ punter and a starting defensive back and the team’s heart and soul, leading them to the Summit Athletic Conference title, a No. 1 ranking all season in Class 4A and a semistate berth.

He rushed for 535 yards on 98 attempts — including sacks — caught seven passes for 199 yards, and returned eight kickoffs for 191 yards and 22 punts for 309 yards. He also averaged 35.3 yards per punt, grabbed two interceptions and made 28 tackles.

He averaged 17.9 yards per completion and 9.5 per attempt. His combined total was 28 touchdowns.

“There’s only one thing he didn’t do,” Bishop Dwenger coach Chris Svarczkopf said. “He was not on our kickoff team, and if we’d have gone another week, he’d have done that, too, because at that point it doesn’t make any difference and there’s no reason to hold him back. He would have done a tremendous job.”

Svarczkopf charted Goodman’s numbers for his three-year career, including the first two as a wide receiver. Besides earning first-team all-SAC honors twice as a receiver and this year as a quarterback, Goodman gained 5,600 yards in 480 touches, good for 11.8 yards per touch.

…

Goodman threw only two interceptions all season, one in the first half of the first game against Concordia Lutheran, and the other in his last throw in the Saints’ last game against Lowell.

In between, he threw 170 straight passes without a pick, a remarkable number for someone who played receiver the previous two seasons. He’ll return to receiver next year when he starts his college career at Notre Dame.

And there’s more to the player than his mind-blowing numbers:

“The best thing is that he’s someone whom everyone on the team admires and respects,” Svarczkopf said. “He elevated the play of everyone on the team. That’s what you want in your player of the year. He brought everybody else’s play to another level.”

Svarczkopf said his favorite memory of Goodman will be how after making a big play, the quarterback would charge off the field, laughing and grinning from ear to ear, because he was having so much fun.

“As a versatile player, you have to be like that,” Goodman said. “You have to be the type of player that executes in all those situations and the type of player who shows other people what to do, shows them how to do it and be the type of player that kids look up to. They fed off me, and as a leader I tried to show them what to do.”

Congratulations, John! Here’s to seeing a good deal of this on the field over the next few years:

(HT: Carms.)

Happy 18th birthday to 2008 WR commit Michael Floyd, who just this morning was announced as Minnesota’s 2007 high school football player of the year by the Pioneer Press, for the second straight season:

The only thing missing is the Class AAAAA state championship. Eden Prairie quashed that opportunity for Floyd with a 50-21 victory over the Raiders in Friday night’s title game at the Metrodome.

The disappointing end to Floyd’s prep football career won’t damage his stature as one of the best high school receivers in Minnesota history. The 6-foot-4, 210-pound senior drew comparisons the past couple of seasons to former Holy Angels star Larry Fitzgerald Jr., now in his fourth NFL season with the Arizona Cardinals.

Floyd, who has committed to Notre Dame, finished the season ranked No. 81 among the nation’s top 100 seniors by Rivals.com, a leading national scouting service for high school football. Rivals.com ranks Floyd at No. 13 among receivers nationally.

Despite double-team coverage and a variety of defenses geared to stop him, Floyd had 56 catches for 1,211 yards and 17 touchdowns to help Cretin-Derham Hall finish with a 13-1 record. He averaged 21.6 yards a catch and ran for three touchdowns.

Floyd is the first two-time winner of the award in over a decade, but he hasn’t let the hype that comes with being a hotshot athlete go to his head:

[Cretin-Derham coach Mike] Scanlan said the Golden Domers will be getting a receiver with the physical skill set comparable to that of Hall of Famer Michael Irvin - a big, strong, workhorse with exceptional hands.

“He lifts weight like he’s a lineman,” Scanlan said. “Most skill guys, they don’t like the weight room. But he understands that if he is going to play at the next level, he can’t rely on his natural ability alone.”

The difference between Irvin and Floyd, who was unavailable to comment for this story due to a meeting with Notre Dame officials, is the ego. Floyd hasn’t let all the attention, and there has been an awful lot of it, change him, his mother said.

“Michael really is more embarrassed by all the attention,” [Floyd's mother Theresa] Romero said. “I think people think it’s difficult for him to be level-headed. It’s really not. He tells me that he’s a man now. I tell him, ‘I don’t see any paycheck here yet. So you’re still my son.’”

The Pioneer Press article also contains this tidbit:

The national signing date for high school football players to make formal commitments to colleges isn’t until Feb. 6. That’s plenty of time for Floyd to re-think his plan to attend Notre Dame in the fall of 2008, but no chance.

“I won’t be changing my mind,” he said.

Exactly what we want to hear.

Congratulations, Michael. And Irish fans, if you haven’t read the profile that I excerpted right after Floyd’s commitment, now’s a good time to do just that.

My wife and I are packing up the Volvo in a few hours and heading down and across the Bay to take our son to his first ND game. If you’re at the alumni club tailgate, I’ll be the guy in glasses who’s in bad need of a haircut, toting around a big-eyed eight-month-old in a green #10 jersey. Feel free to say hello.

For my kid’s sake, I’m going to try to enjoy this game no matter what happens, but here are a few things the Irish could do that would help me achieve that more easily:

• Protect the offensive backfield: Stanford is a horrible defensive team (81st against the run, 107th against the pass, 106th overall), but they’re pretty good at blowing plays up. Their 3.1 sacks per game are good for 11th in the nation, and their average of 7.9 tackles for a loss is 10th. They’ve got three different players - Clinton Snyder, Pat Maynor, and Udeme Udofia - with at least five sacks on the year. Maynor ranks 18th in the nation with almost 1.5 TFLs per game. Please, PLEASE keep them on the proper side of the line of scrimmage.
• Defend the pass: Stanford’s rushing offense and total offense are similarly horrible, as they’re each ranked 106th overall. But they do pass for over 200 yards per game, and are right around the middle of I-A in that category. Trent Edwards may be gone, but senior quarterback T.C. Ostrander has given the Irish fits in years past: I for one remember the 2005 Fiesta Blow “play-in” game, when he torched ND with 11 of 15 passing for 197 yards as I cried in the stands. Ugh, flashbacks.
• Show some mental toughness: Reality is that something’s going to go wrong at some point, though hopefully it won’t be on the game’s first series. The Irish managed to rebound pretty well from last week’s early setbacks, but the fact is that the offense spent most of the first half pretty much curled up in the fetal position until the defense went ahead and made some plays for them. Maybe with another win - and an all-around quality game on offense - under their belts, Jimmy Clausen & Co. can be even a bit more resilient this week.
• Protect the rock: The Irish have lost 13 fumbles this year, including six in their last four games. There’s little doubt that they’ll be able to move the ball against Stanford at least somewhat effectively, but any combination of sacks (see above), penalties (ND has been whistled ten or more times in three games this year, including 11 for 103 yards against Duke), and - especially - turnovers can quickly bring that to a halt. Like I said last week: throwing a pick is one thing; putting the ball on the carpet is quite another.

Look: the fact is that this is another pretty bad team. Since their wins over USC and Arizona, Stanford has lost 23-6 to Oregon State, 27-9 to Washington, and 33-17 to Washington State. The Irish are certainly capable of winning today. Here’s to a fun afternoon of laughing at the LSJUMB and mocking their stupid mascot, a victory to close out 2007, and a happy drive home.

Go Irish, beat Cardinal!

* * *

A few more statistics and bits of news, for the junkies out there … the Cardinal give up over 180 rushing yards and almost 275 passing yards per game … they gave up 449 passing yards to Washington State last week, and 388 rushing yards to Washington the week before … they’re 117th in the nation in sacks allowed, at 4.2 per game … they average only 2.86 yards per carry on offense, and yield 4.3 on defense … they only convert 27% of their third downs, but they have a 76% success rate in the red zone … senior placekicker Derek Belch is just 13-of-20 (65%) in his field goal attempts this year … Stanford’s 3-7 record has come against what Jeff Sagarin ranks as the nations third-toughest schedule … the Irish have not won two games in a row to end a season since 1992 … John Sullivan, Pat Kuntz, Geoff Price, and Sergio Brown are all likely to miss the game with injuries, though Sully may get to see the field briefly for nostalgia’s sake … James Aldridge is on the depth chart and has been practicing in full pads, but reports indicate his having been “hobbled” this past week (though see here as well).

Per the Fort Wayne Journal-Gazette:

Freshman Jimmy Clausen will be Notre Dame’s starting quarterback for Saturday’s game against Air Force, Notre Dame football media relations director Brian Hardin said Wednesday evening.

Irish coach Charlie Weis was not available for comment and unlike in previous weeks did not speak after Wednesday’s practice.

…

“Whoever plays the best, that’s what you look for,” Weis said Tuesday when asked what he was looking for. “It really is not that difficult. Sometimes you make it more difficult than it is, just whoever plays the best.”

This, though, is likely a long-haul decision as Weis said Tuesday he would take into account who would be the best quarterback for his team through the final three games and beyond.

Anyone with questions about Clausen’s health might be interested to know that Michael Rothstein reported that Clausen “looked slower” than Evan Sharpley on Tuesday’s practice, and had poorer “extension” on his legs. It’s of course hard to know exactly what to make of something like this, though, and one imagines that he certainly wouldn’t be starting if he weren’t ready to go.

Weis is expected to speak to the media after Thursday’s practice. We’ll have more details as they become available.

Per GoshenGipper:

Today during his press conference Charlie Weis mentioned that Robert Hughes has been excused from the team for as long as he needs after the sudden death of his brother. His uncle will be picking him up from campus today. Our prayers go out to him and his family.

More on this as it unfolds. Let’s keep everyone involved in our prayers.

[UPDATE (10:54am): Here's what Weis said, right at the start of his press conference:

Well, before we get going on Navy, earlier today we received some bad news, that the brother of Robert Hughes, Tony Hughes, official name "Earl," he died unexpectedly. We don't have all the details at this point, but Robert, I excused him a little while ago, his uncle came and got him to bring him home, to go be with his family. He's obviously upset, and I just want Robert and his family to know that the whole Notre Dame family has their family in our thoughts and in our prayers. I really don't have any more details, so I really am not at liberty to talk about it, but I know his mom called me, and she was shook up, and obviously when I told the - when I told Robert this morning he was shook up, so you know, he'll be gone for a little while. I told him as much time as he needs, I don't know how long that'll be, but when he gets back he gets back. Obviously there's more important things, and that's right now to be with his family. Not to start on a solemn note, but because I don't talk to you guys again until after practice tomorrow, I felt it was important to address it on the front end right here and then move on to Navy.

The video is here.]

[UPDATE (12:56pm): The Chicago Tribune's ND sports blog is on the story now.]

[UPDATE (6:49pm): The transcript of Weis's presser is up now, with this one exchange that wasn't included in my original post:

Q. And as far as Robert Hughes and when he comes back, do you proceed as if you're not going to have him on Saturday?

COACH WEIS: I told him come back whenever he's ready to come back. I mean, something like that, how can you give him a time frame? He might be back tomorrow, he might be back next week. I told him whenever -- I just made sure we covered ourselves with academics and things like that. But when something -- a tragedy like that happens, I think the most important thing is you have to worry about the kid, not worry about him as a football player.]

[UPDATE (Weds., 5:41am): In case you hadn't heard, it turns out that Hughes's brother was shot and killed on Chicago's West Side (link):

Earl Hughes had worked until about 10 p.m. Monday at EFT Sports Performance in Highland Park, where he was a trainer for teenage athletes.

He returned home about 11 p.m. and left about 12:30 a.m. He was killed soon afterward, said his uncle EJ Jones.

A witness said she heard an argument and shots fired, police spokeswoman Monique Bond said.

"It's horrible," Jones said. "We are 100 percent confident this was not drug- or gang-related. He was never in an altercation. . . . We think this has to do with some kind of triangle relationship."

Earl Hughes' only arrest was for disorderly conduct in 2000, police said.

He was the father of a 1-year-old daughter and one of eight siblings.

Earl Hughes was a role model for his younger brother, Robert. They last saw each other Sunday when Robert came home to visit.

"Robert wanted to be like his brother," said Jones, who was a running back for the Kansas City Chiefs in the 1984-85 season.

"His brother was big in sports and probably had more natural talent than Robert, but did not take advantage of his opportunities," Jones said. "His brother worked out with Robert and pushed him. He did not want Robert to make the mistakes he did. He wanted Robert to make the big time."

Still, Earl Hughes was a proud big brother who attended all of Notre Dame's home games.

Robert Hughes has a touchdown and has rushed for 42 yards on 16 carries so far this year. The 5-foot-11, 238-pounder rushed for 5,734 yards in his four-year career at Hubbard High and was considered a top running back recruit.

Earl Hughes had attended Joliet Junior College, where he was an outstanding basketball player, his uncle said.

Recently, Elias Karras hired Earl to work for him at EFT Sports Performance. He knew Earl and Robert Hughes because they both worked out at the facility last year.

Earl Hughes had made the first cut of an Arena Football League tryout last year, but did not wind up playing, Karras said.

"I hired him to do maintenance and entry-level work, but immediately realized he should be helping us train our junior high, freshmen and sophomore kids," Karras said. "He became an assistant trainer in a month. I was going to sign him up to take him for his personal-training certification class."

Karras said he wasn't able to tell Earl Hughes' students about his murder.

"The kids loved him," he said. "We just said he was not here today. I didn't know what to say."

Again, please keep everyone involved in close prayer.]

Rivals.com is reporting that Detroit tailback Jonas Gray, who up until this past weekend was verbally committed to the Nebraska Cornhuskers, gave a verbal commitment to Notre Dame on Monday night. The 5′10″, 213-lb. Gray is a four-star recruit on both Rivals and Scout, and has been clocked under 4.4 seconds in a 40-yard sprint. He is the 21st player overall to commit to Notre Dame’s 2008 recruiting class, and the first running back.

Gray was recruited by several top programs, including Nebraska and Michigan, early in the year, and he made a verbal commitment to Nebraska in early August. There were reports that Notre Dame had planned to extend him an official offer earlier in the year, but it never came to fruition. Then, after Nebraska followed up a strong start to their season with a five-game slide that included blowout losses to USC, Missouri, and Oklahoma State, as well as startlingly narrow wins over Ball State and Iowa State, and rumors began to surface that Nebraska head coach Bill Callahan might be on the hot seat, Gray - together with decommitted offensive lineman Trevor Robinson and linebacker Will Compton, who I believe is still officially committed to Nebraska - was one of three Nebraska recruits to attend Notre Dame’s game last Saturday against USC. The Irish lost that game, of course, but something must have been going well on the sidelines, as superstar wide receiver Michael Floyd committed shortly thereafter, and Gray’s commitment followed quickly upon his. (South Carolina offensive lineman Kenneth Page was reported to have been so excited about his official visit that same weekend that he nearly committed on the spot, but he is currently holding off on his final decision.)

As trouble continues to brew in Lincoln, the Irish appear ready and willing to capitalize on the Huskers’ misfortunes, as they are seem to be strongly in the running for Robinson’s services as well as those of Compton, should he in fact decide to reopen his recruitment. In any case, Gray’s decision is clearly great news, and counts as further evidence that the mood among Irish players is not nearly as negative as some have thought it might be.

Welcome to the ND family, Jonas!

[UPDATE: I should have included this quote from Jonas's IrishEnvy profile, left by his uncle back in September of 2006:

Thanks for the love...Jonas sure appreciates it.....Notre Dame is his first choice, and thats a fact....he's loved that school since the Jerome Bettis days.

But he didn't receive a formal offer yet from the Irish...he did receive an invite to come to some of their home games this season.....hopefully Coach Weis will send a formal offer soon.....he'll be getting a great football player, but a better person in Jonas

Awesome stuff! It's great to have another kid on board who bleeds blue and gold. And let me just add that for this reason, I think CW at Rakes of Mallow is wrong to say that "before we get too excited, please remember signing day is still many a day off. If a player is kind enough to renege on one verbal, he just might pull out on a second." By all appearances, Gray decommitted from Nebraska only because of the turmoil within their program, and - as this quote indicates - Notre Dame looks to have been his first choice all along. His situation, in other words, is much more like Brian Smith's than Chris Little's.]

According to Mike Frank of Irish Eyes, Cretin-Derham Hall (Minn.) wide receiver Michael Floyd committed to Notre Dame after his official visit this past weekend:

The 6-3, 210-pound five-star prospect says it was both football and education that sold him on Notre Dame.”The education you get at Notre Dame is much better than most schools. Having both the big-time football and the education is what really sold me on Notre Dame,” Floyd said.

Floyd also said hanging out with his future teammates was a big factor.

“I was able to meet more of the guys this weekend, and I got along really well with all of them,” he said. “I got to know the guys in the freshman class, and some of the recruits committed in this class.”

Floyd, who is a five-star prospect on Scout.com and has received four stars from Rivals, is widely regarded as one of the very best players in the nation this year, both at his position and overall. He is ranked #79 overall on the Rivals 100, and #54 overall by Scout, and is the 20th player to commit to Notre Dame this year, and the second wide receiver. You can keep track of his season-long accomplishments by following the Irish Roundup’s weekly Friday Night Lights feature.

The other primary contender for Floyd’s services was Ohio State, with Minnesota a distant third. He was expected to wait until the Army All-American Game to announce his decision, and the fact that he chose to commit right after being present for such a tough loss is clear evidence that the mood among the Irish players, especially the younger ones, as well as their current recruits - many of whom were at the game as well - is not nearly as negative as some have speculated it might be. The future may seem far away, but it’s looking bright nonetheless.

Welcome to the Notre Dame family, Michael!

[UPDATE: I realized I should have linked to this excellent profile of Floyd and his mother, Theresa Romeo, from the 8/29 Minneapolis Star-Tribune. A quick excerpt:

School doesn't start for a couple more hours, yet there's Michael Floyd hopping on a city bus on St. Paul's east side at 6 a.m. Changing buses downtown, he makes it across town to Cretin-Derham Hall High School in time to start his work study program by 6:45.

He's off each morning with the blessings of his mother, a woman of deep faith who will be forever thankful for her son's fateful journey. Theresa Romero had cried after attending Cretin's summer open house four years ago, knowing as a single parent of five there was no way she could afford to send her son to the private school.

"It was a mom's dream," Romero said. "There is no way a kid can't make it there unless he absolutely doesn't want to."

Floyd assured his mom that, together, they could make it work. Their success story is about to resume in earnest as Floyd returns to the classroom for his senior year and to the national spotlight as a gifted wide receiver.

Floyd, 6-3, 205 pounds, a fluid sprinter with exceptional hands, can name the college he would like to play for next season, but has yet to do so. Notre Dame offered him a scholarship after his sophomore season, which is unprecedented in Cretin's storied athletic history.

Doors are continuing to open up for the kid who has had little more than a roof over his head.

Romero, "too poor" to buy the latest basketball shoes her son fell in love with while in Las Vegas last month for an AAU basketball tournament, gathered herself after yet more tears had fallen and apologized to her son for not taking advantage of her own educational opportunities. If the youngest of Romero's children -- and her only son -- is paying the price, he appears to have avoided the added expense that comes with bitterness.

"That's the position I'm in," Floyd said. "You just get over the humps. I've been doing it so far."

Floyd's job in Cretin's fitness center helps pay some of the tuition, and his mom works at the concession stands at the Metrodome and Xcel Energy Center. Romero knows the people at Cretin have played their part, too, just as her heart had told her they would four years ago.

"I didn't even know Cretin was known for sports," Romero said.

Floyd certainly did. Football has always been his game, and he identified Cretin as the place that could help him maximize his skills. His father, Michael Floyd Sr., who has never lived with the family but has remained a part of his son's life, always has stressed that doing the right thing applies both on and off the field.

So, for the most part, Floyd has said goodbye to his rough-and-tumble neighborhood and accepted a new way of life.

Read the whole thing if you can. He seems like a really terrific kid, with a great family behind him. No doubt he'll make an incredible addition to ND's roster.]

You probably already know this, but the LA Times is reporting that Mark “Dirty” Sanchez is going to be the starting quarterback on Saturday for the Trojans of Southern Cal, in place of the injured John David Booty. Sanchez, a redshirt sophomore, was a highly-touted recruit coming out of high school but has seen little game action since coming to SC, his most newsworthy accomplishments having come - ahem - off the playing field. Starting in place of Booty last week, Sanchez had a tough first half against a less than dynamic Arizona defense, but completed 11 of 15 passes for a very Clausen-esque 74 yards in the second half as the Trojans narrowly avoided their second straight upset loss.

It’s hard to think that this is anything but good news for the Irish, as we all remember what happened last time Corwin Brown’s defense faced an inexperienced backup:

Put that together with a beat-up SC offensive line (All-American tackle Sam Baker will be out, as well as guard Alatini Malu), and one can only expect that by the time the game draws to an end, Evan Sharpley won’t be the only quarterback wearing a green jersey.

Sweet dreams tonight, Mark. The nightmare begins Saturday, 3:30pm EST.

I got your Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse right here …

With the Southern Cal (yeah, that’s what I said) game just a few days away, there’s a bunch of news to cover regarding depth chart moves, injury updates, and the like. I’m going to run down the highlights position-by-position, but for the quick version, see the summary below:

• Running backs: First-string tailback James Aldridge suffered a high ankle sprain against BC and is officially listed as “doubtful” for Saturday’s game, and Michael Rothstein quotes Charlie Weis as saying that while Aldridge “intends to play this week,” “the odds of that happening aren’t that high.” Given that all season even players who have been described as “probable,” “game-time decisions,” or even “ready to go” haven’t ended up playing much if at all (think David Grimes, Dan Wenger, and Maurice Crum last week), I’d say there’s just about no chance that Aldridge ends up seeing the field, which is really bad news for the Irish. With the injury to Aldridge, former co-#2’s Travis Thomas, Armando Allen, Junior Jabbie, and Robert Hughes are now listed as co-#1’s on the new depth chart, with Aldridge’s name in italics. Here’s what Weis said about this in his Tuesday press conference: “Well, I think what we would not do this week, since this is USC, is just throw Robert (Hughes) in and Armando (Allen) in there right off the bat. I think that we would go a little heavier with Travis (Thomas) being involved in this mix, too, more than he has this year. I think that that would be part of that combination. I’m not saying by committee, but I think that he would probably take off some of the pressure of James, and obviously Robert and Armando would be much more involved.”
• Wide receivers: David Grimes didn’t play against BC, but Weis said in his Tuesday presser that it sounds like Grimes has “a legitimate chance of playing” in the Southern Cal game: he “was close to being able to go on Saturday (vs. Boston College), but it’s always tough when you haven’t practiced all week long to try to go when you haven’t had a meaningful rep in practice.” Meanwhile, as Rothstein notes in his excellent breakdown of this week’s depth chart changes, Grimes is now listed behind Robby Parris at the “Z” receiver slot, and fellow former #1 George West is now behind freshman Duval Kamara at the “X” position. Golden Tate, meanwhile, is still listed as third string for the “Z” slot, and Weis made a helpful clarification in his presser as to why Tate didn’t play much on offense against BC, saying that it wasn’t because of injury: “That was because we were going to play a significant amount of no huddle in the game, and in the no huddle our outside receivers do not flip flop positions, so they need to know both outside positions both as the weak side receiver and the strong side receiver. And really at his experience level, you want him to be able to play one position. Not (put him in a position) where he has to know both the X and the F and know both right and left. That was not the type of game that you want a guy with very little experience to be involved in.”
• Offensive line: As I noted earlier, Dan Wenger sat out his fourth straight game last week with a leg injury. But when asked about Wenger’s health on Tuesday, Weis was unambiguous (for once): “He’s back. I think I would list Tom (Bemenderfer) down there [as the backup at right guard], but I think if I needed a backup inside, Danny (Wenger) would be the first backup inside at all three positions. I know I only list him at one. I list him (Wenger) as the backup center but he’d probably go in first at right guard and he’d probably go in first at left guard, as well.” On the new depth chart, Wenger is in fact listed as the backup to both John Sullivan at center and Eric Olsen at right guard, with Bemenderfer listed as Mike Turkovich’s backup at the left guard slot. Weis also noted that Chris Stewart, who saw the first game action of his career against BC, has been working both at right tackle and at right guard in practice, though the former position is his primary responsibility. Finally, Rothstein notes that Matt Romine, who’s missed several games with a right elbow injury, was wearing a “slightly less bulky” brace on Tuesday. He’s still probably a ways away from being back, though.
• Linebackers: I also noted that Maurice Crum sat out the BC game, because of a turf toe injury he suffered against UCLA. Weis described Crum, like Grimes, as having a “legitimate chance” of playing against SC, noting that he “is walking without a limp this week, and that’s a good thing.” But both Rothstein and Ben Ford note in their reports from Tuesday’s practice that Crum looked a bit slow, so it’s perhaps reasonable to think that his status may be up in the air. The new depth chart, meanwhile, lists Anthony Vernaglia, who had been a starter at outside linebacker until last week but saw time at ILB against UCLA as well as BC, as Crum’s backup, with freshman Brian Smith taking over Vernaglia’s position from last week as the backup to John Ryan, and Morrice Richardson now in Smith’s old position as the backup to Kerry Neal.
• Cornerbacks: Thankfully there’s no injury news to report here, but there has been a little bit of shifting on the depth chart: Darrin Walls is now listed as a co-#1 with Ambrose Wooden at the left cornerback spot, and at RCB, former tailback Munir Prince - who as I noted before the BC game has been seeing more playing time recently - is now listed as a co-#2 with Raeshon McNeil, behind Terrail Lambert.

Okay, that’s all. Here’s a quick summary for anyone who might have been overwhelmed by all that text:

• James Aldridge is injured and probably won’t play against Southern Cal. Travis Thomas will play a key role backing him up, together with freshmen Robert Hughes and Armando Allen.
• David Grimes will probably be back for the SC game, though he is now listed at second string behind Robby Parris. George West has also been bumped to second string, by freshman Duval Kamara. Golden Tate is not injured.
• Dan Wenger is healthy and back on the offensive line, listed as a backup at two positions (center and right guard). Tom Bemenderfer is the backup at the other guard position.
• Maurice Crum has reportedly looked a little slow in practice, so it’s fair to say that his status for Saturday may be uncertain. Anthony Vernaglia is now listed as his backup, with Brian Smith taking over Vernaglia’s spot from last week as the backup to John Ryan and Morrice Richardson taking Smith’s spot behind Kerry Neal.
• Ambrose Wooden is now listed as a co-#1 with Darrin Walls at one cornerback slot, and Munir Prince as the co-#2 with Raeshon McNeil at the other.

That’s it! I’ll be back tomorrow with some analysis of the team’s depth along the offensive line, pre- and post- the departure of Matt Carufel.

Here are few updates on the Irish depth chart, and the health of ND’s various injured players, heading into this afternoon’s game against Boston College.

* * *

It was reported on the Web Thursday night, and yesterday the Chicago Tribune picked the story up: sophomore offensive lineman Matt Carufel, who started the past three games at right guard after classmate Dan Wenger went down with an injury and was listed to start again against Boston College, has been excused from the team for undisclosed personal reasons and will miss today’s game:

Irish guard Matt Carufel, who started the last three games, has returned home to Minnesota and is expected to decide on his future at Notre Dame by Sunday, the Tribune has learned.

Carufel has been excused from practices this week due to “personal reasons.” On Friday, Carufel was at his former high school in St. Paul, Cretin-Derham Hall, spoke extensively with assistant coach Andy Bishoff, and indicated that he may not return to the Irish.

“He’s struggling with if he’s going to stick around there or not,” Bishoff told the Tribune. “He just doesn’t know if he fit at Notre Dame like he thought he would.”

Carufel also could return to Notre Dame to finish out the semester. If Carufel decides not to return to the Irish, Bishoff said Minnesota and Iowa are two schools likely to be at the top of the list of potential destinations.

Apparently Carufel was absent from practice on Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday. His departure, together with the elbow injury (I am told it involves torn ligaments) that is going to keep freshman Matt Romine out for the foreseeable future and the obvious questions of whether Wenger’s leg is 100% healed, suddenly leaves the Irish almost paper-thin along the offensive line. Carufel’s backup on this week’s official depth chart (which I’ve already discussed at some length here) is fellow sophomore Eric Olsen, who had previously been listed behind Mike Turkovich on the other side of the line at left guard, and who has played in ever game except the loss to Michigan. Olsen saw the field by far the most of any of the backup offensive linemen through the first five games, so hopefully he’ll be ready to play.

But after that, the rest of the second string o-line consists of freshman Taylor Dever behind Sam Young at left tackle, junior transfer Thomas Bemenderfer behind Turkovich at left guard, Wenger behind fifth-year senior John Sullivan at center, and sophomore Chris Stewart behind Paul Duncan at right tackle. If Wenger is ready to go, it’s obviously not a stretch to see him splitting minutes with Olsen in Carufel’s place, since Sullivan essentially never leaves the field. Stewart and Dever, meanwhile, haven’t gotten into any games yet this year.

(It’s perhaps worth noting that the Notre Dame depth chart published in the South Bend Tribune this morning lists Stewart as the starter at right guard, with Olsen listed as backing up both Stewart and left guard Turkovich, and Bemenderfer as the backup center to Sullivan. Wenger, meanwhile, is completely absent from that chart, though Romine is listed as Duncan’s backup at right tackle. It’s hard to believe this chart is accurate, though, since there are also several other funny things about it, including Eric Maust listed ahead of Geoff Price as the team’s punter, and Anthony Vernaglia absent from the chart altogether.)

So obviously we’re not going to know for sure who’s going to play where until the game is underway, but I’d be surprised if what we see at the right guard position doesn’t primarily involve Olsen and/or Wenger, depending especially on the health of the latter (on which see below).

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Up next, a couple of quick injury updates:

• David Grimes, who ended up not dressing for the UCLA game because of an ankle injury suffered against Purdue, was back in practice this week, albeit with a heavily taped ankle. Watching Grimes on Wednesday, Ben Ford thought that he was “still having a little bit of trouble with the initial burst and explosion when he makes a break from a standing position.” Charlie Weis was quoted in Eric Hansen’s excellent column in today’s SBTrib as saying that Grimes hadn’t participated in any cutting drills this week, and that he would be a game-time decision, but that he “still doesn’t look full speed to me … If he doesn’t look close to full speed, then I just won’t play him.” My gut here says that we don’t see Grimes on the field today.
• Meanwhile, I haven’t seen any reports of how Dan Wenger looked in practice this week, but an article from Wednesday’s SBTrib has this little nugget: “We’re finally getting him back on a more full-speed basis this week,” Weis said of Wenger. “He’s not automatically going to get thrown (into the right guard mix). He’s going to have to earn his way back out there.” It could be, in other words, is that the reason Wenger was made the backup to Sullivan on the depth chart for this week is that he’s not fully healthy, and less will be expected of him there because of how little Sullivan comes out of the game. But once again, I wouldn’t read into the fact that Wenger isn’t listed in the SBT depth chart, since they list Romine as a back-up, and Weis has said that he’s at least a few weeks away from returning.

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Finally, one more personnel-related note. Pat at BGS noted earlier this week that sophomore Munir Prince, who was recruited as a tailback but made the switch to cornerback in the off-season, saw some playing time on defense against UCLA. A question in Michael Rothstein’s mailbag from this week picked up on this point:

I noticed late in the UCLA game when the Irish were on defense, Darrin Walls nor Raeshon McNeil were on the field. Is this because the Irish were running a prevent zone and those guys match up better in man-to-man, or did the coaches feel better with the more experienced dime lineup of (Terrail) Lambert, (Leo) Ferrine, (Ambrose) Wooden, (David) Bruton, Zibby but then there was (Munir) Prince, what gives? Thanks.
-Pete McLoughlin

Pete,
Honestly, we’re not sure. From the television view we had, we didn’t even notice the shift in this package and who was in. What we can tell you is we noticed Prince in the game a lot. It shows more than anything that the sophomore is finally adjusted to his move to cornerback. As for that package, we’ll take a good look this week when we’re back on site for games.

Anyway, just thought that was worth noting. That’s great for Munir, and hopefully he’ll continue to get on the field and play well the rest of the season.

[UPDATE: The always-insightful OCDomer has this to say, over at NDLNA:

I noticed Munir in at corner for stretches against UCLA. It seemed he was man-up on UCLA's best wide-out. Coach Weis has always said Munir was very fast. If he has developed his footwork at DB to the point that he is trusted to cover the fastest receivers on the other team, that's awesome. It means we shouldn't see the other team's speed burner running wide open down the field any more. It's also great for Munir. He's obviously been working very hard to learn the new position - hats off to him!

Good stuff.]

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That’s all for today. Go Irish!