Oct 17 | Southern Cal

[philipm31]

That is just ridiculous. Sorry, but the Utes look legit on defense, SO FAR.

We need STAN to win out, except our game and then beat Utah for the PAC12 title. USC beating them would be ridiculously bad for us.

 

[pkt77242]

That is just ridiculous. Sorry, but the Utes look legit on defense, SO FAR.

We need STAN to win out, except our game and then beat Utah for the PAC12 title. USC beating them would be ridiculously bad for us.

Depends. If USC could win out and win the PAC 12 South, and we beat Stanford and they win the PAC 12 North, then it would be even better for us.

 

[philipm31]

Depends. If USC could win out and win the PAC 12 South, and we beat Stanford and they win the PAC 12 North, then it would be even better for us.

Nothing compared to beating the 2-loss conference champ. And USC getting to the PAC12 title game is a bit much.

 

[ThePiombino]

That is just ridiculous. Sorry, but the Utes look legit on defense, SO FAR.

We need STAN to win out, except our game and then beat Utah for the PAC12 title. USC beating them would be ridiculously bad for us.

One of our wins beating the #5 team in the country would not be a bad thing.

 

[pkt77242]

Nothing compared to beating the 2-loss conference champ. And USC getting to the PAC12 title game is a bit much.

Stanford could still beat USC in the championship game and thus give us a victory over the two loss conference champ and the runner-up. Even better.

 

[philipm31]

One of our wins beating the #5 team in the country would not be a bad thing.

No way Stanford is a Top 5 team at any time before the end of the season.

 

[pkt77242]

No way Stanford is a Top 5 team at any time before the end of the season.

I don't think that is what he is saying. I think he is saying that USC (one of our wins) beating the #5 team (Utah) would not be bad for us (or more directly would be very good for us).

 

[philipm31]

I don't think that is what he is saying. I think he is saying that USC (one of our wins) beating the #5 team (Utah) would not be bad for us (or more directly would be very good for us).

Yeah, but that ain't happening. Utah has a legit D, and they will shut down USC, at least more effectively than ND did for 3 quarters.

While it would be nice if USC won out and Stanford won out, except for losing to us, I seriously do not see that happening.

But as long as Stanford wins the conference and we beat Stanford, that is the key feather in our cap that we need now.

 

[dublinirish]

The Jeweled Shillelagh Returns Home - Slap the Sign - A Notre Dame Fighting Irish Site - News, Blogs, Opinion and more.

is it true USC never brought the Jeweled Shillelagh??

 

[ThePiombino]

I don't think that is what he is saying. I think he is saying that USC (one of our wins) beating the #5 team (Utah) would not be bad for us (or more directly would be very good for us).

^ this, thank you

Yeah, but that ain't happening. Utah has a legit D, and they will shut down USC, at least more effectively than ND did for 3 quarters.

While it would be nice if USC won out and Stanford won out, except for losing to us, I seriously do not see that happening.

But as long as Stanford wins the conference and we beat Stanford, that is the key feather in our cap that we need now.

Don't sleep on SC; we, of all fan bases, should know better.

 

[Bogtrotter07]

Yeah, but that ain't happening. Utah has a legit D, and they will shut down USC, at least more effectively than ND did for 3 quarters.

While it would be nice if USC won out and Stanford won out, except for losing to us, I seriously do not see that happening.

But as long as Stanford wins the conference and we beat Stanford, that is the key feather in our cap that we need now.

SC will beat (maul) Utah and California back-to-back; they have too much talent and too good of a coach, (Clay Helton scares the hell out of me. He is accomplished, mature, smart, and has integrity. The kids love him. He is just what SC needs at this time.)

USC players, at 3-3, say they are playing for interim coach Clay Helton


Paul Myerberg, USA TODAY Sports 1:27 p.m. EDT October 18, 2015

SOUTH BEND, Ind. — The only two constants during the past half-decade of Southern California football are chaos and Clay Helton, with the whims of the former again responsible for thrusting the latter into duties far above his pay grade.

Helton was brought to USC by one ex-coach, Lane Kiffin, and then retained by another, Steve Sarkisian; he has been the interim coach — this fall marking his second turn in the temporary position after leading the Trojans through a bowl win in 2013 — and himself served under another interim coach, Ed Orgeron.

He is Zelig in cardinal and gold: Helton was there when the NCAA levied sanctions, when the Trojans opened atop the Associated Press poll but finished unranked, when Kiffin was fired in a parking lot, when Orgeron was carried off the field in victory, when Josh Shaw jumped two stories, when Sarkisian was placed on leave and when Sarkisian was fired — amid turmoil and made-for-TV drama, Helton has been a source of relative stability.

And he’s been there for the Trojans, who are now returning the favor.

“We definitely want to keep him here,” senior running back Tre Madden said. “We’ve talked to the young guys, and they love him. We all love him. We want to keep him here. That’s what we’re playing for, the future.”

Said senior defensive tackle Antwuan Woods, “I’ve been with him for five years and he really cares about us as a team. He’s a great man. We’re just motivated to play for him.”

It wasn’t too long ago that USC played for national championships. Now the Trojans play for interim coaches.

For the second time in three years, the Trojans will dedicate themselves — and dedicate the remainder of this season — to making a favored assistant coach the full-time caretaker for one of college football’s elite programs. Such is recent existence at USC, where confidence remains in surplus despite a clear lack of results.

“We’re an excellent team,” junior safety Su’a Cravens said. “We can beat anybody in the country, hands down.”

USC spent the second half of the 2013 season pushing for Orgeron, winning six of eight games to end the regular season and publicly praising its interim coach. Yet even as the Trojans racked up wins under Orgeron, it was obvious they were tilting at windmills; athletics director Pat Haden had no interest in making Orgeron’s promotion permanent, though he did take time to call the longtime USC assistant “one of the greatest Trojans of them all” when announcing Sarkisian’s hiring.

“He’s proud to be our coach,” Cravens said of Helton. “You see the guy that’s been here throughout everything and he tells you he’s proud of you, that makes us want to play for him.

“So the way we felt for (Orgeron), we feel the same for Coach Helton. I feel bad in my stomach that we couldn’t get this win for him because he deserved it.”

Watch the games USC lost.

Stanford outplayed USC in the trenches, much like Notre Dame did. Stanford used a meaty offensive front to exploit SC's young front seven. Nobody left on SC's schedule seems to have that ability. And if you look at it, SC's front is growing up. They actually played much better against ND than they did against Stanford.

Washington? Yes Petersen is a great coach and the team was highly motivated. I think it is interesting when a favored team steps into an underdog powered buzz saw. ND deals with that affect every week; but it is such a thing when another good team deals with it once or twice a season! Remember, it must have been ridiculous around Troy the last days of Sark, with the negative affect he had on the team. Do you really think this would have been such a public shite show if it hadn't desperately, and rapidly spiraled out of control? Back to the Washington game :

"This one, at the end of the day, is on me," Sarkisian said. "We didn't coach well enough, we didn't execute well enough, we didn't manage the game well enough and ultimately execute in the critical moments well enough to deserve to win the football game."

If you have ever seen a more Lane (Kiffin) game plan than the one brought to the Coliseum against Washington, let me know. The SC superior athletes were running around all 60 minutes of that one with their heads up their asses. Even with Petersen, Washington didn't win it as much as the Trojan™ Brand lost it!

Speaking of which, with all the bitching around here about shortcomings in the Fighting Irish program, aren't you really glad you aren't a Trojan™ Brand, right now?

 

[Pops Freshenmeyer]

I thought USC looked like a good team that played well and was straight up beaten by the Irish. Playing at home they should beat Utah.

 

[irishfan]

No way Stanford is a Top 5 team at any time before the end of the season.

I bet they are Top-5 when ND plays them. They're #10 now and easily projected to win out until ND.

FSU/Clemson still have to play, so they'll jump the loser.
LSU/Bama play and they'll jump the loser there.
OSU/MSU same thing.

They just need 2 other upsets to happen to be in the top-5. Utah is good but they're not going to keep winning. TCU has already survived a couple scares....and I really don't trust Baylor or TCU on the road personally. Stanford's loss was bad, but the fact it was in Week 1 is huge.

 

[ACamp1900]

USC can play with anyone in the country on their best day, they, like much of the Pac 12 this year, are very schizophrenic from week to week though... you don't have any idea what team you're going to see on any random Saturday.

 

[mtnd15]

Isn't USC favored against Utah by Vegas?

 

[irishff1014]

USC can play with anyone in the country on their best day, they, like much of the Pac 12 this year, are very schizophrenic from week to week though... you don't have any idea what team you're going to see on any random Saturday.

If USC had a good coach this team would be very good.

 

[IrishYYC]

Here's Corey's TD catch as per Bogs request.

Sorry it's shaky, I was just a little excited at the time.

<iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/k2NG7_K5GXQ" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

 

[calvegas04]

usc came to ND without the Jeweled Shillelagh so they are sending it fed ex.... god I hate them so much.... Fusc!!!!

 

[Bogtrotter07]

One of our wins beating the #5 team in the country would not be a bad thing.

Stanford could still beat USC in the championship game and thus give us a victory over the two loss conference champ and the runner-up. Even better.

No way Stanford is a Top 5 team at any time before the end of the season.

I don't think that is what he is saying. I think he is saying that USC (one of our wins) beating the #5 team (Utah) would not be bad for us (or more directly would be very good for us).

Yeah, but that ain't happening. Utah has a legit D, and they will shut down USC, at least more effectively than ND did for 3 quarters.

While it would be nice if USC won out and Stanford won out, except for losing to us, I seriously do not see that happening.

But as long as Stanford wins the conference and we beat Stanford, that is the key feather in our cap that we need now.

I bet they are Top-5 when ND plays them. They're #10 now and easily projected to win out until ND.

FSU/Clemson still have to play, so they'll jump the loser.
LSU/Bama play and they'll jump the loser there.
OSU/MSU same thing.

They just need 2 other upsets to happen to be in the top-5. Utah is good but they're not going to keep winning. TCU has already survived a couple scares....and I really don't trust Baylor or TCU on the road personally. Stanford's loss was bad, but the fact it was in Week 1 is huge.

USC can play with anyone in the country on their best day, they, like much of the Pac 12 this year, are very schizophrenic from week to week though... you don't have any idea what team you're going to see on any random Saturday.

I have been thinking about this. I think the 'crowd' is onto something.*

This week it seems as if the Utes have leapfrogged to number three! If anything this indicated a preference for rewarding teams that show great team defense. I believe it also shows a national desire to show favor to the PAC 12 over some other conferences, (Big 12). Maybe for the same kinds of reasons.

At any rate, what would be wrong with the following scenario?
ND winning out;
SC beating Utah, and Cal, (then UCLA) and winning the Pac-12 South;
Then, SC beating a twice beaten Sanford for the Pac-12 Championship.

The worst thing I could think of is that would leave a once beaten Utah out in the cold.

But don't you think that would preclude the Pac-12 from making the dance altogether anyway?

*Awkward reference to Wisdom of the Crowd, tenant principle of the Chaos Theory : "A large group's aggregated answers to questions involving quantity estimation, general world knowledge, and spatial reasoning has generally been found to be as good as, and often better than, the answer given by any of the individuals within the group. An explanation for this phenomenon is that there is idiosyncratic noise associated with each individual judgment, and taking the average over a large number of responses will go some way toward canceling the effect of this noise."

 

[Bogtrotter07]

usc came to ND without the Jeweled Shillelagh so they are sending it fed ex.... god I hate them so much.... Fusc!!!!

A Trojan Fed-EX truck?

Man the walls! Protect the Gug at all cost!

 

[Calabrese's People]

Wheel it in lads, they're good sports....

 

[IrishLion]

Fuck this team

C'mon man.

Discussing about to turn this crap off

That's a thought that goes through my head at least once a game.

I want a new team.

You didn't mean that.

Prayer thread for the Eagles to lose every game?

He'd never coach at ND lol.

I'm not even mad. That's how bad this. These notre dame players are not even worth rooting for or raising my blood pressure. this game over. Can't tackle, can't block, and a coach who always refuses to take any responsibility.

2nd and 20 and we could've sacked Kessler and we whiff. 3rd and 2 and we have them stuffed but arm tackle.

Legitimate gripes, but hang in there a bit longer next time on the "game over" thing.

ND will not win a national championship again. This team is not held accountable for their actions and that's on kelly. I am over it time to lower the expectations.

Well this escalated.

Time for Winbush. I cannot take it anymore.

Let's give the guy making his 5th start, and who is a sophomore, a bit more time to develop eh?

Run the ball on 3&2. Kelly is not the right coach for ND please quit.

Play calling was not great at times, but was also great at times.

Kelly is going to spend the rest of this game figuring out who to blame during the press conference

I think he was figuring out the right time to call deep shots to Fuller, but not sure.

Unless. USC turns the ball over twice this half I don't see us having any chance of staying close.

GOOD CALL. For real lol.

In a lifetime of painful nights as an ND fan, I think this is the worst.

USC '05 hurt more. For many reasons.

It's up there. Even if we win, this one was still the equivalent of masterbating with sandpaper for 3 hours.

The big plays, the momentum swings, and the answers by our guys late in the game made it feel a little better than this analogy, I think.

This team has given up

GOOD CALL, not seriously though.

Just like the Clemson game, we desperately need THEM to make a mistake... They won't return the favor

I felt like this until KVR stepped up and made it happen on his own. Hopefully he's on now.

I am calling right now that our defense will not make a play to save us. Will not.

Reverse jinx FTW.

I'm calling CRob dropped pass for potential 1st or touchdown.

I'll take his answer over my lost bet. Payment on the way. Glad CRob got his swag back.

CROB TD. Calling it

GOOD CALL.

So much reverse jinxing by me. You're all welcome.

GOOD CALL.



*None of this is meant as personal attacks; I know the mood swings mid-game as well as anyone. I was watching this game in a hotel in London until 4am, running up the mini-bar tab via luke-warm Peroni's. I was greatly entertained reading through the middle of the game thread now that I'm back home.

I missed this place.

Ya'll should for real try breathing a little bit during games though lol.

 

[ndfi78]

*None of this is meant as personal attacks; I know the mood swings mid-game as well as anyone. I was watching this game in a hotel in London until 4am, running up the mini-bar tab via luke-warm Peroni's. I was greatly entertained reading through the middle of the game thread now that I'm back home.

I missed this place.

Ya'll should for real try breathing a little bit during games though lol.

 

[zelezo vlk]

*None of this is meant as personal attacks; I know the mood swings mid-game as well as anyone. I was watching this game in a hotel in London until 4am, running up the mini-bar tab via luke-warm Peroni's. I was greatly entertained reading through the middle of the game thread now that I'm back home.

I missed this place.

Ya'll should for real try breathing a little bit during games though lol.

You poor poor soul. I've been there before, but I made the mistake of drinking the hard stuff and wine during the game, only to find that I stopped drinking at 4. But I'm glad I stay out of this thread during the game; nothing good would come of it.

 

[Irish Insanity]

.

Mine may be the only good post of all those quotes. For that, I thank you. I've been trying. I really have.

 

[ulukinatme]

Seriously thought I was going to jinx this game again, attending for the 6th time I think and never seeing a win at home. We got excited after the first quarter, and then I started to have deja vu in the 2nd and 3rd quarters. So glad to have that monkey off my back

 

[Whiskeyjack]

All of our rivalry trophies are back where they belong:

 

[Luckylucci]

Is this the first time since 2012 that we've had them all back at ND?

 

[zelezo vlk]

Is this the first time since 2012 that we've had them all back at ND?

I think after the Stanford game last year all were home.

 

[NDinTEXAS]

This might have been discussed before but does anyone know who got the game ball?