Dec 29 | Champs Sports Bowl vs. Florida State

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IrishIllustrated.com - 'Ten-foot tall and bullet proof'
Tim Prister
IrishIllustrated.com Senior Editor
12/26

...

Golic, Jr., faces a mighty tall task. Making just his fourth career start in place of veteran Braxston Cave, he will face his mightiest assignment to date. Florida State's top eight defensive linemen have a combined 216 tackles, 48 tackles for loss and 25 sacks.

That's no misprint. It's the performance of Florida State's defensive line that has spearheaded a unit that allows a frightening 2.32 yards per carry and 81.8 yards rushing per game.

"They're a great defense. We knew that when we got the draw for the bowl game," Golic said. "We have our hands full in getting ready for them. Obviously, you have to prepare for them as a run threat, and they have 36 sacks on the year. So they can get after the quarterback too.

...

All eyes are on Golic, who stepped into the lineup in place of Cave during the Wake Forest game in the ninth game of the season. Golic did an excellent job of handling undersized Nikita Whitlock that night, and then continued to hold his own against Maryland.

But when Boston College came to town and employed an eight-man front, and then the Irish visited Stanford for the regular-season finale, Golic and the rest of the offensive line struggled. Notre Dame scored just three offensive touchdowns over the final eight quarters, the last of which came with 23 seconds remaining in the regular season.

...

Thursday, Golic will go head-to-head with Timmy Jernigan and Anthony McCloud, a pair of 300-pounders who have combined for an impressive 51 tackles, 11 tackles for loss and 4.5 sacks from the nose tackle position.

...

 

[GoldenIsThyFame]

In other news..... FSU is starting 4 frosh on the OL for this game. Diaco needs to dial up some blitzes... I think we can get to the passer here if we're aggressive and playing conservative might get us burnt.

Will ND Face Youngest O-Line Ever?

From left to right the freshman offensive line would include:

• LG Josue Matias (6-5, 320) — Consensus four-star recruit from New Jersey “decommitted” from Rutgers to sign with the Seminoles.

• C Austin Barron (6-3, 295) — The St. Thomas Aquinas (Fort Lauderdale) made his first start in the 38-7 victory at Boston College on Nov. 3 when Stork suffered from concussion-like symptoms prior to the game. He played well against BC but struggled with his snaps the next week in a 23-19 victory against Miami.

• RG Tre’ Jackson (6-4, 310) — Like Matias, he was a decommit. The Georgia native originally committed to Georgia Tech before opting for the Seminoles as mainly a three-star prospect.

• RT Bobby Hart (6-5, 303) — St. Thomas Aquinas teammate of Barron, he was the Sam Young of this haul while Barron was the Dan Wenger — referring to 2006 Irish recruits from Aquinas, tackle Young and center Wenger. The amazing aspect of Hart, who has started eight games, is he turned only 17 on Aug. 21. He was considered a five-star in some circles and a four-star in others.

And to think, Notre Dame freshman offensive tackle Jordan Prestwood worked with this group last spring before transferring to Notre Dame.

The last time we can recall so many true freshmen playing along an offensive line against Notre Dame was the 1989 SMU game — when the Mustangs were coming off a two-year NCAA death penalty for recruiting violations. SMU had freshmen starting at left tackle, left guard and center, with a sophomore at right guard and a junior at left tackle. The No. 2 unit also was comprised of all freshmen, although several were red-shirts.

 

[Riddickulous]

Aaron Lynch must be licking his chops.

 

[Whiskeyjack]

Really? Because the Packers are 14-1 this year despite giving up more yards than they've gained.

Why aren't they a .500 team? Because [of] Aaron Rodgers...

The Packers have the best QB in the league. If FSU had Andrew Luck under center, your analogy would make sense, but Manuel is arguably a bigger liability than Rees.

If FSU only has to go 15 yards to get in field goal range and we have to march 50... their odds of winning go way up.

No argument there; ST could easily make the difference in this game. But by the numbers, FSU should have a much harder time moving the ball against us than we should have against them. I'll take that.

 

[PANDFAN]

The Packers have the best QB in the league. If FSU had Andrew Luck under center, your analogy would make sense, but Manuel is arguably a bigger liability than Rees.



No argument there; ST could easily make the difference in this game. But by the numbers, FSU should have a much harder time moving the ball against us than we should have against them. I'll take that.

while i agree, in looking at ej's statistics...he isn't bad" number wise"...a good completion of 65% and 2:1 td to int ratio..but then when u look at those and see what he did vs competition then that is where u see how much of a liability he is

 

[GreatGolson]

Im hearing from some of the ND Insiders on rivals and scout that Golson is looking very impressive in practice, especially his arm strength and accuracy. sounds very impressive, it'd be nice to see another QB from south carolina under center.

 

[IrishandColts]

Green jersey?

 

[Damion704]

No. Blue

 

[WhoDeyIrish]

Anyone else feel depression coming on? Two more days until our last game of the year. This season went by way too fast.

 

[BurningRiver]

I'm not going to be able to watch this one live. My friend has a wiffleball stadium in his backyard and his Winter Classic is Thursday night at 6. But I can always record the game. Nothing beats playing wiffleball under the lights in the snow

 

[BobD]

Anyone else feel depression coming on? Two more days until our last game of the year. This season went by way too fast.

No, it happens every year. Since it's my first year on IE, during the off season I'm looking forward to learning more about the team and recruiting from the guys here while avoiding the dildo in the guys @ss thread

 

[AdmiralBackhand]

No, it happens every year. Since it's my first year on IE, during the off season I'm looking forward to learning more about the team and recruiting from the guys here while avoiding the dildo in the guys @ss thread

Yup.

 

[anarin]

I'm not going to be able to watch this one live. My friend has a wiffleball stadium in his backyard and his Winter Classic is Thursday night at 6. But I can always record the game. Nothing beats playing wiffleball under the lights in the snow

I remember when I was 13.

 

[BurningRiver]

I remember when I was 13.

17, actually, and it's totally worth it :talktohan

 

[Whiskeyjack]

Anyone else feel depression coming on? Two more days until our last game of the year. This season went by way too fast.

Depression? No. I can't wait for it to end.

September through December is the time for dream-crushing reality checks and wasted potential. Our rivals thrive and ND struggles; GSR and 30y ROI success are cold comforts. I can't take another dagger from Michigan.

The off-season is full of hope and dreams of what could be, completely unspoiled by our curse. I'm looking forward to it.

 

[NYMIKE6]

Depression? No. I can't wait for it to end.

September through December is the time for dream-crushing reality checks and wasted potential. Our rivals thrive and ND struggles; GSR and 30y ROI success are cold comforts. I can't take another dagger from Michigan.

The off-season is full of hope and dreams of what could be, completely unspoiled by our curse. I'm looking forward to it.

This is a song of a sad, sad man.... whiskey were all with you though, heres to hoping for better days in Irish country.... starting this off season..... you know what they say about history it repeats itself. years 3 and 4 in Kellys past are pretty promising.

 

[Old Man Mike]

If we win, the "off-season" should be great fun. NSD will come and go, and we will have a great bunch of new guys headed into ND. The spring practices will be full of good indications and contentious mysteries. And the 2013 recruiting wars will start into their less nerve-wracking stages.

Except for the debilitated depressives among us, the post-season should be a lot of fun. And for them the whole year is misery, so that's no change either. We should raise a glass to our depressive brothers, they surely need it. And for the rest of us: let's win the next game, cheer our hard-working young warriors, and look forward to another step upward next season.

Cheer, Cheer, for New Notre Dame!

 

[jmurphy75]

At the players luncheon ....this is pretty cool

 

[irishfan]

Floyd named captain for the game per BK today.

 

[Black Irish]

I would like to see Cierre Wood chew up some yards. If he gets stuffed all day and ND has to go pass, pass, pass it could be trouble.

 

[m-araim]

who will carry the game besides ESPN I don't have ESPN?

 

[jmurphy75]

Sitting with Floyd, Fox and Ian William's mom

 

[cLaRk_JoNeS]

FSU is starting 4 Freshman on O line

 

[HereComeTheIrish]

Sitting with Floyd, Fox and Ian William's mom

They all have the same mom?

 

[BurningRiver]

They all have the same mom?

 

[IrishBlood81]

Interesting fact here;
On Thursday night, the Irish will be playing their fourth opponent
from the ACC this year, and a win against Florida State would make
them 4-0. If that indeed happens, it would be the first time Notre
Dame defeated four schools from the same conference in one season
since 1993.

 

[jmurphy75]

They all have the same mom?

Always gotta be the funny guy HTIC!

 

[kmoose]

Always gotta be the funny guy HTIC!

Funny as in "ha-ha", or funny as in "peculiar"?

 

[PLACforever]

Which of these bowl games remaining in 2011 interests you most? - Sportsnation - ESPN

Poll on ESPN homepage is what bowl game remaining in 2011 are you most looking forward to?
ND v FSU is in the lead by a lot.

I think smacking around FSU will be the tipping point when a lot of "People in the Know" start realizing ND is well on the way back to being a national powerhouse.

Here's to hoping thats what happens.

 

[PLACforever]

Floyd named captain for the game per BK today.

Thats awesome, everybody loves a redemption story. Glad he got it back for his finale.