Aug 30 | Rice

[clashmore_mike]

<div align="center"><img src="http://blogs.houstonpress.com/hairballs/Rice%20Owl%20logo083011.jpg" width="115" height="115"><img src="http://www.irishenvy.com/forums/images/gameday/nd.gif">
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<br><strong>Rice Owls at Notre Dame Fighting Irish
Notre Dame Stadium
Saturday, August 30, 2014
3:30 PM ET

<img src="http://www.irishenvy.com/forums/images/gameday/nbc.gif"></strong>

 

[NDGOLDEN]

LETSSSSS GOOOOOOOO IRISHHHHHHH

 

[KPENN]

This feels too early. Haha

 

[Voltaire]

Eat Rice

 

[magogian]

Just beat Rice


First!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[STLDomer]

<iframe width="640" height="390" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/_uxn3RoqTOQ" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

 

[Junkhead]

Rice will get fried.

 

[Cackalacky]

Eat Rice

Rice is great if you're really hungry and want to eat two thousand of something.

Mitch Hedberg

 

[zelezo vlk]

Apparently this is also the same day as a family wedding...sucks for my cousin.

 

[rocket66]

Fuck the Owls.

 

[dublinirish]

I will be at Penn State - UCF game but then shall be home in time to watch this

 

[Irishman77]

Tickets confirmed! I will be the good looking 37 yr old white guy foaming at the mouth

 

[Rocket89]

Notre Dame Football 2014 Off-Season Preview: Rice Owls - One Foot Down

 

[Kaneyoufeelit]

ND -21 on 5Dimes Yes I realize this is still four months away

 

[zelezo vlk]

I'm gonna go ahead and say that they aren't covering.

Side note: my tickets were ordered a few days ago, looks like I'm going.

 

[texbender]

Coming up for the season opener...with new Field Turf.
Rice was improved, but this is all Irish.

 

[EddytoNow]

I expect this game to be much closer than people think. ND under BK has historically improved as the season progresses. We don't usually hit all four cylinders until mid-way through the season. Openers have been a *****.

 

[gkIrish]

By no means an official source but we are 21 point favorites right now.

College Football Week 1 Point Spreads Posted at 5Dimes | Kegs 'n Eggs Blog

 

[Kaneyoufeelit]

ND -21 on 5Dimes Yes I realize this is still four months away

By no means an official source but we are 21 point favorites right now.

College Football Week 1 Point Spreads Posted at 5Dimes | Kegs 'n Eggs Blog

Anyone know what the early spread is?

 

[gkIrish]

Anyone know what the early spread is?

 

[Bogtrotter07]

And what is with playing Owls two years in a row in a season opener. I mean Bobcats, Falcons, or funky ancient warriors, I can see. But owls? How many teams even have such a silly mascot? Let alone we find them and play them in openers consecutively?

 

[vmgsf]

Owls are smart and mean. Notre Dame is smart and mean.

 

[Bogtrotter07]

Owls are smart and mean. Notre Dame is smart and mean.

Notre Dame is bigger than Owls.

 

[IrishLion]

Speaking of owls, I think that new Rice logo is actually pretty badass.

 

[Bogtrotter07]

Speaking of owls, I think that new Rice logo is actually pretty badass.

<iframe width="420" height="315" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/iGyr74BPxus" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

Yeah, badass!

 

[Irishbounty28]

Didn't know where else to put this but per ESPN post spring football top 25.


17. Notre Dame Fighting Irish
A funny thing happened during quarterback Everett Golson's celebrated return to Notre Dame this spring: a quarterback battle seemed to develop. Although Golson looks like the favorite to start this season after missing 2013 because of an academic suspension, redshirt freshman Malik Zaire played well enough in spring to keep Golson motivated during the summer and preseason camp. As we've seen over the past couple of seasons, Notre Dame coach Brian Kelly isn't afraid to rotate quarterbacks, although Golson seems tailor-made to run his offense. The most encouraging sign during spring was the development of tailback Greg Bryant, who redshirted last season because of a knee injury. Bryant, who was the No. 2 running back in the 2013 recruiting class according to ESPN's RecruitingNation, might be the workhorse the Irish have desperately needed in the backfield. New defensive coordinator Brian VanGorder spent his first spring trying to find pass-rushers to replace Louis Nix and Stephon Tuitt without much luck.

 

[rocket66]

Aug 30 | Rice

" New defensive coordinator Brian VanGorder spent his first spring trying to find pass-rushers to replace Louis Nix and Stephon Tuitt without much luck."

Ha, what is this comment based on? I felt like the DL lived in the backfield for most of the Spring game. Also, I really do not think it will take much to find a similar or better pass rusher than the 2013 edition of Tuitt. And Nix missed so many games that other young guys got plenty of experience and helped build depth as well. I honestly think ND will have a more active DL this year and puts up better numbers than the '13 unit.

 

[Irishman77]

We spent all last year trying to replace tuitt and nix from 2012.

If Diaco had Lawrence Taylor and Derrick Thomas he would take 2-3 years and teach them how to stand still and calm down.

 

[IrishLion]

" New defensive coordinator Brian VanGorder spent his first spring trying to find pass-rushers to replace Louis Nix and Stephon Tuitt without much luck."

Ha, what is this comment based on? I felt like the DL lived in the backfield for most of the Spring game. Also, I really do not think it will take much to find a similar or better pass rusher than the 2013 edition of Tuitt. And Nix missed so many games that other young guys got plenty of experience and helped build depth as well. I honestly think ND will have a more active DL this year and puts up better numbers than the '13 unit.

What most national "experts" don't recognize is that the pass rush wasn't super-awesome last season. They assume it was because of the names Nix and Tuitt, and they know there was another pretty good DE in there somewhere, but that's just based on projection. They aren't familiar enough to know that Nix never did much pass rushing and that Tuitt wasn't Tuitt last season.

In a way though, it will result in ND getting more attention if the D can put pressure on the QB. Everyone that's not an ND fan will be amazed if the front 7 generates pressure after losing Nix, Tuitt and Shembo.

 

[koonja]

Our pass rush looked good in the spring game, but if you just look at the QB numbers, it probably looks like we passed for yardage at will.

There were probably at least 4 would be sacks, and I'll take 4 sacks a game anytime.