Another week, another win, another round of tears for poor play. And that's just from our friends.

But as the great Bob Dylan once wrote, Now's not the time for your tears. The state of the Nation is not nearly as bad as last week's game may have showed.

Let's start with that contest, then look ahead. Along the way we'll include our midterm evaluation of the Irish offense, and our grade for the team as a whole.

PANTHER REVIEW

This column appears to have gotten it wrong for the Pittsburgh game. Rock predicted six scores by the Irish (two running, one passing, two defense, one special teams) to one by Pitt (passing).

Instead we saw two scores by the Irish (one passing, one running/defense) and two passing scores by the Panthers. The good news — ND scored two touchdowns; Pitt kicked two field goals.

This, of course, started the chorus of doubt once more. Rock thinks that game was stronger than may have appeared, that the ND team is in pretty good shape. The doubters, of course, disagree.

So what happened? Let's look at the game:

• Panther running — Rock called this one (along with the rest of the world). Except for a few Rutherford scrambles, Pitt had slow going.
   
• Panther passing — Pitt passed for 313 yards, but this is a confusing stat. 233 of those came in the first half, before the halftime adjustment that moved Darrell Campbell to the weak side of the formation, the side away from the tight end. (Recall that on the defensive line, ND plays one nose guard, one defensive tackle — in this case, Campbell — and two ends.) That change jump-started the ND pass rush and stymied the Panther air attack until the final, prevent-defense-aided drive. (By the way, are you noticing how good our halftime adjustments have been?)

  I thought Pitt would score passing, and they did, until the second-half shutdown. I also thought the ND defense would score twice off the Pitt passing game; close — ND's second touchdown was as much due to Glenn Earl's forced fumble as it was to good running. Credit defense as well for killing that last Pitt drive and sealing the game.

• ND running — Here we (both the team and this reporter) appear to have bombed badly. Has ND running taken a backward step? I think not; the fault was mine for assuming that the offensive line had gotten its zone blocking down, when clearly it hadn't been tested yet.

  That mistake is like thinking the passing game solid because of the Maryland game. Purdue threw confusion at the Irish air attack with a well-designed blitz package, showing there was still a lot for our offensive players to learn.

  The running game is no different. ND has moved to zone blocking, and Pitt threw a clever slant/stunt rushing scheme at the offense — clever enough to cause what Willingham later called "thinking" on the part of the line. It may take a while to solve this, but it's work that has to be done sometime. Why not now?

  I was actually encouraged by the running game's success after the fumble recovery. It's too bad that only one meaningful offensive series followed the touchdown. A few more series would show whether the Irish line had solved the Pitt rush scheme.

• ND passing — I picked one score here and got it, a great series that featured Arnaz Battle. Interestingly, Pitt took away Holiday's long passing, previously his strong suit, but he played the short and intermediate game well. This was his best game passing since Maryland.

So again, what happened? The Rock blew the running game call and special teams call, but did fine on the rest.

I picked six ND scores and missed by four. The special teams were held by great Pitt kick coverage, and the running game was checked by aggressive play and a great rush scheme. Rock got that part wrong. (Rock also got wrong the play of Pitt's "other" cornerback, Shawntae Spencer. Without his smothering tackles on Irish receivers — taking away any hope of yards after the catch — the ND passing game would have added another score.)

The team, though, is still on track.

We knew the passing game would take some time, lots of it, and I'm pleased with the growth we've seen. Solving the blitz requires a response from the entire team, not just Carlyle and the hot receivers. Even in his "bad" games, Carlyle has been making good decisions.

Consider the alternative — a pass-happy Holiday spraying the ball around like Daryl Lamonica on speed. Can you spell interception? ND has thrown just five, Holiday just two. All those sacks, all those throwaways, are points in his favor. He'll throw better as the team sync's up. (Ready for a pleasant thought? Think how good this offense will be when the Purdue blitz package fools no one.)

About the running game, I think people underestimate the effect of the zone blocking change. (For an explanation of zone blocking, see Bob Davie's recent ESPN article.) Until zone blocking becomes automatic against rush schemes designed to confuse it, our running will suffer the same growing pains as our passing.

The good news? Seeing these schemes means we will solve them, just like we're solving the blitzes that seemed so stifling a few weeks ago.

And for those of you who say we could be adding plays — counters, screens, and so on — I say Ty's doing it right. Build a strong base first (we ain't there yet); then add to it.

The bottom line — I'm still very high on this offense. And the team, as a team, is winning.

INTO THE WILD BLUE YONDER

The Irish next play the Air Force Academy at their eagle's nest in Colorado Springs. This game now looks harder to call than it did at the start of the season. For one thing, the airmen are suddenly 6-0, with a stronger than usual running game and good defensive stats. For another, ND looks suddenly vulnerable, in a Purdue deja vu.

As noted above, I think the Irish are still on track, though the track is a learning one. For this game, that means:

Air Force running vs. ND defense — ND holds them.

Defense has been the strength of this team from the start. Yes, the Falcons have a terrific, and unique, running game. And who knows if the Irish will channel their aggression into disciplined play?

Still, ND ranks fifth in rushing defense. I'll give AF two scores, grudgingly. To be generous, let's make them both touchdowns. If there's a third, it's a field goal.

Will the Irish defense score off this offense? There's a lot of ball-handling and pitching in the triple option. Who can't see at least one loose ball, one jarring fumble? I can, to the tune of a conservative field goal.

The result so far — AF 14, ND 3.

AF passing vs. ND defense — ND mainly.

The Falcons don't pass much — about 10 times per game — but passes off the option can catch people napping. It will be interesting to see what pass package AF uses in this game. Will they score off the pass? They might, if someone gets burned for 48 yards, but I don't see the air attack as a whole delivering a score.

Will ND score off Falcon passing? They might, with just the same odds as AF scoring off the pass. Let's call this even. No scores either way.

Still AF 14, ND 3 with AF on offense.

ND running vs. AF defense — A tough call. . .

. . . but not for the reasons you think. As you already read, I don't think ND running has faltered. But because of their smaller linemen, AF already uses the stunting/slanting rush schemes that confused the Irish blocking. Adapting lessons from the Pitt tape should be a no-brainer for them.

The good news is that ND has those tapes as well, and are already deep in their own next lesson. It's a race to see if they learn it in time.

So this goes one of two ways. If ND doesn't score running, they don't win. If they do score running, they do win, maybe big. Two running scores would put the game out of reach.

Air Force plays an unusual defense (see below). A working ND passing game will keep the AF "light linebackers" (called "Falcons") away from the line, and give the ND offensive line a chance to execute against the slants. Because I think the Irish will have success passing (again see below), I'll give the Irish at least one running score.

The tally so far — AF 14, ND 10.

ND passing vs. AF defense — ND by enough.

ND passing is in better shape than the Pitt game showed. Holiday's two weeks off strengthened his execution, and one has to assume that each week brings incremental understanding to the rest of the team, especially against the blitz.

AF plays an unusual defense, a kind of 3-3-5 (or 3-5-3, depending on how you count it). Officially, that's three down linemen, three linebackers, two "Falcons" (light linebackers/DBs), two corners and a safety. The team has good run defense stats (34th in the nation, giving up 121 yards/game), but mainly against passing teams.

The right mix of passing and running plays could give these 'tweener backs a lot of vertical yards to account for. ND can throw long and short effectively, and if they solve the delayed blitz, they'll do just that. An effective deep game in particular will open up ND running. The combo could be deadly for the Falcons.

I'll give ND at least one passing score. Points so far — AF 14, ND 17.

Special teams. AF has a good field goal kicker inside the 40, but the punting/kicking game is so-so. ND special teams are truly special. Can you not give Irish special teams one score, directly or otherwise?

The final by scoring:

AF — Two scores, via running (natch).

ND — Four scores; one running, one passing, one defense, one special teams.

The final by points — AF 14, ND 24.

In this game, given the special nature of the Falcon defense, good Irish running and passing will feed each other. ND beat Pitt with 185 yards total offense. They average 293 yards per game, with the low Pitt stats factored in. Air Force gives up 310 yards per game. Rock says if the Falcons surrender their average, ND wins, as they should.

What could change this?

AF could continue the lesson Pitt taught the Irish offensive line. They could confuse the run block schemes and stuff the ND ground game. Odds are less than half that this happens (we boldly say), but watch out if it does.

ND has two ways to shift this prediction:

A perfect combo of passing and running could put Falcon defenders in a classic "neither fish nor fowl" conundrum. Do the "Falcon" backs cover the run (and get burned by Stovall and Jenkins), or do they cover the pass and see Grant, Battle, and Co. (Inc.) beat them with the short game? Grant's longest run is 38 yards, and he's had several like it. If the Irish mix it well, add two scores to the Irish column.

And then there's that defense. Pop the ball twice into Courtney Watson's hands for cheap scores off the pitch, and the Falcon is ground beef, for this week at least. The flood gates open. On to Tallahassee.

PINSTICKER SPECIALS

By now you know what we're doing here — practicing Saturday religion by sticking pins in bobbleheads of teams we'd like to see lose. ND is seventh in the polls. How do we climb higher?

First, we ground the Air Force.

Second, lay voodoo magic on the young and vulnerable:

• Oklahoma vs. Iowa State — Too easy. Go Cyclones. Sooners get the pins.
   
• Ohio State vs. Wisconsin — A long shot, but I'll include it. Maybe Clarett's head won't fit into his helmet. Maybe his teammates let him play without one. Maybe Alvarez works a hometown miracle. The Buckeyes aren't invincible. Let'em eat pins.
   
• Oregon vs. Arizona State — No way Oregon goes unbeaten through the Pac Ten. But in case they need a boost, Ducks get the pins.

This could be a good week, bobblehead-wise. Two wins above, and a number five ranking is in sight.

And that's all for now. Rock says keep the faith. The offense is on track, nothing to be ashamed of. As a team, this team wins, and will again this week. The kicking game nurtures the defense; the defense nurtures the offense; and the offense grows as fast as it can. What more can you ask?

There are a few lessons left. That's their job. What's your job? Keep the faith.

(Oh, my midterm grade — an A of course. We're winning our asses off.)

Yours in ground Falcon,

The Rock