Archive for the ‘Notre Dame Football’ Category

NFL Connection
Charlie Weis let the media know that senior punter Geoff Price spent time working in the off-season with former Notre Dame and current Indianapolis Colts punter Hunter Smith.  Smith, as most fans remember, had an outstanding career at Notre Dame and has spent his entire career with the Colts.  Price, a senior, will be a first time starter in 2006 and the off-season work with Smith appears to be paying dividends.

“One of the reasons he’s booming the ball so well is because he spent a bunch of time with Hunter Smith of the Colts.  We got ‘em all over the place”

He would later add….

“Hunter did a chance to spend time with Geoff and I think the residual effect is obvious.  Because if you see him out there, he’s booming the ball.”

Weis also suggested that the kickers will have a chance to get some guidance from Adam Viniteri who is also now with the colts.

“Now that Adam’s in Indianapolis, you know he’ll be a great resource for our kickers.”

Before anyone gets worried about NCAA rules and asks about eligibility, Weis would ass that…

“Everything we do we have to do through compliance. Because there’s certain things you can do and there’s certain things you can’t do. 

Practicing in ND Stadium
Tomorrow night the team will practice in the Stadium in game situations.  Up until now the coaches have been on the field talking with the players during drills and scrimmages.  Tomorrow night however the coaches will be on the sidelines and the players will be on their own so look for some of the position battles to start to settle out tomorrow.  Weis will be looking to start getting his first and second units more reps in practice so we’ll have a better idea of who is leading for starting spots soon.

“After tomorrow night, we’re going to have to stop repping three full teams because we’ve been trying to rep everyone to give everyone a fair shake but after tomorrow night we’re going to start repping two full teams.  And then it’s going to be repping one full team and then I call them 1’s and 1a’s – the first guys and the first substitutions after that.”

Sam Young Climbing Depth Chart
Freshman offensive tackle Sam Young continues to be a hot topic at Weis’ press conferences.  The highly touted recruit has been practicing with the first time in Ryan Harris’s absence and will compete for the starting right tackle spot when Harris returns.  Young is farther along than your average college freshman because of his size and technique.  Given the fact that he is already running with the first team, it’s a safe bet that he will secure the right tackle spot before the opener.

When asked how serious a contender Young is for the starting right tackle spot, Weis’ answer was…

“Serious. He’s a serious contender. He’s a serious contender (not a typo, he said it twice) That means, that if he ends up being the best guy there, which he might be, he’ll end up being in there.”

Thomas and Vernaglia Competing at SAM
Mitchell Thomas played some middle linebacker this spring but is in a position battle with Anthony Vernaglia for the starting strong side linebacker position.  Neither has seen much action in crunch time yet, but the two have been promising so far in camp.

“I’ve been encouraged with both of their play.  I’ll be curious to set what happens tomorrow night when its more of a game situation.  Because what happens a lot of times in a controlled environment you don’t get as much of a read as when the coaches are no longer on the field.  Now the coaches aren’t spoon feeding you anymore. 

Junior Jabbie Improving
With all the hype around the freshman running backs Munir Prince and James Aldridge, the lost man in the half back rotation is Junior Jabbie.  Jabbie had left the team, but return for camp and had to shake off some rust, but is competing and could earn some playing time this season.

“Actually he’s just starting to earn himself some extra reps.  You know he came in and he wasn’t in very good shape.  Rust is a fair, well it’s partially fair being in not very good shape, you know you can do something about that too, but he’s starting to earn some reps.  I’m not saying he’s moved to the top of the depth chart but he’s played himself into contention.”

Jabbie is also getting a look as a kick returner as well along with several other candidates.

Finding a #2 QB
One of the biggest problems for Weis this camp is to find a backup to Brady Quinn at quarterback and Weis address that Sunday.  With the first week of camp not including much live scrimmaging without the coaches on the sidelines, Weis is interested to see what the backups can do Monday night when the team practices in the stadium in more of a game situation.

“I want to definitely get through tomorrow night.  I want to see what happens when we’re not standing right behind them and all of a sudden they got the play and no one’s near them and it’s their huddle and we have the play called and a blitz is coming and there’s some pressure and they have to make a good decision… I think tomorrow night we’ll start moving a little be closer to making that decision.”

Saturday was the first day of two-a-days for the Irish this year and Weis made the entire practice open to the media so the video footage from UND All Access was quite good for today.  Weis’s entire meeting with the media was also made available as well.  Here are a few observations and some quotes from Weis’s press conference. (Link)

Travis Thomas is Staying at LB
Thomas has shown enough at linebacker that he will be staying there.

“It’s still way too early to anoint anything etched in stone, but obviously we’re encouraged by Travis or else the answer to the question before would have been lets get him back to offense right now.  If we thought a week in that this thing with Travis wasn’t working we’d pull the plug and move on.”

That being said, it looks like there is only one linebacker position up for grabs.  If you remember Weis’s comments on Thomas from his first press conference, he said they weren’t moving Thomas over to be a backup, but rather to start.  So unless anything changes, Thomas should join Crum as a starter leaving the SAM position open with Anthony Vernaglia and Mitchell Thomas competing.

One thing to keep in mind is that Crum could move to SAM position as Weis has said in the past Crum could play any of the linebacker positions.  Should someone else emerge at middle linebacker, Crum could in theory move over.  For now however, Crum remains in the middle with the WILL position being Thomas’s to lose.

Sam Young Running with First Team
Freshman tackle Sam Young has been running with the first team offense at left tackle in the absence of Ryan Harris.  While Harris gets healthy, Young will practice with the first team.  When Harris returns, Young will be right back in the competition for the starting right tackle spot.

“I think he’s on the first team.  Well, I mean remember Ryan’s not here.  You know, so when’s Ryan’s back, Ryan is the starter.  But what that gives you is … two things it provides – a legitamet contender over at right tackle and a quality backup at left tackle.”

If you watch any of the videos from All Access, Young does not look like a freshman.  If I had to guess right now I’d say Young will start at right tackle

“He doesn’t act like a freshman, and I think that is a critical factor.  You know linemen, even on the next level, often take years to develop into front line players and its unusual when a guy comes in and you don’t notice them.  The best thing you can say about an offensive linemen is you don’t notice them because it usually means they’re doing something good.”

Prince Settling in at #2 Back
Freshman Munir Prince continues to impress in camp and is settling into the backup role at tailback behind Darius Walker with James Aldridge out.  Prince had a great run today were he turned the corner and turned on the jets.  No other running back on the team possess the kind of home run ability that Prince brings to the table.

“I’m very encouraged behind Darius Walker, minus Travis. Remember now, James is waiting in the wings. It isn’t like James is on the shelf for the whole year either. He’s out for a little time yet and every day we’re out there going through our running drills, I’m glancing at the sidelines taking a peek at 34 too; but I like what 25 looks like. You know, he obviously has to learn some things how this game is played, but I like the way he looks.”

Speaking of things he has to learn, you will notice on the video Prince dropping a pass in 7 on 7 drills and getting instruction in yesterdays video about how he carries the ball.  Still, with Prince getting as much attention as he is, its starting to become apparent that he really could be a special player.

Kicking Game May be a Concern
Ryan Burkhart didn’t kick today during the session of practice that the media saw and something tells me that may have been intentional.  Weis acknowledged early on that he changed things around a bit since he didn’t want too video on the internet for opponents to find and it wouldn’t surprise me if he didn’t want people to have too much of an idea of Burkhart’s abilities.

Still Weis admitted the kicking in practice wasn’t good today.

“I thought it was a little shoddy.  Actually, we’ve been kicking the ball very consistently the last couple days.  Early in camp we weren’t exactly lighting it on fire either.  But I thought today it was a little inconsistent.”

Toryan Smith Making a Mark on Special Teams
Smith made a good play on the kick return team today as well as in one of the individual linebacker drills.  Smith is someone I thought could come in and immediately compete at middle linebacker and while there hasn’t been much on him competing at middle linebacker yet, its nice to see Smith making a mark on special teams already.

“The other day when we ran kickoff team, we liked the power and speed of Toryan Smith and we put him inside, and the first day he did it he didn’t understand the tempo that we do these things and he was about five yards behind everybody else.  So today he was the guy I knew I was gonna ride to see if I couldn’t get him down there.  You know, getting him down there is one thing, but then letting him finish the play like that.  You know, it’s always exciting a freshman step up to that type of level.”

In true form, Weis made sure to throw something in to make sure Toryan’s head didn’t get too big with the praise Weis just threw out for him:

“Now he did it on one play, so let’s not put him in the Hall of Fame yet.”

In case you missed it, earlier this week former Michigan coach Bo Schembechler was quoted in the Detroit Free Press saying Michigan should end…

Asked whether Michigan should continue its series with Notre Dame, Schembechler said: “We don’t need Notre Dame. They need us more than we need them.

“Hell, we’re playing all these Big Ten teams. When Penn State came into the league, then we should do everything we can to get this Notre Dame series over with. Now that’s the way I feel.” (Detroit Free Press)

I’ll hold back from the “Michigan is just scared of Weis and ND evening the series” argument and instead focus on why this series needs to stay active. This is a great series, one I look forward to every year, and when its not on schedule in a given year, its disappointing.

The Hatred
First off, Michigan and Notre Dame fans hate each other. It might not be Yankees-Red Sox of Eagles-Cowboys hate, but it’s definitely Eagles-Giants type hate. Like the Eagles and Giants, both Michigan and the Irish have bigger rivals, but just barely. Michigan has Ohio State and Notre Dame has USC, but there is definitely no love loss between the two.

The Traditions
Hate aside, is there a better match-up of traditional powerhouses or rivals with more compelling history than Notre Dame and Michigan. Hell, Michigan taught Notre Dame how to play football. Michigan had the head start on Notre Dame in terms of football and came down from Ann Arbor on the way to a Thanksgiving Day game with Chicago in 1887 to teach the Irish the game.

The History
Then there was the feud between Fielding Yost and Knute Rockne fueling the fire in this rivalry. Which was only added to by Fritz Crisler’s campaign to get the Big Ten to boycott playing the Irish. Things have become a bit more civilized between the Wolverines and Irish since then, but the history of feuds is part of what makes this series great.

And what other rivalry boasts the kind traditions on display between Notre Dame and Michigan? Hail to the Victors vs. the Notre Dame Fight song. The Wolverine helmet vs. the golden helmets of Notre Dame. 10 National titles for Michigan vs. 11 for Notre Dame – what other rivalry puts a combined 21 national titles worth of history on the field?

Currently Michigan sites first in total wins in NCAA history with the Irish second and the Irish sit first in overall winning percentage with the Wolverines a close second. Now, please tell me why the two winingest programs in NCAA History should NOT meet every year.

The Games and Moments
Rocket Ismails two returns in 1989, Desmond Howard’s catch in 1991, Harry Oliver’s 51 yard game winner in 1980, Reggie Ho’s four field goals in 1988, “The Tie” in 1992, and Rick Mirer’s first start in Notre Dame Stadium in 1990 are just a few of the great moments between these two schools.

Of the 24 times the Irish and Wolverines have met since the series was renewed in 1978, a span of 22 games, there have only been four games in which both were not in the Top 25, and there has not been a meeting since the advent of polls where both came in unranked. Furthermore, six times both teams have been ranked in the Top 10 and in three games one or the other was ranked #1.

Michigan is also the only school with a winning record against the Irish with a 18-14-1 advantage over the Irish – something that just adds to the tension in this series.

Michigan is currently on the Notre Dame schedule until 2011 which including this year marks at least six more meetings between these two, but let’s hope it continues after that.

Here are some early thought based on the videos from the All Access clips on und.com and various articles from around the web.

First off, kudos to Notre Dame for making all of the All Access content free. Last year you had to pay to see pretty much any of the media from the official site so having it free this year is a really a nice change.

Munir Prince is QUICK
Watch any of the practice videos and every time you see #25 you notice just how quick he is. So quick in fact that Weis publicly acknowledged Prince’s quickness to the media earlier this week.

“I’m not used to seeing that type of speed at running back,” Weis said. “I mean, I’m talking speed. I’m talking whooofff. I can’t describe whoooff, but I think you know what I’m talking about.” (South Bend Tribune)

Speaking of #25, there’s no way it’s a coincidence that Prince is wearing the same number Rocket Ismail made popular in the early 90’s. Everything Weis does is done for a reason so the fact that Prince was given #25 is not a coincidence. Weis fully understands the history of Notre Dame and the significance of #25 so don’t think he would just give the number out without thinking.

Props to Jabi for touting Prince as someone who will make an instant impact before camp even started because it looks like this kid could see some time this year especially with Travis Thomas at linebacker. With James Aldridge banged up, Junior Jabbie and Prince will battle for the backup position in camp. If Prince is close to as quick in full pads as he has shown in some of the drills we’ve seen, he is going to be a play maker for the Irish before all is said and done.

I love the idea of Travis Thomas at Linebacker
I’ve also liked the idea of converting running backs to linebackers and the move of Thomas to linebacker is no different. Thomas showed me a lot last year with his play at running back after basically being banished for fumbling by the old staff and its great to see him get the chance to start.

“The one good thing about him, even when he makes a mistake, he has recovery speed,” Weis said. “You know the time when a guy is one step out of whack and then they turn to run and they don’t have the wheels to do so? (Irish Eyes)

Thomas showed he was a strong runner last year on offense and showed he’s got some tenacity with his play on special teams. I think this move is really going to work out well for the Irish. It’s been a while since Notre Dame has had three really athletically gifted linebackers and it looks like they will have that this year. Granted the group will be short on experience, but the thought of upgrade in speed at this position has me excited.

I’m drinking the kool-aid about the defense
I’ll admit it, I’m guilty of starting to think the defense is going to be greatly improved this year without any real reason. Every stat will say that the defense is the reason why this team will not compete for a national title, but I keep thinking about the improved depth along the defensive line, the upgrade in athleticism at linebacker, and the experience and infusion of talent in the secondary and I get giddy.

Getting Chris Frome and Travis Leitko back along the defensive line is huge for the Irish. Both should be big contributors for the defensive line this year. Then there’s Derek Landri bulking up this off-season. His size was always his biggest downfall so I’m more than a little excited that he’s come into camp almost 20 pounds heaver than last year. Throw into the mix the fact that the Irish won’t be relying on freshman for depth like they were last year and this group should be very strong.

I already spoke a little bit about the linebackers. I will say I have some concerns about Maurice Crum starting at middle linebacker. Especially since he is coming off of injury, I have some doubts that he can be a run stuffing middle linebacker. Hopefully I am wrong, because right now the middle linebacker position is the one position that concerns me the most on defense.

As for the secondary. I have been saying all off-season I think Ambrose Wooden will become a star corner this year. He’s got all the tools and I think he becomes a lock down corner in year two under Bill Lewis. I think Terrail Lambert really pushes Mike Richardson for the starting corner position. I liked what I saw from him last year.

As for the safeties, N’dukwe coming into camp under 220 has me excited. If he has the kind of transformation that Maurice Stovall had after dropping weight last year, the Irish could have a really strong secondary.

“Coach Weis told me, ‘Listen, if you’re not down to 210 by summer camp, I’m not even going to let you on the field,’” said Chinedum, who played at 230 pounds in 2005. “I was 210 before I headed back to (summer) school, and I’ll make sure I’m 205 when we kick off against Georgia Tech (on Sept. 2).” (South Bend Tribune)

Ok, I realize this post is all sunshine right now, but it’s the first week of practice and the kool-aid is tasting mighty fine right now.

Last time, we looked at teams with Top 20 Defenses for 2005 who finished outside of the Top 20 on Defense the year before (2004).

We highlighted dramatic improvements made by seven teams (Tennessee, Florida, Kansas, South Florida, TCU, Middle Tennessee State, and Texas Tech), and now I’ll look at the possible reasons why or how those teams improved their defenses (based on defensive coaching changes, returning defensive starters, and Saragin/USA Today strength of schedule changes):

Team (’04 rank –>’05 rank)

I. Tennessee (#45 total defense –> #6 total defense)
1. New defensive coaches in 2005: none (0)
2. Returning defensive starters in 2005: eight (8)
3. Strength of Schedule change from 2004 to 2005: #37 –> #32

II. Florida (#42 total defense –> #9 total defense)
1. New defensive coaches in 2005: three (3)
2. Returning defensive starters in 2005: seven (7)
3. Strength of Schedule change from 2004 to 2005: #57 –> #40

III. Kansas (#41 total defense –> #11 total defense)
1. New defensive coaches in 2005: none (0)
2. Returning defensive starters in 2005: three (3)
3. Strength of schedule change from 2004 to 2005: #19 –> #24

IV. South Florida (#77 total defense/#94 scoring defense –> #17 total defense/#14 scoring defense)
1. New defensive coaches in 2005: none (0)
2. Returning defensive starters in 2005: nine (9)
3. Strength of schedule change from 2004 to 2005: #90 –> #53

V. TCU (#103 scoring defense –> #15 scoring defense)
1. New defensive coaches in 2005: one (1)
2. Returning defensive starters in 2005: eight (8)
3. Strength of Schedule change from 2004 to 2005: #80 –> #71

VI. Middle Tennessee State (#68 –> #17)
1. New defensive coaches in 2005: two (2)
2. Returning defensive starters in 2005: nine (9)
3. Strength of Schedule change from 2004 to 2005: #114 –> #113

VII. Texas Tech (#67 –> #18)
1. New defensive coaches in 2005: none (0)
2. Returning defensive starters in 2005: eight (8)
3. Strength of Schedule change from 2004 to 2005: #14 –> #66

vs.

VIII. Notre Dame
1. New defensive coaches in 2005: four (4)
2. Returning defensive starters in 2005: three (3)
3. Strength of Schedule change from 2004 to 2005: #5 –> #14

The point of all this is to show just how hard hit the Irish defense was last year compared to all of those other most-improved defenses from last season:
- We had the most new defensive coaches of these teams
- We were tied for the fewest returning starters
- We had the toughest strength of schedule of any of the teams listed

That, compared to the other teams, most of which returned all of their defensive staff and/or most of their starters, should give Irish fans hope that our defense can make similar dramatic defensive improvements in 2006, regardless of the eventual strength of schedule next season.

Look at South Florida. They returned all their defensive coaches. They returned nine defensive starters. Their strength of schedule jumped from 90 to 53. And they still dramatically improved their defensive rankings.
Now compare that to next year’s Notre Dame defense:

XI. Notre Dame Defense 2006
1. New Defensive Coaches in 2006: none (0)
2. Returning Defensive Starters in 2006: nine (9)
3. Strength of Schedule change from 2005 to 2006: #14 –> ???

Go Irish Go

From today’s Philadelphia Inquirer…

“In other news, a source close to the situation said that the Eagles would be bringing in Notre Dame wide receiver Maurice Stovall to meet with their personnel staff. The graduate of Archbishop Carroll High School is projected to be drafted in the second or third round.”

The Patriots are also said to have a lot of interest in Stovall. With the Eagles wide receiver situation, I have to think that there is no way Stovall makes it past the Eagles if he is still on the board when they pick int he 2nd round.

The Birds lost Owens (who I now hate more than any other athlete in all of sports) and have just Greg Lewis, Todd Pinkston, Jabar Gaffney, and Reggie Brown. None are big, physical receivers which would make Stovall a perfect fit. The Eagles also run a fairly complicated offense which Stovall should be able to pick up easily after playing under Weis.

Also in the news recently… the Seahawks are showing some interest in Corey Mays. From a Seahawk’s insider report…

“I started off as a highly touted linebacker coming out of Chicago out of the Morgan Park High School, to give it a little notoriety. It’s been a long road. I’m just trying to find a place and just go out there ” Click here for the rest of the article

It would be nice to see Mays get drafted and not have to go the undrafted free agent route. He could be a pretty good special teams player in the NFL.

Going back to an earlier post and UHND blog entry of mine, I thought I’d look at some of the top defenses of 2005, but only focusing on the defenses that made the biggest improvements from 2004 to 2005, to see what’s in the range of possibilities to expect from our own Irish defense in 2006.
Defensive Benchmarks: 2005 vs. 2004

I. Top 20 Total Defenses in 2005 (vs. same team out of the Top 20 Total Defenses in 2004)

#4 Miami (9-3): 270.1 ypg - [vs. #28 Miami (9-3): 328.1 ypg]
#5 Ohio State (10-2): 281.3 ypg - [vs. #30 Ohio State (8-4): 332.0 ypg]
#6 Tennessee (5-6): 298.2 ypg - [vs. #45 Tennessee (10-3): 356.4 ypg]
#7 Connecticut (5-6): 298.3 ypg - [vs. #27 Connecticut (8-4): 327.4 ypg]
#9 Florida (9-3): 299.8 ypg - [vs. #42 Florida (7-5): 345.6 ypg]
#10 Texas (13-0): 302.9 ypg - [vs. #23 Texas (11-1): 320.1 ypg]
#11 Kansas (7-5): 303.3 ypg - [vs. #41 Kansas (4-7): 345.5 ypg]
#15 West Virginia (11-1): 310.8 ypg - [vs. #37 West Virginia (8-4): 339.3 ypg]
#16 Boston College (9-3): 311.7 ypg - [vs. #31 Boston College (9-3): 332.8 ypg]
#17 South Florida (6-6): 311.9 ypg - [vs. #77 South Florida (4-7): 398.5 ypg]
#20 Clemson (8-4): 316.6 ypg - [vs. #26 Clemson (6-5): 327.3 ypg]

#75 Notre Dame (9-3): 396.9 ypg - [vs. #54 Notre Dame (6-6): 369.4 ypg]

II. Top 20 Scoring Defenses 2005 (vs. same team out of the Top 20 Scoring Defenses 2004)

#11 Clemson (8-4): 17.6 ppg - [vs. #29 Clemson (6-5): 20.8 ppg]
#12 NC State (7-5): 17.7 ppg - [vs. #25 NC State (5-6): 19.8 ppg]
#13 West Virginia (11-1): 17.8 ppg - [vs. #28 West Virginia (8-4): 20.5 ppg]
#14 South Florida (6-6): 18.0 ppg - [vs. #94 South Florida (4-7): 31.9 ppg]
#15 Texas Christian (11-1): 18.6 ppg - [vs. #103 TCU (5-6): 33.9 ppg]
#16 Tennessee (5-6): 18.6 ppg - [vs. #38 Tennessee (10-3): 22.7 ppg]
#17 Middle Tennessee St. (4-7): 18.7 ppg - [vs. #68 Middle Tennessee St. (5-6): 26.6 ppg]
#18(t) Florida (9-3): 18.8 ppg - [vs. #31 Florida (7-5): 21.1 ppg]
#18(t) Texas Tech (9-3): 18.8 ppg - [vs. #67 Texas Tech (8-4): 26.2 ppg]
#20 Iowa State (7-5): 19.2 ppg - [vs. #35 Iowa State (7-5): 21.6 ppg]

#53 Notre Dame (9-3): 24.5 ppg - [vs. #46 Notre Dame (6-6): 24.1 ppg]

III. The point: it’s not impossible to drastically improve Notre Dame’s defense in one season.

From 2004 to 2005, in total yardage, Tennessee jumped 39 spots and reduced their yards-given-up by 58 a game.
Florida jumped 33 spots and gave up 46 fewer yards per game.
Kansas jumped 30 spots and gave up 42 fewer yards per game.
But the most dramatic increase occurred at South Florida, where the Bulls improved 60 spots and gave up 87 fewer yards per game

From 2004 to 2005, in total points, South Florida improved 80 spots and gave up 13 fewer points per game.
TCU did even better, jumping 88 spots, giving up 15 fewer points per game.
Middle Tennessee State and Texas Tech each improved about 50 spots and about 8 points per game less given up.

IV. Can Notre Dame do the same?

What were the factors that allowed Tennessee, Florida, Kansas, South Florida, TCU, Middle Tennessee State and Texas Tech to improve so drastically on defense in only one season? New coaches? Easier schedules? Better players?

Hopefully the Irish Defense can make the same kind of dramatic improvement on their rankings (#75 and #53) and their production (397 yards and 25 points per game) to join the elite Top 20 Defenses in the nation in 2006 and help us to a National Championship.

Defense Wins Championships.

Go Irish Go

Building off of a recent B&G article on Mayes (which, though I don’t recommend B&G, I thought it was interesting), what if Randy Moss had not been an idiot and actually played for the Irish as a freshman in 1995? [The key here being: Randy Moss = not an idiot]

I. Actual 1995 Statistics: leaders

QB Ron Powlus: 124-217 (57.1%), 1853 yards, 12 TDs, 7 INTs
—–
WR Derrick Mayes: 48 rec., 881 yards, 6 TDs
FB Marc Edwards: 25 rec., 361 yards, 3 TDs
RB/WR Emmitt Mosley: 17 rec., 268 yards, 1 TD
—–
RB Randy Kinder: 143 car., 809 yards (5.7 avg), 10 TDs
FB Marc Edwards: 140 car., 717 yards (5.1 avg), 12 TDs
RB Autry Denson: 137 car., 695 yards (5.1 avg), 8 TDs

Now, replace our 2nd best receiver (a fullback with less than 400 yards) with this (Moss’ freshman year at Marshall):

WR Randy Moss: 79 rec., 1709 yards, 29 TDs

Okay, to be realistic, Moss would not have had half of that production in Holtz’s offense. But even HALF would be have been spectacular:

WR Randy Moss: 40 rec., 855 yards, 15 TDs

And probably would have boosted Mayes’ production a bit (let’s just say 10%) given the lack of double-coverage:

WR Derrick Mayes: 53 rec., 969 yards, 7 TDs

Subtract half of Edward’s reception stats (for argument’s sake) and then take Moss’ production and add it to Powlus (dividing the % and INT ratios):

FB Marc Edwards: 12 rec., 181 yards, 1 TD
QB Ron Powlus: 144-229 (62.9%), 2616 yards, 26 TDs, 8 INTs

II. So, new hypothetical 1995 stats leaders (with the “Moss Affect” calculated in there), and yes, we’d still have the same rushing totals because Holtz would still grind it out (over 11 games, not counting the Orange Bowl):

QB Ron Powlus: 144-229 (62.9%), 2616 yards, 25 TDs, 8 INTs
—–
WR Derrick Mayes: 53 rec., 969 yards, 7 TDs
WR Randy Moss: 40 rec., 855 yards, 15 TDs
RB/WR Emmitt Mosley: 17 rec., 268 yards, 1 TD
—–
RB Randy Kinder: 143 car., 809 yards (5.7 avg), 10 TDs
FB Marc Edwards: 140 car., 717 yards (5.1 avg), 12 TDs
RB Autry Denson: 137 car., 695 yards (5.1 avg), 8 TDs

Powlus’ numbers might have been even greater, since he didn’t play in the Air Force game (or much of the Navy game) due to injury, but perhaps he gets injured anyway and Ron Krug still finishes out the season.

III. Yes, I think about this way too much. Those extra 13 touchdowns through the air would equal another 78 points. 78 points divided over the course of the season (to be fair) would be 7.1 ppg (11 games, the Orange Bowl is not counted in the official stats for 1995, even if it should be). Add those 7 ppg to our actual 1995 schedule, including the “Moss Affect,” and here’s how the season might have turned out (all things not being equal, since we cannot really measure what the effect of this better offense would have had on our defense):

1995 SCHEDULE: hypothetical
1. Notre Dame 22, Northwestern 17
2. Notre Dame 42, Purdue 28
3. Notre Dame 48, Vanderbilt 0
4. Notre Dame 62, Texas 27
5. Ohio State 45, Notre Dame 33
6. Notre Dame 36, Washington 21
7. Notre Dame 35, Army 27
8. Notre Dame 45, USC 10
9. Notre Dame 27, Boston College 10
10. Notre Dame 42, Navy 17
11. Notre Dame 51, Air Force 14

We finish 10-1 (instead of 9-2), probably still play 9-2 FSU in the Orange Bowl (since the Rose Bowl is still locked into Pac-10 & Big Ten at that point), and maybe we win (with the whole 7 ppg more thing):

12. Notre Dame 33, Florida State 31

An 11-1 season, a Top 3 finish (behind undefeated Nebraska and 12-1 Florida), and incredible momentum going into the 1996 season. Woulda, coulda, shoulda.

Randy Moss can rot in hell.

Go Irish Go

Defensive Benchmarks: 2005 vs. 2004

I. 2005 Top Ten Total Defense (Total Records: 88-31) vs. same team in 2004

1. Virginia Tech (11-2): 247.6 ypg - [vs. #4 Virginia Tech (10-3): 268.0 ypg]
2. Alabama (10-2): 255.1 ypg - [vs. #2 Alabama (6-6): 245.5 ypg]
3. LSU (11-2): 266.9 ypg - [vs. #3 LSU (9-3): 256.9 ypg]
4. Miami (9-3): 270.1 ypg - [vs. #28 Miami (9-3): 328.1 ypg]
5. Ohio State (10-2): 281.3 ypg - [vs. #30 Ohio State (8-4): 332.0 ypg]
6. Tennessee (5-6): 298.2 ypg - [vs. #45 Tennessee (10-3): 356.4 ypg]
7. Connecticut (5-6): 298.3 ypg - [vs. #27 Connecticut (8-4): 327.4 ypg]
8. NC State (7-5): 298.7 ypg - [vs. #1 NC State (5-6): 221.4 ypg]
9. Florida (9-3): 299.8 ypg - [vs. #42 Florida (7-5): 345.6 ypg]
10. Texas (13-0): 302.9 ypg - [vs. #23 Texas (11-1): 320.1 ypg]

75. Notre Dame (9-3): 396.9 ypg - [vs. #54 Notre Dame (6-6): 369.4 ypg]

II. 2005 Top Ten Scoring Defense (Total Records: 103-21) vs. same team in 2004

1. Alabama (10-2): 10.7 ppg - [vs. #7 Alabama (6-6): 15.8 ppg]
2. Virginia Tech (11-2): 12.9 ppg - [vs. #2 Virginia Tech (10-3): 12.9 ppg]
3. LSU (11-2): 14.2 ppg - [vs. #14 LSU (9-3): 17.1 ppg]
4. Miami (9-3): 14.3 ppg - [vs. #13 Miami (9-3): 17.0 ppg]
5. Ohio State (10-2): 15.3 ppg - [vs. #19 Ohio State (8-4): 18.3 ppg]
6. Auburn (9-3): 15.5 ppg - [vs. #1 Auburn (13-0): 11.3 ppg]
7. Boston College (9-3): 15.9 ppg - [vs. #12 Boston College (9-3): 16.9 ppg]
8(t). Texas (13-0): 16.4 ppg - [vs. #18 Texas (11-1): 17.9 ppg]
8(t). Georgia (10-3): 16.4 ppg - [vs. #9 Georgia (10-2): 16.5 ppg]
10. Penn State (11-1): 17.0 ppg - [vs. #5 Penn State (4-7): 15.3 ppg]

53. Notre Dame (9-3): 24.5 ppg - [vs. #46 Notre Dame (6-6): 24.1 ppg]