According to Gerg Biggins of ESPN.com, not only did Shaquelle Evans remove the soft commitment to USC from his name, but he also now favors Notre Dame.

“Right now, I’m really feeling Notre Dame,” Evans said. “I had a great trip back there and that’s where I feel most comfortable. It’s hard to explain but I just felt so at home at Notre Dame and I’ve never felt that way around any other school.”

Evans took an official visit to South Bend two weeks ago and said the high from the trip has yet to wear off.

“I loved being around the players and the coaches,” Evans said. “The game atmosphere was incredible, but like I said, the main thing for me was just that comfort level. I’ve always been told and always believed that you should go where you feel most comfortable and right now for me, that’s Notre Dame.”

Biggins also reported that Evans is “50-50″ on whether or not he will take more visits this year.  Another great sign for the Irish here.

This is great news for Notre Dame on the recruiting front.  After last year’s 3-9 record it was assumed that a lot of recruits might have a wait and see approach with the Irish this year.  I think this might just be a case of that since it looked like it was going to be very, very hard to lure Evans away from the West Coast over the summer.  Evans seeing Notre Dame playing a freshman receiver like Michael Floyd is probably also helping Notre Dame’s cause.

What makes this news even better is that his soft commitment to USC came right after the OSU game when the emotions of the trip were still fresh in his memory.  This report comes a full week after he returned home from his trip to Notre Dame and a few days after Evans took in the USC-Oregon game.

Evans would be a huge commitment to add to this class and would combine with Nyshier Oliver to give Notre Dame a couple a potential game breaking wide receivers.

Pitt moves up a couple notches after upsetting #10 South Florida and Michigan tumbles after getting embarrassed by Illinois.

2008 UHND Opponent Poll - Week 6
		Opponent	Last Game	Next	Comments
1.		Southern Cal Trojans (3-1)	W, 44-10 - #23 Oregon	vs. Arizona State (10/11)	Frank : USC got back on track with a convincing win over Oregon, but I am still honestly surprised they lost to Oregon State the week before. I don’t see USC losing another game this year (and unfortunately that includes againt us), but I also never saw them losing to Oregon State either.
2.		Michigan State Spartans (5-1)	W, 16-13 - Iowa	@ Northwestern (10/11)	Frank: If the Spartans had an even average quarterback, they would be a real threat in the Big 10 this year, but Brian Hoyer is really inaccurate and it is going to cost them a game or two pretty soon.
3.		North CarolinaTar Heels (3-1)	W, 38-12 - #24 UConn	vs. Notre Dame (10/11)	Frank: Pretty nice win for UNC with T.J. Yates out. UNC is playing very opportunistic defense right now – they are allowing yards but are getting turnovers when they need them. This will be a pretty tough game this weekend.
4.		Pittsburgh Panthers (4-1)	W, 26-21 - #10 South Florida	@ Navy (10/18)	Frank: Was pretty surprised to see Pitt upset South Florida. I wasn’t 100% sold that South Florida was a top 10 team, but if they got past Pitt, they very likely would have been undefeated this year. Pitt is looking a lot better than they were a few weeks ago and will be a tough game with their potent running game.
5.		Boston College Eagles (4-1)	W, 38-31 - NC State	vs. #18 Virginia Tech	Frank: The Eagles beat their former coach this weekend to improve to 4-1 on the season and are playing pretty good football. In fact, I wish my Philadelphia Eagles were 4-1 and playing good football right now but I digress…
6.		Purdue Boilermakers (2-3)	L, 6-20 - #6 Penn State	@ #12 Ohio State	Frank: I was hoping Purdue could pull the upset over Penn State this past weekend, but they couldn’t do much against the Lion defense.
7.		Stanford Cardinal (3-3)	L, 21-28 - Notre Dame	vs. Arizona (10/11)	Frank: Stanford shut down our running game a lot better than I thought they would, but Clausen tore them up through the air. If not for some conservative play calling in the 4th, this game would not have been nearly as close as the final score showed.
8.		Michigan Wolverines (2-3)	L, 20-45 - Illinois	vs. Toledo (10/11)	Frank: I thought Michigan might be turning the corner after their come from behind win against Wisconsin. I thought wrong. Michigan looked really bad against Illinois after jumping out to a big lead. Looks like it might be a long season in Ann Arbor after all. Isn’t that a shame?
9.		Navy Midshipmen (3-2)	W, 33-27 - Air Force	vs. #24 Pitt (10/18)	Frank: Nice win over Air Force sets up a very interesting matchup with Pitt next weekend.
10.		Syracuse Orangemen (1-4)	L, 24-34 - Pittsburgh	@ West Virginia (10/11)	Frank: Pretty sure this team isn’t going to win another game. Also pretty sure Greg Robinson will be looking for a new job this fall.
11.		San Diego State Aztecs (1-3)	L, 7-41 - TCU	vs. Air Force (10/11)	Frank: Still wondering why we didn’t throw the ball all over the field on these guys.
12.		Washington Huskies (0-4)	L, 14-48 - Arizona	vs. Oregon State (10/18)	Frank: Could Washington beat San Diego State right now? Not with the team I saw get blown out by Arizona. Some thought Washington could be a dangerous team this year but right now the only thng they are a danger too is the collective blood pressure of Husky fans.

When asked whether or not he thought his team should be ranked in the top 25 on Sunday, Charlie Weis said that his team was on the cusp of the top 25, but probaby not quite there yet.

Well, looking at the number of teams that have been evolving, and because I vote, you know, looking at the number of teams that have been going in and out of that bottom 15 to 25 range, I’d say you’re on the cusp. You’re one of those teams in that mix, in the conversation piece.

I mean, like Pittsburgh this week is not in the top 25. North Carolina’s not in the top 25. In the coach’s poll they aren’t because that’s the one I ended up seeing. But they weren’t in the top 25. So I’m looking at those teams. Those teams were in my top 25 because I’m looking at Pittsburgh just beat South Florida, who is ranked 10th, on the road. You know, how could I not put them in the top 25? But South Florida I saw was ranked 20th. I mean, I just don’t understand. Sometimes I just don’t understand how that happens. You beat a team, you have the same number of losses, you beat them at their place. I mean, that’s got to stand for something.

But I think that we’re on the cusp. I think this game this week, you know, you talk about polls, I can’t worry about the polls. But you go beat North Carolina at North Carolina, I’d say the odds are you’ll be in the top 25 next week.

I agree with Weis here.  Up until now, the Irish haven’t really done a whole lot to be upset about not being ranked at this time.  A fourth quarter comeback over San Diego State, a win over a Michigan team with a losing record, a 14 point win over Purdue, and just a 7 point win over Stanford is not really the resume for a top 25 team.  Now, if the Irish go into Chapel Hill this weekend and beat North Carolina, who is ranked #22 in the AP Poll, then we have a case.

It is odd to think of a 4-1 Notre Dame team not being ranked since it literally has never happened before, but that is the situation we find ourselves in because of being 3-9 last year.  Notre Dame being absent from the polls this week is not the result of any media bias or conspiracy.  It’s a result of coming off one of the worst season’s in school history.

If we keep winning, the rankings will take care of themselves and honestly, there are way too many problems left to fix on this team to even be worried about the rankings yet.

The Pac 10 reprimanded Stanford coach Jim Harbaugh for criticizing the officials following Notre Dame’s 28-21 win over Harbaugh’s Cardinal.  The Pac 10 also went so far as to say that the officials on the field got the call right (which they did).  Here’s part of the statement from the Pac 10.

“Pac-10 rules prohibit comments by a coach about officiating other than to the Conference office. Coach Harbaugh violated that rule by publicly criticizing the officials,” Hansen said. “He and all other coaches must comply with the policies on officiating.”

“In addition, Pac-10 officials have reviewed video of the play and it is apparent the Stanford player covering the punt impeded the Notre Dame player attempting to catch it.

“The call was correct,” he added. “NCAA playing rule 6-4-1 states in part ‘A player of the receiving team within the boundary lines must be given an unimpeded opportunity to catch the kick.’ Even though the player attempting to catch the kick was bumped by his teammate, he still attempted to catch the kick and was impeded by the Stanford player. The rule places the onus on the kicking team member to avoid impeding the opportunity to catch the ball.”

So it looks like the Pac 10 can watch the replay of the play in question without red tinted glasses - Stanford bloggers and beat writers, however, can’t seem to.  I posted last night about a writer from the San Francisco Chronicle who apparently didn’t watch a replay of the play and tonight I’ve found several more.  I don’t feel like linking to them though since they don’t deserve the clicks, but it’s clear that some of these writers are either delusional or blind or maybe even both.  I watched the play at least four times and the ball never touches Allen or Brown.  It touches Stanford’s own Nate Wilcox.  Now I’m no mathematician, but I would think that an interference penalty is in order if the ball hits a member of the kicking team before it touches the ground.

Hats off to the Pac 10 for reprimanded Harbaugh who even before ripping into the refs was a complete embarassment on the sidelines from start to finish on Saturday.  I can’t imagine that Harbaugh’s sidelines antics will be widely accepted by some in the Stanford community if they continue.

Freshman wide receiver is starting to get noticed by some of the national media after posting back to back 100 yard receiving games just five games into his college career.  ESPN’s Bruce Feldmman listed Floyd as one of “10 Biggest Newcommers” on his blog Monday.  Here’s what Feldman had to say:

Michael Floyd, Notre Dame, WR: He may not be a burner, but even without the 4.4 speed, Floyd relies on good size and great ball skills and will remind you of Larry Fitzgerald with his ability to operate in traffic. Floyd can turn interceptions into touchdown catches. He has already emerged as the go-to guy for Jimmy Clausen, and he has caught 18 passes for 300 yards in the past three games. My hunch is that he will prove to be the best offensive player Notre Dame has had since the Lou Holtz era.

Through five game Floyd has caught 21 passes for 333 yards and 3 touchdowns.  That puts him on pace for 50 most of his damage the last two weeks after getting acclimated to the offense the first couple weeks and those numbers might even be a little conservative.

It is very rare for a recruit to come and immediately live up the hype, but Floyd appears to be doing just that and people outside of the Notre Dame fan base are starting to take notice.

Here’s a look back at how I did with this week’s What to Watch - four out of five isn’t too bad.

• Armando Allen. Allen followed up his breakout performance from last week with his first career two touchdown game.  Allen caught a short, check down pass from Jimmy Clausen and took it 21 yards for a touchdown in the first quarter and then took a handoff three yards for a touchdown in the second quarter.  For the game, Allen had 9 runs for 33 yards and 7 receptions for a career high 66 yards receiving.  Based on last year’s game, I thought Allen would have a big day receiving and he didn’t let me down.
• David Grimes.  Grimes had his most productive game of the season with a 7 catch, 60 yard game.  I thought Weis would find to get Grimes in the end zone, but unfortunatley he didn’t.  Still, Grimes had a very solid game and is proving to be a very reliable receiver on intermediate routes.  He does all the small things that end up making a difference in a game and while continue to get looks over the middle with Golden Tate and Michael Floyd receiving a lot of attention.
• Jimmy Clausen. Clausen had the single best statistical game of his young career on Saturday with a career high 347 yards on 29 of 40 passing.  He threw 3 touchdowns and no interceptions for a second consecutive game and is really developing into a very god quarterback.  If he continues at this pace, he is going to be one of the better quarterbacks in the country by the end of the season.
• Notre Dame Pass Rush. Notre Dame had just one sack coming into this weekend, but ended up tallying five sacks against Stanford for the second consecutive year.  Pat Kuntz had two of the Irish sacks with Brian Smith, Sergio Brown, and freshman Darius Fleming each being credited with 1 sack each.  Hopefully this is a sign of things to come this year and the Irish will continue getting to opposing quarterbacks at much more frequent pace.
• Brandon Walker. Walker missed another two field goals on Saturday (41 and 46 yards) and is now just 1 for 7 on the season.  Weis suggested on Sunday that junior Ryan Burkhart will get a chance to kick field goals this weekend when the Irish travel to North Carolina.

Apparently Jim Harbaugh isn’t the only person in the Bay Area complaining about a play that they seem to think happened.  Harbaugh opened his press conference on Saturday complaining about the interference penalty on Stanford at the end of the second quarter.

Here’s what the Chronicle had to say:

Harbaugh was not thinking about Stanford’s postseason when he came down on the officiating with an unsolicited verbal barrage. He was angry about a play on a Stanford punt in the second quarter with the Irish leading 14-7. The kick bounced off the hands of Irish returner Armando Allen and was recovered by Stanford at the Irish 37-yard line. However, officials called Stanford’s Nate Wilcox-Fogel for interfering with the catch, even though replays suggested otherwise.

Now, I am not sure what replay Jake Curtis, the author of the Chronicle article,  is referring to, but the one on my DVR clearly shows that the ball NEVER touched Armando Allen - let alone his hands.   The ball does, however, hit Stanford’s #85 - Nate Wilcox.  Now, if someone wants to argue that there shouldn’t have been a 15 yard penalty on the play, that I could at least understand.  Then again, if the ball hit a Stanford player, it seems to me like that might prevent a punt returner from catching the ball.

The fact of the matter, however, is that the ball never touched Allen.  It never touched Sergio Brown, who did bump into Allen. It did hit Wilcox.  So the best case scenario for Stanford on the play is that the ball should have been dead at the spot Wilcox touched it and that is exactly what color commentator Pat Hayden said during the broadcast.

Curtis did at least get one thing right that Harbaugh didn’t.  Harbaugh, who apparently doesn’t know the NCAA rulebook too well yet thought the play should have been a fumble recovered by Stanford and returned for a touchdown.  As Curtis correctly points out, even if Allen had touched the ball (which he didn’t), it would have been a muffed punt which could not be advanced by the kicking team.

Actually, it would have been a muff, and recovering players cannot advance a muff, but it still would have been Stanford’s ball. Instead, Notre Dame had the ball at the Stanford 48-yard line and turned it into a score that made it 21-7.

Charlie Weis was asked about the possibility of moving Duval Kamara to tight end at some point this year considering the depth problems at tight end with Mike Ragone injured and Will Yeatman suspended.  Apparently the subject of Kamara to tight end has come up among the coaching staff already.

We talked about that. We talked about that when we had all these situations taking place. We talked about that because he certainly would like to eat himself into being a tight end.

But it’s totally different having to put your hand down on the ground, being in a three-point stance, having a defensive end in your face right now.

Now, Duval is a very good blocker. But it’s totally different when you’re doing it in a two-point stance at the point of attack with a guy that outweighs you by 50 or 60 pounds than when you’re going in and blocking safeties and corners.

But the subject, the comment did come up.

Considering the issue Weis had with Kamara’s playing weight this summer, it would be kind of ironic if the staff now asked Duval to gain weight. I don’t know if moving Kamara to tight end would be anything more than bandaid at the position though.  Tight end is a much more physical postion than wide receiver and one of the knocks on Kamara at receiver has been that he doesn’t use his size to his advantage.  People were always depth chart engineering Maurice Stovall to tight end at times throughout his career, but by his senior season, he turned into a pretty good receiver.

I still think Kamara can turn into a dominant receiver on the college level with the proper coaching.  He is eerily similar in his development to Stovall at this point and like Stovall, he might just need some more time before he is ready to turn all of his potential into production.

There still is no resolution for Will Yeatman’s situation following last week’s news that the junior tight end will now face charges for his earlier DUI arrest.

Q. Any update on Will Yeatman’s status and do you wish you were involved in the process?
COACH WEIS: No. I have enough problems on my own to be dealing with those things. All I wish is for a resolution of the problem. For me, because I’m sticking by my conviction to stay in limbo until there’s a resolution, I just hope for a quick resolution so we can move forward.

One way or another, you know, I want to either know I have him or know I don’t have him. But right now, we’re practicing. He will practice tomorrow as if he’s playing in the game this week.

I’m starting to think that the longer this plays out, the more likely it is that Yeatman could rejoin the team at some point this year, but I guess we’ll see.  According to the official game participation log from the game yesterday, freshman tight end Joseph Fauria still has not seen any action so it seems prety obvious that Weis is waiting on playing Fauria until there is either a resolution in this situation or until he is forced to do so.

After Brandon Walker started the season just 1 for 7 on field goal attempts, it should come as no surprise that Charlie Weis and Brian Polian are considering using junior Ryan Burkhart for field goals moving forward.

Here are a couple questions from Weis’s press conference addressing the situation.

Q. We asked you in the heat of the battle about the kicking situation last night. In the light of day today, where can you go with that?
COACH WEIS: Well, I mean, the first thing is we had this kickoff a couple weeks ago, let Ryan (Burkhart) go against him (Brandon Walker). You know, Ryan didn’t have a good week kicking field goals that week.
But I think we definitely have to explore Ryan kicking field goals. We definitely have to explore that because in Brandon’s case, it’s not obviously a case of being able to kick it high enough or far enough. When you’re 1 out of 7 kicking field goals, it just doesn’t cut it. You only can hang so long on this. We’re fortunate it hasn’t cost us more than what it’s cost us already.

Q. In terms of Brandon, the one thing about all his kicks is they’re all long. Is there any chance he’s maybe fit to be the kickoff guy?
COACH WEIS: We actually had that conversation during the fourth quarter yesterday. I don’t know if you saw the conversation I had with (special teams coordinator) Brian (Polian), because you guys usually don’t miss too much. After the second miss, I called Brian over, I said calmly, let’s start talking about the things we’re talking about now. What I don’t want to do is I don’t want to overload one guy to put both on him.
I would think that if Ryan ended up kicking field goals, I would think that Brandon would end up kicking off. I would think that would be the direction we’d end up going.

It doesn’t take an interpreter to figure out that Burkhart will lkely get his first chance to kick field goals next week.  Walker’s been off target all season and right now the only thing that Burkhart can do that would be worse would be to kick line drives that get blocked.  Short of that, there is really not a whole lot Burkhart can do any wose so why not give him the chance?