Initial Thoughts from the Blue-Gold Game

Just got in after a long day in South Bend and I’ll have plenty of stuff over the next couple of days – especially tomorrow as I await my flight back home, but here’s some initial reactions.

• First off, great to get the commitment from Darius Fleming. He’s got the tools to be a big time pass risher from the OLB spot for Notre Dame.
• Tailgate was great – many thanks to Mike Frank for letting UHND latch onto the IE tailgater. There were a ton of people there and UHND had a nice showing as well. It was nice meeting up with Chrisb, Lance, Mac, NDFredo, Gen, AtlantaIrish, Ryan, and a bunch of others – apologies if I missed anyone.
• Great turnout – 51,000 and change showed up which is a ND spring game record.
• Junior Jabbie looked great at running back. He was easily the most impressive running back out there today. He was making good cuts, showed a nice burst, and made a nice catch out of the backfield. Notre Dame is really loaded at running back.
• Wide receivers were not too impressive. Robbie Parris had a few nice catches including the TD, but no receivers really stood out. Richard Jackson had trouble catching the ball – he didn’t show very good hands.
• Safeties looked good – Bruton and Herring both had picks. They weren’t tested deep – which has been the Achilles heel of the defense the last few years.
• Quarterbacks weren’t overly impressive. Jones fumbled (which his team recovered) and had a pick returned for a touchdown, Frazer threw a pick, Sharpley fumbled (which he also didn’t lose), and Clausen missed some receivers.
• Sharpley had the best command of the offense and moved the chains the best of the four.
• Clausen’s passes did have some nice zip on them.
• John Sullivan got hurt, but nothing major – just a high ankle sprain.
• Kicking game still doesn’t look sound and punting still looks sharp.
• Didn’t get to see much of Armando Allen which was disappointing.
• There was a nice cast of former players there – Derrick Mayes, Rocket Ismail (who Kyle and I both got to meet), Chris Zorich, Aaron Taylor, Darius Walker, Brady Quinn, and Ricky Watters from those I could see.
• A lot of commitments from this past recruiting season were there – Kerry Neal, Taylor Dever, and a bunch others that I couldn’t distinguish from the other side of the field.
• I love Lou Holtz. Even though it was a scrimmage Lou was his typical self and really got into it.
• That’s all for now, I have an appointment with a beer pong table and I do not want to be late.