Looking Back at What to Watch for Stanford
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.
Frank Vitovitch has been Co-Owner and Editor in Chief of UHND.com since joining forces with Kyle Flavin in 1999. Since that time, he has written over 2,000 articles covering Notre Dame football, recruiting, and basketball. He also works with all staff and external writers on all articles published on UHND.com. Frank's love for Notre Dame football started at a young age watching Rocket Ismail give opposing coaches ulcers in the late 1980's. By day Frank works in marketing and holds a degree in Digital Media from Drexel University. Frank's work has been cited by online/print editions of NBC Sports, ESPN, and Sports Illustrated and has been quoted on air by ESPN's Collin Cowherd. He's conducted interviews with Notre Dame legends Rocket Ismail, Randy Kinder, Lee Becton, Reggie Brooks, Michael Stonebreaker, and Ned Bolcar among others over his 20+ years of covering Notre Dame football. He's also been published in the print edition of USA Today Sports Weekly and the USA Today College Football Preview multiple times. Other Published Works/Citations for Frank Three Reasons Notre Dame Will Beat Alabama - USA Today Notre Dame Suspends WR Kevin Stepherson, RB C.J. Holmes Indefinitely - Bleacher Report Notre Dame / Ohio State Fiesta Bowl Preview - Eleven Warriors Brace Yourself: The Fighting Irish are Relevant Again - Sports on Earth Interviews with the Enemy: A Q&A with Frank Vitovitch of UHND - Yahoo! Sports Five Good Minutes: Notre Dame Football Preview With UHND.com - BC Interruption Vicious Electronic Questioning with UHND - MGO Blog
We did try to get one to Grimes, it was right before the first missed field goal. Grimes just stepped on the line when he came down with it.
C-Dog, you missed the emotional tsunami part of the game, Harbough put on quite a sideshow: jumping around like a baboon, throwing things and flailling his arms around like a chicken at the ref’s…..his very own personal explosive diatribe with choice words to all involved.
I thought he pulled his hat down so tight on his cranium his ears went horizontal…so he could not hear the ref’s telling him to get a grip and tone it down.
Just the kind of coaching one would expect from the likes of a vainglorious moron like Harbaugh, a perfect example for all young men to follow.
Especially, his televised ultrasophisticated personal mantra: Play Football, Coach Football, Die.
Oh yeah, I am sure all the grade school kids will live by his approach on life too.
+ Snubbing JC’s hand shake on the way out coupled with a lame excuse for not doing so.
Add prevarication to the list.
You could see it in his facial expression at the press conference, what a joke.
Jim, if you ever wondered what a real idot looks like, just get out your driver’s license for a real examination.
Further,it’s okay to burn any future plane tickets to South Bend, we won’t miss you.
XOXO
C-Dog, what was your question?
Had Tix, then didn’t have tix. Then went somewhere with the family and missed the game completely. Can someone comment on what evidently was a poor game running the ball. I’m not wanting negative comments, but an analysis. ND is going to need both a running and a passing game next week. The Irish are going to need to sense during the game when one or the other opens up and then will need to be able to switch gears again quickly if the defense adjusts. North Carolina is for real. If ND wins that game, the Irish should, and I repeat should….go on to win the rest of their games leading up to USC. Pitt and BC should be challenges but I think these guys are overall getting it, so I see them starting to take care of business. Not comforted by the late comback and no offensive response in the 4th quarter by the Irish. Charlie needs to get these guys to put a team away. Still a good win and ND is 4-1. Keep it up fellas!