This time of year is my second favorite time of year for sports. My favorite is the beginning of spring, with baseball starting and the NCAA basketball tournament running through the first week of April. The start of the football season is a very close second. Yesterday was week 1 of the college football season, which for many members of my family means getting pumped up for Notre Dame.
Last year the Irish went 6-6, and didn't go to a bowl game for the second time in three years. Charlie Weiss was fired as head coach, and Brian Kelly was brought in to run things. They have a new quarterback in Dayne Crist (in place of Jimmy Clausen), and a whole new offensive scheme that has worked extremely well at every stop in Kelly's career (most notably at Cincinnatti, where Kelly took the Bearcats to 2 BCS bowl games). There were lots of changes other than the coaching staff and the roster as well, and yesterday's game against Purdue was the first display of the new Irish for college football fans to see.
I was very impressed with the first game of the Notre Dame season. The defense looks much improved. Manti Te'o was a beast in yesterday's game, especially on halfback and wide receiver bubble screens. He read those plays extremely well, avoided blocks and made 3-4 great tackles that stopped big gains by the Boilermakers. Last year the secondary was porous. They gave up so many yards through the air last year. Against Purdue, I thought the secondary played very well. Darrin Walls had an interception in the first quarter, Gary Gray was all over the field (making big tackles, breaking up passes, and even batting a ball away that was eventually picked off), and the safeties played well too. The defensive line got a lot of pressure on the Pudue QB, especially in the second half. Ethan Johnson had two sacks, and seemed to be wreaking havoc on the line the whole game. Ian Williams had a sack from the Nose Tackle position, and he also had an interception off the batted ball from Gary Gray. The defense only gave up ten points as a unit, which is a great start to the season. They will be tested by an improved Michigan offense next week, so they need to take the momentum they generated from yesterday's season opener, and use it to their advantage in week 2.
The offense played well, despite a few miscues that could have put alot more points on the board. Dayne Crist ran the offense very well in his first true start for the Irish at QB. He was efficient, going 19 for 26 and 205 yards. He also threw a touchdown pass, and had no interceptions. He should have had three touchdown passes in my opinion. The obvious touchdown that should have happened would have put the game away in the third quarter. Michael Floyd caught a ten yard slant about three yards outside the endzone, and then fumbled the ball on his first step toward what would have been a put away score. The other touchdown that Crist missed out on was in the first quarter, when he missed a wide open Kyle Rudolph in the back of the endzone on a third and goal play. He did have a very nice touchdown pass to freshman receiver TJ Jones, who looked like a very strong option opposite Michael Floyd in the receiving game. A couple of things that Crist needs to work on are making quicker decisions with the football and thowing a better deep ball. Late in the game the Irish were trying to score to finish off Purdue, and Crist missed badly on a couple of long balls to Floyd (obvious overthrows). Overall though, Dayne Crist did an excellent job of leading his team downfield, and putting them in position to put alot of points on the board.
The running game was outstanding as well yesterday. Armando Allen had 93 yards and a touchdown on limited carries, plus a big punt return that set up a Notre Dame touchdown early in the third quarter. Sophomore halfback Cierre Wood also impressed, with 58 yards on 7 carries, and also a big kickoff return to give the Irish a little momentum after Purdue scored its only touchdown of the game. Brian Kelly called a terrific balance of run and pass plays, and once the running game took off, the offense looked very good. Hopefully with one game under their belt in the new system, they will be able to convert more touchdown opportunities in the next couple of weeks.
The Irish start off 1-0, which is always good. It could have been a blowout victory, and it probably should have been, but the point is to win the game, whether its by 1 or by 30. A good start to the Irish season could be made great with a rivalry win against the Michigan Wolverines next Saturday in South Bend. Go Irish!
Onward to Victory!! Well put, brother man!
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