Notre Dame’s Halloween “home game away from home” went about the way most people thought it would as the Irish dominated Washington State en route to a 40-14 win that was essentially over midway through the 3rd quarter. The play of the game was Clausen’s 50 yard Hail Mary pass to Golden Tate as time expired in the first half. Tate managed to wrestle the ball away from 3 WSU defenders as the “lucky” touchdown gave the Irish a 30-7 halftime lead and quashed the momentum that the Cougars grabbed with a TD just 90 seconds earlier.
Clausen had another efficient game before leaving in the 3rd after dinging his bad toe again. JC was 22-27 for 256 yard, 2 TDs and no INTs. Good to see second teamer Dane Crist get in there and fire a pretty TD strike to John Goodman, but he suffered a knee injury shortly after that. Robert Hughes had a nice game for the Irish while Armando Allen rested and of course Golden Tate had another monster performance, including 80 yards receiving, 61 yards rushing and two TD’s. The Irish “rediscovered” Kyle Rudolph who had 6 catches. ND’s defense held up their end of the bargain allowing only 14 points and 206 yards of offense. Notre Dame had 32 first downs to WSU’s 12.
Next week, the Irish host the pesky Midshipmen from Navy (6-3). This is not one of the better Middie teams this year as they lost a close one to Temple Saturday. However, looking past them is dangerous and stopping their option attack will take some focus during film study and practice this week. Notre Dame is now 6-2 and “should be” 7-2 heading into a showdown vs once-defeated #16 Pitt on the road in 2 weeks. So the Irish have yet another chance to win a big game and stake a claim to a much higher ranking. This game will be a huge test for Charlie.
Some very surprising results in other games Saturday as Oregon trounced USC 47-20 and Meeeeechigan fell to Illinois 38-10. Maybe Zook is off the hook and RichRod is really feeling the heat? The UM Skunkbears (5-4 and 9th in the Big 10) are really struggling these days, which certainly pleases Irish fans 😉
As for our time here in San Antonio, it was great fun. The Rivewalk has never been better and always seems to be improving. The place was hopping Wed thru Saturday. Although a “home game” for the Irish, it was nice to see thousands of Cougar fans also make the trip. SA really rolled out the red carpet for this game and everything was extremely well run. I expect ND to keep SA on it’s list for periodic barn-storming visits such as this one. This event was GREAT for recruiting in a very fertile area.
It was great to see Hughes getting as many carries as he did. They have got to figure out a way to split the carries between he and Allen when both are in the lineup. That being said, they cannot get Golden Tate enough touches. Of course, every time he gets the ball he climbs another rung on someone’s draft board. Rudolph is only a sophomore? He does not play like one.
The Temple Owls have won 6 in a row, and are now bowl eligible. Navy losing a close game to them might not carry the same meaning as in the past. At least the Midshipmen won’t challenge the ND secondary; they beat Wake Forest last week without attempting a pass.
Was it my imagination, or were there A LOT of empty seats at that game?
Guess they didn’t need me this time to do that punting thing!
Michele,
The Irish could and can use a new punter. Or least someone who can catch the snap. Geez…
The box score listed the attendance as 53,407. Since capacity was 65, then yes, there were some empty seats.
Michele will still challenge Ben Turk for punting duties during practice this week.
Sorry … didn’t mean to diss Temple. But …
Michael Floyd is due back pretty soon. If not Navy, then the following week at Pitt. Yeaaaa!!!
Switching back and forth with games, the disparity of crowd noise between the ND game and the Oregon SQUASHING of USC was noticeable.
Unless ND’s “home game away from home” is in someplace like NYC (next year) or Chicago or even LA, I think they will ALWAYS have plenty of empty seats. I think this will be a short-lived fad. Wally, they finally deserved to be ranked, but a loss to Pitt would change that sentiment in a hurry.
Pete —
Let’s just hope ND doesn’t look past Navy. First things first. Anyway, I think Floyd will be back at least for the Pitt game, which is GREAT news. And I won’t agree with you yet that a loss to Pitt means they should fall out of the rankings. What if they lose a CLOSE game on the road to the team that’s currently #15 or so in the country? Although disappointing, doesn’t mean they should fall below #25.
But I think your point is this: ND is capable of running the table, now let’s see it! And, ND has not yet won a meaningful game against a highly ranked team under Weis … so let’s see it! Pitt is yet another redemption chance for Charlie & Co … he needs to seize one soon.