THE DAILY DOMER: EXHUMING MCCARTHY
Don't look now but the nation's leading tackler plays for Notre Dame and it isn't Maurice Crum or David Bruton or even Pat Kuntz. His name is Kyle McCarthy and his 14 tackles for the Fighting Irish on Saturday was the brightest spot in an otherwise disquieting season opener. Not only did McCarthy lead the Irish in tackles--only Troy's Bear Woods, who is no relation to Tiger Woods nor Bear Byrant, is averaging as many thus far-- but his forced fumble at the goal line versus San Diego State's Brandon Sullivan was, in Charlie Weis' words "the game-changing play of the day."
Absolutely. McCarthy, a senior strong safety who is listed at 6-1 (6-1?!? Maybe in Timberlands) only previously started one game his entire Irish career. He entered yesterday's game with 29 career tackles and in just one game he nearly halved that total.
On Sunday Weis mentioned the fumble that McCarthy--with an assist from Bruton--forced early in the 4th quarter. Weis noted that he hoped that seven or eight games down the road the Irish could look back at that play as the landmark moment that set them on the path to a successful year. I don't know about that, but I do believe that that forced fumble (at worst SDSU was likely going to get a field goal and go up by nine, or two scores, with about 11 minutes to play) spared the Irish of their most embarrassing defeat in decades. Kyle McCarthy, whose younger brother Dan is a freshman safety on the team, waited a long time to become a full-fledged starter, but he made the most of it yesterday. And while McCarthy may be a senior, he has another year of eligibility remaining, so I imagine he will remain in South Bend another year...after all, he still has some growing to do before he's actually 6-1.
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Freshman wideout Michael Floyd had only one pass thrown to him on Saturday and he caught it for a 22-yard touchdown. A few remarkable things about that play that occurred late in the first half. First, it was an audible. Floyd was supposed to run a comeback route but Jimmy Clausen checked off at the line to a "Go!" route for Floyd, who made a pretty catch right in front of the Irish Guard in the northeast endzone corner. Second, if Clausen hadn't focused so much on Golden Tate late in the game, Floyd would have easily had two TD catches. On one play late in the game he was wide open along the left hashmark behind coverage. I asked Clausen whether Floyd, even though he's just a freshman who was playing in his first game, returned to the huddle and told Clausen how wide open he was.
"Oh, yeah," Clausen smiled. "He let me know."
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There were some interesting stats to be gleaned from Saturday's game. For instance, Golden Tate, who has six catches all of last season, had that many against the Aztecs. James Aldridge, the team's leading rusher last season who appears to be healthy this year, did not play at all (he's my leader in the Demetrius Jones Derby at the moment). And Jimmy Clausen, who had three touchdown passes in Notre Dame's first six games of 2007, had that many on Saturday.
Perhaps the most promising statistic, however, certainly the most incredible, is that Notre Dame is one of fourteen schools that have yet to allow a sack this season. That is bizarre considering the Irish set an NCAA record for most sacks allowed last year with 58. However, it was only one game and it was a San Diego State defense missing a lot of D-line personnel. Ten of those fourteen schools that have yet to allow a sack, by the way, have already played two games. Among them are Top 25 schools Penn State, BYU, Wisconsin and, surprisingly, Texas Tech. The Red Raiders are a surprise because QB Graham Harrell leads the nation in pass attempts (as well as in passing) with 104.
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I don't know whether Tom Hammond, Pat Haden or Alex Flanagan mentioned it on the broadcast, but the new student cheer is "Crank Me Up!" and it was authored by the football team themselves. Safety Sergio Brown explained that the source of the cheer was actually freshman defensive back Jamoris Slaughter. "This is something we used to do back in high school," Slaughter, who Tucker High School in Tucker, Ga., suggested recently.
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Notre Dame's top four tacklers on Saturday were all defensive backs: McCarthy (14), Bruton (7), Terrail Lambert (6) and Sergio Brown (6). Defensive end Pat Kuntz did not record a tackle. That's partly because SDSU had 59 pass attempts, partly because redshirt frosh Ryan Lindley was fantastic at getting rid of the ball in time and partly because Kuntz is wearing a ridiculous mullet.
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Why should anyone who cheers, cheers for ol' Notre Dame be afraid, very afraid about this coming Saturday? Check out the defensive statistics. After two games Michigan, who lost at home to a good Utah team and then beat a decent Miami U. squad in Ann Arbor, is ranked 4th in the nation in rushing defense. The Wolverines are 2nd nationally in sacks, having recorded 9 in two games.
Against San Diego State on Saturday, the Irish showed the same half-hearted commitment to the rushing game as they did last season. And that was versus a D that entered the contest 97th versus the run after having played only Cal Poly. In other words, unless there are radical changes in the next four days of practice (Were the Irish sandbagging the GoBlue!s by not playing Aldridge? Yeah, I doubt it, too), Michigan is going to own the line of scrimmage when Notre Dame is on offense. At that point offensive coordinator Mike Heyweis will resort to passing primarily, at which point the Wolverines will come after Clausen...and that's when bad things-- sacks, interceptions, forced fumbles--begin to happen.
Because while the run can set up the pass (must set up the pass for most offenses), the pass never sets up the run. Ask San Diego State about that. The Irish must be able to run the ball to win. And I didn't see any promising signs on Saturday that they will be able to do that versus Michigan.
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Wolverine fun fact: Michigan has now gone 300 games without being shut out by an opponent, which is the longest active streak in college football.
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I stopped watching msnbc because of Oberman. Am I now going to have to give up Sunday night football?
JDub-- Its all the buzz--Joe Montana wants his haircut back.
Why does NBC continue with that left-wing clown on sunday night football? He is the biggest clown on TV.
Hey, CJC and Irish Rogue, you goof balls didn't get the message of Jesus Christ, which you think you would have given your "Irish" orientation. Jesus was a damn liberal. Read your history (or the bible, if you really want to get things incorrect). No REAL Irishman, no REAL domer devotee, is a Republican. The Repub's motto is "For me money, by me money, of me money." (say it with an Irish brogue and you'll see how perverse it sounds). Is that all you're made of? How disheartening.
- Danny Boy
Let's just hope that there is another Holtz like coach in our future. Some might believe that it's too early to say, but I'm afraid that Charlie's teams will never reach for the stars. Despite the possibilities, Charlie's teams I fear will never be more than average. It's going to take a new coaching philosophy to bring this team back to the mentality that it is needed for the Irish to return to the glory days of Lou, Ara, Dan Devine and Frank Leahy.
Any chance that you will get an interview with Lou this coming weekend?