DAILY DOMER: CRANKY ME UP!

It's Bring Your Folks to Work Day here in South Bend. At least it is for me. If anything on this blog is funny today, my dad probably said it first. Actually, Bill Walters has a penchant for being eerily prescient. The first thing he said to me when I returned to the press box after doing our little pregame webcast (he'd been up watching both teams do their warm-ups) was, "Stanford's got a good kicker."

They do. Aaron Zagory is 6-7 on field goals this season, his only miss a 49-yarder. Whereas Notre Dame's Brandon Walker is 1-6 on field goals. Anyway, if you're an Irish fan, you don't like that Billy said that.

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Joe Brockington, who finished second in tackles for the Irish last year and has since graduated, is on the Notre Dame sideline today.

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Irish won the toss, deferred. Stanford moved the ball easily on the Irish until they got to the 29. On 3rd-and-15 the Irish tipped Tavita Pritchard's pass and David Bruton came down with his second interception of the season.

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For what it's worth, Stanford's O-line was an immoveable wall on that first series. No Irish rusher even sniffed the Cardinal QB. Even that offensive offensive dude Marinelli backed up his talk.

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Now we move on to a most dire press box issue. The most scrumptious delight that is served here is the marinated roast half-chicken. Paula Faris, my comely co-host on the ND webcasts, swears by it. But for reasons that I must attribute to security and the terrorists and the Axis of Evil (Michigan, USC, Mark May), there are no knives in the press box. Not even plastic ones.

You get these little plastic utensil containers, but all that you'll find inside is a plastic fork, a napkin and a Wet-Nap. I mean, really? Is a plastic fork any less dangerous than a plastic knife? I can poke your eye out with a fork. And by the way, who's going to take the press box hostage? And would anyone on the outside world even care if a few slovenly scribes bit the dust? 

I just don't get it.

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Irish just barely, b-a-r-e-l-y, converted a 4th down (after having 1st-and-5 at the 31). On the following play from the 26 the Irish had a brilliant pass play in which the wideouts went deep, clearing the zone underneath for Yourmando Allen to cut underneath. Not only did he catch the underneath route and scoot into the end zone untouched, but a DB or two didn't even see where the ball was until he'd crossed the end zone.

7-0, Irish. Only the second game in the first five in which they've scored in the opening quarter.

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Stanford comes back. The Cardinal are running at will on the Irish. Toby Gerhart is one strong, strong back. He's the all-time California prep rushing leader, which is saying something.