Kelly's 'pep' talk fires up No. Dame
Whatever coach Brian Kelly said to his team at halftime last week worked. After looking like a team destine to be upset by Western Michigan, a team the Irish were favored to beat by 24 points, ND came alive in the second half to gain a 44-20 win and bring their record to 4-3.
After a lackluster first half, in which ND managed a minus four yards on the ground against a team ranked 82nd in the nation against the rush, ND dominated the Broncos.
While the first team defense was in the game the Irish allowed the Broncos just 32 total yards, two rushing, in five series and no points in the second half.
But the win was costly and the Irish face a pesky and always dangerous Navy team today without two of its top three receivers with the third hobbled by a injury.
The win last week was expected but the struggle to get win number four was not. The defense looked horrible in the first halt letting WM move up and down the field. The "D" found itsefl after a heated pet talk by Kelly to his troops at the half.
With Armando Allen limited to three carries and then being benched with a hip injury, Cierre Wood got the Irish running game going. He scored his first collegiate touchdown on a 39-yard run, the longest rush by ND's offense since the tail end of the 2007 season.
Michael Floyd, hampered by a hamstring injury, turned in one of his best performances. He had nine catches for 157 yards and three TDs, including a two-yarder late in the third quarter that gave ND a 41-17 lead. With Kyle Rudolph out for the season and Theo Riddick also hubbled with a ankle injury, the Irish needed Floyd to step up, and he did. More on the Irish injury report later.
Today ND faces a Navy them that has become a real nemesis over the past few years. After beating Navy 43 straight times for the all-time college football record for Division I, Navy has won two of the last three including a win last year, 23-21.
Navy is far from a pushover. At 4-2 the Midshipmen are poised to give the Irish everything they can handle and more. The Navy triple-option offense has always been a problem for ND, but the Irish managed to overcome it, sometime bearly, over the years. But when Charlie Weis arrived at ND the Navy attack took its toll mainly because Weis' teams were not in very good sharpe and faded badly in the second half. The Navy attack worn down the Weis coached teams and that always kept them close and finally some victories.
Navy is led by quarterback Ricky Dobbs. He is the team leader in rushing and has been the only QB to play for the Middies this year. Other top rushers are Vince Murray and Gee Gee Greene. Top receivers are Greene and Greg Jonas.
The Navy wins have come over Georgia Southern, 13-7; Louisana Tech, 37-23, Wake Forest, 28-27; and SMU, 28-21. The SMU win was last week and Navy rallied from 21 points down to win it. The losses have been to Maryland, 17-14, and Air Force, 14-6.
The game will be played at the new Meadowlands in East Rutherford, N.J., home of the pro Giants and Jets. The game will be televised nationally by CBS-TV with a 12:11 p.m. scheduled kickoff.
ND leads the series, 71-11-1.
IRISH NOTES:As I mentioned the injuries are mounting for the Irish. Riddick is out for today and may be lost for a couple of games due to the ankle injury. Floyd is still playing with the hamstring injury. Kelly has kept him out of practice all week to rest the injury. It will be a game-time decision if he plays. Replacing Riddick and Rudolph in the lineup will be any of the following Duval Kamara, TJ Jones, John Goodman and Tyler Eifert. All have prior limited experience but Kelly said all have taken enough reps at practice to be capable of filling in today. Eifert played last week and caught four for 72 yards and his first TD. Jones also was in action with one catch for seven. Eifert shared some of the tight end duties with senior Mike Ragone, who caught one for 12 yards. Allen appears to have improved this week and told the South Bend Tribune, "I feel 100 percent." Starting right tackle Taylor Dever, who missed two games with a hamstring injury, is ready to play and will battle Matt Romine for playing time. Safety Jamoris Slaughter continues to have problems with a ankle injury. He was replaced last week by Zeke Motta. Motta is listed as the starter today.....Despite a report earlier by manufacturer Adidas, Kelly said ND will not wear green jersey's today. That is a good idea. ND is 5-5 when wearing green jerseys....The Irish have allowed 152 rushing yards on 80 carriers over the past three games, the best three game stretch of rush defense by ND since the 1982 season....Some game stats. Dayne Crist completed 18 for 28 attempts for 255 yards, three TDs and one interception. Rushing, Wood had 94 yards on 11 carries and a score, Robert Hughes eight and 63. Defensively, Manti Te'o had 10 tackles, Gary Gray eight and Carlo Calabrese seven. Punter Ben Turk did another good job with five punts for an average of 41.6 and the longest 50 yards. ND leads the nation in punt coverage, 0.5 per return, moving up from second last week. Last year the Irish were 105....Navy is ranked ninth in the nation in rushing so today is a good test for the defense. ND moved up 11 spots this week to No. 41 nationaly against the run...Another interesting note about Navy. The Middies have won 17 games against BCS opponents, which is tied with Utah for the most by a non-BCS team....As you known today's game is in the new Meadowlands stadium. In the old stadium ND was 11-0 and 6-0 against Navy at that stadium. The other five wins have come over Army, 3-0, Virginia and Maryland, 1-0 each....Irish are now 11 of 13 on third down conversions and one of two on fourth down or 85 percent. Irish opponents are at 50 percent this year, 13 of 26. ND was 66 percent last year, 25 of 38....ND moved up three spots to No. 41 in the Sagarin computer ratings of the top Division I teams. ND's remaining opponents rankings are Navy 53, Tulsa 71, Utah,15, Army, 90, and USC, 17....The NCAA rates ND's schedule to date as the 12th toughest while Sagarin ranks it 20th. The top five toughest schedules, according to Sagarin, are Oregon State, San Jose State, Washington State, BYU and Wyoming....Among those on the sidelines at last week's game was former QBs Jimmy Clausen and Joe Montana. Montana's son Nate played in the fourth quarter and completed one pass for 12 yards and rushed five times for a net of two yards. Also on the sidelines was NFL commissioner Roger Goodell, wearing an ND hat and sweatshirt....ND announced its football schedules for the next two years. In 2011 the Irish will be home with South Florida, Michigan State, Air Force, USC, Navy, Maryland and Boston College and on the road to Michigan, Pittsburgh, Purdue, Wake Forest and Stanford. In 2012 the Irish are home with Purdue, Michigan, Miami (at Solidiers Field, Chicago), Stanford, BYU, Pittsburgh and Wake Forest. On the road with Navy in Dublin, Ireland, Michigan State, Oklahoma, Boston College and USC....Because ND is on fall break, Crist and company were allowed extra practice time this week. The NCAA allows only 20 hours of practice when players have classes. No classes, the 20 hour rule does not apply. Crist spent the extra time available practicing timing with his new set of receivers....Today will be a real test for the Irish because of the injuries to its top receivers, a key in the spread offense, and Navy's option attack. Kelly is aware of the trouble in the past for ND against Navy's offense and since the beginning of fall practices he had the defense practice against the option offense at least 15 to 20 minutes every practice. I picked ND in this one but it going to be tough. The Irish can't come in like last week and play a poor half. A complete game is needed today for the Irish to prevail. There are many local Irish fans going today. Two bus loads are leaving from Tamaqua and another from Summit Hill.
