Tracer Bullet

You have enough power in your lineup. I don't need Mike Cameron hitting 2 bombs as well.

Generally, I think, the first two years are considered underclassmen. Thus, true freshman, RS freshman and true sophomore would be underclassmen. That's my opinion, at least. right. I think that's the generally accepted definition. It's just hard b/c most schools identify class by years of eligibility rather than years on campus.

barely over 50% completion? Were there a lot of drops in there?

A RS sophomore? No. Corp isn't an underclassman, but I'm not sure if he'll win the battle with Barkley when both are healthy. The fact that it's a battle (given the limitations Barkley showed) says a lot about Corp's ability to run that offense.

That's me in the finals with you. I don't expect this to end well.

I know he plays for ND, so he has to suck, but Clausen's going to be right there. Of course, if he keeps playing at the level he's played at thus far, he might go this year. Yeah, Clausen will be a highly regarded NFL prospect, I think. After struggling the past couple of years, though, (for whatever reasons) I tend to think he'll stay one more year under Weis. If Weis is fired, though, Clausen may just go. He struggled for a wide variety of reasons, including absolute lack of team talent his first year. The injury to Floyd might hurt his numbers as much or more than it hurts the team overall. But his numbers the last 4 games have been ridiculous. I don't think he'll stay another year under Weis unless he doesn't like his projected draft status. And with Crist a junior next year, I don't think Weis has any reason to pressure Clausen the way Carroll did Sanchez, for example. Yeah, there were definitely numerous reasons Clausen struggled. But, I don't know if his physical tools are significantly better than Bradford's and Bradford has been much more productive in college. That may make it difficult for Clausen to pass Bradford on many boards. And I like Clausen as an NFL prospect. And my thinking about Weis was that he is still highly regarded in NFL circles (I believe) and the feedback may be from NFL evaluators that they want one more year of development under Weis because of the struggles of the past couple years. If Weis is fired, however, Clausen may not bother with a new system. Of course, if he ends up with a monster year, that may well become irrelevant. I don't disagree and I'm not suggesting Clausen will be the consensus #1 pick next year. I just think when you're talking top QBs in 2011, Clausen's in the mix if he doesn't go this year. Weis is only fired if he loses big. I think he'd have to lose more than 4 games to get fired, honestly, and I just don't see that happening. Even without Floyd, the offense is too good to lose to many of these teams. With the schedule, it's just not likely that's going to happen unless Clausen craps the bed in a big game. And if he does, he's not going to be able to go to the draft early. So Weis and Clausen are tied pretty closely, imo. If Weis gets 10 wins and gets back to a BCS game, Clausen has probably played well enough to make the jump. If ND loses 5 games, Clausen was either hurt or sucked in enough games that he'd have to come back next year.

I know he plays for ND, so he has to suck, but Clausen's going to be right there. Of course, if he keeps playing at the level he's played at thus far, he might go this year. Yeah, Clausen will be a highly regarded NFL prospect, I think. After struggling the past couple of years, though, (for whatever reasons) I tend to think he'll stay one more year under Weis. If Weis is fired, though, Clausen may just go. He struggled for a wide variety of reasons, including absolute lack of team talent his first year. The injury to Floyd might hurt his numbers as much or more than it hurts the team overall. But his numbers the last 4 games have been ridiculous. I don't think he'll stay another year under Weis unless he doesn't like his projected draft status. And with Crist a junior next year, I don't think Weis has any reason to pressure Clausen the way Carroll did Sanchez, for example. Admittedly Carroll had three 5-star QBs behind Sanchez (if he had stayed) this season including a RS junior in Mustain and a RS sophomore in Corp. You could see the hatred on Carroll's face at the Sanchez presser and you can see why now. Mustain clearly isn't a college QB or he would have been more than an afterthought. Neither Barkley nor Corp look all that ready either. One more year from Sanchez gets you to Corp as a RS junior and Barkley either 1 or 2 years later. USC hasn't had an underclassman QB in Petey's tenure and I'm sure he didn't want to have one now.

I don't know anyone with direct inside information. But I know some people close to the program who think it's a definite possibility. I think the loss of Floyd could hurt greatly unless Goodman or Evans steps up significantly. In addition to his stats, the team's record might take a hit without Floyd. His absence on the last series of the UM game was obvious as with the MSU game (Floyd catches both the outs that weren't caught by Evans and Goodman, respectively).

I know he plays for ND, so he has to suck, but Clausen's going to be right there. Of course, if he keeps playing at the level he's played at thus far, he might go this year. Yeah, Clausen will be a highly regarded NFL prospect, I think. After struggling the past couple of years, though, (for whatever reasons) I tend to think he'll stay one more year under Weis. If Weis is fired, though, Clausen may just go. He struggled for a wide variety of reasons, including absolute lack of team talent his first year. The injury to Floyd might hurt his numbers as much or more than it hurts the team overall. But his numbers the last 4 games have been ridiculous. I don't think he'll stay another year under Weis unless he doesn't like his projected draft status. And with Crist a junior next year, I don't think Weis has any reason to pressure Clausen the way Carroll did Sanchez, for example.

I know he plays for ND, so he has to suck, but Clausen's going to be right there. Of course, if he keeps playing at the level he's played at thus far, he might go this year.

I wouldn't doubt it, Floyd is great. Potential WR class next year with Bryant, Crabtree, and Floyd is pretty good. Followed by some smaller speed guys like Jordan Shipley and Golden Tate and there are a lot of options suddenly, plus a lot more I am not even thinking of. yeah, arrelious benn is dogmeat. I don't think much of him either, but that's a little harsh...

3/12 is ok, but 3/11 is not.

You don't see the point in having one of the best WRs in the country play in a bowl game? Seriously, Andy? Floyd is never going to come back for a 5th year. He's probably not going to stay for 4. So why in the world would you not use him in every single game he's healthy? If Weis doesn't use a healthy Floyd in the bowl game, he should be stoned in the public square. I'm only joking to the extent that stoning is ridiculous b/c someone gun-toting Indiana boy would shoot him dead first. They can talk to Floyd and see if he will be turning pro despite missing most of the season. If he wants to stay and says there is chance he would stay an extra year then use the redshirt. As for the last sentence I'm a bit confused. Indiana doesn't have that many guns compared to other states. Southern Indiana is a lot like Kentucky and the South but most of Indiana is pretty progressive and live in decent sized cities. There is no reason in the world to sit a healthy Floyd is a bowl game rather than play him. He's not going to be back at ND in 2012. He may not be back in 2011, even after missing this entire season. Given that he's been injured in each of his 2 seasons with ND, you think he'd risk playing an extra year of CFB rather than going to the NFL? I can't believe this is actually being discussed.

hahaha...that's ridiculous. Are you just bored?

If I were an Arkansas booster, I'd consider paying that $4m that Rich Rod owed WVU. Was that ever a windfall for them. But I wouldn't worry too much about him being one and done yet. Maybe if he lights up Bama and Florida.

You don't see the point in having one of the best WRs in the country play in a bowl game? Seriously, Andy? Floyd is never going to come back for a 5th year. He's probably not going to stay for 4. So why in the world would you not use him in every single game he's healthy? If Weis doesn't use a healthy Floyd in the bowl game, he should be stoned in the public square. I'm only joking to the extent that stoning is ridiculous b/c someone gun-toting Indiana boy would shoot him dead first.

Was it scheduled for prime time 3 weeks ago when both teams were in the top 25? Doesn't seem unusual for a match up of 2 teams in the top 25 to be in the 8pm slot.

Washington is #24? I understand that they beat USC, but USC had a QB that didn't know he was going to be starting until he ran onto the field for the first time and UW essentially had USC's playbook going in. We'll see how they do at Stanford, but I'm a little surprised they moved into the top 25.

Why non ND fans hate ND. Michigan freaking State!! I hate to mention this but the only thing that ND has in their resume from the last 10 yrs that makes them better than MSU is 2 BCS appearances that they would have not received if they were not ND(and MSU beat them one of those years). I should be upset that our terrible defense gave up so much to Notre freaking Dame. You blame the recent bad streak on bad ND coaching without even looking at who MSU had coaching since Sabean left. Here is the truth...Notre Dame is at the same competitive level as MSU and has been for at least 10 years. and yes, Jimmy Clausen is real good That's not why non-ND fans hate ND. MSU shouldn't have much respect going into SB this year. They had huge Qs at QB and RB and just lost to a MAC team. MSU is looking at a long year, though they should improve as the QB gets more experience. ND is not the worst team MSU is going to lose to.

I don't think any rational person thinks Clausen is the Heisman favorite. I don't think it's rational to say he shouldn't be in the discussion at this point (he's been outstanding and none of the early front runners have been). But many ND fans aren't rational and many people irrationally hate ND and especially its QBs, so there you go.

I would say there was a very little chance of a BCS bowl before the season started. Their offense has looked extremely impressive. The defense though, not so much. I'm hesitant to use the H-word (especially because the media has preordained it a two-man race between McCoy and Tebow), but Jimmy Clausen has been absolutely phenomenal this season. Over 900 yards, nine touchdowns, no picks, and 22/31 today marks his worst completion percentage of the year. only 2 of those 9 were bad throws and one of those 2 was a clear mix-up between him and Tate. With a sprained toe and his #1 WR out, he still hit guys in the hands and numbers all over the field. Moved well in the pocket, avoids pressure. ND is deep at WR, but none of those guys is anywhere near Floyd. Hopefully the young guys or Kamera step up. BTW - Clausen's been sacked once in 3 games, is that right? Verducci is a heck of an OL coach. The offense, even without Floyd, could score 30+ in every game. The problem is the defense can apparently give up anywhere from 0 to 40. The recruiting losses of Hunter, McCoy, Martin, etc have left glaring holes at DT. They need to keep their claws in Chris Martin and grab Barr too. And I don't care if Sergio Brown is the most athletic man to ever put on a helmet (and he's not) but you have to get him off the field - he overruns every tackle, can't cover anyone, and advertises his blitzes like he works for Budweiser.

Bastard. He apparently learned how to throw accurately during his year off after transferring from Michigan. He would just rifle it as hard as he could every pass when he played for UM. Wasn't he a true freshman? He was the #2 QB coming out of HS behind Clausen that year. He's maybe the #1 reason I thought hiring Rich Rod was really weird for UM (this was before I knew all the baggage he'd bring with him). Seems if you have 1 really, really highly rated QB on the roster but nothing decent behind him, you'd try not to scare him off. Then again, I have to wonder if Pryor is re-thinking his decision.

Cal v Minn is the best of these batch of games. Ugh.

So does Michigan. For all of you that say Michigan gets every call, there was one of the worst pass interference calls called against Michigan in the history of football that put Eastern into field goal range. Just awful. They don't get every call every weekend (though I've seen worse calls than that - pretty soon Cissoko's gonna have to learn how to play CB without holding the WR). But if they need the same help to beat Eastern that they needed to beat ND, their top 25 ranking is going to be short lived.

The easiest prediction of the week is a team that lost to a MAC team last week beating a team that's rolled up nearly 1,000 yards of offense in two games? At their place? If it weren't for this ridiculous streak, which can almost completely be blamed on Davie and Willingham (the only good ND team MSU has beaten in this streak was 2005), no one would be giving Michigan State a chance. just like a narcissitic ND fan, completely oblivious to the fact that MSU also was coached by a couple of boneheads. :) They were and I like the Dantonio hire for MSU. But did the guy before Dantonio sign just 4 OL in 4 years? I don't think people fully appreciate the # of scholarship players Weis had when get took the job. In the spring of 07 and spring of 08 (Willingham's guys were Jrs and Srs), we didn't have enough OL to go 1s v 2s in the spring game. When your school can't fill spots with Juco players, Ty is almost a death sentence.