From the Cheap Seats
*Saturday night was nothing short of a 3-quarter celebration of Notre Dame Football. I couldn't believe what I was watching. It makes sense on many tangible levels. USC is injured and lacking confidence. Notre Dame coming off the open date. Josh Adams. The offensive line. Elko. Long. Balis. Many more to be listed, but even if given the exact same set up, no other Kelly version of the Fightin' Irish would have taken USC to the woodshed like that. The intangibles brought to light on Saturday night on a national stage were epic.
*Speaking of the fallout from being 45 times bitten, twice shy, I a have to admit that I was nervous when USC scored to open the second half. What a lousy fan am I! Nerves even crept in after the USC TD to make it 35-14. One play from scrimmage and 84 yards later, even my Sally-(rear end) knew that this is just a different group of ND lads suiting up for the Irish.
*Speaking of Adams and repetitive segues, welcome to the Heisman conversation nationally. The 84-yard wind sprint by Adams was impressive due to his high-end speed, but he had many more impressive runs of 4-15 yards. He is one tough, physical runner. He embodies the culture of this team. He will carry the flag for this whole team in the coming weeks, but he will be the first to tell you that the 2017 take each step forward as a unit. 49-14 says so!
*Here comes NC State and the first test for the Fightin' Irish as contenders. Josh Adams is now firmly in the national talk. Was he playing with a chip on his shoulder and can he keep it? The team was still questioned after the 4-8 season and an early-season loss. Saturday night validated them as national contenders. Can the team maintain its collective chip on its shoulder? Or are they just such a fundamentally sound, tough football team that none of the above even matters and they do their jobs play after play for each other and not the nation? I am so excited for another huge week of anticipation and college football fun. I love the Notre Dame Football season every year. It feels like stealing money when I love the season AND they are serious contenders.
*Anybody who did not call for the ND defense to play at such a high level and allow the offense to find itself throughout the course of the season was clearly a person of sound mind. Where did this come from? No more can I write (say, think...), "Well, the defense played well enough this week, but wait until it faces Sam Darnold..." The team has allowed 20 or fewer points in every game this season! That is obscene. Last year, I was afraid the defense might somehow give up 21 to Texas in a single overtime. This defense plays great ball as a unit. They have each other's backs in a pragmatic way and not just in a metaphorical sense.
*The question was raised on the premium message board yesterday as to which individual player is the MVP to this point of the season. There are no fewer than 7 or 8 "obvious" choices. That is probably all that you need to know about this year's team. I would split the vote that I don't have between the leaders of the interior lines. Quenton Nelson and Jerry Tillery have been better than I expected, and I expected Nelson to be awesome. Tillery was a question mark going into the season for reasons that vary from the unneeded expectations hurled upon him by Brian Kelly during his spring as an early enrollee to Tillery's own buffoonery, but he is not only no longer a question mark, he is a leader of arguably the best turnaround units in America. Seeing him in person at Boston College was eye-opening. He is the proverbial "first guy off the bus" type of men now as a junior.
*Doug Flutie seemed thrilled by the ND victory!
*Some high schools guidance counselors are better than others. Kudos and much appreciation to the guidance counselor who administered the aptitude test to T'Evon Coney and suggested that he might give football a whirl. That dude (Coney, not the mythical guidance counselor) just looks like he was born to play this game. All my stupidity aside, it is amazing what can happen when an athletic human being is trained and coached properly. Coney obviously wanted to become the best player that can be. The results look positive to this point.
*NC State brings into this game some question marks and one of the most head-scratching losses of the season (to USC in the opener...see what i did there? South Carolina? Southern Cal...never mind). They also bring in a team capable of giving any team headaches. Ryan Finley is underrated and might be the best QB in the ACC not named Lamar Jackson, and outside of Ronald Jones for USC, brings a better cast of established skill players. The defensive line for the 'Pack is fantastic, although I will quibble with those who argue that it is head-and-shoulders better than Georgia's. Still, this team offers the best overall test for the Irish since Georgia. We will find out just how much growth has taken place.
*Having said all of that, if the Irish can establish Josh Adams and the ground game early, the offense might not miss a beat.
*There are many reasons for me to schedule a visit with a psychologist, but my issue with the opposition receiving the second half kickoff has caused absurd amounts of anxiety for me for years. There is just something about the emotional binky I have with knowing that the Irish will receive the second half kickoff if things don't go well in the first half. When they get the ball to start the game, it underlies with trepidation any of the great things that happen to the Irish in the first half. Anybody else that wacky?
*The extended forecast for game time now shows rain as being unlikely, but if it rains, this whole season will be like an actual mulligan for Kelly. My guess is that if the game is played in the rain, the Irish will run it more times than they did last year against NC State in that hurricane. It might even put an exclamation point on the "new" Brian Kelly. If the Irish win, I can see Kelly presenting the game ball to Sam Mustipher.
*I am going to root for Penn State to win at Ohio State this week and to lose the next week at Michigan State. That's the best-case scenario for Irish fans, right?
*I am now viewing the Michigan opener next year a little differently than I did at this time six weeks ago.
*Steve Adazzio might be the most difficult coach to get a read on week-to-week. His team underachieves and overachieves every season. That's not even possible, but he does it. If the place weren't such a pain to access and sit at through a game, I would be tempted to check out their Friday night tilt with Florida State. Go Eagles, I guess.
*Seriously, Temple?
*Go Irish!