All season, the Fighting Irish have wanted to pressure their opponents.  Blitz, blitz, and blitz and pound the quarterback into submission.  Harass him until his his jersey was covered in mother earth.  Hit him until his bones were ready to snap as it became apparent he never listened to the slogan “Milk, It does a body good.”  Hound him until they got the kind of pressure that would force a quarterback to retire from the sport, disappear from the public eye, forsake his family, begin wearing high heels, lipstick, and search for a place to tuck his weiner back for the new dress he is going to buy.  It hasn’t happened.  But, finally there are signs.

They showed up during the Irish drubbing of Washington.  The blitzes were timed well.  Brian Smith and the linebackers made some plays.  Most importantly, the signs were there because of the increase in playing time to guys like Ethan Johnson and Darius Fleming.  These are two young guys that have serious ability to beat offensive lineman straight up.  If the defense is to play better through the last part of the season, it will be because of these young guns.

The signs are there, but it’s time to make them more noticeable.  Time to make them glow neon.   Maybe these kids have what it takes to add some illumination.

Lesean McCoy may be the best back the Irish face all season.  More explosive than Ringer, and stronger than Joe McKnight.  That and the fact that Notre Dame does not have a strong defensive line has left me wandering how in the hell we are gonna stop this guy.  My best guesses:

5.) Stacking The Deck.  That’s right, lets sneak in some guys that can actually be disruptive on the defensive line.  My pick: The New York Giants defensive front four.  Tuck, Kiwanuka, Fred Robbins and co. wreak havoc in the NFL, and I think Justin Tuck has one more year of eligibility–so it’s not cheating in the Montgomery Burns sense.

4.)  Sic The Lawyers On Him.  I’m sure he is a good kid, but McCoy crossed the line when he took on “shady” as a nickname.  Even in the digital age, such a blatant disregard for copyrights makes me queasy.  After all, “shady” is the given name to Eminem’s record label, and we know that little baby could fuss and sue over that.  Not even McCoy can outrun an attorney.

3.)  Be Like Tonya Harding.  When in doubt, resort to straight out thuggery–and try to take out your opponent.  Yes, we should always remember history to fuel our great ideas in the present.  So if you Irish fans are listening, consider giving this guy a whack in the kneecap.

2.)  Batter Him With Basic Reasoning.  Lesean had some trouble with his SAT’s and the Irish should take advantage of his possible fragile mental psyche.  Maurice Crum could shout out things like ” In a class of 78 students 41 are taking French, 22 are taking German and 9 students are taking both French and German. How many students are not enrolled in either course?”  His head would be spinning so hard he would not know which blocks to follow.

1.)  Abandon The ND Defense Entirely.  That’s right.  Jimmy Clausen needs to be as accurate as First Response pregancy tests, and lead the offense on time consuming drives (like the whole quarter).  Then, after a score it’s time for an onside kick baby!  ND can recover it every single time, right?

Notre Dame did a bad, bad thing.  In 2004, they let go of a coach after he was only 3 years into the job.  He was the only coach in history that the school fired before his original contract was up.  He also had a little more pigment in his skin than others who had coached before him.  They said it was unjust and unfair to treat someone like this, and not even give the man a chance to build his program.   They said Notre Dame sold its soul to become like every other football factory out there.  They said that Notre Dame thought differently about people who had some extra pigment in their skin.

But then, Notre Dame did something even worse.  After firing a coach so unjustly, they awarded their next coach with a huge multi-year contract, before he was even finished with his first season.  This was the ultimate sign of hypocrisy, to be so fast to judge one, and so quick to accept another.  Nothing could be more despicable.

That’s what they said.  Here’s what I say.  Notre Dame got caught up in the moment.  Caught up in emotion.  In the fall of 2005, Charlie Weis and Notre Dame had a different feel to them.  (If you had watched them for the last 10 years, you felt it too.)  Huge strides were made by players like Brady Quinn, Maurice Stovall, and Jeff Samardzija.  They weren’t up and down, they were consistent.  They played USC closer than they had in years, and stood face to face with the best team in the nation.  It felt like the early nineties when ND could play with anyone.

Yes, Ty Willingham had early success.  But it didn’t feel different.  It felt surreal.  Whether it was the fact that it took until game 3 to score an offensive touchdown, or that the other team always managed to cough up the ball to Courtney Watson at just the right moment.  It was magical.  Ty Willingham was like Houdini, awing us with his victories, just as the escape artist awed with his ability to escape from straitjackets.  Only they both benefited from illusion.  Ty benefited from the lucky breaks, Houdini from the fact that he had keys and picks hidden on his person.

Yes, Weis and Willingham felt different.  One like an act, and the other like the real thing.  Notre Dame felt these differences and made a decision.  It wasn’t despicable, it was emotional.

That is all they are guilty of.