A look at the games, players, plays, surprises, and disappointments that have made up the first half of the Irish season. (Brought to you by our sponsors.)

GAMES

It’ A Good Day To Be Irish (best win):

The Washington game. Non-stop excitement and big plays (Tate with a 60+ yard reception and and 70+ year reception.) throughout the contest. Steady rain to up the danger quotient (turnover at any moment). A questionable 2 point conversion in the Irish’s favor that made the Bush Push look innocent by comparison. And, I don’t recall the Irish ever actually winning in overtime.

“Reach For Another” Guinness (Toughest loss).

The USC game. Almost saw some Irish magic that would make Rudy proud. Almost a comeback to remember forever (granted, with some help from boneheaded USC penalties). The Irish offense showed what they are capable of (man, I can’t wait for Floyd to come back) and it was awesome to behold. If only the defense could make some plays. Just four more yards.

PLAYERS

Universal Music Group Presents “The U2 (I can’t live) With Or Without You Award”:

Jimmy Clausen. This isn’t even up for debate. Clausen is the best pro-style quarterback in the nation. His arm is able and his passes are pristine, and the offense hums when he is at the helm. Without him, the Irish are 1-5, and haven’t won since Sept 5th. But, having him do so much to win also makes us realize how fragile the Irish are. (Hence, the hard to live with part.)

The Viagra “Mr. Excitement” Award:

Golden Tate. The nation’s best big-play receiver. 17.5 yards per catch (41 rec, 719yds, 6tds). A touchdown waiting to happen. The Mr. Miyagi of the go route. When Clausen throws the ball on a deep route to #23, you know it is going to result in something good for the Irish.

The “I Can’t Believe It’s Not Butter” biggest surprise:

Armando Allen. He is showing the ability to be a top-flight college running back. He has always had the quickness, but his explosiveness and power have been a revelation this year. He simply does not go down on the first tackle anymore, and always gains a few extra yards.

The Gillette “Best A Man Can Get” Award:

Michael Floyd. Even with Tate, an uninjured Floyd may be the Irish’s best player. He certainly projects to the pros the best, and is an almost certain 1st round draft pick.

PLAYS

The Ford “Keep On Truckin” Award:

Robert Hughes. The aforementioned 2 point conversion against Washington may be the single greatest effort I have seen in a football play.

The Wrigley’s Doublemint “Double Dose Of Take That!” Award:

Golden Tate shows up Taylor Mays. First he scores the first receiving touchdown of the year against the Trojans on a streak running by Pinkard that Mays could not get over for in time to stop. Then, Tate catches a slant for a touchdown, and Mays bounces right off of him like a basketball when he tried to lower the boom. Keep in mind that Mays is 8 feet tall, 300lbs, covers from hash mark to hash mark in single bound, and is the reason that coffee is Washington’s most popular drink. You see, Mays went to high school in Washington, and someone had to invent a highly-caffeinated beverage so defensive coaches could stay up all night diagramming plays that might actually get by him. All that, and Golden just worked him.

DISAPPOINTMENT

The Wendy’s “Where’s The Defense?” Award:

The entire secondary. Just too many big plays against. The front 7 isn’t great, but problems were expected there. The defensive backs are a group of quite a few Rivals 100 guys (Walls, McNeil, Gray) that the Irish coaches appear afraid to pit against opposing receivers. Not good.