The Irish got smacked around by Southern Cal in a fashion that would make even Ndamukong Suh feel bad during their first night game in 21 years. It was an affair that resembled the type of beatings administered by Pete Carroll teams during the early part of the 2000’s for the first half, and an affair that turned into the 2011 Irish’s ability to mimic The Three Stooges (and I used to love slapstick) in the second half.

Here’s What I Think:

1.) I think that the fall of Troy (for this year) was severely overstated. This isn’t 2003-2008 USC by any means, but as I’ve said every time I talked about the Trojans, they have enough to play with just about everyone but the very cream of the crop. It starts with Barkley and Woods, but Marquis Lee, and little Curtis McNeal can also play on offense, and the defense has guys like Nick Perry and T.J. McDonald. I know Mike Mayock is a respected talent evaluator (who thought the Irish had superior talent), but USC certainly didn’t take a backseat to the Irish as far as “the eyeball test”. If anything, their defense seemed to fly around far better than ND’s.

2.) I think the old adage, “speed kills” rang as true as ever on the eve of the 22nd. The new lingo is “take the top off the defense”, but it’s the same thing. Bob Diaco, a “bend but don’t break” coordinator in the first place, was so scared of Robert Woods and Co., that Irish defensive backs must have been playing 7-10 yards back. The reason to do that is if you don’t feel you match up athletically. And, because of this, it was an easy day at the office for Matt Barkley. Even when is should have been difficult, it was easy. Remember when he got hit by Aaron Lynch on one play, and the ball popped into the air so high that you could practically hear the fans from Major League shout “It’s too high! Too high? Who gives a shit, it’s gone!”? Still, the pass was completed, because Gary Gray was back far enough to field a punt. Robert Blanton can cover, no other Irish secondary player can, and ND needs a talent upgrade there immediately. Then, if Diaco gives the same kind coverage, even against talented receivers, fire his ass.

3.) I think that, for the first time, I really want to see an increased package for Andrew Hendrix. Tommy Rees doesn’t deserve the vitriol that he seems to stir among Irish fans, in fact, in the right circumstances, he could be good enough to take the Irish to the cusp of the BCS in the future. You can go pretty far as a quarterback with smarts, accuracy, and lightning-quick release. But, it can’t be denied how far the Irish offense has bogged down when playing somewhat athletic defenses. The Matt Barkley vs Tommy Rees aspect (experience and arm talent) played a huge role in this game. Robert Woods outplayed Mike Floyd, and SC was able to run at will in part because of the threat of the deep passing game. That lies with the Trojans’ talented receivers, but also their triggerman. Well, ND has some receivers that can play as well, but they did not have near the impact that Trojan receivers did. This must fall at the feet of Rees not being able to get it to them. BK said as much when talking about missing Floyd on three or four occasions. He had time to throw, so either he wasn’t reading properly, or just couldn’t get the ball there. I’m leaning toward the latter, so it may be time to increase the role of Hendrix, and let him have a chance to open things up against tougher defenses.

4.) I think that ND players need to perform. I know we aren’t supposed to call out 18-22 year-olds, and everything is the coach’s fault, but, at some point, players make plays. They don’t fumble snaps that are returned 99 yards, they don’t forget to cover a possible lateral, they don’t garner personal fouls when the defense is going to get off the field. They thread the needle, they make one-handed catches, or bowl a defender over to reach the goal line. For all the criticism Kelly is getting for “not having his players ready”, at the end of the day, a coach’s job is to put his players in a position to win. Were the players in that position? Yes. Did they perform? No.

5.) I think I’m gonna be a huge Stanford fan this weekend. If Lane Kiffin can ask David Shaw “What’s your deal?” at game’s end, it will be a good thing.

Notre Dame treated a service academy like Notre Dame should treat a service academy this past Saturday–kind of like George Foreman treats his waistline with his burger-eating habits. The Irish abused the Falcons, hanging 59 on ‘em (Since you won’t find this tidbit anywhere else, and I mean anywhere, not in every single blog or media article written on this game, that is the most Notre Dame has scored since Lou Holtz’s final home game against Rutgers. Oh, 62 points. Remember, you won’t find that information anywhere else.) and emptying the bench for experience during the fourth quarter. Are the Irish turning a corner, or have they just beaten up on two teams in the last two weeks that can’t stop anybody? We’ll find out–starting Oct. 22nd against USC (a team Notre Dame lost to the very next week after that previously mentioned 62 point explosion back in ‘96). Here are my thoughts on the game against the Falcons.

5 Things I Think:

1.) I may have said this before, but the Irish have more offensive weapons than I can ever remember. Michael Floyd, Tyler Eifert, Theo Riddick, Cierre Wood, and Jonas Gray are all guys that can hurt a defense. Weis had some high-flying offenses, but they were receiver-centric, revolving around Samardzija and Stovall first, then giving way to Tate and Floyd later. This team spreads out the damage. Floyd and Eifert are surefire NFLers, and I have the feeling Wood and Gray will earn draft spots by the time they finish up as well. Gray looks to be going the Ryan Grant route–he may very well be a better pro than he was a Notre Dame–Jonas has a size/speed combo that the NFL loves. This team has already had four games of racking up over 500 yards, and I can see it happening two or three more times.

2.) I think I was disappointed in the defense overall. Yeah, Air Force has one of the most diversified offenses in the country, and yeah, the starters only gave up 19 points, but we are supposed to be seeing an athletic upgrade on the Irish defense this year, and the Falcons got to the edge repeatedly, while putting up yards by land, sea, and air. Hell, G.I. Joe couldn’t have done any better. Fast and athletic defenses don’t get beaten to the edge. Not like that. The Irish still “give” too much, especially in secondary responsibilities (cushions for receivers, or not coming up to play the run quick enough), and you better believe that Matt Barkley is chomping at the bit to get a shot at this defense.

3.) Way to play, Jamoris Slaughter. Ripping that ball out on Air Force’s first carry was a thing of beauty, and the interception was pretty nice too. An impressive display of athleticism, and the Blarney wishes BK could clone you and Blanton to play all four secondary spots. Actually, clone you twice so you can take the nickel and dime spots as well.

4.) I think Andrew Hendrix needs to run some gassers for punishment. Such and impressive debut running and throwing, but you could have had 80 and a touchdown instead of 78, if you hadn’t run out of breath, and stumbled toward the end there. (Either that, or you stumbled because you were checking to see if you would get caught from behind, I’m not sure which.) Both are punishable by gassers, either you need to increase the endurance, or you didn’t finish a play like you should. Oh, and sometime soon, let’s see that downfield throwing arm.

5.) I think I am interested to see how this offensive line plays against some NFL bodies up front. Purdue and Air Force don’t apply, but USC, while nowhere near what they were during the Carroll era, can provide that. The Irish o-line is keeping Tommy’s jersey clean, and opening huge holes in the running game, but I want to see it against legitimate skill before I declare it near the elite level.

The Irish just had to open a season with high expectations 0-2, didn’t they? There could be no other way. Otherwise, media types and college football fans would have nowhere to go with witty banter, one-liner sarcasm, and other snarky comments. Notre Dame is just more interesting to talk about on a national level (even over other traditional powers such as Oklahoma or Nebraska-they don’t get the national commentary that ND is inclined to get). The Irish move the meter. They are Charlie Sheen. Everyone other program is Jon Cryer. One elicits an emotion-positive for one-half of the country, negative for the other half. The other has his small group of fans, and then nobody else cares. Who do you think is more likely to get roasted? You guessed it.

So, because Notre Dame is interesting, people talk about them-and their expectations- a lot in the preseason. Sometimes the expectations are low, but mostly they are at least somewhat high. Then, if the Irish don’t meet expectations, everything is still okay, because the door is now open for people to take their shots. They don’t hold back either, we’re talking Mike Tyson-to-the-groin shots. Something worthy of 20 million views on Youtube.

It’s commentary like this:

“Unrealistic expectations have been killing Notre Dame coaches and lining the pockets of therapists for too long now. The people who rank Notre Dame (0-2 on your television dial) in the top 25 before every season are the same people who pine for the days of the Cold War and a Saturday night spent with “Hee Haw.” There’s a chance — a small chance, but a chance — that removing Notre Dame from consideration from polls and eliminating the Irish from the incessant public cacophony of prognostication will allow them to go about their business in relative calm.

It’s the Zen approach: If there are no expectations, there can be no disappointment. ”

Basically, it’s talk that centers around “it’s a new era, with new football powers, and Notre Dame can no longer compete on the same level”. Irish fans have heard every reason in the book: Academics, weather, religious overtones, geography, etc.

The question is, where does reality lie? Is the “Notre Dame is dead” commentary real, or is it just rhetoric that even its own authors will turn against with “Return to Glory!” claims should the Irish get hot on the field?

This will sound cliche, but the truth is probably somewhere in the middle. ND can win, but at this point there are better “destination jobs” in college sports.

Here are the facts:

-The right coach is needed. That doesn’t mean hiring one with a championship ring. It means finding a coach ready to break through. Bob Stoops, Jim Tressel, Pete Carroll, and Urban Meyer were not “sure things” when they landed the jobs that would turn them into “sure things”.

-Notre Dame is no longer, and never will be, what they were under Rockne, Leahy, or Parseghian. Competiton is too strong, and kids have too many options. The game is more sophisticated, with more good players and coaches than ever. The war for recruiting is a bloodbath. (There is a 5-star recruit this cycle from Ohio that was committed to the Buckeyes. Tressel got forced out, and the kid signed with Michigan. A Buckeye that became a Wolverine. Woody Hayes would rather have licked a toilet seat than see that happen. But, that is how things go these days, kids are not bound by tradition like the old days.

-They can be what they were under Holtz. They can be in the championship picture. Notre Dame still has an awful lot of appeal, and that is without winning for 20 years. What if they actually did something on the field?

-The academic thing can be an issue. Notre Dame alumni like to think “Come here, play football, get a degree in four years, and no matter what, you’ll be set with a good job for life-how can you turn down that opportunity?” That has an appeal to some kids. But, most stud recruits see football itself as their calling. Class is like a hemorrhoid that most be put up with. ND is going to have to let some “borderline” kids in, much as they did for Holtz, or the talk about keeping up with the Alabamas of the world will be true. If the adminstration is willing to “play ball” ND can compete.

-Geography is an issue. The best kids play in the South. With plenty of institutions that have sex appeal (and I don’t mean the student body, though that helps), making it an easy choice for recruits to stay close to home. ND knows it has to recruit nationally. They must be able to pluck talented kids from every region. Weis showed ND can still get skill players from just about any state they want. Kelly started to show thet can get defensive line talent from the South last cycle, but he had to work magic to do so (he made 300lb Stephon Tuitt disappear, and reappear in a single day-suck it, David Copperfield). If he can continue that success, ND can compete.

-Yep, South Bend winters suck. It may scare off some kids, but the Irish have always been able to recruit California, and even has a certain stud linebacker from Hawaii that was willing to trade pineapples for a winter coat. So, weather is an issue, but it is doubtful that it can keep Notre Dame from making a run.

Look, the fact is, Notre Dame is a challenge. It needs the right coach (same as everywhere else, Florida wasn’t winning with Ron Zook), must balance the academic issue (don’t announce it to the world, but let some kids in that run a 4.4 and need a lot of tutor help), must recruit in the warm-weather states (they have done so, but not at the level needed), and maybe, just maybe, start spraying CFCs to screw up some weather patterns.

However, unless Brian Kelly bombs (he fits the “right coach” criteria, he took Cincinnati to BCS bowls), the Blarney doesn’t think Notre Dame expectations need to go the way of the newspaper. As of now, the Irish can still win.