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.

(Note: I know articles have been recruiting heavy, but that is what is going on for Notre Dame until February.)

Brian Kelly is getting his introduction into big time college football recruiting as we speak. Trying to make his message stick over the likes of guys like Nick Saban-who would probably devour his own young to sign the next Tim Tebow. (In other words, he’s not in the non-competitive world of Kansas anymore, battling the likes of, well, Kansas for a recruit’s services.)

Recruiting is a dog eat dog world, and there are numerous challenges when going against the big boys.

For example:

Battling the new recruiting king, Lane Kiffin-who basically has a Stephen Hawking-like genius when it comes to understanding the whims of young men, and how to recruit them. Long has it been known that recruits can be enticed by beautiful women to campus. Beautiful naked women. Beautiful naked women that will serve pleasure for no cost at all, all night long. (Heretofore known as the Jesus Shuttlesworth Treatment.) But, evil genius Lane took it even a step further. He didn’t even wait to get the recruits on campus. He sent beautiful women to the high schools of the recruits he coveted, in order to get them acquainted. Throwing ridiculously hot women (the kind of hot these kids probably haven’t seen before) into the laps of these kids when they are 16 and 17 years old-how could they say no to this?

Come to UT, boys!

Is Kelly ready for the battle?

I still hear the talk of people that think Urban Meyer may want to leave Florida for ND.

Really, people?

It won’t happen. Not in a week, not in a month, not in a year, not in twenty years. Not because the SEC is tough. Not because evil-genius Saban just whipped him. Not because Tim Tebow is moving on.

Because for all those negatives I mentioned, there is a way to overcome them.

Recruiting. Florida has all the players Meyer needs right at his doorstep. And Meyer has his ways to them (versus the challenges of recruiting at ND).

Let me illustrate.

What to talk about on a recruiting trip to Florida:

“Come here, score some touchdowns on Saturdays, get in on this action, and have fun on your way to the NFL.”

What to talk about on a recruiting trip to ND:

“Get your degree son.”

Now imagine yourself as a know-it-all 18-year old that has no doubt you’re going to play in the NFL. You think class is okay, buy you’re not a huge fan. Which option are you going to pick?

Being in the running for 3 out of the last 4 national championships says that the kids are picking Florida’s message. Attracting teenage football players to that school is akin to selling a sprinkled-doughnut to Homer Simpson.

That’s why Meyer didn’t head to South Bend in 2004, and why he isn’t leaving Florida now. It’s also why ND is still searching for answers.