Three Guys in a Basement

Is this really a “must” win game for the Irish?  Aren’t all games “must” win when you are not in a conference and therefore success is based on national championships and BCS appearances?  Probably.  But I am of the mind set that every game remaining on the schedule is even more of a “must” win situtation.  Irish fans want to believe and the Irish have shown flashes of brilliance on offense this season.  But 1-1 is not where people wanted to be.  We wanted to be 2-0 going into MSU.  So, as Irish fans, we are not happy.  Last Saturday was a major punch in the gut, and I am sure it was for the team.  If the team can’t respond this week with a win, a team with a lot of promise could end up having a long season.  So, yes, to stay away from that fate, I would say that MSU is must win.  As for games after that, the Irish must win those games to keep the fan base excited, to keep recruiting going and to protect Weis’ job security.  I’m not saying Weis is in trouble right now, but when the seat was already hot at the beginning of the season, it’s always wise to just win, baby, win.  Losses only add flames to the fire.  So, yeah, I’d say this season is big, and every game from here on out, save for possibly USC, is must win.  And USC may be the game that Weis needs to have a defining moment… but that is getting way ahead of ourselves.  For now, let’s look at what’s at stake against the Spartans.

ND’s Offense vs. MSU’s Defense

Notre Dame struggled in East Lansing last year, but they moved the ball well at different points.  While they were never able to get a ground game going, the passing game worked well at times and was able to get the ball into the red zone.  What went wrong, though?  Clausen threw a couple of interceptions – one during an Irish drive and another that gave the ball to MSU with something like 20 yards to go; Floyd fumbled during another Irish drive; there was no running game; and MSU was able to be in Clausen’s face all day long.

What’s changed, seemingly, this year?  Well, for starters, Clausen seems to be comfortable in the pocket, and the line seems to be doing a decent job protecting him.  I’m not ready to say that the Irish o-line problems are over – they hadn’t given up a sack going into MSU last year – but I am ready to believe that Clausen might not spend half of the afternoon with his face in the grass.  Further, Floyd is one of the best receivers in the country.  A year ago, he was just a freshman in his third game.  This year, he’s a beast.  I honestly think he is the most talented player on the team.  If he is healthy, he will either be double covered, leaving Tate or Rudolph open to do damage, or will be left open to just own the man covering him.  I look forward to that.  Especially since MSU’s biggest weakness is their secondary (does it seem like you can write that every week?).  Beyond that, the Irish may actually have a running game.  Last week, Armando Allen looked like a beast as he went around the ends and between the tackles, breaking several tackles on his way to 130+ yards.  If the Irish can establish a running game again this week, they may actually have finally found a balanced attack that will keep opponents guessing and allow Clausen more time to pass as teams will have to respect the run.

ND’s Defense vs. MSU’s Offense

The Spartans’ are using a two-QB system and are using two more running backs to try to replace Javon Ringer.  While the wide receivers are pretty good, the strength of the ND defense is supposed to be the secondary.  The hope here is that the Irish will continue to use the blitz to put pressure on the quarterbacks.  If the Irish can get to the QB early, then it may change the dynamic of which QB is going to see the field more (one is more of a scrambler than the other).  If the Irish force the Spartans’ to use their more mobile QB (Keith Nichol, a transfer from Oklahoma), then the Irish will have to do something that they failed to do last week at crucial times – stay in their pursuit lanes, wrap up and tackle.  The Irish cannot miss tackles in their current blitzing scheme because they have opened themselves up to big plays (think Forcier going 31 yards for the score on 4th & 3 last weekend).  If they can make tackles, I think that the defense should be able to slow the Spartan attack down.

Special Teams

The Irish and the Spartans can partially blame special teams for their losses last week.  For the Irish, it was the short punt with the game on the line and the 94 yard kickoff return.  For the Spartans, it was the failure to recover the onside kick against Central Michigan.  While Tausch missed his first field goal, a chip shot, he was able to make his two longer field goals later.  I have confidence that he will make many more field goals than he will miss.  However, the Irish need him to kick the ball longer on kickoffs, and to keep the ball in the air long enough that the pursuit teams can get down field.  And, whatever happens, we need Tausch to be there to make a tackle or slow down a return man in the chance that he has broken through the first wave of tacklers.

What is important for the Irish special teams this week is field position.  Tausch and Maust need to get the ball downfield and help put the Spartans deep in their territory.  The Irish also need to make tackles before the retunr man for the Spartans is able to get into the open field.  For the last year, that hasn’t been much of a problem, but the Irish really opened themselves up to that last week and it helped cost them the game.

Intangibles

This part is hard to gage.  The Irish played well enough on offense last week that they should have won.  There were times where the officiating left something to be desired, where the game management can be questioned, and where the breaks really were beating the boys.  But they never gave up.  They came back from two 11-point deficits.  That was the most heart I’ve seen from an Irish team in a while.  The team that came back from those deficits in the hostile environment at the Big House was not the same team that lost momentum last year when things didn’t go their way.  The question is if that change was only for that one game, or if the Irish are going to come out this week and sock it to the Spartans.  If they can do that, I expect a big season still.  If they fail, it could be a long year.  The players know that, I am sure.  I expect them to come out fired up.  As for the Spartans, they lost to Central Michigan last weekend and will be out to prove this weekend that they are a good team.  The Irish will need to be able to put them in their place if the Irish hope to beat the Spartans for the first time at Notre Dame Stadium since 1993.  I think that they will.  Hell, the video below should be enough to motivate the Irish to beat the living snot out of the Spartans.

Notre Dame 41 vs. MSU 27

Filed under: Notre Dame