The Mouth discusses football fashion, the physical rigors of blogging, and, of course, the Boston College Eagles in this week's IBG, which is brought to you by the evil geniuses at HLS. Give 'em a read.
1. Having actually seen the uniforms in the wild on Saturday night, what are your final thoughts regarding them? Does Ronald Darby stating that he liked them change your views on trying out the different uniforms for the "Shamrock Series"?
If Ronald Darby liked those unis, I challenge him to a walk off at a place and time of his choosing, because his fashion chops are on the level of my cornerback chops. That feathering in the gold paint on the helmets was awful, just terrible, none of the shades of green matched, the shirt sleeves were flesh-colored, and it was just an all-around travesty of football fashion.
And DO NOT get Murtaugh and I started on the lack of color uniformity among the players' socks, shoes, and spats. I felt like Colonel Kurtz. "The horror."
Any time, any place, RD:
The Zoolander Walk Off (via gabbygregory)
2. Manti is clearly hobbled right now. Re-watching the game on Sunday, I barely noticed him on the field and I rarely remember Mayock or Hammonds calling his name. I believe Kelly stated in his Sunday teleconference that Manti was did not play most of the 3rd or 4th quarters. If you are BK, do you sit Manti on Saturday?
If he's ready to go, I say play him. Until we're up by 30 in the second quarter, then I say sit him. The problem is that I'm not a medical doctor or a trainer, and I'd like Te'o to be ready for Stanford. We can probably do without him this week, but if he is able to play and the coaching staff sits him and the unthinkable happens.... Well that would not be good for anyone.
The team has a staff of physical therapists and orthopaedist(s) that advises the player and coaching staff. We cannot possibly know what they do, so this is one type of decision that fans should be reticent to scrutinize too heavily.
I know that Whiskey had to consult with One Foot Down's team orthopedist, Dr. Broke Rotary Cups, before I drafted this post. After struggling with the carpal tunnel and a high-wrist sprain all week, I was a game time decision: range of motion was so-so, mobility was ok, and the pain was a 6/10, but the good doctor shot the wrists full of the cortisone and I was good to go.
3. We've seen Tommy Rees play deep into blowouts against Navy, Air Force and Maryland with Hendrix only getting a significant number of snaps in the Air Force game. Rees is only a sophomore but it seems most Irish fans take it as a foregone conclusion that Golson or Hendrix will pass Tommy going into the 2012 season. So do you agree with the use, or lack thereof, of Hendrix so far this season? Do you accept the thought that this is Rees' last year as starter?
Rees's numbers are good for a true sophomore, but his arm strength and mobility are just very limited. Recall Don't Be a Menace to South Central While Drinking Your Juice in the Hood and indulge me briefly. Remember the guy that robs the old lady of her walker, then uses the walker to make his getaway? He and the old lady would beat TR in the 40-yard dash, and I suspect either of them would give Rees a run for his money in throwing the deep out to the opposite hash.
Still, Rees has so much experience running the offense that it will be very difficult for anyone to pass him on the depth chart. Hendrix and EG-on whom you are not to sleep-have the physical talents to supplant Rees, but it will be very tough to overcome that much game experience. Kelly is talking about Rees' work on the deep ball as the next step in his development. So the coaching staff sees TR as ready to take his game to the next level, while Hendrix and EG-again, not to be slept upon-are wasting away on the bench. I'm not saying one way or the other whether Hendrix should be getting more snaps, and I definitely think that it was wise to let EG-thricely, shall I say that to be slept on he is not-redshirt. It's just a scientific fact that there is no substitute for live reps and Rees has gotten just about all of them.
Coach Kelly said yesterday that he kept in the first-team offense against the Turtles because (a) Maryland had just scored; (b) the score wasn't that out of hand; and (c) the offense needs to improve, so Kelly wanted them to get more practice. I would like to see Hendrix get more reps, but I would far prefer to see us keep our foot on the gas, crush teams by 20-plus, and develop the killer instinct. Not sure why the last guy thought that, based on some misguided interpretation of sportsmanship, we needed to kneel it out whenever we got a 10-point lead.
4. Tommy Rees needs 608 yards for 3000 passing yards on the season. Cierre Wood is 93 yards short while Jonas Gray is 270 yards short of 1000 rushing yards. Michael Floyd is 78 yards shy of 1000 receiving yards for the season. Despite SubwayDomer's insistence that bowl stats count, predict final numbers for all 4 players before the bowl. Do they all hit the milestones?
I hope that Wood and Gray exceed their marks and that Rees falls short, because if we rush for 363 over the next two games, we will probably be winning. I think everyone hits their marks by halftime of the bowl game for sure.
5. Notre Dame opens up as a 24.5 favorite for Saturday's game and this is clearly the worst Boston College team in recent memory. That said, BC absolutely loves to play spoiler when it comes to Notre Dame and this game will be the last chance for something good to happen this season. Given those two thoughts, does the margin of victory matter to you on Saturday?
Victory matters first and foremost. Playing well is second, and margin of victory third. That said, I'm assuming that we take care of business and play well-famous last words, right-so margin of victory is very important. Let's come out hot, stay hot, drop it like it's hot, and carry that momentum straight into next Saturday.
Which brings me to a gripe. If we eventually want to play in the National Championship game and consistently in upper-tier bowls, we are going to be at a disadvantage to any team that gets the extra practices and live game action that come with playing in a conference championship game. I see no solution to this, other than (a) joining a conference, or (b) playing an "Independent Conference Championship" against BYU. I don't believe that the current rules allow a conference championship unless a conference has 12 members. So there are two problems: (a) we're not a conference, to which I say, "details, schmetails"; and (b) there is no group of 12 independents that we could join together in a sort of Fellowship of the Ring. But we could use the whole, "come on, guys, it's us. Come on. COME ON. Do the right thing. We'll cut you in on some of the action. Attaboy, we knew you'd come around" approach with the NCAA to get an exception.
Bonus Question:
On a scale of 1-10, how much does Keith Arnold look like Jay Cutler? (Link of photo for reference: http://notredamegoirish.blogspot.com/2011/06/nbc-nd-beat-writers-preview-of-2011.html)
I ain't even much gonna do my boy KA like that. Disclaimer: Keith Arnold and I technically are not "boys," nor friends, nor acquaintances, well-acquainted friends, or friendly acquaintances, even if he should decide to return my calls and have the restraining order lifted.