Five Wide Fullbacks: The Reaction to Geno Smith Edition

1. Describe in GIF form how you reacted to Geno Smith's 656 passing yards and 8 touchdowns this past Saturday against Baylor.

At first I was just excited to watch a Baylor vs. West Virginia game for all the offense.

Then after a few series it was apparent that Geno Smith was going to be a machine. 'Yeah this guy is good' I said.

A quick glance at the halftime stats is best reenacted by Caddyshack fishing boat dude.

But then I cried a little for all the defense that died in Morgantown.

When I came to, I was happy again for my Heisman pick, Mr. Geno Smith.

2. On a scale of 1 to 10 how worried should Notre Dame fans be about Miami's offense which is currently averaging over 35 points per game?

As of this writing I would say a solid 7 is in order.

Before the season their offense didn't appear to be particularly threatening but Miami has had a few things come together: More explosive play from the quarterback position, playmakers stepping up at wide receiver, and decent stability on the offensive line.

I'll have more on the Canes offense this Thursday for the Game Day Countdown, but you could make a case that this is, at worst, the 3rd best offense the Irish will face this year.

3. Through the month of September, name 3 teams that are disappointing this season.

I'm not going to pile on and count Arkansas, so they're out.

How about Virginia Tech, California, and Florida International?

There's still plenty of time left in the season---and the Hokies are still 1-0 in ACC play---but this might be their first season since 2003 without double-digit wins. Losses to Pittsburgh and Cincinnati aren't helping matters. The schedule the rest of the way isn't particularly daunting, but this is shaping up to be a 8-4 season for Frank Beamer.

It looks like Jeff Tedford might be on his way out of Berkeley this season---no I'm serious. His record at Cal without Marshawn Lynch and Aaron Rodgers is pretty dreadful, he hasn't finished higher than 4th in conference play since 2006 (and they were 4th in their division last year), the Bears are sitting at 1-4 this season and still have to play UCLA, Stanford, Utah, Washington, Oregon, and Oregon State.

Mario Cristobal was one of the coaches Doing Great Things at FIU in recent years, but he probably should have taken one of those more high profile jobs after last season. His team is now 1-4, including 0-1 in conference play, and you have to wonder how impressed people will be if Florida International somehow runs the table and wins just 8 games. I'm not sure how impressive that is for Cristobal at this point.

4. Talk about Mike Riley---why do you like Mike Riley so much?

I don't know, I just do.

In fact, he was on my top five list to succeed Charlie Weis after the 2009 season. For the record I believe Gary Patterson was my number one choice, or something like that, I don't know it feels like 20 years ago now.

Back to Riley, I just have this irrational support for the guy. Maybe it was those upsets of USC and the fact that he's done more with less than most coaches in the country. I'm just glad to see his team back in the rankings after a 3-0 start because the past couple seasons have been pretty rough for the Beavers.

5. Notre Dame has difficult game left against Stanford, Oklahoma, and USC. Let's say the Irish will go 1-2 against these opponents but you get to decide which game is a victory. Which one do you pick?

I'll get rid of the OU game right away. More than the other games I think we can forgive a loss to the Sooners, on the road, in an atmosphere where Irish players haven't competed in nearly a full lifetime.

I really want to pick the Stanford game to get the Cardinal monkey off our back and (hopefully) have an undefeated season at home, but I have to pick the USC game.

It'd mean so much to beat Matt Barkely at home in his last regular season game. It might have major recruiting implications to say nothing of any possible major bowl implications.

Down with Troy in LA for sure. This is our rival.