Game Day Rear View: "OUch"

Final Score

OU: 35

ND: 21

In my pre-game analysis, I highlighted the key matchup between Fightin' Irish DT Louis Nix and Sooners C Gabe Ikard.  I also hoped and prayed that BK would let Cam "Mr. Texas" McDaniel spin against the inferior Oklahomans.  Finally, I said our LBs would have to play a hell of a game against Bell.  Unfortunately... I was (mostly) right.

Nix held his own against Ikard, but the Sooner senior had a much better second go-round against Irish Chocolate.  Stoops also expertly schemed his way around Nix by finding creative blocking combos that worked well against ND's big fella.

Cam never got a chance to let loose, partly because Tommy Gun became Tommy Turnover twice in the first two minutes of the game, and partly because GAIII was simply feelin' it.  Still, did ND really have to go five-wide on every down with the entire fourth quarter left to erase a 14 point deficit?  OU's defense is fast but undersized.  ND failed to take advantage of prime opportunities to wear them down by pounding the ball straight ahead with Cam the Man.  BK may have pushed the panic button just a bit too fast by resorting to a pass-only catch-up-quick-or-bust offense... something I fear is just his style.

Bell played well.  Still, he was no Devon Gardner.  He did exploit the lack of speed in the middle of ND's defense, though.  I compared Carlo to molasses in my pre-game prediction, then I started to feel bad, but now I feel justified.  Losing Manti left a gaping hole that hasn't been filled.  The end result?  Quick slants go for 50+ yard touchdowns.  

Final Outlook: 2013 Notre Dame Football is not 2012 Notre Dame Football.  That point is settled.  Still, this is a good young team and they will be fun to watch down the stretch.  My advice to fans: Shelve your BCS dreams 'til Golson's glorious return next year, and simply enjoy watching the up-and-coming stars on this squad fight for respect.  We're still ND, so find your friends in the Stadium Lots and keep raising your pint glasses to the Fightin' Irish each Saturday.  I'll see you all in Texas next weekend!  G'Irish!

Score Prediction: The Sooners v. The Better

Last season, haters all around the country still considered #5 Notre Dame a pretender until the Fighting Irish upended the #8 Sooners in Norman, OK.  This season, those same haters point to Alabama's domination in the national championship as proof that they were right all along. 

Nobody beats the Boz,
except everybody beats the Boz.

Saturday's matchup between #12/14 OU and #22 ND can serve the same function as it did last year, though it will take place against a very different backdrop.  Everyone is waiting for the underperforming Irish to give up the fight and fold, but this game will let Brian Kelly's squad show their true colors in front of their emerald-clad home crowd.  Domers like to ask each other, "What would you fight for?"  This week, they fight for respect.  The outcome of this pivotal game, and the trajectory of the season, will depend on a few key matchups analyzed below:

But first, a look at my favorite answers from last year's newsok.com poll asking OU fans why they hate Notre Dame:

Jeff O'Dell from Ada, OK: “I'm a third generation hater. I learned this from my Grandpa, who hated Texas (naturally) Notre Dame and USC. Notre Dame because of OU's poor record against them and the fact that they ended the 47-game win streak. For me it's also the elite private school aspect of Notre Dame that helps me be a hater.”

Rex Renfrow from Atlanta, GA: “It is Touchdown Jesus. It is the homer announcers on CBS (NBC). It is the over rated hype they receive. Whatever, I hate Notre Dame.”

Notre Dame Fightin' Irish v. Oklahoma Sooners

Saturday, Sep. 28, 3:30 p.m. ET, Notre Dame, IN

Key Matchup:  Fightin' Irish DT Louis Nix III v. Sooners C Gabe Ikard: In this rematch of last season's battle between the best nose guard and the best center in college football, Nix needs a repeat performance of what may have been the best game of his career.  If he pushes the middle of the Sooner line back on a consistent basis, the game will fall squarely on Bell's shoulders.  He may be bigger than your average QB, but he comes nowhere close to Devon Gardner's speed.  It all comes back to Big Lou, and if Irish Chocolate gets the job done the rest of his speedy front seven (with the exception of Carlo "Molasses" Calabrese) should be able to chase "Bell Dozer" down before he can make game-breaking plays.  

Fightin' Irish Offense v. Sooner Defense: LET CAM RUN!  OU gave up 7 yards a carry against West Virginia.  The Fighting Irish O-Line is much bigger and better than their Mountaineer counterparts.  Plus, Cam McDaniel was "Mr. Texas" in high school.  You're telling me you don't want to give Mr. Texas the ball at least 20 times against Oklahoma?  There's not much Texans love more than running over Sooners.

Fightin' Irish Defense v. Sooner Offense:  Diaco's defense simply needs to play faster and tougher against Bell.  The Sooners QB has completed 70% of his passes thus far this season (albeit for only 451 yards).  If he connects on most of his short passes on Saturday, Notre Dame's loyal sons and daughters will be in for a long night (although they will look good regardless while wearing green).  The LBs will be key to this game, as they must prevent the short passes that Bell will look for as he also tests their ability to contain and tackle when he rolls out.  I'm feeling a big game for freshman phenom Jaylon Smith as he trumps Bell's experience with pure athleticism.

Final Outcome:  Cam The Man shows Oklahoma why they shouldn't mess with Texas, and a much more accurate Tommy consistently finds whichever receiver Gabe Lynn isn't covering on that particular play.  The Fighting Irish offense finally clicks, and the defense does just enough to keep Bell from pulling a Gardner.

Score Prediction:
Fightin' Irish: 34

Sooners: 24

Fightin' Words: Sour Sooners

Don't get me wrong... 
This Saturday's matchup between #5 Notre Dame and #8 OU is a big deal (and I didn't need ESPN to tell me that by featuring the Fightin' Irish on College GameDay for the 2nd time in 3 weeks).  

The outcome of this game will largely determine Kelly's chances at leading his team to the promised land come January, and Norman, OK will undoubtedly serve as archetypal proving grounds upon which will the fate of the season rests.

I find this game riveting due to the fact that OU has been considered much more of a football powerhouse than Notre Dame has of late, and it presents the proudly independent Fightin' Irish with an opportunity to show the world they can hang with the big boys in any conference (let's not forget the recent dismantling that left the Big 10 (B1G?) in shambles at the hands of Notre Dame, along with the destruction of recent Pac 12 powerhouse Stanford, and the forthcoming annihilation of everyone's favorite Pac 12 pretty-boy-poster-children (albeit Spoiled poster-Children), in addition to the inevitable embarassment of our new friends in the ACC... all within the same season).  When all is said and done, adding the Big 12 to our Kill List just might boost our resume enough to make Mark May shut up (actually... probably not).

What I do not feel as this game approaches, however, is any sense of animosity towards OU (other than disapproval of the relatively loose academic and moral standards with which their football program has been run historically).  Maybe I'm too young to appreciate the history of the ND v. OU series (which means the players, and even Kelly probably are too) but nothing gets me particularly riled up when I hear "Boomer Sooner!" or see the Sooner Schooner take the field (not gonna lie... that part is actually pretty cool).

As you may expect, I was beyond surprised to learn that OU fans apparently HATE NOTRE DAME! Now, I'm not sure if Sooner Boosters hate the Fightin' Irish more than the average ND Hater, but I'll let you decide for yourself with this collection of bulletin board material collected from newsok.com:

David Allen from Mustang, OK: “My own dislike with the Noters stems from what I call the Notre Dame spot. If they need a few inches for a first down against Slippery Rock, the refs oblige. Instant replay has curbed some of this activity.” 

Not sure where he was going with that "Slippery Rock" reference, but here's a fun fact: David won the Mustang, OK Spelling Bee with his close-enough spelling of "the Noters."(Also note the classic Oklahoman usage of "oblige")

Mike Shockley from Oklahoma City, OK: “My hatred of Notre Dame comes from the fact that they haven't been relevant in football since the early ‘90s and are still considered a powerhouse or blue blood. The amount of media attention and money that the football program raises is unbelievable considering they have largely been terrible save a few years here and there.”

Which is it, Mike?  Powerhouse, or Blue Blood?  Do you know the difference?  Oh, and two words: television ratings...

Mark Hall from Owasso, OK: “It is partly the breaking of the streak. The biggest reason is that they are treated specially. The BCS had special rules for them. And if they had just joined the Big Ten, then the Big Ten wouldn't have taken Nebraska. Then maybe Nebraska joins muscle with OU and others to get a better deal with Texas and a league network of some sort. Instead, Notre Dame thinks that their football program is so special it should stand alone.”

C'mon, Mark!  You just made me throw up in my mouth a little bit when you mentioned Notre Dame in the B1G.  Sorry I'm not sorry we couldn't succumb to such filth so you could leach off your arch-rival for a "better deal."  Have some self respect!

Rex Renfrow from Atlanta, GA: “It is Touchdown Jesus. It is the homer announcers on CBS (NBC). It is the over rated hype they receive. Whatever, I hate Notre Dame.”

I'm not sure if those are sentences.  I'm also not sure why OKNews decided to throw a resident of Atlanta in the mix, but at least it shows how irrelevant we are on the national scene... oh wait... Seriously though, hating on Our Lord and Savior TDJ?!  Blasphemy!  (And just to clarify it for you, Rex, our lucrative television contract is with NBC, which as a corporate entity is distinct from CBS.

Jeff O'Dell from Ada, OK: “I'm a third generation hater. I learned this from my Grandpa, who hated Texas (naturally) Notre Dame and USC. Notre Dame because of OU's poor record against them and the fact that they ended the 47-game win streak. For me it's also the elite private school aspect of Notre Dame that helps me be a hater.”

This one is so Oklahoman (naturally), I can't even touch it.

Matthew Allen from Oklahoma City, OK: “As a younger OU fan, my dislike for Notre Dame stems from the following: They're killing us in the series; they bookend The Streak; they are the benefactors of some of the most unfair, antitrust violating, undeserved, borderline cheating treatment out of any program ever. Their SPECIAL BCS rules are the biggest scam happening in college football right now, and people act like it's just A-OK. Like it's a part of the landscape. Why do they get better rules than everyone else? Why don't people talk about this more?”

Whoa! I didn't think they taught their young'uns big words like "benefactors" or "antitrust" (or "lanscape") in good ol' Oklahoma...  Let's be real though, Matthew... people do "talk about this more" so I think you can relax with the capital letters now.

Caymen Bishop (location unknown): “I am a big OU fan, but I am not mad at the 1-8 record, or them snapping our losing streak, or because they're Catholic. I hate Notre Dame because they didn't let Rudy play until the last game. That just really frustrated me. JUST LET THE KID SUIT UP FOR HIS SENIOR SEASON!”

Wouldn't Caymen (cool name, I'll give him that) be glad if we had in fact snapped their losing streak?  I'm pretty sure he is referencing the aforementioned 47 game OU winning streak the Fightin' Irish broke.  I'm glad he felt the need to assure us that he doesn't hate Catholics, though.  Finally, I think he might be missing the point of the heartwarming story / almost entirely fabricated cinematic masterpiece that is Rudy.

Score Prediction:

Fightin' Irish: 24

Sour Sooners: 14