IRISH BLOGGER GATHERING: I Strongly Dislike Michigan

Yeah… I’m back on the beat. It’s fairly late on Thursday so I’ll save you from the normal lead in to a post of this nature. If you really need it, please check out Her Loyal Sons and their intro (it’s all about delegation).

LET’S IBG THIS THING BRO…

Frank Vitovitch, UHND: What must the Notre Dame defense do on Saturday to prevent Devin Garnder from having another career performance against Notre Dame similar to what we’ve seen happen in the past with both Gardner (last year) and Denard Robinson (2010, 2011) before him?

Well, I’ll take the 2012 blueprint; even if our personnel may not allow that type of performance to happen. Still, the Irish need to put enough pressure on Gardner to allow him to repeat some of the dumb mistakes he made during the season last year, while at the same time, staying home and shutting down “the big scramble.” It’s a delicate balance, but certainly one that Notre Dame is capable of doing. It’s hard to say exactly with a new defense that we have yet to see begin to open up the playbook.

Mike Coffey (El Kabong), ND Nation: Given that this is the last scheduled game, how do you feel about the series with Michigan ending, and what priority should ND put on getting them back on the schedule?

Honestly, I kind of don’t care. I’m tired of living in the past if the past comes with a pair of concrete boots. The times are changing and scheduling is becoming increasingly difficult with the way the conferences are heading to more conference games and the whole playoff system. I’ve always enjoyed the Michigan series, but for me at least, it ranks 3rd behind USC and Michigan State. If the Irish are going to play more than one Big Ten team a year, than Michigan should be on the schedule. If not, they need to be a part of some type of rotating schedule. Notre Dame is moving forward in this area, and the proof is future games with Georgia, Texas, and now Ohio State. I’m more than “ok” with this move.

Aaron Horvath, Official ND Blog: Let’s compare two games during the Brian Kelly era – the USF game and the Rice game. Does the way that the Irish systematically blew out the Owls show how far the Program has come since Kelly took over? What has he done to create a consistent winning environment? What does he still need to do?

I really hate trying to take one game and making conclusions about an “era” with just that one 60 minute performance. Oh… you included two games. In that case, I give you 2013 Temple (which was a painful victory) and 2012 Navy which was the biggest opening day blowout of the Kelly era. None of these games (and you can throw in 2010 Purdue) were against top 25 quality team, so it’s hard to gauge anything. The difference is Everett Golson. Brian Kelly has a real quarterback for his offense and that seems to help the offense, which obviously helps the team.

NDTex, Her Loyal Sons: Everett Golson certainly put on quite a show against Rice. Should we temper optimism because it was just Rice or can we dare to dream of Heisman campaigns?

GHOLSON. Make that subtle change to his name now and build the hype. It was Rice, but it was a hefty stat building performance that guys like Manziel and Winston have had during their campaigns. Golson needs to continue to put up numbers and win. With Notre Dame’s tough, tough schedule, Golson will either be at the top of the list in mid-October, or not even mentioned. Should we jump on the train right now though? Well, hell yes we should.

My question to the group and to you is this: Regardless to any historical or personal interest in this game, rate the level of importance this Saturday night’s matchup has for this season. What will define this season more, a win or a loss?

Go ahead and beat your head against the wall.

Bonus: Go on a Michigan hate rant and/or give a favorite memory of the series.

I don’t have a rant to give. I’m pretty gassed out this late in the week, but I do drop enough “FUCK MICHIGAN” yells during the week to make Andrew Dice Clay blush.

As far as a favorite memory goes, I guess I had several, but after I thought about it for a minute, all of those games were ones that I attended and attended with my Dad. So, I’ll just leave this here as one of the few as we invaded Skunkbear Territory and left in decent health minus a late afternoon hangover, and severe sunburn on my dad’s bald as a baby’s ass head. HOLLA!