Happy 20th Anniversary Tim

It was 20 years to the date on December 5th (Yes, I was a day late because I was away on business) that Notre Dame had its 7th Heisman Trophy winner in Tim Brown. In fact, Tim was the first, true wide receiver to win the award. He graduated a year too soon before the Irish won their last National Championship in 1988.

The single attribute that sets the great football player apart from the merely good one is the ability to turn a game around on one play. More than any other college star of the 1987 season, Tim Brown possessed this rare talent, and it is for this reason that he was the 53rd winner of college football's most coveted individual award, The Heisman Trophy. Brown, who did everything on a football field except sell tickets, is the seventh Trophy recipient from Notre Dame, which is tied with USC for the most Heisman winners. He caught passes, ran back punts and kickoffs, rushed when necessary, and drove any defense to distraction just by being on the field. At 6 feet and 195 pounds, Brown is not huge by football standards. But he possessed great speed, elusiveness in the open field, sure hands and a fine grasp of the strategy and tactics of what is in reality a complex game. "He is," says Lou Holtz, "the most intelligent player I've ever been around." As a measure of Brown's versatility, consider these statistics through the first nine games of the season: 32 pass receptions for 729 yards and 3 touchdowns; 29 rushes for 133 yards and a touchdown; and three touchdowns. Tim was drafted by the Oakland Raiders as their number one pick in the 1988 NFL Draft.

Congrats Tim on what was truly a wonderful football career!

South Dakota Game Preview

Game 7: South Dakota (3-4) at #7 Notre Dame (5-1)
Date: Tuesday, December 2nd
Time: 7:30 p.m. (EST)

Despite not having the services of Luke Harangody for the second straight contest, Notre Dame should not have too much trouble with first year Division I foe South Dakota.

As was the case on Sunday against Furman, the Fighting Irish will have to rough it for at least one more night as Harangody is still battling the effects of pneumonia. It showed during the first 14 minutes of the contest before Kyle McAlarney started heating up where he left off in Hawaii. The senior guard almost broke his 3-point FG mark as he connecting on nine in 28 minutes of action. He finished the game with 32 points.

South Dakota like to play an uptempo game as they average 74.7 points a contest, which plays into the hands of the Irish. Unfortunately for the Coyotes, they can not hold their opponents either. They are giving up 72.7 points, 42.8 FG%, and 38.5 3FG, a night to their opposition.

Notre Dame, meanwhile, is playing at midseason form behind the sharp shooting of McAlarney, the toughness of Harangody and Zach Hillesland, and the steady play of guard Tory Jackson.

Currently the Irish rank high nationally in several categories:
1st Assist-to-Turnover Ratio (1.9)
6th Turnovers (9.8)
15th Assists (18.7)
17th Scoring (84.7)
27th 3pt. FG (40.4%)

This one should be over very quickly as Coach Mike Brey will empty his bench and give quality minutes for guys like Tim Abromitis, Tyrone Nash, and Carleton Scott. Anything less than a 30-point victory will be disappointing.

South Dakota Coyotes
Head Coach: Dave Boots (538-226), 21st season

Last Season: 22-7 in Division II

STRENGTHS
The Coyotes do have a strong nucleus back from their 22-7 squad of a season ago. South Dakota starts three seniors, a junior and one freshmen.

Junior forward Tyler Cain provides the scoring and muscle for the Coyotes. He has three double-doubles so far this season and had 16 last season for South Dakota.

WEAKNESSES
Entering their first season of Division I basketball, South Dakota is going to experience a few bumps and bruises. The talent level will be quite noticeable when they face bigger squads.

Projected Starters

South Dakota
C Steve Smith 8.3 ppg, 4.7 rpg
F Tyle Cain 16.1 ppg, 11.1 rpg
F Dylan Grimsley 11.6 ppg, 6.0 rpg
G Jesse Becker 12.6 ppg, 3.6 apg
G Louie Krogman 15.1 ppg, 4.4 rpg

Notre Dame
F Zach Hillesland 6.7 ppg, 6.7 rpg
F Luke Zeller 7.8 ppg, 5.7 rpg
G Ryan Ayers 10.0 ppg, 2.8 rpg
G Tory Jackson 14.3 ppg, 5.7 apg
G Kyle McAlarney 19.7 ppg, 3.8 apg

Patience is a Virtue

Axl Rose and Guns N Roses were very wise men. All we need is a little patience, ooh, oh, yeah! Patience! After the Irish lost last Saturday to Marquette, fans on the message boards and on sports talk radio were saying that Notre Dame is not good and blah, blah, blah. People questioning the heart of the Irish, as well as, Coach Brey was ridiculous. It was one game. Yes, one BAD game. That's all.

Then we come to last night's contest. Home court is very nice indeed to the Irish, as they extended their winning streak to 31 contests. In the first half, however, it didn't look like very good. Luke Harangody only had one point and was in foul trouble with two personals. The shots weren't falling and Cincinnati, winners of two straight coming into last night's contest, was on a roll. But back to the Guns N Roses theme; a little patience.

During intermission, Brey let his boys talk it out and work out what was not going right in the first half. It must have worked because they came out smoking. In a tale of two halves, the Irish let it rain, as they shot 69% from the floor, including 6-of-9 from 3 pt. range, to improve to 13-3 overall and 3-1 in Big East action. Harangody got on track, as well as, Kyle McAlarney, as they both finished with 25 and 22 points, respectively.

So the morale of the story is this. Have some patience with this team and they'll surprise ya. An Irish squad that is fourth and seventh in the nation in assists and rebound margin is not a fluke. The Irish have team chemistry and the desire to beat anybody in the country. I'm not saying that what happened in Milwaukee can happen again. It's a possibility, but highly doubt it will happen again, at least this season.

Georgetown is next at the Irish friendly MCI Arena in Washington. Luke Harangody is large enough to tussle with Roy Hibbert and that alone is worth watching. But the Irish hustle and knock down shots, watch out! But all we need is a little patience, because good things will happen.

Tenuta Will Supply Impact with a Punch

New assistant head coach John Tenuta has been a mastermind of defenses for a long time. When Charlie Weis met up with Tenuta to discuss the possibilities of him roaming the Irish sidelines next season, it seemed too good to be true. But once the agreement was made, Notre Dame Football changed for the better defensively.

According to Sports Illustrated's Stewart Mandel, Tenuta is considered one of top assistant coaches in the nation that will have an immediate impact of his respective school. He was rated # 2 behind Texas' Wil Muschamp. Here's what Mandel had to say,

"One of the biggest surprises of the off-season was that Tenuta -- one of the nation's most respected defensive coordinators at Georgia Tech, who was, at one point, rumored to be following Les Miles to Michigan -- wound up taking a non-coordinator job.

However, while Corwin Brown remains Notre Dame's coordinator, it's clear Charlie Weis went out of his way find a spot for Tenuta (secondary coach Bill Lewis was moved to an administrative post), whose blitz-heavy defenses he's faced first-hand past two seasons. And Tenuta will almost certainly play a significant role. There's no question the Irish's long-struggling defense could use his type of spark."

Tenuta's help with the linebackers and the defense as a whole with Coordinator Corwin Brown, will give the Irish a mean streak that hasn't been around South Bend, since the late 80's, early 90's.

Our first glimpse of Notre Dame's new look defense will be displayed April 19th, during the Blue and Gold game. Tenuta and Brown will bring back the fight in the Fighting Irish!

Bracket, Schmacket: Irish a Solid #4 Seed

The madness has begun: Which team is in, which is out? Who's on the bubble? What's their RPI? What was their record over their last ten games? For Notre Dame that will be simple - Yes, 19 RPI, and 8-2. For others that might not be that simple.

During the latest installments of Bracketology and whatnot, the 52 brackets that are currently available have the Irish sitting comfortably at a #4 seed. Playing in one of the best conferences in the nation, the Big East has a solid seven teams in, with a possible eight. Here are what the current bracket averages are for each of the conference members:

2 seed - Georgetown
3 seed - Louisville
4 seed - Notre Dame and Connecticut
6 seed - Marquette
7 seed - Pittsburgh
9 seed - West Virginia
12 seed - Syracuse

Possible opponents the Irish could be look at are Virginia Commonwealth, George Mason, Oral Roberts, and Stephen F. Austin.

As the week goes on, Notre Dame's projected seed will not go any lower than a 4. With a win or two, the Fighting Irish could sneak into a three seed. Whatever the case may be, Notre Dame is going to be on quite a few bracket pools for a Sweet 16 appearance!

Irish Greats Headline Nominee List for College Football Hall of Fame

The National Football Foundation (NFF) announced today the names of 75 players and eight coaches who comprise the 2008 Football Bowl Subdivision Ballot (formerly Division I-A) for induction into the College Football Hall of Fame. The list of who’s who had some Irish flavor with three greats from way back and one of the best coaches ever to grace Notre Dame.

Among the 75 player candidates were offensive greats, Tim Brown (1984-87), Dave Casper (1971-73), and Jim Seymour (1966-68), while Lou Holtz (1986-96) was one of the eight nominees for the Hall of Fame coaches.

The FBS Hall of Fame Class will be announced live on ESPNEWS at a press conference in New York City's prestigious Waldorf Astoria on May 1 and inducted at The National Football Foundation's Annual Awards Dinner on December 9, 2008 also at the Waldorf Astoria. They will be officially enshrined at the Hall in South Bend in the summer of 2009.

Notre Dame was one of eight schools to have three players nominated for the Hall of Fame, while Arizona State, Michigan State, Nebraska, Purdue, Tennessee, Southern California, and UCLA, round out the other.

Tim Brown, Notre Dame-Wide Receiver-Two- time First Team All-America (1986-87) - unanimous in 1987 and won 1987 Heisman Trophy... 1987 Walter Camp Player of the Year... Set 19 school records during his four-year career.

Dave Casper, Notre Dame-Tight End-Named 1973 consensus First Team All-America... Played on 1973 National Championship Team... 1973 ND Offensive MVP and recorded 21 receptions for 335 yards and four touchdowns in career .

Jim Seymour, Notre Dame-Wide Receiver- Two-time First Team All-America selection (1967- 68)... Led the team in receiving from 1966-68... Holds Notre Dame's receiving record for pass receptions in a game (13) and receiving yards in a game (276).

Lou Holtz- William & Mary (1969-71), NC State (1972-75), Arkansas (1977-83), Minnesota (1984-85), Notre Dame (1986-96), South Carolina (1999-2004) -Ranked eighth among all-time coaches in career wins (249)... Only coach in NCAA history to lead six different programs to bowl games and four different programs to final Top 20 rankings... Led Notre Dame to 1988 national championship.

IBB Weekly Motivator: Week 8

Wouldn't be something if Bob Davie was calling this game on ABC? ND's last three Head Coaches in Seattle battling it out. Does anyone want to place their bets on this happening?