Ryan Williams To Cardinals, Kyle Rudolph Snagged By Vikings

Two standouts from Brian and I's respective alma maters were selected during the first two days of the 2011 NFL Draft.

Virginia Tech standout running back Ryan Williams went off the board first with the 38th overall pick to the Arizona Cardinals. He joins former Ohio State rusher Beanie Wells who had some injuries last season in the backfield.

The pick surprised many "experts" but as Cardinals coach Ken Whisenhunt explained, "To be quite honest with you, we're looking at pick 38 and we've got the 15th-ranked player starting us back in the face so that's something you really have to consider."

Williams was the second running back taken after Heisman Trophy winner Mark Ingram went at No. 28 to The New Orleans Saints.

Notre Dame's versatile tight end Kyle Rudolph was selected just five picks after Williams with the 43rd pick by the Minnesota Vikings.

Rudolph joins Brian and his wife Michelle in Minneapolis after catching 90 passes for 1,032 yards and eights touchdowns during his time in South Bend.

He also joins surprising first round selection Christian Ponder. The quarterback out of Florida State went to Minnesota with the 12th overall pick.

We wish both players the best of luck and look forward to more players from both schools going in the draft today.

Hughes Win for Irish

AP Photo/Jae C. Hong

Almost nine full days later and the ND victory over arch-rival USC is still just as sweet. For the first time in eight years, the Irish knocked off the Trojans in the battle for the Jeweled Shilelagh.

Senior RB Robert Hughes came up huge in the final series for ND as the Irish offensive line helped plow the way, dominating a worn out and overmatched USC Trojan defensive line.

At times it was difficult to discern whether or not Hughes was a Jerome Bettis reincarnate or not but make no mistake about it, Hughes put on a show that the aforementioned Bettis would have been proud of.

Notre Dame took command of the game at the end of the 2nd quarter with a pair of 1-yard touchdown passes from Tommy Rees to Michael Floyd and Duval Kamara. Floyd scored with 2:29 remaining and Kamara notched one just before the horn sounded with 0:07 remaining. Kamara's score put the Irish up 13-3 at the half and seemingly in the driver's seat.

But sloppy play in the 3rd quarter allowed the Trojans to tie it up 13 apiece when Mitch Mustain converted on 4th and goal from the 1. It was the first defensive touchdown allowed by the Irish defensive in 13 quarters of play, the longest such streak since 1980.

Tommy Rees, who is undefeated as an Irish starting signal-caller at 3-0, threw 3 interceptions and lost a fumble in an otherwise ho-hum effort. However, when needed, he stepped up on the final Irish drive and connected on two passes to keep the drive alive and help the Irish overcome their short-lived deficit.

Many folks in Trojan land are writing off this loss by saying their team was without its starting quarterback. What those fans neglect to admit or realize is that the Irish were also without their starting quarterback, but instead of turning to a senior who had won 8 games in a row previously turned to a true freshman with minimal experience. Additionally, ND was without arguably the best tight end in the nation in Kyle Rudolph, running back Armando Allen, and nose guard Ian Williams.

Perhaps the biggest callout led by the men and women of Troy is that senior wideout Ronald Johnson dropped what would have surely been a go-ahead touchdown with 1:17 remaining. But with heavy rain pouring down as it had the entire evening Johnson let the ball bounce off his shoulder.

As Coach Brian Kelly said, "It was about time we caught a break."

Moments later, Harrison Smith intercepted a pass to confirm the Irish victory with :36 left.

Fitting that the Irish victory was sealed by its defense, which has gone from bottom-feeder to powerhouse in the matter of one season.

After an abysmal effort against Navy, the Irish D seemed re-energized and determined to show it could handle the triple option as it shut down Army in Yankee Stadium a few weeks ago. Similarly, the Irish D showed up big as the high-octane Utah Utes' offense was also held to just 3 points.

Make no mistake about it, the Notre Dame football team caught fire and did so at the right time of the year, finishing November with a 3-0 record, remarkable considering the back-to-back losses to Navy and Tulsa that preceded the winning streak.

The sweetest of the wins without question is the victory over USC though. In case you missed any of the action, take a look at the highlight clip below. It is slightly over-produced but overall a sound compilation of the moments that led to long overdue jubilation for fans of the Blue and Gold.

Three, It's A Magic Number

AP Photo/Darron Cummings

A third consecutive weekend has passed where the Irish squared off against a familiar rival, failing again for the second game in a row to earn a victory.

Earn is the operative word at this junction in the season and course of the program under its new Head Coach, Brian Kelly. Manti T'eo addressed the 'E' word earlier this year when he said that Coach Kelly changed the mentality of the team from Notre Dame owing them to them owing Notre Dame.

A sense of entitlement suffocated the program in the previous five years under Charlie Weis, who was most concerned with his offensive guys and getting them to the NFL rather than preparing the entire team in a succint and coherent manner.

Make no mistake about it, Coach Kelly is still in the early stages of transforming his program into the mindset of wanting to earn respect, rather than expecting it. Putting pen to paper is not as easy as it sounds, though.

As the Irish sit at 1-2 through the first quarter of their season it is clear that there is much work left to be done. Reckless turnovers, an inconsistent offensive attack, and a secondary unit still mostly out of position are among the most glaring deficiencies.

But where this team differs from recent years past is in its heart and, more importantly, its lack of entitlement. While the culture is still being adjusted the attitudes of players have already started to change (for the better).

No, I knew what I was going to get from them after the game. Look, you can't
fake losing, okay. You can't fake hurt after a game. So when I looked through
the locker room, I could tell who the phonies are, and I know the guys that it
really hurts, and those are the guys that play for me, because if it really
hurts, they want to change the way they feel about it. If it doesn't hurt, it
doesn't matter what you say to them anyway. You can say anything and it doesn't
really matter to them. This group, it hurts. They want to win, and that's why
for me we just kind of stick with what we've been talking about since day
one, and that's stay together.

What Kelly was trying to explain is that it is not that his team lacks the will or desire to win, it is that they just have not learned how to yet.

Does this remind anyone of legendary Irish coach Lou Holtz? He is famous for explaining the path his Irish team undertook from when he first took over the program in 1986 to winning a national title three years later. Transposition cannot do it justice so have a listen to the speech below.

Are Kelly's Irish going to replicate what Holtz's Irish accomplished? While it is impossible at this juncture in the Kelly era to confirm he follow the same path one thing is for certain: Brian Kelly is not Lou Holtz.

Make no mistake about it, Kelly is no Holtz clone, nor would he want to be, yet Kelly has been tasked with restoring the Irish program to heights last experienced in the Holtz era. He employs a different attack and schemes than Holtz did but there is, however, one basic characteristic both coaches share in common: attention to detail.

In the successful organization, no detail is too small to escape close attention.

Lou Holtz may be the author of that quote but Brian Kelly is certainly a student of it. You have likely heard the stories of how he changed the culture in the players' locker room by diagramming precisely where each article belonged or how hats and jewelry are prohibited there.

To Coach Kelly there are no items too minute to warrant his scrutiny. Every detail is important. Our players are learning that, too, but they are currently stuck in the 'wanting to win' stage instead of 'knowing how to win' stage.

Hold your breath a little while longer while Kelly provides his players with the tools they need to not only know how to win, but to actually go out on the field every day and do it.

Michigan Recap and Look Ahead to Michigan State

AP Photo/Michael Conroy

Much has been said about the first loss, 28-24, suffered by Coach Kelly's men last weekend at the hands of (primarily) Denard Robinson and the Michigan Wolverines.

Some people think the sky is falling. Others think it is just a blip on the radar and the Irish still have a legitimate shot at a BCS bowl game.

Here's the truth: neither of those presumptions are correct because, well, they're just presumptions. The Irish have a long road ahead of them if they want to even think about a BCS game. A bowl game is still in sight, just not necessarily one played in January.

Nobody knows for sure what the future will hold but there are a few insights that can be gleaned from the performance last weekend.

1. Dayne Crist is, without a doubt, the leader of the offense and entire Irish team. It speaks volumes that in his first year as a starter he has earned the respect of his teammates and coaches. Despite his hiatus in the first half after leading the Irish on a 71-yard scoring drive Crist rose to the occasion in the second as he led the comeback from 14 points down to within seconds of a win. He did so albeit with blurred vision. Sure, he made a few errant passes including the potential winner at the end of the game - a rocket thrown through the end zone into the stands - but without him in the second half the Irish would have lost by double digits.
2. Notre Dame does not have a capable backup quarterback. Tommy Rees filled in immediately following Crist's absence and threw an INT on a late throw off of a flea flicker. Rees is a true freshman and clearly has a ways to go until he is comfortable firing passes into coverage, let alone putting enough zip on a late pass to sneak by the secondary. With Rees' confidence shaken Coach Kelly turned to Nate Montana, son of former Irish (and NFL) legend Joe Montana. Nate was able to navigate the remainder of the first half after Rees' mishap but proved equally ineffective. Coach Kelly agreed that the onus is on him to better prepare his backups, but the bottom line is this team does not have a viable replacement if Dayne Crist is out of the lineup.
3. Stopping Denard Robinson will be a problem for any team on the Wolverines' schedule. Perhaps this comment offers not enough criticism of an Irish defense that allowed 502 total yards by the Michigan QB (a school record) but make no mistake about it, Robinson poses a threat to any defensive scheme he encounters. His ability to outrun cornerbacks and, in all likelihood, his entire track team couples with adequate passing skills to cause headaches for opposing defensive coordinators.

Now that the fog has lifted from the disappointing loss last weekend here is a look ahead to what is in store for the Irish this weekend.

As the Irish prepare for Saturday night's matchup at Michigan State the Spartans and their defensive coordinator Pat Narduzzi must be licking his chops.

If he saw any of the Irish performance from last weekend he would certainly instruct his players to be as aggressive as possible with Crist. Without the Crist the Irish really stand no chance against any of their remaining BCS conference opponents nor even a couple non-BCS conference foes like Navy and Utah.

Game plans for the Irish this week will include providing sufficient protection for their fragile signal-caller and optimizing the run game. Don't expect to see Crist dropping back in the pocket or tucking the ball and taking off down the field too often. While Coach Kelly insists that the quarterback read option play is crucial to his offense it is safe to assume that play will be stowed away for a select few situations from this point forward.

The Spartans always seem to play the Irish tough and not only is this a rivalry game it is also a night game, which means tensions will be high amongst a hostile crowd.

Even though the Irish have won 15 of the last 19 meetings in East Lansing the Spartans will create too much chaos in the Irish backfield for Crist to remain effective and, potentially, healthy.

Spartans get the edge in this one as Kelly will have some explaining to do. A loss would not put him on the hot seat but it would implicate the restoration period will take longer than his proclaimed "five-minute plan."

Boiler(s) Down, Wolverines Up Next For Irish

Brian Kelly, Notre Dame's latest chosen one charged with restoring the program to prominence, had never seen a game inside Notre Dame Stadium until last Saturday. Many middle-aged people wait that long to catch their first glimpse of the Irish, but rarely, if ever, has that opportunity been paired with head coaching duties.

In his first game, both inside the stadium and coaching, Brian Kelly pulled back only some of the curtains behind the new-look, spread offense-minded Irish.

Redshirt Sophomore Quarterback Dayne Crist eased into his new starting role while putting up impressive numbers and displaying accuracy in short yardage situations. He went 19-26 passing for 295 yards, 1 TD, and 0 INTs as the Irish handled Purdue 23-12.

The Irish win marked the seventh time in eight tries the Boilers fell in a season opener to ND.

Armando Allen Jr., a senior running back, was a prime beneficiary of the spread offense as he rushed for 93 yards and the game's first score. Fellow running back Cierre Wood provided necessary breathers for Allen and a nice change of pace to the running game by adding 58 yards on seven carries.

Michael Floyd had an opportunity to seal the game's fate early in the third quarter but he fumbled a bullet from Dayne Crist inside the Purdue 5 yard-line, ultimately allowing the Boilermakers to make things interesting.

It was the Notre Dame defense that perhaps showed the most promise last Saturday, though, as they locked down on the Boilermakers allowing just 322 yards of total offense while playing in a new defensive formation.

Notre Dame's tackling ability showed marked improvement over last year's team. Rather than whiffing on ball carriers in the open field the Irish defenders collapsed quickly and rarely allowed Boilermaker skill position players to create havoc.

In fact, the longest play allowed from scrimmage by the Irish was a 23-yard touchdown run by new Boilermaker quarterback and University of Miami (Fl) transfer Robert Marve. That was really the only play where the defense underachieved as both the outside and middle linebackers on the strong side of the field bit on Marve's fake up the middle.

This weekend the Irish will face much stiffer competition in the Michigan Wolverines. Lead by first time start Denard Robinson the Wolverines cruised to a 30-10 victory over Connecticut thanks largely in part to Robinson's productivity.

Robinson set Michigan school records for total offense (383) and rushing yards (197) by a quarterback.

The key to the game will be Notre Dame's ability to stop Robinson. Defensive Coordinator Bob Diaco will rely heavily on the defensive line's push against the Wolverine's offensive line to allow the linebackers to drop back in coverage or supply pressure up the middle. Defensive ends Ethan Johnson and Kapron Lewis-Moore will need to spend the majority of their time in the Wolverine's backfield if the Irish want to throw Robinson off his game. If the Irish can force Robinson out of his comfort zone by forcing him into obvious passing situations it could be a long day for Wolverine fans.

Speaking of passing games, the Wolverines only have four remaining members of its now depleted secondary. With inexperience and lack of depth in the secondary look for Dayne Crist to take aim down field often. Michael Floyd, Duval Kamara, Theo Riddick, and Tailer Jones could post career days on Saturday.

Regardless, this will be a high scoring contest with plenty of hard hitting and flashy plays.

Tune in to NBC at 3:30pm EST this Saturday to see for yourself.