As I predicted, this wasn't much of a contest. Notre Dame came out a little flat, and weren't really able to stretch their defensive muscles until the second half. The offense, however, looked good pretty much all day.
Coach Weis, as he is apt to do, surprised me once again. Sometime towards the end of the first series, I was beginning to wonder if we had even dressed a running back. The game started in a 5-wide formation, and Darius didn't come into the game until very late in the drive. Weis bumfuzzled the opposing defenders with a series of three-step drops, quickly punching them in their soft spots. Their befuddlement only increased as the game wore on, and at one point, the defense was so confused that they let Jeff Samardzija into the end zone a good 7-10 yards behind EVERY defender. Needless to say, Brady found him for a TD.
The biggest surprise of this game was the breakout game of Maurice Stovall. He suddenly developed All-American hands and some wicked speed during his runs after the catch.
The defense, after a slow start, settled down, and developed some momentum at the end of the game, culminating in an 83-yard interception return for a touchdown by Tom Zbikowski.
I've lost count of how many red-zone interceptions the Irish have recorded this year, but at this point, it's well past luck, and well into habit.
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