Notre Dame

Does a home experience get much better? Maybe if it happens against someone we hate a trifle more than Notre Dame, but that was a forever memory. There is something special about Doak at night. The band lined up,  elbows flaring and the brightest light in your vision is the flame on the end of a spear. The team jumping in the tunnel to the slow and steady overwhelming cacophony of the warchant in anticipation of one man with the power to let those boys rip the banner and explode an 85,000 strong fanbase who has been tailgating for a dozen hours. We defer, the flame hits the head and hands rise. Hit it Roberto, it's game time.

Wow. That second half was absolutely breathtaking quarterback play. Character be damned, I think that Jack the Ripper might get a first round look from the League if he could play like that. Two tough running throws to Bobo and Rashad on the sideline hitting each one in the only spot that he could. Seam routes in perfect rhythm just as our guys were turning their heads, and holy guacamole, that twisting sidearm aerial to Rudolph with a blitzing domer right in his grill. The only incompletion should have been in interference call. When we think of the great ones in Seminole lore, we think of Cholly and the ability to float just in the nick of time when a rushing end was grasping for him. We recall the poise of Weinke in the endzone after a fake with the ball tucked on his hip, and the rocket shots down the field. But only after this present prodigy has left this campus will we really appreciate that what we saw while he was here simply will not be repeated. On a day when he threw the worst pass of his career, and saw his team down yet again at the half, he gave us 30 minutes of as close to perfection as you will see at this level. Even plays like the one "behind" Bobo in the middle were purposeful to prevent him getting lit up. Just Wow.

Our Head Coach earns a fairly nice salary. He probably does not know the Wal-Mart greeters by name, and reminded us again why that $4 million a year may not be enough this weekend. With the marine out, he made the completely confused fat boys in front of Jameis a priority all game long. Notre Dame had a spectacular blitz plan for us, and there seemed to be no way to recognize where and how many bad guys were coming at us. While the bands played, plans were made, and 14 scooby snacks later another mystery was solved. Our heroes had the ball four times in the second stanza and took it the distance on three of those opportunities. Now that last chance was a mite shaky. That had Bowden "I don't want to lose" written all over it…but maybe pulling the rabbit out of the dead leprechaun's hat will teach Jimbo how to better handle that situation in the future as well.

I am glad that a National audience got a taste of Travis this weekend, but we had already eaten that meal hadn't we. With the exception of Ermon Lane and some alligator (sorry family show, won't curse again!) arms in the first half, the boys really snagged some leather Saturday night. And the best grab had to come from Karlos Williams who set the tone for the rest of the night. Like a three-pack-a-day smoker getting off a cross country flight, Los grabbed that ball like his life depended on it. He...just …wanted…it…more and we could see that from Row 39. He ripped the falling down desperation toss out of the air and another pair of hands, tossed aside the poor Catholic who tried to bring him down and then sprinted to a first down. Three plays later, the game was tied and the gauntlet was thrown.

Which, if I may digress, is a problem we are currently experiencing with our mascot. Renegade 6 is having a helluva time at midfield this year. He wanders around the Seminole logo like it is a game of twister while Chief Osceola is yanking on him to rise like a recalcitrant teenager on the weekends. We are four games in and his front feet have not left the ground. Listen, horse, you got one job. Run 30 yards, lift that joker on the your back skyward and let him hurl a flaming spear into the ground. If you can not figure this out, we got 10 more three star appaloosa's on the farm we can trot out and pretend they are you. I suggest that when Coach Trickett gets healthy, we send him out there for a little "motivation". If we have to, we can sneak Rick out to the end zone to slap his hat on his rear just before showtime. Just saying…

I now have enough of a sample size to believe that we are not currently under the long term guidance of the right man on the score preventing side of the ledger. I feel like we have put Prius engines in a bunch of Mercedes. This scheme where we take a laundry list of five star defensive lineman studs and ask them to simply hold their gaps is driving me to drink (more). The only time we get pressure is when we blitz, and that is ridiculous. How about you let the guys with incredible ability beat the living snot out of their overmatched offensive opponents and live with the occasional broken play? I will take a bruised, demoralized, beaten and generally petrified quarterback over the collection of cool, poised boys we have seen this season. And why are they so confident? We show our hand on every play. Brian Kelly, when he is not whining or killing his film crew, commented on how the FSU defense was the easiest to diagnose of any they play this season. Well, that is comforting. Hey Charles, how about taking a cue from - I dunno - everyone else, and disguise a blitz or two instead of blatantly walking up to the line with a GameDay glitterazi posterboard saying "I'm coming, and FineBaum sucks!".

I will say that the return of Matthew Thomas was not overhyped. He was an instant impact and has all american skills right out of the box. My only question was why he was not on the field for that entire desperation drive? Speaking of the greatest flag since Don't Tread On Me, we need to give some real credit again to the HC on this one. The entire Irish attack was predicated on picks. They scored twice on them earlier in the game, and when they were not running 5 yard rubs, they were crossing 10 yards downfield hoping for a collision. At every timeout, we saw Jimbo gently reminding the crew what he saw and his nonverbal cues were pretty clear. The message got through at just the right time.

Thank goodness for an open date. I think we need it as much as the players. The lawn has not been mowed since August and I think my neighbors have secretly been subletting my house on weekends. Need to nip that in the bud. Let's hope for a complete collapse from the SEC West and chaos reigns.

Go Noles!