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Almost forgot to post this. Had it put together early this afternoon, was running around – snow tires anyone? – and forgot to hit the button. But here is our first look at Notre Dame. Read on.
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• Here’s the piece …
WASHINGTON STATE vs. NOTRE DAME at SAN ANTONIO
Time: 4:30 p.m. (PDT) Saturday. TV: NBC
The records: WSU (1-6, 0-5 in Pac-10); Notre Dame (5-2)
Last week: Notre Dame defeated Boston College, 20-16
WSU lost to Cal, 49-17
Last time: Notre Dame defeated WSU, 29-26, in South Bend in 2003.
The line: Notre Dame by 30
What it means for WSU: You mean besides the more than $1 million for the Washington State athletic budget? The Cougars step out of conference play with a chance to play a big-time opponent at a neutral field. San Antonio’s Alamodome will be filled with almost all Notre Dame supporters, of course, but it isn’t South Bend. After playing USC, Oregon and Cal, Notre Dame shouldn’t seem overwhelming for the young Cougars, who will probably have a healthy offensive line for the first time since the second week of the season. The national stage – all Notre Dame home games are televised by NBC – would seem to be a perfect spot for WSU to put together its best game of the season.
What it means for Notre Dame: The Fighting Irish are fighting for the right to play in a BCS game. They are 23rd in the BCS standings this week and must rise to eighth to be ensured a spot in the major bowls. With a relatively weak schedule the rest of the way, the Irish cannot afford a defeat against WSU. Even a close game might cost them in the human polls. Notre Dame is playing four Pac-10 schools this season (Stanford is on the schedule Nov. 28) and, after a close loss to USC and an overtime win over Washington, the Fighting Irish need to prove they are better than just a middle of the road Pac-10 team.
Key matchup: Notre Dame receiver Golden Tate vs. WSU cornerbacks Brandon Jones and Terrance Hayward.
The Irish passing attack has been efficient this season – quarterback Jimmy Clausen is second in the nation in passing efficiency and Notre Dame is 11th in passing yards per game – but it’s Tate that brings the flash. The junior is averaging more than seven receptions a game, he’s caught eight touchdown passes, including four in the past two weeks, and he averages 16.3 yards on his 52 receptions. The Cougars pass defense will have to be near-perfect to contain Tate and the Irish passing attack. That’s where Jones and Hayward come in. They each struggled at times last week, with Jones missing an assignment on Cal’s first touchdown and Hayward getting beat deep in single coverage for a 61-yard reception later in the game. If WSU wants to have a shot, Jones and Hayward have to come through.
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• That’s all for now. As always, we’ll be back in the morning. Until then …
Steve Bergum covers EWU football and men's basketball, college baseball, and writes weekly golf column during the summer.
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Vince Grippi covers WSU sports and invites readers to share their thoughts on the sports news of the day.
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Greg Lee covers high school sports throughout Inland Northwest.
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Jim Meehan covers Gonzaga basketball, Whitworth football, Spokane Shock football, college volleyball and prep softball.
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Dave Trimmer covers a variety of high school, college and professional sports and is the primary writer on the weekly Then & Now series.
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avboden on October 26 at 7:24 p.m.
stolen a lot of this from various sites, but here's what I'm thinking about the game.
The more I look at this game….the more things add up. I know it's highly unlikely but…humor me for a second here.
The cougars have been dominated in one thing mainly this year: Speed. Teams that rack up the score have been winning on speedy runners, and speedy receivers.
Notre Dame isn't really a “speed” team per say. They have a deadly accurate QB, but not the deadly speed of other teams played (Cal etc.). Yes they have Golden Tate, but who else?
Some encouraging things…
1. WSU's offensive line is coming back. Finally, the line is returning back to normal after half of it or so was knocked out to injuries.
2. QB play: Now possible due to a good Offensive line, Jeff Tuel racked up 354 yards and 2 TDs with 0 interceptions last game.
3. Notre Dame ranks 117th in pass defense, and the Cougars are 55th in passing offense.
4. speedy Irish receiver Michael Floyd remains out with a broken collar bone
5. the Irish have played six straight games decided by seven points or less, including an overtime home win over a Washington Huskies team that is now 3-5.
6. Notre Dame’s secondary has been susceptible to the big play, much like WSU’s secondary. Boston College completed eight passes of 20 or more yards Saturday in a 20-16 loss to the Irish.
The way I see this game? A high scoring shoot out. Both defenses are going to get annihilated by the passing game.
This game will come down to one thing: Turn overs.
WSU's defense looked wear against cal, but looking over the entire season, they still force a lot of turn overs.
Over all ND EASILY has the edge.
but….
Tuel puts up over 400 yards (Easily possible)
The defense gets 2-3 turn overs
it's possible……unlikely, but certainly possible.
there's a lot that makes this a really good match up for the cougs.
either way the Cougars are hauling in a school-record $950,000 for traipsing to San Antonio, plus perhaps $600,000 to $700,000 more in television rights fees. That buys a lot of shoulder pads, baseball bats and shot puts.
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fitz on October 26 at 8:12 p.m.
Hope you are right avboden, because we will be there. The obvious key is not getting behind by 21 or more points in the first quarter. Not many teams (except the Saints) can come back from that.
Vince, are there any In n Outs in San Antonio? We need to know. Maybe there is one at the Alamo.
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DCinSEA on October 26 at 9:35 p.m.
No In N Outs down there, but hit the riverwalk. I will be!
SA is a fun place to visit. What I need to know is if there is an In N Out at LAX, as I change planes there on Friday!
Go Cougs!
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tom_floyd on October 26 at 10:39 p.m.
DCinSEA: yes, there is an IN-N-OUT very close to LAX
http://www.in-n-out.com/location_deta…
enjoy
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Beiron on October 26 at 10:42 p.m.
I'm just hoping for competitive ND always has good athletes year in and year out. If we don't lose by more than 30 again this year I will be happy. I think OSU is going to do it though…
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tom_floyd on October 26 at 10:46 p.m.
Oh, sorry DCinSEA, you probably don't have time to leave the terminal between flights :-(
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Beiron on October 26 at 10:47 p.m.
Butch is getting beat up needs some help http://www.capitalonebowl.com/vote/main
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TommyCoug on October 27 at 11:42 a.m.
If we expect Brandon Jones to save us against Notre Dame…we are in a heap of trouble!
I have watched him this year and he has consistently been beat on plays, made mistakes and had TD's throw over and around him.
Nice article last week before Cal game Montgomery and Jones, Vince…but, Best and others made him look like what he is…probably a less than average Pac-10 or D-1 DB! No wonder he transferred.
We will need much, much more than this guy to even stay in the game with the Irish!!
GOOD LUCK…GO COUGS!!
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Prepgrad on October 27 at 4:15 p.m.
ND is beatable but not by these cougars this year. I hope we can keep it under 17. All I see the national audience doing is hurting ND, they will not blow out the Cougars and they will drop in the BCS as they are overrated anyways! Use the money from this game to continue to upgrade facilities; bring in better recruits and schedule ND again in a few years! Use their money to beat them down the road! GO COUGS!!
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