| 01 October 2009
Are you ready? It's time for another Anti-Preview from The Subway Domer. It's a sad time for your truly... the bye week is looming after this game. Maybe it will give me some time to fix the image above me for the Anti-Preview, since my url has changed- or one of my fantastic readers (one of which made this for me) can make me a new one that is 400 w and 200 h... That was subtle, wasn't it?
Anyways... the Irish are now 3-1 and heading home for 4 of their next 6 games. First up is Washington. The Irish have never lost to Washington. Notre Dame is getting a little more healthy and are looking for a little more respect nationally.
(Editors note: This is where I last saved my post. I lost it about 3/4's of the way done. Like Purdue- this may be a little lighter than normal. Sorry- shit happens)
Let's get started...
Washington. Washington heads into South Bend a little more confident than what we would have expected from a team that went 0-12 last year. Although they upset a Trojan team that turned the ball over and failed on every 3rd down try that they had, the Huskies got their ass handed to them by Stanford with Toby Gerhart rushing for 200 yards.
They are led by a quarterback that is truly a duel threat. Jake Locker can take a game over- and he has too with the lack of talent in Washington. Locker was injured for last years matchup that the Irish won easily, 33-7. In that game, Notre Dame held Washington to 124 total yards and the lone TD was a pass over Mike Anello's (CB) head.
Basically, this team can bite you right in the ass if you don't have your shit together.However, they are still a team coming off of a 0-12 season. Yeah, Jake Locker is back- but their defense is still not up to par.
Here's what Washington did to a piss-poor ready bunch of Condoms:
What should you be drinking? I know, I know. I'm getting a little repetitive. But we are playing a team from Washington in October. Apple Jack.
- Jack Daniels
- Apple Cider
Mix together at any strength. Fucking good, isn't it? If you need something a little more complex, try this recipe with your Apple Jack- it's called the Apple Jack Rabbit:
What should you be eating? This dish actually inspired what you are drinking. Sausage and Fried Apples. There are many, many ways to make this succulent plate of heaven, but
I'm going to show you how I make it best.
- 3 lbs. of Eckrich skinless Sausage
- 5 Apples (any kind you like bozo)
- Butter
- 3 shots of Jack Daniels
- 1/4 cup of Brown Sugar
Put some butter in a big pan. Lots of butter. Slice up your apples and put them in the pan. Now take a shot of Jack Daniels and put it down your throat. Take the other two shots and the brown sugar and put it in the pan. Fry it all up for about 5 minutes on high. Slice your sausage up in threes and put it in the pan for 5 minutes while stir-frying it all. Take the contents of that pan and put in a crock pot. Heat on low for 2 hours. Serve. Send all thank-yous to my email.
What should you be wearing? This is always the trickiest one for me. What to wear? I guess since I already eluded to the 2002 season in the IBG post, I'll keep the theme going on Subway Domer. Wear the 2002 Shirt- Return To Glory. But wear it with a bit more pride than usual. Washington fans will nod and wink- because they understand all too well what that golf loving bastard did to these programs. 5 years later I'm still pissed.
Offensive MVP: Armando Allen. As I said earlier, Washington's rush defense is bad. Very bad. Allen will be back from his vacation
on the sideline and ready to go. After the Michigan State game Allen was in the top 15 in rushing in the country. That's not just OK, that's pretty fucking good. He has been the workhorse on the ground all season for the Irish and he has done a tremendous job in blocking against the blitz.
As we have come to expect from Allen, he is still a nice receiving threat as well. He is fourth on the team in receptions, and I think that ranking will climb even higher as the season continues without Michael Floyd.
Perhaps the nicest surprise from Allen has been his play out of the "Wild Leprechaun." He is running the offense like a QB and even has a TD pass to prove it. Look for lots and lots of Allen come Saturday.
Defensive MVP: Darius Fleming. Have you all been paying attention? Darius Fleming looks like the real deal out there. He made a very bad pursuit angle on Forcier and got juked out of his cleats, but that is the lone bad play that I have seen from him this year.
Whether he has his hand on the ground or is standing up at SAM linebacker, he has played hard and he has played physical. With Notre Dame squaring off against a QB of Locker's abilities, Fleming will have to step his game up even more and shut his side down. Closed for business. 
Sleeper: Robert Hughes. Do you get the feeling that I think we are going to run the shit out of the ball? Robert Hughes looked like a different back all together last week. I have a feeling that Weis will use him in the rotation even more this week to help both Clausen and Allen.
Hughes brings a hard style to defend if he chooses to do it. Run hard and run fast with a wide load. Maybe the light bulb finally went off that he is a power back. That's not a bad thing. That's a crowd favorite thing. pound out those hard yards and punish the defense. We love that shit.
Something else to watch. Manti Te'o. I think we are all waiting for this kid to have a breakout game. This week, the coaches are talking about getting Te'o more reps. this week could be the perfect storm. Say what you will about Brian Smith at MIKE, but he has more speed than Toryan Smith and putting Te'o at WILL would be the best thing from a speed standpoint for this defense to do against Locker.
So who's gonna win? Irish 45-20. I think we roll up the yards on the ground and Weis lets Jimmy sling it quite a bit on playaction to help his now growing Heisman campaign. Although i am very concerned about Locker, i think the defense can neutralize him by mixing up the blitz and the coverages. The key will be containing him- hence Te'o and Fleming. The defense will still cough up a few points, but the offense rolls on. This will be a nice victory heading into the bye week and then a similar offense in U$C after that.
GO IRISH!!!
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