Notre Dame Football: Fiesta Bowl Notes
Christmas, New Years, and Fiesta Bowl with Notre Dame football- it’s all one big wait for the holiday season.
Perhaps you may have forgotten who I am. My name is Joshua Vowles, and I am the editor here at Slap The Sign. I pass this information along only because it would appear as if we have fallen off the map, or kidnapped by Peruvian drug lords, or sucked into a black hole because Neil deGrasse Tyson just had to take a closer look as we traveled in his ship thing (watch out for him).
Truth is, and it’s a total cop out, is that baby number 3 has got me on some next level parenting right now. Our zone blitz has been compromised.
There have been a few nuggets of news leading up to game week- and oh hell… Let’s discuss briefly (very briefly) my thoughts:
Hurt People Are Not Hurt Anymore
Jarron Jones and Durham Smythe return to the lineup after missing the entire season and 10 games respectively. While Jones would be an obvious fist pump given the opponent and the porous Notre Dame defense, you have to wonder just how much he has to give.
Nov 8, 2014; Tempe, AZ, USA; Notre Dame Fighting Irish defensive lineman Jarron Jones (94) against the Arizona State Sun Devils at Sun Devil Stadium. Arizona State defeated Notre Dame 55-31. Mandatory Credit: Mark J. Rebilas-USA TODAY Sports
Jones missed the last half of the season last year, spring football, and the entire 2015 season. While he was arguably the best defensive lineman on the team when he went down in 2014, that is an eon ago. I don’t think anyone expects 25-30 snaps of quality play from Jones, but we are hearing things like 15-20 snaps. That seems high to me, but if Jones got himself in shape for this game, perhaps he could and would just lay it all out on the line. My confidence isn’t quite so high.
Smythe, could make an immense impact right away inside the red zone. It’s no secret that under Brian Kelly, Notre Dame has excelled between the twenties, but struggled mightily once they hit that last twenty yards for a touchdown.
While there are many reasons for that fact this year, one of the major obstacles has been getting solid play from whomever is playing tight end. The threat just isn’t there. Durham, Smythe was supposed to be that threat in 2015, and all indications in the preseason were that he was supposed to be the “guy” inside the redzone. Perhaps this game will give us a taste of the feast that we missed for almost the entire season.
Team 127
Despite the recent trend of Notre Dame putting the names of players on the jerseys for the bowl game, the senior leadership has suggested that no names be put on the back of the jersey for the Fiesta Bowl game against Ohio State. This, of course, is a gesture of the “team” concept and to continue the push of the theme of “Team 127.”
Jan 7, 2013; Miami, FL, USA; Notre Dame Fighting Irish head coach Brian Kelly congratulates quarterback Everett Golson (5) after a touchdown against the Alabama Crimson Tide during the second half of the 2013 BCS Championship game at Sun Life Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Steve Mitchell-USA TODAY Sports
Perhaps I am in the minority when I say this is not just boring and a predictably old concept, but also one that is entirely empty of meaning. Don’t get me wrong, I understand the players logic and the entire theory, but for fans to get excited about it and include it as an intangible is ridiculous. Would Notre Dame have beaten Alabama in the 2012 BCS Championship game if they had no names on he back? And that team had great leadership all over the roster.
I don’t care if this team does or doesn’t have names on their jersey, but I do take offense to anyone being naive enough to think this will truly impact anything other than Ohio State fans knowing who our players are. Calm down y’all.
Buckeye Loss And Ignorance
Ohio State suffered two huge blows, ones usually reserved for Notre Dame, in the loss of two starters on the defensive line leading up to bowl week. Defensive tackle Adolphus Washington was suspended after receiving a solicitation violation, and then another defensive tackle, Tommy Schutt, suffered a broken foot in practice.
Ohio State will look to Joey Bosa to move inside to from his end position to help fill what is now a very large void up front.
Jan 24, 2015; Columbus, OH, USA; Ohio State Buckeyes head coach Urban Meyer laughs with running back Ezekiel Elliot at the start of the national championship celebration at Ohio Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Joe Maiorana-USA TODAY Sports
There will NOT be a huge void in the offensive backfield for the Buckeyes after star running back Ezekiel Elliot was cited for driving under suspension, failure to control, and operating without a license after a car accident on Sunday. He traveled with the team to the Fiesta Bowl and Ohio State has said that he will play. Elliot explained that the accident only happened because he hydroplaned in some water on the road.
IMAGINE THAT. Urban suspends a guy that was out looking for a hooker (a fairly harmless crime- at least harmless to the public at large) while he lets another player off the hook for committing a crime that most certainly could have endangered the public. I’m not exactly bothered that Urban won’t suspend Elliot, but his inconsistency is ridiculous, transparent, and if I was Washington… I’d crash into Urban’s house with a van full of hookers.
Go figure.