As predicted this week, Notre Dame win against the Huskies | MikeCC's Blog on Notre Dame Football

In the 3rd quarter on Saturday, sophomore Brian Smith had a clean path to sack Washington quarterback Ronnie Fouch. He came from the outside, Fouch was looking the other way. He levelled the Washington quarterback and the velocity of the hit reflected what had just happened. After 7 minutes in the first quarter, the Fighting Irish were leading 14-0 and went in cruise control mode.

At the half, they had gained 238 yards while holding the Huskies to 38 yards - TOTAL. And it could have been much worse. Jimmy Clausen was not as sharp as he had previously been in the last 3 career record setting games. Clausen ended passing for 201 yards after 3.5 quarters, letting Evan Sharpley taking the remaining snaps in the game. Coming off a bye week, he did appear to be “pushing” some balls in very tight coverage. Two touchdown balls were dropped by Floyd in the end zones, but the balls were under thrown.

The defense really made the difference today holding the Huskies to less than 125 yards and only 9 first downs. The Huskies had lost their regular quarterback and best team rusher when Jake Locker broke his thumb against Stanford. Today, Fouch was under 50% completion for 98 yards.

ON the Notre Dame side, even though Jimmy Clausen had hickups on offense, their was some positive news. Michael Floyd and Golden Tate(again) teamed up for touchdowns early in the 1st. James Aldridge ran for 2 TD’s and believe it or not, Brandon Walker went 2 for 2 on field goals and 3 for 3 on PAT’s.

A true test next week, Pitt is coming to South Bend.

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October 26, 2008 12:52 AM ET

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Nice game against a team that lets face it just sucks. And yes Pitt will be a true test. Good luck!

1st & Goal

Columbus, OH

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October 27, 2008 06:59 PM ET

Thanks EJ. The Huskies do suck, but there was still a chance that the Irish wouldn't show up for the game....

michelchiasson on…

Moncton, NB

Total Comments (69)

October 29, 2008 03:11 PM ET

It was nice to get that road win, always nice to get that monkey off your back. True, ND didn't look all that stellar at times, but they played solid and most importantly, played almost all the 4th quarter with reserves. This will help with our depth problem in the future.

Again, nice blog Mike.

MrMiyagiJr

Total Comments (2662)

October 29, 2008 09:32 PM ET

Thanks MrMiyagiJr....always respect your feedback...and looking forward to the Pitt game....i can' imagine what we will be allowed to think...if we beat Pitt....even though we are favored by 4.5....I still can't wait to see that game.