Thoughts on today

* I woke up this morning and it felt like Christmas. I haven't been this excited about a Notre Dame team in a long time, maybe ever. This team has top-end players and depth. It was just a matter of putting it all together on the field. Well, they did not disappoint. Today's 35-0 win over Nevada was a bigger victory than anything I imagined. I never anticipated shutting out Nevada's pistol offense that led all of college football in rushing last season. And sure, Nevada had a few trips into the red zone that could have result in points but didn't, but a shut out is a shut out. And Jimmy Clausen is red hot right now. He has 7 incompletions total in his last two starts. If only they could play WAC teams every week, they'd go 11-1 or 12-0 every year like Boise State does.

*Coming into today, it wasn't a stretch to think next week's Notre Dame-Michigan game would be a battle to see which coach gets fired first. But I don't think that's the case anymore. Notre Dame looks to be firmly in control of their season, and Michigan looked much, and I can't emphasize this enough, MUCH better on offense today than they did at any point last season. Rich Rod finally has the QBs he needs. The only problem is they're true freshmen. I'm starting to think, though, that teams need to kick Michigan while their down because this may not last. One more season of ups and downs and next year they could be ready to roll.

* Right now I'm watching LSU struggle with Washington (17-13 lead in the 3rd quarter) and I'm starting to wonder if Les Miles is actually a good coach or not. LSU recruits really well every year, so you can't tell me they don't have talent. I know they've lost some players to the NFL the past couple of years, but this is getting ridiculous. I don't mean to draw everything back to Notre Dame...but I'm going to anyways. I saw Washington play Notre Dame last year, and they were awful. Sure, Jake Locker wasn't playing in that game, but I don't think they crossed midfield until the 2nd half sometime. I mean Notre Dame was just miles better, which leads me to believe LSU should be the same. LSU probably has backups who could start for Washington. And yet, here we are. LSU went 8-5 last year, and who knows what will happen tonight. I'm not saying Les Miles is a bad coach; what I'm saying is this feels a little too much like Larry Coker's tenure at Miami. He inherited a powerhouse, lost 1 game over a two-year period, and then subsequently got worse every season until he was finally fired. Miami, quite honestly, still hasn't recovered from his tenure.

* Illinois was probably the biggest bust today. They got manhandled by Missouri. And yes I realize that Arrelious Benn left the game with an injury. Boo hoo. Ron Zook is a recruter and nothing more. Juice Williams should be ashamed of himself as well. He's something like a 10th year senior (or maybe it just feels like it) and still hasn't elevated his game to the level a veteran QB like him should. Urban Meyer took over a tremendous roster from Zook at Florida, and whoever takes over for Zook at Illinois will probably also be getting a pretty good roster. Not to the same level, but Illinois should be better than this.

* Speaking of bad coaches, what exactly does Al Groh have to do to get fired from Virginia? Go take a piss on Robert E. Lee's grave? Virginia has done nothing but go downhill under Groh, and today they lost to William & Mary. To be fair, William & Mary did produce Darren Sharper...over a decade ago. I hate seeing schools like Virginia, which with the right coach could absolutely compete for ACC championships, continue to flounder with the wrong coach. North Carolina brought in Butch Davis, Georgia Tech brought in Paul Johnson, and Virginia needs to follow suit.