Sorry there weren't more prompt comments up postgame, but I think everyone pretty much came to the same conclusion: The Irish just totally outclassed a team of lesser talent, and didn't even have to look particularly sharp to do so.  On offense, Jimmy Clausen appeared to have a bit of a hangover from the second half of the UNC game that bled into this one, but Golden Tate and Michael Floyd were their fantastic play-making selves.  James Aldridge may finally be getting healthy, as he looks to be the power back of the present, while Jonas Gray showed in relief duty that he will be competing for feature back status in the future.  Some great blocking by the offensive line throughout the evening, especially from Sam Young on the touchdowns. 

On the defensive side of the ball, the Irish were completely and totally dominant, wrecking Ronnie Fouch's world from the first snap on.  Tenuta's blitzers were finally finding their mark, and I think a lot of Irish fans will approve of extended playing time for Darius Fleming and Kerry Neal.  Along with Ethan Johnson and the Smith boys, the front seven is getting younger, faster and (dare I say?) nastier.  This picture put up by BlueGraySky pretty much sums up the night in full:

via seattletimes.nwsource.com

Notre Dame hadn't dominated a team like that since Army on Brady Quinn's senior day, and even that 2006 squad took a while to find its bearings against the Black Knights.  If you doubt this team is improving, ask yourself what the final score would be if San Diego State made a return visit to South Bend this Saturday instead of Pitt.  The Irish are going into two of their toughest tests of the season over the next two weekends, and Clausen will need to be sharper than he was in the Evergreen State if they're going to prevail.  Hopefully the game against the Huskies was just knocking some rust off and he'll be ready to resume his dominant status against Dave Wannstedt's crew.

Two other things before moving on: Major props to Brandon Walker for knocking in both field goal attempts.  I'm still more comfortable going for it on fourth and nineteen than trying a long field goal, but this is progress.  Secondly, Bob Davie has such a man-crush on Charlie Weis it is adorable.  Notre Dame fans love to complain about anti-Irish bias in their announcers, but you cannot apply that label to Davie.

We strivin' home, Gone. . .: While the action didn't take place in a post-game ceremony like some Irish fans had prayed for, the University of Washington announced that Ty Willingham would be resigning at the end of the season (telling the media before they told the players?).  This gives the opportunity for Willingham to attempt to wrest the Apple Cup away from equally horrendous (well, probably worse) Washington State at the end of the season to avoid falling to 0-12.  I haven't read that much on the resignation/firing, but so far no one is calling Washington racist, which is odd.  I guess if Notre Dame had let Ty submarine the 2005 season, then they wouldn't have been called every name in the book.  An attempt at defending Ty:      

For most of this, he's to blame -- the rest of it is Rick Neuheisel's fault. But let's just say Isaiah Stanback and Jake Locker never get injured, and the schedule-makers give him Portland State and Idaho instead of Oklahoma and Notre Dame.

And let's say the official doesn't flag Locker for celebrating, and Washington goes on to beat BYU, and Locker doesn't break his thumb on a freak deal, and Washington beats Stanford. I'd argue that Coach Willingham would still be Coach Willingham.

Willingham did have a tremendously tough schedule and had some bad luck with injuries, but there were too many games where the Huskies led going into the fourth that they lost and too many holes in the recruiting to justify an extension of his tenure.  The search for the next Huskies coach now goes nationwide, and if I'm Jim Mora, Jr., I'm answering the phone.  Yes, you're going to get less money than if you're with the Seahawks, but you get to coach at your alma mater, you have a three year pass on actually having to be good thanks to the damage Ty, and should you actually resuscitate the program, you're a hero.  The problem Mora had in Atlanta was that he was trying to fit a square peg (a West Coast offense that needs great accuracy from the QB) into a round hole (Michael Vick).  If he can bring in his own players to suit his system, I think he could be a really good college coach.

And just like that, Ty is gone.

Shooting at the walls of heartache, one last time: In tragic Irish news, both Matt and Rob sent this to me yesterday, a double punch to the gut:

As Don Nelson was walking out of Oracle Arena late Sunday afternoon _ after the Warriors' blue-white open scrimmage _ I asked him if he was any closer to making his final cut.

"We're going to waive Rob Kurz," Nelson said, bringing the Warriors' roster to 15.

Clearly, Nelson wasn't happy about making that decision.

Conventional wisdom was that Nelson was weighing whether to cut Kurz or Anthony Morrow. But point guard Marcus Williams was very much on the chopping block, too.

Williams' guaranteed contract obviously factored into the Warriors' decision.

But just because Williams made the team, doesn't mean he's got any kind of role for Nellie.

Williams is still way, way, way off Nelson's radar. That was obvious from the continuation of by brief conversation with Nelson on his way out the door.

I said to Nelson: "It looked like Marcus Williams did OK out there tonight."

Responded Nelson: "Why, because he made some shots?"

"Well, he also seemed to do some pretty good point guard things," I said.

"You're seeing something very different from me then," Nelson said, as he left.

Warrior fans are okay with it - because if your season is coming down to your fifteenth man, you've got issues, not that the Warriors don't with Monta Ellis mopeding himself to the bench - but it is still sad to see the dream come, temporarily, to an end.  Considering we named our fantasy hoops league "Rob Kurz, NBDL MVP," there are still some goals for Kurz to achieve as he attempts to work his way back up to the big show.  Meanwhile, down on South Beach:

Nov 26 Miami @ Portland. Let's just say Chris Quinn's myspace page is gonna blow up after this game.

If the above makes zero sense to you, apologies.  FreeDarko, the best website for NBA philosophizing, took it upon themselves to preview every single game of the upcoming season that thankfully starts tonight.  Quinn is going to have a fight on his hands for playing time, as both rookie Mario Chalmers and a robot-legged ghost from the L's past will be gunning for the right to start beside Dwyane Wade in the backcourt. 

Diamond Dave Week!: This is where you're going to want to go for your Pitt coverage this week.  In case you missed it, Mike Teel - Mike Teel! - shredded the Panther defense on Saturday, leaving Dave Wannstedt very confused:

"I really thought that coming into this game, that this would be a 17-10 type of game one way or the other," Pitt coach Dave Wannstedt said. "This is the most disappointing defensive performance since I have been here. And the only thing they did different than we thought - we expected them to come out running the ball and they came out throwing it. We didn't get much pressure on them, and they ran right by us, just right by us.

"So, it was very disappointing from a defensive standpoint, particularly with the guys we have and how we have played to this point as a defense."

To be fair to Dave, if you were coaching a team and expected the opponent to come out running, then they started throwing, you'd be pretty confused , too, and totally unable to make adjustments.  Still, this is the sort of loss that jars Wannstedt into just running LeSean McCoy forty-five times and hope the defense can keep it in reach.  I know that people love balance and such, but if Pitt is starting their back-up quarterback and just got destroyed by Teel, hopefully Weis will go to the air early and get the Irish an early lead to take away the brunt of the Panther run game.  It's going to be a fun post-Halloween game Saturday.

Shipping up to Boston: The Notre Dame/Boston College game will be played at 8:00pm next weekend.  The only big game without a set time is Oklahoma State/Texas Tech, which will probably hinge on how the Red Raiders do against the 'Horns this weekend.  Cal and USC will be squaring off on ABC at 8:00 as well.