"I got pushed out of bounds and Kyle McCarthy was mad at me because I didn't pitch it back to him. I figured we might as well just let me spike it out of bounds." - Pat Kuntz, on the end of the game

We'll find out over the next two games if this is a good Irish team or a good Irish team at home, but after the debacle of last season, just taking care of things inside the Stadium is a great sign.  A lot to love about the first forty-five minutes of this game - and a few things to appreciate in the last quarter when Stanford got back into it - but let me first deliver a message to some people who were a little too critical about how this game was closed out.

If someone told you before this game that the Irish would hold a 28-7 lead going into the fourth quarter, or told you before the season that the Irish would be 4-1, you'd be ecstatic.  I'm not going to start pulling hairs out because a team whose core had won between three and six games coming into this one isn't quite sure of what to do with a twenty-one point lead in the final quarter of the game.  That is really the least of my concerns, even when Matt and I had resolved ourselves to losing on a Jim Harbaugh two-point conversion as time expired, which we did before Pat Kuntz saved the day.  And if you're worried about style points in regards to polling, what sort of dream world are you living in?  The Irish have beaten a pretty bad Michigan team, a pretty bad Purdue team, a decent Stanford team and an awful San Diego State team.  Should they win their games at Chapel and Chestnut Hill, corral LeSean McCoy and not embarrass themselves in Troy, then you can start worrying about whether the voters are giving Notre Dame enough respect, but until then, shut up and enjoy the progression of a lot of talented football players wearing your school's colors.

As important as the fourth quarter was in the final margin, the first quarter, despite the limited scoring, was just as relevant.  If David Bruton and Kuntz, two veterans doing exactly the sort of thing you want veterans to do, don't make a couple of difficult interceptions, it is probably Stanford holding a lead after one.  Instead, the Irish offense shoved Tavita Pritchard into a 21-7 hole and did their part to neutralize the Gerhart/Kimble combination.  After the run game gashed the Irish in the first frame, culminating in a 95-yard, first quarter-draining touchdown march, the defense stepped up, holding the Cardinal to 31 yards in the second quarter and 27 in the third.

The player of the game, in a theme I think will become recurring over the next two and a half years, was Jimmy Clausen.  Coming into this game we knew Stanford's secondary wasn't great, but Number Seven did his part to contribute to their lackluster statistics, completing 29 of 40 passes for 347 yards and three pretty scores.  Say what you will about Charlie Weis - and I've said and will continue to say a lot of less than flattering things - but it is proven at this point that the man can develop himself a quarterback.  My friend Jeff, who many of you may know from his diabetes-hating messageboard moniker, thinks there aren't ten quarterbacks in all of college football he'd trade Clausen for right now.  I mused on that thought for a few seconds, and even after considering the sheer amount of signal callers out there, there aren't that many a majority of fans would trade straight up for Clausen.

I'm proud of the coaching staff in this game, as they apparently have realized that this is a passing team, with great receiving weapons at every position and a brilliant quarterback, so in order to score points, you just need to pass the ball.  I don't think the Irish will be starting with six straight runs any more games, as even in a contest where leading receiver and play-maker extraordinaire Golden Tate was held in check, Clausen distributed the ball around for huge numbers.  David Grimes is an absolutely perfect third wide receiver for this team, and Kyle "The Most Famous Tight End Of All" Rudolph is already looking Fasano and Carlson-like in the passing game (meaning he's just a few years away from helping them hold an Irish monopoly on the position in fantasy football.)  The running game obviously needs a little more work, and this whole beautiful system we have working could come to a screeching halt if no one can step in for Mike Turkovich, but this is the second week in a row where the offense has looked explosive.

(I couldn't find any update of Turkovich, but from everything I saw on the sideline, I'm just going to assume the worst and wish him well.  Awful, awful luck.)

Most transcendent of all, of course, was Michael Floyd.  We'll get around to finalizing what his nickname is (Flow, St. Michael, Fighter Jet, The Prophet, Diamond, Manchild), but I think everyone can agree not only was the hype warranted, it may not have been great enough.  (And this is after we said in August that "If Michael Floyd can't walk on water, he's not going to be able to live up to these expectations.") There will be no way for a defense to adequately cover him and Tate at the same time without exposing the middle of the field for the rest of the team, and the Irish will hopefully exploit that until both of them are gone.  I love this passing game, and while it hasn't approached the obsession a lot of us hold in regards to the 2005 Quinn-Shark-Carlson-Fasano juggernaut, it is getting there.

On defense, there are a few personnel decisions I question in that some older players who are clearly less talented are playing in front of guys who appear more effective in their limited action.  While the offense has given way entirely to a youth movement, the defense needs to move in that same direction (the magnificent Kyle McCarthy, the active Justin Brown, Kuntz, Bruton and others are exempt from this).  The way Darius Fleming wrecked through the line on that sack, the way Ethan Johnson has played, the way Gary Gray has covered; they need to be on the field.  Put the youth up front and on the corners and let them make mistakes, as you have a solid eraser and a giant bottle of White-Out at the two safety positions, ready to correct mistakes.

All in all, a successful afternoon in South Bend, and now the toughest test of the season approaches in a trip to North Carolina against a very talented, very young, very confident Tar Heel team.  The game has been moved to the afternoon, thankfully, and will be a great midterm test for this Irish team going into their bye week and the second half of the season.  A lot more to look at in regards to the Stanford game, but even more to try and learn about UNC.  It is fine to nitpick victories, but don't let the distaste in your mouth regarding the fourth quarter allow you to forget just how smooth the first three went down.