Michael Floyd is gone, and that is maybe the saddest thing that could have happened to an Irish fan on Saturday.   I understand that he is not dead, and that he'll be back next season and probably for the bowl game, but dammit, this is not fair.  We didn't even realize it happened from our seats about the south end zone, turning to celebrate what we thought was a sure touchdown, only to turn and see the team lining up for third down and Michael hobbling to the sideline.  Then he didn't come out at halftime.  Then the texts and Blackberry messages started coming, and things got very somber very quickly.

Did you notice how not fun the second half was, even though the Irish offense was still playing well and the Irish defense was still trying to get the offense back on the field as quickly as possible?  I realize that Weis has done a great job recruiting guys to go catch passes in his offense, but unless Shaq Evans or Deion Walker or John Goodman are immediately ready to step in and start drawing double teams, easily catching jump balls and taking quick screen passes eighty yards for touchdowns just because they can, things aren't going to quite work the same way that they did.    

While I am known to occasionally indulge in hyperbole, there are some comparisons that I hold sacrosanct, and this is certainly one of them: Floyd was approaching a Calvin Johnson/Larry Fitzgerald territory.  I know that sounds slightly ridiculous when you think of how good those two gentlemen were in college, but there wasn't anything he couldn't do on the football field, and now the cruel fates have taken him away from us.  Sometimes the sports gods are cruel, but you would think the fact that god God is supposedly on our side would be enough to help to keep his archangel safe, just maybe?  I'm not even asking for a lot: the Irish don't even have to win, I just want to see Michael Floyd p0wning n00bs for twelve games a season until he goes to the pros and gets stuck with a rookie quarterback who can't find him in the back of the endzone even though Antoine Winfield is on him and like a foot shorter (thanks, Matt Stafford!).  Is this too much to ask?      

In what will probably be my only trip to Notre Dame Stadium this season, I got to watch two more fantastic performances from the Irish backfield, as Jimmy Clausen and Armando Allen continued their torrid paces this season.  Clausen has the second best passer rating in the country and Allen is the 15th leading rusher, averaging over twenty touches a game.  While the offensive line has improved immensely in aiding their solid seasons, you can't say enough about the efforts of Five and Seven in driving the offense.  Clausen spent most of the second half limping around, but he still moved around in the pocket well and delivered a laser-guided smartbomb for the go-ahead touchdown.  With Floyd gone (still quietly sobbing), Golden Tate is going to see more and more double teams, meaning that the pressure on the Irish backfield is only going to increase.  There won't be any sort of Heisman or All-American hype unless there's a big game against Southern Cal, which isn't entirely fair, but how things work.  As long as Clausen and Allen keep producing at this pace, Notre Dame will have a chance to win every game.

* What's going to give the Irish a chance to lose every game?  The fact that they can't get the opposing team's offense off the field.  There are a lot of very intriguing questions into how Michigan State couldn't move the ball against Central Michigan but went up and down the field at will against Notre Dame, or how Tate Forcier looked like a Heisman winner for sixty minutes before coming back down to earth the next week.  Among them: Are these less than stellar results simply because the Irish defense is so young in the front seven, meaning the blitzes aren't quite as effective as they should be?  Are the Irish players just too slow?  Is Jon Tenuta actually not good at coaching, and some of the blame sent towards Chan Gailey and Reggie Ball should actually be directed towards him?  Is the Irish secondary not any good, or simply being directed to not play aggressively in order to protect against big plays?  The next few games bring a variety of fun attacks to deal with: Purdue can run run run the ball, The Hurt Locker is the same size as any tackler that may foolishly attempt to bring him down and Southern Cal is Southern Cal.  (If the Irish can't contain the Boston College "attack," then we know there are serious issues.)  The Irish can still put together a good season, but if there's still a great season to be claimed, it'll have to be the defense that steps up.

* Remember when everyone flipped out because the Wildcat wasn't a raging success on the two times the Irish tried it against Nevada?  Maybe it's good to have some patience and have your team get a little practice at things?  It's a nice change of pace just to mix things up, and keeps the defense on their toes, especially in the red zone.  There were some blunders Saturday out of that set, but also two touchdowns, so I'll take it.

* Does the loss of Floyd mean more targets for Mike Ragone?  Everyone assumes it'll be Evans or Walker thrown into the fire, but maybe the Irish just start running the ball more, get the tight ends for some quick hitters and scorch Tate by some people on play action?  I'm slowly talking myself into this season remaining interesting even without St. Michael catching touchdown bombs until late December of January.

* I'm glad Mark Schlabach took the time to remind us all that nobody really knows shit about what is going to happen in the preseason.  I mean, who could have guessed that Washington might be improved this year?  Were there any hints at all!?  It's nice that ESPN is being honest about their inability to predict what's going to happen - it's not like I'm saying they should be able to, it's quite difficult - but do you really think the fact they got all of the stuff wrong in Schlabach's column is really going to change how anything is covered next August?  Or even in early December when various commentators at the World Wide Leader will stand on their pulpit and tell you who should be going to what bowl game because they just know?  No, sir.  (Speaking of the Huskies resurgence, Irish fans have some homework this weekend: If you can find the game through the PAC-10's convoluted TV contract, Washington and Stanford face off.  Those should be two very intriguing games for ND, so start your research now.)

* While Clausen and Allen are secretly putting up very good numbers, there's another guy who could possibly be getting some more love: Mr. Kyle McCarthy.  The senior safety has an interception in every game of the relatively young season to go along with 27 tackles (tied for 40th in the country at nine takedowns per contest).  He doesn't have the preseason hype or high draft stock of Eric Berry or Taylor Mays (both of whom I love and mean no disrespect to), but the defensive captain is not disappointing as he anchors the unit.

* Although there was a missed extra point thrown in Saturday just to keep things interesting, let's give a tip of the hat to Nick Tausch, who has connected on some lengthy field goals.  It still seems like Notre Dame is incapable of achieving anything resembling a touchback, but at least part of the kicking game is going well.