Photo and Graphic Illustration by Ian Gavlick and Andrea Archer

We’ve been told 9-3 is not goodenough.Is 10-2?Because that’s where the Irish

could be. But it’s going to take thesame kind of focus that draggedthem back from fourth-quarterdeficits earlier this season.Because last

season, ifyou’ll remem-ber, NotreDame had a5-2 record,then droppedfour of its lastfive and fin-ished theregular sea-son 6-6. Thatstretchincluded anovertime lossto Pittsburgh, a four-interceptiongoose egg against Boston College,a game-that-shall-not-be-spoken-of against Syracuse and a beatingout behind the woodshed againstUSC.True — the Irish can win some

and lose some and be bowl-eligi-ble and go to a bowl at 8-4 andwin, but with what this team hasshown itself to be capable of, thatwould be a disappointment. It could also be a reality.Look at who they face. Navy has

had, um, success at Notre DameStadium recently. Pittsburghproved last year how tough itplays (granted, the Panthers lostLeSean McCoy to the Eagles).Connecticut presents the easiestpotential win for the Irish butwe’ve seen what overlooking aBig East team on senior day cando. Toby Gerhart has 994 yardsrushing and 13 touchdowns forStanford and Andrew Luck haspassed well so far this season. Onthe road, that’s going to challengethe Irish. But they’ve been challenged.

Last season, I wrote that winningwasn’t necessarily the be-all end-all of the game, that in a blowoutwin over Washington the Irishneeded to find other positivesbesides the W. I’ve clearly neverclaimed to be the smartest crayonin the box because this season hasshown that winning supercedeseverything. The Irish squeakedout five wins in the final minutes.It doesn’t matter that they haddefensive lapses or poor offensiveexecution because they won.No one, not the fans or the play-

ers or the coaches or the BCS,should care how the Irish gothere. They’re 6-2. That’s theimportant part. They have thepotential to win out, go 10-2 andbe eligible for a BCS bowl.This would give the Irish some-

thing they desperately need: suc-cess under Charlie Weis withplayers he recruited. He orches-trated great wins with BradyQuinn, Jeff Samardzija andDarius Walker running theoffense. Then they left and theIrish went 3-9 and 6-6. Now Weis has his players run-

ning his system. Fans and critics heap tons of

criticism on Weis’ performance,not all of it undeserved. He’s wonone bowl game in five years, hecoached the team to 15 losses in2007-08, the highest two-yearloss total in school history, and histeam lost to the first eight-lossteam (those pesky Orange) inschool history. He hasn’t beatenUSC in five tries and is 3-11against opponents ranked higherthan the Irish.Uninspiring, right? At face

value, yes. But that’s not thewhole story. The nice thing aboutthe fact that sports follows thewhat-have-you-done-for-me-late-ly doctrine is that it works bothways. True, 2007 was awful and2008 failed to live up to expecta-tions. But it’s 2009, the Irish arewinning and they’re clearly notthe same team as before.He’s got a chance this season to

burst out from under those stats,to prove to fans and the mediathat he can coach a team to suc-cess using his players. He’s done itso far this year. It’s that time, hisfifth year, when he put all of hisplayers in position and refined hissystem and defined his role in thecoaching staff. My hunch says the Irish do it.They certainly have the talent.

Jimmy Clausen, Kyle Rudolph andGolden Tate can throw and catchagainst anybody. Robert Hughes’increased performancesenlivened the offense and coun-tered Armando Allen’s speed, andif he gets a head of steam he’lluproot the defenders in his way.The defensive line’s increasedpenetration and the emergence ofManti Te’o as a playmaker solidi-fied a defense that was shaky atthe start of the season. Which brings me back to my

point. As Rick Moranis said inSpaceballs, the Irish are at nownow. They shouldn’t be worriedabout then, about what hap-pened, about how they got here.They’ve got four teams to beat tocapitalize on the opportunitiesthis season presents, of whichthere are many: postseasonawards, a BCS bowl, vindicationof Weis’ recruiting and playcall-ing, erasure of last year’s poor fin-ish. But the cliché “clichés art true”

is true for a reason, and the one-game-at-a-time approach muststill guide the team. The Irishmust use what’s worked for themall season to beat Navy. They’regoing to need Te’o to break up theoption and they’re going to needthe defensive line to plug the full-back’s hole. They’re going to needthat passing game against a Navypass defense that ranks 23rd inthe nation. The Irish season is now four

games long. If they focus and playlike they know they can, the after-party could be pretty exciting.

The views expressed in this col-umn are those of the author andnot necessarily those of TheObserver.

Contact Bill Brink atwbrink@nd.edu

The Observer � IRISH INSIDERpage 2 Friday, November 6, 2009

Irish season nowfour games long

Bill Brink

ManagingEditor

COMMENTARY

RecycleThe Observer.

After a blowout victory overWashington State in SanAntonio that may have helpedNotre Dame’s future recruit-ing in Texas, this weekendthe Irish will welcome officialvisitor Marquis Flowers toSouth Bend to see the teamtake on Navy.Flowers is an Arizona

native that plays both safetyand running back for hisMil lennium High Schoolteam. The high school seniorpiled up 87 tackles and threeinterceptions on defense in2008 while rushing for 932yards and eight touchdownson offense.“Marquis is a tremendous

talent, he could play a num-ber of different positions forNotre Dame,” said MikeFrank, a Notre Dame recruit-ing analyst who runs theESPN-aff i l iated Web si teir ishsportsdai ly.com. “Hemakes a ton of plays, has alot of offers, and seems toreally l ike Notre Dame. Ithink Notre Dame likes hispotential a great deal andyou just don’t see this caliberof athlete come along veryoften.”Flowers is also considering

USC, Arizona, Arizona Stateand UCLA.“He seems to have a strong

interest in Notre Dame,”Frank said. “He was sched-uled to vis i t [ for the USCgame] and then rescheduled,and the fact that he’s willingto reschedule and come back

means he’s pretty interest-ed.”While the Ir ish hope to

impress Flowers Saturday,they appear to have alreadymade strides towards futurerecruiting in Texas followingtheir 40-14 rout ofWashington State in SanAntonio last week. Severalhigh schooljuniors were inattendance andlooking tolearn moreabout NotreDame and thefootbal l pro-gram.“I think a lot

of local playersenjoyed beingable to checkout NotreDame,” Franksaid. “It ’s anice way for Notre Dame toshowcase their program, andtell recruits to check themout because they probablydon’t know much aboutthem.”Notre Dame already heard

good news last week shortlybefore arriving in Texas,receiving a verbal commit-ment from Lone Star statenative Toney Hurd Jr. lastFriday.“Toney’s stock just contin-

ues to rise and rise. He’s avery smart kid, extremelyintelligent, and I think itsstarting to come into play andwork with his athleticism,”Frank said. “He’s becoming avery good corner and has hada great senior year.”Hurd chose the Irish out of

more than 15 major schoolsthat offered him a scholar-ship, including Texas A&M,Oregon, Florida State andOklahoma.The Ir ish also recently

received good news regard-ing top wide receiverprospect Kyle Prater, who iscurrently verbally committed

to USC. Thenumber onereceiver inmany recruit-ing servicer a n k i n g s ,Prater isreturning toSouth Bend foran official visitto see NotreDame take onConnec t i c u t .The I l l inoisplayer wasalso on campus

for the USC game on an unof-ficial visit.“Kyle Prater is a big guy

that makes plays,” Franksaid. “He uses his body welland has the potential to be aMichael Floyd down the road.He likes a lot about USC butstaying close to home couldinterest him, and his bestfriend Corey Cooper is alsointerested in Notre Dame.”

For more on Notre Damerecruiting, check out MikeFrank’s irishsportsdaily.com.

E-mail Mike at mike-frank18@sbcglobal.net andtell him The Observer sentyou.

Arizona athlete Flowers visitsFOOTBALL RECRUITING

By MICHAEL BRYANAssociate Sports Editor

Contact Michael Bryan atmbryan@nd.edu

“[Marquis Flowers] isa tremendous talent,

he could play a number of positionsfor Notre Dame.”

Mike FrankIrish recruiting analyst

His teammates and coaches callhim Notre Dame’s best athlete.But just how athletic is seniorsafety Sergio Brown?He’s been dunking alley-oop

passes on the basketball courtsince early in high school. He sayshe’s never lost a foot race in hishometown of Maywood, Ill.And he can do back flips — in

full pads after playing a footballgame in front of 80,000-plus. Orin a Notre Dame polo shirt, baggyblue jeans and street shoes, as hedid for The Observer Wednesday.“Me and my brother were

always just goofing around in thehouse. It really started after themovie ‘3 Ninjas’ came out,”Brown said. “We just started try-ing to flip and stuff outside withmattresses. My mom started get-ting scared, so she said if we’regoing to do all this flipping, wemight as well learn how to do itso we won’t hurt ourselves. I’vejust been flipping since.”Brown’s back flips have only

recently become a staple of theIrish postgame celebration. Butposition-wise, he’s been flippingsince he arrived at Notre Dame.Until now.

Path to safetyA four-star safety recruit out of

Proviso East H.S., Brown made97 special teams appearances in11 games as a freshman in 2006,making four tackles in kickoff andpunt coverage. The next seasonwas much of the same, as heplayed in nine games and madeseven tackles but saw limitedaction in the secondary.Brown emerged as an impact

player out of the nickel defense asa junior last season. He made hisfirst career start in the 2008 sea-son-opener against San DiegoState and flashed much of thepotential that had excited theIrish coaching staff in his first twoseasons. Brown made six tackles(one for a loss), broke up twopasses and blocked a puntagainst the Aztecs to set the tonefor a solid junior season, high-

lighted by 28 tackles, six passbreakups and a pair of blockedpunts.“I just had to be patient and

wait for my time to play,” Brownsaid. “A lot of special teams, andthen my role got bigger last yearplaying some nickel. Now I’m onthe field a lot, and I’m loving itright now.”His coaches are loving it, too, as

Brown’s play at safety the pasttwo weeks has allowed the Irishto shuffle its personnel to produceNotre Dame’s best consecutivedefensive performances of theseason the past two weeks.Brown made his first start at

safety for the Irish in their 20-16win over Boston College, as NotreDame bumped junior HarrisonSmith back to the linebacker spotwhere he enjoyed success lastseason. After the Irish thumpedWashington State 40-14 lastweekend, Brown is slated tomake his third straight start atsafety — and seventh of the yearoverall — Saturday against Navy.“I think he’s earned his way

into being a full-time player ondefense,” Irish coach Charlie Weissaid. “So just the fact that it’staken some time for him to getthere, but he’s there now, he’splaying on every down. I thinkthat’s where he’s made the mostsignificant progress.”

Flip, Flop ‘n FlyThere’s never been a shortage

of ability for Brown, who was along jump state qualifier and, asa high school junior, returned fiveof his six interceptions for touch-downs. In fact, Brown was show-casing his athleticism long beforehe suited up at the high schoollevel — and on a much differentstage.He performed with Mr. Ernie’s

Flip, Flop ‘n Fly, a Maywood-based tumbling group, as a gradeschool student — times he could-n’t help but laugh about as helooked back. “We did parades and shows

and all that other stuff,” Brownsaid. “Once I got bigger, it startedgetting a little harder to flip.”So he started to use his athletic

ability in other ways.

“We race a lot in the neighbor-hood to see who’s the fastest,”Brown said. “I’m still undefeat-ed.”That’s not hard to believe, con-

sidering Scout.com listed his highschool 40-yard dash time at ablazing 4.4 seconds, the kind ofspeed that can’t be taught. He’scome a long way from his tum-bling days, but he can still flipand fly.“He’s one of the most athletic

guys on our team,” sophomoredefensive lineman Ethan Johnsonsaid. “He can jump through theroof, and he’s really fast. He canbring so much to the table at thenext level, too. He’s definitely aspecial player.”

Goof ball hawkBrown’s teammates say he’s a

special person as well. His per-sonality and his relationshipswith his teammates have madehis success even more enjoyablefor the entire Irish squad.“He’s a guy you can’t help but

root for,” sophomore linebackerSteve Filer said. “He’s a great guy.You can’t help but just cheer forhim and hope he does his best.”So far, so good for Brown, who

has looked comfortable in hismove back to safety alongsidesenior captain Kyle McCarthy. Heis fifth on the team with 18 solotackles for the season, but per-haps his greatest contributionshave come with the emotionalspark he has provided a defensethat, at times earlier in the sea-son, lacked the confident swaggerand positive attitude he brings.“You say he’s emotional, but

really, he’s upbeat,” Johnson said.“He’s a good kind of emotional.It’s infectious, and he reallybrings something else to our teamthat’s going to be hard to replacenext year.”It seems no one, not even Weis,

can talk about Brown without achuckle and a smile.“He’s a passionate kid,” Weis

said. “He’s fun to be around. He’sa goof ball. But I really like beingaround Sergio, and so do histeammates. And I think that he’snot selfish. He wants to bearound the fellas, and he’s just

one of those heart-and-soul typeplayers that people like beingaround.”

Fun with SplurgeNotre Dame students who have

had a class with Brown mightknow him by something else,since he asks all his teachers tocall him by the nickname hepicked up from a rap song duringhis freshman year.“One of my teachers, it’s hilari-

ous,” Brown said. “I’m the onlyfootball player in there withdreads, so every day he’ll lookaround the class [joking] like, ‘IsSplurge here today?’”The Nelly song by the same

name may have faded from mem-ory, but the nickname Splurgeseems to have stuck — thoughsome of Brown’s teammates mayhave a new one for him.“Fake Whoopi Goldberg!”

Johnson yelled at Brown as heleft Wednesday’s media session,no doubt ragging on the safety’spatented dreadlocks.That’s the kind of relationship

Brown has with his teammates —and the fun goes both ways.“One time we were in the train-

ing room and Jimmy [Clausen]was talking to [former Irish quar-terback] Joe Theismann,” Brownsaid. “I really didn’t know it wasJoe Theismann at the time, and Iwas just standing behind him,waving and making faces atJimmy while they were talking,acting like a fool. Jimmy startedto bust down laughing. We just allmess with each other.”But Brown’s fun isn’t limited to

jokes with teammates. Lastspring, he filmed a one-minutespot for insidenotredamefoot-ball.com in which he and JackSwarbrick, Notre Dame’s directorof athletics, mimicked the popu-lar Geico commercials featuring

celebrity spokesmen for “realpeople.” The video idea stemmedfrom Brown’s comedic perform-ance as a presenter at the 2008OSCARS (Outstanding Student-Athletes CelebratingAchievements and RecognitionShowcase), held annually to high-light the achievements of NotreDame’s athletic teams.Brown said Charmelle Green,

senior assistant athletics directorfor student-athlete welfare anddevelopment, approached himwith an idea for a video thatwould air at last spring’s OSCARS.“They asked if I wanted to do a

little commercial with JackSwarbrick, and I was like, OK,sure,” Brown said. “They wantedus to be like the Geico commer-cials, so we set it up and it washilarious, a lot of fun. “In the video, Brown yells at the

camera, dances with a NotreDame blanket draped over hisback and, of course, does a backflip — all while Swarbrick talksabout Notre Dame’ MonogramClub in a professional office set-ting.

“They had me do a back flip atleast 12 times — way more thanyou all had me do one,” Brownsaid.Not that it was a problem for

Brown, who will likely be in thenorth end zone, preparing him-self for another back flip afterSaturday’s game as his team-mates gather to sing the AlmaMater.“I like to have a lot of fun,” he

said. “I’m serious when the timeis called, but everything’s alwaysbetter when you’re having fun.”And that includes the Irish

defense, especially with SergioBrown.

The Observer � IRISH INSIDERFriday, November 6, 2009 page 3

Heart and soul

Contact Matt Gamber at mgamber@nd.edu

Sergio Brown uses natural speed and personal strength to expand his roleBy MATT GAMBERSports Editor

VANESSA GEMPIS/The Observer

Irish safety Sergio Brown performs his signature backflip followingNotre Dame’s 40-14 victory over Washington State in San Antonio.

IAN GAVLICK/The Observer

Irish safety Sergio Brown runs off the field following a Nevada turnover during Notre Dame’s 33-0 winover the Wolf Pack on Sept. 5. Brown recently moved from nickel back to starting at free safety.

HEAD T The Observer � IRISH INSIDERpage 4 Friday, November 6, 2009

Irish Offense vs. Midshipmen Defense

Charlie Weishead coach

5th season at Notre Dame

career record: 35-23

at home19-12

against Navy: 3-1

Notre DameFighting Irish

Record: 6-2AP: 19 Coaches: 21 BCS: 21

Ready yourselves for frustration, becauseNavy's triple option always causes it.Quarterback Ricky Dobbs runs the option welland has an absurd 16 rushing touchdowns thisseason. Now cue Manti Te'o hitting the gap anddestroying the pitch man just as he gets theball because the defensive line has sealed upthe fullback's hole and Darius Fleming pres-sured Dobbs to force the pitch. That won't hap-pen every time, but it'll happen enough tosecure a win for Notre Dame. Jimmy Clausenhas been ridiculous without Michael Floyd.With him back, even as a decoy, the rest of theoffense opens up and scores a ton of points on asolid but overmatched Navy defense. Navy will

control the clock and score, but not nearly enough to win.FINAL SCORE: Notre Dame 34, Navy 17

The return of Michael Floyd is absolute-ly huge for this Irish team. With Floyd,Notre Dame can hang with almost everyteam in the country just on the strength oftheir passing attack. Even if he does notplay considerable time against Navy, thegame experience will be valuable forFloyd to be ready against a toughPittsburgh team. The Notre Dame offenseshould be able to control the line of scrim-mage and continue to dominate throughthe air. The run defense is playing verywell, and Manti Te’o should have a biggame against the triple option attack.Ricky Dobbs will have success at times,

but the Irish offense will be too much.FINAL SCORE: Notre Dame 37, Navy 17

As if the Notre Dame passingattack had not seen enough suc-cess , quarterback J immyClausen and the Irish will get anadditional boost Saturday withthe return of star sophomorewideout Michael Floyd. WithFloyd back on the field alongwith Golden Tate and KyleRudolph, Clausen should have a

field day against the Midshipmen andfor the rest of the season. There is nobetter passing attack in the countrythan Notre Dame’s with everyonehealthy.Navy’s defense has been solid

against the pass but has not faced anyattack close to the caliber of Clausenand the Irish. The Midshipmen havenine interceptions on the season but

have not generated a consistent passrush with just 11 sacks all season.Sophomore guard Trevor Robinsonwill miss the game because of a highankle sprain, but the Notre Dameoffensive line should not have anyissues. Clausen should have time tothrow and continue to put upHeisman-worthy numbers.

EDGE: NOTRE DAME

Junior running back ArmandoAllen is “day-to-day” because ofnagging injuries, but it may notmake much of a difference withthe way c lassmate RobertHughes has played. Hughesrolled up 131 yards and a touch-down on the ground in the routof Washington State in SanAntonio, and showed off some

pass-catching ability as well withfour receptions for 51 yards. TheIrish offensive line should be able totake advantage of their advantage insize over the Navy defensive front.The Navy defense was descibed by

Irish coach Charlie Weis as easily thebest he has faced, and has given upjust 315 yards per game. The rundefense, however, has not been the

Midshipmen’s strength, and theywere shredded on the ground for 267yards by Temple running backBernard Pierce last week. The Irishshould be able to be successful onthe ground against an undersizedNavy defense that will first be look-ing to defend the pass.

EDGE: NOTRE DAME

Weis has to be hapy tohave Floyd back in theIrish offense, opening upthe playbook for thematchup against theMidshipmen. Hopeful lyWeis balances the creativi-ty he displayed in using theWildcat moving GoldenTate around the Notre

Dame offense and let-ting Clausen run thepro-style offense withFloyd, Tate, andRudolph. The offen-sive line should domi-nate and i t wi l l behard to cal l a badplay against Navy.EDGE: NOTRE DAME

Nick Tausch set aNotre Dame recordagainst the Cougarslast week by makingtwo more field goals,giving him 14 in a row.Classmate Ben Turkhad a roller coastergame in San Antonio,pinning Washington

State down at the 2-yardline, but also dropping asnap and badly missing one.The Irish kick return

game has been consistentbut unspectacular, andneeds to use its talentadvantage against lesseropponents.

EDGE: NOTRE DAME

Sept. 5

Sept. 12

Sept. 19

Sept. 26

Oct. 3

Oct. 17

Oct. 24

Oct. 31

Nov. 7

Nov. 14

Nov. 21

Nov. 28

Nevada — W

@ Michigan — L

Michigan St. — W

@ Purdue — W

Washington — W

Southern Cal — L

Boston College — W

Washington St. — W

Navy

@ Pittsburgh

Connecticut

@ Stanford

2009 Schedule

IRISH PASSING

Statistical LeadersND OFFENSEQB JIMMY CLAUSEN

172-257, 2318 yds., 18 TDRB ARMANDO ALLEN

104 rush, 514 yds., 3 TDRB ROBERT HUGHES

64 rush, 311 yds., 4 TDWR GOLDEN TATE

56 rec., 927 yds., 9 TDTE KYLE RUDOLPH

31 rec., 346 yds., 3 TD

NAVY DEFENSELB ROSS POSPISIL

37 solo, 5.5 TFL, 2.5 sacksLB TYLER SIMMONS

24 solo, 1 TFL, 1 FFLLB TONY HABERER

26 solo, 6 TFL, 1 INTS WYATT MIDDLETON

24 solo, 2 TFL, 3 INTDE CRAIG SCHAEFER

12 solo, 3 TFL, 3 sacks

Head-to-HeadND OFFENSEScoring: 31.25 ppg (28th)

Total: 457.63 (5th)

Rushing: 147.88 (58th)

Passing: 309.75 ypg (8th)

Turnovers against: 6 (3rd)

Fumbles lost: 3 (5th)

Interceptions: 3 (6th)

Sacks Allowed: 17 (70th)

T.O.P. for: 33:19 (5th)

NAVY DEFENSEScoring: 21.44 ppg (38th

Total: 315.56 ypg (27th)

Rushing: 137.44 ypg (59th)

Passing: 178.11 ypg (23rd)

Turnovers for: 13 (76th)

Fumbles rec.: 4 (101st)

Interceptions: 9 (40th)

Sacks: 11 (104th)

T.O.P. against: 25:42 (2nd)

Jon TenutaDef. CoordinatorAssistant HC

Corwin BrownCo-Def. Coord.Associate HC

IRISH RUSHING

IRISHSPECIALTEAMS

Bill Brink

ManagingEditor

IRISHOFFENSIVE

COACHING

Michael Bryan

AssociateSports Editor

HEAD TO HEADThe Observer � IRISH INSIDERFriday, November 6, 2009 page 5

Midshipmen Offense vs. Irish Defense

Navy lost to Temple last week, but that waswithout its best player, quarterback RickyDobbs. Dobbs should be back running theMidshipmen's classic option attack, which theIrish defense shut down for most of last year'smatchup. The same should happen again, asthe maligned secondary should get a bit ofrespite because of Navy's run, run, run style ofplay. The offense will need to play mistake-freefootball as it has all year to maximize its limitedpossessions, and Charlie Weis said he’d be sureto involve all his weapons, including the newlyreturned Michael Floyd. As always, Notre Dameis a much bigger, faster, more talented teamthan Navy, and this year, the Irish will just be too

much for the Midshipmen. This one won’t be close.FINAL SCORE: Notre Dame 27, Navy 7

After a break last week in San Antonio, JimmyClausen will likely have to play the wholegame against the Midshipmen. Notre Dame ismore talented than Navy, to be sure, but theoption-style offense will keep the game closerthan it probably should be. The Irish won’t beable to control the clock for nearly 40 minuteslike they did against the Cougars, and Navyalways comes to South Bend fired up andready to play. That being said, though, theMidshipmen (or anyone else in the country, forthat matter) will have trouble stopping a NotreDame offense with both Golden Tate andMichael Floyd in the lineup. Robert Hughescould also have another big day against an

undersized, if opportunistic, Navy defense.FINAL SCORE: Notre Dame 38, Navy 20

Ken Niumatalolohead coach

2nd season at Navy

career record: 14-8

on road: 5-3

against ND: 0-1

NavyMidshipmen

Record: 6-3AP: NR Coaches: NR BCS: NR

Sept. 5

Sept. 12

Sept. 19

Sept. 26

Oct. 3

Oct. 10

Oct. 17

Oct. 24

Oct. 31

Nov. 7

Nov. 14

Nov. 28

Dec. 12

@ Ohio St. — L

Louisiana Tech — W

@ Pittsburgh — L

Western Kentucky — W

Air Force — W

@ Rice — W

@ SMU — W

Wake Forest — W

Temple — L

@ Notre Dame

Delaware

@ Hawaii

Army

2009 Schedule

Statistical LeadersNAVY OFFENSEQB RICKY DOBBS

170 rush, 595 yds., 16 TD

FB VINCE MURRAY

130 rush, 638 yds., 4 TD

SB MARCUS CURRY

46 rush, 393 yds., 4 TD

FB ALEXANDER TEICH

55 rush, 266 yds.

WR MARIO WASHINGTON

8 rec., 144 yds.

ND DEFENSESS KYLE MCCARTHY

40 solo, 2 TFL, 5 INT

MLB BRIAN SMITH

22 solo, 5 TFL, 1 INT

WLB MANTI TE’O

14 solo, 4.5 TFL, 1 sack

SLB DARIUS FLEMING

15 solo, 11.5 TFL, 3 sacks

DE K. LEWIS-MOORE

20 solo, 6 TFL, 1.5 sacks

Head-to-HeadNAVY OFFENSEScoring: 29.44 ppg (42nd)

Total: 351.44 ypg (79th)

Rushing: 279.78 ypg (3rd)

Passing: 71.67 (118th)

Turnovers against: 9 (12th)

Fumbles lost: 6 (31st)

Interceptions: 3 (6th)

Sacks Allowed: 17 (65th)

T.O.P. for: 34:18 (2nd)

ND DEFENSEScoring: 22.88 (51st)

Total: 384.00 ypg (83rd)

Rushing: 123.88 ypg (50th)

Passing: 260.13 ypg (109th)

Turnovers for: 17 (34th)

Fumbles rec.: 6 (73rd)

Interceptions: 11 (17th)

Sacks: 17 (50th)

T.O.P. against: 26:41 (5th)

Ivin JasperOff. Coordinator

Buddy GreenDef. Coordinator

The nature of the tr iple optionof fense makes the Navy pass inggame rare, but quarterback RickyDobbs is one of the better passers tocome through the school. Dobbs hascompleted 50 percent of his passesthis season for 618 yards and threetouchdowns on the season. Still, if the Midshipmen are passing

the ball often, it does not bode well

for their chances to upset the Irish.The Notre Dame pass defense has

struggled mightily this season buthad a strong performance againstWashington State. Freshman quar-terback Jeff Tuel was confused bythe Irish blitzes and never lookedcomfortable dropping back to pass.Tuel managed just 102 yards andwas intercepted twice in San

Antonio.While the Notre Dame passing

defense has been porous all sea-son, they should have a breakagainst a Navy offense that pass-es the ball only in effort to catchdefenses completely off guard orin a last-ditch effort to get backin the game.

EDGE: NOTRE DAME

Navy’s triple option rushing attackis one of the most difficult to defendin college football. It requires disci-pline and patience on the part of thedefense, and the Midshipmen havenumerous formations, options andrunners to use against opposingdefenses.Navy has seven players on its ros-

ter with more than 100 yards rush-

ing on the season, led by the quarter-back Dobbs. Despite missing sometime due to injury Dobbs has 16touchdowns already on the year.Fullback Vince Murray also has 638yards to lead the Midshipmen in thatcategory.The Ir ish rush defense has

improved dramatically over the pastseveral games. Defensive linemen

Kapron Lewis-Moore, EthanJohnson and Ian Williams haveall stepped up in recent games tostifle opposing running backs.Linebackers Manti Te’o and

Darius Fleming should providespeed and athleticism off theedge to keep the Navy rushingattack somewhat in check.

EDGE: EVEN

The triple option is one ofthe most complicatedschemes in football, and theNavy coaching staff does anexcellent job showing differ-ent looks and personnelpackages. Jon Tenuta andthe Irish defense will have tobe careful not to be overlyaggressive and give up a big

play on the ground tothe Midshipmen. The Notre Dame

coaching staff mustemphasize disciplineand staying in theirlanes against an attackthat relies on misdirec-tion.

EDGE: EVEN

Navy back Gee GeeGreen is a dangerousreturner on kickoffs, andthe Midshipmen have putup solid numbers in puntreturns as well. KyleDelahooke has averaged43.2 yards a punt, andhas pinned 10 puntsinside the opponents 20-

yard line.Kicker Joe Buckley is eight

of 10 on the season, and hasmade every field goal he hasattempted from outside of 40yards.This is a very solid unit for

Navy that could have a bigimpact on field position.

EDGE: NAVY

NAVY PA

SSING

NAVYSPECIALTEAM

S

NAVY R

USHING

NAVYOFFEN

SIVE

COACHING

Matt Gamber

Sports Editor

Sam Werner

AssociateSports Editor

The Observer � IRISH INSIDERpage 6 Friday, November 6, 2009

What is your favorite class? Probably

poetry class because I liked that I could

write what was on my mind.

What’s your favorite movie? Con-Air

What’s your favorite 80s song? What’s

that song that goes (sings quietly) ...

AC/DC, “Hells Bells.”

What’s in your burrito at Chipotle?

Chicken, rice and pinto beans. None of

that hot corn stuff.

What’s your favorite crayon?

Blue.

What’s your favorite saying? Keep

sleeping — it comes from my old team-

mates because I hit so hard, they said

you’d better watch out, keep sleeping.

The doctors said he washealed. Irish coach CharlieWeis gave the go-ahead for starsophomore receiver MichaelFloyd to play against Navy.Floyd felt confident and readyto go.But there was still one more

person whose approval Floydsought before returning to the

field.“[Coach Weis] gave his vote,

and I gave my vote too,” Floydsaid. “And then he asked me toask my mom if it was OK, andshe went down the line askingme all the questions if I was100 percent and ready to go.”After Floyd assured her he

was indeed healed from hisbroken clavicle, the widereceiver was given the greenlight to play Saturday againstthe Midshipmen. Weis, Floyd

and a certain quarterbackwere all thril led at theprospects of the wideout’sreturn.“It wasn’t too much longer

when I was already gettingtexts from number seven,”Weis said, referencing quarter-back Jimmy Clausen. “Ashappy as number three was, Ithink number seven might havebeen just as happy.”Floyd had dominated the first

two and half games he had

played in this season beforebreaking his clavicle in the sec-ond quarter against MichiganState. In the season opener against

Nevada, Floyd was tackled onlyonce and ran wild for 189yards and three touchdowns onfour receptions.In Ann Arbor Floyd’s success

continued, bringing in sevenreceptions for 131 yards and ascore in the close Notre Dameloss toMichigan.F l o y d ’ s

r e t u r nshould giveo p p o s i n gd e f e n s e snightmaresas they tryto defendagainst twoof the bestw i d ereceivers inthe nation as well as an elitetight end.““I’m very happy to be able

to go into those meetings yes-terday and say, ‘OK, we’ve gotFloyd back, what do we want todo?’” Weis said. “Your game-planning on Monday becomes awhole different element whenyou’re adding a top-flight play-er like Michael to the mix.”With Floyd out, junior receiv-

er Golden Tate picked up theslack despite being the focus ofnumerous double-teams byopposing defenses. During thetime of Floyd’s absence, Tatepiled up 743 yards receivingand 147 rushing and nine totalscores.“It will certainly take a lot of

pressure off of Golden,” saidWeis. “Not only will take pres-sure off of Jimmy, it will take itoff of Kyle, it will take it off ofGolden. Having a guy like that

back there, that balances offyour offense.”Floyd said he agreed his

return would help open upopposing defenses for Tate.“I love Golden, he makes

spectacular plays. It just takesstress off of him. I think he’sprobably just going to keepdoing his own thing, makingbig plays,” Floyd said. “I thinkwe get a little leeway off ofeach other. Both it’s one on one

or double-teamand the other guyis free. We’re bothexcited and whenthey try to double-team us, it leavesinside widereceivers open.”Weis said that

while Floyd is com-pletely healed, hewill not receive afull workloadagainst Navy.

“We have a plan for whatwe’re going to do with Michael.He won’t play every play,” Weissaid. “The biggest thing thathe’s going have to have happenis get tackled once. He’ll get hitin practice some, but I doubtthat we’re going to try it out inpractice and see how thatshoulder feels getting tackled.”Even if it isn’t for every

down, the Irish are excited tohave one of the best players inthe nation back.“It’s great to have one of the

best receivers in the nationback to help you out,” Tatesaid. “I’m excited for him, I’mexcited to have him back, and Iknow he’s been waitingpatiently to get back on thefield. I’m expecting him tomake plays.”

With the triple option offensivesystem that Navy runs, thequarterback position is slightlydifferent than at other schools.While Notre Dame quarter-

back Jimmy Clausen hasattempted 257 passes so far thisseason, the man under centerfor theM i d s h i pmen ,junior RickyDobbs, hasthrown only 66.Dobbs has, how-ever, rushed for595 yards andan eye-popping16 touchdownson the season.“As much as I

would love topass the ball onevery down, Iknow the school that I came tofeatures the option,” Dobbs saidat Navy’s pre-season media day.“We worked really hard on ourown this summer getting theoption down so we can continuethe tradition of winning therushing title.”Last season, Dobbs played in

eight of Navy’s 13 games, rush-ing for 495 yards and eighttouchdowns on only 106 carri-ers, good for a 4.7 yards percarry average.With the graduation of Jarod

Bryant and Kaipo-Noa Kaheaku-Enhada, Dobbs entered this sea-son as the unquestioned starter.

“[Navy] coach [KenNiumatalolo] told me last yearto always prepare like I was thestarter and I did that, so reallythe only thing that has changedis that I really am the starter,”Dobbs said. “I have always pre-pared like I was the starter. Ijust have to make sure I don’tput a lot of pressure on myself,because doing so will only driveme into the dirt and I will try to

become some-body that I’mnot.”Last season,

Navy had threel e g i t i m a t eoptions at quar-terback inDobbs, Bryantand Kaheaku-Enhada. Thisyear, though,Dobbs ands o p h o m o r eKriss Proctor

are the only non-freshmen onthe Midshipmen roster.“If I could put Ricky in a bub-

ble I would do it,” Niumatalolosaid at Navy’s pre-season mediaday. “We are not as deep at thatposition as we have been in thepast. We have some young guyswe are very excited about. I amvery excited about Kriss Proctor,but he is a young quarterbackand he has a ways to go tobecome the starter.”Niutmatalolo’s worst fears

came true, though, when Dobbsinjured his right knee againstSouthern Methodist on Oct. 17.The Midshipmen needed over-

time to beat the Mustangs, andonly managed 13 points in a winover Wake Forest the nextweek. Navy didn’t throw a singlepass against the DemonDeacons.Against Temple on Oct. 31, the

impact of Dobbs’ injury was felt

in full. Even though Dobbsplayed in limited action againstthe Owls, he wasn’t at fullstrength and Navy lost 27-24 todrop its record to 6-3 on theseason.Dobbs is back to full strength

for this week’s game, though,

and could give himself the high-light of his career with a goodperformance, or even a win,against the Irish in Notre DameStadium.

Floyd returns for battle against NavyBy MICHAEL BRYANAssociate Sports Editor

The Observer � IRISH INSIDERFriday, November 6, 2009 page 7

Dobbs leads potent triple option attack for Midshipmen

Contact Michael Bryan atmbryan@nd.edu

By SAM WERNERAssociate Sports Editor

Contact Sam Werner at swerner@nd.edu

Observer File Photo

Navy quarterback Ricky Dobbs scrambles for a big gain in Baltimore in 2008. Dobbs has 16 TDsand leads a potent ground attack that is third in the nation in rushing.

“If I could put Ricky ina bubble I would do it.We are not as deep atthat position as we

have been in the past.”

Ken NiumataloloNavy coach

IAN GAVLICK/The Observer

Sophomore wide receiver Michael Floyd races down the sidelines for a touchdown in the season-openingwin against Nevada. Floyd will return to play Saturday after breaking his clavicle against Michigan State.

“Not only will it takepressure off of Jimmy,it will take it off of

Kyle, it will take it offof Golden.”

Charlie WeisIrish coach

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