The Spring Game

By Kratzer

Let me start by saying "Hello!" to the boys (and gals) on the board over at Bluegoldnation.com and apologize for my scant attendance in their conversations.

I am sorry I couldn't come up with a clever title for this blog. I thought about it for a short time and decided a plain title was fitting. If Charlie Weis couldn't muster up any creativity today then neither can I.

Today's game was honestly the most boring event I have been to at Notre Dame Stadium.

I'm pretty sure I have at this point broken almost every journalistic rule on gaining reader interest.

Today's game was plain (I had one last rule to break- "don't repeat yourself like a babbling fool"). But the plainness of this game may speak to us having a balanced team. Our defense and offense are equally powerful machines who were stuck in a gridlock all day, with no clear points of domination.

Or Charlie Weis decided to serve us a bowl of analogous vanilla ice cream with his play calling today. (Edit: Vanilla Ice cream has contacted me since the publication of this blog, and is offended- clearly insulted by being compared to the play calling today.) Or Charlie Weis decided to serve us a bowl of analogous frozen milk slush with some sugar and no flavor at all with his play calling today.

Even though the game was fairly uneventful, I can make some comments for those unable to attend. The early entries had a couple of shining starts. Zeke Motta and Tyler Stockton are the real deal. In particular Stockton. I think that Stockton will log a lot of snaps this season and could even compete for a starting position. He is the quickest off the line and is very wide. (I hope Amish gets a chance to post his photos- he has a nice one of Stockton, and his double wide frame.)

Zeke Motta is a bit small to fill the role, but he has a motor. The kid never quits and has a nose for the ball. He could end up as one of our great catches no recrutniks slobbered over endlessly.

While there wasn't much to see on the field, I did sit near several incoming freshmen. Chris Watt is a house. He would probably be one of our five largest offensive linemen if he suited up today. He is as big as Cave came in last year. Zack Martin was also near. He is big too, and is mostly muscle. However, I think he will need a couple of seasons to fill out his frame. Alex Bullard lies somewhere between the two with his size.

Chris Martin was in attendance as well. He looked as though he was ready to suit up. Unfortunately we have to wait an additional 12 months.

The running game was the meat and potatoes of the offensive effort today (no pun intended). The three backs used primarily were Grey, Allen and Hughes. Honestly none of them surprised me, but at the same time none disappointed either. Paskorz took fullback duties with James Aldridge (and another dozen quality players) sidelined. He showed hes ability to lead block, in particular in a goal line formation.

It is impossible to leave out quarterbacks when speaking of Notre Dame. Though there wasn't much to see, there is a fair amount to report. I would like for aliens to land and watch the spring game. Then I would like to watch someone try and explain why Clausen is the starter, Crist in the wings, and Montana is the token legacy player. I know it was a spring game, and they all played against different defenses, but Montana was hands down the most impressive quarterback in attendance today. He has the longest completions and lead two scoring drives.

.....and I got to shake his Dad's hand today.......

All things considered, Crist, though only 4-10 showed his intangibles and athleticism. Jimmy threw a few balls into some tight spots, and did such perfectly. Montana looked like a scholarship quarterback- for Northwestern or Miami Ohio. That's not a bad place to be for a third (maybe fourth...John Goodman can apparently throw a ball clean over the Rocky Mountains?) stringer.

The main receivers were Tate, Floyd and Kamara, but I feel that Parris will challenge for starts. He runs crisp routes and has great size. He could potentially turn into the "shark" we assumed he would be. Goodman and Walker both looked impressive as well (even without many passes being thrown). Goodman has filled in his frame and Walker runs great routes and catches everything.

To wrap things up, this game was uneventful. The highlight reel is a forty eight yard field goal, lasting all of five seconds and a hundred frames of film. But we have come to expect this from spring games. This 2009 season outlook has neither significantly improved nor declined from the information given to those attending. But at the same time, we served our opponents the same scoop of ice milk and they have little to study in preparation for our match ups.