QBs

Highly touted incoming frosh QB Andrew Hendrix from Cincinnati Moeller has apparently reaffired his commitment to Notre Dame. Hendrix was seriously considering Florida as well. He is not enrolling early, however, so the QB depth chart going into the fall will likley be redshirt soph Dayne Crist as the starter (assuming all is well with the ACL) alone at the top and then three raw recruits: Hendrix, juco transfer Nate Montana (Joe's son who is returning to South Bend) and incoming freshman Tommy Rees. Rees, from Lake Forest, is enrolling early and will compete in spring ball. There has likewise been talk, on the internet anyway, of Kelly moving John Goodman, a sophomore WR from Fort Wayne, back to the QB position he played in HS. Goodman caught 6 passes for 104 yards and 1 TD for the Irish this season.

Run

Hmmm...let's see....an NCAA investigation of the entire USC athletic program is underway so the USC brass gets religion and self-imposes wildly harsh sanctions on its own basketball team, effectively tying current coach Kevin O'Neill to a corpse thanks to former coach Tim Floyd & OJ Mayo's "peeps." And Reggie Bush has reportedly already talked to the NCAA sniffers along with others connected to the Trojan football program.

Yup, on second thought, it probably is a good time to sneak out the back door, surprise everyone, and take that NFL job you said you weren't interested in, Pete Carroll. Don't bother packing up the office or saying goodbye to anyone. Leave the plaques and the trophies. Don't change your voice mail message. Don't walk...

Run.

Notre Dame 74 - South Florida 73

Not pretty, but a win on the road in the BEast is a win on the road in the BEast...and even better when its on ESPNU!! Not much "D" played by either team. The Irish hit a couple more threes and a couple more FTs than USF, but didn't get many 2nd chance shots. South Fla's defensive rebounding kept the Bulls in it. 'Gody, of course did everything except sweep up afterwards. 36 points, 4 of 5 from beyond the arc, 6 for 7 from the FT line. Picked up his team and drug them where he needed them to go, basically. Jackson was cold (3-12) and ND could have used more from Hansbrough (3 points and 3 assists in 31 minutes). But they won. I'll take it. 13-3 on the year.

Huggy's West Virginia Mountaineers visit South Bend on Saturday. It doesn't get any easier, does it? WVa has one of the best pair of wings (Ebanks, Butler) in the conference, if not the country, but their PG play can be spotty. Purdue waxed the 'Neers on New Years Day and Cleveland State went toe-to-toe with them for 40 minutes (go H-League!!!). They might be a tad overrated at this point, but will doubtless be a handful for the Irish in South Bend.