New blog!

We have finally left 2001 and gotten ourselves a new Web site. It’s the same address as the old one, ndsmcobserver.com, but it’s much cooler and looks much better. The nice thing is, we’ve got a blog that’s attached to our site now as opposed to this, which takes you fine readers one extra click to get to. We felt that was too much work, so we have created a new blog on our main Web site.

It can be found here:

http://www.ndsmcobserver.com/blog-1.109/sportsblog

Thanks for reading/putting up with us, and we hope you continue to do so on our new blog.

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Notes from updated Irish depth chart

Notre Dame released its updated depth chart for this weekend’s game against Navy tonight, and on the injury front there are a few things of note:

• Sophomore wide receiver Michael Floyd is not listed on the depth chart. Floyd underwent a CAT scan today, so it’s possible that Weis just didn’t have the results before he set the depth chart. Weis had previously indicated that if today’s test came back 100 percent, and he anticipated it would, Floyd would play against the Midshipmen. Check back tomorrow after Weis’ press conference at noon for an update.
• Fifth-year senior Evan Sharpley is listed as the backup to Jimmy Clausen, indicating that Dayne Crist will miss some time after a knee injury against Washington State Saturday night. Again, we’ll find out tomorrow the true extent of the injury.
• As expected, senior Dan Wenger is listed ahead of sophomore Trevor Robinson at the right guard position. Robinson suffered what Weis described as a “low ankle sprain” against the Cougars.

Irish vs. Ohio State, Take Two

The Irish continue their CCHA-opening series against Ohio State with their second game of the weekend in the Joyce Center. Notre Dame prevailed last night 3-1 behind the stellar goaltending of freshman Mike Johnson. Junior Calle Ridderwall, senior Dan Kissel, and sophomore Billy Maday provided the scoring. I’ll try to give updates from the press box at least after each period, if not a bit more frequently.

Showdown in Beantown — Notre Dame vs. Boston University LIVE

The Irish face their first road game of the season, and it will certainly be a test. I’ll be providing live updates from the press box of Agganis Arena as Notre Dame takes on the defending national champion Terriers.

Hoosier Showdown – LIVE

Follow as No. 22 Notre Dame takes on No. 19 Indiana in a highly-touted non-conference battle. This is the 30th annual meeting between the two teams with the Hoosiers holding a 23-5-1 advantage.

Trojan invasion

Southern Cal comes to South Bend this weekend riding a seven-game winning streak against Notre Dame. It won’t end anytime soon. It’s too bad, really; the campus has chalk all over it saying “Beat SC” or some variation, tons of recruits are coming in and some people seem to think this is the year. But despite how it looked against Washington, USC will still beat Notre Dame. Doesn’t matter how loud the students are or what they wear.

The nice thing is, Charlie Weis understands how difficult this game will be and has his head in the right place about it.

“We know the challenge we have to face, we’re not oblivious to that fact,” Weis said. “We’re going to give it a fair go.”

Saturday night hockey: Notre Dame vs. Alabama-Hunstville LIVE

The Irish hope to bounce back against the same Alabama-Hunstville team that beat them with 5.4 seconds to go last night. Follow the action here live.

Hockey: Notre Dame vs. Alabama-Huntsville LIVE

That’s right, it’s already hockey season in South Bend. Follow along here as the Irish take on Alabama-Huntsville in both teams’ season opener.

Washington post-game notes

After three close games, it’s starting to look real.

Yeah, they needed some help — Michigan State overthrowing an open receiver in the end zone, a last-second touchdown against Purdue and a huge two-point conversion against Washington. But the Irish have won all three games, so you have to figure it’s not luck at this point.

Positives:

• Clausen. The accuracy, the fourth-quarter poise, the ability to run the passing game effectively in the absence of Michael Floyd. He’s good.  Charlie Weis said he might give Clausen a rest this week because of the bye coming up this weekend, but he reconsidered. “I think the more rest I can give that turf toe, or maybe on the flip side of that, maybe we should give him another turf toe,” he joked Sunday.

Washington pre-game notes

In no particular order, here are some thoughts about the Washington game:

Jake Locker equals scary. He’s quick, and still has the read-option capability he had before he got hurt last year, and now new coach Steve Sarkisian has him running a pro-style offense. Against Notre Dame’s suspect defense, the options for what Locker can do are endless. The defensive line, while getting better pressure on Purdue’s Joey Elliott last week, still can’t be relied upon to disrupt the quarterback.