The Latest in Pigskin

In Stevenson's second football season, the Mustangs duplicated the 2-8 record of their inaugural campaign, posting wins over Misericordia (itself a first-year program) and FDU-Florham (in the season's final home game).  That second home win in SU history, in all honesty, was something of a dud spirit-wise.  It had to be rescheduled several times and was finally turned into a Saturday night game, but the band, for some reason, failed to make an appearance, and the night grew cold enough that Nicky and I decided to leave at halftime.  We followed the rest of the action online.

The record may not look like much, but the Mustangs were considerably more competitive this season.  The defense was better, and the team put up gallant fights against superior opponents on several occasions.  Aside from the near miss against Lebanon Valley, the Mustangs showed their best form against Wilkes in the homecoming game.  The "jernt" was packed to the rafters and SU responded by staying ahead of or tied with Wilkes until literally the last few seconds of the game, losing 38-35 on a gun-beating field goal.  Now the team just has to learn how to close the deal.

Needless to say, I've been delighted by how well Notre Dame has done this year.  No, make that stunned.  Despite a spotty offense and occasional recourse to strange-looking gear (see picture above), the Irish continue to grind out wins and now stand just two victories away from a 12-0 record and a possible berth in the BCS Championship Game.  At the moment, the latter is contingent upon either Kansas State or Oregon dropping a game, which has some folks (including a few without any particular pro- or anti-ND axe to grind) upset.  If the Irish wind up #3 and on the outside looking in at the title game, however, I won't be too upset.  They have massively overachieved in 2012.

As for the Eagles?  Leaning on a broken Reid at the moment.  The regime is finished and it's time to clean house.