Irish Get First Win of the Season...

And right there above is one of the keys to their success...Cornerback, Robert Blanton, who has been one of the defense's most consistent players this season, had a hell of a game against Michigan State...Blanton had 6 tackles, 3 for a loss, 1 sack, 3 passes broken up, and an interception her returned 82 yards, deep into Michigan State territory...

Saturday afternoon, in South Bend, the Irish defense finally nutted up, and took control of the game...Safety Harrison Smith was all over the place making plays...And the defensive line looked great...Lead by Freshman Aaron Lynch...Yeah, remember I mentioned him in my season PREVIEW...18 years old, 6'6" 265 lbs. and the kid was putting pressure on MSU Quarterback Kurt Cousins all day long...

he Irish gave up too many yards through the air for my liking, but holding a team to 29 yards on the ground is nice...

The Irish offense got two touchdowns from Cierre Wood, who has been rock solid for them now through 3 games...QB Tommy Rees did not put up flashy numbers like he did the last two weeks, but he has been consistent with turning the ball over...Adding another interception and another fumble to his tally...5 INT's and 3 Fumbles in two and a half games...So he has 6 TD's...5 INT's...and 3 Fumbles...Okay, Irish fans, lets stop acting like he's the greatest thing since Tony Rice...

Then the Special Teams...The Irish got a 89 yard kickoff return from Freshman George Atkinson III...I've been waiting to see this kid, and what a way to get people's attention...But then sure handed punt returner John Goodman fumbled a fair catch at his own 21 yard line...Luckily after that was when Blanton made his pick...

These guys need to seriously work on fielding punts...

I'll be honest, I kept my hopes in check this week...Even when the Irish seemed in control, I waited...After the first two games, I had no reason to be confident...Now I hope the Irish can build on this...But I'm not going to get my hopes up for next weeks game against Pitt...There are still plenty of things that need to get cleaned up...This is a good team, with plenty of talent...They just need to cool it with the brain farts!

Later, The Beeze.