Boilernation

Great point! I forgot how soon the turnaround was in promoting Freeman. You can't let the inmates run the asylum. In fairness to Freeman, he still has a lot of time to write his story at ND. But, you can't convince me they couldn't have found a better option had they done their due dilligence and opened the job up to outside candidates. It's entirely possible that Nebraska will have a better hire than Freeman. I firmly believe the football Gods are through with punishing the Huskers for firing Pelini and they'll end up with a really good coach capable of consistent 7-10 win seasons. I realize that's not good enough for ND fans; however, it currently looks better than Freeman.

I fully agree. That loss to Marshall was BAD, VERY BAD. I get the following: Charles Huff has Penn State and Saban ties on his resume and is on his way to getting a Power 5 job Marshall's roster is full of portal transfers from legitimate Power 5 programs But, Notre Dame essentially let Ohio State beat them twice. They looked like they never recovered from the Ohio State loss and were completely out gameplanned and schemed by Marshall. I heard on one podcast that Marshall's coaches were happy ND never adjusted and didn't just go with a power running game in the 2nd half. They didn't think they could stop ND if they put some power on the line and tried running the ball. This is clearly an outsiders viewpoint as I've made it clear I have no love towards Notre Dame, but I feel like they were shocked to be dumped by Kelly, saw they had a pretty backup they could take to the dance in Freeman, and rallied around his charisma and outstanding recruiting abilities. But, sitting one state away, was a proven coach in Fickel that seemingly was never even considered. Who knows. Maybe ND used agents to send feelers out to prospective coaches and the responses they received made it clear Freeman was their best option.

Interesting. I haven't been able to see Valpo this year. Why do you have them over Crown Point?

I'm feeling very pessimistic about that one. Purcell Pavilion!! Admittedly, I had to Google that one. Congrats. You are now the 2nd person I've encountered who actually likes ND basketball. I can actually tolerate watching them win. Brey seems like a good one.

Kind of a dead week in the Duneland. Nothing noteworthy on the schedule until the 23rd when Crown Point travels to Valpo and then the following week when Valpo takes down Merrillvile. Chesterton @ Valpo: The Trojans are spiraling down the drain after a promising showing in Week 1 vs Hobart. Valpo is gearing up for a run at the Duneland crown. Vikings by about 17. LaPorte @ Lake Central: Good gets back in the win column and Lake Central moves to 3-2 heading to Michigan City. Blue Indians by 23. Michigan City @ Merrillville: I would love to see Mason pickup another W against The Ville, but it's not happening this year. Pirates by 18. Portage @ Crown Point. The Red Indians have apparently twice caught lightning in the bottle: the 1977 season and the hiring of Craig Buzea as the football coach in 1993. Unfortunately, Buzea now holds court on the Crown Point sideline and Portage is the way to their 10th losing season since the Buzea/Portage divorce. Crown Point by 28.

Thanks! I aways thought it was in reference to the Chicago Southside Irish Catholics that love ND. For instance, did Rudy really play at Joliet Catholic or was that just fictionalized for the movie?

Let's be clear, it also comes down to results. I'm fairly confidant the reversible jacket IU/ND fan that likes them for "being Indiana teams" choose them over Purdue becuase of historical success. I was a huge ND football fan in Middle School and High School. I was at Soldier Field for Ron Pawlus' first start as QB1. I just started caring less and less about ND the more connected to Purdue I felt.

I could be wrong, but I think the term "Subway Alum" was coined by the Chicagoans following Notre Dame.

I get it. Notre Dame is located in South Bend. They have tremendous history and residents of Indiana will jump on the bandwagon. Though outside of location, what is "Indiana" about them? I don't see research parks creating jobs across the state with the ND name on them. I don't see Veterinarian's from across the state going to ND for traininng and/or consultations. I don't see medical facilities across the state with ND's name on them. I'd wager less than 5% of their student body is actually from Indiana. Illinois, Illinois State and don't forget about the downstate Saluki's! A lot of Chicagoland HS kids end up at Southern. That's where my parents met.

Ben Davis Brownsburg East Noble Fort Wayne Carroll Mater Dei Gibson Southern Fort Wayne Snider Tri-West Northview Franklin

Notre Dame is not an "Indiana" school though. They cater to Chicago, the East Coast, and West Coast. The Chicago media even treats them as a local team. Last time I checked their published admissions reports an applicant would have a better chance of getting admitted to Notre Dame if they went to HS in Ohio as opposed to Indiana.

Ha...pretty clear who you're talking about even if I didn't know who your favorite college team is. I used to be of the opinion that if a player was on any form of scholarship then the coaches determined that player's set of skills were worthy of something I never received. i.e., free books, tuition, room and board. Therefore, I was OK with booing even though I personally have never done it. At this point I've probably regressed and think that line of thinking is a little over the top as they're still not professional athletes. But, if the player has accepted any sort of NIL money, I'm actually open to the booing. Maybe I'll grow out of this line of thinking as the NIL world becomes more and more normal to me, but I feel like any athlete accepting NIL money is no longer an amateur and open to criticism. Especially if that player choose a school based on the NIL deal's on the table. Again, even if I fealt the booing was warranted, I still couldn't bring myself to boo players at a College sporting event.

Avon @ Franklin Central: I picked the Flashes to beat Zionsville last week. FC outgained the Eagles in yardage, but Zionsville easily one the Turnover battle. I'll take FC over Avon 31-15 Brownsburg @ Fishers: I watched the entire Mudsock game. GREAT game. Looking forward to a potential rematch in Sectional 3. Fishers has a very good run game with Minns, Martin, and Dunn. Martin is looking like a potential D1 recruit. I want to believe Fishers running game will burn enough clock to keep Brownsburg off the field enough for a Tigers upset at Home. I have a feeling Fishers will score some to keep it close and Brownsburg will pull away by the beginning of the 4th quarter. Brownsburg 34 Fishers 21 Hamilton Southeastern @ Westfield: The Rocks survived a scare after the Millers stopped them at the goal line late in the 4th, drove 99 yards for a TD, and Westfield stopped Noblesville's 2 point converstion attempt to win the game with under a minute left. I'm picking Westfield to carry that momentum into a home win as HSE has a post Mudsock letdown. Westfield 27 HSE 21 Noblesville @ Zionsville: The Millers put up one helluva fight against Westfield only to be denied on two 2nd half 2 point conversion attempts. The latter one came with Noblesville going for the win with less than a minute to go. The Millers had 346 rushing yards and 81 passing yards (2 TD's to standout TE Aiden Brewer) against the Westfield D. I haven't seen Zionsville yet so I'm going with a homer pick here. Noblesville will feed off the momentum gained against Westfield and knock off the Eagles. Millers 35 Zionsville 28.

Brebeuf Center Grove West Lafayette New Palestine Terre Haute South Western Boone Centerville New Albany Fishers Cincinnati St. Xavier

Merrillville definitely had the Jimmy's and Joe's against Chatard. Just saying...

Did you miss the SIAC scores or are you still liking Vincennes Lincoln over Mater Dei for some reason? Reitz should be undefeated when they meet Castle. I have a feeling the Panthers will remain #1 in the SIAC after that game. Where do you have Fort Wayne North?

Me neither. I just assumed since he's on CP's staff he was still a DC. If so, sounds like a smart guy. Finds a way to take on less responsibility every time he's lured to a new role.

Zac Wells was a legend as a FB player at Merrillville and led the PIrates to multiple Sectional and Regional Titles as Head Coach. He gave that up to join Buzea at H-F as his DC. How exactly is it a knock on CP that they have a Merrillville legend coaching their defense?

Is the 5 points in the 4th quarter correct? Did they not kick a FG? I read that their kicker was in Bloomington for a soccer tournament. There had to be someone on the team capable of hitting a PAT.

For the sake of your sanity I hope this official, with clear vision of the QB lying on the ground with the ball, called the QB down and reversed the TD.

Those were complete game stats entered onto MaxPreps. Are Marshall stats at RB incorrect as well? https://www.maxpreps.com/games/9-2-2022/football-22/crown-point-vs-merrillville.htm?c=F3gE5VnWc0GnmWG4hV3vaQ#tab=box-score&schoolid=2948eb82-87c6-4c37-a4c0-53931001b10d

LOL...I saw this on Twitter over the weekend and assumed the play was overturned. Did this actually stand for a TD!?!

Seems like Marshall didn't struggle when he kicked PAT's:

That's it? That's all you can say about Merrillville losing to Crown Point?!?!