Sure, it's not USC, but Notre Dame will take the win

By Chris Maza
Fan Fanatic Sports Staff

Jimmy Clausen picked up right where he left off last season.

After having the expectations raised even higher by his near-perfect Hawaii Bowl performance to end last season, it would not have been a surprise to see Clausen fall on his face in the season opener against Nevada. After all, it's when expectations have been at their highest that Clausen has choked in the past.

But such was not the case this week, as the Fighting Irish took it to Nevada on both sides of the ball in convincing fashion, 35-0.

Clausen posted an astounding 303.67 quarterback rating, completing 15 of 18 passes for 315 yards and four touchdowns. Sure, it is Nevada, who has a less than stellar defense and he's not going to play WAC teams all season long, but Clausen did what you'd expect your quarterback to do against bad defenses.

Maybe the best sight offensively for Notre Dame was the return of Michael Floyd. After Floyd got hurt last year, Notre Dame's passing attack dropped nearly 100 yards per game and the tailspin began. Floyd made his presence known in his 2009 debut, catching four passes for 189 yards and three touches.

But the story of the game just might have been the defense. Nevada, which returned its two top scorers from a team that was 12th in scoring offense and fifth in total offense last season in Colin Kaepernick and Vai Taua, was held scoreless throughout and the Irish forced three turnovers, something they failed to do on a consistent basis a year ago.

While it's not at all time to start the Clausen for Heisman or Notre Dame for BCS championship talk, this was the start the Irish needed. Too fresh in people's minds was the way they opened the season with a near loss to San Diego State, which cast doubt over the entire season. This year Notre Dame came out and took care of business in its opener. One in the books and a tough test at the Big House next week.

Stay tuned.

Pats say see ya to Seymour

By Jim Ingram

Fan Fanatic Sports Staff

Bill Belichick and the New England Patriots are known for bold moves and surprises in the NFL, and that is exactly what they did this morning by trading former All Pro Richard Seymour to the lowly Oakland Raiders. Adam Schefter is reporting the Patriots will get a 2011 first rounder in return for the defensive lineman. Seymour used to be known as one of the best defensive lineman in the game, but his production has slipped the past few years. Actually you can look at his production dropping right about the time he signed a big deal prior to the 2006 season.

There are many football "experts" that will tell you his production has slipped because of the defensive scheme the Patriots run. They'll say the Patriots are asking Seymour to do different things than just rush the passer. While there is some truth to those statements, you can also use the eyeball test. When he is in a pass rush situation, he has not produced. I do have to say that I am very surprised this deal was done, and if you look around the NFL, many others are surprised as well. Bill must be very happy with depth and potential of the remaining defensive lineman for him to make this trade. They still have Vince Wilfork, Jarvis Green, Ty Warren, Ron Brace, Myron Pryor and Mike Wright. Add in Derrick Burgess and you still have a pretty good, deep line. It had looked like the Patriots were going to run a good amount of 4-3 this season because of the depth on the line and lack of depth of the linebackers. I still think the Patriots will run the 4-3 and have a very good d-line, but an already shaky defense just got a bit worse for the 2009-10 season.

What will this mean going forward? Now that the Pats don't need to resign Seymour after the year, they can work on keeping the likes of Vince Wilfork and Logan Mankins. Both are very good, young players who deserve a nice pay raise and should stay on the team. There are no excuses now for not signing both of these players and anyone else up for renewal. The New England Patriots are now in line to have the 1st overall pick in 2011 draft. Wow! Can you imagine the Patriots having the top pick, or top 5 at worst, in what could be the first season without a salary cap?

Overall, I think this is a good trade for the New England Patriots organization. While it will hurt them this season on the field, it provides payroll and roster flexibility in the long run. After all, "In Bill We Trust".