NCAA Football Daily Domer

SOUTH BEND, Ind. -- Pennsylvania is a second home of sorts for the Irish, and not because it happens to be the birthplace of Irish legend Joe Montana.

Nor is it because Pittsburgh's the home of Beano Cook, who once predicted those two Heismans for Berwick, Pa., native Ron Powlus (currently the team's quarterbacks coach).

"We have more subscribers in the state of Pennsylvania than any other state," says inveterate Blue and Gold Illustrated editor Lou Somogyi.

The Panthers, despite their 8-1 record and No. 8 AP ranking, have been averaging crowds in the mid-40,000 level this season at Heinz Field. Saturday night's game, however, despite being available free on television (ABC), is a sellout (65,000-plus) and the Panthers are selling an additional 1,000 standing-room-only ducats. The attendance could possibly break the modern-record for a sporting event in Pittsburgh (66,731 for a 2002 "Backyard Brawl" contest between West Virginia and Pitt).

FanHouse writer John Walters is living in South Bend, Ind., during one of the most pivotal seasons in Notre Dame history. Check back daily for his dispatches on the Irish.

SOUTH BEND, Ind. -- Notre Dame co-defensive coordinator Corwin Brown went Dennis Miller ("I don't mean to get off on a rant, but...") on Wednesday evening, and my question is simply this: Why don't we see this out of the Fighting Irish more often?

If you have yet to see the video, Brown interrupted the first question he was asked during the typically informal gathering and instead called out Navy head coach Ken Niumatalolo for nearly two minutes. Brown was most upset by two things:

FanHouse writer John Walters is living in South Bend, Ind., during one of the most pivotal seasons in Notre Dame history. Check back daily for his dispatches on the Irish.

SOUTH BEND, Ind. -- On Monday, The Observer, Notre Dame's student newspaper, ran a quote on its front page that, because it was not intended as an insult, was exponentially more insulting. In a piece about the student body's devastation at having lost to Navy, freshman Jaimie Morrison is quoted as saying, "It's harder losing to a team that you are closer to in skill (i.e., Navy) as opposed to the USC game."

From the mouths of babes...

Morrison's comment should make any Irish fan of a certain age cringe. Either that or shed a tear like that Indian who happened upon the litter on the side of the highway. If that reference means nothing to you, then you are probably young enough not to recognize the irony of Morrison's comment. I'm not sure the editors of The Observer even caught it.

And maybe that's the point.

FanHouse writer John Walters is living in South Bend, Ind., during one of the most pivotal seasons in Notre Dame history. Check back daily for his dispatches on the Irish.

SOUTH BEND, Ind. -- Last week, Charlie Weis had to concern himself with Naval-gazing. This week, the media is imploring him to do some navel-gazing. On Tuesday, Weis was asked not once, not twice, not thrice, but four different times to evaluate, as ESPN's Tom Rinaldi put it, "the journey." Rinaldi, by the way, was one of two ESPN on-air personalities present at the press conference of the coach of a 6-3 team, proving yet again just how irrelevant Notre Dame football has become.

"I'm not taking the bait, Tom," Weis replied. "It's great for sound bites, but in reality it's all about Pitt [this week]."

It is for Weis and the Irish, but for the media it's harvest time.

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SOUTH BEND, Ind. -- Have you ever seen the film Patton? There's a terrific moment in which the controversial U.S. World War II general, played by George C. Scott, is surveying a battlefield in north Africa. Patton peers through his field glasses, observes the German tanks getting in formation, and laughs knowingly.

"Rommel, you magnificent bastard," Patton chuckles. "I read your book!"

Patton was U.S. Army. Ken Niumatalolo is U.S. Navy, but he had that same moment of satisfaction Saturday. "I think the one thing that helped us, and I really hope this doesn't come across wrong," Niumatalolo said, "but I think the thing that helped us this year was last year because we knew that they'd line up the same way."

SOUTH BEND, Ind. -- South Bend is suddenly every sailor's favorite port-of-call.

Navy beat Notre Dame for the second time in as many dockings at Notre Dame Stadium, a defeat that left the Fighting Irish (6-3) and their head coach lost at sea with three games remaining. A BCS berth has been torpedoed, as has at least one Heisman candidacy. A second consecutive 7-6 season is not out of the question as inquiries about whether head coach Charlie Weis can properly inspire his team, and whether this team will be his next season, once again arise.

"We kind of felt like we had them in a perfect storm," said Navy coach Ken Niumatalolo, whose team did everything right in the sense that they did nothing wrong. "Just [Notre Dame] looking to the postseason, very, very good Pitt team coming next week, and it's us coming."

SOUTH BEND, Ind -- Sunshine and Flowers. Two words not normally associated with South Bend in November are primary elements in today's game between Navy and the Fighting Irish. Outside the weather is sublime--and unseasonal--as an Indian Summer sky looms overhead with temperatures in the mid-sixties. This is the kind of weather you'd hope to have in a bowl game much less the first week of November in the Midwest.

SOUTH BEND, Ind.-- Six months before Ram Vela's notorious sack of Evan Sharpley in the 2007 Navy-Notre Dame game, the Midshipmen linebacker was sacked himself ... by the Secret Service. At the White House.

Each spring the team that wins the Commander-in-Chief's trophy (the unofficial round-robin tourney between the Air Force Academy, Army and Navy) is invited to the White House for a reception. In the spring of 2007, Vela (No. 34 above) was a freshman who had not seen any varsity action the previous season.

"I hung near the back of the line as we approached the security gate," Vela, a 5-foot-9, 193-pound outside linebacker, recalled on Thursday. "I hadn't played so I didn't feel as much like I deserved to be up near the front. I was back with some of the higher-ranking officers, the Commandant and even the dean."

When Vela made it to the gate, a female agent looked him over and spoke into a radio, "He's here."

FanHouse writer John Walters is living in South Bend, Ind., during one of the most pivotal seasons in Notre Dame history. Check back daily for his dispatches on the Irish.

SOUTH BEND, Ind. -- When it comes to team bonding, victory is the greatest adhesive. These Irish are a tight bunch, and Charlie Weis conceded on Tuesday that "going through all those tight games at the end of the game has bonded the team even more."

The Irish have won five of their past six, and that one loss came down to one play. Or four. Or a mismanaged final 35 seconds (cue Glenn Frey's "Get Over It"). Whatever. The 6-2 record and the Alcoa "Fantastic Finishes" have certainly done more to unite this team than a trust-fall exercise. However, there is something else at work here: character at the top of the roster.

FanHouse writer John Walters is living in South Bend, Ind., during one of the most pivotal seasons in Notre Dame history. Check back daily for his dispatches on the Irish.

SOUTH BEND, Ind. -- While scouring the Navy roster on Wednesday afternoon, I came across the name Aaron Santiago, a sophomore slotback from Hawaii.

Santiago? The Navy? A tropical island?

"Did you order the Code Red?!?"

"You're goddamned right I did!"

As it turns out, Aaron Santiago is one of more than just a few good men on the Midshipmen roster. For example, how many other Irish opponents have a pair of high school valedictorians on their two-deep chart? Inside linebacker Tyler Simmons (54), who is second on the team in tackles with 53, was the valedictorian at Washington High School in Goldsby, Okla. Sophomore reserve right tackle John Dowd (68) also graduated No. 1 in his class from St. Peter's Boys High School in Staten Island.