Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/1174242
www.BLUEANDGOLD.com OCT. 12, 2019 5 FAN FORUM A MISS ON OLE MISS In the "By The Numbers" section of the Virginia preview issue there is a list of now eight SEC venues that the Irish have played in. In the list you make a point that Alabama does not count because the 1980 and 1986 games were played in Birmingham and not in Tuscaloosa. I believe that the Ole Miss game in September 1977 was played at War Memorial Stadium in Jackson and not on campus in Oxford. Having been to Oxford for an Ole Miss game, I am positive that Irish fans would enjoy a series with the Rebels once again — this time in Ox- ford — and take in the experience of "The Grove." Joe Kollar Emmaus, Pa. Mr. Kollar, Excellent catch on your part! That 1977 upset victory by Ole Miss — the lone defeat of the national champions — was indeed at Jackson. It was surprising to see the capac- ity crowd was only 48,200 for that game. But that's because the on-campus site back in the day was 35,000 (it's now 64,038). I should have known better and caught that, but Jackson almost seemed like "home" because most of Ole Miss' biggest rivalry games such as LSU, Mississippi State, Tennessee and Arkansas were played in Jackson. Still, that is about 170 miles from the campus. Thank you for writing in and all the years of patronage. Nothing ever gets by our subscribers. SKY(CAM) IS THE LIMIT Can NBC please strip down its pro- duction a tad? Way too much use of skycams. Also, go back to the classic theme music that was custom during the 1990s and early 2000s. Mr. Pat Patrick Via the Internet PRESENT IN SPIRIT Although Coach Bob Davie wasn't able to make the trip for his New Mexico team, reading about his era in the "Reaching A Goal" issue was a trip down memory lane for me. Although not the greatest coach for Notre Dame, some of the players Davie coached are ones I'll always remember. Thank you again for the Coach Davie articles. Michael Hallett Grass Valley, Calif. BE HEARD! Send your letters to: Letters Blue & Gold Illustrated P. O. Box 1007, Notre Dame, IN 46556 or e-mail to: lsomogyi@blueandgold.com With USC and its "Air Raid" passing attack coming to town Oct. 12, a prime storyline is slowing down the prolific trio of Trojans receivers who will be future pros: Michael Pittman, Tyler Vaughns and Amon-Ra St. Brown. With starting cornerback Shaun Crawford sidelined (dislocated elbow) probably through the month of October, a subscriber on BlueandGold.com suggested moving freshman safety sensation Kyle Hamilton — used mainly in dime situations — to cornerback in order to get the best defensive backs on the field at the same time. That potential move was disagreed with in virtually all the responses, in- cluding new staff writer/analyst Vince DeDario, who has coached high school football and baseball at the local level for more than a decade. IrishRunt: I don't break down film but I think he's shown more center- fielder-like skills than one-on-one coverage skills. FightinMike87: Not in a million years. When they insert him, particularly in a dime package, his presence allows them to put Alohi Gilman in the box while Kyle and Jalen Elliott are back deep. Add to that the role they have given to Jack Lamb as the Dime LB for his coverage skills, and it has been re- ally tough for teams to push the ball on long downs. It will be interesting to see what they experiment with as the 6th guy along with Elliott, Gilman, Hamilton, Pride, and Bracy — especially with USC com- ing up after BGSU. Do they put Houston Griffith back to the field side? Do they put Donte Vaughn out there? Does KJ Wallace get called into action as a freshman? The answer could be all three. CoachDedario: You do not move Hamilton to corner. He is a natural safety and is thriving in that position. The last thing you want is to put him in a posi- tion where he will have a possible lack of confidence due to playing out of position. They are grooming him to be THE guy back there. As far as who the sixth guy in the dime will be, Brian Kelly was pretty clear that they are going to give Jeremiah Owusu-Koramoah the first shot at being that guy. After that, we will see. Having Owusu-Koramoah on the field more gives you so many more options schematically. UNDIrish3: I wouldn't fix what's not broke. I actually wish we could move Houston Griffith back to safety for next year but I doubt that will happen unless we somehow get a couple more DBs that can make an impact there freshman year. Very slim chance that will happen. Crable43: I would love Hamilton at wide receiver, too! Notre Dame should use him the next couple of years like Charles Woodson. FROM THE WEBSITE JOIN THE CONVERSATION! GET A 60-DAY FREE TRIAL WITH CODE IRISH60 .com Freshman safety Kyle Hamilton will be needed to help slow down USC's prolific passing attack when the Trojans come to South bend Oct. 12. PHOTO BY ANDRIS VISOCKIS