Body of Crist

Normally on Sundays in churches across the Midwest,most Catholics are snacking on those 'body of Christ' wafer crackers that taste like flavorless, heavy-duty, construction paper. But after last week, ND's devout fans are congregating in their parish either praying that the body of Irish quarterback Dayne Crist remains in tact, or drinking enough of the 'blood of Christ' wine so they don't remember watching Nate Montana throw any more passes on Autumn afternoons this fall. Last week, Michigan and Notre Dame restored their rivalry on a significant stage and brought the annual meeting of these two esteemed programs back into national relevance. A revamped Michigan offense outlasted the Irish 28-24 in South Bend as Denard Robinson officially turned in his candidacy for the Heisman Trophy, funny how this happened before he ever turned in a test, or attended a class at the University. Yet we learned last week that Notre Dame must protect their quarterback in order to maintain a respectable season and avoid losing to the military academies for the 2nd straight year while leaving tons of young, catholic children to become Boston College fans in the process.

When Dayne Crist went down briefly last week with an injury to his eye, in walked junior Nate Montana donning his father's previously retired #16 jersey on his back. If you are a Notre Dame fan,some part of you wanted Nate to come in and steal the show, partly because of his dad, and also partly because of the torment he endured this fall for being 'college' at a University that doesn't embrace undergraduate culture quite like Arizona State. Nevertheless,the offspring of one of the finest quarterbacks in the history of college football stepped in and looked about as bad as a 'Pretty Fly for a White Guy' karaoke performance in the early morning hours of a weekend. Maybe it was bad karma bestowed upon him from his Dad's trash talking and jeering of Rudy a few weeks back. Maybe he just had a bad karmalatte before kickoff. Who knows? Whatever it was, Bryant Kelly was about to personally perform lasik on Dayne Crist's eye just to get him back into the football game. Nate Montana's stats (8-17, 104 yds.) don't necessarily describe Notre Dame's inability to move the ball while he was under center. But, when Notre Dame absolutely needed a score, Kelly summoned Crist into the game with his "put on some goggles, get a facemask shield, I don't care, just get us a touchdown" speech that resulted in Notre Dame taking the lead in the 4th quarter with little time to go. It has recently come out that Crist played the crucial minutes of the 4th quarter while enduring some 'blurred vision'. Perhaps it was the same 'blurred vision' that led to national head lines for Nate Montana this summer.

Still, Denard Robinson came in and lead the Wolverines down the field for the go-ahead touchdown which turned out to be the game winning score. Regardless of whether his shoes were untied, quite frankly, who cares? Notre Dame's defense couldn't corral Robinson as he danced into the hearts of Big Blue fans when they escaped Notre Dame Stadium with a victory (just be careful Denard, there were a lot of Tate Forcier jerseys purchased before the Wolverines fell apart a year ago). Although it's excruciating to hear announcers consistently reference his inability to tie his shoes, which might be the single most over-analyzed uniform preference in the history of collegiate athletics, Michigan is fun to watch with Denard calling the shots.

Bottom line is however, if Dayne Crist goes down, the Irish season can be flushed with the same hand. Nate Montana might be a legacy at ND, and he may even get his own shoe endorsement from Skechers before it's all said and done and ND. But, he will never overtake Dayne Crist's job as starting QB, as long as he keeps up his 32-51, 482 Yds. 3TD, 157.62 QB rating year he has put together thus far. Let's hope he stays in one piece. "Notre Dame our mother, pray for us"

As for Pick of the Day, The Pulse Man simply forgot how terrible Mark Sanchez is. After one game, he has 74 more pass yds. and the same amount of TD's as Scott Disick (Disick could be a fantasy monster) and therefore Braylon Edwards didn't cover his receiving yards player prop. For tomorrow, The Pulse Man likes the over in tomorrows UConn/NC St. Thrusday night special which is 55 points set at (-110). Hopefully he can get back on track.

Pick of the Day: UConn @ NC St. Total Points 55-OVER

Record:(20-12-0)