3-star recruits, Urban Meyer to ND (again), and secondary violations (LOTD 7/8)

Big news from yesterday is the commitment of Lake Forest QB Tommy Rees (I wonder if he's neighbors with Dave Eggers). Rees, a 3-star on Scout and Rivals, is rated the 82nd quarterback in the nation, which has caused some issues among the Irish faithful. The question is should the Irish be offering a recruit who is (according to the recruiting services) most likely going to be little more than a backup. The response from those happy about the Rees commit is something to the effect that Charlie Weis personally evaluated Rees, liked what he saw, and that Weis' evaluation should count for more than what Rivals or Scout has to say.

I don't think any bad can happen with the commitment of Rees. Best case scenario: He turns out to be a solid contributer for the Irish. Worst case: We take another quarterback next year, who isn't threatened by a 3-star freshman, and we are fine. The commitment speaks to a bigger issue: Charlie Weis missing out on his top targets. But the fact that we took a 3-star quarterback, who could very easily become a 4-star guy with a good senior season, should not be an issue.

Furthering the point are the guys from Her Loyal Sons take a look at how the 3-star commits benefit the Irish, citing the addition of depth, the ability to get selective with offers, and upside as viewed by the coaching staff. All good thoughts. The point is countered, however, by a very interesting post on the UHND boards looking at the 3-star commits ND has had in recent years. A look at the list shows plenty of backups, but not many starters, and even fewer players who started before their senior year.

While we're on the recruiting news front, Kendall Moore is set to announce his commitment relatively soon. So are Cody Riggs and Stephen Boyd. I would expect at least one commitment out of that group of three, with the possibility of getting all three.

Heisman Pundit takes a look at the big games in the month of September. He mentions the Michigan matchup, noting that a big game on the big stage could boost Jimmy Clausen into a Heisman darkhorse. HP makes it sound like it's the Irish's to lose, which I would sort of agree with. I don't think Clausen will end up a Heisman candidate, though he could set up a nice campaign for the following season with a good 2009.

Paul Finnebaum is stirring it up in the SEC again, with a column saying that he is almost positive that Urban Meyer will go to Notre Dame at the end of next season. Aside from the fact that I would love to see that happen, it's a really, REALLY bad column. Finnebaum, who luuuuuuuuvs Bama, will write anything to crush other SEC teams. He forgets the point that Charlie Weis will be around with a good 2009 season, or that Urban has repeatedly said he won't be leaving Florida. He does make a good point in comparing Urban to Billy Donovan, a coach who had a great squad with a really special player (Tebow-Noah), won back-to-back championships, and then kind of fell of the map. Donovan isn't considered the best coach in the SEC anymore, and though I don't think Meyer will fall off the map, Nick Saban is building a team that could be the USC of the next decade.

So Congress dealt with the BCS yesterday. I'm kind of done with the whole thing, so I'll just link to the Dr. Saturday story.

The Washington Huskies, who are currently dealing with the Tyrone Willingham effect, had two runningbacks declared academically ineligible for the upcoming season. Brandon Johnson and and David Freeman won't be able to play next year. Though neither were expected to start, it leaves a void in depth for Steve Sarkisian next season, leaving him with three freshman runningbacks on the depth chart. This works out nicely for the Irish, seeing as how defending the run will be the biggest challenge in 2009, though you have to feel bad for Washington.

Finally, Steve Spurrier and the South Carolina Gamecocks reported 14 (!) secondary violations ranging from improper text messaging to impermissable snacks. It sounds like Spurrier is toying with the NCAA, seeing as how secondary violations really don't matter to anyone in charge. Don't expect anything to come from this.

That's all for today. Until tomorrow Blarneys.