Review: Batman Arkham City

Wow. I think I have played, what could be, game of the year(depending on how good Skyrim is). I really like the prequel to this game, Batman: Arkham Asylum. It was the best Batman game I have ever played and one of the best single player games I have played. Arkham City is BETTER. This game is absolutely awesome. I thought it was going to be difficult to make a Batman game better than Arkham Asylum but Arkham City did so with flying colors. It looks great, it plays smooth and the story is outstanding. No more time to waste; lets review, Batman: Arkham City.

Batman

Arkham City begins a little bit after Arkham Asylum left off. The original island has been closed and a giant part of Gotham City has been constructed in a massive prison known as Arkham City. The head of the prison is long time Batman villain, Hugo Strange, the one foe that Batman has that discovered his true identity to be Bruce Wayne. With unknown funding and the hired help of a mercenary police force known as “Tyger,” Strange wardens the massive prison city that holds the most notorious villains Gotham has faced. This includes Joker, Penguin, Two-Face, Poison Ivy, and more.

Hugo Strange and the Tyger troops

Our game opens up with Bruce Wayne holding a press conference opposing Arkham City and trying to convince Gotham to shut it down. The conference is then ambushed by Tyger and Bruce Wayne is kidnapped and thrown into the hands of Hugo Strange and Arkham City. Strange explains to Wayne that he is going to do what he and Batman never could as he releases Bruce Wayne into Arkham City to experience, what Hugo calls, “Protocol 10.” Bruce Wayne enters Arkham City and is immediately ambushed by Penguin and his goons. Wayne makes quick work with the thugs and makes his way to the top of the Ace Chemical Building. There, the Batcopter drops off Bruce's gadgets and costume. He suits up and Batman is ready to face the trials and adversity of Arkham City. Batman tracks down the Joker who is found to still be infected with the TITAN virus and is on the verge of death. The Joker tricks Batman and lures him into a trap infecting Batman with the same disease. A race against time as you must explore Arkham City to find a cure for Batman and his greatest rival before they both die.

Glide your way through Arkham City

Throughout the game, Batman swings and glides to several locations in Arkham City and faces off against his greatest villains. Batman can get around about the same way as in Arkham Asylum. Using his grappling hook from location to location and by gliding with his cape. You get a better feeling of Batman's mobility in AC more than AA since the there is a more open and city setting. You can literally go across the entire city without touching the ground. Which is awesome. You feel like a superhero when you do this. Batman comes equipped with all his gadgets from the previous game. Batarang(also Remote), the Batclaw, explosive gel, crytographic sequencer, the classics. Also, the world's greatest detective is equipped with “Detective Mode.” When using this, you can scan for clues, see where enemies are, even find some secrets hidden around the city.

Detective Mode gives you the feeling of being the World's Greatest Detective

Batman encounters many enemies and foes. Since the opponents are divided into gangs, each following their own supervillain, they are dressed accordingly. For example, the Joker gang wear clown masks and the Two Face gang will wear Two Face masks. Arkham City uses the same combat system as in AA. Combos that can be stacked by mashing X that can stack. Once a certain number is reached off successful hits in a row, batman can perform specific attacks known as “takedowns” which are basically instant K.Os. You can also counter enemies moves by hitting Y to keep your combo chain going so it is not interrupted by other enemies. Gadgets can also be used during combat by using “quick moves.” This is basically just hitting the right trigger two times quickly so Batman activates you selected gadget faster. Aside from head to head combat, Batman can also perform attacks from the air using a glide kick or a drop attack. He can also sneak between a foe and perform a silent takedown or a knockout smash. There are several ways to take down an opponent as you can see. When it comes to combat in the open, I really like to start but surveying the bad guys and either chucking a gadget or using the drop attack or glide kick. Then you just mash X and counter when the enemies start to have a flash above their head. I think the combat is great. It's simple and the animations they have programmed for Batman seem to change every time. You almost never see the same move twice. To be honest, I never really try to build the combo meter so I can use the takedowns. I just like to bounce around and counter. There options in combat are pretty vast and expands the gameplay to a very enjoyable level. The one annoying thing I would have to nitpick is later in the game when the difficulty starts to increase, you fight a shit ton of enemies at the same time. This gets aggravating when you start beating up on a few dudes and you loose focus on counters and start taking multiple hits. There will definitely be a few times where you're grinding your teeth and twisting you controller, especially when start countering too late. FUCK is that annoying.

Even one-armed foes get no mercy from the Bat

Another form of combat is known as “Predator” combat. This takes place inside complexes where there is a group of enemies you need to thwart by jumping to multiple gargoyle statues, also known as “Vantage Points.” The idea is to defeat the enemies as quickly and stealthily as possible. If you take out a foe and some else sees you, you will get your ass shot up. One thing I really like about this combat is the ability to hang from the vantage points and do “inverted takedowns” on opponents that walk under you. Batman drops down and leaves them hanging by a wire tied to their ankles. I then make my way to the opposite vantage point to avoid being seen and then chuck a Batarang at the wire. This drops the enemy on top of his comrades. I basically just do this every time I encounter a Predator scenario. There are many ways you can defeat the bad guys but this is just so fun and entertaining. I love making the enemies shit themselves when I drop their partner on their heads. I can do it over and over and it never gets old. Stupid goons.

Stupid goons

A great element included in Arkham City is an RPG element. When you complete missions, side quests, collect secrets, beat up some thugs, etc, Batman gains experience points which evaluate to levels. Whenever Batman gets a Level Up, you can upgrade your “Waynetech.” Waynetech includes learning new special moves, increase your defense against weapons and melee attacks, and you can increase the effectiveness of your gadgets(range, power, etc.). This just adds another layer of depth to the game. It gives you a goal and a purpose to attack enemies and complete side missions. I mean, this game is just great. How much more complete can you get? You have Batman, a great story, RPG elements; this game is a total package that screams to my interests in video games and comics.

Story missions and side missions are displayed and divided brilliantly. Story missions are long and full of great dialogue and challenges. You really feel like the developers tried to make an interesting and challenging experience. The side missions are feed into the game as you progress. The more you play, the more the game opens up to you. I felt really accomplished doing all side missions as the rewards resulted in villain cameos, experience and 360 achievements. Yet another great plus that makes this game even more fun to play is the voice acting. To start, Kevin Conroy returns to play Batman and is THE BEST Batman vocally(same guy that did the voice for Batman in the Animated Series). Of course, Mark Hamill as the Joker, always good. Though I was saddened to hear that this is the last time he will do the voice of Joker. And some dude I have never heard of, Corey Burton, that is the voice of Hugo Strange, which is really good. But it does have some negatives. Penguin's voice sounds like some drunk Australian and when Mr. Freeze speaks through his suit, I'm expecting to hear “All your base are belong to us.” AKA, really bad. Aside from that, the experience throughout the game is what you would want Batman to be.

The Animated Series I love lives in this game through Kevin Conroy

One big thing that makes this game, at least to me, is the atmosphere. It is dark, cold and gritty. Just like a Batman comic. I would literally only play this game at night. I could not play it during the day. This game must be played at night and when it is just a little chilly. It made my gaming experience outstanding. This game was that awesome that I purposely played it a certain way to get 100% satisfaction out of it. No other game makes me do that. But that's just me. Call it weird but it made playing the game even grander.

Selina Kyle AKA Catwoman....oh, and her cleavage

Arkham City comes equipped with plenty of bonus material and different game modes. In Story Mode, there is a side mission for the Riddler, just like in AA. You have to find Riddler Trophies and use Detective Mode to find hidden question marks to reveal riddles. There are 400 Riddler Trophies. Now, at first, this is really cool. It gives you something vast to do. But to be honest, I got to a little bit over 300 and I was sick of it. Maybe too many trophies to find in this one. You can also play some missions with Catwoman if you get the redeem code or download it. This is where the game is at its weakest. The Catwoman missions, suck. There are useless and I HATED every time I had to do one. He combat isn't as enthralling as Batman's, her navigation through the city is slower, and her objectives are just a waste. I did not care for them. But “Catwoman fanservice Mode” is not as wasteful as this next mode. Ok, I hated this in AA and it is just a LAME AND STUPID in this game. The “Riddler's Revenge” mode is a total waste of time. Basically, you chose a character(Batman, Catwoman or Robin if you got the DLC for it) and either go through a challenge in which you to gain as many points by beating up bad guys, a Predator mode, where you just run a Predator scenario, or a Campaign, which is just a mixture or challenge and Predator scenarios. I don't even waste my time with it. Why would someone play these? There are SO FUCKING GARBAGE. If I want to beat up thugs and foes, I'll just fly around in story mode until I find them. I don't care about High Scores or gaining ranks. Another thing that is bullshit, is that you can change your character's skin or type of costume in this mode, but you fucking can't in story mode. What the fuck?! I think Rocksteady needs to think about something else besides the stupid challenges. Talk about a million other things you can do besides some fucked up attempt of an Arcade Mode.

Riddler Trophies can found all over Arkham City and requires you to complete a trial to retrieve it

Back to the Riddler Trophies, if you collect certain ones or collect a certain number, you can get some unlockables. These include artwork and “Character Trophies.” Character trophies are unlockables you can view which lets you check out each 3D model of a character in the game. The art and the character trophies are pretty cool extra goodies to include. You can also unlock a “New Game Plus” story mode in which you can play the game with all your levels and gadgets you gained from a previous playthrough. The difference is that the gameplay and enemies will increase in difficulty and is the hardest mode in the game.

Alternate Costumes that can be unlocked

Overall, Batman: Arkham City is one of the best games I have ever played. I love the Batman comics and it is about damn time we got a GREAT Batman video game. I wish other popular icons in either cinema or other comics could get games like this(ex: INDIANA JONES WOULD BE AWESOME!). Also, it is great to see a next generation console have a really good game like this. If you know me, you know I haven't been too big on the way the game industry and consoles have been since the PS1. But if they could continue a good run of Batman games like this, then my opinion will start to sway. Closing, many things and events in this game points towards something bigger. I think the next step for Batman is a game including all of Gotham City. Plenty of side missions and easter eggs in the game give hints of what is to come. Also, the ending of this game will BLOW YOUR FUCKING MIND. Totally did not see it coming. Arkham City is a fantastic game and I recommend everyone to play it and it's prequel Arkham Asylum. Don't miss out on the ultimate Batman experience. Game of the Year? Well, like I said before, that depends on how Skyrim is but it is definitely top 2 or 3.

UPDATE! 02/10/13

So, I was replaying Arkham Asylum and Arkham City again and found out that YOU CAN use the Alternative Costumes in Story Mode. First, you must at least beat the game once. Go into your save file. When you access it, you should be hovering over the "Continue Game." Now enter the following commands: Left, Left, Down, Down, Left, Left, Right, Up, Up, Down. If you hear a sound effect, then you have entered it correctly and when choosing either Continue Game or New Game Plus, you will be prompted to select a costume. Keep in mind, you must hear the sound. If there is no sound, then your input was incorrect and just try again.

Game of the Year?

ND Football Review: Notre Dame Vs. Navy

So I took this past week off but I'm back with the Navy recap. ND came of a loss to USC, at home, in prime time, displaying that this team is not where they should be yet. Now, most think the ND/Navy rivalry is not a big deal. Well, considering that ND has lost the last 3 out 4 against the Midshipmen, believe me, it's a BIG deal to us Irish fans. The Irish bounce back after a loss and lets see how it was done; this is Notre Dame vs. Navy.

First quarter opened with a lengthy drive by Navy that lasted 8 minutes but ended in a missed field goal. Notre Dame than exploded. They had two drives that ended in rushing touchdowns, one by Jonas Gray and one by Cierre Wood. ND ran the ball very poorly last week and were determined to run the ball against Navy. Jonas Gray and Cierre Wood were quiet last week but made echoes in the stadium this Saturday by showing everyone that the ND rushing attack is not dead. The Irish D also corrected their wrongs that they had from last year's game versus Navy(Navy won 35-17) and played much more disciplined. Manti Te'o controlled his gaps this week and ND was up 14-0 at the end of the first quarter.

Jonas Gray had 3 TDs in the victory over Navy

The second quarter opened up with a reminder of Notre Dame's woes for the 2011 season. A backwards pass that turned into a fumble, exactly like a fumble ND had last week against SC, that Navy turned into a TD. ND 14-7. But Tommy Rees responded with his only TD pass of the game as he threw it 56 yards to Michael Floyd for the score. Then, once again, the quarter closed out with the Irish having two more rushing Tds from Jonas Gray and Cierre Wood. ND up 35-7 at halftime.

Cierre Wood ran for 2 TDs

The third quarter was relatively quiet. ND opened up with a three and out. But then the Irish defense stepped up and stopped Navy on a fourth down. The defense this year proved that they could stop the option in both games versus Air Force and Navy. Then late in the quarter, Michael Floyd got another TD by taking a backwards pass 10 yards for the score. Floyd with a rushing TD, just something else to put on his resume for this year's NFL draft. ND goes into the fourth quarter up 42-7.

Michael Floyd had a great game to further cement his legacy at Notre Dame

The game was pretty much over at halftime but ND continued to pad their stats. Jonas Gray got his third rushing touchdown to put the Irish up 49-7. The back ups came in and Navy's 2^nd string QB got a 12 yard TD run. ND 49-14. But in the closing minutes of the game, ND's kick returner George Atkinson III ran it in for the 1 yard line to give ND their eventual victory of 56-14.

Notre Dame with the W

This year has been a year of mistakes but promise. In each of Notre Dame's losses, turnovers killed. In their victories, their running attack soared leading them to victory. Against the Midshipmen, ND scored 7 rushing touchdowns. Notre Dame's loss last week seemed to have shakened up the team, including head coach Brian Kelly that had some “odd” comments about the players he inherited and the players he recruited. The team seemed divided throughout the week but nothing really seemed wrong as the Irish crushed Navy. Notre Dame is still struggling getting wins against quality teams(Michigan and USC). The only victory they had that you can consider big this year was against a ranked Michigan State team, so, it's all not that bad. What can we look forward to for the rest of the season? Well, ND still has one big game left at the end of the season against Andrew Luck and Stanford. I think the Irish will win out until that game. The Stanford game will be big. It will be a final test to see if this year's team can play against the big boys. At worst, ND will go 9-4(which would include a Stanford loss but a bowl victory). Hope is not lost. All the confidence can be revived if ND can win out and try to repeat what they did last year(close the season with victories and close against a top opponent on the road).

The Irish will go on the road to play Wake Forest next week. But until then,

GO, IRISH! GO!!

Season's Beatings Velocity SSF4:AE Finals

So SSF4:AE Finals just ended at Season's Beatings Velocity in Columbus, Ohio. It was intense and very long. Almost every match went the distance. Once again, another SF tourney that got my blood pumpin' and me screaming at my computer. Lets go through the tourney and look at some of the matches that I really liked.

The tourney started with the Top 16. The winner was the first player to get to win 2 sets(in other words, best of 3 sets).

Uryo(Sakura) beats Mago(Fei Long) 2-1

This was the opening match and I was shocked as hell to see a Sakura player. Apparently, based on what was said on the stream, this was Uryo's first visit to America. His Sakura mix ups with Tatsus and DP were really awesome. Mago is a great Fei player but he could not compete against Uryo's Sakura. Very nice match.

PR Rog(Balrog) loses to Momochi(Cody) 1-2

Justin Wong(Rufus) loses to Tokido(Akuma) 0-2

Justin Wong opened with a startling match getting shut out by Tokido. Tokido did his usual demon flip and Akuma mix ups but what was more shocking was the number of times Justin missed some combos, especially combos into Ultra. Very uncharacteristic of Justin but to be honest, this is what we've been witnessing from Justin the past year or two. But Tokido dominated and proved he was the best Akuma in the world.

Ricky Ortiz(Rufus) beats Poongko(Seth) 2-1

Laugh(Ryu) eliminates Wolfkrone(C. Viper) 2-1

The weird thing about this match was when it was tied 1-1, the stream went down! Of course, the chatbox flooded with hate so fast that you couldn't even read it. When the stream came back, Laugh eliminated WolfKrone.

Dieminion(Guile) eliminates Alucard(Balrog) 2-1

Infiltration(Akuma) gets eliminated by FlashMetroid(Zangief, Makoto) 1-2

Now this match was pretty entertaining. Flash got straight up owned in the first set. He was using Zangief but could not do anything against Infiltration's Akuma. So after losing the first set, FlashMetroid switches to...Makoto??? Wow. I know Makoto has a lot of popularity online and especially in Third Strike, but Flash abandons his main for her? Odd, especially for all the guff he got for switching Gief at Evo for Viper. But THIS TIME, his gamble pays of and rallies to eliminate Infiltration. Judging on the fight, Infiltration didn't really look like he had much experience against Makoto. He had no counter Makoto's Ultra 2 and just didn't seem to get a grip on the match.

fLoE(Sagat) gets eliminated by Mike Ross(E. Honda) 1-2

Mike Ross one in the final round with an Ultra off the ground. I don't even need to say anything else.

Laugh(Rose) gets eliminated by Mago(Fei Long) 0-2

The only odd thing about this match was Laugh's switch to Rose. He had a couple of good rounds, but Mago was too patient to fall for Rose's tricks.

PR Rog(Balrog) eliminates Dieminion(Guile) 2-1

Justin Wong(Rufus) eliminates FlashMetroid(Zangief) 2-0

Justin had this match from the get go. He kept Flash's Gief at bay and avoided most of the SPDs(Spinning Pile Drivers). Flash didn't switch characters this time and I'm sure Justin was pleased. His Rufus could not be stopped as he just BLEW UP Flash. A good comeback for Justin after his opening loss.

Poongko(Seth) eliminates Mike Ross(E. Honda) 2-1

Ok. I'm pretty sure everyone in the UNIVERSE knew that Poongko would beat Mike. But to Mike's credit, he took it to the last round. He did not quit and had Poongko on the ropes. Mike's strategy was working. Constantly knocking Seth to the ground with Headbutts mixed with Hands. But as soon as Mike got knocked down, Poongko was in and dominated with plenty of mix ups and with his ANNOYING SPD trickery. I feel Mike could have won this but he made some weird mistakes. Random Butt Drops that whiffed and failing lights into hands a couple of times. But still, a good win for Poongko, a good match for Mike and also a good tourney for Cross Counter host.

PR Rog(Balrog) eliminates Mago(Fei Long) 2-0

Justin Wong(Rufus) gets eliminated by Poongko(Seth) 0-2

Uryo(Sakura) loses to Momochi(Cody) 0-2

Ricky Ortiz(Rufus) beats Tokido(Akuma) 2-1

PR Rog(Balrog) gets eliminated by Tokido(Akuma) 1-2

This match was CLOSE. Rog dominated the first half of this match. His Balrog refused to get mixed up by Tokido's Demon Flip game. But when he won the first set, Tokido turned his mode to Demon Rage and managed to win some really close matches to eliminate PR Rog.

Uryo(Sakura) eliminates Poongko(Seth) 2-0

Did you know that Bruce Wayne's secret identity is Batman? Because Poongko got EXPOSED. Uryo's Sakura had the perfect answer to anything Seth tried to do in the air. Her hit boxes with her jumping jab and even her standing fierce tormented Poongko's Seth. This match was surprising and the tournament favorite was eliminated.

Uryo(Sakura) eliminates Tokido(Akuma) 2-0

Wow. Uryo pinched back to back shut outs against Poongko then Tokido. Impressive. And with Sakura??? What the hell?

Now it was down to the final three. The player to win 3 sets first, wins(or in other words, best 3 out of 5).

Ricky Ortiz(Rufus) loses to Momochi(Cody) 1-3

Ricky Ortiz(Rufus) eliminates Uryo(Sakura) 3-1

Ricky Ortiz has an epic comeback after his loss to Momochi. A 3-1 victory over Uryo's crazy Sakura. Ricky was in BEAST MODE, cutting through Sakura's Tatsu mix ups and setups. He focused on a fierce pressure game and landed major combos like Rufus' BnB Dive Kick, crouching light(x2), standing fierce into Galactic Tornado. He got a well deserved W and headed to the finals to rematch Momochi.

Ricky Ortiz(Rufus) gets eliminated by Momochi(Cody) 1-3

Ricky's beast mode lasted all the way to the end of the first set. Then Momochi took over with an AMAZING Cody display. Momochi antiaired Rufus' dive kicks so well by doing something so simple. He would read a dive kick and simply jump back with light punch. Got Ricky every time. When Momochi was on the offensive, he had great success with EX Knuckle and EX Tornado. But his key, as weird as this sounds, were Cody's light punches. Some many times, Momochi land three standing lights into Tornado. Unreal. In the end, Momochi was the Season's Beatings Velocity winner for SSF4:AE.

Seasons Beatings was awesome. The Top 16 was a great lineup and the matches were so good. I can't remember seeing so matches going every set. It was enjoyable and makes me want to play! SB did not disappoint. The only sad thing is, that it is over. Congrats to Momochi for winning it all!

Before I close this article, something cool was revealed at Season's Beatings. EVO 2012 was announced! EVO will be at the Caesar's Palace in Las Vegas, NV, making this two straight years EVO is being held in Vegas. The dates are July 6th – 8^th, 2011. So mark your calendars and get ready!

NOTE: I will post some videos of the fights as soon as they hit YouTube. Season's Beatings is still going on as I'm writing this so nothing will probably get online until its over.

Geek Juice: The Double Reverse: Week 6

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ND Football Review: Notre Dame Vs. Air Force

Four straight victories going into the bye week. YES! Notre Dame seems to have turned it around this year improving their record to 4-2. Just six more games to go. This past Saturday, the Irish faced the Air Force Falcons with their viscous Triple Option offense. But Notre Dame had some crushing offense of their own, lets recap ND versus Air Force.

The game opened with the Irish receiving the kick. In about three minutes, they drove down field and scored a touchdown on third down. Tommy Rees chucked it 34 yards to Michael Floyd. Weird thing about this catch is that I thought he was out of bounds, but after the review, the ruling on the field was confirmed. Irish 7-0. AFA's first play was a 40 yard run out of the option, but it was foiled by Jamoris Slaughter as he stripped the ball away from the carrier and RJ Blanton recovered. ND then capitalized off the turnover and scored again on a Tyler Eifert 5 yard TD reception. ND 14-0. AFA drove right back down the field. Their option attack seemed to be unchallenged by the Notre Dame defense. But the D held the Falcons to a field goal. 14-3. But in almost no time at all, ND commanded back down the field and ended it with Rees' third touchdown pass of the game, 10 yards to Robby Toma. End of the first and the Irish are up 21-3.

Robby Toma(left) celebrates his first TD of the year

The second quarter started with the Falcons refusing to quite. They optioned their way down the field and AFA quarterback Tim Jefferson punched it in from 3 yards out. The PAT was blocked. ND 21-9. The following kickoff was interesting. The Falcons kicked an onside kick, trying to surprise the Irish. Unfortunately for Air Force, the ball didn't travel 10 yards and Bennett Jackson took the kick out of bounds to give the Irish great field position. ND quickly got to the endzone and Jonas Gray ran it in for a touchdown from 5 yards out. Irish 28-9. Air Force got the ball, and began to drive until Slaughter gets an acrobatic interception to get the Irish the ball back. ND drives, Cierre Wood scores on an 8 yard run, ND 35-9. But before the half could close, the stingy AFA offense ran down the field AGAIN and scored on a 6 yard TD pass. 35-16. So, the Irish with about a minute left to play, get the ball back. Jonas Gray gets a huge run that is extended on a personal foul by the Falcons. Seconds later, Tommy Rees finds Theo Riddick on a crossing pattern and Riddick runs it in for the score. ND goes into halftime up 42-16.

Jamoris Slaughter

The second half opens up strange. Both teams force the other team to three and outs on each team's first drive. The first two punts of the game came in the beginning of the third quarter. ND forces AFA to punt again and start to drive. A good drive that balanced pass and run led to Jonas Gray getting his first two touchdown game of his college career as he ran it in from 6 yards out. ND 49-16. The rest of third quarter was sucked up by a Falcon drive that led into the fourth. So far, the third quarter has been the most boring part of the game.

Jonas Gray, future NFL running back??

The final quarter begins with AFA capping a long, time consuming drive with a field goal. ND 49-19. The Irish reply with their own field goal on their next drive. Irish 52-19. AFA punts the ball again and we are half way through the fourth quarter. Notre Dame begins to put in their subs which included Freshman QB Andrew Hendrix. What did he do? On the Irish's first play of the drive, Hendrix runs a Read Option and runs for 72 yards all the way down to the AFA 2 yard line. Three plays later, freshman running back/kick returner George Atkinson III runs in for a 1 yard TD run. Irish 59-19. The game ended with the ND back ups giving up some pity points, two touchdowns and one 2 point conversion. Final score favored the Irish, 59-33.

Andrew Hendrix, the Irish QB cabinet looks good

So, what can we take from our fourth straight victory? Well, I tip my hat to Jamoris Slaughter. He played this game as an outside linebacker(he is a safety). He forced a fumble, had a pick and made six tackles. This is what I want to see from the lesser known Irish defenders. I like how the defense pulled it together in the second half. I mean, Air Force had more total yards than we did. I think the gameplan was to basically score as many points as possible so if the defense crumbles against the triple option(like last year against Navy), we would have enough points to cover it. And how about Andrew Hendrix? A nice performance and display of his skills. Very enjoyable. One more thing, Jonas Gray and Cierre Wood have become a NIGHTMARE for opposing defenses. Their play this year has been awesome. And as for Gray, I think we are starting to see an NFL running back emerge out of the Irish backfield. These last four games have been great and I am so glad we are back on the path of winning. A bye week this weekend but up next, the University of Spoiled Children. Notre Dame and USC, in prime time, at Notre Dame Stadium. I can't wait. But until then,

GO, IRISH! GO!!

ND with the W! 4 in a row, BOO-YA!!

Geek Juice: The Double Reverse: Week 5

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ND Football Review: Notre Dame @ Purdue

So, I was distracted this past week so I wasn't able to write a preview for this game but I knew it would be a blowout. Notre Dame improves to 3-2 continuing a now three game winning streak. Notre Dame patted the stats and finally killed a team they were supposed to kill. No suspense in this one, lets review ND @ Purdue.

Purdue gets the ball to start the game and the first play was an interception by Gary Gray. Awesome. Two plays later, Michael Floyd catches a 35 yard touchdown pass from Tommy Rees. 24 seconds into the game and the Irish are up 7-0. It was all downhill from there. ND stuttered on a drive but got the ball back and drove down the field. It was capped by a 2 yard touchdown run by Jonas Gray, and at the end of the first quarter, Notre Dame leads 14-0. At this point, I knew this game was ours and we would dominate. No question. Purdue has not played a team like ND all year and it showed. They couldn't move the ball at all on offense and the Boilermaker D was just dumbfounded.

Michael Floyd scoring the opening TD

The second quarter started off well. About 6 minutes in, Cierre Wood ran for a 55 yard touchdown. Let me sidetrack for a second. Cierre Wood had a great game, again. Now, against the Purdue defense, you would expect some good running stats and Wood got them. Almost rushing for 200 yards and a touchdown. Good stats against a horrible team. Nd up 21-0. The rest off the first half was the Irish defense crushing any hope the Boilermakers had before they came into this game. They could not do a single thing. Before halftime, Purdue manages a field goal and ND is up 21-3 at halftime.

Cierre Wood hurdled his way to 191 yards rushing

The Irish got the ball to start the second half and commanded their way down the field. A good combo of rushing and passing got them to the Boilermaker 6, when Rees hits Tyler Eifert for a touchdown. Irish 28-3. Purdue continues to fail on offense. They even put their backup QB in and it changed nothing. ND gets the ball near the end of the third quarter and Rees throws his third touchdown pass to TJ Jones from 11 yards out. Irish 35-3. Tommy Rees had a great game. Three touchdown passes and NO PICKS. A very good game for him as well as many of the Notre Dame players.

Tommy Rees had no turnovers!!!

The game ends with ND getting a field goal and giving Purdue a pity score. Irish win 38-10. And what is the best part? WE HAD ZERO TURNOVERS! HUZAAAH!! Ok, this creampuff is out of the way. ND as won three straight games now. One against #15(at the time) Michigan State, and two on the road against rivals(Pitt and Purdue). You would have to agree that the Irish are the best two loss team in college football. Dammit, we should be undefeated!!! RAGE! Oh well, lets focus on winning the rest of our games. Next up is Air Force and we have reason to be nervous. Why? A mobile quarterback and the triple option. Navy walked all over our D last year. Yes, yes, we crushed Army last year, but AFA is much better than Army. The Irish will be returning home and hopefully we can make it four victories in a row. But until then,

GO IRISH! GO!!

ND with the W, three in a row!!!