Monday, November 17, 2008

Irish Frosh, Soph to Miss Remainder of Regular Season

By: Nick Shepkowski

Michael Floyd has been amongst the scariest freshmen in college football this season as he has pulled in 46 receptions, totaling 702 yards, and seven touchdowns so far this season. Unfortunately for the Irish they will be without Floyd or linebacker Brian Smith for the final two contests of the regular season as both were injured in the first half of the 27-21 win against Navy this past Saturday in Baltimore. Floyd injured his right knee on the third play of the game while attempting to block during a run by James Aldridge. He was seen with an icepack on his knee during the first half before eventually being carted off. Without a doubt the Irish offense will suffer a severe blow in the coming weeks without having Floyd as a weapon in their arsenal. Despite not having Floyd as a weapon this past weekend, Jimmy Clausen came back from a rough start and finished the game 15/18 for 110 yards but was still guilty of two interceptions.

The defense will also be a step slower without Smith who strained his knee as well in the first quarter of Saturday's game. Smith currently has the fourth most tackles on the defensive side of the ball for Notre Dame and is a key cog in the ever improving defense.

The Irish return to action this Saturday as they host Syracuse at 2:30 EST on NBC. They then close out the regular season a week later in prime-time as they travel to take on #6 USC.

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