Mike Royko used to host a ribs contest every year. As I participated in a local parish one on Saturday, I realized that while he never said, “Some things you wonder, some things you think, and some things you just know”, he probably would have liked my ribs. Too bad the judges didn’t.

Saturday was simultaneously better (the 2nd and 3rd quarters) and worse (the 1st and latter half of the 4th quarters) than the game against Purdue. There were very few moments against the Boilers I truly felt the Irish were in control offensively. For the better part of 40 minutes against the Orange, I did.

Having said that, ND could easily have had seven turnovers Saturday. The lack of attention to ball security is concerning, especially by Greg Bryant. Stanford will make them pay for those mistakes in a way Syracuse did (or could) not.

The defense, on the other hand, put in its fourth excellent performance in a row. This probably was the most proficient offense they’d faced so far, and other than a couple relatively big plays (which you’re going to see when your defense is aggressive), they controlled the line of scrimmage and kept the Orange from threatening. I predict a low-scoring affair when the Trees come to town.

Only a player like Everett Golson could almost tie the NCAA record for consecutive completions and yet still leave me shaking my head thinking if one or two more things had gone wrong…. I don’t know if this is a Heisman year for him, especially with Ameer Abdullah running like a maniac, but he’ll be in the discussion until December, especially if the Irish continue to win.

A couple weeks ago, I wrote that I would be confident in the results of the academic investigation. While that confidence remains unshaken, the seeming lack of urgency to resolve it is testing my patience and that of a lot of other ND fans. Davaris Daniels is right — there’s no way it should be taking this long. I really hope we get some kind of resolution this week when the hearings are done.

My (probably useless) prediction on that front: Players violated rules, but unknowingly, so they’re suspended for five games — essentially, time served plus Stanford, which they wouldn’t be able to play in anyway. It won’t be a perfect resolution, but it’ll finally get it in the rear-view.

While he’s not everyone’s cup of tea, I remain impressed with Kirk Herbstreit’s performance as an analyst. He really knows the game, but more importantly, he knows what to describe to the audience and when. Unlike Mike Mayock (who, for the record, I do like), he doesn’t feel the need to fill all voids with sound. Now if they could just find a non-nimrod to pair him with.

I was radio-dependent for a portion of the game Saturday, and while I always will be a Don Criqui fan, he remains poorly suited to do radio analysis. Still way too many plays where I was wondering what the game situation was. TV remains his bailiwick, and I wish we could find a way to get him there. My ND dream team remains Criqui and Mayock doing NBC broadcasts, with Wayne Larrivee and Tom Thayer in the radio booth.

It’s no secret I’m not the world’s biggest Charlie Weis fan. But he’s an alumnus and only my third least-favorite ND coach ever, and a part of me feels bad he couldn’t make it work in Kansas. I do hope he uses this opportunity to get a handle on his weight and his health rather than just diving into the next job.

The next three weeks will determine how the season goes. Let’s get this done.