The Impact of Michael Floyd's Void

Sophomore wide receiver Michael Floyd underwent surgery to repair his broken collarbone on Sunday morning, or at least he was scheduled to, according to Notre Dame head coach Charlie Weis. "I would anticipate him missing the rest of the regular season," said Weis, "and maybe we could bring him back for the bowl game if that's the direction we want to go."

A few thoughts:

1) Because Floyd has only appeared in three of Notre Dame's 12 scheduled games, he could sit out the rest of this year and apply for a medical redshirt. On the other hand, have you seen how preposterously talented he is? The chances of Floyd spending five autumns in South Bend are slimmer than those of U-Dub beating USC-what?!? Still, it is highly doubtful Floyd would spend a fifth year here. He might not even spend a fourth year here.

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2) When Floyd went down, on a fade route that appeared to be a touchdown catch but was ruled incomplete, he was second in the nation in receiving yards per game. He also already had five touchdown catches after just ten quarters. It is outrageous that the 6'3" sophomore was not included among the 37 wideouts on the Biletnikoff Award preseason watch list.

3) Floyd has now suffered game-ending injuries in three of the last five games in which he has appeared (Navy, Michigan and Michigan State). Are NFL scouts concerned about his durability?

4) In only 14 games in an Irish uniform, Floyd has as many career touchdown catches (12) as 1987 Heisman Trophy winner Tim Brown did in 43 games. Floyd very well could be the most gifted wide receiver in Notre Dame history, but he may not play enough games as a collegian to be recognized as such.

5) Two of the best wideouts in the nation are Floyd and Minnesota's Eric Decker. Both played high school ball in Minnesota and both suffered first-half injuries making touchdown (see No. 6) catches near the right pylon yesterday. Decker, third nationally in receiving yards per game, endured a brutal hit from Cal safety Sean Cattouse as he landed with one foot inbounds but held on to the football. Decker took five stitches to the chin, but was back in the game on the first play of Minnesota's very next offensive series. Decker even tossed a touchdown pass on a reverse-option play later in the game.

Eric Decker is the type of football player on whom even sportswriters develop man-crushes.

6) Given the number of plays, particularly touchdowns, that undergo review by the upstairs official these days, how odd is it that the play that ended Floyd's season did not? Floyd definitely landed with one foot inbounds and definitely had the ball in his grasp when he landed. The ball popped out only once he landed out of bounds.
At Sunday's press conference, Weis was adamant that "we're not going to get into Notre Dame being the weekly whiners of officiating". That said, Weis called a timeout after the incompletion injury specifically with the hope that the replay official, afforded more time, might just decide to review what seemed at the least a play worthy of reviewing. Once Weis realized that was not about to happen, he challenged the call. The Irish lost the challenge, of course.

Believe me, I know that this is looking at things through Domer-colored glasses, but if you recall David Grimes' lay-out TD catch at Stanford in 2007, and the overturned Armando Allen TD last week, and now the Floyd play...do bad calls eventually balance out or does it seem as if the Irish consistently are getting jobbed by replay officials?

Your thoughts.

7) How will the Irish replace Floyd? To be blunt, they don't. Not since Tim Brown or Raghib Ismail have the Irish had such an electrifying offensive weapon (for those who remember, the Irish were No. 1 in the nation in 1990 and had a 2-touchdown lead against Penn State in the first half of a home game in November when the Rocket went out with an injury. The Irish lost that game and a chance at the national title. Floyd's injury will have that type of impact).

That said, Weis told reporters today, "We're going to move some people around to make sure we get the best people on the field." He added that, "You can anticipate seeing (freshman Shaquelle Evans) a heck of a lot more."