SOUTH BEND, Ind. (AP) -Coach Charlie Weis didn’t even bother to post Stanford offensive tackle Chris Marinelli’s comments on Notre Dame on the locker room bulletin boards.
“This one got more individualized attention,” Weis said, smiling. “It didn’t have to go to the bulletin board.”
In an interview with CardinalReport.com, Marinelli ripped Notre Dame, its defense, Notre Dame Stadium, the field itself and the whole South Bend area. He even got a shot in at people in the Boston area where he is from.
“I grew up with a bunch of Irish and Italian Catholic people back home. And all the Irish Catholic people, all they talk about is Notre Dame this, Notre Dame that,” said Marinelli, who is from Braintree. “And they’ve never even been there, ya know. So I hate those guys, I hate that school.”
haven’t won in South Bend since 1992.
“We are going out there to mash them up, and that’s all there is to it,” he said.
Most Irish players who spoke to the media Thursday after Marinelli’s comments became public would say little about them. They admitted they were aware of what he said.
“It gives it a little fuel,” safety Sergio Brown said.
Linebacker Brian Smith, who said the article was stapled to his locker, added he didn’t want to provide the Cardinal with any inflammatory incentive, but would have something to say to Marinelli on Saturday.
“I think it’s pretty safe to say that I’m going to let him know his comments are false. That’s as far as I’m going to go,” he said. “All my talk is going to be done on the field.”
Marinelli issued an apology for his comments through the Stanford sports information office on Thursday, saying he “was caught up in the emotions of the game and should have been more thoughtful in my comments.”
One of his comments, though, has been the subject of questions the past two weeks by media covering Notre Dame.
“They have one sack all year on 200 blitzes,” said Marinelli, who predicted the Cardinal offense would “gash” Notre Dame’s blitzing defense.
uble timing the blitzes.
“There are times maybe where we don’t do things as well as we should, the balls coming out quick. At the same time, we aren’t getting the sacks, but we’re getting off the field when we want to,” he said.
The Irish, who are next-to-last in the nation in sacks – Washington, led by former Notre Dame coach Tyrone Willingham, has not had a sack – are giving up 385 yards a game, 28 yards more a game than a year ago. But they are giving up 18.5 points a game, 10 points less a game than in 2007. They also are 14th in the country in red zone defense.
Weis said he’s satisfied with the defense.
“I think every game we’ve played this year, they have kept a score where we could have won every game,” he said.
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