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Here are a couple of stories including Toby over the last day.
http://www.jamestownsun.com/event/article/id/99417/group/Sports/
STANFORD, Calif. (AP) â€" Toby
Gerhart plans to spend a few extra minutes soaking it all in before
walking off the field in what could be his final game at Stanford
Stadium on Saturday against Notre Dame.
"I don't think it will
really sink in until after the game is over,"Â Gerhart said. "Hopefully
it's a win, we're happy and celebrating and it will be a sweet ending."Â
Gerhart will be far from the only participant with those sorts
of emotions Saturday when the Cardinal (7-4) host the Fighting Irish
(6-5) in the regular season finale for both teams.
The game could well be the last at Notre Dame for Irish coach Charlie Weis and star quarterback Jimmy Clausen, too.
Though
he'd presumably play in a bowl game, Clausen is widely expected to skip
his senior seasons and enter the NFL draft. That's a decision Gerhart
is weighing as well, deciding whether to apply for a medical redshirt
or head to the NFL.
Weis' fate is out of his hands. He will fly
back with the team to meet with athletic director Jack Swarbrick
instead of going on a recruiting trip as originally planned.
Weis
said Sunday that he "would have a tough time arguing"Â if the school
decided to fire him after five seasons. Weis led the Irish to BCS bowls
in his first two years but has struggled since then.
His 35-26
record gives him a .573 winning percentage, which is worse than the
.583 winning percentage that got Notre Dame's two previous coaches,
Tyrone Willingham and Bob Davie, fired.
Weis refused to talk about his job status after Sunday, saying his focus was entirely on winning this week's game.
"I'm
ready to go,"Â he said. "I'm fired up. I really am. I'm fired up to go
out and play Stanford. I'm really looking forward to it."Â
It
has been a tumultuous week at Notre Dame with talk about Weis' job
status and Clausen getting a black eye after being punched outside a
bar early Sunday. The Notre Dame players were off limits to reporters
this week. The Irish also will be without leading rusher Armando Allen,
who is out with a cracked bone in his right hand.
The Stanford players are trying not to pay too much attention to all the hubbub around Notre Dame.
"We
just don't let it affect us at all,"Â Cardinal center Chase Beeler said.
"No matter what the conditions are there, we will prepare like they are
anyone else."Â</div><h1>
</h1><h1>Stanford's Gerhart could run over Irish</h1>
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<h5 id="author">Tony Krausz</h5></div>
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When: 8 p.m. Saturday
TV: ABC
Radio: 1450 AM, 1510 AM, 107.3 FM</div>
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SOUTH BEND â€" Stanford has the player to attack one of the weakest points of the Notre Dame's defense.
Cardinal
senior running back Toby Gerhart will be unleashed at 8 p.m. Saturday
in Palo Alto, Calif., against an Irish run defense that is giving up
160.3 yards per game.
Gerhart is averaging 139.2 rushing
yards, third best in the nation, and the 6-foot-1, 235-pound back has
run for 200 or more yards twice and has a nation-leading 23 touchdowns
for Stanford (7-4).
Gerhart's 200-yard games came against
then-No. 24 Washington in a 34-14 victory Sept. 26 and then-No. 8
Oregon in a 51-42 win Nov. 7.
"He's just explosive, and he
keeps his legs moving at all times,"Â Irish linebacker Darius Fleming
said in a statement as the team didn't allow interviews with players
and assistant coaches this week.
"He's one of the few
running backs that keeps his legs running after contact. Besides him
being a big guy, him being as quick as he is and as powerful as he is,
he is tough."Â
Gerhart, who is a finalist for the Doak
Walker Award given to the nation's top running back, runs behind a
Cardinal offensive line that averages 297 pounds.
Although primarily a power runner, he can also get to the outside and has two runs of 60 or more yards this season.
Irish
coach Charlie Weis said he could point to Stanford's offensive line,
tight ends and hardnosed mentality for its rushing success, but the
embattled Irish coach said Gerhart deserves most of the credit.
"That
No.7 (Gerhart), the guy with the ball in his hands, you know, he's
special,"Â Weis said. "He gets a lot of hidden yardage because you don't
get 139 yards a game by just running in open field all the time and
just by scheme. I mean, this kid is a heck of a runner."Â
Gerhart is also tough to bring down.
Weis said the best way to stop Gerhart is to gang-tackle him, an area in which the Irish have struggled this season.
Irish safety Kyle McCarthy, who leads the team with 90 tackles, said the defense has to attack Gerhart at full speed.
"You've got to be physical and right back up there with him and just go get after him,"Â McCarthy said.
"As far as practice, I'm sure it will be a physical week of practice to get us ready for it."Â
To prepare for Gerhart, Notre Dame (6-5) matched its first-team offense against its first-team defense.
But
even trying to simulate the speed of game might not be enough to help
the Irish slow the Cardinal's running game, which averages 219.3 yards.
"They
are just a power-run team,"Â Irish linebacker Brian Smith said. "They
have some sets in there that are obvious run plays, but they are going
to just try and run it down your throat. They are going to show you
what they are going to run, but they are going to try and run it down
your throat."Â
tkrausz@jg.nethttp://www.journalgazette.net/article/20091127/SPORTS0302/311279943
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