Category: Notre Dame

  • Bring on College Football

    It must be August because I’m starting to think a lot about football. How will my favorite teams do? How dumb will the bowls look in January and why don’t we have a playoff yet? Will I get to see any good games this season?

    San Diego State– Let’s start local. Last year the Aztecs were horrid. After almost picking off Notre Dame in their second game things went downhill in a hurry. I watched a couple of games on TV and they looked fairly helpless. The off-season brought a change at head coach when Brady Hoke was brought over from Ball State. He helped turn the perception on them from BS-U to Ball State. I’m hoping they will at least be competitive in the 2009 season. I threatened to do this last year but their home dates didn’t work well with NYWC… but this year there’s only one game I’d miss so I did bite the bullet and bought a season ticket package. At something like $7 per ticket it ended up being about the same price as going to a high school game… so why not? Maybe I can convince Megan and Paul that football is worth watching in the process?

    Notre Dame– I’ve got the Irish in my blood. Growing up just a stones throw from campus I’ve always had a thing for Notre Dame. Last season brought some hope back for 2009-2010. With nearly the entire team back and a very weak schedule, they should have a nice season. I think they will be 8-4 or 9-3. With their toughest road games being Michigan and Purdue, they really have a shot to do something memorable. The USC game gets interesting over the next 2 season as the Trojans begin to fall from dominence just as the Irish start to rise again. It’d be nice to string together 2-3 years of beating USC. I think they will lose to Purdue, USC, Washington State, and maybe Boston College. But I’ve been wrong before. As of right now I’m planning to see them take on the Cardinal of Stanford during Thanksgiving weekend. That’d be a great place to claim their BCS bid, wouldn’t it? But if they have a rough year and go 6-6, it’s the end of the Charlie Weis era for sure.

    Michigan/Michigan State– I still have an affinity for the Michigan teams. Other than the weeks they play Notre Dame I’ll watch and cheer for them. I think Michigan State should have a nice year. I’d love to see them earn a Rose Bowl invitiation. They are very athletic and fun to watch. I think Michigan still has a long way to go. I have a feeling that if Michigan doesn’t get to 8 wins they will fire their coach and continue the downward spiral that Notre Dame started 15 years ago. If you want to see a friendly schedule, look at Michigan. The furthest they travel is to Iowa and they don’t even leave the state of Michigan until week six. The Wolverines have a tough schedule of opponents this year despite the friendly home stands, I just don’t think they can compete against Notre Dame, Iowa, Michigan State, Wisconsin, or Ohio State. I hope they do better than 7-5, but I don’t foresee it.

    All-in-all, I’m not expecting any of my favorite teams to be contenders. The script is written for Tim Tebow’s Florida, Oklahoma, and USC. OK, let’s face it. I just hate USC. It would make my football season if Notre Dame can pull off a miracle and defeat them on October 17th.

  • Don’t Fire Charlie Weis

    I just read Pat Forde’s latest attack on Notre Dame. All season long, he’s called the players names, the coach names, even the fans names. Now he thinks that his pens will fell Charlie Weis. I hope that doesn’t happen.

    Here are some reasons why:

    1. The team is young. I have watched most of the games this year and I think it’s a joke that when they win the commentators talk about how young the team is, when they lose they talk about how horrible a coach Charlie Weis is. Most of the offensive starters are freshmen and sophomores. That means that next year they will be a year stronger, smarter, and more hungry to beat teams who humiliated them.

    2. It won’t stop the cycle of change. The first two years under Weis he was dealt a perfect hand by his predessesor. Let’s say they fire Weis and hire somebody else… of course that guy will look great for the next two year as Weis’ young players will mature and begin to win. But that just means in 4 years we will be right back in this same spot, firing a coach.

    3. 12 non-conference games makes it impossible to win a national championship. It’s now been 20 years since Lou Holtz, Tim Brown, Tony Rice and Rhagib Ismael brought a championship to South Bend. 1993 proved why the Irish need to be in a conference. (Beating #1 Florida State, then losing to unranked Boston College.) Join the Big 10 and give them 2 divisions with a championship game like the SEC or join the Big East and beat up on South Florida every year. Heck, start your own conference!

    4. Ditch the NBC deal. Pundits like Forde think buying out Weis’ $30 million contract is doable. Why not go all the way and dump NBC? Since the deal in 1990 they haven’t won a national championship. In fact, only 1993 and 2005 have they been in remote contention.Think about it, for most of the teams on their schedule this is their biggest game of the year. If you are a player at BYU or North Carolina you are only likely to get on National TV in front of every NFL scout is when you play Notre Dame. Unlike every other major football powerhouse, every Notre Dame game is a big deal. For teams like San Diego State it is their Super Bowl. No wonder the Irish struggle.

    5. Academically, the Irish are strong. For 5 years we had to listen to Bob Davie whine about the academic requirements of Notre Dame. With more than 90% of football players earning college degrees, Weis has proven that he can maintain a program of academic excellence while still recruiting solid players.

    I hate to sound like a Cubs fan, but I think the next 2 years are going to prove the Weis is building a program that Irish fans will be proud of for years to come.

    Let’s just hope that the President of Notre Dame and the new athletic director don’t listen to ESPN.

  • College Football Check-in

    Here’s a mid-season check-in of my favorite teams.

    #1 Notre Dame For a team that barely won 3 games last year, I’m please with their progress. I actually think some fans expected the Irish to win 8-9 games based on their week schedule. Essentially, they have beaten the team’s on their schedule that they were supposed to while gotten beat by ranked opponenents. With Syracuse and USC left on their schedule I think they will end up 7-5 before getting waxed in a bowl game. Some have said Charlie Weis is on the hot seat, I don’t see it that way at all. This is a rebuilding process, his team is very young. Now if they are 8-4 next year or less… I can see dumping him.

    #2 Michigan State I’ve watched a couple of their games and been quite impressed. They have climbed to #15 in the polls and if they can manage squeak past Penn State and Michigan pulls off the upset of the millenium, they would be rose bowl bound. Most importantly, they didn’t collapse after the Michigan game. Kudos to State for finally figuring out how to play a whole season.

    #3 Michigan Back in September I said it would be a down year and boy has it lived up to that hype. At 3-8 they have often been stunningly bad. I also said that they would have a chance to beat Ohio State. As long as the bus brings the Buckeyes to the correct stadium on Saturday morning I don’t see Michigan having a chance. That said, it’s a rivalry game and anything is possible. No, I take that back. Michigan has as good a chance of beating Ohio State as Jennifer Graham does in getting re-elected in 2010.

    #4 San Diego State At 1-10 it is tough to find anything good to say about the Aztecs. Sadly, I never made it to one of their games either. When they played Notre Dame I thought they may have a chance to be .500. I must have been on crack that day. The good news is that I may be able to enroll in the grad school and walk on for the Aztecs. Sure, I’ve never played high school football. But I’m pretty good at NCAA 2008 for the Wii.

  • Is Notre Dame any good?

    As a lifelong fan of the Irish, two weeks into the season I am left with this question. “How good are they?” In week one they looked “2007 bad” while in week two they looked like “2005 lucky.”

    Of course, there is irony galore. Just when the nation and especially Irish fans began to look on Charlie Weis as an idiot instead of genius… he gets whacked and will now attain hero status. For those who missed it, here’s what happened to him.

    If they keep up the enthusiasm, and the quarterback continues leading the team to relax and have fun… it could be a great year. Have you seen their schedule? Winning 8-9 games shouldn’t be too tough.

    Not a Notre Dame fan? Or can’t understand why I would be? Here’s a cool video.

  • My favorite football teams

    College football gets into full swing today. Technically, it started last week yet it wasn’t a full schedule. I thought it was good to clarify just who I get excited about in college football for this season.

    #1 Notre Dame (I grew up about a mile from the campus, been to a ton of games, love me some Fighting Irish.)

    #2 Michigan State (Not sure why I like them, but I enjoy watching the Spartans. I think they can have a decent year.)

    #3 Michigan (This is a rebuilding year for them. I don’t expect them to be above .500 as the new coach wasn’t left with a lot of talent. But I still like watching them. The crazy thing is that it doesn’t matter how bad they are, they still have a shot against Ohio State.)

    #4 San Diego State (I know they aren’t good this year, but they are the closest D-1 team to us. They play about 3 miles from our house.

  • Notre Dame is a Lock for the Big Dance

    notre dame logoAs a Notre Dame fan there hasn’t been a lot to be excited about for football. But with the basketball team things are looking great. At 21-5, Mike Brey and his Irish team have pretty much sealed the deal for getting into the group of 64 for March Madness.

    I’ve watched them in about 4 games this year. In each they have been in control, working together, and are always displaying great sportsmanship.

    The hope is that they make it to the Sweet 16 or beyond. It’s awful fun to have something to cheer about out of South Bend.  

  • Notre Dame Football is #1

    Notre Dame Football is #1

    Unfortunately, they are #1 at “least efficient dollar per win.”

    Allegedly, Charlie Weis made $1.16 million per win in 2007.

    Here’s the list

    Oops.

  • Ode to Charlie Weis

    Charlie WeisI’ve been very silent about Notre Dame football this season. And for good reason. I knew it wasn’t going to be a good year over the summer when Coach Wei, at a celebrity golf outing, told the press that he thought it was going to be a tough year for the Irish. He said, “we’re real young.”

    This isn’t the worst Notre Dame team I’ve ever seen. This wasn’t Bob Davie bad, nor was it Gerry Faust bad.  They were a very young team with almost no experience. They lost a lot of games and some of them were quite embarrassing. The loss to a 0-2 Michigan team 38-0 and the loss to Navy a couple weeks back were particularly tough to swallow.

    I’d be extremely surprised if Notre Dame fired Charlie Weis. I don’t think I’ve heard it discussed at all.  When they fired Tyrone Willingham back in 2004 a lot of people saw that coming. While there was a lot of talk about that being racially motivated, I think it had more to do with his inability to recruit. (my post about his firing)

    Contrast that to Charlie Weis. He is getting the job done. The first two years he took the talent he had an went for the wins. Willingham left him with a decent couple of classes and really messed up in getting younger players… so Charlie didn’t have much left. But the players who played  this year were very young and talented. See, unlike basketball, you can’t grab 11 kids from high school and have the dress for a college football game and expect them to win. There will never be a Fab Five in college football as size, experience, and speed of the game. So they took their lumps and learned this year.

    I expect Notre Dame to be much better as a result of this year. You won’t have to motivate guys to work out. You won’t have a hard time convincing them that two-a-days are worth it in August. All you have to do is point to the sign that says, “2007 We Were 3-9. the worst record in Notre Dame History.”  I think Charlie has the Irish on the right track and he had to take them down this road to prove to them that good things happen as the result of hard work. Each time I saw them truly down and out I could just squint and wait for January 2010 when they win a major bowl and see that this is where they had to go to hoist the trophy.

    Two guys who need to be recognized as they graduate from Notre Dame (You’ll be seeing them on Sunday’s very soon)

    1. Tom Zbikowski– This guy is a football stud. He’s listed as a defensive back but is built a lot like Brian Urlacher from the Chicago Bears. He is fast, he is tough, he hits hard, and whenhe gets his hands on a punt return… he is exciting to watch. His toughness reminds me of Notre Dame great, Marc Edwards and Mike Alstott of Purdue fame.
    2. Trevor Laws– All world. He may be the first defensive lineman taken in this years draft. I think he had about 225 tackles on the year. He isn’t the biggest guy on the planet but he plays hard and is slippery. I’m not sure who to compare him to from Irish teams of old. But I do know he is a great one and that he’ll do well at the next level.

    Both of those guys have had a great season in the midst of a terrible season. It’s really a shame that these guys aren’t going out on a bigger stage. Yet, I am positive both will be featured at the Senior Bowl in Hawaii.

  • Notre Dame vs. USC

    NduscIt all comes down to tonight’s game with USC. My Irish are looking to avenge the last second heroics of last year’s instant classic. With no Matt Leinart, Reggie Bush, or LenDale White, I think the Irish really have a shot to win.

    Keys to victory for the Irish
    The first thing all the commentators want to talk about is Notre Dame’s defense. It’s no secret that their secondary is weak and porous. They’ve given up big gains to every single team they’ve played. But I suspect that they will have a couple of scheme’s to handle this better. They may even play in a nickel or dime D to play to their strengths. While I expect the Irish to give up 30+ points, I don’t think USC can outscore the Irish. Let’s not forget that USC isn’t that tough of a team either. Just like the Irish, they’ve struggled their way to 10-1.

    I think the key to this game comes down to Brady Quinn keeping the ball moving. Quinn_1
    Brady has proven how tough he is and I suspect he’ll show that today. USC will try to pressure him early to try to keep him from establishing the marching cadence he does so well. The fact remains that Brady is almost unstoppable in the hurry-up offense. When they struggled against Michigan, Michigan State, and Georgia Tech they were focusing on establishing the run. But when they put Brady in a hurry up and establish screens to his RB’s and slants to his excellent receiving core, things opened up for Darius Walker. Even in the debacle against Michigan, the last drive of the 2nd quarter in the 2-minute offense scored easily and quickly.

    Why Notre Dame will win
    The focus this week has been "Can Notre Dame’s defense stop the Trojans?" I think the answer will be today, "The USC defense can’t stop the Irish offense." This is, by far, the best offense I’ve ever seen in my 20+ years of watching Notre Dame football. I think this will be a shoot-out and Notre Dame will score more than 50 points. They have all the motivation from last year while USC is as cocky as ever. I actually think USC is stupid enough to think that their offense will win this game. But USC has a weak QB who will make some mistakes. Don’t forget that ND has some very talented defensive players of their own.  Two words USC will be sick of hearing in the PA today "Tom Zbikowski."Expect to see a classic.

    Can Notre Dame get to the championship game?
    All the cards are falling into place for the Irish. But I don’t think it will be enough. LSU beating Arkansas certainly helped last night. Even if Florida State or Arkansas beats the Gators this week or next week and Notre Dame beats USC today, I simply don’t know if they’d have enough points in the BCS to climb past Michigan.
    It seems like a re-match between the Buckeyes and the Wolverines is inevitable unless USC slaughters the Irish today or visa versa.

    Odd Bowl News
    Interestingly enough, even if Notre Dame loses today they will likely still be in a BCS bowl game. In fact, unless they destroy USC and make it to the championship game amid the cries of Michigan fans, Notre Dame will likely land in the Rose Bowl regardless of a win or a loss today. (Based on these predictions on ESPN) Let’s not forget that the BCS is only trying to determine a national champion. Beyond that, the BCS bowls are about money.

    A little flashback to last year… expect to see this again.

  • Brady Quinn Highlights part 2