Notre Dame?

JayDuck · Post by **JayDuck** » Fri Oct 14, 2005 2:36 am

So...now that the dust is beginning to settle, is Charlie really "all that"?

Don't get me wrong, Notre Dame impressed me the first couple of weeks of the season too, but now all of suddden the schedule they've played hardly looks the same.

2-4 Pitt, with losses to Ohio and Rutgers

3-3 Michigan, with wins over Eastern Michigan and Northern Illinois

A loss to 4-1 Michigan State, who lost to the aforementioned Michigan team.

1-4 Washington, sole win coming over Idaho

2-3 Purdue, with only wins being Akron and Arizona...

USC rolls them up this weekend and they'll be sitting with a "nice" 4-2 record, but losses at the hands of what appear to be the only Top-25 quality opponents they 've faced (if MSU doesn't proceed to unravel the rest of the way, that is).

And didn't Tyrone go 10-3 his first year at Notre Dame too?

I'm not saying Charlie isn't a good coach, or won't turn the program around. But it seems to me that, once again, everyone is prematurely riding the nutsack of the new Notre Dame coach.

...we've been down this road before, who's to say anything different lies at the end of it.

M2 · Post by M2 » Fri Oct 14, 2005 3:21 am

$C should roll the Fighting Ethnic Group by 3 or 4 TD's...

The FEG is overrated... as is much of the teams in the midwest/east and south...

I'll just go with a common opponent in Washington...

Cal beat Washington by 3 TD's more than the FEG.

I will thank the FEG/Domers for their stupidity though...

Broken Promise from Notre Dame Changed Cal Back's Life

the truth

indyfrisco · Post by **indyfrisco** » Fri Oct 14, 2005 1:18 pm

I'll admit I was wrong about Notre Dame. I said going into the year they'd have 7 losses. Of course, I based that on how good I thought their opponents were, which I was off on those as well.

Weis has done well with the hand he was dealt and the schedule he has to play. While I will admit I was wrong about how they would finish this year, I will also say they are not near as good as their record and ranking indicate. I still think he will do better than Willingham in his tenure as ND head coach, but he probably won't be the "savior" many are amking him out to be right now.

PSUFAN · Post by **PSUFAN** » Fri Oct 14, 2005 1:50 pm

Fighting Ethnic Group

lol

I'm very impressed with ND. They lost a wild game against MSU, other than that they've played very well. Weis definitely has motivated the players and vastly improved the offense. I think this is a statement year for them...next year they will be very strong. ND's recruiting had slowed a bit...but I expect it to greatly improve. Kids will want to play for Weis for the Fighting Ethnic Group.

DrDetroit · Post by **DrDetroit** » Fri Oct 14, 2005 1:52 pm

Wins are wins, but ND was very close to losing to a bad Michigan team...

Killian · Post by **Killian** » Fri Oct 14, 2005 2:11 pm

Jay, I understand that you don't follow ND football closely, as I don't follow Oregon football closely, but the differences between Willingham and Weis are night and day. Willingham and Weis both had the reputations before they took the ND job as offensive guru's. In his entire career at ND Willingham had 3 or 4 games where his offenses generated more than 500 yards. Weis has 4 in 5 games. The strength of Willingham's first team was ND's defense. The won games by creating turnovers and setting up an anemic offense with a very short field. The weak link in this ND team is it's defense, yet most of the points and yards given up to Pitt and Purdue came after ND already had 42-13 type leads. So any comparisons between him and Willingham are false. Just for example, take the Purdue game this year and last year. ND could not score against the exact same 11 guys last year, this year they scored whenever they wanted. Weis had the same players, Brock Spak had the same players, but there was a complete 180. That's coaching.

m2, as long as we get more yards than USC, we win, right? Douchebag. And I want you to notice that in the article you linked about Forsett, he never states that Willingham pulled the offer. The author makes it seem as if ND pulled the scholarship because they were out of room and 2 runningbacks had just commited. Justin Hoskins commited in June or July, and everyone knew Walker was coming to ND. After he commited, Willingham told the kid that there was a scholarship for him, but he had two backs in this class and he would have to compete for playing time with these two who were much higher on ND's recruiting list. Forsett said thanks, but no thanks. ND didn't use all their scholarships and one was never "pulled" from Forsett. Actually, I'll check to make sure, but now that I think about it, I don't believe a scholarship was ever offered to Forsett by ND. He should be pissed at UCONN, they were the ones who pulled his ride after he already commited to them. But how much play could this writer get out of UCONN spurning this kid? None.

Indy, I have no doubt that Weis is that type of coach. He has already proven to be one of, if not the best, OC in the NFL. The two major questions before he took the job were if his offense can translate to the college game and if he can recruit. The answer to both are yes. I also don't doubt that he will be a "savior" coach because the new administration is giving him every opportunity. They have built a state of the art, football only athletic complex, they are allowing early admits to the football team, and they opened the purse strings so that Weis could hire a top flight staff. Plus, I doubt he will leave for the NFL anytime soon. He's been there, he was spurned by them, and he holds a grudge against the NFL for not making him a HC sooner. He will be at ND for the long haul.

As for this game, win or lose, it won't affect my thoughts about the future of Notre Dame football.

JayDuck · Post by **JayDuck** » Fri Oct 14, 2005 4:28 pm

T.V. contracts make it so that I have to follow Notre Dame significantly more than you do Oregon...

Like I said, they do "look better" this year, so far.

But the end result, right now, seems to be a likely 4-2 record with losses to the only Top-25 caliber teams they've played.

If I had to guess, right now, I'd say that Weis is a good coach and will move the program in an upward direction. But, I'd say the jury is far more out on this matter than the hype suggests.

T REX · Post by **T REX** » Fri Oct 14, 2005 4:52 pm

NOT banging on ND but their wins have come against teams with a combined 8-15 record. That's barely 35% winning percentage. Heard that on Mike and Mike in the morning. ND may be slightly overrated. Still, Weis has done an incredible job.

Terry in Crapchester · Fri Oct 14, 2005 5:24 pm

Rack Killian for some excellent points.

I'd love nothing better for ND to win this game. My head, however, tells me something else, although I'm in no way as sure of that as I would have been in the past two years. And I'm beyond perplexed as to why the pointspread is essentially the same as it was in last year's game, once allowances for home field are made.

My head tells me that even with a loss to 'SC, we still beat Tennessee (the most formidable challenge left on our schedule after 'SC), finish 9-2, and wind up in either the Gator or Cotton Bowls (no BCS bid because we had too much ground to make up going into the season). I think we finish much stronger than we did under Willingham in '02, and I feel good that this is the year we end the bowl game losing streak.

Killian · Post by **Killian** » Fri Oct 14, 2005 5:48 pm

T REX wrote:NOT banging on ND but their wins have come against teams with a combined 8-15 record. That's barely 35% winning percentage. Heard that on Mike and Mike in the morning. ND may be slightly overrated. Still, Weis has done an incredible job.

I agree with what you are saying. They aren't ready to be the #9 team in the country, but their record puts them there. Realisticly, I think they should be around 14 or 15, which is where I think they will end the season, unless they get a great bowl win. Pitt was extreemly overrated, UofM has already gone LLLoyd (3 L's were on purpose), Purdue is Purdue, and Washington will suck until they get a good head coach.

Right now, they are right where I expected them to be, with the UofM and MSU games flipped. Weis knows what he is doing, both on the field and off. Divorcing myself from the situation, I can see why many people are thinking "here we go again". The thing I find funny is that when media types start talking about ND being 4-1 and overrated, who is rating them? The fucking media!!!! And when they bring up Willingham's 8-0 start, they are the ones who blew that out of proportion. ND fans were happy that we were 8-0, but there were some serious questions about that team that were never addressed. This team is getting blown by the media, but I think everyone who is an ND fan knows what is going on behind the sceens. Willingham was never going to succeed with the administration he had in place and the coaches he brought with him.

I'll never worry about the offensive side of the ball as long as Weis is there. As soon as he has some help on defense, ND is going to be a scary team.