ND-USC

[Laxplayer]

Where the fuck is the Notre Dame secondary? Oh wait, they don't have one........

[Smackie Chan]

That onside kick wasn't how Weis drew it up.

[Cross Traffic]

Nice onside kick there....

Weis taking fashion tips from Belechek.

[RadioFan]

Should be about 42-20, the way this game is going.

44-24, my bad.

[Laxplayer]

64-24, my bad.

There FTFY

Charlie better recruit some defense or this will be a recurring theme.

[Van]

Nice road winning streak/November winning streak there by Weis and ND, juxtaposed with USC's own home field/November winning streaks. Fitting then that it should be ND or USC to end the other's streaks.

Tons of respect for Quinn. Big heart on the guy and a big NFL arm too. Yeah, he exits ND 0-4 against USC but that record isn't indicative of how well he played in this series.

ND's got a bit of a real problem on their hands. Their last three losses were to OSU, Michigan and USC. No shame in that, obviously. Problem is, they were all one sided losses and those games also just happen to involve the last three really good teams ND's played.

ND's beating the teams they should and they're getting stomped by the upper tier programs. That means they're well coached and fundamentally sound but that they simply lack athletes.

Seems strange to imagine that ND can't recruit competitively across the board anymore but when one gets right down to it that's really all there is to explain ND's continuing dearth of Quality Wins and Bowl Wins: a lack of athletes.

Anyway, no sig requests and no smack for ND Fan, at least not from me. I always thought and I always said USC would lose two games during this rebuilding season and when I looked at the schedule I thought ND would be a likely candidate to provide USC with one of those losses. Turned out though that they just couldn't go into the Coliseum and get it done. Nobody else has been able to either of late so again, no shame there.

ND better reload and upgrade quickly though, what with Quinn and Eye Chart leaving and that porous defense remaining a huge concern there in South Bend.

Class fans, class program. Wish 'em all the best.

[Laxplayer]

Van...I agree 100% with what you just wrote. Very senior heavy team.....good thing and bad thing, however this team needs to get some play makers on defense. They need size in the defensive backfield along with some speed. I did not like their game plan on defense tonight. How the hell can you let guys get that open that many times. It amazes me. the credit goes to SC's defense in the first half stopping ND on 2/3 of those turnovers. If ND gets more than 1 TD out of those series it's a much different game. Bottom line is that they didn't convert and SC nutted up huge there. Major props from me....a pretty well known SC hater, but I respect their play on the field. I guess I now have to go out and buy some scarlet and grey because Brent Musberger has already bought their plane tickets to Arizona.

[M Club]

Seems strange to imagine that ND can't recruit competitively across the board anymore but when one gets right down to it that's really all there is to explain ND's continuing dearth of Quality Wins and Bowl Wins: a lack of athletes.

let weiss take his smoke and mirror act on the recruiting trail and notre dame will probably start raking in better athletes than they have been. even though they get raped by any halfway decent teams they play, they're still 10-2 and in a bcs game. they've had that whole tradition and nbc thing going for them, but all that meant was recruits probably watched them lose five straight home games to msu. at least there's an excitement around the program now.

[montinelevin]

Is ND going to a BCS bowl?

Notre Dame could be 0-12 and land in a BCS game... do you even follow College Football?

If so, ND should play Boise St., oh what a game that would be. :)

Really? They'd get killed by Boise St., much like they did when they played Oregon State.

I can still hear #85 Chad Johnson laughing as he heads to the endzone against Notre Dame.

[Cross Traffic]

ND needs to be in the top 8 of the BCS standings to get a bid.

[M Club]

ND needs to be in the top 8 of the BCS standings to get a bid.

to automatically qualify, otherwise they just need their nine wins and be ranked in the top 14 provided there are at-large spots still available.

[Laxplayer]

Don't worry about ND's recruiting. CW is doing a pretty good job right now with getting kids to want to go to ND.

[Sky]

Blah blah blah....Weiss needs to beat someone good before he (or the ND nation) can claim anything big. They have been smacked by the last three top tier teams they have played.

On one hand you guys clamor about how good he is at developing talent (Quinn, Smakalreknalkdyad, TE from last year, etc...). On the other hand you say he doesn't have his players yet. So which one is it?

And for goodness sake, does he still have to dress like a fucking slob? I know he and Billicek suck each others dicks but this is absurd.

[Screw_Michigan]

ND needs to stop scheduling the service acadamies three of the five weeks leading up to the biggest game of the season.

and weis needs to recruit some players with some wheels on defense (and who can also PLAY defense).

[M Club]

Blah blah blah....Weiss needs to beat someone good before he (or the ND nation) can claim anything big. They have been smacked by the last three top tier teams they have played.

i was talking about smoke and mirrors, that 10-2 looks good and gets a lot of acolades through the media. weiss probably is doing a good job considering we all think notre dame is a 7-5 or 8-4 team had they played a decent schedule.

here's an interesting read about weiss and nd:

http://sports.yahoo.com/ncaaf/news;_ylt ... &type=lgns

[Van]

Lax, where do you want ND to go this post season? Pasadena, New Orleans or Miami? (The Fiesta is locked up with Boise St being matched up against the Big XII winner.)

Pasadena offers the possibility of redemption but it also offers the much more distinct possibility of confirmation coming in the form of one final ass kicking.

New Orleans offers a better opportunity than Pasadena for a win but it'd be a win lacking a Rose Bowl win's cache, especially if Arkansas should beat Florida.

Miami offers you a pay check (which you're getting anyway, regardless) and little else other than your best opportunity to break your post season losing streak.

The scariest notion for ND's post mortem discussion tonight is the simple fact that with so many key players graduating from ND they'll be a very young and inexperienced squad when they stare across the field next year at a USC team which will return almost entirely intact. USC starts only four seniors this season, offense and defense combined. Jarrett's the only real key player/early defection possibility.

So, USC should almost certainly be much better next year. That's a problem for ND. Now, the question is, how much does Weis have stored up in ND Nation's goodwill bank?

Willingham got ran out on a rail almost entirely due to those three street cans of whoopass USC opened up while ND was under Willingham's watch. If USC stomps ND again next year and Weis continues to pile up nine or ten win seasons while continually getting stomped in all their marquee games how long will it be before the natives there in South Bend begin to get restless again?

If the problem is ultimately recruiting (or a lack thereof) then how long will it be before people there begin to point the finger at Charlie Weis? Looking at the quick turnaround Carroll managed in L.A. and looking at what Meyer's quickly managed in Gainesville I gotta think that before too long here ND Nation will soon be saying, "Hey, why not us too??"

[Jimmy Medalions]

Good times today at the Coliseum. Ten thousand beers, bbq and such. Per usual, NDfan was representing all day long and having a good time.

Game was never in question and the whole building knew it. I feel bad for ND because they have 18 senior starters on this year's team. Ouch.

Weis will get his players in, and before long the Jimmy Clausen slurp-fest will be on. ND is about to get good and you best accept it now. Like Killian said - Ty the Noble Black Man didn't recruit shit and Weis has been improvising. In due time they'll be for real, with real players.

Five in a row feels pretty damn good.

Eight in a row next weekend will feel even better.

Out.

[Sky]

That was a good article MClub. I wasn't necessarily coming after you with my response. Just ND as a whole.

Also, on a side note, did everyone see our favorite steroid boy Brian Cushing score a touchdown? And just so you know Charlie Weiss, there was another guy on the field with man boobs and he scored on your XXXXXWeissLLLLL ass

[Van]

I know that as a USC fan I definitely felt better when Willingham was there at the ND helm.

Weis still scares me as ND's coach. If ND Nation is patient and gives him enough time (say, three to five years) does anybody here truly doubt that Weis will get ND back into the national title picture...and I mean really in it, including beating big teams, as opposed to the way they were "in it" (but not really) this year and last year...

[Sky]

I know that as a USC fan I definitely felt better when Willingham was there at the ND helm.

Weis still scares me as ND's coach. If ND Nation is patient and gives him enough time (say, three to five years) does anybody here truly doubt that Weis will get ND back into the national title picture...and I mean really in it, including beating big teams, as opposed to the way they were "in it" (but not really) this year and last year...

Yes, I seriously fucking doubt it. You just referenced Meyer and Carroll, do you see a fucking difference? I do. Did Tressel win a NC in his second year at tOSU? The answer is yes. Weiss is a fucking slob who might be a mediocre college coach. Why don't we all get off his man tit until he does something unexpected.

[The Seer]

I know that as a USC fan I definitely felt better when Willingham was there at the ND helm.

Weis still scares me as ND's coach. If ND Nation is patient and gives him enough time (say, three to five years) does anybody here truly doubt that Weis will get ND back into the national title picture...and I mean really in it, including beating big teams, as opposed to the way they were "in it" (but not really) this year and last year...

AKA - patronizing

[Sky]

If so, then just pretend it wasn't a response to van but more of an agreement.

[Van]

Not patronizing at all.

In the same way I like having Karl Dorrell prowling the sidelines in baby blue and gold I liked seeing Ty Willingham leading the Domers. Very comforting.

Seeing Weis over there doesn't give me that same level of comfort. I hope Sky's right and Weis does prove to be nothing more than a mediocre college coach but until then I still fear the day when Weis is finally able to start giving some of this shit back to the teams who are beating on him now.

I just respect the guy and I see him as a winner who will get the job done there in South Bend, eventually. I don't see that with Dorrell and I can't really say I ever saw it in South Bend with Willingham either.

[Terry in Crapchester]

Miami offers you a pay check (which you're getting anyway, regardless) and little else other than your best opportunity to break your post season losing streak.

I know you directed the underlying question to Lax, but I'll weigh in on this particular point. I don't want Miami for pretty much the same reason I don't want Pasadena: although not a sure thing in Miami (unlike Pasadena), there's a good chance that we get a regular-season rematch in the Orange Bowl. Recall that we also played Georgia Tech this season, although Georgia Tech, unlike Michigan is no longer a semi-regular opponent (but we only have one more meeting vs. Michigan all-time than vs. Georgia Tech, believe it or not).

I want to face somebody we haven't faced this year in our bowl matchup, given that there won't be any national championship implications as a result.

Also, incidentally, I don't see any way we wind up in the Orange Bowl anyway. The Rose Bowl will have the first two selections, followed in order by the Sugar, Orange and Fiesta. If we aren't picked by the Rose Bowl, there's no way the Sugar Bowl passes us up, especially when the likely alternatives at that point will be the Big East champion and Boise State.

Weis still scares me as ND's coach. If ND Nation is patient and gives him enough time (say, three to five years) does anybody here truly doubt that Weis will get ND back into the national title picture...and I mean really in it, including beating big teams, as opposed to the way they were "in it" (but not really) this year and last year...

Not making excuses for Weis, but in light of the scenario he came into, he'll need more than three years. Anyone who has been following Notre Dame and has a realistic assessment of the program understands that there will be a dropoff next year. We had a very subpar effort in recruiting what will be next year's senior class, and IIRC, only nine members of that class remain, not all of whom see meaningful playing time. A berth in the Gator Bowl next season would be a minor miracle, anything beyond that would be a major one.

Unlike Sky, I don't see Weis as a mediocre college coach. With the exception of Michigan State, every team that Notre Dame has lost to during his tenure has finished (or figures to finish) in the Top 4 of the final regular-season BCS poll. After next season, look out.

[Terry in Crapchester]

If this game approaches the ND/scUM score, the Domers can kiss the BCS goodbye.

I don't think so, looking ahead. ND benefits (obviously) from a lot of Top 10 teams losing, a pretty significant gulf going into this week between #11 Boise State and the Top 10, and a bunch of SEC teams in the mix (only one can get an at-large bid)

Anyway, here's how I see the BCS standings coming out later today:

1. Ohio State
2. USC
3. Michigan
4. Florida
5. Wisconsin (no shot at the BCS thanks to Michigan)
6. LSU
7. Louisville
8. Notre Dame
9. Arkansas
10. Boise State
11. Auburn
12. West Virginia
13. Rutgers
14. Oklahoma

There's your top 14, imho. ND is still an automatic qualifier at #8.

Even if I'm wrong, and Arkansas is ahead of ND, I don't see ND dropping below #9. If Florida beats Arkansas next week, that would take care of putting ND back in as an automatic qualifier.

[Terry in Crapchester]

weiss probably is doing a good job considering we all think notre dame is a 7-5 or 8-4 team had they played a decent schedule.

For all of the talk about ND's allegedly "soft" schedule, I should point out that at this point ND is one game away from having faced three teams this season who will make appearances in the BCS. That's a relatively short list, IIRC: Michigan State, Penn State and possibly Arkansas or USC (although certainly not both, and possibly neither). Yes, there were some softies on ND's schedule, but every team has a few of those. And ND does not schedule 1-AA teams, unlike many of its 1-A colleagues.

[Laxplayer]

Van, I could really care less where they go, just as long as they win the game. I don't think a rematch with Michigan is a good idea because of what happened early in the year, however if there is a rematch ND has a lot to gain if they win. As far as recruiting better players it looks like CW is doing that:
Just on defense he's recruiting some kids with a lot of speed. Right now he's got a couple of 5 star kids, 6 4 star kids and a few 3 stars. I think next year will be tough on them because they are so young but after that with another year of recruiting and these kids stepping in and contributing things will be looking good for the Irish.
We've all been saying how he's had to win with TW's recruits and how bad they were etc....but I think CW has done a pretty good job turning a lot of these kids into pretty damn good football players. We saw the discrepancy last night. SC has a lot more speed and big time play makers. The speed on defense is killer and right now ND doesn't have that, nor do they have the type of person that's a dominating player on defense. They need an AJ Hawk type of player. Someone who is all over the place making big plays.
I think the program is on the right track and I'm not going to doubt what CW has done, but the one thing I will doubt is the defensive scheme they employ and how lost their back 7 looks at times. Better coaching and better athletes will cure that though.