T1B

I wanted to start my own thread on this for many different reasons.

First off, Rack Navy and the Midshipmen. They deserved this win for a very long time. This streak should have ended in 1999 when a ref ripped it away from them on a shitty spot on a 4th down conversion attempt by ND. They deserved to win this game and they did. As soon as it went into Overtime, I looked at my wife and told her that ND was going to lose when they were forced to go for 2 in the third overtime. This is the frustrating part, which I will get to later. Navy is one of the few teams on ND's schedule (perhaps the only one) where I honestly wouldn't feel bad if ND were to lose. Without Navy, there would be no Notre Dame for me to cheer every Saturday. They saved that university and were rewarded with 43 straight years of ass kickings. If you play a team enough, you are bound to lose. So rack the hell out of the Midshipmen. They cancled class today at Navy. Good for them. I hope they partied like rock stars all fucking weekend. They deserve it.

Now, there was someone (I believe it was T REX) who said ND fans couldn't have seen this coming. Yes and no. As I stated above, if you play a team enough, you are bound to lose to them at some point. It should have happened in 1999, 2002, or 2003. ND had a dog fight on their hands in all of those games. It could have also happened in 1995 after Powlus broke his arm. ND had to rally late to beat Navy. And as I've been saying on this forum, Paul Johnson is one of the top coaches in the country.

So this loss has been coming for a long time, and was well over due. On the other hand, the game shouldn't have reached OT and that rests squarely on the shoulders of Weis. Pretty early in the year, it was apparant that this was going to be a long season. I had a post on as much after the UofM game. So I won't rehash those points. This game was lost by stupid play calling, and Weis trying to prove to everyone that he really is a soooper genius by trying to trick other teams, instead of asserting his will. This was what made Lou, Ara, Devine, etc. great coaches and where others struggled.

There was no excuse for the fake field goal. There was no excuse to call two straight pass plays after you forced Navy into a missed field goal, the second of which caused a fumble that was returned for a TD. Then, after the defense gives you a huge stop, he elects to go away from the run and throw the ball. Then came the decision to not try a 41 yard field goal and win it in regulation. That's right up there with Davie playing for OT against Nebraska and Ty punting from the 30 against BC.

So now the only question is where ND goes from here. I still think Weis can be a very successful college coach. He proved that the past two years. But he also had a first round draft pick at QB. This offseason, he needs to make a few coaching moves and sit down with some trusted COLLEGE peers and figure out if he can get the college game down. If he doesn't, you will see this cycle from ND. Up for two years, very down for a year, rebound a year, up for two years. But that is a whole other post that would be very, very long.

It's good that this loss happened this season. It was going to happen sooner or later, and it's better that it happened during this season as opposed to a year where ND was making a run for a major bowl or more.

Rack the Middies. You deserved this for a long time. Enjoy it.

RACK

Jsc810 wrote:Rack.

What would it take now for ND to fire Weis? Just wondering.

This year? Him getting caught fucking a nun.

The more likely senario is that Kevin White will be shit canned (hopefully, please God) and a new AD is brought in with the stones to actually stand up to Weis and demand some changes and accountability. White tried to do that to Willingham, but even Willingham told him to fuck off.

Weis will have a very small margin for error next year. My guess is that he will last until 2009 (unless next year is a repeat of this season) and they will make a decision at that time (if there is a new AD in place). My guess is that if they decided to go in another direction, Weis will take a job in the NFL before he is fired.

Killian wrote: So rack the hell out of the Midshipmen. They cancled class today at Navy. Good for them. I hope they partied like rock stars all fucking weekend. They deserve it.

According to the Sunday Washington Post, Annapolis was off the hook Saturday night ('sup Zyclone?) so no worries there.

btw, if you have never had a chance to see a Navy home game, I highly recommend it.

Killian wrote:

Jsc810 wrote:Rack.

What would it take now for ND to fire Weis? Just wondering.

This year? Him getting caught fucking a nun.

Truth be told, I was ready to get on the fire Weis bandwagon before the Navy game if it had been clear that the team was quitting on him. But that's not what happened. The players played well enough to win the game (not yet as well as they could/should have, but that's been the story all season). This loss was entirely on Weis, and some bizarre examples of playcalling/decision making.

The more likely senario is that Kevin White will be shit canned (hopefully, please God) and a new AD is brought in with the stones to actually stand up to Weis and demand some changes and accountability. White tried to do that to Willingham, but even Willingham told him to fuck off.

I agree that White needs to go, and not just for this reason. As for Ty, I'm not sure if he was telling White to fuck off, or just showing some (undeserved) loyalty to his staff. Either way, same result.

Weis will have a very small margin for error next year. My guess is that he will last until 2009 (unless next year is a repeat of this season) and they will make a decision at that time (if there is a new AD in place). My guess is that if they decided to go in another direction, Weis will take a job in the NFL before he is fired.

I would say that Weis has to win at least 8-9 games next season to get to '09 unless he makes some pretty significant changes in his coaching staff over the offseason. I do think he'll get to that margin next year.

As far as the NFL goes, I'm not sure. Certainly the luster is off him in light of this season. I think he'd view a return to being a NFL OC as a demotion, and I'm not sure his ego would allow him to accept that. OTOH, Weis is smart (although not nearly as smart as he thinks he is), and if the writing is on the wall, he may wish to move on before the hammer gets lowered and he then has the black mark of a firing under his belt.

Btw, as far as close calls against Navy go, you can add '84 to your list (although you're probably too young to remember). Navy led 17-7 midway through the 4th quarter before ND got a touchdown, 2-point conversion and a FG for a 1-point win. Under the category of thank heavens for small favors, credit Faust for going for the win rather than the tie (2-point conversion out front told me so). No OT back then.

Ironically, that was the only season that Faust managed to post 7 wins in the regular season.

1-8?

Wow.......what happened?

Navy is one of the few teams on ND's schedule (perhaps the only one) where I honestly wouldn't feel bad if ND were to lose.

this is kind of how i felt about the app state loss. it's great to see some hick hill team beat a traditional power, i just wish it wasn't my team. on the flip, notre dame's about the only team i watch just so i can root for a loss. i never thought i'd come this close to an undefeated season.

T REX wrote:1-8?

Wow.......what happened?

Don't worry, it's all Willingham's fault. At least, that's how you'll read it.

M Club, frankly, I think the early losses your team suffered were the best thing that could have happened to it. I wouldn't be surprised if they upset OSU and won the conference with a focus that might have been otherwise hard to summon.

true, it's hard to justify rampant hubris after losing to app state. even manningham's finally come around. i was in aa for lunch this summer and saw some player in driving an suv that required two parking spots. i told my lady friend they should be limited to regular-sized suv's until they beat osu again. we didn't even get past that first game. whatevs, it'd be nice to have that app state game back since we'd probably win 99 of every 100 (at least 43 of every 44), but we'd still only b/c playing for the big ten since oregon's a team we'd only win 3 of every 10 against, and that's only if lloyd schmeck was coaching and someone took dixon's knees out before the game got out of hand.

Terry in Crapchester wrote:I would say that Weis has to win at least 8-9 games next season to get to '09 unless he makes some pretty significant changes in his coaching staff over the offseason. I do think he'll get to that margin next year.

Yeah, but you thought that this year too...

IndyFrisco wrote:

Terry in Crapchester wrote:I would say that Weis has to win at least 8-9 games next season to get to '09 unless he makes some pretty significant changes in his coaching staff over the offseason. I do think he'll get to that margin next year.

Yeah, but you thought that this year too...

Yeah, I'm just not seeing it.

Did the Navy fans storm the field?

They were't at home, so what's your point, twat?

Killian wrote:They were't at home, so what's your point, twat?

Didnt stop AppSt fans after the michigan game.

They broke in the stadium and tore down a goalpost

I doubt Navy Students would do the same but maybe.

there were Navy fans there... Isnt that what great fans do? storm the field after wins?

oregon fans rushed the field after beating asu, which puts usc on par with arizona state. congrats.

Oregon fans would rush the field after a win vs Portland State

usc fans would rush home after a loss to put on their ucla shirts.

M Club wrote:usc fans would rush home after a loss to put on their ucla shirts.

BWWWWWAAAAAAAAAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!

RACK!

M Club wrote:usc fans would rush home after a loss to put on their ucla shirts.

Danimal wrote:

M Club wrote:usc fans would rush home after a loss to put on their ucla shirts.

Um, Danimal? I usually don't see the pics you post at work due to the sites they are on because of the work filter. Just figured oh well, Danimal posted another hottie. I do a rare check-in from home and see this? You go gay on us?

U$C fans would rush the jailhouse to bail their buddies out with daddy's money.
U$C fans would rush the courthouse to testify that their friend didn't do it because $C is the greatest football program of all time.

Killian wrote:

T REX wrote:1-8?

Wow.......what happened?

Don't worry, it's all Willingham's fault. At least, that's how you'll read it.

Might as well give him what you know he wants to hear. :wink:

SoCalTrjn wrote:Isnt that what great fans do? storm the field after wins?

"Decent" fans storm the field after wins.

GREAT fans storm the field after losses, too.

But to see the most apathetic, complacent fanbase in the country cracking on other teams' fans is pretty funny.


And here in the U&L, I heard something about Willingham blaming his recent lack of success on Neuheisel, and his "lack of talent" in recruiting.

Uhm, Ty... it's been like 3 years. Always quick with an excuse, that Willingham. But that's sure a nice ego boost for the Neuheisel recruits who might be coming back next year... good job, idiot.


The fans and writers up in Probation Nation are running out of patience for Paint Dry Ty. He'll be calling plays from the unemployment line again soon.

Of course, us enemies of the Fuskies here to the south want him to stay forever. Nothing like kicking your archrival while they're down. Plus, having Ty there allows Oregon to waltz in and grab the best talent from the 13th largest metro area in the country, or whatever it is. Works out just fine for us.


BTW -- thanks for sending us Jonathan Stewart, Fusky Nation. We're digging it. Best HS back in your state's history, and you let him go to the Enemy. Awesome.

Sorry Ags, just thought that was a funny burn so I threw the Kelso-pick up there.

Here is something more traditional