The OFFICIAL Notre Dame thread

[#1PaFan]

If it makes you feel any better, I'd pick ND over Bosie State

You think so? Bosie State? Is that a Service Academy?

I happen to think that Boise State might continue to expose ND.

Congrats to ND! They had a fine year.

[noneckwilliams]

I believe there are teams with worse records who deserve to be there over ND. I can tell you right now that ND is not the best team we faced all year.

But we both know you'll get in.

Congrats on the victory.

The Irish were pretty much sh*t from the start tonight but I have to credit USC. I think Charlie got outcoached and the ND special teams (even before the onside fiasco) were a horrendous. You have to admit, late in the first half the Irish were gaining control - but the USC D held strong. Then the 2nd half kickoff sails out of bounds (they were apparently doing that intentionally) and USC gets the ball at the 35 - and pretty much puts it away.

It wasn't too long ago that ND creamed USC 10 games in a row. You may not remember Ted Tollner. What comes around goes around.

[CanoForPresident]

It wasn't too long ago that ND creamed USC 10 games in a row. You may not remember Ted Tollner. What comes around goes around.

I agree, and you're gettin yours right now

Whats scary for the rest of college football is that we will be much better next year. The loss of Jarrett and Smith will hurt but the guys we have sitting on the side line (Hazelton, patterson, Ausberry) are better than most Starting WR groups in the country and Patrick Turner is pretty good too.

Good luck too you guys in your bowl game. I hope it isn't a Michigan ND rematch becuase we all know how that will turn out.

[dabomb2045]

It wasn't too long ago that ND creamed USC 10 games in a row. You may not remember Ted Tollner. What comes around goes around.

And unless we start recruiting better players....we will keep on losing. We just dont get the athletes schools like OSU and USC do. I dont know if its admission standards, or those schools are simply more prestigious. But the facts are we struggle to get them.

Next year is gonna be an ugly year for ND, I think we may hover around the .500 mark. Lets just fast forward to 2008.

[In Mo I Trust]

This team just isnt good, and majorly underachieved this year. I wish we could stop playing USC every year. I dont wanna play them anymore. Tired of them owning us and beating us every year.

Notre Dame needs an easier schedule? Does the Coast Guard have a football team?

[YankeePride1967]

Lets face facts....ND isnt that good of a team. They fattened up against a soft schedule. They got blown out by good teams (USC, Michigan), won some games they shouldnt have (UCLA, Michigan St)

This team just isnt good, and majorly underachieved this year. I wish we could stop playing USC every year. I dont wanna play them anymore. Tired of them owning us and beating us every year.

Well if you want to be a program competing for a national championship, then you have to play, and beat, teams like USC. No one is going to give a team playing too many games against Air Force and the like a chance at the title.

[Soriambi]

I don't think that Notre Dame was beaten quite as bad as the score indicated (ND had the overall yardage advantage, more turnovers, one of the USC TDs was on a on-side kick that was returned for a TD, etc.) but it wasn't as close as the numbers indicated it should have been, either. It could have been a lot closer as ND had several chances that they didn't cash in on, but USC was clearly the better team. ND had:

Ball at the USC 29
1st and 10 from the USC 10
3rd and 3 from the USC 10, and a first down on a play that would have made it 1st and 10 from the USC 4
Poss. starting from their own 48
Poss. starting from the USC 36
4th and 1 from the USC 22

and ended up with a grand total of 3 points from all of that. The game could have easily been a high scoring shootout for both teams. The defense needs an overhaul, though, obviously, and hopefully the new recruits can help with that.

(And just as a disclaimer, to summarize, I'm not saying that ND is close to USC's level right now, just that yesterday's game could have easily been a lot closer than it was with a break or two.)

[dabomb2045]

Well if you want to be a program competing for a national championship, then you have to play, and beat, teams like USC. No one is going to give a team playing too many games against Air Force and the like a chance at the title.

Yet if you arent on the same level of a team like USC....why play them?? No point in getting embarassed every year

[TheMick@ND]

Yet if you arent on the same level of a team like USC....why play them?? No point in getting embarassed every year

I wasn't embarassed last year. Your suggestion is ridiculous. I don't hear UM fans crying about getting beaten by Ohio State every year, but they're like 1 for their last 5 against them. It happens, we'll get em eventually.

[dabomb2045]

I wasn't embarassed last year. Your suggestion is ridiculous. I don't hear UM fans crying about getting beaten by Ohio State every year, but they're like 1 for their last 5 against them. It happens, we'll get em eventually.

USC is loaded. Dont expect to beat them for awhile.

[TheMick@ND]

USC is loaded. Dont expect to beat them for awhile.

I guess I'll just stop watching Notre Dame football and just ask you to look at the schedule and tell me what our record will be.

[dabomb2045]

I guess I'll just stop watching Notre Dame football and just ask you to look at the schedule and tell me what our record will be.

How are we going to beat them when we dont recruit the same type of athletes they do?

[TheMick@ND]

How are we going to beat them when we dont recruit the same type of athletes they do?

Uhh, I didn't like alot of the defensive players Ty recruited either, but how about you give the current coach on the heels of 2 BCS seasons a chance to do his job...or you can give up and stop watching Notre Dame football since there's apparently no hope, either way I guess.

[cmaff05]

Uhh, I didn't like alot of the defensive players Ty recruited either, but how about you give the current coach on the heels of 2 BCS seasons a chance to do his job...or you can give up and stop watching Notre Dame football since there's apparently no hope, either way I guess.

how hard is it for notre dame to make the bcs? i mean, charlie has done a wonderful job for that program.. but you are acting like its tough for ND to make the BCS.

[TheMick@ND]

how hard is it for notre dame to make the bcs? i mean, charlie has done a wonderful job for that program.. but you are acting like its tough for ND to make the BCS.

Is there a point to your comment? And if you're going to guess that I think ND making a BCS bowl is a big deal just because I said it's a selling point for recruits then you probably shouldn't be surprised when I tell you you're wrong. The point is, it's viewed as a successful season, so if going to a successful program is important to a recruit, then that should help, no? You don't think that recruits are more interested in Notre Dame than they were under Davie and Willingham? You think that has nothing to do with the recent success of the program? Or do most of them say, "well it's not that hard for ND to make the BCS so I'm really not that impressed, I wanna go to a school that has a tough time making the BCS."

This was a discussion about whether ND could recruit better athletes, but you had to jump in and say, "ND has different rules, it's easy for them to be in the BCS, blah blah blah."

[dabomb2045]

Uhh, I didn't like alot of the defensive players Ty recruited either, but how about you give the current coach on the heels of 2 BCS seasons a chance to do his job...or you can give up and stop watching Notre Dame football since there's apparently no hope, either way I guess.

ND hasnt recruited good defensive players since the early to mid 90s.

[dabomb2045]

Point is....ND used to get alot of top flight recruits. But they dont get anywhere near as many anymore. Certainly not anywhere near the amount USC does.

[cmaff05]

Is there a point to your comment? And if you're going to guess that I think ND making a BCS bowl is a big deal just because I said it's a selling point for recruits then you probably shouldn't be surprised when I tell you you're wrong. The point is, it's viewed as a successful season, so if going to a successful program is important to a recruit, then that should help, no? You don't think that recruits are more interested in Notre Dame than they were under Davie and Willingham? You think that has nothing to do with the recent success of the program? Or do most of them say, "well it's not that hard for ND to make the BCS so I'm really not that impressed."

Weis has done alot to turn around that program.. and ND will get better recruits as a result this coming year.

But my point was that it doesn't take much for Notre Dame to get into a BCS game.. they can schedule cupcakes along with a few decent teams and get slaughtered by the two best teams they face and still make a BCS game.

Which you can't say about any other team that doesn't win their conference.

[TheMick@ND]

Weis has done alot to turn around that program.. and ND will get better recruits as a result this coming year.

But my point was that it doesn't take much for Notre Dame to get into a BCS game.. they can schedule cupcakes along with a few decent teams and get slaughtered by the two best teams they face and still make a BCS game.

Yeah, and your point has nothing to do with the discussion about whether ND will be able to get good athletes or not.

[dabomb2045]

Yeah, and your point has nothing to do with the discussion about whether ND will be able to get good athletes or not.

Considering we havent gotten many in the last 12-13 years....I'm not going to just assume that we all of a sudden will. ND has to prove to me that they can get those type of athletes again.

[cmaff05]

Yeah, and your point has nothing to do with the discussion about whether ND will be able to get good athletes or not.

Is this a thread about Notre Dame or is this a specific thread about whether ND will be able to get good athletes or not?

I was simply replying to your comment.

[TheMick@ND]

Is this a thread about Notre Dame or is this a specific thread about whether ND will be able to get good athletes or not?

I was simply replying to your comment.

That's laughable, if you were replying to my comment then your reply would've had something to do with the discussion that was ongoing. You just wanted to tear ND down like you always do.

We have to start a new thread to hope that we can stay on topic now?

[Yanks1976]

How are we going to beat them when we dont recruit the same type of athletes they do?

per Scout since 2002:

2002 13
2003 5 (10-3)
2004 30 (5-6)
2005 27 (6-6)
2006 5 (9-3)

In my mind, what this shows is if we win, and our coaching staff works at it, ND can recruit. They need to put those top 5 classes together. Winning will do that, I have absolutely no doubt. Our 2002 defense was outstanding...they damn near outscored our offense for the first 3 games (one thing Boob could do was coach defense).

Last year's class had 5 **** star defensive players. They need to bump that to get in some ***** star guys. Of those 4-star guys from last year 3 were Defensive backs, which along with OL was our clear focus (and we brought in 1 5-star and 5 4-star Offensive linemen).

The recruits will go where they can get exposure, playing time, win and go to the NFL. ND provides all of that. Sure, they will lose some because of academics, beaches and babes, but they can bring in enough high quality guys to win. If they bring in consistent top 5 to top 10 classes, I will take my chances against everybody. Right now, those 2004-2005 classes are what make up our "depth" and that isn't going to get it done.

Why do we look crappy against the upper level competition recently. Well, USC has multiple top 5/top 10 classes stacked back to back to back with top level guys playing the positions they were recruited to play. We have a converted RB at LB (TT) and a true frosh on the OL. (Young). Last year's starting center is now our starting right guard. Of course, maybe that is because that clusterf**k of a coaching staff we had in place from 2002-2004 recruited a total of 2 OL in 2005, 1 OL in 2004 and 2 in 2003. Yes, that means that Weis and Co. recruited more offensive linemen in one class than his predecessor did during his entire tenure.

Our starting DBs include a converted 4-star WR (Ndukwe), a converted 1-star WR (Richardson), and a guy who was recruited by some schools as a QB (Zibby). Not good.

But I firmly believe things are looking up. Give it time...those OL recruits from last year will be pancaking people and our DB recruits will provide man on man coverage soon enough...

[Gringaloca]

I wasn't embarassed last year. Your suggestion is ridiculous. I don't hear UM fans crying about getting beaten by Ohio State every year, but they're like 1 for their last 5 against them. It happens, we'll get em eventually.

The reason you don't hear UM fans crying...is because we're -14 pts over the last 5 years vs Ohio State. We accept the challenge year after year and accept our defeats with the class our program exhibits. We respect our opponents and make no excuses for our losses.
The Big Ten rivalry UM vs OSU is the longest/biggest/baddest in College Football goin' in my lifetime .....pardon my grammar/spelling... but it is what it is.

If Notre Dame ever decides to join a 'real' Conference....

[Soriambi]

But my point was that it doesn't take much for Notre Dame to get into a BCS game.. they can schedule cupcakes along with a few decent teams and get slaughtered by the two best teams they face and still make a BCS game.

Correct me if I'm wrong, but unless you win your conference and your conference has a deal with the BCS, don't you have to have two or less losses to be BCS eligible? I remember next year when Notre Dame played Stanford, the big story was that if they lost they wouldn't be BCS eligible. I'd say that when you play USC and Michigan every year, it's fairly tough to go 10-2, because it means you can't slip up at all anywhere else assuming you lose those games. It is a bit easier for Notre Dame because, due to their popularity, they won't get passed over when they do go 10-2, but they still have to go 10-2, which isn't as easy as you make it sound, I don't think.

Edit: I just looked it up. According to cbs.sportsline:

Notre Dame can be selected as an at-large team with at least nine wins and ranked in the Top 16 of the BCS -- they have done both. So, yeah, they have to go 10-2 because if they were 9-3 they wouldn't qualify under the Top 16 part of that.

[TheMick@ND]

The reason you don't hear UM fans crying...is because we're -14 pts over the last 5 years vs Ohio State. We accept the challenge year after year and accept our defeats with the class our program exhibits. We respect our opponents and make no excuses for our losses.
The Big Ten rivalry UM vs OSU is the longest/biggest/baddest in College Football goin' in my lifetime .....pardon my grammar/spelling... but it is what it is.

If Notre Dame ever decides to join a 'real' Conference....

Right, that's what I was saying. Even in the best rivalries you can have runs of 5 of 6 years by one team. It doesn't mean that you should stop playing them. Not sure what the join a conference thing has to do with a rivalry as long as you play each other every year but that's really beside the point anyways.

[gamesix1977]

Point is....ND used to get alot of top flight recruits. But they dont get anywhere near as many anymore. Certainly not anywhere near the amount USC does.

Hmmm, South Bend or L.A.

[ny]

Mike Golic was not too happy singing the SC fight song on M&M this morining after losing a bet with Salisbury.

[Smithers]

I'm not worrying that much. The speed on defense is coming. Last year's recruiting class gave us Darrin Walls and Raeshon McNeil and so far this year we have Gary Gray and Greg Little (if they put him on D).

If we can just make it through the growing pains of '07, we'll be a force from '08 on.

[NDBoston]

I'm not worrying that much. The speed on defense is coming. Last year's recruiting class gave us Darrin Walls and Raeshon McNeil and so far this year we have Gary Gray and Greg Little (if they put him on D).

If we can just make it through the growing pains of '07, we'll be a force from '08 on.

Chris Donald, Mike Williams, Ben Martin and Lorenzo Edwards are the key recruits left from the defensive side of the ball left. Donald is a key get since he's a LB stud.

A few comments. I was at ND when we were wiping out SC each year. It will come back to ND's favor again. It always does.

Michigan fans were bitching before the game in South Bend this year to take ND off the schedule. That was due to success ND had in the last few years. To have DaBomb say the same thing makes me physically ill. SC is the biggest rival and Notre Dame should always play them.

Ignore Cmaff. He's here to troll and has some deep hatred for everything Notre Dame. He's not here for intelligent discussion.

2007 is going to be ugly. You can thank Ty Willingham and the last two classes he recruited for that.

[YankeePride1967]

Yet if you arent on the same level of a team like USC....why play them?? No point in getting embarassed every year

Then if you are saying you aren't on that level then you are giving up on a national title before the season starts.

[Bern baby Bern!]

I dont think ND should make a BCS bowl this year and if they do make the Rose and play Michigan again I will be extremely disappointed. They have not beat a good team all year, maybe Georgia Tech being the best or perhaps Purdue, and have lost badly to Michigan and USC. They really do not deserve it this year depite their 10-2 record.

[dabomb2045]

Michigan fans were bitching before the game in South Bend this year to take ND off the schedule. That was due to success ND had in the last few years. To have DaBomb say the same thing makes me physically ill. SC is the biggest rival and Notre Dame should always play them.

2007 is going to be ugly. You can thank Ty Willingham and the last two classes he recruited for that.

I'm frustrated. I'm sick and tired of watching us get lit up by good teams on national TV....and have to deal with all the anti-ND idiots be able to rip the team apart. Take away the game vs USC last year and we havent even been competitive with them for like 6 years now. Its just frustrating when you see your team get exposed for what it is. Frustrating to realize that they dont have anywhere near the athletes that the upper echelon teams do.

And knowing the team is gonna be bad next year, sure doesnt help my psyche right now. Weis better start recruiting his ass off if we want to be able to compete with the big boys.

[Buckeye Yank]

A few comments. I was at ND when we were wiping out SC each year. It will come back to ND's favor again. It always does.

You're going to have to wait a few more years (IMO) but like you said, the momentum always changes. ND will dominate SC again, you can count on it.

Now, if you'll excuse me, I need to puke for admitting that!!! Psssstt.....SC is lining up another Top 5 (maybe even #1) recruiting class.

[CanoForPresident]

You're going to have to wait a few more years (IMO) but like you said, the momentum always changes. ND will dominate SC again, you can count on it.

Now, if you'll excuse me, I need to puke for admitting that!!! Psssstt.....SC is lining up another Top 5 (maybe even #1) recruiting class.

Word on the Street is that we really blew the socks off of Griffen (some say he's already a silent verbal) and Austin this weekend. Those two would be HUGE gets and our D would get that much better. The only thing we're missing is a game breaking talent on offense (CJ spiller would have filled this void.)

[cmaff05]

Word on the Street is that we really blew the socks off of Griffen (some say he's already a silent verbal) and Austin this weekend. Those two would be HUGE gets and our D would get that much better. The only thing we're missing is a game breaking talent on offense (CJ spiller would have filled this void.)

Did you guys pay him?

[CanoForPresident]

Did you guys pay him?

No, he only gets paid after he plays a few years and becomes a star

[ryanm1058123]

No, he only gets paid after he plays a few years and becomes a star

its not an attack on USC.. it's an attack on the whole college football system - I would be honestly shocked if any of the big time BCS schools don't pay their players.

[CanoForPresident]

its not an attack on USC.. it's an attack on the whole college football system - I would be honestly shocked if any of the big time BCS schools don't pay their players.

why am I starting to think that you and cmaff are the same person?

Also question for all ND fans- Do you think that Clausen will start right away next year or will he spend a year on the sidelines to learn the system? I don't know how good Sharpley is but he has practiced under Weis for 2 years so he will know the system better.

[NDBoston]

why am I starting to think that you and cmaff are the same person?

Also question for all ND fans- Do you think that Clausen will start right away next year or will he spend a year on the sidelines to learn the system? I don't know how good Sharpley is but he has practiced under Weis for 2 years so he will know the system better.

Clausen does start school in January so that will help him over the normal freshman QB.

Sharpley won't be the only competitor for the job either. Demetrius Jones, Zach Frazier are two highly touted freshman already at ND too.

FWIW- My money is on Jones.

[TheMick@ND]

why am I starting to think that you and cmaff are the same person?

Also question for all ND fans- Do you think that Clausen will start right away next year or will he spend a year on the sidelines to learn the system? I don't know how good Sharpley is but he has practiced under Weis for 2 years so he will know the system better.

NDBoston is probably better informed than I am but I've heard that Demetrius Jones has actually looked really good in practice, so I figured he was the top competition for Jimmy. I haven't heard anything about Sharpley or Frazer though.

Edit: And...he beat me anyways.

[WebsterMulligan]

Point is....ND used to get alot of top flight recruits. But they dont get anywhere near as many anymore. Certainly not anywhere near the amount USC does.

I'm not sure if I agree with you on this. Rivals has ND ranked #13 for the 2007 class. USC is currently ranked fifth. How much of a difference does that really amount to?

I'm not sure of which recruits may or may not pan out, but ND will always attract the top recruits and will remain one of the top progams in the country, IMO.

http://footballrecruiting.rivals.com...nk.asp?SID=880

[Smithers]

Clausen does start school in January so that will help him over the normal freshman QB.

Sharpley won't be the only competitor for the job either. Demetrius Jones, Zach Frazier are two highly touted freshman already at ND too.

FWIW- My money is on Jones.

Isn't Jones the one they thought about converting to a WR? What kind of speed does he have? I know it's not Charlie's style, but giving him a kind of mobile QB would be interesting.

[TheMick@ND]

Isn't Jones the one they thought about converting to a WR? What kind of speed does he have? I know it's not Charlie's style, but giving him a kind of mobile QB would be interesting.

Last year when we recruited him, Rivals had him at a 4.5 40. I hadn't heard about moving him to WR but it's probably possible. I'd definitely be interested to see what Charlie does with a mobile QB back there though.

[Buckeye Yank]

Any word on Noel Devine? My son seems to think USC has a shot at him....I don't see it happening. BUT, if it did, and they get McKnight (as some are speculating) AND Tyler....WOW!!!! Austin & Griffen would be awesome signs to go with Gallipo. I'd put McKnight on D though.

[NDBoston]

Any word on Noel Devine? My son seems to think USC has a shot at him....I don't see it happening. BUT, if it did, and they get McKnight (as some are speculating) AND Tyler....WOW!!!! Austin & Griffen would be awesome signs to go with Gallipo. I'd put McKnight on D though.

Austin won't be going to USC.

McKnight is going to LSU

Devine has two kids and going on a third and is a massive headcase. His grades wouldn't get him into St Mary's nevermind Notre Dame. I heard it's either Miami or UF

Appears that deal is done for LSU to Rose and ND to Sugar

[CanoForPresident]

Austin won't be going to USC.

McKnight is going to LSU

Devine has two kids and going on a third and is a massive headcase. His grades wouldn't get him into St Mary's nevermind Notre Dame. I heard it's either Miami or UF

Appears that deal is done for LSU to Rose and ND to Sugar

Wishful ND thinking rears it's ugly head.

Austin really enjoyed his visit to SC and bumped us ahead of FSU, Tenn, Illinois and Maryland (Miami, VaTech and Virginia were dropped completely.)

Griffen and O'Dowd seem like they are givens too.

I'd love to get McKnight but I heard he's going to LSU too. I guess we'll just have to "settle" for Jahavid Best.

[#1PaFan]

His grades wouldn't get him into St Mary's nevermind Notre Dame. I heard it's either Miami or UF

Nice!!!

[TheManKnownAsMecca]

Wishful ND thinking rears it's ugly head.

Austin really enjoyed his visit to SC and bumped us ahead of FSU, Tenn, Illinois and Maryland (Miami, VaTech and Virginia were dropped completely.)

Griffen and O'Dowd seem like they are givens too.

I'd love to get McKnight but I heard he's going to LSU too. I guess we'll just have to "settle" for Jahavid Best.

I hate to do the "I have a friend who is very good friends with Austin" but that is the case. Last time I talked to him he told me that Austin is very high on USC and the same is said for Miami. However, Austin does not like the unknown that surrounds the coaching situation at Miami. I wouldn't be surprised if he ends up picking USC because he enjoyed his visit to SC so much and because of the coaching situation at Miami. I feel that if Miami gets a big name coach with a good track record sooner rather than later they could quickly become the destination of choice for Austin.

[CanoForPresident]

I hate to do the "I have a friend who is very good friends with Austin" but that is the case. Last time I talked to him he told me that Austin is very high on USC and the same is said for Miami. However, Austin does not like the unknown that surrounds the coaching situation at Miami. I wouldn't be surprised if he ends up picking USC because he enjoyed his visit to SC so much and because of the coaching situation at Miami. I feel that if Miami gets a big name coach with a good track record sooner rather than later they could quickly become the destination of choice for Austin.

When was the last time you talked to your friend? Becuase everything I've read/heard indicates that he dropped Miami completely but if you talked to him recently, I'd take your word over theirs (the media.)