Notre Dame-Michigan has lost its luster

2008-09-10T11:39:31-04:00

2008-09-08T15:09:25-04:00

2008-09-10T06:38:24-04:00

2008-09-09T15:36:25-04:00

NJW

San Diego 516430

ehood: One senior on the offensive line and one senior on the defensive line isn't seniors "a plenty" it's 2 seniors. Five if you count offense and defense, and 3 of the 5 are first time starters. And it wasn't the 5 seniors or even the juniors fumbling and dropping passes, or throwing intereceptions, it was sophomore running backs and a sophomore receiver and a sophomore quarterback. Weis has multiple super bowl rings and two nine win seasons and two BCS bowls, while rebuilding a program without a single offensive player that runs a sub 4.6 forty. Give him at least some credit and a few years with real talent to prove what he can do. 2703347

2008-09-09T14:18:40-04:00

the real swammi

Lancaster 519507

NJW - Don't shoot the messanger (Bill). I'm sure you know but ... Charlie is the one that trumpeted his "schematic advantage" when he was hired. He sold Notre Dame on his offensive superiority over the other college coaches. Tuna Caserole implied that his schemes out-weighed having good players 2702372

2008-09-09T13:09:11-04:00

ehood

Allen 158434

NJW, those blinders of yours are spectacular. I'm looking at a ND roster right now and goodness I see JRs and SRs a plenty. Try your offensive line, you know the one that blocks so Clausen doesn't get pressured and so you might be able to get some rushing yards? 1 Sr and 4 Jr's start. 2 more Sr's are in the two deep. How about that Defensive line, you know the one that is supposed to keep San Diego St from scoring 13 points? Another 2 Sr's and 2 Jr's in the two deep. Total Team Seniors: 9 on Defense and 6 on Offense Total Team Juniors: 13 on Defense and 7 on Offense We need an intervention for all the delusional ND fans. Your team = NOT GOOD. Your Coach = EVEN WORSE 2701363

2008-09-09T08:39:58-04:00

knute1984

Wilmington 81297

Yeah, ND should have kept Ty--that way, Washington would not be stuck with him and a program sinking into the abyss ... and Ty could have played more golf at the ND courses instead of coaching, and later thrown his players under the bus by blaming all losses on them. A real man, he was. 2698090

2008-09-09T02:04:03-04:00

http://img.fannation.com/upload/user_profile/image/426/952/thumb/BuckeyeGirl.jpg 987 NV

river1075

Las Vegas 427392

Maybe RichyRod will get some impressive "W's" when he gets his recruits. But Weiss HAS his recruits and they look like a Div I-AA team. Who would you put your money on... if Appalachia State played ND next week? Or maybe Cal Poly? What I'm saying is that it is clear that Weiss & Company are NOT making progress and are likely not going to get it done. ND has done a pathetic job of hiring a HC and deserve what they get. Their last successful coach (Lou Holtz) get's forced out by a back-stabbing Bob Davie, but Davie gets 5 years to fail. Then they have the O'Leary fiasco which leads to a last minute hire of a young up and coming coach who had success at Stanford...Ty Willingham. Ty becomes the only ND coach to get fired before the end of his 5 years (they let Faust do his 5). Then they wait on the end of the super bowl to hire Weiss leaving a big lull in recruiting....which they blame on Willingham. After a decent year (with Willingham's kids) and afraid the NFL will beckon, they give this arrogant narcisist a 10 year deal. Now, after a 3-9 they have only a soft schedule to thank for what may be possible 6-6 season. 2697023

2008-09-08T22:49:22-04:00

NJW

San Diego 516430

Bill--did you even bother to look at ND's roster before you wrote your ignorant article? They have a grand total of 4 seniors in the starting lineup and not many more juniors. Their starting QB, running backs, 3 or the top 4 receivers, two linebackers and one cornerback and one safety are sophomores. How much of a "decided schematic advantage" would Parcells or Belicheck have with a team full of rookies and second year players? There's no free agency in college football. Two years from now your silence will be deafening when ND returns to the BCS. 2696507

2008-09-08T20:22:38-04:00

http://img.fannation.com/upload/user_profile/image/186/128/thumb/AG329.jpg 81 NY

misdreavus79

Bronx 186428

And sin is pretty ugly. 2695254

2008-09-08T17:34:53-04:00

http://img.fannation.com/upload/user_profile/image/491/882/thumb/OSU_Wells.jpg 401 OH

etc_04

Athens 492322

Sorry to correct you Bill, but Michigan's helmets are ugly as sin 2694275

2008-09-08T16:31:54-04:00

http://img.fannation.com/upload/user_profile/image/441/693/thumb/tx_smithUM.jpg 223 OH

aaron1185

Lagrange 442133

this game will always have meaning, if only because these two programs have two of the largest (and most powerful) alumni and fan bases of any in the country... and they are both world-renown institutions both culturally and academically... Football wise, however, fortunes will change... I think that Michigan will turn out to have an average season this year (not doomsday like everyone predicts), and they DO have talent and are loading up for the future...Notre Dame may be disappointing but they are getting the talent and eventually they'll be back, if not on their fans' timescales... Both programs have the sawgger and fame that they won't be down for long, and that eventually you'll have two top 10 teams clashing year after year with NC implications hanging in the balance 2693672

2008-09-08T16:02:44-04:00

http://img.fannation.com/upload/user_profile/image/180/817/thumb/Todd_blackledge.jpg 5336 PA

Anthony E-is out.

Easton 181117

i think that olly has a point. it is all cyclical. but ND and Michigan will always be a game I keep tabs on, despite a couple of off years. 2693333

<img style="width: 425px; height: 288px; float: right;" src="http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2008/images/09/08/nd.jpg" border="1" alt="" width="425" height="288" align="top" />They are supposed to be two of the best. Notre Dame and Michigan have the most wins in college football history. They have two of the best stadiums, fight songs, helmets and traditions. Yet when these two founding fathers of college football meet on Saturday, it will carry less significance on a national scale than the Wisconsin-Fresno State game later that evening.   For two straight years, Notre Dame and Michigan have been unranked heading into their matchup, the only two such years since the rivalry was renewed in 1978. Notre Dame has wallowed in mediocrity for much of this decade, and now Michigan has joined the Irish in the unfamiliar territory of former powerhouse.   There was a curiosity factor last season, with Michigan coming off embarrassing losses to Appalachian State and Oregon, while Notre Dame was outscored 64-13 in its first two games against Georgia Tech and Penn State. Could Notre Dame and Michigan be this bad? What the heck was going to happen when they played? The rubber-necking of two train-wreck seasons had folks interested -- and then the two produced an uninteresting 38-0 game, with Michigan easily hailing victory.   A year later, even the curiosity factor has waned. Michigan is enduring growing pains with first-year coach Rich Rodriguez. There is little doubt that the former West Virginia coach is going to rebuild Michigan once he gets the right style of players to Ann Arbor, but this season will be a trying one for the maize and blue. Notre Dame is wondering, now that Charlie Weis has all his own players, when that 'schematic advantage' Weis promised when he was hired is going to kick in. It certainly didn't appear to be there in a 21-13 home win over San Diego State -- a team that lost to Cal Poly San Luis Obispo.   Remember the late 1980s and early 1990s? Notre Dame-Michigan set the stage for the college football season every September, and the games rarely disappointed. In one seven-year stretch, every game but one was decided by less than a touchdown. From 1989-92, both teams were in the top 10 when they clashed. Rocket Ismail created his legend with <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uA-yq-aFYz4" target="_blank">two kickoff returns for touchdowns in 1989</a>, helping No. 1 Notre Dame knock off No. 2 Michigan 24-19 at Michigan Stadium. Two years later, in the same stadium, Desmond Howard etched his name in Michigan lore with a <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fJA3sJawFaY" target="_blank">diving, fourth-down touchdown catch</a> that iced No. 3 Michigan's 24-14 win over No. 7 Notre Dame. A year later, Lou Holtz and No. 3 Notre Dame settled for a 17-17 tie (remember those?) with No. 6 Michigan -- and both teams ended up finishing the season in the top five. Remy Hamilton won the 1994 game for Michigan with a field goal with two seconds left, and Reggie Ho launched Notre Dame's 1988 national championship with a last-minute field goal to beat Michigan 19-17.   The demise of the Notre Dame-Michigan game is a loss for college football. Outside the 2006 matchup, which featured Brady Quinn's No. 2 Irish getting pummeled by 11th-ranked Michigan 47-21, this game hasn't had the buzz befitting these two proud programs in the past decade. Odds are, the rivalry will renew at a high level at some point, but right now Notre Dame-Michigan is merely just another game. http://img.fannation.com/upload/user_profile/image/425/01/thumb/trocchi_bill.jpg 0 GA

Bill Trocchi

Tucker 42721 1219 <img style="width: 425px; height: 288px; float: right;" src="http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2008/images/09/08/nd.jpg" border="1" alt="" width="425" height="288" align="top" />They are supposed to be two of the best. Notre Dame and Michigan have the most wins in college football history. They have two of the best stadiums, fight songs, helmets and traditions. Yet when these two founding fathers of college football meet on Saturday, it will carry less significance on a national scale than the Wisconsin-Fresno State game later that evening.   For two straight years, Notre Dame and Michigan have been unranked heading into their matchup, the only two such years since the rivalry was renewed in 1978. Notre Dame has wallowed in mediocrity for much of this decade, and now Michigan has joined the Irish in the unfamiliar territory of former powerhouse.   There was a curiosity factor last season, with Michigan coming off embarrassing losses to Appalachian State and Oregon, while Notre Dame was outscored 64-13 in its first two games against Georgia Tech and Penn State. Could Notre Dame and Michigan be this bad? What the heck was going to happen when they played? The rubber-necking of two train-wreck seasons had folks interested -- and then the two produced an uninteresting 38-0 game, with Michigan easily hailing victory.