FanNation - The Republic of Sport

IrishR#1 said 01/22, 05:46 PM
First off, congrats on the upcoming win. I can't win this, but I'll try.

First off, let's look at the schedules. Normally, ND has a killer schedule, but this year it is a cupcake galore.

v. SDST
v. Michigan
@ Michigan St.
v. Purdue
v. Stanford
@ UNC
@ Washington
v. Pitt
@ BC
@ Navy
v. Syracuse
@ USC

That schedule is easy with almost every game (besides SC) being winnable. They get their road games besides SC at Navy who is going through a coaching change, an inexperienced UNC team, a Ty Willingham team, Michigan State who they almost always beat in East Lansing, and Boston College who is losing eight starters on offense. PSU has to go into Columbus and Madison, two top 10 teams next year, not to mention home games against Central Florida, Illinois, and IU. That's a tougher schedule than Notre Dame's.

Jimmy Clausen came on strong at the end of the year. He played great against Air Force and Duke (6 TDs and 0 INTs) and he only had one game with multiple INTs. He ended the year with a 56% completion percentage. He wasn't going to win the Heisman this year. He had a decent year for having no O-line.

More on the next argument.

IrishR#1 said 01/23, 08:22 PM
Didn't Air Force go 7-5 and make it to a bowl? Sure, Duke was terrible, but I would say that is mostly because of the offense. The pass defense wasn't terribly bad. Any signs of strength is good. I don't think that Tom Brady's TD record is any less significant because he played the Dolphins twice and threw for 9 TDs. That doesn't matter. Air Force also had a decent pass defense. Clausen also threw a great touchdown pass in the Stanford game to David Grimes.

Have a chance against Navy? I know they beat ND, but they also lost their great head coach. They will take a major step back.

Might beat Syracuse? Notre Dame was terrible, but Syracuse was flat out disgusting.

Notre Dame is bringing back 16 starters and finally found a running game at the end of the year with Robert Hughes.

I still think that ND is going 7-5.

Penn State is losing Dan Conner and Anthony Morelli. Conner was the anchor of the defense, and Morelli was the leader on the team. Deon Butler and Derrick Williams haven't lived up to the hype. Justin King is gone, so now they will have to break in a new corner. While ND loses a bad safety, center, and defensive ends, PSU loses good players.

IrishR#1 said 01/25, 08:46 AM
Notre Dame is finally going to get players that fit into the 3-4 system. When you switch defenses, you have to take a step back to take a step forward. I feel like they are going to take that step forward. This past year had to use a lot of mixing and matching. Nose tackles switching with the ends and outside linebackers moving all over the field. With 2 recruiting classes to get players that came to play in the 3-4 and with the juniors and seniors having experience in the system, they should be able to succeed in this system.

Brian Smith and Kerry Neal came on strong as pass rushing outside linebackers at the end of the year. With pressure on the QB, they held Stanford to 21 points, Duke to 7, and Boston College to 27.

Ian Williams was a Freshman All-American and Pat Kuntz was great in pass defense.

David Bruton was a big hitter, and Darrin Walls was fantastic in pass defense.

The defense should be very good next year with the Irish only losing 3 starters.