Hey JO'Co... You proclaimed Arkansas to be "the worst team ever ranked" due to USC hanging 50 on them. Does that mean that ND is second worse due to 44 points from USC? :shock: Just kidding of course... but now do you feel that your assessment of Arkansas might have been a little harsh? :?
And ND had all of their most important weapons at their disposal.... Either ND is one of the worst at pass defense there is or SC will beat OSU by 17 points.
Gee, I guess we really suck because we only amassed a blazing 7 points when we we're trounced by USC. I watched the game last night as I'm sure we all did. Bottom line as just when we played them, they have TONS more athlete's across the board. ND showed heart but just couldn't stop the flood. BTW, Dwayne Jarret is awesome. That boy needs to be the challenge for T. Smith at OSU for the Heisman IMHO.
HH, I am in agreement with what you say here. I'm just wondering if Jim has second thoughts about Arkansas now that he has experienced, first hand, what USC can do to a good team.
Last night........ <t>Was not real hard to predict if you are a ND fan and I have been all my life. Notre Dame has zero defense and has shown this all year. This is not news to us guys that are realistic about where the program is under CW. The moron in Seattle did a horrible job of recruiting legit players on that side of the football just as was pointed out he did a good job on the offensive side. Look at the season how average teams ran up and down the field on ND so when you face one of the top two teams on the road did you really expect anything else? No me.<br/> There is not one player in this secondary that can cover not one. # 18 and Z are as bad as it gets as safeties. Z plays like he is trying to stay healthy as he NEVER makes a play. The two corners are so bad they don't warrant discussion.<br/> I'm not sure I have ever watched a set of linebackers this small and slow at ND. Again they never make a play.<br/> Was Victor A. at the game last night? They entire group of down linemen was just manhandled by SC. How embarrassing. Charlie has a mountain to climb to get that side of the football fixed. There is a monster swell to fire Minter from Irish fans but while they look out of place so often I'm not sure its Miner as it is there is just zero talent there.<br/> I said last week until ND can get the defense fixed they will not win another quality bowl game and I feel even stronger about it now.<br/> As for USC as much as I dislike them beating ND they are sick as a program and I don't mean that in a negative manner. They get better every week and are well coached. As was said last night you better get them this year as look at what they have coming back. Frightening.<br/> Will they beat the Buckeyes, I would hate to have to bet against them. It will be a great football game to watch.</t>
I <t>still think my dad was too rough on them, at the same time, i see where he can say that safely.<br/> <br/> ND fell behind quick and lost by 20. We stunk it up on the road to a better team and got our ass handed to us.<br/> <br/> Arkansas had 70 hung on them in LA and in the big 'rematch' up in the hills, Arkansas got 50 hung on them at home. I think the scores were 50-14 and 70-17.<br/> <br/> I dont think Arkansas is 'the worst' team ranked, but I am starting to think that USC might be the best.<br/> <br/> The offense that ran over a physical LSU defense and trucked another physical defense in Tennessee was shut the f*** down by USC. While everone can cry and holler about McFadden not playing, the fact that Dick, Moss, Mustain and that other RB were all in the lineup never gets mentioned. After watching that defense last night, I'd say that USC would whip them just as bad again. USC emptied the bench against one team this year and one team last year. Anyone want to guess who it was.<br/> <br/> I do love that when the season started, SEC fans didn't give two shits about AK getting routed...now, there must be some sort of rationale for it.<br/> <br/> 120 to 31. It doesn't get much more clear than that.</t>
Houston Larry, While I feel pretty confident about our chances against USC, I must admit anyone who takes them lightly, is in for a shock. Don
"While everone can cry and holler about McFadden not playing" Come on...that guy is a beast.. Arkansas is not nearly the same team without him and they are not the same team they were in Sept. vs. USC. Apparently ND is however.....the same team that faced Michigan in September.
not so MCG <t>and let me try to logical approach with you (ok, you guys in the backround just shut up and let me try)<br/> <br/> Against Michigan, I felt that M was a better team but ND made all sorts of unforced errors. They missed blocking schemes and coverage schemes.<br/> <br/> Against USC, again I felt the opponent was better but ND didn't play nearly as poor a game. USC was just that much better than we were. <br/> <br/> You know, you do a lot throw a lot of stones considering that your team never seems to leave their own back yard. USC has destroyed people, especially in big games, for the past several years now. This year has been no different.<br/> <br/> Once again, you seem to offer up the wisdom that we see perpetuated by those in the media that you love to condemn. Somehow teams from the SEC have the ability to get better as the year goes on and redeem themselves, while teams from other conferences/parts of the country do not.<br/> <br/> Even adding McFadden to the mix, USC would put the clamps on that one dimensional offense just as they did in the previous two meetings. They are just that fast, and just that good. They've overcome injury problems this year that would have sent most other teams reeling into 4 loss mediocrity. <br/> <br/> If you can take of the ESPN glasses for a moment and look at his objectively, how/what would Arkansas do differently?<br/> <br/> Arkansas has ONE legit WR. USC has 5 DBs who can (and have twice now) shut that guy down one on one. That means, quite literally, they can defend the run with 8 to 10 men. That ain't going to work.</t>
And for the record <r>McFadden DID play against USC:<br/> <br/> <QUOTE><s> </e></QUOTE> he also had 2 catches for -6 yards.</r>
The stats I found did not list McFadden vs. SC. He must have been dinged up because that's what I thought I had heard at the time. In any event I agree about USC....who is better to play OSU in the NC game? RE' defensing Arkansas....I hope UF can follow your exact gameplan. I think UF has Reggie Nelson to cover their WR and the rest of the guys can stack the run.
<<Who>> With the exception of perhaps MSU in OT last year, every team he should have beaten ie. every team that doesn't have a distinct talent advantage. You can't say that about many coaches.
8) Wow. Either I don't know how to write, or some of you aren't watching the same games. How in the world you can compare Arkansas' performance this year or last with Notre Dame's is a mystery to me. I'll try this again. Last year, Arkansas was thee, single worst team that we locals have seen come into the Coliseum since Pomona College in the 1920's. The game was over in the 2nd quarter, which was when the Trojans began to substitute, and the Arkansas players quit on the field. Some faked injuries, some began goofing off on the bench and even on the field. They weren't even mad. They quit. USC played all three strings and finished the game with all of their walk-ons on the field...and the walk-ons drove down the field and scored again. The score was limited only by the Trojan's imagination/attention span. They could have scored 200 points; just as they once did to Pomona College. This year's game at Arkansas was supposed to be different. Starting mostly freshmen and sophomores, the Trojans waxed them again and had a difficult time holding down the score. At least the Hogs didn't quit in front of their home fans, but they were never really in the game, which was over early in the third quarter. After the game, Pete Carroll was furious at several of his stars for their poor effort and for just going through the motions. Dwayne Jarrett nearly lost his starting job right there and was warned that he would be benched if he ever repeated a performance like that. Middle linebacker Oscar Lua, a Butkus Award candidate, DID lose his job after Arkansas and didn't start again until yesterday against the Irish. Even with seniors just going through the motions and a bunch of teen-agers making their first starts, USC still could have tacked another 70 on them if they had wanted too. How else am I supposed to describe this? Arkansas is the worst team I've ever seen ranked in the Top 25. They didn't even put up much of a fight. In yesterday's game, the Irish fought right to the final whistle. They threw the kitchen sink and conceded nothing to a team that simply had better overall talent and was playing at home. The stats were virtually even in every category, with a slight edge to Notre Dame and the stats would have been lopsided in favor of the Irish if McKnight and Freeman hadn't had a half-dozen drops. Losing is not quitting, but quitting is a disgraceful way to lose and that's what Arkansas did. There's no comparison. I was proud of our team's effort and we have no excuses. The game went as I feared it might. Charlie Weis has made dramatic improvements in the program, but he doesn't have a magic wand. If you reread my pregame analysis, its not hard to figure out where we didn't match up with them: linebacker. We had one good LB, Mo Crum, who was put in the middle of the D and asked to save everything. The Trojans, on the other hand, had six super LBs and that was the difference. As an example, we covered Dwayne Jarrett with our CBs, who were 6 inches shorter. USC covered Samardzija with a LINEBACKER, Dallas Sartz, who was one inch taller! BOTH of the USC middle linebackers, Lua and Maualuga, played pass coverage over the middle, because they could bring pressure with just their down linemen. They didn't even bring in a nickle back on many obvious pass situations. With two of their three LBs in pass coverage anyway, they didn't need it. Their DBs were vulnerable, but we couldn't get at them. Their LBs disrupted the pass routes and covered the WRs themselves. They also played LB Brian Cushing at DE, so that four of their super LBs were often in the game at the same time. Cushing is so fast, that he also played pass coverage in some situations, despite lining up as a defensive end! BTW- Cushing is another example of how the pre-Charlie Weis past is still haunting us. He's a Catholic kid from New Jersey who grew up as a Notre Dame fan. He was on his way to South Bend when Willingham was fired and Pete Carroll stepped in to steal him away in the confusion. He's also the kid who scored the fluke TD on the onside kick. Could we use a DE who can out-run a kickoff team? You-betcha. We're getting those kind of players now, but that didn't help us yesterday... Its all just another step in the process and Irish fans aren't famous for their patience, but better days are ahead. Except for an OT loss to Michigan State the previous year. CW's team have lost ONLY to teams which have been ranked in the TOP THREE and that's better than Arkansas or anybody else. We're getting there. We will get there...and we will never quit. ..........JO'Co
JO'Co's comments preempted what I was in the process of writing, but at the risk of being repetitious I'll say it anyway. Notre Dame has played 24 games in the past 15 months. Five of those 24 games have been losses. Four of those losses have been to the 3 teams currently ranked 1,2, and 3 in the polls. In 23 of 24 games under Charlie Weis we have not lost to a team with an equal or lower season-end ranking. All this follows on the heels of a decade of mediocrity by Notre Dame standards. We are making steady progress. We are going to play in our second straight BCS Bowl. Our recruiting is excellent, and the rebuilding of our great winning tradition is moving along nicely. Yes, we still have a way to go to match up with the speed and athleticism of teams like OSU, USC and MI, but based on the current polls, so does everyone else. By the way, for what it's worth, the updated Sagarin schedule rankings as of today for teams of interest to those involved in this "discussion" are as follows: USC #3 Michigan #13 Notre Dame #19 LSU #25 Florida #27 Ohio State #36 Arkansas #49
ND has barely by the skin of their teeth beaten UCLA this year and by a miracle or Spartan implosion beat MSU. Seems that the best teams that ND has faced in the CW era beat the Irish and some others that aren't very high up in the BCS list give the Irish fits. At least Ron Zook beat some teams he wasn't supposed to beat.
He was a bad coach at Fla and got fired for it. However he did beat highly ranked LSU and Ga his first two years when he wasn't supposed to.