Well it's really the only bowl that counts, right? :roll: :roll: Well it's a mighty important bowl for ND and esp for Charlie Weis. You know that saying about tommorrow is the first day in the rest of your life......well the Hawaii Bowl is the first game in the rest of Charlies coaching career. After the miserable finish to the season, he got new life...he didn't get fired. Now this Hawaii Bowl is where Charlie has to start turning it around. Hawaii is just an average team, you can't just walk on the field and beat them, but they have no where near the talent that the Irish have on their roster. What they do have is that it's a home game for them, it's a bunch of timezones away from South Bend, and that has spelled some trouble for mainland opponents over the years. Heck in their last game they gave Big East Champion and Orange Bowl bound Cincinnati all they could handle. The last time the Irish played Hawaii in Hawaii, they gave us all we could handle and that was a Lou Holtz coached team. Charlie needs to have his team ready from the opening whistle, he needs a win badly. The faithful are not esp happy that he got a reprieve from the AD, he's on probation. So nows not the time to toss another stinker and end the season on a bad note. Charlie has announced he will be calling the plays for the bowl game, he said he and Haywood are on the same page and couldn't be any closer than they are right now. I have no idea what that means? A lot of people are expecting staff changes in the off season, new OL coach, new OCoord, new DL coach, some new blood, shake things up. He does get some players back mainly Brian Smith and Michael Floyd as well as Terrell Lambert. So we should be pretty healthy, rested, and the team should be hungry. A win here, and not just any win but a solid no doubt about it win, really sets Charlie up for the dash to Feb signing day. He can talk the talk about how close we were to 10-2 and that the win shows he's just so close to being back in the big time Mr. High School recruit. He might keep all the guys he has and add to them and have a good finish to recruiting as well. What happens if it's another Syracuse game? Well he won't be fired, but he might have a few defections from his class and he likely won't be able to add to it. So it gets the rest of his career off to a bad start, makes it tough to entice new blood to the staff since the vultures will be circling the carcas of his career and who want's to sign on for that. Put's tremendous pressure the first 5 games next year, not that a win will mean he can get off to a slow start but the loss means he'll need asbestos pants to sit down his seat will be so hot. Since Hawaii isn't USC, I think our defense will do fine. With Michael Floyd back I think our passing game will be ok, maybe it will settle Clausen down and he'll look more like the QB we saw in the first half of the season. What we'll all want to see is how the OL does, is it able to get some traction and along with our backs show some running game life. This season I had hoped that Armando Allen and Robert Hughes would be like Smash and Dash, but Allen while improved from last year never seemed to get anything consistent going, and I wonder if that big twist that Hughes got to his knee when he fumbled on the goal line against SDSU left him 70% for the rest of the year. Any way we need to have a running game to help out Clausen. That's the key for the Irish and for Weis to have a successful start to his 2nd chance career. Here's hoping Santa brings Charlie a big win over Hawaii.... Go Irish.
I do have to laugh at ND fans calling for a convincing win against an opponent that Lou Holtz coached teams had 2 close calls against. 1991 48-41 1997 23-22 Hawaii is very tough to beat on the island. I know it's like screaming into the wind about football subjects that take place west of the rockies but it is true. They aren't superman there, but they are very tough to beat at home. I hear that they are looking at a sell-out on the island come game time. I just want a win here.
The difference is that Lou wasn't battling for his job when he played Hawaii, he was a HOF coach and had won a Nat'l Championship and come close a number of other times. Charlies situation is completely different. He badly needs a good win, not a close nail biter...although that is preferable to a loss. Terry
ND/Hawaii <t>Terry,<br/> <br/> Hopefully the difference in this game and those played before is that the Irish will have had plenty of time to get over the jet lag, get some rest and adjust to the climate before the game begins. <br/> <br/> I would think the boys will be well rested with all the major players back and a hell of a lot of motivation to win this game.</t>
Tim a loss here would be very very bad for Charlie and the Irish. It will send them to the off season with so much negativity, that it will hurt recruting which will hurt the team down the road. Not to mention that the fan base will be in an uproar even more than they were after the Syracuse loss. It will make the off season hell for everbody around the program, Charlie, the fans, the team. Terry
I agree that a loss would be very bad for Charlie and the team. At the same time, I just find it incredible that people are putting these lofty expectations of a convincing win. You may say that Lou was a 'proven HOF coach' and that may well be true.. Then it shouldn't escape anyone that they barely skimmed out off the island with those 2 wins. This Hawaii program is in much better shape now (after June Jones built it up) then it ever was when Lou's teams played them.
No doubt but Lou didn't have the fans howling for his hide, it was different in '91 and '97. Charlie has no such luxury. Hawaii does have a new coach, a new QB, and stuff and instead of their guady record from 2007 they are 7-6 and have had an up and down year. I am only dreaming when I say I hope for a convincing win, Orange Bowl bound Cincy just got out of town with a win and they are better than we are and some might say better coached as well. It's my Christmas wish, a ND 38-13 win. Terry
I won't be watching the game live. Weather permitting (legitimate concern here in the midwest) we will be having a family gathering in our Indy home on Christmas Eve. I'm pretty intense about my love for ND, but I love my family more, and I can't justify diluting the limited time we have to celebrate Christmas together. If we win, I'll watch the game Christmas morning. If we lose, I'll find something else to do.
Terry, Don't get me wrong, you are one of the reasonable fans. You're hoping for a convincing win. My beef is with those who are demanding it. It's not GD figure skating, it's football... Sid, You got your priorities straight! Since I have a rather 'alternative' situation, I am faced with either spending my Christmas Eve in a hotel room alone OR hanging out at my ex's with the boy and educating him on all the virtues of Our Lady's university in relation to the evils of those public schools around him.. It will be educational
Hawaii also leads the NCAA in sacks allowed. I will be DVRing the game as I will be enjoying Christmas Eve dinner out with the family. From there I will follow Sid's viewing guidelines.
In reading Vannies pregame on NDNation, clearly Hawaii is a better team in the 2nd half once they settled on a QB and they have a decent defense with a couple of unsung hero's on the DL....anybody remember that Syracuse DL who we made into an AA for the day? Hopefully we wont' give their guys that same chance. BTW Mike Haywood has taken the head coaches job at Miami of Ohio. Good for him. He was in a no win situation with the Irish, the fans were openly hoping he'd get fired, he'd lost his play calling job at the end of the year...Charlie tried to make it seem like it was no big deal by emphasizing Haywoods cousins death. But I wasn't buying that every other OCoord in football would have gone to the funeral, as Haywood did and been back in the booth on Sat (which is where Haywood was) and not given up the playcalling. So good luck to Mike Haywood, he's a Notre Dame man and I hope that the cradle of coaches launches a terrific career as a head coach. Terry
Good move for him. Whether its him or anyone else, calling plays is something Charlie just can't give up.
ND/Hawaii <t>Terry,<br/> <br/> I watched most of the Hawaii/Cincy game. If not for turnovers, Cincy would have put that game away early. Neither team looked very good in that game.<br/> <br/> As far as the Haywood situation goes. This is probably the best way for this relationship to end for both parties. Hopefully, CW can get a good OC replacement now.</t>
I'm not expecting much in this game. I haven't seen this team play with any fire in a long time. It's really a no win situation. If we win, so what we beat Hawaii. And then it's we've lost 15 of the last 16 bowl games, not won our last bowl game. And if we lose, well it adds to our record for futility. As to Mike Haywood, that's great. He and Doug English give the MAC 2 new African American coaches. Now let's get an offensive coach who can repair some of the damaging predictability of our offense. I'll watch but I'm not going to worry that much about what happens. (yeah...right!)
The bad things the bastards say to you after a win are always more fun to parry than the bad things after a loss.
Well so far so good. Even though the Irish are up by twenty one at the half, I can't help think that this one isn't over yet. PJ in Jersey GO IRISH
At 42 to 7 in the 3rd quarter, I think Notre Dame has turned the corner. I sure did not expect this. Usually, the team visiting Hawaii is too caught up in paradise to prepare well for the game. That didn't happen this time.
Well a big big win by the Irish. I managed to fall asleep on the couch and didn't see it all but it was a lot like the game Hawaii had with Georgia last year, they were just not in a league with Notre Dame. Merry Christmas Irish fans! :lol: :lol: :lol: