Fresh off my post-Purdue rant, I'll get this one started. The following is part of an email sent to me today by my son, Brian. Because of the way we've won the last two games, I think it's appropriate to keep it in mind as we approach the game with Washington, a team who two Saturdays ago was the best team in the stadium at the end of its game with Southern Cal. I'm going to focus only on hoping that we find a way to be the best team in Notre Dame Stadium on Saturday.
I've only seen parts of W games this year. Thought that they played with LSU in their season opener. Saw parts of their game with SC. I haven't seen their other 2 efforts. Looks like once again we catch a team coming off a tough loss. Is Stanford that good?
Awesome Quote Sid and so true. I couldn't help but notice that UW gave up 321 yds to Stanford yesterday, and as a result Stanford dominated the TOP. I hope our running game does the same. I saw from the Weis press conference tonight that Jimmy's toe is better today than it was last Sunday, but that they are still going to go easy on him during the week. The positive from Armando not playing is that maybe we got a fire lit under Robert Hughes and he will now start playing like many thought he would. Also Riddick got some snaps and looked fast I have high hopes for the kid. Jonas has slipped in my ranking though, although he did catch that screen pass and make something happen early.
Also, while Stanford kept Jake Locker in check he's the type of QB who gives us fits....good runner/passer. That's the key, don't let him get going sort of like we didn't let that Nev QB get untracked.
Stanford is... Stanford.. They opened up a can of whoop ass in their season opener on Wake Forest for the 1st qtr or 2... and then imploded. I stopped watching the game but from the reports I received from my Tree buddies, they were really down on this team because they expected so much more from them. I believe ESPN had something about 2 or 3 national category leaders that all play for Stanford coming into their game with Washington. UW is in a better shape than we were post-Willingham, but a lot of that has to do with being able to address holes and recruiting issues differently than the Irish can... Still, they have some holes that we should exploit. We need a WR to step the eff up now.
ND/wash <r>If Clausen and Allen are both back and healthy ND should take this one at home. The score? Who knows, I stopped trying to pick scores a long time ago. <br/> <br/> With Clausen healthy and a fair running game ND should be able to take care of business. If the D continues to improve....well, one thing at a time.<br/> <br/> Sid....I agree with you. ND just needs to be the best team in the stadium on game day. If they can keep doing that, everything else will fall into place. <E></E></r>
Tenuta is certainly taking some heat from the fans. True to the fickle nature of the college football fan when he was hired people were excited, finally we were going to get some decent blitz schemes and be agressive on defense. I was encouraged by the reports that Armando is ready to go, I'm not sure what to think about the reports on Clausen. Everything I've read about Turf Toe says it's 3-4 weeks of not playing, not 1 week of part time playing. I assume that at best it'll be some what of a nagging situation for the rest of the year. I think that also the chance of reinjury seems high as well. I remember Mario Williams first year with the Texans he had Turf Toe and he never could get it healthy and it limited his effectiveness.
Sid, Of course Brian is right.... to an extent. We've won each of the last two games and gone down in the polls. Winning ugly is much more accepted at the NFL level than in college.
Yeah I noticed that we got fewer votes this week in the "others recieving votes" as Mike Frank noted the current state of mind is that we got lucky beating MSU and PU and they aren't very good teams. I didn't see it but supposedly Mark May gave his usual sourpuss anti-ND comment about the win something to the effect of the luck of Charlie Weis. If we continue like we have and finish say 10-2 with a competitive game vs USC we'll probably end up somewhere in the 15-20 area. To get above that we'll need to beat USC and have some wins where the score differential is high.
hOT SEAT <r>The way the season is going for Cincy, you can bet this is B. Kelly's last one there. He'll get picked up by a major program after this one. Like it or not, if CW and ND end up with 8 or less wins Charlie is gone. The obvious choice for the next HC at ND for me would be Kelly. I know tons of ND fans still think Chuckie is ND's savior but I strongly disagree. <br/> <br/> My first hope is that CW can finish the season with 10 wins and get the monkey off his back. He's a great recruiter and OC, we just need him to be the whole package. <br/> <br/> <br/> On a side note as far as recruiting is concerned: The Rees kid over is putting up some incredible numbers at QB! He may turn out to be the best between himself and Hendrix. <E></E></r>
I guess Colorado and Virginia might be upgrades over Cincy, but they would be harder places to win like he has at Cincy. So I'm not sure they are places that I would move to from Cincy. The others on that list are not attractive to me if I'm Kelly.
If Chuckie were still highly thought of, wouldn't he be coaching at KC or Cleveland? And if he does want to return to the sideline, wouldn't Wash. be his first choice? That jerk that owns the Skins would probably probably pay him a king's ransom to bomb out there.
I'm just not as hard on Weis as many of you guys are here. I will never forget exactly how bad we were by the time Ty got the boot. Charlie said he didn't want to be at ND past 10 years. I don't think Charlie sees himself as the next Ara or Lou. I sincerely believe that Charlie sees himself as the guy who will rebuild the program. The guy who will take the program out of the swamp it has been residing in for far too long, and then move on. I believe his health isn't the best. I don't see him being there for 15 or 20 years. I think he wants to turn it around, get back into the NC/BCS runs and then walk away. I believe Weis makes mistakes that a veteran HC might not... although I can't say that with certainty. What I do know is that Charlie has changed the face of the talent level at ND. He's turned back the clock and taken us back to the land of Lou in which we had multiple All-American (not all-Connecticut) stars lined up to be QB of the Irish. When 4 and 5-star race horse RBs flooded our depth charts. One thing is for sure, those guys that y'all want to replace Weis with are getting their ass kicked by him on the recruiting trail and HE is the one on the hot seat....and he can do so without admitting criminals or borderline retarded kids.. (not being ugly, just calling the spade a spade). What length of rope do you give Weis' replacement? 1 year. 2 years? I really want to know. Unlike Weis, he won't have a rebuilding effort. He won't be dealing with 5'8 RBs who run 5.2 40s. I mean really... let's be consistent for once. How about we just start firing a coach each year if he doesn't win or play for the NC? I mean... that's what the jackals who have been at Weis' throat since day have set for ND as a bar and it's insane. I'm old enough to remember that the guys who wanted Weis out, were the same ones who wanted each and every last HC out going back to Holtz... yes, many of them wanted Holtz out too. I wasn't there for it, but I'd bet you some of the elder ones bitched about Devine and Ara as well. We were in the hole something awful and I believe Charlie has turned the program back around. Finally...for the first time since the mid 90s, I feel very good about the overall talent level of this team. I'd invite you to go back and watch the full seasons from 1999 onward until the firing of Ty. This guy Weis, to me at least, earned a full length of rope to hang himself with.. but I'd recommend you guys watch some of those Ty Willingham teams again just to remind yourself of the depths of the hole that Weis dug out his way out of at ND. We are, quite possibly, the most disloyal and ignorant fanbase in all of college football. We are worse than USC or Miami (no offense Ralph, you're actually a great one). Those two teams are filled with band wagon idiots who do things that do a disservice to the real fans. We have the same wagon of idiots that not only put the cart before the horse, they blow the GD thing up. Theirs idiots go away when they lose. Our idiots attempt a coupe when we lose. We seriously lack perspective. What makes ND is that they expect to constantly live in those moments of Xanadu. The unbeaten runs and National Titles are the only thing that matter for the Irish. It is part of what makes them special. At the same time, by that measuring stick, even the greatest ND coaches failed terribly far more often than they met it. I'm going to ride this season out and see where it ends.. then I'll consider whether or not Chuck has to go.. I just hope that if/when the next coach steps in and wins, that someone gives a tip of the cap to the Chuckster because he brought ND football back from the chasm of darkness that was Ty Willingham. Remember.. unlike ESPN we know that Charlie didn't win with Ty's players.. he won with Davie's to start his career.
Corey, I don't think Weis compares himself to Ara or Lou. I'm convinced he thinks he is better than that! I don't think re-building ever really entered his mind. I think he knew he had a litle short term work to do but remember, he rode into South Bend in a cloud of bluster declaring that he represented the schematic advantage. He compounded his problems by pissing off a lot of long standing alumni and others close to the university right from the get-go and to an extent that continues today. He has an east coast arrogance that I know very well. And he learned his trade under two very successful pro coaches who are also among the league's biggest jerks The university made a knee jerk decision to extend his typical five year contract another five years after his first season so they are somewhat boxed in now. In any event, at the end of this year he will have a five year resume to be judged by and so be it. As far as Irish fans being the most "disloyal" and "ignorant", that is patently ridiculous. I have been a rabid fan since 1964 which is, I suppose, a little longer than you. Do I fit those descriptions because I question what I see going on? Weis is a very good recruiter and an excellent OC. His HC skills are highly in question since other facets of the team show little or no improvement and his overall game management is at times mystifying. It is true that we cannot get a lot of the players that some other schools represented on here do get so perhaps we are guilty of over optimism each year. But we are consistently told that that particular excuse is nonsense and that we continue to get the best of the best. Lets see how the season plays out.
Myself, I have to question Tenuta as a coach. It seems like ND guys blitzing just run into defenders. Plus, I lose respect for a coach when I see Ryan playing. Talk about a guy that just runs into blockers, he stinks! It's tough watching other college games and guys get in there on blitzs or close to, while ND with all their "blitzing" doesn't get close. Secondly, you guys have Mich St and Wash last week...Game before and after hitting nicely lately...ha ND -14 looks way too high this week
Corey, that is a great post. I wish you had been sitting with us at the Purdue game. Between my son and you, I might not have been so angry at the end. You said what I think, but after the Purdue game, my emotions got the best of me and I lost focus. Reading your post above as well as the posts of Terry and Tim on Sunday, I feel that I am not alone in wanting to see Weis succeed and be at ND for as long as he wants, Jersey arrogance or not. And George, I mean no disrespect when I say that I agree with Corey's assessment of the ND fan base. It is far from ridiculous. Certainly it's a matter of one's perspective and opinion. IMO, I believe his assessment is on the mark. We'll have to agree to disagree.
I think it is worth remembering that there is a sea of loyal Irish fans coast to coast that do not post on skybox or ND Nation. How long has it been since a home game was not a sell out?