2010 Recruiting Update

With the end of the season fast approaching, we're getting into what has become the vitally important "second season" of college football - the recruiting home stretch. After hosting a plethora of studly high school talent for the USC game, the Irish appear positioned to make a strong charge to National Signing Day.

(A few caveats - first, most of this news is gleaned from the various recruiting sites, including, but not limited to, Mike Frank's Irish Sports Daily (ESPN) and Irish Illustrated (Rivals); second, the rankings do not reflect the most recent update by the ESPN boys, which came out this week)

OFFENSE

Quarterback

Committed:

Andrew Hendrix

Scout: 4-star, #10 QB
Rivals: 4-star, # 13 QB (Pro-Style)
ESPN: 4-star, #10 QB

Tommy Rees

Scout: 3-star, #63 QB
Rivals: 3-star, #29 QB (Pro-Style)
ESPN: 3-star, #39 QB

Following the Clausen-Crist recruiting coup of 2007-2008, Weis has struggled to build any depth at this position. He aimed high in the ’09 class and chose not to take any prospects once his first few choices went elsewhere. Perhaps nervous about the depth chart, Weis’ first few targets in the ’10 class showed little interest, leaving ND scrambling a bit during the spring and summer months to fill out the position. Hendrix jumped first, choosing the Irish over his home-state Buckeyes. Coming from a storied HS program and one of the most competitive HS leagues in the nation, Hendrix will be well-prepared to provide the necessary depth in the coming years and perhaps even compete with Dayne Crist once Clausen leaves for greener pastures. Weis liked Tommy Rees enough to offer him a scholarship shortly after Rees attended a summer camp in South Bend and Rees quickly accepted. Playing in a smaller conference in Illinois, Rees amassed some impressive stats for a lousy team, but certainly appears to possess the necessary arm strength to play at the next level.

Edit: Obviously the ACL injury has made this year's QB haul even more important, and the recent news that Tommy Rees is considering early entry is welcome as the Irish may face the prospect of opening spring practice without a scholarship QB available. Hendrix is likely the answer, long-term, but Rees' experience in a pass-happy offense may allow him the possibility to get on the field first. Definitely an interesting story line to follow...

Targets:

With Hendrix and Rees on board, the Irish are done at this position.

Running Back

Committed:

Cameron Roberson

Scout: 3-star, #44 RB
Rivals: 4-star, #15 RB
ESPN: 3-star, #38 RB

Giovanni Bernard

Scout: 4-star, #12 RB
Rivals: 4-star, #12 RB
ESPN: 4-star, #17 RB

Roberson’s story is a great one – his grandfather was one of the first African-Americans to graduate from ND, and he and his family desperately hoped Weis would come calling with an offer. When he did, ND didn’t have to wait long to get their first back, and a big one at that. Roberson runs 6’1’’ 215 lbs. and fits the mold of the Aldridge/Hughes bruiser that Weis seems to like so much. Given Weis’ decision to experiment with the big boys at the FB position, don’t be surprised if Roberson slides into a similar role. Bernard hails from St. Thomas Aquinas in Florida (see: Sam Young, Dan Wenger, Jordan Cowart, Ben Turk), the #1 ranked HS program in the country this year. Not a serious burner, Bernard is a solid every down back with good hands out of the backfield. What he may lack in breakaway speed, Bernard more than makes up for with strong running between the tackles and some nice moves in space. He also seems to go from 0-to-top speed very quickly. A very nice 1-2 punch for the Irish as Weis continues to build a very impressive stable of RBs.

Targets:

Marquis Flowers

Scout: 4-star, #13 S
Rivals: 4-star, #8 ATH
ESPN: 3-star, #30 S

Recruited as an athlete, Flowers could potentially play in the secondary as well. In fact, with Bernard's recent commitment, the Irish are likely done at RB. But if they can maintain Flowers' attention, there could certainly be room at safety. Flowers was scheduled to visit for the USC game, but the staff asked him to come back later in the season. Might that have been a turn off for the Arizona native? Michigan appears to be the only other Midwestern school he’s considering. Wouldn’t be surprised to see Flowers stay in the Pac-10.

Wide Receivers

Committed:

Tai-ler Jones

Scout: 4-star, #21 WR
Rivals: 4-star, #16 WR
ESPN: 4-star, #13 WR

Bennett Jackson

Scout: 3-star, #51 WR
Rivals: 3-star, #59 WR
ESPN: 3-star, #95 WR

Daniel Smith

Scout: 4-star, #23 WR
Rivals: 3-star, #90 WR
ESPN: 3-star, #71 WR

The Irish scored a big coup over USC weekend when 4-star Irish legacy Tai-ler Jones flipped his commitment from Stanford to ND. A prototypical slot WR, Jones has great route-running ability and is very slippery in space. If he’s able to work to develop his body in the offseason, Jones could certainly be in the mix for a role in the 2010 Irish offense. Jackson has also been labeled a slot candidate and will help to provide that position with some good depth. Smith, a South Bend local and a big body, will be headed to the outside and will likely be the target of some jump balls in the future.

Targets:

Kyle Prater

Scout: 5-star, #2 WR
Rivals: 5-star, #1 WR
ESPN: 4-star, #8 WR

A giant target and giant recruit, Prater is from Proviso West in Chicago. Rated the #2 overall recruit by Rivals, Prater has consistently included ND in a list of 5 or 6, and most recently was on campus for the USC on an unofficial visit. Prater is familiar with ND, and although he’s currently committed to USC, there are rumblings that he will ultimately stay closer to home, perhaps making this an Illinois-ND battle. Reports have Prater returning to campus later this year for an official visit, either during a November game, or perhaps for the banquet.

Corey Cooper

Scout: 4-star, #15 S
Rivals: 4-star, #17 S
ESPN: 3-star, #18 S

Currently committed to Illinois, Cooper has also been consistently linked to ND throughout the recruiting process. ND apparently likes him as a WR, although he plays both ways in HS and has publicly said that he could play DB in college as well. Cooper and Prater are good friends and reports have indicated that they might like to play together in college. After a recent visit for the SC game, Cooper appears to be leaning to ND, but hasn’t publicly decommitted from Illinois. Wouldn’t be surprised to see him flip in the near future.

Tight End

Committed:

Alex Welch

Scout: 4-star, #3 TE
Rivals: 4-star, #12 TE
ESPN: 3-star, #12 TE

Another product of the GCL, Welch hails from Cincinnati Elder, Kyle Rudolph’s alma mater. His stock soared over the summer after receiving his ND offer. Although he has had some difficulty keeping them on campus, Weis has recruited the TE position very well indeed.

Targets:

After Welch’s commitment, the Irish are likely done here. CJ Fiedorowicz was one of ND’s first offers in this class, but both parties parted ways fairly early in the process.

Offensive Line

Committed:

Christian Lombard

Scout: 4-star, #1 G
Rivals: 3-star, #58 T
ESPN: 3-star, #21 T

The recruiting gurus don’t seem to know what to make of Lombard. Scout thinks he’ll be a great guard, while Rivals and ESPN think he’s an “eh” tackle. Lombard performed well at the junior combine of the Army All-American game last year where he publicly committed to the Irish. Playing tackle for his Fremd HS team in IL, Lombard has paved the way for a dominant rushing attack.

Targets:

Seantrel Henderson

Scout: 5-star, #1 OT
Rivals: 5-star, #1 OT
ESPN: 5-star, #1 OT

The consensus #1 offensive lineman in the country (and #1 player overall to Rivals), Henderson is a mammoth man, and the most important uncommitted player on ND’s board. Currently attending Cretin-Derham Hall in Minnesota (Mike Floyd’s HS), Henderson was on campus for the USC game and apparently came away very impressed with the school and the atmosphere. Expect this one to come down to National Signing Day with ND’s primary competition coming from USC and OSU.

Matt James

Scout: 4-star, #11 OT
Rivals: 4-star, #7 OT
ESPN: 4-star, #14 OT

A frequent visitor to ND during the spring, summer and fall, James (from Cincinnati St. Xavier) has apparently narrowed his choices down to ND, OSU and Cincinnati with the Bearcats perhaps holding a narrow edge. James has gone silent recently, leading some to believe that ND might be out of this race.

James Stone

Scout: 4-star, #14 OT
Rivals: 4-star, #24 OT
ESPN: 4-star, #10 OT

Big prospect from SEC country. Stone also visited for the SC game and had himself a good time. This is another duel that could come down until January, with Alabama perhaps being the big competition here.

Brandon Linder

Scout: 4-star, #1 C
Rivals: 4-star, #3 C
ESPN: 4-star, #2 C

Another recruit from powerhouse St. Thomas Aquinas in Florida, Linder has long been connected with ND. In fact, before Latina was let go, the Irish may have been the prohibitive favorite to land his services. But after visiting during the SC game and meeting with Verducci, it sounds like ND has positioned themselves quite well. Expect this one to come down to ND and Miami.

Arie Kouandjio

Scout: 3-star, #36 OT
Rivals: 4-star, #13 OT
ESPN: 3-star, #14 OG

A product of DeMatha in Maryland, Kouandjio has been lingering on the outskirts of the Irish recruiting world as he has yet to visit the campus. An official has been rumored however, and if ND can get the big fella on campus, they have to like their chances. Interestingly enough, the Irish basketball program might be the biggest recruiting tool for Kouandjio, as several DeMatha kids have been visiting South Bend to check out Mike Brey this fall.

SUMMARY

The Irish have done a good job assembling some reinforcements for the offense, but there are still some HUGE targets left on the board. While landing Kyle Prater and/or Corey Cooper would be fantastic, the priority at this point has to be OL. All of the remaining OL prospects can conceivably play tackle, one of the biggest need positions for ND in the very near future. ND has set the table for Henderson, James, Stone and Linder, all of whom have already taken their official visits to South Bend. The Irish need to continue to string together wins on the field to keep these guys interested. Missing out on Prater/Cooper would be acceptable, but Weis needs to close at least 2 of the Henderson/James/Stone/Linder/Kouandjio group.

Coming this weekend - the defensive recruits...

WEISND Roundtable Week 10 Picks: Notre Dame-Navy, Oregon-Stanford, Ohio State-Penn State, Oklahoma-Nebraska, and LSU-Alabama

Hot button issues are popping up left and right off the field for Notre Dame, but don't forget about that 2009 season!! There's still a lot to play for here, and it starts with Navy. Hopefully this team can start out the month of November with a dominant performance over Navy. Oh, and no more major injuries please. I think I've had about enough of those for one year.

On to the picks:

Oregon -4.5 at Stanford (FSN 3:30pm)

Jeremy: Oregon (-4.5) – LOCK OF THE WEEK

I know Oregon is primed for a letdown game, but the bottom line here is that Stanford just isn’t that good. At least not +4.5 good. Sure, they have a nice running game, and Andrew Luck will probably be a good QB at some point during his career, but apart from last week’s W over Arizona St., Stanford hasn’t beaten a team with a pulse this year. They’ve played some tough road games against teams like Wake, Oregon St. and Arizona, but color me unimpressed. Brutal stretch for the Cardinal the next few weeks too – Oregon, @ USC, Cal, and closing with the Irish at home. Fortunately, 3 of the 4 games are in Palo Alto, but Stanford would be lucky to win just one of those games. The Ducks, on the other hand, are coming off arguably win the biggest win in the school’s history. I think they keep the momentum going and beat Stanford quite handily this weekend.

Oregon 38 Stanford 20

Dan: Oregon -4.5 – LOCK OF THE WEEK

Brief analysis from me this week as I am traveling. This line seems too small for me even in a predictable let down game away from home. But Stanford is too good to sneak up on other Pac 10 teams at this point.

Oregon 31 Stanford 24

Matt: Stanford +4.5

It goes without saying that this game has all the makings of a letdown game for Oregon. And before I go any further, let me be the first to apologize for bestowing Lock of the Year status on the Trojans last week in Eugene. I was obviously blinded by the name on the jersey. But as a Notre Dame fan, can I just comment on how pathetic that game made me feel. Here we are celebrating as if it some big accomplishment that ND kept it close against USC, and Oregon goes and blows the doors off of what has turned out to be the worst USC team since Pete Carroll turned them into USC.

Oregon 31 Stanford 28

Mike: Oregon (-4.5):

Obviously, there is a possible letdown angle at play with Oregon coming off a monumental win over USC while Stanford rested its wounds during an off week. After watching Oregon’s offense dismantle the once-proud USC defense in such thorough fashion, however, there is no way I am going to pick against the Ducks in this spot. Stanford will keep this game close at home for 3 quarters, but Oregon will eventually pull away in the fourth quarter to draw one step closer to ending USC’s remarkable run of 7 straight Pac 10 titles.

Oregon 41 Stanford 31

Doug: Oregon -4.5

Maybe this is a trap game, but how can I go against the Ducks after that performance last week?? They are looking unstoppable right now. Maybe the best team in the nation. How is Stanford going to stop that offense??

Oregon's trick on offense seems to be their tempo. I don't think it's just the spread option or their "speed." I don't think they are really that fast. They just play fast. I think it's the way they come at you within that offense. They just attack, attack, attack at full throttle. It's like they are in the hurry up offense at all times. I like that it creates a sense of urgency for your players. Maybe that hurts them in time of possession or whatever, but who cares when you are putting up 45 points??

I actually think more teams should just go to the 2 minute/hurry up offense as their base offense. Why not?? Instead of muddling around, just go down the field and score. Look at ND. We'll dilly around for 25 minutes, go to the 2 minute offense, and score a touchdown. We seem to do our best work in the hurry up offense. Why not just play like that for the whole game?? If we put 45 on the board, time of possession is irrelevant.

I just love the mentality. Oregon wants to blow you out of the building. More teams should play with that mindset. I'm also looking at you Ohio State. Ohio State plays like they want to win every game 10-7. What kind of message does that send to your players?? Why not go into every game looking to win 45-10??

Oregon might have a letdown here, but Stanford is really not all that good. It's Stanford. Their defense stinks, and they don't have all that much athleticism. I think Oregon will keep it rolling and win this game comfortably.

Oregon 34 Stanford 24

Ohio State +4.5 at Penn State (ABC Sports 3:30pm)

Jeremy: Ohio State (+4.5)

This makes no sense at all, but for some reason, I think Terrelle Pryor is about to take a big step forward. I completely admit there’s almost no evidence to support this, but I think he’s had this game circled since he arrived in Columbus two years ago. The crowd in Beaver Stadium is going to be out for blood (preferably his), but I think the combination of OSU’s suffocating front seven and Pryor’s athleticism keeps this game close very deep into the 4th quarter. Unfortunately for the Buckeyes, Aaron Pettrey’s injury last week throws a wrench in the gameplan and OSU misses a late FG, allowing PSU to escape with a 1-point win.

PSU 14 OSU 13

Dan: Ohio State +4.5

Ughh… I’m not touching this one. Penn State hasn’t played anyone and Ohio State has no offense. I really don’t have a read on this one.

Penn State 13 Ohio State 10

Matt: Penn State -4.5

I can’t remember a Penn State – Ohio State game with less fanfare. And it’s not like there are a ton of big games this weekend. People around the country are just really sick of the Big 10. Iowa is a fraud much like Penn State last year, and people I think would rather watch a Tennessee-Auburn type game then the Big 10.

Penn State 24 Ohio State 17

Mike: Penn State (-4.5)- LOCK OF THE WEEK:

Following the Iowa loss, the Nittany Lions have been playing excellent football. Although Penn State hasn’t played great competition, they are trouncing their opponents on a weekly basis behind a high powered offense and a dominant defense. Ohio State has notched two blowout wins themselves against bad teams, but questions remain for the Buckeyes, particularly on offense. At this point in the season, there is a clear difference in the level of play between these two teams and the superior outfit happens to be playing at home. Accordingly, I don’t expect a particularly compelling contest in Happy Valley.

Penn State 33 Ohio State 14

Doug: Ohio State +4.5 - LOCK OF THE WEEK

Everything about this game points to a blowout win for Penn State, but isn't Ohio State overdue for a big win as a program?? How many of these big games can they lose in a row?? Top to bottom, Ohio State has better talent than Penn State. Why couldn't they win this game?? Iowa went to Happy Valley and won. Tressel has done it before in the past. In fact, they went out there in 2007 and ran Penn State off the field.

For Buckeye fans, I think the biggest concern is that they play too conservatively on offense, settle for field goals, and PSU makes a few plays down the stretch to win it. I could EASILY see that happening. Tressel doesn't trust Terrelle Pryor at this point, and there's no chance he's going to let Pryor cost them with a bad turnover. They are going to play the field position game, play for field goals, and hope it's enough to pull the game out in the fourth quarter. From what we've seen in recent big games for Ohio State, that is not a winning formula. If Tressel leans too hard on Tresselball, they'll lose this game.

Here's the thing that I don't get about Jim Tressel. Doesn't he know by now that Tresselball does not work in the big games?? How could he not know this?? It's a terrible way to prepare your team. All it does is give your team a lack of confidence. It's almost as if Tressel is telling his guys that he doesn't trust them to make plays and win the game, and that the only way to win is for him to manage the field position game. What kind of message does that send to your team?? Why not go in with a mentality that you want to win the game by 20??

Doesn't Tressel also realize that his team has had its most success recently when he has abandoned Tressel Ball?? Early on in the Fiesta Bowl last year against Texas, Tressel was trying to win that game 13-10 and playing the field position game. It worked for a little while, but it's not a sustainable way to win a football game against another big time team. You can only play field position so long. Well, of course, Tressel Ball blew up in his face, and suddenly they were down 10 and had to go into desperation mode. Wouldn't you know it, they actually came alive and took the lead with 2 minutes to go before Colt McCoy came down and won the game. Does Tressel not see this?? Doesn't he realize that his team does its best work when he takes the reins off and just lets them play ball??

What is he so afraid of?? Tressel Ball is a bad model to win games, so why not let it all hang out one of these games and see what happens?? Why not come out with TP running wild and throwing the ball down field and giving your team a bunch of confidence?? If he turns it over 5 times and you lose 27-10, so be it. There's no difference between losing 27-10 and 13-10. Losses are losses. I'd be willing to bet that Ohio State would respond favorably and play their best game of the season if Tressel actually opened it up and played aggressive football.

Look at Oregon. Those guys go pedal to the medal full throttle for 60 minutes. How can you not love that as a player that your coaches trust your ability?? Wouldn't you be brimming with confidence if you were always attacking? Oregon has a big game mentality. I love that. Imagine how good Terrelle Pryor would be if he was the quarterback at Oregon. He'd be unstopppable.

Here's what I would do if I was Ohio State. I would go up to Terrelle Pryor on Monday morning, and say "we are putting this game on your shoulders." I would tell him that they are running him 25 times on Saturday with zone reads, scrambles, draws, etc. And then I'd be rolling him out and letting him make throws down the field. Go for the win. You've got a 6'6", 240 pound quarterback who runs a 4.4 40. Figure something out to let that guy win the game for you. The rest of the team is good. Good Wrs, decent Rbs, good defense, great defensive line. If Ohio State goes out and plays aggressively, I think they can and will win this game.

With that said, it probably won't happen. Tressel will go with Tressel Ball because that's all he knows. I don't know why I should expect any differently. Even though I think that's a losing formula, I'll take the Buckeyes to pull the "upset" in a close, low scoring game. If they get blown out, oh well. My picks have been terrible all year anyway.

Ohio State 17 Penn State 13

LSU +9 at Alabama (CBS Sports 3:30pm)

Jeremy: Alabama (-9)

That does seem like quite a few points for an SEC showdown, but LSU has not shown the ability to score points against a quality defense yet this year. Bama’s got the best D in the nation, and I don’t see the Tigers putting up more than 6 against them. Julio Jones is due for a breakout day. Bama covers, but not by much.

Alabama 17 LSU 6

Dan: LSU +9 at Alabama

Two guys who just win big games. If Ingram has a good day, he could really strengthen his Heisman chances. But 9 points is too much in this defensive showdown.

Alabama 20 LSU 13

Matt: LSU +9

In case you haven’t noticed, Alabama’s offense has been regressing as the season has gone on, very much atypical of a Nick Saban coached team. Up until a few weeks ago I thought that Alabama was the best team in the country, but now I’m not so sure. Nevertheless, coming off a bye and playing at home I expect them to feed Ingram and pull out a tough win.

Alabama 21 LSU 14

Mike: Alabama (-9):

With an off week for the players to rest and the coaches to perform self-scouting, I will be surprised if Nick Saban doesn’t have his team performing at a peak level this week. If Bama indeed comes to play in this game as I suspect, there is no way that LSU will be able to keep pace with the Tide in Tuscaloosa. LSU’s defense should be able to hang tough for most of the game, but they will eventually wear down from being put into bad situations by the middling Tiger offense.

Alabama 31 LSU 12

Doug: Alabama -9

My instinct is to take LSU and the points, so I'm going with the opposite and taking Bama. They've been off for a week, they got a needed rest, and Saban has probably been hammering in their heads all week how they don't get any respect. It's amazing how quickly everyone has started discounting Bama because they had one close game with Tennessee. Bama is really good. They just didn't play well against a red hot Vols team that is peaking down the stretch. Tennessee might be one of the 15-20 best teams in the nation right now, and I think they are going to win out and end up 8-4. Lane Kiffin is suddenly revving things up in Knoxville.

Anyway, LSU is winning ballgames, but I feel like Alabama is going to be on a mission Saturday.

I'll take the Tide by double digits.

Alabama 17 LSU 6

Oklahoma -6.5 at Nebraska (ABC Sports 8pm)

Jeremy: Oklahoma (-6.5)

I really don’t think much of either of these teams (or really anyone in the Big 12, outside of Texas). Oklahoma is somehow still hanging around the Top 25 even though their best player is out for the rest of the year, and their best win came against another disappointing Big 12 team (Kansas). Many people (myself included) had the Huskers pegged to be a bit of a sleeper this year. But things definitely haven’t gone as planned in Lincoln thus far. Sure, they beat Mizzou on the road, and had that one point loss at Va Tech. But where’s the progress? Where’s the big step forward? The Huskers are 2-2 in a very mediocre Big 12 and have really looked lost at times, especially during the 9-7, turnover-filled loss at home to Iowa St. In a battle between two teams that have definitely failed to live up to expectations, Oklahoma wins going away.

OU 33 Nebraska 15

Dan: Nebraska +6.5

I think Pelini gets his guys up enough to keep this one closer than Nebraska’s debacle against Texas Tech.

OU 24 Nebraska 20

Matt: Oklahoma -9.5 LOCK OF THE WEEK

I don’t know what is going on in Lincoln. They should not be having 8 turnover losses to Iowa State at home. I kind of like this Landry Jones guy. I think Oklahoma wins big.

Oklahoma 31 Nebraska 13

Mike: Oklahoma (-6.5):

This is a tough game to call. Bo Pelini should have his Huskers fired up for a big game before the home crowd in Lincoln (sigh…just had a flashback to my trip to Lincoln in 2001 and realized that I’ll never get to make another cool road trip under the abominable 7-4-1 model) and Oklahoma’s young offensive line will likely have some difficulty handling Ndamaukong Suh. Nebraska, however, has too many problems on offense, namely at quarterback, to contend with the Oklahoma defense. The Sooners will stifle the Husker offense and Landry Jones, who continues to improve on a weekly basis, will make enough plays in the passing game to notch a big road win.

Oklahoma 31 Nebraska 21

Doug: Oklahoma -6.5

I'll be the first to say that I have been awful at these picks for a good month now, but this line looks too low when you stack these two teams up. I think I've picked just about every dog to cover against the big boys for a good month and lost almost all of them. Time to start giving some more respect to the big boys. The great teams get better as the year goes along, so nothing wrong with taking a favorite to cover.

Anyway, Oklahoma is one of those big time teams that gets better and better as the season goes along. Look at what they've done the last couple weeks. They destroyed Kansas and Kansas State. They aren't what they were last year, but they're still a real good team.

Meanwhile, Nebraska is a notch below. There's really not much of a difference right now between somebody like Nebraska and a team like Texas Tech or Kansas or any other middling Big 12 team. It's sad to say, but Nebraska isn't in OU's class anymore. I personally don't think we'll ever see an elite Nebraska program ever again. The talent shift to the south has been too dramatic for them to keep pace with OU and Texas. I really think Nebraska would be better off trying to join the Big 10 and competing with the schools in the north again.

By the way, I never understood how OU got all these elite guys out of the state of Texas, but now I get it. I didn't realize how close OU's campus is to the northern part of the state of Texas. I was looking at a map of Texas before the trip to San Antonio, and Norman is really no farther from Dallas than Austin is. It's basically the same. For a Texas kid, going to OU might actually keep you closer to home than going to Texas would. That northern part of Texas is sort of like Toledo. It's in Ohio, but Toledo sometimes has stronger ties to the state of Michigan than it does Ohio. Same with northern Texas. In terms of geography, you are more connected to Oklahoma than you are to Austin and San Antonio.

Oklahoma 31 Nebraska 17

Notre Dame - Navy (NBC Sports 3:30pm)

Jeremy: Notre Dame

The Irish have reached the month of November just about where most ND fans thought they’d be. Certainly no one could have expected the road would include so many close 4th quarter battles and so much injury drama. Even the snoozer against Wazzu resulted in a bad ankle sprain for Trevor Robinson and a torn ACL for Dayne Crist, placing the 2010 season in serious jeopardy for those choosing to look ahead a bit.

Speaking of looking ahead, ND could be eyeing the potential monster matchup next weekend in Pittsburgh as the game that will likely make-or-break the Irish’s BCS hopes. But they’d better not sleep on the Middies because those option-loving, cut-blocking, sons-of-you-know-whats are sure to give the Irish headaches for at least part of Saturday afternoon. ND defended the option masterfully last year, effectively taking away the FB dive and often forcing Navy into 3rd and long. The Irish will miss David Bruton’s steady play in the secondary, but the rapidly improving front seven should help to mitigate his loss.

On offense, the Irish had little trouble running against the Middies last year, so look for Weis to continue to pound it on the ground, as he did so successfully against the overmatched Cougars last week. Jimmy Clausen gets Michael Floyd back this week, but here’s guessing the coaches will be worrying more about keeping Floyd healthy than getting him a bunch of looks.

The battle on 1st down will be critical on Saturday, as it is so often against the triple option. The Irish have to force Navy into 2nd/3rd and long situations to take them out of their comfort zone. I certainly don’t expect the Irish to duplicate the same success they had last year on defense, but I also don’t expect the Middies to keep ND from scoring too often. The Irish win big again and set the table for a HUGE matchup against the Panthers.

ND 45 Navy 24

Dan: Notre Dame

Notre Dame in a big win. Manti has a huge day all over the field and Floyd gets 2 TDs in his first game back!

Matt: Notre Dame

I just want to touch on two things here, but before I do let me say that ND should win this game by 3 td’s and I will be disappointed if they don’t, so no analysis needed. Ok….

1) Jimmy Clausen should absolutely go pro after this year (if he wants to) and there shouldn’t be a Notre Dame fan out there who cries about it. Clausen has given everything he could to this program, from the beating he took as a true freshman to turning into the best QB in Notre Dame history. Why risk getting Bradforded behind a rebuilding offensive line next year. Plus, he’s already 22 years old. His NFL clock is already ticking and he’s here executing gameplans against freaking Washington State. Now…if Clausen comes back, great. It will be an explosive offense. But I don’t think he will nor do I think he should.

2) The scheduling issue. Doug and Mike have done a great job diving into the scheduling discussion, schedule strength rankings etc. But after that game against Washington State (I only saw a few plays, but I was embarrassed that Notre Dame was playing in a half to three quarters full stadium), here is a 10,000 foot look at the program’s recent scheduling decisions.

a) Told (albeit reportedly) Alabama and Georgia we would not play a home and home with them instead demanding a home-neutral series
b) Won’t return Miami’s phone calls about a game
c)Resigned a contract with Purdue with all games in September and rotating home and home
d) Unsigned contract for upcoming series with Oklahoma sitting on Jack Swarbrick’s desk
5) Agreed to play game in Yankee Stadium – against Army
6) Added Tulsa to home schedule
7) Added Western Michigan to home schedule

I don’t need to look at Sagarin rankings, quotes from the athletic director, polls or anything else to tell me where the direction of this program is headed. And it’s a shame…

Mike: Notre Dame (outright):

This year’s Navy team appears to be about equivalent to last year’s edition, which was manhandled for Notre Dame for about 54 minutes before the Irish almost sent me to the hospital with their attempt at a choke job for the ages. By contrast, the Irish are obviously improved over last year and Jimmy Clausen should play infinitely better than he did in last year’s debacle in Baltimore, even with his turf toe issues. While Navy’s option attack is formidable, the improved Irish run defense should be able to build on its success in recent weeks. Moreover, unlike prior years under play calling extraordinaire Paul Johnson, Navy has struggled badly in the passing game in 2009. Hence, a fast start will be especially conducive to success for the host Irish.

Navy usually comes to play against Notre Dame and the Middies will certainly believe that they have a shot to win this game. Nonetheless, I expect the Irish to slow Navy’s running attack on defense and score with very little resistance on offense, thus leading to a comfortable victory. Assuming that the Irish win this game, I will be joining them in Pittsburgh for a critical night game against the soon-to-be 8-1 Panthers

Notre Dame 38 Navy 21

Doug: Notre Dame

There's nothing to say about this game other than the obvious. Navy lost to Temple last week. TEMPLE!! That's all you need to know. If ND shows up to play and stays disciplined on defense, we'll win this game by double digits. If we show up sleepwalking and don't execute, we'll probably get into a dogfight that we want no part of.

I will say that people need to get 2007 out of their system. That was a once-in-a-lifetime type scenario with an ND team that had essentially packed it in for the year. Just about every other year, we have handled Navy by running the football down their throats and blowing up their option attack in the backfield. ND's defensive line has been getting better and better every week, and Tenuta's attacking scheme is the perfect defense to shut down a team like Navy. If we blow things up in the middle and force them to the edge (where Te'o will do some serious damage), we're going to create turnovers and win this game comfortably.

My prediction is that this game will be tight for about a quarter and a half, we'll adjust to their option attack, and then we'll start pounding it up and down the field. That's how this game seems to play out every year. We'll start freaking out when the game looks close early, but then we have a monster drive that completely demoralizes them. By the 3rd-4th time we've seen their option offense, we've adjusted to shut it down. Our offensive line is so much bigger than their defensive line it's not even funny.

The other thing is that Navy has absolutely no answer for Golden Tate or Michael Floyd or Jimmy Clausen for that matter. People forget that Clausen was really in a funk at this time last year, and that's part of the reason why we had some early problems with Navy. This year, it's a completely different story. ND is playing good football, Floyd is back, and the defense gets better every week.

I see no reason why ND won't blow Navy out this week. All it takes is a few drives to grab the lead, and they are done. Their quarterback is hurt, so their anemic passing game will look even worse this week.

ND wins this game and sets up a big showdown at Heinz Field next Saturday. Can't wait to get to the 'Burgh for that one.

ND 31 Navy 10

Bonus Picks:

Matt:

Wake Forest +16

Heartbreaking loss (but great cover) for the Deacs last week. Just couldn’t make the plays or stop the athletes on Miami when they needed to. I don’t know why I think they will hang with the Jackets on the road, but this line seems really high to me.

GT 30 Wake Forest 20

Doug:

Bengals +3 over Baltimore -- This line is a slap in the face!! The first place Bengals are dogs at home to the team that they just beat on the road a few weeks ago. The Bengals are officially the Rodney Dangerfields of the NFL. No respect!

With that said, the Bengals are probably the biggest Jekyll and Hyde team in the NFL, so I have absolutely no idea what to expect out of them from week to week. They win at Baltimore, lose at home to the Texans, and then destroy the Bears in one of the best halfs I have ever seen out of the Bengals in all the years I've been a fan. Nothing would really surprise me.

Huge huge game in terms of the AFC North race. For the Bengals, a win over Baltimore puts them at 4-0 in the division with a game still left at home against Cleveland. The Bengals can pretty much control all the tiebreakers in the division if they finish 5-1. And if they somehow sweep the next two games over Baltimore and Pittsburgh, the Bengals essentially wrap up the division by week 9. I don't expect them to win both these games, but I'd love to get this Baltimore game and then go to Pittsburgh with house money in hand.

For Baltimore, it's weird to say this in week 9, but I think their season is basically on the line this week. They cannot afford to fall to 1-2 in the division with two games still left against Pittsburgh. If the Ravens get swept by the Bengals this year, I think that's a sign that they are just not that good this year.

I expect the Ravens to give the Bengals their absolute best shot on Sunday. Ray Lewis is probably injecting himself with multiple doses of HGH as we speak. They destroyed the Broncos last week, so they may be starting to hit their stride. Baltimore has the big game pedigree that the Bengals have lacked in the past, so there's a lot of reason to think that the Ravens will come into Cincy and win. If I was a neutral betting man, I think I'd probably take the Ravens here.

Two keys for this game for the Bengals:

1) Defense, defense, defense -- When the Bengals play hardnosed defense and attack and stuff the run, they are a really good football team. When they have trouble getting a pass rush and don't bottle up the run, they're very ordinary. In the AFC North, it all starts with your defense. You have to bring it defensively in these types of games.

2) Carson Palmer -- I will probably jinx things by saying this, but I think we're finally out of the woods with the Carson Palmer ACL injury. Carson is officially back to what he was before he got hurt in January 2006. That's how long it has taken. Three full seasons to really get back to what he was before the injury. Might have to expand on that topic as it pertains to the Dayne Crist injury because I've seen firsthand how long these ACL issues can last.

Palmer looked as good as he has ever looked against the Bears. Firing bullets, moving around, super accurate, great poise. When Carson is hot, he is as good as any quarterback in the league. Give him the ball with two minutes to go to win the game, and he usually finds a way to come through.

Anyway, Carson just has to keep playing well, Cedric Benson has to continue running hard, and the Bengals should be able to score points on this Ravens' defense.

If the Bengals spent the bye week congratulating themselves and telling themselves how great they are, they'll get run off the field. If they come out and play inspired football like they did against the Bears, I like their chances. I think it will be another back and forth game that goes down to the last minute, but I'll take the Bengals to pull off the "upset" and move to 6-2. 4-0 in the division with a MONSTER game looming in Pittsburgh the following week would be awfully sweet.

One other note on the Bengals. I've been reading a lot of stuff lately in the Enquirer and some blogs about Bengals fans who are holding a grudge about Mike Brown and don't want to support the Bengals' success this year. I'll be the first to say that I get it to some degree and can understand why fans are bitter about 20 years of borderline criminal negligence by Mike Brown in running this franchise (all while pocketing hundreds of millions of dollars over that time period), but at what point do you just put that aside for the time being and embrace what we have going right now?? 5-2 and in first place in the AFC North. I've been as bitter as anyone and have supported every boycott/protest that has been cooked up in the last 20 years, but I'll be the first to admit that the Bengals have stumbled into a pretty good situation this year. Cedric Benson was an absolute gift, and they've made some shrewd acquisitions in the front seven and in the secondary the last 3-4 years. Whether people want to give them credit or not, they have made a number of very good selections in the draft lately.

Bengals 24 Ravens 23

Syracuse +21.5 at Pittsburgh -- Possible trap game for Pitt if they are looking ahead to the big ND showdown and stretch run Big East games against WVU and Cincy. I could see this game being like 14-10 in the 3rd quarter.

UConn +16.5 at Cincy -- Primetime game for UC on ABC at Nippert!! Wow, pretty amazing stuff.

I'm not really sure what Cincy should do about the quarterback situation. Tony Pike has been a great player and might be a NFL type pick, but their offense might actually be more dangerous with Callaros in there. Callaros gives them the threat of a running attack that they don't get with Tony Pike. As he gets more and more confident with the passing game, he might turn out to be more effective for their offense than Pike. Callaros is kind of like UC's Jeremiah Masoli.

Tough call for UC. I think they are almost obligated to go back to Pike, but they are hitting the stretch run here and really need to be hitting on all cylinders. Now that they've found this extra gear with Callaros, is it going to hurt their momentum to work Tony Pike back in?? Honestly, if it were up to me, I think I might be tempted to just ride the hot hand with Callaros and see where he takes you.

Last Week:

Jeremy: 4-2
Dan: 1-5
Matt: 2-4
Mike: 3-3
Doug: 2-4

Season:

Jeremy: 34-22-1
Dan: 29-27-1
Matt: 25-31-1
Mike: 25-31-1
Doug: 27-30-1

Locks of the Week:

Jeremy: 6-2
Dan: 4-4-1
Matt: 3-5
Mike: 3-5
Doug: 3-6

Deep in the Heart of Texas: Thoughts on Notre Dame, "Barnstorming," Jumbotrons, schedule strength,Dayne Crist, Dr. Kenneth Dye, San Antonio, and more

Some thoughts on my “Barnstorming” adventure to San Antonio to watch Notre Dame take on Washington State:

15) I’m kind of torn on how to walk away from this experience. Part of me wants to say that this game was a legitimate success in a surprisingly fertile ND territory (more on that later) in a fun city, but another part of me wants to say that the game was a little bit too gimmicky and more of a marketing opportunity than a football event. As always, the truth probably lies somewhere in the middle. I think there were some positives and some negatives to the experience:

Positives:

First of all, I really don’t think I can do justice to how big of a deal this game was for ND fans from Texas. Put it this way. If you were an ND fan from the state of Texas, I think you were obligated by law to attend this game. They’ve been waiting for this game for two years, and I think they took a lot of pride in the fact that ND entrusted them to fill the stadium with 50,000+ ND fans for our first neutral site “home” game.

It was definitely a different type of crowd than you would typically see at a Notre Dame home game in South Bend. Most of the people who go to ND home games are alums, and the majority are Midwesterners. Chicago, Indiana, Ohio, Michigan, Wisconsin, etc. You get some other pockets of fans of course, but the vast majority of the people who fill up the seats week in and week out at ND home games are people within a 4-5 hour driving radius of the campus. And I think our fans take the experience for granted a little bit (I'm including myself in that category without question). ND home crowds are usually great in the beginning of the year when the weather is good, but fans tend to start going through the motions later in the year and maybe aren’t quite as enthused to be in the stadium. Me included. Maybe we’re a spoiled group, but our fans tend to get a little stale as the season goes along.

This thing was like a completely different scene. I got the impression that most of the people at this game were not alums. Big subway alumni crowd who were just excited to be there. There were certainly lots of alums from San Antonio and Texas and other folks who flew in from out of town, but it seemed like there were a lot of people who fit into one of three categories: 1) parents or siblings of ND students/alums 2) families who grew up as huge ND fans 3) other random ND fans. Everyone just seemed happy to be there and happy to see those gold helmets and the band and the players and the whole show. Heck, there was more excitement in the building prior to the game than there was for Notre Dame-USC. I'm not even joking about that. People were literally on their feet cheering for just about everything. I thought it was great and somewhat refreshing to see people so excited to be there. I'm so used to the jaded ND crowd (and Buckeye crowds for that matter) that don't really get it going for more than a handful of plays that it was a little shocking to see people cheering like crazy on every play.

I also think there were a lot of people there who rooted for Notre Dame but didn’t necessarily consider them to be their favorite team. Case in point: Mike Collins announced the score of the Texas-Oklahoma State game at one point in the game, and the place went ballistic. People erupted with cheers when they heard the score. I was taken aback. I think there were a lot of Texas fans there who consider ND their second favorite team and just wanted to go to an ND game within driving distance of their hometown. They were excited to have ND in town and cheered like crazy for the Irish. Good enough for me.

Another thing that SHOCKED me is how many Latino ND fans there are!! My god, I had no idea. If you took a snapshot of the crowd, I honestly would say something like 1 out of every 3 people there was a Latino ND fan. Who knew?? I know San Antonio is only an hour or two from the Mexican border, but I did not expect to see such a diverse fanbase at an ND “home” game. People were yelling random things in Spanish and waving flags and stuff. It was very cool. I think it’s a great indicator of the diverse interest in this program, and ND should absolutely continue to harvest that portion of our fanbase. Someday, these guys and gals might be popping out Division I football players, so anything we can do to expand the brand is a good thing.

Sometimes I forget how big the ND brand is on a national level. If you’re just some dude who grew up in San Antonio and liked college football, why would you not root for Notre Dame?? We’re on national tv every week. ND is a team that you can follow from just about any part of the country.

The whole “Southern ND fan” thing is just funny to me. I know some ND alums who grew up in the south, but I never knew ND had so many fans with thick southern accents. Seems like we met a lot of people from Atlanta, Alabama, Louisiana, etc down there. And of course Texas. Where do all these southern ND fans come from?? How are they not sporting Georgia and Bama and LSU sweatshirts instead??

Anyway, I thought that was cool. Good to see a little spice into our fanbase. The people at the Alamodome were FIRED UP to be there even though it was Washington State, and I think the team appreciated it. Hopefully it puts a little pep in their step the rest of the way.

One final note on how much this game meant to the people down there in Texas. When we were going through security before the flight home to Columbus, the guy running the airport security area was literally humming the ND Fight Song. People down there were really drinking the kool-aid all weekend. That could pay off down the road in terms of recruiting and exposure.

14) ND pulled out all the stops to make this game as close to an ND home game experience as possible. Mike Collins handled the PA work, they painted the end zones like the ND end zone, they had a big hologram of Touchdown Jesus on the mini-scoreboards, they had the full ND band, and they even played a tape-recording of Sgt. McCarthy doing his thing in the fourth quarter. In terms of recreating a home game atmosphere, they did everything they could.

Was it cheesy?? No doubt, but the fans were eating it up. The people who went to this game for the most part are people who don’t have a chance to get up to South Bend for a home game. If you live in Texas/Lousiana/Oklahoma and have a family or don’t have the time or money to get up South Bend for a game, this was a chance to go somewhere close and see the Irish in action and soak up all the charms of going to an ND game.

13) Great performance out of the Notre Dame Marching Band on Friday night at the pep rally and on Saturday at the game. They busted out a great rendition of “Deep in the Heart of Texas” several times, and the crowd was loving it. There were literally people with tears in their eyes singing that song. Lots of pride down there in Texas. I really enjoy the whole Texas scene. They sell shirts down there with a big gun on the front that say "We don't dial 911 in Texas." Good times!! Pretty sure 50% of Texans think George W. Bush is still the President.

If I was Dr. Kenneth Dye, I would just have the band work on various “state pride” songs and bust those things out all the time. Who doesn’t love these songs?? Heck, I was singing “Deep in the Heart of Texas” when the band was playing it, and I have zero connection to the state. Maybe it would be weird to hear the ND band randomly playing “Rocky Top,” “New York, New York,” “Sweet Home Alabama,” “Deep in the Heart of Texas,” “Hang on Sloopy” etc, but I think ND could pull it off. We are a national school. Every person from any of those states would go nuts, and pretty soon, everyone would get into it. What would you rather hear: another rendition of that song where everyone pumps their arms up and down 50 times or something like Rocky Top??

One other request out of the ND band. After the game, we were walking out of the stadium, and the ND band spontaneously broke out into Lady Gaga “Poker Face” on the street. Whoa!! I didn’t know they had that in them. I love Dr. Kenneth Dye, but why not bust that one out during the game?? I think the crowd would love it.

Speaking of Dr. Kenneth Dye, he was staying on our floor at the Marriot, and we ran into him at the elevator an hour or so before the pep rally. The man had his game face on! I don’t think anything was going to faze him even if I had started cursing him out in the line for the elevator. Sort of a stoic intensity reminiscent of Tom Landry. How could you let that man down?? Kenneth Dye is building a dynasty up there in South Bend.

12) Couldn’t have been more impressed with San Antonio as a venue for a big time sporting event. WOW. San Antonio almost singlehandedly made this thing worthwhile. I feel like I’ve been to just about every major city in America for some sort of football game or bowl game or other major sporting event, and I think San Antonio might be the best setup I’ve seen. The weather is perfect, all the action is located within a 3-4 block radius, the fans all congregate in that Riverwalk scene, and the Alamodome was right there within walking distance. The only city that is comparable in terms of having everything centrally located might be Indianapolis, and Indy doesn’t have the weather that you have down there in Texas. It’s kind of strange how San Antonio is nothing above ground, but has this thriving underground city scene with the Riverwalk.

Really impressed with how they ran things down there. The city rolled out the red carpet for ND fans, the Riverwalk was great, all the fans stayed downtown, and it wasn’t as shady as the New Orleans scene where you feel like you’re going to get robbed if you take one step off the main path (although nothing matches up with Bourbon Street as far as a pregame and postgame scene is concerned). You could walk wherever you wanted downtown and run into a festive and safe atmosphere.

The Alamodome is nothing special, but it’s serviceable for a bowl game or a Final Four. It doesn’t have all of the bells and whistles that you’d see at a newer dome like the Lucas Oil Dome or the new stadium in Glendale, but it was fine.

Even though San Antonio is sort of a random location for an ND game, I think it’s gotta be on the shortlist for all of these neutral site games in the future. It’s got everything you would want, and you don’t even need to leave a 3-4 block area the entire weekend. The only place that would be better in my mind would probably be Tempe (which is still the best in terms of location, weather, stadium venue, setting, entertainment options), but even that option has been neutered now that they have a dome in Glendale. If ND goes to Phoenix, the game would probably be in Glendale instead of Tempe. Too many other big event cities have made the mistake of building their primary venue too far from downtown. Dallas, Miami, Phoenix, etc.

I kept thinking about how great San Antonio would be for a Final Four. You could pack in four different fanbases down there on the Riverwalk, and it would be phenomenal.

Nothing against Dallas, but there’s no way that ND-Arizona State game in Dallas in 2012 will work as well as this game did in San Antonio. The Cowboys Stadium is like 30 minutes from downtown!! How are people going to get out there?? You’ll be dealing with transportation headaches all weekend.

New York City is always a good option for an ND game of course, and I think they should consider Atlanta, Washington DC, New Orleans, and maybe 1-2 others. Mike Collins said after the game that “we hope to back,” and I think he meant it. If this barnstorming tradition continues, I think San Antonio will be in the mix again for another game.

11) Very impressive turnout for the Washington State fans. I couldn’t believe how many Cougars fans there were downtown partying it up and shouting “Go Cougs!!” left and right. They took over the city on Friday, and still had a pretty good representation all day on Saturday. Think about how bad they’ve been the last five years:

2009: 1-7
2008: 2-11
2007: 5-7
2006: 6-6
2005: 4-7

I’d say there were a good 5,000 Wazzou fans down there. Imagine how many fans they’d have brought in if they weren’t one of the worst teams in the country this year. If they ever get it going again, I wouldn’t be opposed to a little home and home action with the Cougs.

One other thing the Cougs fans did is give the game a little energy. With the Cougs fans all over the Riverwalk, it had a little bit of a bowl game feel to it. Deep down, we all knew that WSU stunk, but at least they were feisty enough to add a little excitement to the weekend. I'll be honest in saying that I even got a little worried about the game when I saw how exuberant the Wazzou fans were on Friday.

10) As far as the overall crowd is concerned, I actually thought the crowd was good on Saturday. The Dome was pretty much full in the lower half and about half full in the upper deck. I never saw how we were going to sell 65,000 tickets exclusively to ND fans, but I thought it was a pretty good crowd overall. I'd say there were about 45,000 people in the stadium, and that dropped to about 30,000 by the 4th quarter. It certainly didn't feel empty though, which was my biggest fear, and I was pretty impressed at how many people were sitting in the upper deck. Pretty amazing that ND can bring 45,000-50,000 people to San Antonio for a random game against Washington State.

I don't want to sugarcoat the thing, but I'll admit that it sucked me in to some degree. I think you can make a legitimate argument that it was a successful event. The crowd was pretty good, the city was a great host, and I think the fans all had a good time seeing an Irish victory. I've been as outspoken in criticizing the "Barnstorming" concept as anyone, but I do get it. ND is a national school with a national fanbase, and it's kind of hard to appease all these factions. Having a game every year in a different location does make sense to some degree.

9) With that said, there were some things about the event that really never won me over.

The biggest problem with this game from my perspective is that it just felt sort of gimmicky. I can't really explain it, but something about the game just didn't work. The whole thing felt surreal. What are we doing playing this game?? It felt like an exhibition. I guess it just depends on where you're coming from as ND fan. If you were a casual fan or someone who doesn't get to go to an ND game more than once or twice every 5-10 years or so and just wanted to see the team, it was great. For a diehard, it felt a little watered-down. It was like they were trying to sell this "ND experience" concept instead of just trying to sell us on an actual good football game. The whole game was one big ND promotional vehicle. Every commercial break, there was some hokey ND video trying to sell us on life at Notre Dame.

That stuff is fine and I understand the need to market the school, but I still get the feeling that there are too many people in the administration at ND who worship at the marketing altar and see ND football purely as an opportunity to make money for the school. Whatever happened to the idea of actually using the football team for what it is....a football team!! I'm all for attracting recruits from Texas and diversifying the campus with more Latino students, but the game felt more like an admissions event than a football game. I don't really need to get the ND informercial at all times. Sometimes I just want to watch football.

I don't know, I can't really explain it, but the game itself just felt a little weird. You can do everything you want to dress thing up, but it is what it is. A bad football game. While watching the game, I kept thinking to myself "Is this really what ND football has become??" We're playing an awful Washington State team in the middle of Texas, and the school is trying to sell me on this game like it's some marquee event. Would USC play in a game like this?? The answer is no. USC might play a neutral site game, but it's a true neutral site game. Not this half-baked "home" game where we line up some tomato can and take control of all revenue and ticket sales. I hate repeating this a million times, but USC is now the gold standard when it comes to scheduling. We should be looking to join them on that pedestal instead of associating ourselves with the Penn States of the world.

I think the neutral site thing can work, and I do get the appeal for it now that I've seen how much that game meant to San Antonio and the people down there. But why not try to make it a big time FOOTBALL GAME and not just an opportunity to market the school?? Why not play a big time game where we have an even split of fans in the stadium?? Imagine if ND had played somebody like Nebraska in San Antonio. You'd have half the stadium with ND fans and half the stadium with Nebraska fans. How great would that have been?? We've seen Alabama do this in recent years with neutral site games against Florida State and Virginia Tech. Why can't we do something like that instead of this fluffed-up "buy game" stuff??

Going forward, that's the only way to do it. We got the first one out of our system, and I can live with the Army game next year. But after that, if we're going to do these games, let's go out and get some better opponents. The only way to do that is to split the gate. My fear is that ND is so obsessed with the dollar signs that they'll never agree to a big time neutral site game.

All you need to do is look at the recent story in the Miami Herald about a proposed Miami-Notre Dame series. Apparently, Jack Swarbrick is not returning Miami's calls about a proposed ND-Miami series. Awesome. That is all you need to know about ND these days. We've lost our backbone. We've basically turned into a marketing gimmick instead of a college football program. Unless you want to play us only at ND Stadium or some neutral site venue where we get all the money, we're not interested. Meanwhile, Miami is out there looking for home and homes and interesting games. Why are we not doing the same?? We used to play 3 heavyweights all the time. Why is that no longer the case??

Any hopes that Swarbrick was going to change ND's scheduling philosophy are officially out the door. I think Swarbrick might be an even weaker AD than Kevin White. And mark this down as a prediction, there will be a snafu on that ND-Oklahoma game. I really would not be shocked if that game ends up getting canned. It still has not been signed. Swarbrick is probably looking for any way possible to get out from under that one.

I'm really beginning to wonder if ND's relationship with NBC is worth it. Even though I love the certainty of knowing that ND will be on NBC for every home game, it almost feels like NBC is more trouble than it is worth. NBC's whole mantra as a network is "quantity over quality" and low cost production, but it has killed their brand. NBC is a meaningless 3rd rate network that is only relevant for 3-4 big NFL games a year and once every two years at the Olympics. That's pretty much it. I think NBC's mantra has snuck into the ND mindset as well. The people running ND are focused on playing more games and selling phony "ND experiences" to squeeze every last dollar out of the program, but all that is doing is hurting the overall brand.

NBC had a primetime ND broadcast for the first time in its history, and NO ONE cared nationally. The ratings were awful as predicted. That's sad to me. Even our much-hyped home game against USC game had a middling rating on NBC. What does that say to the people running ND?? We're hurting the brand. If you don't think that matters, I don't know what to say. It does.

8) The other thing is that there's just no way to replicate the ND home game experience. You can bring Mike Collins down there and bring the band and all that, but there's nothing like going to ND to watch a game. You just can't bottle that up and bring it down to San Antonio. I thought a lot of the ND "traditions" that they tried (especially the Sgt McCarthy thing) were just awkward and completely fell flat.

The game was certainly not a disaster at all, but also not a major success. It was somewhere in the middle. Would I go to another "Barnstorming" event?? Sure, why not. If it's in a city that I want to visit, I'll go. But personally, I'd rather use the spot for a big time home and home. Late October/early November is when we used to play a big home and home series with a heavyweight. Instead of playing this barnstorming game, we should be lining that up instead. Put it this way. I'd have MUCH rather gone down to Austin this weekend to watch ND play at Texas. Now that's football.

7) Another scary prediction. The Jumbotron. It's COMING. ND went crazy with the Alamodome Jumbotron on Saturday night. It was like they had been waiting for years to try out all these gimmicks. They had ND trivia, crowd shots, promotional videos. You name it. I really think ND is going to use these neutral site home games as a test market for a jumbotron, partially to see if fans like it and also to work out the kinks and see what works. I'm going to predict that there will be a Jumbotron at Notre Dame Stadium some time in the next 10 years.

And as we've seen a million times, it KILLED the crowd. Just killed it. Before the game, the crowd was jacked up. But within five minutes of the game, everyone's attention immediately went to the Jumbotron. It's impossible to avoid it. It just sucks all the energy in the building toward it. You look around the crowd, and everyone is staring at the Jumbotron.

Jumbotrons are crowd killers. It's undeniable. Having replay was fine, but I'd really rather just talk to the people around me about the play rather than watch the replay on the big screen. The reason I go to a game is to WATCH THE GAME. Not a big screen. If I wanted to watch a screen, I'd just stay home and watch on tv.

Now I know the proper response is "dude, you don't have to watch the Jumbotron!" Fair enough, but it's impossible to avoid it. And even if I'm not watching, the people around me are. It takes the communal experience of attending a football game, and turns it into an individual experience of watching a play and then watching the replay screen without interacting with the people around me.

I feel like a liberal with all this communal talk, but jumbotrons are bad.

6) Some other thoughts on the game

--Golden Tate -- AMAZING. That Hail Mary catch was one of the greatest plays I've ever seen. I don't think an ND player has ever had a stretch of games as good as Golden Tate has had in the last 6-7 weeks. His body control, hands, and explosiveness are remarkable.

Credit to Charlie Weis for continuing to find ways to get the ball in this guy's hands. When Floyd went down, we shifted the focus of this offense over to Tate. It is going to be pretty darn exciting to see Floyd and Tate back out on the field together with Jimmy Clausen throwing them the ball.

5) No need to comment on Jimmy Clausen other than saying that he played another spectacular game, but I wanted to mention how much it seems like he is enjoying this season. Our seats were right behind the Notre Dame bench, and I spent most of the second half watching Clausen and seeing how he interacted with his teammates. It really does seem like he's having a blast out there. He was hamming it up with Michael Floyd and Crist for most of the second half, and he was the first guy out there to hug Crist when he threw that touchdown pass to John Goodman.

As Clausen was walking off the field after the game, the people in the crowd started chanting "one more year! one more year!" at him. He just smiled and kind of egged it on. There are so many issues at hand when it comes to making that decision whether or not to declare for the NFL Draft, but for one night, it really felt like he was having a great time playing college football and would love nothing more than to come back and play another season for the Irish.

4) Two young guns who are going to be dynamite someday:

Theo Riddick -- WOW. Riddick is going to be a stud someday. He runs with speed and power and has moves. Riddick looks like the type of guy who could rip off a 40 yard run if you give him a hole, and he also is the type of player who might turn nothing into something on occasion. That's the kind of running back we've been missing for years. We need a Golden Tate type guy who just refuses to go down and will do anything to make something out of nothing. Riddick could be that guy.

John Goodman -- That touchdown catch and run was EXPLOSIVE!! He caught that thing in stride and accelerated to the end zone. Goodman is a serious athlete. Everyone wants to compare him to Jeff Samardzija, but I think he's more like a Jordan Shipley guy. Goodman has a little more burst than Samardzija did. I don't know if anyone will ever have the Shark's instincts for the ball, but Goodman is on his way to being a great player at ND someday.

In 2011, I don't see any reason why Goodman can't be a feature receiver in the Charlie Weis offense after we lose Tate and Floyd. And even if Tate decides to go pro after this year, I'd be comfortable with Goodman starting at WR next year.

3) (Note: I'm putting this post up with no knowledge of whether Dayne Crist busted up his knee. If he tore his ACL and Clausen leaves, we've got big problems heading into 2010. Maybe Crist will be back by the start of the season, but will he be ready to play after missing all of the offseason workouts and spring practices?? And if he's not ready to start, what are we going to do at quarterback?? Andrew Hendrix?? Nate Montana?? Yikes. It's just one of those perfect storm situations that teams have to deal with at times. Sort of like what USC had to deal with this year. Sometimes you are going to have roster problems that are unavoidable. Either way, lots of uncertainty for this team in 2010. Hopefully Crist just has a sprain).

Some thoughts on Dayne Crist. I have no doubt that Dayne Crist is going to be a great player at ND someday as long as Charlie Weis is coaching him up, but he's a work in progress right now. If Clausen goes to the NFL, there are going to be some major growing pains for Crist next year. This team would really need him to play at a high level to have a chance at a big season in 2010, but we saw how long it took for Jimmy Clausen to really put it together. The offense is so dependent on getting great play out of the quarterback, but is Crist going to be able to give us Clausen type production right out of the chute against Michigan and Michigan State?? Nothing Dayne Crist can do about it of course if he's forced into the starting role, but it would be really nice not to have to rely on him next year.

Crist showed off that big arm with that great throw to Goodman, but he's raw. He threw a couple balls in the dirt, he's not as comfortable in the pocket, has some trouble with making all the reads, and he's just not as fluid or crisp with his mechanics as Clausen. Don't misconstrue this as me thinking that Crist is going to be a bust or something like that. I don't think that at all, and I expect him to thrive over the course of his career at ND. But he is not as polished as Clausen was coming out of high school. Crist is more athletic, but we don't really run an "athletic QB" type offense. Weis expects his QBs to almost exclusively work within the confines of the pocket. If Crist is going to be successful next year at ND, he'll have to become substantially more comfortable in the pocket.

One thing I think we're all realizing is that guys like Jimmy Clausen don't grow on trees. Clausen is a superstar quarterback with deadly accuracy and great intangibles and understanding of how to run an offense. He has been a work in progress as well, but he's also an incredible talent. There's a reason why Jimmy Clausen was the #1 recruit in the nation coming out of high school.

If I was Charlie Weis, I'd be doing two things this offseason:

1) Begging Jimmy C every day to come back for his senior year. Seriously, just offer him half your salary in deferred compensation or something. It's not like he wouldn't deserve it since he's been carrying this team all year. I don't care what you have to do. Try to get him back for one more year, so that the program can continue to stabilize.

and if (1) doesn't work,

2) Figuring out a way to make this offense work with an inexperienced quarterback. We are losing three offensive linemen after this year, and we can't afford to have Crist running for his life back there next year if the pocket breaks down. If he turns into a turnover machine and can't keep the offense moving, we'll revert right back to 6-6 next year. If I was Weis, I would be doing everything possible in the offseason to figure out a safe, controlled offense that lets Crist make quick reads to get the ball into the hands of Golden Tate and Michael Floyd and Kyle Rudolph. Once he gets more comfortable, you open it up later in the year like USC has done with Matt Barkley. I'd also continue to develop the running game to complement the passing game. We might have to play a little more conservatively next year with Crist, but that's just the nature of being a college football head coach. You're almost always going to be inexperienced at one position or another. You have to work through it and not let it bring your whole team down. Crist will have a great supporting cast to work with, but the QB is the guy who makes it all go in the Weis offense.

Weis has been in this job for five years now, and it does seem like he's slowly figuring out what works and what doesn't in college football. If he can continue to move this program forward, my hope is that the transition to Crist will we go a little more smoothly than the last quarterback transition we had.

2) Not a good day for our opponents this weekend. Here were their results:

Nevada beat Hawaii 31-21
Michigan lost at Illinois 38-13
Michigan State lost at Minnesota 42-34
Purdue lost at Wisconsin 37-0
USC lost to Oregon 47-20
Boston College beat Central Michigan 31-10
Navy lost to Temple 27-24
UConn lost to Rutgers

Yikes, not a good weekend for our opponents. Even though I was happy as all get out to see them lose, the USC score was sort of depressing at the same time. What does it say about our program that Oregon beat USC by 27 and we were fortunate just to be in the game with USC?? I'll admit that I was buying in on USC after watching them against us, but it turns out that they just aren't that good this year. The one year that we really had a great chance to beat them, we come up small at home. Meanwhile, Oregon runs them off the field. Just goes to show how far away we are right now from being an elite program. I think we're a good team this year, but there's a huge difference between being a good team and a great team. If our goal is to get to that level, we have quite a ways to go. Kind of depressing when you consider all of the experienced talent we have right now on the roster.

Oregon is a program that has gone all-in to become a big time football program. Nike has helped, but everything about Oregon football is designed toward becoming a major power. They are spending the money, the facilities are first class, their recruiting budget is big, they are willing to take on some academic risks, and the #1 focus is on winning football games. It's an institutional commitment from top to bottom. They aren't looking to showcase the "Oregon experience" or worrying about all this other fuss. The only thing that matters is what happens on the field. I wish Charlie Weis would get more of a commitment like that from the higher-ups within our administration. If we were as committed to being an elite program as Oregon is, I have a feeling Charlie would have us right up there with them.

1) One final note on the schedule strength.

I read an outstanding post on NDNation about schedule strength that is one of the best illustrations of how perception is more important than your computer rankings and why it is so important to have truly big time programs and teams on the schedule. Here's the example.

LSU and ND's November schedules:

LSU:

Alabama (#2 Sagarin)
Louisiana Tech (103)
Mississippi (27)
Arkansas (31)
Average: 40.75

ND:

Navy (45)
Pitt (18)
UConn (52)
Stanford (23)
Average: 34.5

This is really a great example and one that I wish I had thought of years ago. If you look at the computer rankings (which don't really take the "eyeball test" into account), ND is playing a tougher November schedule. But which of these two teams has a better opportunity to grab some statement wins down the stretch?? LSU of course. LSU plays freaking Alabama. If they win that game (obviously a huge if and not likely to happen but let's just say that it did), it would be a MONSTER win for LSU that would turn all kinds of heads out there. Beating Alabama is the type of win that you build your whole season around because Alabama is an elite program with elite talent and elite tradition and an elite coach. Alabama is as big of a HEAVYWEIGHT as anyone out there.

Even though our schedule is considered tougher by the computer rankings, LSU's schedule is tougher in reality. It's inarguable. Take any college football fan out there and point to those two schedules and ask them who has the tougher road in November. The answer would be LSU for one reason and one reason only: ALABAMA. Alabama is a brutal game in a brutal environment. Arkansas and Ole Miss are no cupcakes either, but it's going to be virtually impossible for LSU to go undefeated down the stretch because of that one game against Bama. But IF they do, they will get the admiration of the college football world.

This is why marquee games are what it's all about in college football. The big games are the games that matter. This is why I've been standing on a mountain top demanding another game or two against heavyweights. We don't have enough opportunities for statement wins on our current and future schedules. We don't have enough Alabamas on the schedule. No one cares if you beat Pitt or Stanford even if they have good computer rankings. Pitt and Stanford are mid-level programs with mid-level 3 star talent, mid-level tradition, and mediocre fanbases. Those kinds of wins are not going to really change the public perception of our program. Pointing to the freaking computer rankings of our opponents is meaningless. Beat Alabama or someone with a big name, and people will sing our praises. Beat Stanford or Pitt, and no one cares.

This is why the Sagarin ratings don't have a ton of merit when it comes to schedule strength. It's like the RPI ratings and all the Missouri Valley Conference teams that pile up great RPIs without beating anyone good. How many times have we seen teams like Wichita State end up with an RPI in the 20s even though their best win was over somebody like Northern Iowa?? It's because they rig their rating to find the best "low majors" and "midmajors" out there to boost up their overall rating. I'm not suggesting that ND is doing something like that at all, but computers can only take you so far when evaluating a schedule.

I'm a believer in the Jay Bilas Model--who did you play, where did you play them, and who did you beat?? Can we really answer any of those questions with a lot of pride?? We've played one ranked team, we've beaten no one, and we've only played two road games so far. Beating mediocre BC and MCU at home is like a Chris Rock special, "You're SUPPOSED to beat MSU and BC at home!! What do you want, a cookie?!?"

Anyway, I thought that was an outstanding post and one of the best explanations I've seen of why it is so important to have more heavyweights on the schedule. It is amazing how quickly most ND fans have become experts on the big issues in scheduling. There's still some dopes out there who just don't get it, but a lot of ND fans are really educating themselves on how important scheduling really is and how much it means for this program. There's some very thought-provoking stuff out there these days, and I'm glad to see it.

WEISND Roundtable Week 9 Picks: Notre Dame-Washington State in San Antonio, USC-Oregon, Florida-Georgia, Texas-Oklahoma State, and Wake-Miami

Barnstorming! The game we've all been waiting for. Ok, maybe not, but this thing should be renamed the Kevin White Bowl. This one is his baby.

Big weekend of college football. The Cocktail Party, huge games in the Pac 10 and Big 12, a big one at BB&T Stadium, and this epic "Battle at the Alamodome" in San Antonio.

Oh and while you're at it, feel free to take a look at Matt's first official thoughts on the 2009-10 NBA season down at the bottom of the post.

On to the picks:

Georgia +16 vs. Florida in Jacksonville (CBS Sports 3:30pm)

Jeremy: Florida (-16)

I know that’s quite a spread for the Cocktail Party, but I’m thinking Florida is poised for a breakout performance. This game is effectively Georgia’s season at this point, so I’m sure Richt will have them fired up. But that Dawg defense has been really poor this year, so look for Tebow and Co. to torch them early and often.

Florida 38 Georgia 13

Dan: Georgia +16

Florida is one of the 3 best teams in the country. But they have been terrible against the spread. I don’t expect them to change that this week. Their offense has just not been explosive enough to blow people out, even a team with a defense as awful as Georgia’s. As Doug has mentioned, the UGA faithful seem to be getting restless with Richt for some unexplainable reason. I think he’ll have his team up and ready to go for Florida this weekend. That won’t help them win, but it will keep it (relatively) close.

Florida 34 Georgia 24

Matt: Georgia +16

Love the Cocktail Party! In a rivalry game, you know that Mark Richt is going to have the Dawgs fired up. Add that with the fact that Florida has looked rather pedestrian all year, and I think this game ends up being a nailbiter. One other thing, the Tim Tebow nonsense has to stop. And this is coming from somebody who worships at the altar of Tebow and would have no problem if the Church inducted him for sainthood tomorrow. But the guy is having an average year. The fact that he is showing up on people’s Heisman radar is ridiculous. He threw TWO pick sixes last week! I’m sure the concussion has something to do with it, but I also think that Florida’s receivers are below average. I mean, Aaron Hernandez is pretty good, but Riley Cooper is not a number one. That guy would barely crack the rotation at Notre Dame. I think the Bulldogs shock the world.

Georgia 24 Florida 22

Mike: Florida (-16)

Cocktail party! Florida has played several difficult games over the last few weeks, while Georgia enjoyed an off week to rest and prepare for this game. Regardless, Florida’s defense should have no problem shutting down the Georgia offense and, after several poor performances, Tim Tebow should bounce back this week against a toothless Bulldog defense. Georgia fans will need to be sauced up to endure this bloodletting.

Florida 35 Georgia 10

Doug: Georgia +16

Now this is what neutral site football is all about!! Please take notes Swarbrick and Heisler. If you get two heavyweights on the field at the same time, you get energy and passionate fanbases and excitement. If you schedule Washington State in the state of Texas and insist on keeping all of the revenue, you get a 0.4 rating on NBC, zero buzz, and a half-full crowd.

You gotta love the Cocktail Party no matter how big of a mismatch this game appears to be on paper. Just seeing those uniforms on the field and the half red and half blue crowd in the stadium is special.

My feeling on handicapping is that any time you think a team might have a chance to win the game, you better take the points. It would not shock me if Georgia is right in this thing in the fourth quarter. Florida is just not the same this year for whatever reason. They've been awfully fortunate to stay undefeated. Great defense, but the offense is not nearly as explosive. I don't know what's going on, but Tebow seems to be a shell of himself and they don't have the big time Percy Harvin type gamebreaker to build around offensively.

I expect this game to be feisty as always. Hopefully they have this thing on at the ND pregame event in San Antonio. Then again, Heisler and Swarbrick and company wouldn't want us to see what big time football actually looks like, so maybe not.

Florida 24 Georgia 17

Miami -7 at Wake Forest (ABC Sports 3:30pm)

Jeremy: Wake Forest (+7)

I hate this pick, mainly because I don’t know anything about Wake. But looking at their performance this year, they do seem to be pretty frisky at home. After dropping a tough game last week to Clemson, I sense some lingering sluggishness, particularly from Jacory Harris. A few bad Miami turnovers keep this game close until the 4th quarter, when Miami comes alive to pull out a close W.

Miami 27 Wake 24

Dan: Miami -7 - LOCK OF THE WEEK

Wake may be putting together a quietly decent season (tied with Miami in the ACC), but they are in a different class. Plus, I think Jacory Harris and company bounce back after their miserable performance last week.

Miami 28 Wake 17

Matt: Miami -7

I will be at this game, and I’m looking forward to getting a look at what should be a pissed off Miami team after losing in OT to Clemson last week. Meanwhile, Wake lost to Navy last week. Without those scrappy Middies even attempting a pass. Hide the women and children.

Miami 37 Wake 6

Mike: Wake (+7):

Just as it seemed that Wake may be poised to claim the ACC Atlantic Division crown, the Deacs lost badly at Clemson and subsequently laid an egg in a non-conference game last week against Navy. Wake, nonetheless, figures to benefit from a return to the friendly confines of BB&T Stadium (just rolls off the tongue, huh) against a Miami team that is similarly licking its wounds after a tough overtime loss to Clemson. This game has all the makings of an offensive shootout that could go either way, so I will gladly take the seven points.

Miami 38 Wake 35

Doug: Miami -7 -- LOCK OF THE WEEK

Whoa! Game of the year for the Demon Deacons. I'm hearing some big things coming out of Winston-Salem for this game. BB&T Stadium will be rockin and rollin, especially after that thrilling near-win at Navy last week.

This line looks like a no-brainer to me though. Miami is a good football team who just had a bad week against a hot Clemson team. Meanwhile, Wake lost to Navy last week in a game where the Middies did not attempt one pass. I see no reason why The U won't go into Winston with a chip on their shoulder and dominate.

Miami 24 Wake Forest 10

South Carolina +5.5 at Tennessee (ESPN 7:45pm)

Jeremy: South Carolina (+5.5)

BIG letdown game coming for the Vols. Kiffin has done a nice job getting his team up for his 2 Super Bowls against Florida and Bama, but I can’t see him holding this team together for another big SEC matchup. Spurrier is licking his chops with the opportunity to smack down a brash whippersnapper. The Cocks take over Rocky Top and escape with a big victory.

South Carolina 23 Tennessee 20

Dan: South Carolina +5.5

Tennessee put all it had into its tough game last week with Alabama. That was a physical, defensive game and now they have to get ready for another tough physical game. Even at night at home, I don’t think they can pull off a touch down victory over the tough Gamecocks.

Tennessee 14 South Carolina 13

Matt: South Carolina +5.5

For all of Lane Kiffin’s talk, and he sure as hell does a lot of it (his complaining that Mt Cody should have gotten a penalty for taking his helmet off after the game was over was absolutely insane. Talk about being a sore loser.), the Vols have actually been pretty frisky this year. Jonathan Crompton has done a pretty good job of tuning out the boo’s early in the year and turning into a serviceable QB. I think this is the game they finally pull one out in the end.

UT 13 USC 10

Mike: South Carolina (+5.5):

Tennessee was obviously more impressive in defeat last week than South Carolina was in victory. The Gamecocks, however, have been the better team this season and, although this game is in Neyland Stadium, South Carolina has an excellent shot to win outright. Given the strength of both defenses and the weakness of both offenses, the over/under on this game should be about 12.

South Carolina 9 Tennessee 6

Doug: Tennessee -5.5

Ya know, I have no idea why I'm going with Tennessee here because I actually think South Carolina is a good team this year. But there is something wierd about this line that makes me think that Vegas is really high on the Vols right now. They seem to be asking me to take South Carolina here, which makes me wonder if it's a sucker bet.

Tennessee really does seem to have something going. Their defense is really playing at a high level with Monte Kiffin dialing up the schemes, and Crompton is moving the ball through the air.

Someone probably has to say it even though I sort of wanted to see him go up in flames. Lane Kiffin might be getting something going in Knoxville. They are a more feisty team this year, and he has them at #6 in the country in the 2010 Rivals recruiting rankings. I'm looking at their schedule, and they might be able to run off 5 wins in a row here and finish with 8 wins. If that happens, you gotta think his recruiting momentum will pick up considerably. I'm sort of happy for Vols fans even though I don't like Kiffin. I would like to see a strong Tennessee program.

Tennessee 20 South Carolina 10

Texas -9 at Oklahoma State (ABC Sports 8pm)

Jeremy: Texas (-9)

This should be one heck of a game. Of course, the Cowboys have had several opportunities to make big splashes on the national scene in the recent past and have been unable to capitalize. Texas isn’t getting a whole lot of respect even with the SEC heavyweights struggling in the last few weeks. Their schedule has not been too impressive, and Colt McCoy has not been too Heisman-like thus far. But without Dez Bryant, Okie St. can’t keep up with the Horns, and McCoy vaults himself back into the Heisman picture with a big performance on the road.

Texas 41 Oklahoma St. 21

Dan: Oklahoma State +9

There is an article on ESPN this week about how Colt McCoy can seal up the Heisman this week. What? Excuse me? Colt is currently 31st in passer rating, 24th in passing yards 18th in touchdowns, and has less than a 2 to 1 TD to INT ratio. To be fair, he does have the 2nd highest completion rate in the country. But in his 3 closest games he has thrown 3 TDs and 4 INTs. What a fraud! If he wins the Heisman this year, barring some major changes over the next month, the award is a joke. He is not the best player in college football this year. He’s not even top 5! Given that…

Texas 24 Oklahoma State 17

Matt: Texas -9

Did Texas finally get their act in gear last week, or was it just a byproduct of going up against another bad Big 12 defense? I kind of think that Mack Brown can see the light at the end of the tunnel, and this is really their only big test left. Plus, the Heisman is sitting right there on a pedestal for McCoy to take, and he is finally starting to put up some big numbers. I think T Boone Pickens is using his benjamins to wipe away tears and the Cowboy fans at Eskimo Joe’s will be crying in their beers on Saturday night.

Side note, Stillwater is randomly on my list of the college towns I would like to visit for a game. The list probably goes like this (why did I not go to Florida for graduate school?)

Baton Rouge
Gainesville
Tuscaloosa
Athens
Auburn
Oxford (MS, not OH. Sorry Mike Haywood)
Austin
Madison
Stillwater
State College

Texas 45 OSU 21

Mike: Oklahoma State (+9)

Considering that I keep getting burned by betting against Texas and considering further that I constantly rip Oklahoma State for being overrated, this is not a very comfortable pick for me. Nonetheless, the Pokes, even without Dez Bryant and Kendall Hunter, have quietly played excellent football over the last few weeks and the home crowd at T. Boone Pickens Stadium will be electric on Saturday. Texas’ defense, of course, will be a much greater challenge for the Oklahoma State offense than its previous foes, but I believe that Zac Robinson is up for the challenge. I expect the Longhorns to survive, but barely, in a tightly contested affair in Stillwater.

Texas 28 Oklahoma State 24

Doug: Oklahoma State +9

Part of me thinks that Texas is long overdue for a breakout performance, but part of me thinks that Texas just isn't that much better than the rest of these Big 12 teams. Oklahoma State is missing some big time players (Dez Bryant, Kendall Hunter, etc), but it's still a talented team that has been pointing to this game all year long. I would LOVE to see Oklahoma State pull the upset on Saturday.

I hate to keep bringing this up, but is there any way Texas would go undefeated if they were playing USC's schedule this year?? No way!! I still can't get over USC's schedule this year. They play at Ohio State, at Washington, at Cal, at Notre Dame, at Oregon, and at Arizona State. I don't care what the computers say. That's the toughest schedule in the nation this year. It's extremely difficult to go into all 6 of those venues and end up going undefeated.

I can't say repeat this enough. USC should be CELEBRATED in college football for their scheduling. They very easily could try to take the path of least resistance and try to "schedule" their way to a title game with 3 I-AA and WAC schools to start the season like these SEC and Big 12 schools (I'm looking right at you Texas) and no one would bat an eye about it, but they have chosen to play the best that they can week in and week out. They schedule as well as they can, and they get punished because it's extremely difficult to go undefeated against that type of schedule.

What an awful system college football has for selecting a champion. It rewards teams that play as many cupcakes as possible, and punishes teams that actually try to test themselves.

Texas plays THREE true road games this year. THREE. Pathetic. There's only one other school that I know that would have the audacity to schedule three true road games, and that school has been demoted to midmajor status in my eyes. There's your list: Texas and Notre Dame. Both schools should be ASHAMED of themselves.

Texas 31 Oklahoma State 27

USC -3.5 at Oregon (ABC Sports 8pm)

Jeremy: USC (-3.5)

The Trojans looked bored last weekend and a big game in Eugene should provide the necessary motivation to put their eyes back on the prize. SC’s schedule down the stretch should help their computer rankings, but this might be the last chance for the Trojans to make a big statement and force the voters to keep them near the top. Chip Kelly has done a great job bringing his team back from the brink, but when the Trojans are focused, they are damn near unbeatable.

USC 31 Oregon 23

Dan: USC -3.5

Something tells me this USC team is starting to build into that late November form where they are clearly better than anyone else in the country. They may be a week or two away, but I think they are close enough to handle an Oregon team that has been playing above its ability level for the last month and is due for a let down.

USC 27 Oregon 17

Matt: USC -3.5 LOCK OF THE YEAR

USC is not losing this game. They are better at every position on the field. Every single one. They are motivated. They know that losing this game more than likely means losing (or sharing) the PAC 10. Pete Carroll does not lose big games. Period. Matt Barkley has gone on the road to Columbus and South Bend and won. I know that Eugene is crazy, but what more does the kid have to prove. He is winning the Heisman at some point, maybe next year if (when) Jimmy Clausen goes pro. USC destroys Oregon. You heard it here first.

USC 30 Oregon 13

Mike: USC (-3.5)- Lock of the Week:

Autzen Stadium is widely regarded as one of the toughest places to play and the Ducks will enter this game with plenty of confidence. Still, USC, like no other team in college football, embraces the challenge of winning in difficult environments, so you can expect that Pete Carroll will have his team “pumped and jacked” for this game. With Matt Barkley improving on a weekly basis, USC’s offense should be able to move the ball effectively against the Oregon defense. In addition, the USC defense, despite getting carved up by Sean Canfield last week, is certainly capable of slowing down Jeremiah Masoli and the rest of the Oregon offense. In typical fashion, the Trojans will swagger into Autzen Stadium and dominate the host Ducks.

USC 33 Oregon 7

Doug: USC -3.5

What a game! The Pac 10 is the strongest conference in America this year in my opinion. This one is basically for the conference championship.

If there's one team out there that I think could beat USC in the Pac 10, it's Oregon. I remember being out in Vegas in 2007 watching the Oregon-USC game in the Mirage Sportsbook, and that was probably the only time I've ever watched USC and felt like they were not the better team on the field. Oregon legitimately whipped USC up and down the field that day. I actually thought that was going to be the game where USC had officially peaked as a program and might be headed toward a downturn. Of course, the Trojans ended up winning their last five games and destroyed Illinois in the Rose Bowl.

Oregon is freaking dangerous. When they get hot, look out. I don't know what it is, but that offense always looks so fast on their home turf. Look at what they have being doing to teams in the last month. They just annhilated Washington last week. 43-19 on the road!

Meanwhile, USC is all over the map seemingly from quarter to quarter. They'll look like gangbusters for a drive or two, and then fall apart immediately after. They actually have taken a step backward on defense the last couple weeks even though there's a ton of talent there. Oregon State put almost 500 yards of offense up on USC and made that game close late. For whatever reason, USC's defense hasn't been able to close out games for them the last couple weeks.

But I keep looking at the Trojans and think that they are awfully close to putting it all together at some point. Whenever that day comes, they will be unbeatable. I don't want to bet against them doing that this week in Oregon, so I'll go with the Trojans. I think they'll find a way to get it done in Eugene.

USC 31 Oregon 27

Notre Dame -28 vs. Washington State in San Antonio (NBC Sports 7:30pm)

Jeremy: Notre Dame

The performance of ND’s secondary the last few weeks makes me think that even a team as lousy as Wazzu could keep this game relatively close until halftime, and force the Irish to keep the starters in for most, if not all, of the 3rd quarter. But I’m going to put on the Optimist Hat and say that some of the recent personnel changes will pay off and tighten up the defense. The DL and the LBs have been playing really well the last few weeks, coinciding with the emergence of Manti Te’o and Kapron Lewis-Moore.

Perhaps this is just me really wanting to see the youngsters get a bunch of playing time, but I think the starters will be out halfway through the 3rd quarter, at the earliest. WSU has no answer for the Irish offense, and unless ND completely shoots themselves in the collective foot, they should have no trouble moving the ball and should get points out of every drive.

Of course, almost nothing that “should” have happened this year (at least against those opponents perceived to be “lesser”) has in fact happened. The Irish have played close game after close game when squared off against teams that have lesser talent. So I suppose a part of me wouldn’t be surprised if Wazzu keeps this game within 2 scores late into the 2nd half.

But I really think we finally see the Irish pound the heck out of someone and get the young’uns some serious PT.

ND 52 WSU 21

Dan: Notre Dame -30 Washington State

Notre Dame will win this game. Washington State is terrible. There is really nothing more to say.
Matt: Notre Dame

For the record, I don’t think the Irish cover. There is nothing to analyze here, other than the predicted amount of empty seats there will be in the AlamoDome. With it being a home game at Wake, a night game in San Antonio and Halloween parties to attend, this is the first Irish game in a while that I have no plans to watch and won’t even be setting the DVR to record. Thanks White / Swarbrick. Looks like there may be more of these ahead…

ND 41 Wazzu 17

Mike: Notre Dame (outright):

This is the product of Kevin White’s brilliant 7-4-1 “barnstorming” model: a 7:30 game on Halloween night against the worst BCS conference team in 20 years in a random city with no geographical nexus to either team. Ugh.

Anwyay, this game should be viewed as an opportunity to provide younger players, such as Dayne Crist, Theo Riddick and Jamoris Slaughter, with valuable experience for the rest of this season and beyond. The only real cause for concern is that Wazzu seems to have found its quarterback of the future in Jeff Tuel, who threw for over 300 yards against Cal last week. Considering that ND’s defensive backs have shown up for most games disguised as ghosts, it is reasonable for Irish fans to be frightened by the possibility of another aerial assault by an opposing freshman signal caller. Also, for gambling (or entertainment) purposes, it seems dangerous to bet on Charlie Weis with a spread this large, given his aversion to running up the score.

Notre Dame 41 Washington State 21

Doug: Notre Dame

Maybe I should be ashamed that I'm actually flying down to San Antonio with my wife and in-laws for this game (especially since I've been railing against this game for two years), but I'm kind of content to wear it as a badge of honor. How many times in your life can you go to San Antonio to watch Notre Dame on Halloween night in a stadium that MIGHT have 30,000 people in a 65,000 seat stadium?? We might never see anything like this again!! This is like the folks who were at Disco Demolition night back in the 70s at Comiskey Park. "Remember that game when ND played Washington State in Texas and no one was there?? How weird was that??" I'm almost more excited to be participating in this whole Barnstorming spectacle than any ND game I've attended in the last ten years. Ok, that's a lie, but there's definitely a novelty factor to it. Every time I've mentioned the trip to someone at work or wherever, the response is "that's kinda cool that ND is doing that. San Antonio is a fun town."

I don't even remember how we ended up deciding to go to this game, but I will say that there is more intrigue to the concept than I might have been willing to admit. It's like a built-in vacation in a city we've never visited, and you get to see Notre Dame football as an added bonus. Now, would I rather be an hour up the road to see Notre Dame-Texas in Austin?? Of course!! That goes without saying, and I still would prefer that ND goes back to a more home and home based schedule.

On principle, the game goes against everything that ND stands for, but in reality, I think it's going to be a fun trip. It'll be like an ND bowl game with all the pomp and circumstances that you normally see on a bowl game trip (official hotel, pep rally, tailgate, etc) minus the fact that our opponent is bowl worthy. If the game was against a better opponent, I think it would be something I'd sign up for every year. That makes me a hypocrite I suppose, and I guess I could say I've turned into the the Chicago Cubs-esque "I don't care about championship football, I just want to see the gold helmets" guy who is enabling the program and giving the administration no reason to make changes. I guess White/Swarbrick can always count on enough dump schmucks like me to sign up for whatever gimmick games they can dream up. But I'm still looking forward to going to the game and closing down Pat O'Briens afterward with a few Cat 5 Hurricanes.

With that said, this is going to be a lousy football game. Washington State is horrible, and the Alamo Dome might be half full. In twenty years, we'll be having the debate of which game was more embarrassing to attend: The 2007 Duke game when we were 1-9 and coming off BACK TO BACK HOME LOSSES TO SERVICE ACADAMIES (and we got legitimately blown out by one of them) or the 2009 Washington State "barnstorming" game in freaking San Antonio. I think it's a legitimate toss up. We'll let history be the judge. I still say the Duke game was the worst. How can you top that?? We were 1-9!!! And it was Duke!! That's my vote for the most embarrassing game to attend in recent ND football history. Then again, if I actually attended that, I'd probably be carrying that one around too as a badge of honor along with the other 3,500 fans who actually attended that one.

By the way, I just googled "2007 Notre Dame football" to look up that team's schedule, and there's actually a Wikipedia page for it!! Are you kidding me??! Why even bother to compile that information about the worst team in Notre Dame history?? Has anyone ever read those game recaps?? I think I would start crying about halfway through the Georgia Tech recap (which in my opinion was the most depressing game I've ever attended). If I could figure out how to alter it or delete the entire entry, I would do it right now.

Anyway, there is NOTHING about this game that is worthy of discussion, so I figured that I'd throw out some over/unders on the weekend:

1) Over/under on the number of Washington State fans in attendance: 1,000

While most people are curious as to how many ND fans are going to make the trip for this game, I'm even more curious to see how many Washington State fans will be there. Are they going to view this game as their "bowl game" and come out en masse hoping to shock the world?? Are they looking for revenge from that 2003 collapse against ND to start the season?? I don't know what their ticket allotment was, but I can't imagine that it was too high.

Washington State is historically bad this year. I can't see how any WSU fan is going to be interested in attending this game unless they live in Texas, even if it is Notre Dame. I'm assuming it will be friends and family only and maybe the guy who waves the Cougar flag on ESPN College Gameday.

Prediction: UNDER

2) Over/under on NBC's television rating for Notre Dame-Washington State: 1.5

The funniest thing about the whole "barnstorming" idea is that NBC is the one who was pushing for these games. They somehow convinced themselves that "more games=better" and "primetime=big ratings." Both assumptions are false. More ND games for NBC means more home games for ND, but that just means that we have to fill out the schedule with "buy games" instead of home and homes. So what you end up getting is a bunch of bad home/neutral games for NBC to televise (WMU, Washington State, Army, Tulsa, etc), which ultimately means bad ratings in those games. Wouldn't NBC rather show 6-7 telecasts that feature more compelling matchups and draw higher ratings than 7 home games and a horrible neutral site game that draw middling ratings?? Think about this. If you showed Alabama-ND this weekend, it would get a 5.0-6.0 rating. ND-WSU is probably going to get like a 2 at best. Wouldn't NBC make more money from showing 6 really good games than 8 mediocre games??

NBC is all about cost control and cheap programming it seems. They trot that Jay Leno Show out there 5 nights a week because it is cheap, but it gets horrible ratings. They also think that showing one NFL game on Sunday night is somehow going to keep their entire sports division afloat. With ND, they just assume that showing 8 games is better than showing 6, but they've watered down the product by asking for 8 games. This is exactly why NBC is really not even a major tv network any more. NBC is the worst run tv company I've ever seen.

Second, NBC has convinced themselves that "primetime=big ratings," which is equally ludicrous. NBC looked at ABC and CBS and saw their big primetime games, and decided they needed some of that. And of course, NBC doesn't get it. The reason ABC gets huge ratings for their primetime games is because the games are good!!! If ABC was trotting out Texas-Baylor and Penn State-Indiana in primetime, their ratings would be awful. Instead, they are showing big time matchups every week like Texas-Oklahoma State, Ohio State-USC, Miami-Oklahoma, USC-Oregon, etc. CBS got a huge rating for LSU-Florida. That's because it's freaking LSU-Florida!! Not because it was "primetime."

Meanwhile, NBC thinks that trotting out ND-Washington State in primetime is going to be some sort of ratings bonanza. Umm, that's not happening. The only way you are going to get a big audience for a primetime game is with a compelling matchup. Most football fans have already watched a game or two during the day. If you don't put up a big time game on Saturday night, people are going to do something else.

If anything, NBC almost would have been better off showing this game at 3:30pm. There's really not a lot of good games during the day on Saturday other than Georgia-Florida.

If NBC didn't have a gun to ND's head demanding 8 tv broadcasts a year, we'd probably be able to go back to a 7 home-5 away or 6 home-6 away type schedule that would allow us more flexibility to schedule home and homes. On ND's end, we really need to end the charade and play a night game or two every year at Notre Dame Stadium to satisfy NBC. Could you imagine the ratings for a night ND-Texas type game at ND Stadium?? My god!! We should play our home opener at night every year (even if it's a weaker game), and we should try to do one other big primetime marquee matchup. Then, NBC gets their primetime game, and maybe we can go back to scheduling the way we used to schedule.

My initial inclination was to say that the ratings for this game will fall off a cliff, but let's be honest. Whether ND fans want to admit it or not, they're at least a little curious to see what things look like down there in San Antonio. I would expect the ratings to be decent for the start of the game and borderline nonexistent when ND is up big in the second half.

Pick: OVER

3) Over/under on the number of times I offer my ND-WSU ticket to a Spurs fan in exchange for tickets to Saturday night's San Antonio Spurs-Sacramento Kings game at the AT&T Center: 5

I'm not really a huge NBA guy, but how many times are you going to get to see the Spurs and The Big Fundamental lace it up in San Antonio?? That would be pretty sweet to see that game. Wish it was on Friday night instead. Then again, who am I kidding?? It's sad to admit, but I'd rather watch Dayne Crist lead the ND backups for three quarters than go watch the best team in the NBA. I guess it's a disease.

Scary thought though on attendance. The AT&T Center holds about 20,000 seats, and I'm assuming that the Spurs sell out their home games. Plus, Texas-Oklahoma State is at 8pm EST. I didn't realize Austin is only an hour from San Antonio, so I'm assuming that San Antonio is a huge Longhorns town since there's no other major D-IA program in town. A lot of people who might normally be attracted to Notre Dame coming into town might rather stay at home or go to a bar to watch Texas play their biggest game of the year. Or they are going to the Spurs-Kings game. What are the odds that ND would come into town on the same day as two big local events?? No way for Kevin White and company to predict that, but that's the risk you take when you go off to a random neutral site and sign up a team that has zero local interest.

Pick: UNDER

4) Over/under on the number of excuses that will come out of the mouths of Jack Swarbrick and John Heisler when the stadium is half-full for this game: 20

From what I'm reading, this game is definitely not sold out. You can go on Ticketmaster and buy a whole 25 tickets together if you want. You can also go on Stubhub and buy a $70 face value ticket for about $10. I'm expecting a pretty full lower part of the stadium and a completely empty upper deck. I went down to Miami last year for the Orange Bowl, and it was a similar situation. They were GIVING away tickets to that game. We sat in the club section at Dolphins Stadium with a bunch of throw-ins for like $20 apiece. The lower section ended up being almost full, but the upper deck was dead.

Anyway, this really doesn't surprise me all that much. You're going to sell out a 65,000 seat stadium in San Antonio at $70 a pop ($140 for two tickets) for ND-Washington State?? It would be one thing if this game was at Notre Dame Stadium. People are always going to want to come to South Bend to be on campus and sit in Notre Dame Stadium, but the Alamo Dome??

Doesn't the lack of demand for this game prove what we have been saying all along?? Keep the freaking games on the college campuses. ND fans don't want to see ND play in San Antonio unless they are using it for a vacation. ND fans want to see ND play in ND Stadium or on another college campus. I love ND road trips. Loved going to Lincoln and Knoxville and Chapel Hill and even to Ann Arbor and East Lansing. If ND is playing an interesting road game at a new venue, I will be there in a second. But I'm looking at the future schedules, and there are a grand total of ZERO interesting road trips for ND fans. That's really a shame.

Isn't that what scheduling is all about?? We keep talking about our bottom end teams, but the real issue needs to be focusing on improving the top games on our schedule. That's where some people are missing the point. The only reason our schedule looks good in the computer ratings is because we play "better" cupcakes. Who cares about your cupcakes?? I don't care about computer ratings or the fact that Tulsa is the 50th best team according to Sagarin. It's freaking Tulsa. They could go 12-0 in their conference, and they are still a cupcake with 250 pound linemen, 80th ranked recruiting classes, 30,000 seat stadiums, and zero tradition. I don't care if our cupcakes are better than D-IAA teams. Cupcakes are cupcakes.

The top end of the schedule is all I care about. Marquee games and interesting home and home series. We should have 3 heavyweights and one interesting new home and home series (GT, Clemson, UNC, Texas A&M, etc) every year. You can fill in the rest with Purdue, MSU, Pitt, Stanford, Navy, and 3 cupcakes from there. I really don't care that much about the bottom end. Cupcakes are all the same to me. Focus on the top end. People only care about your big games and who you have beaten. No one cares if we beat Tulsa. They will care if we beat Alabama or even Clemson.

Anyway, back to Swarbrick and his band of merry men. You know they are going to bust out every excuse in the book when this game isn't sold out. Halloween, trick or treating, bad economy, Spurs game that night, the game is about "more than money, etc. I am looking forward to hearing all these excuses on Monday. And you KNOW they are going to pronounce this game as a great success afterward even if the game has a lousy tv rating and lousy attendance.

Pick: OVER

5) Over/under on the number of quarters Jimmy Clausen will play in this game: 2

My only thought on the actual game itself. By all accounts, yes, Washington State really is THAT bad. As bad as the Washington team that we stomped last year and maybe worse. They have no talent, bad defense, bad special teams, extremely mistake prone, and not well-coached. I don't know how things have gotten so bad for Washington State, but they are the worst BCS conference team in the country and have been so for a couple years. What happened to the days of Ryan Leaf and Drew Bledsoe and some pretty good Cougar teams?? They were a Rose Bowl team this decade. Now, they fall behind 28-0 after the first quarter in every game.

Assuming that we jump out to a huge lead in the first half (I know, nothing should be assumed with this ND team), I think I'd get all of the starters out of there as soon as possible. No need to risk injury to Clausen or Allen or Tate or anyone. Get the freshman in there, get some reserves a look, and rest up for the stretch run. We've been pretty banged up lately, especially Armando Allen. We need Armando to get healthy. Honestly, I don't think it would be a bad idea to just sit him for the entire WSU game.

The other issue is that we gotta get Dayne Crist more snaps before the end of the year. Jimmy Clausen is now up to #8 on Scouts Inc's NFL Draft Big Board, and more and more people are talking about him like he's going pro. At the very least, we are going to be sweating out his decision, so it wouldn't be a bad idea to at least have some snaps under Dayne's belt before we have to potentially turn to him in 2010. The last thing we need in 2010 is another sluggish quarterback transition. Crist is talented, and I'd like to see how he looks. He might even look great, and we maybe we won't have have to worry so much about Clausen leaving.

By the way, if Crist gets into the game, we BETTER run the whole offense. Don't freaking run the ball up the middle the whole time he's in there. Let him throw and run the full offense. We should even be throwing down the field. There's no point in putting Crist into the game if you're not going to let him run the whole offense.

Pick: UNDER

Anyway, let's hope for the best. Maybe San Antonio will surprise us and bring out a raucous crowd on Saturday night, and hopefully the Irish jump out to a big lead and get all the backups into the game early.

Go Irish.

Notre Dame 38 Washington State 10

Bonus Picks:

MATT:

Rutgers +7.5 over UConn

Greg Schiano finds a way to get the win in Storrs. Have to question how ready UConn will be after burying a teammate earlier in the week.

Rutgers 27 UConn 24

Duke +7 over UVA

David Cutcliffe is quietly turning around the Duke program. If only Thaddeus Lewis had unlimited eligibility.

Duke 20 UVA 16

Orlando Magic +700

Allow me two paragraphs of NBA talk. First of all, if you’re looking for my pick for NBA champion, let’s go with the Orlando Magic. Sure, conventional wisdom says the Lakers or Celtics, but I’m not buying it. Can Garnett stay healthy? Will Sheed become a distraction either as a ref baiter or malcontent as a 6th man? Will Ron Artest behave? It goes without saying obviously, but he is crazy. Remember the crap he pulled with Kobe in the playoffs? I just don’t like the vibe from that team, and you have the natural hangover factor from winning it last year. LeBron is still surrounded by role players, even with Shaq. Shaq has like a 3 inch vertical leap at this point. His only move his back his man under the basket, catch it, and dunk. That’s it. Plus, he is useless in end of game situations since people can just hack him and he clogs up the middle for LeBron drives (Rajon Rondo, what were you thinking trying a one handed dunk with LeBron on the court? He had to know that thing was getting stuffed in his face!)

So that brings me to the Magic. Dominant big man? Check. Multiple scoring options? Check. (Howard, Rashard “the Juice” Lewis, Vince Carter, Jameer Nelson.) Great PG play? Check. (If you don’t believe me check out Jameer Nelson’s numbers last year before he got hurt.) Coach that looks like a porn star? Check. All the ingredients are there.

A few predictions:

MVP- LeBron

ROY – Tyreke Evans

Most Improved – Chris Douglas-Roberts (He might average 16 a game by default. That Nets roster is hideous.)

Sixers (my hometown team) – 43-39 – 7th seed in East.

Finals – Magic over Spurs in 7

MIKE:

Syracuse (+16) over Cincinnati: Cuse in the house, oh my God, oh my God! Are you really going to bet against the Orange on Halloween? I didn’t think so.

New Mexico State (+40) over Ohio State: Regardless of the teams, I just can’t turn down 40 points.

Texas Tech (-7) over Kansas: A bounce back effort is in order for the Red Raiders after last week’s stunning home beatdown by Texas A&M.

Oregon State (-9.5) over UCLA: Oregon State is starting to hit its stride this year. UCLA is just plain bad.

Indiana (+18) over Iowa: Iowa doesn’t seem equipped to beat anyone by more than two touchdowns, even Indiana.

DOUG:

UNC +16.5 at Virginia Tech -- Not a lot of people on that Butch Davis bandwagon right now. They actually peaked last year with that win over ND.

WVU -3 at USF -- The 'Neers are pretty frisky. USF is in a freefall.

Syracuse +15 vs. Cincy -- This game makes me a little nervous. Cincy could get in a dogfight if they aren't ready to go. If I was Brian Kelly, I'd probably start Callaros again this week. No need to rush Tony Pike back with the backup playing great. UC might actually be more dangerous with Callaros because he adds the run to the spread attack.

Central Michigan +5.5 at BC -- WATCH OUT. This could be the upset of the day if BC isn't ready to play.

Oregon State -10 over UCLA -- UCLA is IMPLODING. 0-4 in the Pac 10 right now and all kinds of in-fighting. How about Norm Chow's reputation these days?? Not exactly at the top of the coaching world any more.

Michigan State -3.5 at Minnesota -- Minnesota is horrible. Sparty has to find a way to win this game.

Last Week:

Jeremy: 5-0
Dan: 3-2
Matt: 3-2
Mike: 2-3
Doug: 2-3

Season:

Jeremy: 30-20-1
Dan: 28-22-1
Matt: 23-27-1
Mike: 22-28-1
Doug: 25-26-1

Lock of the Week:

Jeremy: 5-2
Dan: 4-3-1
Matt: 3-4
Mike: 3-4
Doug: 3-5

Some thoughts on Notre Dame, "blowouts," Swarbrick, and the 2010 schedule (ugh)

Maybe this makes me a Weis apologist, but oh well. Some thoughts on the 2009 season and the head coach.

3) I want to start out this post by talking about blowouts. One of the complaints that I tend to see after all of our close wins this year has been "we should be blowing these teams out!! We are so much talented than (insert "lesser program" here) and yet we are barely winning these games!! Fire Weis!!," which can be loosely translated as "they have even more white guys than we do! Why are we not winning these games by 30?" Fans want more convincing wins out of this Irish program. They want a few breathers. Games where it's 27-7 in the 3rd quarter, everyone is relaxed, people are doing the wave in the stands (you know you would!), and the other team is demoralized. We all check the scores around the country and see teams blowing other teams out of the building. Examples would be Oregon beating a Washington team 43-19 that we barely beat, and Virginia Tech beating BC 48-14 when we needed some fourth quarter heroics to beat that same team.

Well, I would love those wins too, so I did some thinking. How do we get some of those fancy blowouts that everyone else in the top 25 seems to get?? What gives?? What does it take to get some blowouts??

Well, part of it has to do with the quality of your opponents. Our schedule is average this year, but the only true lightweights we're playing this year are Nevada and Washington State. Nevada has 250 pound offensive linemen, and their "vaunted" defensive ends had bodies like free safeties. In other words, Nevada doesn't have the type of personnel to hang around with a motivated and hungry ND team, and we blew them out 35-0. Same with Washington State. Washington State has zero talent right now.

The other factor is whether your opponent shows up ready to play. You know these games. How many times has a team come off a big win and then doesn't show up ready to play?? Or maybe they are in the midst of a tough year and have packed it in already.

When was the last time you could say that about an ND opponent?? Everyone gets up to play ND, even the bad teams. It's ND. It's national television. You're going to study a little harder, practice a little more crisply, pay attention in those meetings, game plan a little more carefully, and maybe get charged up emotionally. Go back and read what some of those BC guys were saying after the game. Shinskie said playing a game at Notre Dame Stadium was the highlight of his sports career, and several guys on the BC team said they grew up as diehard Notre Dame fans. BC people can deny it all they want and talk about how much more important their conference games are, but the ND game is THE GAME for a lot of our traditional opponents. Schools like BC, Purdue, Pitt, and even Sparty view the ND game as a season-defining game. They charge more in ticket prices for the ND game. Heck, Purdue put the score of their win against us on their team rings!

I could tell as soon as BC ran out of the tunnel before the game that we were going to be in a dogfight. BC was JUICED. There's just no way that ND is going to view the BC/Purdue type games the same way that they do. I won't say that we looked sluggish coming out of the tunnel (ok, maybe a little), but it was more of an all-business approach. BC came out of the locker room like Spaziani had just given them a Norman Dale speech.

Now, I can already picture some old school ND fan stomping his feet and saying "SO WHAT?! I don't care if BC was pumped. We should be MORE pumped. We should have stepped on their throats from the start and buried them so badly that they wanted to go home at halftime! That's Notre Dame football!!"

Ok, you make a good point, and I acknowledge that ND football has not had that killer instinct in a long time. If you want to blow someone out, you need those big "nail in the coffin" type plays. Like the Floyd touchdowns in the Nevada game. Or a pick six. Or a bomb. Or a slant pass that goes to the house. Or a kickoff return for a touchdown. A big punt return. Or even an off tackle run where everything is blocked perfectly and the guy is gone. If you hit 2-3 of those plays in a game, your chances of blowing the other team out go through the roof.

How many of those plays have we had this year?? I'm trying to think about it, and I can think of maybe a handful of plays like that all year. The Floyd tds, a couple of Golden Tate's long tds, and maybe one or two long runs by Kyle Rudolph. That's basically it. For whatever reason, we haven't gotten a lot of those types of plays recently. We haven't had a 75 yard off tackle run for a touchdown in probably 10 years. Honest to god, when was the last time we had a running back rip through a hole and he was gone?? I can't even remember the last time that happened. Probably the Julius Jones/Tony Fisher era under Davie.

We don't get kickoff or punt returns for tds, and our defense isn't the type of ballhawking defense that gets you a pick six or a "sack and strip" type play. Our scores usually come from long, 10 play, seven minute drives, and our defense is "bend but don't break" and that's being generous. That eats up time on the clock. Think back to that ND-BC game. There were probably 5-6 possessions per half. If you don't score on almost all of them, the game is probably going to be close.

Maybe that's a lack of killer instinct or whatever, but I also think it comes down to another BIG factor: TALENT!! Look at the ND roster right now. How many true difference-making guys are out there in our lineup?? We have an elite quarterback, one elite WR, one very good TE, and a great outside linebacker. Every other guy on our team is basically comparable to your typical BC or Michigan State type player. Think back to Saturday's game, and think about who we were trotting out at wide receiver. Guys like John Goodman and Robby Toma. Is there any difference between a guy like Goodman and one of those BC receivers?? Are our WHITE linemen all that much different from all those WHITE linemen on BC?? The answer is no. Our running backs our pretty good but no game breakers back there. We're trotting out multiple white guys on our defense, and the only real difference maker on our whole defense is Manti Te'o. Every other guy is pretty much interchangeable with the guys that BC had.

Our most talented player has been out for 6 weeks with a broken collarbone. With him in the lineup, the offense would be potent. Without him, the offense is more ball-control.

The other thing is that the bad turf slows our team speed down even more. Every time Armando Allen looks like he's about to rip off a big run, he slips. The bad footing turns the game into a sloppy, mudfest. It's hard to break off big plays when you have giant divots all over the field. Notice how we were this big, explosive offense early in the year, and now we're bogged down. I think the bad field has something to do with it.

BC is a good football team. They don't have all world talent, but they have steady guys who play hardnosed, intelligent football. There are a lot of BC players who played high school football in Ohio and know how to tackle and wrap up and play physical. The only thing holding them back early in the year was their quarterback play. Shinskie is a bit of a turnover machine, but he's not a bad player and can throw the ball down the field. Now that they have functional QB play, BC is a pretty good squad. Heck, I think they're better than anyone we've played this year other than USC.

Anyway, that's my take on the game. I would have loved to have blown out BC, but I don't think that should have been the "expectation." The team got it done and won the game.

2) I had a conversation with an Ohio State law student at a wedding on Saturday who happened to be high school buddies with a current ND football player, and something dawned on me. What do our players think about the whole Weis situation?? Shouldn't their feelings be taken into consideration?? I get the impression that the players on this team are playing hard to win games for their coach to save his job, and more importantly, they ARE winning games for their coach. Shouldn't that matter?? It almost feels like there are all these voices outside the program demanding that Weis goes, but the people INSIDE the program want him to continue to build the program.

I think it might be time for people to just put aside their long term feelings on Charlie Weis and let things take their course. If you think Charlie Weis is not the long term answer at ND, just step aside for now and let things play out. Water always ends up finding its level. Think about the Bob Davie 2000 team. There were a lot of ND fans/alums who didn't seem to be enjoying that season because it was perceived to be "saving" Bob Davie's job. In the end, Davie proved that he wasn't up to the job when the team got destroyed in the Fiesta Bowl and started out 0-3 in 2001 with a horrible home loss to Michigan State. Davie never really could put together any type of consistency with the ND football program, so that stretch of wins in 2000 ultimately didn't preserve his job.

If Weis is such a bad coach as some are convinced, then he'll pull a Davie and implode later this year or next year. But I really am not seeing that at the moment. Right now, the guy is winning and has the program headed in a positive direction. The team is 5-2, and staring at 9-10 wins and a good bowl game. He's also got us in position to be a a double digit win type team in 2010. When I look at the Weis situation, I don't feel like the situation is hopeless. The program remains on an upward trajectory, and nothing that has happened this year has really changed that trajectory. We have not had one game where we didn't show up ready to play, we haven't been blown out, the offense has played well, and we're beating the types of teams that have beaten us for years (MSU, BC, etc). If Weis goes 9-3 or 10-2, there's no freaking way that he's getting fired. I don't see why it's even being discussed at this point. Why are we going to try to start all over when we've already invested this much time and energy into Charlie Weis?? We're going to fire him just as he's starting to show results on the field?

Plus, he's recruiting his face off. It's not like some Tubby Smith situation. Tubby wasn't really winning big at Kentucky either, but the bigger problem was that Tubby was bringing in all these 2 star and project type guys who had no business getting a scholarship offer from Kentucky. His recruiting never really gave the fans the hope that he was going to deliver big time success down the road at Kentucky.

Meanwhile, Weis is signing big time players left and right, and it sounds like we are in line to bring in several 5 star type guys again this year. How do you fire a coach who is on the verge of bringing in a top 5 class and maybe even the #1 recruiting class in the country?? If these recruits are buying in, why aren't the fans?? If Weis was a dead man walking, he wouldn't be bringing in these big time recruits.

Plus, the whole "If Clausen wasn't on this team, we'd be awful" indictment of Weis is a false argument. The only reason Clausen even came to ND is because of Weis!! If Weis wasn't here, Clausen would be starting at USC right now and winning the Heisman. Weis has turned Clausen into one of the best quarterbacks in the country and the type of guy who can carry you to a win on any Saturday. Why doesn't he get credit for that?? I don't see how Clausen's success should be viewed as some sort of asterisk for Charlie Weis' record. If Weis wasn't the head coach at ND, we'd probably be trotting out some Matt Lovecchio type QB and losing to BC or Michigan State by two touchdowns.

Perhaps my opinion on Weis will change (it does on practically a weekly basis), but I find myself zagging every time the "Fire Weis" crew zigs. I have done that with Mike Brey in the past, and I think that's where I'm at with Charlie Weis. He's not doing any damage to this program, he's recruiting well, he's winning games, the players are playing hard for him, and the program does appear to be headed in the right direction. I don't see any reason to even be talking about firing the guy right now. Until ND gets serious about doing all of the other things to be a big time football program, we might as well ride it out with Weis and see where things go. If he melts down over the next couple years, the same names that we're talking about now (Meyer, Kelly, etc) will be there down the road.

Finally, I wonder what it must be like to be a Notre Dame football player who was recruited to Notre Dame by Charlie Weis. Think about a guy like Dayne Crist who came to Notre Dame SPECIFICALLY to play for Charlie Weis and to learn how to become an NFL-caliber quarterback. The guy hasn't even started one game yet, and yet he has to hear constant reports about how his head coach is on the verge of getting fired. There are people talking about Charlie Weis like it's inevitable that he'll be gone by the end of the year and open speculation about the next head coach at ND. How would you feel if you were Dayne Crist and wondering who your head coach is going to be for the next 3 years??

Lou Holtz once said that you're never really off the hot seat at a place like Notre Dame, so I'll be the first to say that Weis is always one loss away from being on the hot seat. I also am certainly not saying that Weis is above criticism. There are plenty of things about Weis as a head coach that are worthy of criticism. But on the whole, I can live with him as the ND head coach right now. If that makes me an enabler, so be it.

1) Finally, I'll end with some thoughts on the 2010 Notre Dame football schedule. I'll post it again for a frame of reference:

Sept. 4: PURDUE
Sept. 11: MICHIGAN
Sept. 18: at Michigan State
Sept. 25: STANFORD
Oct. 2: at Boston College
Oct. 9: PITTSBURGH
Oct. 16: WESTERN MICHIGAN
Oct. 23: at Navy (at Meadowlands)
Oct. 30: TULSA
Nov. 6: (Bye)
Nov. 13: UTAH
Nov. 20: ARMY (at Yankee Stadium)
Nov. 27: at USC

I know Mike covered this topic (and I agree with every word he said), but I must say that I'm SHOCKED by some of the responses that he got to his post. If you think the 2010 Notre Dame football schedule isn't an abomination, I don't know what to tell you. That schedule makes a Penn State schedule look downright adventurous. We're playing FIVE mid-majors next year!! FIVE!! What other major football program is playing five mid-majors in one season?? The answer is none.

Think about this schedule if it was reversed and we played all of those cupcakes in the beginning of the year. Let's say we opened with WMU, Army, Navy, Tulsa, and Utah. How is that any different from a typical Penn State schedule that opens with 4 cupcakes to start the season before Big Ten play?? And it's not like we make up for it by playing a bunch of juggernauts in our "conference" stretch like the SEC teams do. How many big time programs are on this schedule?? The answer is two: Michigan and USC. We used to play 3-4 every year. How many ranked teams are on that schedule?? I would guess we'll play 2-3 ranked teams at the end of the day, and maybe as few as 1 (USC).

That schedule is middling at best. I don't care what the computers or Sagarin say. I can see it with my two eyeballs. We're playing 2 major programs, 5 mediocre programs, zero interesting new opponents, 5 mid-majors, and only 3 true road games. THREE!! What other program is only playing 3 road games?? If we're going to only play 3 road games, why not go one step further and just play zero road games??

I keep hearing the "Penn State and Ohio State play those types of schedules. Why shouldn't we?" stuff from our fanbase. Huh?? Since when are those schools our models for anything we've ever done?? Why not just turn into football factories and pump our players with HGH as well?? Because Penn State plays four MAC snacks every year, it doesn't make me want to do it.

Compare that to what USC is playing year in and year out. USC usually plays ELEVEN BCS schools every season and sometimes 12. They play 5-6 true road games. Between ND and their typical Pac 10 schedules, USC is usually playing one of the toughest schedules every year. They truly embody the "Anytime, Anywhere" spirit that ND once stood for. I'm embarrassed that we can no longer stand side by side with USC and project that image as a school that will always try to play the toughest schedule that we can. It's even more egregious because we are an independent and can't rely on a built-in conference schedule to give us some tough games.

This notion that playing a big time schedule hurts your ability to win a national title is completely laughable when you look at who has won the title the last two seasons. When Florida won the national title last year, they played Miami (FL), Tennessee, LSU, Georgia, Florida State, and Alabama in the SEC title game. Six legit heavyweight programs that bring in top 20 recruiting classes year in and year out, and that didn't seem to stop them from winning a title. Take a look at LSU in 2007. They played Virginia Tech, Florida, Auburn, Alabama, and Tennessee. Five heavyweights, and they won the national title.

Take a look at what Georgia is playing this year. They play Oklahoma State, Arizona State, and Georgia Tech in nonconference plus LSU, Florida, Tennessee, and Auburn. There are heavyweights up and down their schedule. Why are we playing FIVE MID-MAJORS, only three road games, and only two heavyweights when so many other schools are playing 5 or 6 of those types of teams every year?? Don't you want to EARN our path to the national title game instead of scheduling our way in??

We're closing down the year with five mid-majors in a row before the USC game. How is that going to prepare this team for the USC game?? Do you really think those games with Army and Tulsa and their 250 pound linemen are going to have us ready for the speed and power of USC's defensive line?? It'll be like the 2006 game all over again when we loaded up on service academies and were completely unprepared to go to battle with SC. Call me crazy, but I thought we would be building toward the USC game and be battled tested by the time we get out there. Right now, I would say there is a 0.0% chance of winning that game because we'll be puffed up on cupcakes and won't even be remotely ready to take on USC.

I'm not averse to playing 2-3 midmajors a year by the way. I think we should open with a Tulsa/Nevada type team every year, play Navy of course, and then sprinkle in one more Army type game. I could MAYBE even live with one more Utah/TCU/UConn type one off game against a decent lower tier team that would just love to come to South Bend and play us. But to play 5 in a row and only play 3 road games and only have two big time programs on the schedule is a disgrace to what ND is all about.

Now maybe the 2010 schedule is an aberration and we're going to get better schedules in the future, but what evidence has Swarbrick given that he has any plans to do such a thing?? He's locked us into a long term deal with Purdue, signed up for home and homes with Syracuse and BC, given no indication that Stanford and Michigan State are going anywhere from the ND schedule, and he's throwing out strawman arguments left and right about how unreasonable the alums are. Does that sound like the profile of a man who plans to bring back ND's tradition of playing challenging schedules??

If anything, the Purdue announcement is more disturbing than the Western Michigan thing. The fact that we just locked in for 10 years with Purdue and all of those games are going to be in the beginning of the year is a sign to me that there is absolutely ZERO creative thinking coming out of the athletic department when it comes to football scheduling. We just locked into 10 years with a lower tier Big Ten team instead of using that spot for some big time home and homes. Why not take a few breaks and play them 6 out of the next 10 years?? Why not insist on a 2 for 1 setup with them where we play 2 games at home (or even three) for every road game we play down there in West Lafayette?? Why not use them for our neutral site game?? It's Purdue!! They have no leverage with us. We could tell them to take a hike or that we'll only play them in a 2 for 1 setup, and they'll have no choice but to take it. Purdue NEEDS the ND game to sell tickets. If we offered them 2 for 1, they'd take it. But we don't even ask.

I could live with the 2010 schedule if Swarbrick simultaneously announced that we were playing a home and home with Alabama in 2014 and 2015, Texas in 2016-2017, Miami (FL) in 2018-19, and LSU in 2020-21. And while he's at it, throw in an announcement that we're taking a break from Stanford and setting up a 1-1-1 deal with somebody like Georgia Tech with one home, one away, and one neutral in Washington DC or the Meadowlands or even the Georgia Dome. Now THAT would be the type of leadership that I'd want to see.

The most annoying thing about the new scheduling policies is that I feel like the administration is being dishonest with me. They're trying to sell this new policy as some sort of challenge ("Utah is a BCS team!! Tulsa is on the rise!! Our alums are so dumb that they can't see that scheduling Tulsa is the same as scheduling Texas.") instead of what it really is. A money grab and an effort to pull a Penn State and maybe stumble into the BCS title game by virtue of an easy schedule. I can't stand the phony salesmanship. Don't sell me on Tulsa. I've been a Bengals fan for 20+ years. I've seen the Bengals try every possible bogus angle to sell me on what they're doing for 20 years. I can see a smokescreen all day long. Don't even bother trying it. I'd rather just see Swarbrick come out and admit it. "Yea, I'll admit, I hate what we're doing to our brand name and our reputation, but we really need the $10 million that the home games bring in. Maybe we even get lucky and sneak through the schedule if there are enough cupcakes on there." I wouldn't like it, but at least I would respect Swarbrick for coming out and being truthful about what we're doing.

The Good, The Bad, The Ugly - Week 7 (Boston College)

What a strange game. Once again the Irish needed the entire 60 minutes to determine the outcome. Although ND outgained BC, and won the turnover battle 5-0, the Eagles still had a chance to win the game late in the 4th quarter. In any event, the Irish were able to snap another embarrassing streak and tilt the series record against BC in ND’s favor. I can’t say I’m sorry that Saturday will be the last time that team will be coming to ND Stadium for a while.

OFFENSE

The Good

It wasn’t his best day, but Clausen remained patient, taking the short out routes that the BC defenders were giving him for most of the day. Much like last year, Spaziani appeared to dare Jimmy to take risks and force the ball into small windows. For the most part, Clausen didn’t take the bait. He was clearly frustrated with the inability to hit anything big, either down the middle or the sidelines, but took care of the ball, again leading a 4th quarter, come-from-behind, game-clinching TD drive.

Allen ran well when he was available – 98 yards on 21 rushes, 4.7 yards a carry. He was forced to leave on several occasions and its clear ND won’t probably have him at full strength again until the bowl game. The other backs were unremarkable.

The Legend of Golden Tate continues to grow by the week. Another strong game from the TN junior who had numerous big catches, none bigger than the 36 yard TD in the 4th quarter that proved to be the game-winner. He appeared to be suffering from a stinger or some other injury to his neck/shoulder. He wasn’t the only Irish WR banged up during this game. After making a near miraculous recovery from the vicious hit he received against the Trojans last week, Robby Parris went down early against BC. Duval Kamara also appeared to be hobbling a bit towards the end of a very productive game – 7 catches for 60 yards. The various injuries led to the debut of freshman Roby Toma from Hawaii, who had a few catches and the only drop of the day by an Irish WR.

The OL had its moments, generally keeping Clausen clean and opening some holes for the running game. Not their best day, but certainly not their worst. Look for them to take a big step forward and gain some more confidence in the next two weeks against Wazzu and Navy.

The Bad

Jimmy Clausen may very well be the best QB in the nation, but he’s definitely not perfect, and once or twice every game we Irish fans are reminded that he’s still a college kid that has quite a bit to learn. The most glaring example of this came in the Washington game with the ill-fated swing pass to Allen that led to a Husky TD. Yesterday, Clausen committed the grounding penalty in the end zone, giving the Eagles 2 points and the momentum that they would keep for much of the 1st half. Perhaps he’s lost a bit of confidence in his OL, but he doesn’t seem too comfortable stepping up in the pocket right now.

I wish I had the patience to go back and watch a replay of the last two games to focus primarily upon #9. I’m sure he’s being used to help the OL block at times, and I’m sure that defenses are focusing on slowing him down, but the Irish need to find a way to get him more involved in the passing game.

The Ugly

Not a whole lot jumps out at me here, but 3 quick notes: 1) ND’s inability to move the ball out of the shadow of their end zone in the 1st half and at least change field position had the Irish playing behind the 8-ball; 2) The Irish have been struggling in the red zone this year and their inability to punch the ball into the end zone yesterday made the game more exciting than it probably had to be; 3) Once again, ND had several opportunities to close out the game on offense but went three and out, giving BC chances to win the game late in the 4th quarter. Is the ND offense still lacking the killer instinct and the ability to put their collective foot on the throat of the opposition’s defense?

DEFENSE

The Good

Randy Hart and Bryant Young sure have been working some magic lately because the defensive line has become a real strength of this team. Montel Harris averaged only 1.7 yards per carry and was a relative non-factor in the game. Definitely some encouraging signs, especially considering so many of ND’s remaining opponents feature run-heavy offenses.

The LBs played well again today – everyone seems to feed off Manti Te’o, who just might be the best player on the defense already. He also seems to be rubbing off on Brian Smith, who’s been playing much better lately. Darius Fleming played sparingly and was often moved around from OLB and DE, but again was the most effective in putting pressure on the QB.

For the most part, the secondary played well on 1st and 2nd down. The CBs appeared to be playing more bump-and-run coverage and the safeties created 3 turnovers.

The Bad

As well as the defense played on 1st and 2nd down, they were very poor on 3rd down. BC was 6-13 on 3rd down, many of those conversions coming on 3rd and long. The Eagles also converted a 4th and 17 on the last drive of the game – a 30 yard pass to Gunnell, the ageless wonder. I’m glad that’s the last we’ll be seeing of him – seems like he’s been terrorizing the Irish for 8 years now. The Irish defense simply needs to be better when it comes to getting off the field in those 3rd and 4th down situations.

The Ugly

Hopefully this was the end of the Harrison Smith Experiment at safety. I don’t know what has come over that guy, but he’s clueless and helpless when it comes to pass coverage. He apparently started the game at OLB, which was a bit surprising given Darius Fleming’s availability. If Tenuta wants to keep him closer to the line of scrimmage, fine. But he no longer has any business roaming around in the secondary.

I was somewhat encouraged by Slaughter’s play at safety, given that he’s only practiced there for a week. But the safety play in general has been very poor this year, and with the impending graduation of Kyle McCarthy, it could continue to be a problem in the near future. Given ND’s depth at corner, I’m glad to see that Jamoris is being given a shot to play.

SPECIAL TEAMS

The Good

Another solid day for Nick Tausch. Both his FG attempts were right down the pipe. And he’s definitely starting to speed up his tempo on the PATs after learning a lesson against SC last weekend.

Not too many complaints about Ruffer’s kickoffs. He had some very good ones mixed with some mediocre ones. But I do think it’s a good idea to keep Tausch’s focus on the FGs. Hopefully Ruffer can continue to improve as the year progresses.

Another ballsy call on the fake FG. Unfortunately a questionable holding call on Lane Clelland wiped out a TD, but the play was definitely there. Personally (I know I’m biased) that looked like a decent block, but since the snap was a little off, Clelland had to hold his block a few seconds later than he probably would have liked. Tough call.

The Bad

I must admit that I’m getting a bit antsy for the return units to start making an impact. I don’t expect a return for a TD every week, but I don’t think its too much to ask for something explosive once a game.

In what was probably Golden Tate’s worst moment of the game, he allowed a BC punt to roll all the way down to the ND 12. The next possession resulted in the safety, and effectively changed field position in BC’s favor for the next several possessions.

The Ugly

I know he’s only a freshman, but Turk has been pretty disappointing thus far. His performance yesterday was very poor, both in distance and height of his punts. He wasn’t able to get ND out of trouble in the 1st half, and couldn’t pin the Eagles down in their own territory in the 2nd half. I have confidence he’ll get better as the season goes on, but Notre Dame should not have as many difficulties in the freaking punting game as they have this year.

COACHING

The Good

Decent gameplan from Weis yesterday – he probably knew that Spaziani would be dropping a bunch of guys into coverage and giving Clausen a bunch of funky looks. Charlie got guys open on the edge and Clausen was able to move down the field taking advantage of the large cushions given by the BC defense.

As noted above, Hart and Young are working wonders with the defensive line, which seems to be improving every week. The LBs are also getting better, perhaps simply by playing Te’o more and more.

Give the defensive coaches some credit for identifying some of the problems, particularly in the secondary, and attempting to correct them through personnel changes. It remains to be seen whether moves like Jamoris Slaughter to S will pay off in the long run. But they’re trying something different at least.

The Bad

Weis has been taking some flak on the internet about the decision to go for the TD on 4th and goal rather than taking the 3 points to tie the game. It was certainly a tough decision, but I don’t think I disagree with him. The defense was playing well at that point, and Weis assumed he’d get the ball back with some great field position (and he did). I don’t think I agree with the playcall – if you want to hand the ball to Hughes, fine. But running out of the Wildcat at that point just seemed a little too cute.

Spaziani really seems to have Weis’ number. It was amazing to watch BC drop 8 or even 9 guys into coverage in passing situations and force ND to dink and dunk down the field. Such a strategy would lead one to believe that the Irish should have been able to murder BC on the ground. Not so – ND ran the ball in predictable situations and BC always seemed to be ready for it. I was surprised that NC ran so many plays from the shotgun yesterday. I know that Clausen is having trouble with the toe coming out from center, but it really seems like some play action could have done some serious damage to that defense.

The Ugly

The pass defense. All of it.

BUCKEYES

Offense – GOLDEN TATE. On the receiving end of both of Clausen’s TD passes, Tate continues to make his mark on the Irish record book and cement his status as an All-American caliber WR.

Defense – MANTI TE’O. The former 5-star recruit has led the Irish in tackles since his ascension to a starting role. He had a hand in many of the big plays on defense, including forcing a fumble and blowing up a screen play. Manti’s performance this year really shows the difference between the 5-star, can’t-miss recruits and the large assortment of 4-star recruits littered throughout ND’s roster. If the Irish really want to make it to the top of the mountain, they have to get more Manti’s on a much more consistent basis.

Special Teams – NICK TAUSCH. 2 more FGs for the freshman who continues to impress. Wouldn’t surprise me at all if this kid breaks many of the scoring records at ND.

The Washington St. and Navy games are coming at a good time for the Irish. ND should be able to “fatten up” the next two weeks on some subpar opponents, giving the boys a big confidence boost going into what should be an epic battle in Heinz Field against the surging Pitt Panthers. Now that Jimmy Clausen’s Heisman campaign is effectively over, I hope Irish fans will get a nice dose of Dayne Crist and some of the other youngsters next week, especially some of the reserves on the OL.

Of course, if the Irish are down 17-13 going into the 4th quarter next week, I probably won’t be surprised. Its just been one of those seasons…

Swarbrick: The New Notre Dame Man

One of the frequent topics of discussion among Notre Dame denizens is the level of expectations. Some, including me, believe that Notre Dame football, with the right leadership, could return to the nation's elite. Others believe that the glory days of Notre Dame football have passed, so fans should adjust their expectation level accordingly.

Regardless of your stance on the expectation levels, one thing is manifest: those who are vested with the power to make decisions at Notre Dame DO NOT care about championship football. For the administrators and trustees at Notre Dame, football serves solely a vehicle for generating revenue. Football weekends are not about the football, but rather about a place to bring your wife and kids. Notre Dame Stadium is the Magic Kingdom and the bookstore is Epcot Center.

Which brings us to Jack Swarbrick, a/k/a Kevin White, Esq. If Notre Dame's leaders truly cared about reclaiming our place among the nation's elite, they would have hired an experienced AD who possessed a keen understanding of Notre Dame's history and a clear vision for the future. Apparently, however, the only requirement to become AD at Notre Dame is to serve as an attorney at an mid-sized firm in an averaged sized city. If I had known this, I would have applied for the job myself.

My indignation, of course, stems from the recent announcement that Notre Dame will be playing Western Michigan in 2010, joining such luminaries as Tulsa and Utah. While I am angered enough that Notre Dame apparently has no standards and no intention of playing a mildly entertaining schedule (or one that features more than 3 road games), I am infuriated by Swarbrick's condescending explanation. Quoth our fearless leader regarding possible dissent:

"It reflects a not very sophisticated view of what's going on out there," Swarbrick said of any backlash. "Utah is going to be in a BCS bowl this year, in all likelihood. Utah had a number of years where it was in national championship contention and is having another very good year. Two years ago Tulsa had a great year and in a lot of ways is one of the more dangerous teams in country.

Is this clown serious? Does he really think that opposition to his deplorable scheduling model reflects an "unsophisticated view" of college football? Leaving aside the factual inaccuracies in his response, such as his assertion that Utah will be in a BCS bowl, it is unfathomable that he thinks he can pass this schedule (see below) off as a legitimate slate of opponents. For those Notre Dame fans who enjoy road trips, you can forget about ever being able to attend a fun opposing venue. You can also expect that Notre Dame will be attacked relentlessly by the media and punished by pollsters.

It is not hyperbole to say that Notre Dame football is dying a slow, painful death. Our proud heritage has been entrusted to people who have neither the inclination nor the ability to preserve it, which is sad. Notre Dame alumni need to take back their football program, one way or another. I don't have the answers, although I am certain that, for the third straight year, I will send in a blank football lottery application with an accompanying note that outlines my objections to the management of the football program. I'll also write a letter to Swarbrick and Fr. Jenkins.

One closing thought: I have been outspoken about Charlie Weis in the past and, while I still do not believe that he will ever lead Notre Dame to glory, I am now much more inclined to retain him if we finish, say, 8-4 this year. Why? Because insofar as Notre Dame screws up every important football decision that arises, there is zero chance that we will conduct an effective search for Weis's replacement.

2010 schedule

Sept. 4: PURDUE
Sept. 11: MICHIGAN
Sept. 18: at Michigan State
Sept. 25: STANFORD
Oct. 2: at Boston College
Oct. 9: PITTSBURGH
Oct. 16: WESTERN MICHIGAN
Oct. 23: at Navy (at Meadowlands)
Oct. 30: TULSA
Nov. 6: (Bye)
Nov. 13: UTAH
Nov. 20: ARMY (at Yankee Stadium)
Nov. 27: at USC

WEISND Roundtable Week 8 Picks: Notre Dame-Boston College, TCU-BYU, Texas-Missouri, Penn State-Michigan

We're halfway through another Notre Dame football season. Kinda sad really. Think back to how you felt in July and August when you were starving for anything and everything related to football. It felt like the offseason would never end. Amazing how quickly these football seasons go by.

My advice would be to watch as much football as you possibly can between now and the end of the season. Soon enough, it will be January, and the season will be over.

Anyway, enjoy the weekend, and go Irish. Bring home a victory over the BC Eagles.

Here are the picks.

Texas -14 at Missouri (ABC Sports 8pm)

Jeremy: Texas (-14)

This line seems high, but I don’t think much of Mizzou at all. Or really anybody in the Big 12 for that matter. Now that the Horns have gotten past the Red River Shootout, doesn’t seem like there’s much standing between them – that game in Stillwater could provide some nervous moments but Texas certainly seems head and shoulders above everyone else in the conference. A big part of me hopes that Texas stumbles somewhere along the way so we don’t have to witness the bloodbath that would be a Texas-Bama, or Texas-Florida title game.

Texas 34 Missouri 17

Dan: Texas -14

This game makes me a little nervous. Texas is coming off an emotionally draining game and Colt McCoy is banged up. Additionally, it is their first road game against a BCS school this season. However, the Tigers are not very good. They’ve lost their last two by an average of 15 points and are consistently making mistakes. I expect the game to remain close for a while, with Texas barely covering late in the 4th to pull away.

Texas 28 Missouri 13

Matt: Missouri +14

This is just a lot of points to be getting at home against a Texas team that doesn’t really seem to have another gear like they did last year. I watched most of that game against OU and Colt McCoy is just not the same player from a year ago. His Heisman candidacy is a farce right now, and anyone who thinks that he would make a better pro than Jimmy Clausen is fooling themselves.

Random sight of that game was Peyton Manning in the building. Great to see. I guess he has struck up a friendship with McCoy and Bradshaw, which is cool enough, but to see Peyton traveling to Texas on his bye week for a huge college football matchup on his bye week is pretty cool. That guy sleeps, eats and breathes football. You think Tom and Gisele would ever consider hopping on a flight to go watch a random college football game?

Texas 31 Missouri 21

Mike: Missouri +14

Texas escaped with a gutsy win in the Red River Shootout (not “Rivalry”), but they will not keep surviving unless they can develop a running game to take the pressure off Colt McCoy. While the Longhorns put forth a more credible rushing attack last week behind Fozzy Whitaker, the jury is still out on their ability to achieve offensive balance. Likewise, the host Tigers have experienced similar difficulties on the ground and they will be tested severely by an athletic Texas defense that completely stifled Oklahoma’s running game. I expect Blaine Gabbert to deliver an improved effort at home, however, thereby allowing Missouri to keep this game somewhat close.
Texas 31 Missouri 21

Doug: Missouri +14

What does it say about the national college football scene this year that Missouri-Texas is the primetime ABC game this week?? Let's be honest, Texas is a great program, but they have regional appeal in the southwest. There is zero appeal in the Midwest and Northeast to watch a bunch Texas games unless they are playing a bowl game or a big nonconference game. Of all the college football diehards I know, I would say very few of them know the first thing about Texas football or has really bothered to watch much of them this year. There's just something about Big 12 football that doesn't resonate with me in the Midwest.

And yet, I can understand why ABC has to keep putting Texas on primetime national tv games. Who else are they going to put on given the choices they have?? Not a lot of quality choices out there. The Herbstreit-Musberger duo has done three Texas games already and probably will do 2-3 more.

This is where ABC is sort of pigeonholed. The top SEC games go to CBS (day) and ESPN (night), ND is on NBC, the Big Ten has too many down programs, and one of the top ACC programs (Florida State) is unwatchable. ABC keeps coming back to these Big 12 games because they have no other choice.

ABC's lack of quality games so far reflects on the state of college football this year. Even though the power programs in college football are in the south and west, the ratings still come from the big schools in the East and the Midwest. No one in Ohio or New York or Pennsylvania is going to watch Texas-Missouri at night after they've watched football all day. But if Michigan and Penn State were legitimately good this year, everyone in the nation would be watching that game, including in Big 12 country. College football desperately needs a few of the following schools to get it together and become consistently great:

Notre Dame
Michigan
Penn State
Florida State
Miami

For example, Florida State is playing North Carolina this week. If this was 1996 and FSU was playing a decent ACC team on the road, that game would be a big game nationally. FSU in the 90s was must-see tv along with Miami (FL). There was just something about those schools that made them exciting to watch, even though most people (including me) hated them.

Same goes for Penn State and Michigan and ND. Between those three schools and Ohio State, ABC should always have someone to show in primetime. The problem is that Michigan and Notre Dame are never in the top 10 enough to even be considered for a primetime showing , and Penn State plays a laughable schedule and doesn't have enough games to show on primetime. Imagine for a second if ND was a top 10 type team this year. You could show that ND-Pitt game in November on ABC at 8pm, and it would draw huge ratings from ND fans and from people wanting to see a top 10 ND team play. But I would guess it ends up at 3:30pm because ABC has a hard time justifying a national game at 8pm for an ND team that might not even be ranked by game time.

Interestingly, USC-Oregon State is the other game for ABC and probably will only be shown on the west coast, and yet I find that game to be much more compelling than Texas-Missouri. Whether you like them or hate them, USC is a glamour program and one of the few "must see" teams out there. I would watch USC play anyone just because they're interesting. Part of it has to do with their talent, but part of it is that they are so ambitious with their scheduling. They scheduled road games with Ohio State and Notre Dame out of conference this year. That is amazing. And it pays off with their brand because everyone gets to see USC 4-5 times a year in these huge OOC games. We all know a lot about USC because they have made themselves into a national program.

By the way, someone emailed the blog the other day and suggested that we are all a bunch of USC homers and that we should "stop blowing sunshine up Pete Carroll's [behind]." Ehh, I don't think that's the case at all. Not one of us "likes" USC (well, maybe one....ok, fine two....well....never mind). Personally, I root against them in every game they play in, but that doesn't mean I have to put on blinders and ignore what I'm seeing out there on the field. USC is as talented as any team in the nation. I can't recall one time since they started this great run where USC has been blown out by anyone, and all they do is win big game after big game. I don't think I'm a USC homer because I think they can beat anyone in the nation. I've thought that about USC for 7-8 years in a row, and yet they keep getting jobbed out of playing in the title game. Even though I don't like USC, I am in awe of the stature of their program. Not only do they win big, they do it against some of the toughest schedules in the nation year in and year out.
Back to the game though. I guess I should pick Texas to cover since Missouri hasn't impressed me at all, but I'll take the points.

Texas 31 Missouri 20

TCU -1 at BYU (Versus 7:30pm)

Jeremy: TCU (-1)

Big opportunity for the Horned Frogs to make a statement in the eyes of the voters and the computers. TCU premiered at No. 8 in the BCS standings and a win in Provo could go a long way to earning Gary Patterson a coveted berth. I’m usually not one to toot the horn for the mid-majors of the college football world, but if TCU runs the table with wins on the road against Clemson, Air Force and BYU, and a home win against the Utes they would sport a pretty impressive resume. I’m surprised to find myself so easily going against the Cougs in this game – I think that performance at home against FSU is still leaving a bad taste in my mouth.

TCU 23 BYU 20

Dan: TCU -1

Gameday should just go in studio. I’m not interested. Are you? Florida State manhandled BYU and I expect TCU’s defense to equally hold BYU in check. Look for TCU to grind out a low scoring win on the back of their defense.

TCU 17 BYU 13

Matt: TCU -1 -- LOCK OF THE WEEK

I don’t know much about either of these teams, so for me this pick was pretty simple

TCU beat Clemson
Clemson beat BC
BC beat Florida State
Florida State beat BYU
TCU > BYU

TCU 17 BYU 14

Mike: BYU (+1)

This pick is purely a product for my disdain for the minor conferences and my corresponding desire to avoid having to hear any debates regarding whether TCU (or Boise, for that matter), if undefeated, is worthy of inclusion in the BCS championship.

BYU 24 TCU 21

Doug: TCU -1

For all the attention on Boise State this year, how about TCU?? They've gone on the road and won at Virginia and Clemson. Is there any reason to think that they couldn't be right in the mix in the ACC this year?? If they run the table with wins against BYU and Utah coming up, how would they not be as deserving as Boise State for the non-BCS school automatic bid?? Boise is obviously a pretty darn good team, but the WAC is awful. Who is the second best team in the WAC?? Nevada?? They lost to Colorado State, who is currently 0-3 in the MWC. Fresno?? I guess, but they aren't anything remarkable either. Why does Boise get the auto bid with no consideration for a possible 12 win TCU team?

College Gameday will be in the house, and the Versus Network gets their game of the year!! There wasn't an Ottawa Senators-Vancouver Canucks game they could have shown instead?? I could see Versus getting a decent rating for this game on Saturday night.

TCU has already won at Clemson and at Virginia. I don't see any reason why they'll be intimidated by BYU. I think they'll go to Provo and straight up win this game.

One final note. Put me down in the "NO" column on Gary Patterson as a possible head coaching candidate at ND someday. How many times have we seen these guys leave the "power" programs of the WAC and Mountain West for other jobs and then get exposed?? If you are the head coach at Boise, you are working for the best program in the WAC. Boise has an institutional commitment that goes beyond the head coach. Boise has the most money and best facilities in the WAC, and there is a statewide commitment to the Broncos. I'm not saying anyone could win there, but it's not necessarily a program that is dependent on a head coach to win. If you leave that bubble and go to a place like Colorado, suddenly it's all on you to recruit and win against programs that have better pieces in place than you do.

Same goes for TCU. They have Texas high school talent going up against less talented teams. It's not like Gary Patterson built New Mexico into a power or something. He has the best talent in the conference besides maybe Utah or BYU. I'm not saying he's a bad coach or a guaranteed failure, but we've never seen him coach at a school that doesn't have the best talent in the league. This isn't an Urban Meyer situation. Urban Meyer took over at Bowling Green and won the MAC within a couple years. Bowling Green is one of the weaker programs in the MAC. Then he went to Utah and DOMINATED. Different situation for Patterson. TCU is the only school he's ever coached, and he took it over in a good situation from Dennis Franchione.

Speaking of Franchione, isn't he the perfect example of a guy who got in over his head based on what he did at a midmajor powerhouse?? He went from TCU to Alabama!! Unreal! The guy parlayed a couple good years at TCU into one of the most coveted jobs in all of football.

Anyway, that's why I'd put out the extreme caution flag on a guy like Gary Patterson. Honestly, I would not touch him unless he ends up at a place like Texas A&M and wins there first. Or even a place like Colorado.

TCU 21 BYU 17

Penn State - 4 at Michigan (ABC Sports 3:30 pm)

Jeremy: Penn St. (-4)

Interesting line here. PSU hasn’t done anything of merit so far this year, so I’m not surprised that they aren’t getting more respect. But Michigan is coming off two straight conference losses (that farce against Delaware St. shouldn’t even count as half a game) and nursing some injuries. Molk is supposedly back to anchor the offensive line, and Forcier apparently is feeling no ill effects from the shoulder injury/concussion. I expect Penn St. to bring some significant pressure against the freshmen and make him very uncomfortable in the pocket. Brandon Graham does his darnedest, but can’t keep the Wolverines from dropping their first home game of the year.

PSU 27 Michigan 20

Dan: Penn State -4 – LOCK OF THE WEEK

Penn State should easily notch its first win in the Big house since the mid 90s this weekend. The gaping holes in Michigan’s defense should provide plenty of opportunities for Evan Royster to pile up yards. That should relieve the pressure off Daryl Clark giving him the time he needs to be able to make is reads when necessary. Meanwhile, there are rumbles that Rich Rod may start Denard Robinson at quarterback. Glad to see another guy Notre Dame’s defense made look like a Heisman Trophy candidate has once again revealed himself to be overblown (See: Tashard Choice). Either way, Forcier has just been the same since getting banged up and Robinson, well, sucks. PSU should blow Michigan out.

Penn State 38 Michigan 17

Matt: Michigan +4

Penn State’s best win is probably Temple. Temple! The Owls. And we are halfway through the season. (Al Golden, Temple’s coach, should be on somebody’s radar as a head coach. He took over THE WORST program in college football that had just gotten kicked out of the Big East and now has them in first place in the MAC. ) Although it seems like a lot of the luster has worn off of the early season magic from the Wolverines, I’ll take them at home against a severely overrated Penn State team.

Michigan 27 Penn State 24

Mike: Penn State (-4) – LOCK OF THE WEEK

Penn State seems to be rounding nicely into form after its early season stumble against an Iowa team that, despite looking unimpressive at times, is nonetheless undefeated. Michigan, conversely, continues to have its flaws exposed as the season progresses, notwithstanding last week’s lambasting of Delaware State. The Nittany Lions should be able to force turnovers from the mistake prone Michigan QBs and, on offense, Darryl Clark and company should move the ball effectively against Michigan’s porous defense.

Penn State 35 Michigan 13

Doug: Michigan +4 -- LOCK OF THE WEEK

Think about this for a second. College Gameday is going to Provo, Utah on the same weekend that Michigan and Penn State are playing each other. Two of the top 10 programs of all time playing in relative anonymity. Ten years ago, this would have been one of the 2-3 biggest games of the year in college football. Very little buzz for UM-PSU this week, but that's what happens when Michigan goes 3-9 and Penn State has played one of the worst schedules in the country.

Amazing how quiet the Michigan chatter got in the last couple weeks. They went from being the story of the 2009 football season to a complete afterthought. I actually was impressed by their effort at Iowa a couple weeks ago. They really could have won that game. Michigan could easily be 7-0 or 6-1 right now.

This is a big game for Michigan. If they beat Penn State, they're suddenly in position to start talking about 9 or even 10 wins and maybe even sneak into the Rose Bowl conversation. If they lose, it might be a safer bet to start talking about 7-8 wins. It'll be interesting to see how Forcier looks against Penn State's defense. Michigan actually gave Penn State a game last year even with all of their problems.

As for Penn State, they have been cruising lately, but who have they played?? A pupu platter of Illinois, Eastern Illinois, and Minnesota in the last three weeks. I don't think anyone in the nation has six less impressive wins than Penn State. They haven't beaten anyone with a pulse.

I'll be honest, I really haven't watched any of Penn State this year, so this one is a shot in the dark. But I think Michigan gets their revival tour back on track this week and finds a way to win this game.

Michigan 31 Penn State 28

South Florida +6.5 at Pitt (ESPN Game Plan 12pm)

Jeremy: Pitt (-6.5)

I feel so boring taking all these favorites, but none of these underdogs are frisky at all. If South Florida follows recent history and begins their October freefall this week at Heinz Field, this game could get real ugly real fast. Wannstedt has very quietly put together a competent offense this year – Stull is in the Top 10 in passing efficiency in CFB, while Dion Lewis is averaging over 130 rushing yards/game. The Panthers haven’t been overly impressive in their wins thus far this year, but I think they make a statement this week, throttling USF and taking a big jump in the rankings. I really hope Michael Floyd is going to be available for that Nov. 14 showdown…

Pitt 31 USF 17

Dan: South Florida +6.5

To be honest, I have not watched or read much about Pitt this year, even though they are on our schedule. But I know that Pitt is not Cincinnati, so that should provide USF some bounce back opportunity. Let’s not forget, prior to that Cincy game, USF was 5 – 0 and getting a little pub too behind the strength of their defense. Let’s also not forget that Dave Wannstedt is still the Pitt head coach. He’s overdue for a head scratcher and the timing is just about ripe as Pitt has started to generate a little minor buzz as a potential BCS candidate in the Big East. Look for the upset outright if USF can keep the game close into the 4th via a low scoring affair.

USF 13 Pitt 10

Matt: Pitt -6.5

Dion Lewis is the truth. If they hadn’t served up a Wannstedt special in Raleigh against a terrible NC State team, Pitt would be undefeated and sitting in the Top 10. That’s crazy. Meanwhile, USF had a huge letdown at home last week and now has to go face a Pitt team that is pretty good. USF reminds me of a mini-version of the old Miami teams or the current USC team. Just undisciplined athletes all over the field. They have more talent than everyone they play this year, except for maybe the U, but just commit too many stupid penalties and make too many mental mistakes.

Remember this name though football fans. Jason Pierre-Paul. The guy is a beast on the defensive line. I know that George Selvie gets all of the attention, and he is pretty good too, kind of like a Dwight Freeney type, but Pierre Paul was all over the field against Cincinnati. I think he is a top 10 pick, and he is only a junior. BJ Daniel has only played a few games and he might already be the most exciting QB in America. Jim Leavitt has no shortage of material to work with down there in Tampa.

Pitt 30 USF 21

Mike: South Florida +6.5

I confess that I am impressed, surprised and slightly jealous of Pitt’s ability to run the ball effectively following the departure of Shady McCoy. USF’s strong front line, however, should be able to slow Pitt’s outstanding freshman running back, Dion Lewis, which will force the Panthers to rely on the erratic Bill Stull. The Bulls are nothing special on offense either, so this game figures to be a defensive struggle. Consequently, I am inclined to take the points.

Pitt 19 USF 16

Doug: South Florida +6.5

Pretty intriguing game. South Florida...what a strange team. They have a ton of talent, but the Bulls are the most undisciplined team in the country. They have to lead the nation in dumb penalties and missed assignments. Is it even the slightest surprise though?? Look at their roster!! Half those guys look like they came straight from the county jail. I've seen classier looking dudes stumbling through Franklin County Municipal Court every morning to handle their traffic tickets. USF leads the nation in tattoos, corn rows, and gold chains.

But when you watch USF, it's hard not to think to yourself "man, if these guys would ever settle down and stop playing like a bunch of thugs, they'd be a top 15 team." They do at least play hard.

And I'll tell you what (channeling Bob Davie). He needs some work, but BJ Daniels is a spectacular talent, especially for a freshman. He's like Mike Vick in the open field. Fun to watch. If anything, I would run him more because he's impossible to tackle in the open field. I like that he's willing to stay in the pocket, but sometimes you just need to pick up a first down and keep the chains moving. It's not like he can't throw either. He's actually a really good passer, but he needs to get more comfortable making a read and getting rid of the ball.

I've only watched him one time, but BJ Daniels can be an NFL quarterback from what I saw. I thought he looked like a young Donovan McNabb out there. He just needs to work on harnessing his talents within the structure of an offense and work more on running the designed play instead of just waiting for things to break down before he tries to make something happen. If I was Jim Leavitt, I'd give him a lot of controlled stuff that he can complete and then use that to set up big plays and stuff down the field.

I'm already enjoying the BJ Daniels era. Probably looking at another 3 years of watching him on Thursday night games and saying "BJ Daniels is still at USF??"

As for Pitt, I am curious to see how they play in this game as well. Pitt is probably going to be ND's toughest game in the second half of the year. Good running game, good defense, mediocre quarterback play. Pitt has sort of become like the Wisconsin of the Big East. They aren't the prettiest team, but it's a good formula to win. For all the criticism Dave Wannstedt takes, what else do people want from the guy?? He's got them at 6-1 with a very good chance at 9 wins. That's bad?? At Pitt?? They should be building statues of Dave Wannstedt for what he has done. Maybe they have some close calls, but it's not like Pitt is some juggernaut that should be winning every game 31-10.

Heinz Field is not the biggest home field advantage in the league though, and I do think USF is one of those teams that could easily put it together against a less talented Pitt team. I'll say that USF keeps this game close and maybe even pulls off the straight up win. In fact, that's my prediction. Go Bulls.

USF 21 Pitt 20

Boston College +9.5 at Notre Dame (NBC Sports 3:30pm)

Jeremy: Notre Dame

BC has been doing the Jekyll and Hyde thing this year – impressive wins and great offensive output at home, and abominable performances on the road. The stats from their losses @ Clemson and Va Tech are laughably bad. But, they do sport an impressive RB in Montel Harris, and you can be sure that the Eagles will be amped as they always are to play this game.

On the other side, the Irish are coming off a tough loss against archrival SC, including a furious 4th quarter comeback that came up a bit short. I didn’t have time earlier this week to get to a recap of that game, but in short, I felt that the score of the game did not at all reflect the talent levels of the two programs, or the performances of the respective teams. Barkley put up some great stats, but really didn’t have to make many difficult throws. Once again, the Irish failed to bring significant pressure, and WRs and TEs ran free and unmolested through the secondary. SC also ripped off some long runs, and for the life of me, I can’t figure out why they stopped running the ball, particularly in the 4th quarter. The ND front 4 played admirably, but I’m not sure what Carroll was thinking allowing a freshman QB to continue to throw late in the 4th quarter when he could have simply lined up and ran the ball down ND’s throat.

Clausen was a warrior of course, and Golden Tate once again nearly saved the day, but the defense is just pitifully bad. The CBs walk around the field with no confidence or swagger and Harrison Smith looks lost on the football field. Really an amazing turn of events. I wonder if we’ll ever get the straight dish on what happened with the secondary this year. Should make for some interesting offseason fodder.

Anyway, getting back to this game, if the secondary continues to struggle, this game is going to come down to the wire (again!) and the Irish will likely once again need some heroics from the offense to pull out a W. I imagine we’ll see a similar game plan as last week – the Irish will sell out to stop Harris and the running game, forcing an inexperienced QB to move the ball through the air. Unless something changes drastically in practice, this probably bodes well for BC.

It will be interesting to see how Clausen and Weis attack the BC defense this year. In last year’s meeting, BC sat back in that Cover 2 and made Jimmy look like a freshman again. Spaziani knows his stuff and I’m sure he’ll have some wrinkles up his sleeve to challenge the ND offense.

Ultimately, I believe the Irish are just too good on offense, although I’m afraid it might take another big 4th quarter drive to seal the victory. If we were picking based on the line, I’d probably take BC to cover, but I think the Irish bounce back from the tough loss and begin the trek towards winning out and hoping for a BCS berth.

ND 31 BC 27

Dan: Boston College

This game has let down written all over it. It’s perfect example of the multitude of other BC games we’ve played over the past 10 years. Huge emotional game (win or loss) followed the next week by a game against less talented Boston College team. Notre Dame comes out flat and ends up scrambling and falling apart. Plus, this game feels like last year’s Pittsburgh game. Start of a late season push against weak opponents, after a heart breaking loss in mid – October (Washington game last year does not exist as it practically wasn’t even a game). I just do not have confidence in this team to win this game. I do think we can avoid the complete falling apart like last year’s team, as the return of Floyd will be enough to boost the team to victories in November. In the mean time, color me nervous about Saturday.

Matt: Notre Dame

It is with great hesitation that I make this pick. I already gave my thoughts on the USC game and the state of the program earlier in the week in the comments to Doug’s post, so I’m just going to focus on the importance of this game. To me, this is a much bigger test of Charlie’s coaching ability than USC was. It is easy for the players to get up for USC. It’s not easy to get up after a deflating loss. That is where Charlie the motivator needs to come in. This team seems to have strong leadership, so I hope it’s not a problem. But ND just played their Super Bowl last week and lost, while BC is playing theirs at 3:30 on Saturday.

The only think that gives me comfort is that BC is a terrible road team, and JC should be able to throw at will on them. I think the gameplan on defense should be similar to USC where we sell out to stop the run and make another freshman (albeit 25 years old) QB beat us.

And for Pete’s sakes Weis and Tenuta, enough with the Harrison Smith experiment at safety. I hate to say it because I’m sure he is a great guy, but he is an awful safety. Just kills the defense. I saw that Jamoris Slaughter has been switched to safety, but have to think he can’t learn it in one week. I would put Sergio Brown back there – if nothing else it is another athlete on the field. Or Ray Herring. Anyone really.

Finally, I just want to recap why I think that making a move at head coach would be foolish – a position I have taken a complete 180 on after watching the USC game. We all saw it – the talent differential on both lines was breathtaking. What was Weis supposed to do? The fact that ND had a chance to win a game against an obviously superior team is good enough for me. My expectations have effectively been lowered.

But to any neutral observer, it is obvious that progress is being made - that the talent has been DRAMATICALLY updated from the Willingham days, and that recruits are still coming. Remember when Weis was hired and Pat Forde and Mark May shouted from their pulpits that ND could never compete again because they can’t get any speed. Well, that one has been put to rest by Weis. The skill positions are not a problem anymore. Now I think that Charlie realizes that the front seven on defense is where he needs to go next, and Manti Te’o is a huge step, but one of many, that will help solve it. Firing Weis will stall all momentum and basically we will be starting over again. Plus it’s not like Urban Meyer, Bob Stoops or Nick Saban are banging down the door to come here. With the state of the athletic department I would rather have Charlie Weis than some half-assed coaching search that lands us some B-lister.

I say stay the course and let’s see what Charlie can do in the next year or two. I don’t have any doubts that he will get Dayne Crist playing at an extremely high level someday, even if (when?) Jimmy goes pro after this year. That’s one thing that Charlie does well is coach up QB’s. Isn’t that what we need going into the post-Clausen era in the next year or two? (Ask me after we lost to BC and I’ll probably be singing a different song while writing a 10,000 word letter to Swarbrick on why Weis should be fired.)

ND 38 BC 34

Mike: Notre Dame

Simply put, if Notre Dame loses to BC, Weis should be fired immediately. Obviously, there is the potential for an emotional letdown and BC is always fired up to play us, but it should not matter. BC will never be anything more than a second-tier program with a bunch of low rent fans, alums and players who possess a Grand Canyon sized inferiority complex toward ND. It is high time that we reassert our dominance over them, starting Saturday. This game better not be close.

Notre Dame 35 BC 17

Doug: Notre Dame

I'm going to be at a wedding for most of the day Saturday, and am not sure how much of this game I'm going to get to watch. If I get to a tv some time on Saturday and see something like "BC 24 ND 17 -- 3rd quarter," I might just walk away and avoid the game entirely. BC always makes me nervous even though there's no reason on paper that we shouldn't win this game.

When I looked at the schedule before the season, I sort of cringed when I saw the following stretch of games:

10/17/2009 USC
10/24/2009 BOSTON COLLEGE

How does BC always somehow end up on the schedule RIGHT AFTER our most emotional game of the year?? In 2008, they caught us right after that triple overtime heartbreaking loss to Pitt. In 2002, they caught us right after going down to Florida State and beating the Noles. And in 1993, well, you know.........

Point is, BC sneaks up on us every time we play them, and now they are in position to do it again this year. This game is like the Super Bowl for BC. I don't necessarily think it defines their program like it once did, but they look at it like we look at the USC game. It's the game that the BC players and their fans really get up for.

Meanwhile, ND always seems to be sleepwalking against Boston College. How many times have we been flat for this game?? The only time I can ever remember us even being "up" for BC in recent years was in 2007 when we were completely awful and BC was undefeated and actually pretty good. Of all the years to get up for BC, we pick the one year where we are awful beyond all repair.

This is the year to turn that tide. The second half of the season starts on Saturday, and there's a lot to play for. A 10 win season, a BCS bid, a possible Heisman run for Jimmy Clausen, and maybe the head coach's future employment. It all starts with Boston College. I'm tired of losing to these guys. I can't imagine how tired Charlie and the fellas are of losing to them as well.

We can sit here and deny it all we want, but BC is a rivalry game. Other than Michigan and USC, I think of BC as our biggest rival. ND has more tradition and talent of course, but there are similar cultures in the programs. Middle class, lots of white guys, lots of kids from Catholic schools in the Midwest and Northeast. Heck, a lot of these guys grew up playing together.

Perfect example. Great story out of the Chicago Tribune this week about Charlie Weis keeping in touch with BC linebacker Mark Herzlich as he tries to recover from cancer.

Really heartwarming stuff, and one of the coolest things I've read about Charlie Weis in a long time. For all of his bluster, it seems like Weis is the kind of guy who would do stuff like that. An incredibly classy thing for an opposing coach to do. Stories like this make me want to take back every bad thing I've ever said about Charlie Weis.

The article also mentions that Golden Tate and Mark Herzlich text each other on occasion. Really doesn't surprise me. These kids are all good athletes who share the bond of playing football at a good academic school. There are always a lot of ties between the Notre Dame and Boston College families. Heck, in my own extended family, the ND-BC thing is a fun give and take.

I have great respect for the BC program and what they have been able to accomplish. They have a good system of developing four and five year players, they overcome talent deficiencies with smart, tough football, and they usually have a bunch of kids from the Cincy/Ohio Catholic schools.

I actually really enjoy the ND-BC rivalry (although I certainly would enjoy winning the game more often). If I was the ND athletic director, BC would be a school that I would play every year along with Michigan, USC, and Navy. That would be my four "must play" games of the year. BC is certainly a more interesting opponent for me than Purdue or Stanford. Plus, when we play at BC, we get to spend a weekend in a world class city like Boston. One of my favorite cities.

So yes, I do consider it a rivalry, and I wish our fans treated it as one as well. If we got up for this game like BC does, we'd perform a lot better on the field against them.

Is ND going to be up for this game?? I would like to think so. We've lost six straight times to BC, and we really cannot afford to lose this game.

I'll be honest, I'm worried about where our heads are at though. I'm worried about the game starting and we'r flat, BC is sky high, and we put the ball on the ground a couple times to hand BC a lead. Just feels like we do that every year against Boston College.

Meanwhile, BC seems to be playing their best football of the year, and you know they are going to be jazzed up to play at ND. BC is a little bit of a Jekyll and Hyde team with strong performances at home and shaky performances on the road, but I expect them to bring their best on Saturday.

I don't think there are really any keys to victory or anything for the Irish. We just have to do what we've been doing all year. Give Clausen time, no dumb turnovers, get the ball to Golden Tate and Kyle Rudolph in space, push the tempo on offense, hit our field goal attempts, and make a few big plays on defense. As long as we don't turn it over, we'll be fine. I cannot see Tate and Clausen letting us lose to Boston College at home.

I'd like to see ND go one step further and really step it up defensively. BC is starting a freshman quarterback, and they have been inept on offense in their last two road games. They have a good running back in Montel Harris with this new Wildcat formation, but it will be disappointing if BC is able to move the football up and down the field against our defense. BC is pretty lousy offensively, and we need to find ways to get to their quarterback and force a couple turnovers. A big time performance from the defense is long overdue.

Sounds like Jamoris Slaughter is going to see some time on Saturday at safety. Good to see. He should start as far as I'm concerned. I thought he looked great in the spring game.

Anyway, that's all I got for this game. I think ND is the better team and should win if we show up ready to play. If not, it will be a long afternoon. I expect this game to be close, but I think ND will find a way to get it done.

ND 27 BC 21

Bonus Picks:

Mike:

Duke -5.5 over Maryland: These two teams are moving in opposite directions. Something tells me that Maryland fans are not particularly excited about the prospects of the upcoming James Franklin era.

Purdue -10.5 over Illinois: The gambling community still seems to underestimate Illinois’ futility for some reason.

Baylor +10.5 over Oklahoma State: Time for the Pokes to fall back to their comfortable spot in the middle of the pack in the Big 12.

Washington State +36 over California: I’ve actually had some success this year with Wazzu and this is just too many points to turn down.

Mississippi State +22 over Florida: Again, too many points for Florida to be receiving on the road, even against Mississippi State.

Arkansas +5 over Mississippi: Forget preseason expectations: Ole Miss just isn’t that good.

Doug:

Chicago Bears +1 at Cincinnati Bengals -- Bengals! Bears! 4:15 on Fox! Wow, I don't think the Bengals have ever had the marquee 4pm Fox game before. Are we sure Aikman and Buck know how to get to Cincinnati?? Can someone pick them up at the airport and show them where downtown is??

The wheels are falling off a little bit in Cincy. Antwan Odom is out for the year (players on HGH get hurt a lot?? You don't say!), and now an angry and desperate Bears team is coming into town. The Bengals front seven took a major step backward on Sunday. That was an 05-06 Bengals type performance with no pass rush and too many easy opportunities to throw the ball down the field.

This is a huge game for the Bengals. They really cannot afford to lose back to back home games heading into the bye week. It really comes down to winning the battles at the line of scrimmage. If they do that, they'll win. If they don't, they'll lose. I think we all got ahead of ourselves as Bengals fans, and I feel an excruciating loss coming on Sunday. Still, 4-3 at the break is tolerable. 5-2 would be great though. Carson Palmer needs to be ready to bail this team out if the defense is not up to par.

UConn +7 at West Virginia -- UConn has been a pretty frisky dog this year. Horrific story about the starting cornerback who was murdered at a campus party. Very sad and scary stuff. Over/under on the number of times Tom Hammond discusses that during the ND-UConn telecast: 50

Arkansas +5.5 at Ole Miss -- The Razorbacks are dangerous. I think they'll win this game straight up. Ryan Mallett made the best decision of his life going to play for Bobby Petrino. He'll be a top 10 pick in 2010.

Georgia Tech -4 at UVA -- Grohtober continues. The man somehow finds a way to save his job every year. I think GT will put him further onto the hot seat though.

Washington +7.5 against Oregon -- Huge game for Washington. I think they have a shot to pull the upset. Oregon could be looking ahead to that big USC game next week.

Tennessee +16.5 at Bama -- Bama has to have a close call one of these games right?? Aren't we destined for one of those classic Verne Lundquist finishes?? I could see Tennessee hanging around and making this game interesting.

Louisville +17 at Cincy -- The Bearcats are getting a little too much love at home without Tony Pike. Gotta get him back on the field soon. I don't trust that Carralas guy or whatever his name is. No quarterback fits the white trash westside Cincy persona better than Tony Pike. He's like the posterchild for that part of the city.

Iowa -2 at Michigan State -- YUUUUUUUUUGE game for both teams. Sparty could quietly sneak right back into the Big Ten title race if they win this game. Iowa could be 10-0 heading into Columbus if they can win in East Lansing.

Mississippi State +22 against Florida -- Lots of people speculating that Florida's offense is not the same without Dan Mullen running the show. What's the story here?? Is it Mullen or Percy Harvin or something else?? Whatever it is, Florida has not been as explosive this year offensively for whatever reason. They were downright lucky to beat Arkansas. Not sure what the story is in Gainesville, but they certainly haven't looked like the #2 team in the country lately. I expect MSU to cover the 22 at home.

Auburn +8 at LSU -- LSU doesn't seem like they are capable of scoring enough points to cover the 8. Auburn is shaky though. Two teams that looked really promising about three weeks ago, and now I'm really not excited about either one.

Oregon State +21 at USC -- Would it surprise anyone if this game was "Oregon State 13 USC 10" late in the 3rd quarter?? USC is just flaky enough that I could see them not showing up to play against Oregon State and blowing it, especially now that everyone thinks they are the clear frontrunner among all 1 loss teams (or potential 1 loss teams) for the BCS title game. USC wins out, and I think they'll find their way in. But first they have to take care of business, and that starts with Oregon State.

Now that I've watched USC up close, I pretty much know what they are all about. They can beat anyone, but their whole persona is easily conducive to upset losses. Any team that hot dogs as much as USC and commits dumb penalties is always susceptible to upsets. Teams that try to beat themselves usually end up doing so.

USC will most likely beat Oregon State at home, but they are going to be on upset alert multiple times from here on out.

Arizona State +7 at Stanford -- The Stanford bandwagon has never been lighter. You are what you are. A 4-3 football team that gives up 250 passing yards a game. There is no reason for ND to lose to Stanford this year, especially with a crowd that will likely be 50% ND fans. Then again, I looked up the Irish, and we're giving up 283 passing yards a game. Egads!

Last Week:

Jeremy: 4-1-1
Dan: 3-2-1
Matt: 3-2-1
Mike: 4-1-1
Doug: 2-3-1

Season:

Jeremy: 25-20-1
Dan: 25-20-1
Matt: 20-25-1
Mike: 20-25-1
Doug: 22-23-1

Lock of the Week:

Jeremy: 4-2
Dan: 3-3-1
Matt: 2-4
Mike: 2-4
Doug: 3-4

Around the Nation: ND loses a heartbreaker, thoughts on USC, Everson Griffen, and Taylor Mays, and why Miley Cyrus has taken over The 'Backer

Some thoughts on the Notre Dame-USC game while I try to clear that USC Conquest song from my head:

14) One of the best things about being a sports fan is that you're always going to have certain moments where you'll remember where you were when it happened for the rest of your life. You'll remember where you were when Christian Laettner hit that turnaround jumper to beat Kentucky in the East Regional Final in 1992. You'll remember where you were when David Tyree caught that ball off his helmet to lead the Giants over the Pats in the 2008 Super Bowl. You'll remember where you were when Tiger knocked home that 12 footer on a balky knee to tie Rocco Mediate at Torrey Pines and send one of the great US Opens of all time to a Monday playoff.

And if you were at The Backer on Friday night, you'll remember where you were when you heard DJ Drew play Miley Cyrus "Party in the U.S.A." four times IN A ROW. And the crowd was loving it!! People were literally passing around money to hand to DJ Drew to keep it going. Who knew?! That song just entered into Enrique Iglesias/Numa Numa/Big N Rich/Rocky Top/Lee Greenwood territory for songs that wouldn't work anywhere else but would bring the house down at a place like The Backer. I felt like I must have heard that song fifty times over the course of the weekend. It's like the perfect song for a place like the Backer: uber cheesy, very red state-ish, talks about the U.S.A. a lot, implores you to throw your hands in the air, and has a catchy refrain. I'm half convinced that Miley's people said "this song will kill at The Backer" when they wrote it for her.

So I put my hands up
They’re playing my song,
And the butterflys fly away
Noddin’ my head like yea
Movin my hips like yea
I got my hands up,
They’re playin my song
I know im gonna be ok
Yea, It's a party in the USA
Yea, It's a party in the USA

That's gold! Easily the most well-received song of the night. Even bigger than the ND fight song. Good work Miley. You've got yourself your first big time hit.



13) I got home on Sunday evening from South Bend and watched the replay of the ND-USC game, and the tv feed really doesn't do justice to how good USC's front seven was in this game. USC's defensive line is unlike anything I've ever seen in person at Notre Dame Stadium. They completely dominated the game. Jurrell Casey can go through two blockers, Everson Griffen is unblockable on the edge, and Nick Perry is all power and speed. Everson Griffen ABUSED Sam Young the entire day. Just completely dominated him, and Sam Young had actually been having a decent year up until this point and was being talked about as a 2nd/3rd round NFL Draft pick. If Jimmy Clausen hadn't made some nifty scrambles to get away from pressure, Griffen would have had like six sacks on Saturday. Griffen is a spectacular talent. I thought he was the most dominant player on the field on either side of the ball for most of the game.

And the scary part is that they're ridiculously young! Look at their depth chart. Every guy on their two deep is an underclassmen. Horton-freshman, Casey-soph, Perry-freshman, Kennard-freshman, Tupou-junior, Griffen-true junior. That's absurd! If Griffen comes back next year, their defensive line will be one of the best in recent memory.

Their linebackers are all young and first year starters too. They'll all be back next year. USC is going to be SCARY GOOD next year. Like as good as they've ever been. With that defense and Barkley coming into his own, look out. Anyone in the building could see that we have ZERO SHOT to beat them next year in the Los Angeles Colisseum (I will definitely be there for that one, especially if Jimmy is back).

And that's why the general consensus outside the stadium after the game was along the lines of:

"we covered!"
"hey, we made a game of it!"
"I'm just happy we didn't get blown out."
"We were playing with house money in that fourth quarter, so hard to get too broken up about the loss."
"Wait, we came back?? I went to Legends to watch Florida-Arkansas after USC went up 34-14 with 13 minutes to go."

Ok, that last line never came out, but it was close!! Did anyone attending the game on Saturday not have the "do you want to head over to Legends?" conversation with your buddy/spouse/girlfriend when Joe McKnight surged into the end zone to make it 34-14?? ANNNNNNNNNNNNYONE?? I'll admit that I did. How could you not?? The game was over. I was texting my brother with an opinion that USC was the best team in the country and wanting to find out the score of the Florida-Arkansas. There were people streaming for the exits when we fell down 34-14.

And yet we came back and made it interesting against a more talented team that has a higher ceiling than our program is capable of at the moment.

That's really what it all comes down to when you look at it from a big picture standpoint. The problem for Notre Dame football isn't Charlie Weis. I don't think there's any coach out there for ND that could put us into the USC stratosphere right now. USC has personnel that we don't have on our roster, and there isn't any coach out there who could get that personnel. Urban Meyer couldn't get Jurrell Casey into ND. Nick Saban couldn't get a guy with 15 tattoos like Everson Griffen into ND. Bob Stoops couldn't suddenly make Nick Perry academically eligible to get him into ND. And if you can't get those guys on your roster, you can't play consistently with the big boys. Period.

The biggest difference between USC and ND is that they have DOMINANT personnel on their lines, and we just don't. We have some great skill players, but our lines just don't stack up in terms of size and athleticism. There aren't many 315 DT wrecking balls out there to choose from or 260 pound athletic freaks who can get to the pass rusher with reckless abandon, and we can only go after 2-3 a year due to academics or cultural issues. There is no margin for error. Recruiting the front seven at ND is like the small market Major League Baseball team that has zero margin for error for a bad draft pick or a bad free agent signing in order to win. If we miss on the one elite guy we're after (who is also getting recruited by Texas/Florida/USC/OU/Bama), we don't have any other options for an elite guy.

Look around at Alabama and Florida and USC and LSU. They have elite front sevens. We have a typical Big Ten/Midwestern type front seven that might be able to hold up ok when it gets more experience, but could never dominate a game against the USCs/Bamas/LSUs of the world.

When I watched the game on Saturday, I didn't feel like coaching was the problem. Talent was the problem. USC has better overall talent and probably by a pretty large margin. And that's not Charlie Weis' fault. I think he has maxed out our recruiting potential. He has brought in elite QBs, elite WRs, elite TEs, good RBs, good offensive linemen, and he has a stable of younger defensive linemen that could turn out to be pretty good by next year. But when it comes to bringing in the five star all-world defensive guys, there's only so much he can do. He can't get these guys into school out of high school, and he can't take on the JUCOs types or prep school types. A lot of these stud d-linemen end up at JUCOs or one year prep schools to get their grades up, and we aren't touching those guys.

So if you want ND to be back into the Bama/USC/Florida territory, look higher than Charlie Weis. The issues holding up ND football's path back to greatness go higher than the head coach. We aren't a football factory, and that makes things tough on the coaches. I don't think you can evaluate Charlie Weis against the big boys until he has the same freedom that those schools have. If Charlie Weis could recruit anyone with a pulse, stash players in prep schools until they became NCAA eligible, and if his players could practice all they want, not worry at all about class and spend all their time working out or loading up on HGH, take briefcases full of cash from boosters, and Weis STILL couldn't win consistently against the USCs of the world, then I'd say that he's a failure and that he needs to go. But that's not the deck he has been dealt.

I would like to see how Charlie would do if he had all that stuff in place. Could he win a national title?? I think he probably could. I don't think Charlie Weis is the greatest coach or anything by any means, but I also think he's working at a program that has a much bigger image of itself than in reality. Face the facts. We're a midmajor type program right now. We have the name and all that, but we're really more like a "rich man's Stanford" than a USC. You can see it out there on the field. We have some OUTSTANDING players on this team. Clausen, Tate, Rudolph, etc, but look at our two deep and tell me how many guys would be starting/playing significant minutes for USC. You're talking about a handful of guys.

The only guy in our front seven who is a USC type player is Manti Te'o. Te'o makes USC type tackles. He hits guys and they go down immediately. He knifes in and wraps guys up when those guys would break a Brian Smith tackle or an Ian Williams tackle. When I watch our defense, the only "WOW" guy is Manti Te'o. Every guy on USC's defense is a "WOW" guy.

13) Here's the defining example of where Notre Dame football is at in 2009. Immediately after the last pass to Kamara fell incomplete, the entire student section gave the team a spontaneous standing ovation. That quickly spilled into other sections of the stadium, and suddenly we all found ourselves clapping for the team as a sign of our appreciation for their effort.

That's how far we've fallen in the last 15 years. We were legitimately PROUD of the fact that we even hung around with USC and gave them a game. I'll be the first to admit that I was clapping and genuinely felt like it was the right thing to do in that moment.

It didn't hit me until a couple hours later that we had given a standing ovation after a loss. I'm not saying it was the wrong thing to do, but it's all you need to know about where we are as a program. We were "proud" after a loss!! In a game where we were down 34-14 in the fourth quarter, I was celebrating the fact that we were even competitive. That's how far Notre Dame football has fallen. If anyone out there thinks we aren't a midmajor, I don't know what to tell you. That's what we are. Maybe that will change over time, but right now that's our current status in the college football world. And by mid-major, I don't mean TCU or Tulsa. I mean a BC/Sparty second tier program that can occasionally win a big game and goes to bowl games and flirts with the back end of the top 25, but doesn't really pass the "smell" test when it comes to playing with the big boys. And I think deep down, all of us know that as Notre Dame fans. We were all there watching that game and saw how talented USC was compared to our team. The standing ovation wasn't some half-baked "Notre Dame spirit" thing. It was a genuine emotion where we felt like the team had been competitive with a far more talented team and that they deserved some recognition for their effort.

Compare that to the reaction from USC fans after the game. Here's how high expectations are at USC. Petros Papadakis has a radio show that for some reason airs in Columbus every day, so I tuned in to the show on the drive home from work to hear what he had to say about the USC-Notre Dame game. And he was upset!! He was legitimately hot and bothered by how "sloppy" USC had played with all the penalties and that the game ended up getting too close for comfort. He kept saying that he hoped that game was a "wake up call" for USC. That's how high expectations are at USC. They're bummed out about close wins, and we're giving standing ovations to our team for just making the game close at the end. It's a completely different level.

So if you want to blame Charlie Weis for what has happened to Notre Dame football, be my guest. But he's not the problem. If anything, he's doing everything he can to keep this program from circling the drain. He has recruited extremely well, the team is clearly better, and there's a chance that this team finishes strong and pulls in another very good recruiting class.

Maybe Weis will someday beat USC or put us on par with the Trojans, but that can't be the expectation for this program at the moment. Most people who previewed this season said that we would be a 9-10 win team that would lose to USC, and that's probably where we are headed. Now, it's like people have adjusted expectations. You can't have a moving target. If a loss to USC was viewed as a probability before the season, you can't say it's unacceptable after it happens.

Now, Weis might lose to BC and Pitt and the team will implode, but I think people need to let the season play out before jumping to any conclusions.

12) Honestly, I think the biggest problem people have with Charlie Weis is his physical appearance. I'm as guilty of this bias as anyone. He looks like a sloppy pig. If I ever looked into the mirror and saw anything close to Charlie's face and body shape looking back at me, I'd probably spend the next month on a treadmill. When I see that tub of goo waddling around on the sideline with his triple chin, D cup breasts, front butt, boogers running down his nose, bad haircut, and khaki pants running up to his nipples, I cringe. I cringe even more when I see him interviewed at half time and he's completely out of breath and using lines like "I'm just happy to be down 13-7." Of course it's hypocritical for me to say it since I spill coffee on my suit about once a week, wear ratty ties, usually have ketchup or mustard stains bracketing my lips at all times, and haven't combed my hair more than 2-3 times in the last five years, but I'm also not the face of the Notre Dame football program. When your head coach looks sloppy and weighs almost 400 pounds and just randomly says whatever comes into his head even if it comes off poorly, people have a tough time overcoming that. It's not the kind of image that we want associated with the program.

If Weis was a handsome guy like Pete Carroll and was running around on the sideline with tons of energy, our fans would LOVE him. He'd be viewed as an exciting coach who puts up offensive numbers and puts on an exciting show. Part of the appeal of Pete Carroll is that he just LOOKS like a guy who would inspire his team. We look at Charlie and can't help but wonder if he brings the team down with his demeanor and appearance.

It's out there whether people want to admit it or not. There's a subconscious bias against Weis partially because of his appearance. I'm not saying it's wrong because appearances can be important, but it's there.

--Some other random thoughts from the game weekend:

11) For those wondering about the 8:30 am Warren tee time, I'm happy to report that we all made it to Warren on time and walked 18 holes. The one hour "frost delay" helped out (I think they said it was 34 degrees when we showed up at 8:15am), but we got it done. Considering that one player has had multiple knee surgeries, one player was waddling around for 18 holes like Charlie Weis because of some "internal issues," and one player was still Anthony Kim "sideways" after a Saturday that must have included double digit Irish Bud Lights, two Bushmills, and about five 32 oz Tom Collins while closing down Between the Buns BY HIMSELF, I think it was one of the more heroic performances seen at Warren in many years. The loose cannons!!

Somewhere Robert Allenby was shaking his head in shame though.

10) I've said this a few times now, but the worst player on our 22 man starting roster is Harrison Smith and it's not even close. Maybe he's a good athlete and all that, but he doesn't seem to like contact. Maybe he's just not cut out for defense or something. He's supposed to be a free safety!! Safeties are supposed to be hitters. They're supposed to be sure tacklers. Harrison Smith doesn't do either thing. He's not a playmaker, and he's not a security blanket. I don't know what he's doing on the field. He's either got to move to offense or start playing more aggressive football. I think I'd roll the dice with Sergio Brown or someone else. At least those guys might get in there and make a play.

9) The offensive line got abused in the first half, but they actually adjusted and held up well in the second half. I think we were just overwhelmed by them in the first half because we hadn't seen anything like that. It's not like Purdue or MSU could give us a preview of how to block a guy like Everson Griffen. There's just no way to simulate it. We had no answer for Everson Griffen.

8) Funniest and dumbest moment of the game was the Everson Griffen "flexing" penalty after he sacked Clausen and walked over to the USC band and did a muscle pose. What a hot dog!! Even when the ref told him to stop, he decided to keep on doing it knowing that he was drawing the flag. I thought it was one of the funniest things I've seen, but also completely warranted an excessive celebration penalty. Who does that?? Everson Griffen, that's who. He just completely handed us a first down and wiped out his own big play that would have put us in 2nd and long. And I don't think it even bothered him that he picked up a 15 yard penalty for that flex move.

Even better was Wes Horton's sack on the VERY NEXT SERIES when he was about to go into a celebration and Jurrell Casey practically tackled him to keep him from picking up an excessive celebration. If Casey hadn't held Horton's arms down, I'm convinced he would have posed or something like that and drawn another flag. Only at USC.

USC pretty much lived up to every bit of their reputations on Saturday. They are freakishly talented and deep, but also such a bunch of hot dogs and Hollywood types. They do a huge huddle dance before every kickoff, they pose and preen all the time, they dance and bob to their own band, and they sort of feed off this "we just hang loose" vibe. Anthony McCoy was literally waving his arms at the crowd trying to get them pumped up even though it was the Notre Dame crowd!! I'm not real big on that stuff at all, but it's sort of mesmerizing at the same time. How are they so loose?! There's kind of a rock star quality to USC football. It's unlike anything I've seen in college football since probably the late 80s/early 90s Miami teams.

7) Speaking of USC, I know they are flaky and probably will lose some head scratcher down the line, but part of me thinks that they are about to go on a roll over the next 6 games. When this USC team grows up a little bit and stops committing so many stupid penalties, they are going to be scary. I think they can beat any team in the country.

It is amazing to me that USC is probably just scratching the surface of what they might be able to do in the next couple years, especially if they don't have a bunch of early entry guys. They will lose their secondary, but most of that offense and front seven will be back. By this time next year, they could be unreal.

As for Matt Barkley, where do I buy stock in his 2010 Heisman campaign?? I think he made his first audition on Saturday, and I wouldn't be surprised if that game serves as a springboard for him for the rest of the year. I thought he played an outstanding game for a true freshman. He's a statue back there, but some of the throws he made were NFL type throws. Think about how much better he'll be by this time next year. If USC is undefeated heading into the Notre Dame game next year, he'll be looking at a Thanksgiving spotlight to make his case for the Heisman hardware.

I hate saying this as much as anyone, but we have ZERO shot to beat USC at USC next year. None, and that's even if Jimmy Clausen comes back. This was probably our best shot at home against a freshman QB and young defense. Probably the most depressing thing about the loss is that we're staring at losses in 2010 (at USC where we always lay down, Barkley coming into his own, loaded defense), 2011 (Barkley back as the prohibitive #1 NFL prospect, Clausen, Floyd, Tate, Allen, Hughes, Stewart, Wenger, possibly Rudolph all gone), and probably even 2012 since we never seem to even have a pulse when we go out to Los Angeles. Let's be honest, USC is probably never going to lose to Notre Dame at home as long as Pete Carroll is there.

6) One guy on the Trojans who I was not blown away by was Taylor Mays. Don't get me wrong, he's a very good player, but I think my expectations were too high for him. I was expecting to see a Polamalu/Ed Reed clone, but he's really more of a Roy Williams (the safety) type guy. A good player who likes to go for the big hit but isn't quite as athletic or dominant as I thought he would be. If an NFL team thinks they are getting Polamalu by drafting Taylor Mays, they're kidding themselves. Polamalu is a wrecking ball who is all over the field. Mays is nowhere near that class. I wouldn't touch him with a top 10 pick.

Plus, I thought Mays was surprisingly undisciplined for a senior. Golden Tate abused him on both those touchdown catches even though Mays was in position to break up those plays, and he had two costly personal fouls in the second half. It's almost as if he's so determined to lay the big hit that he forgets to play football and make the smart play. A guy who plays that recklessly will get exposed in the NFL.

5) As for Jimmy Clausen, I thought he looked shaky early, but he was OUTSTANDING for most of the game. When I went back and watched the game on tv, I realized how well he played on Saturday. He was literally running for his life back there, but he hung in there and made some fabulous throws on the run. And didn't throw any picks. He doesn't make mistakes, and he makes a ton of huge plays to keep drives alive or to put points on the board. Credit to Charlie Weis for developing him, but Clausen has really become a guy who can carry a team.

Clausen is the best QB I've seen in college football this year by far. If he wasn't on our team, we'd be like 2-4 right now. I felt really bad for him after the game because he played his heart out.

4) As for the pregame atmosphere and crowd noise, I think it was a little less ELECTRIC than I thought it would be. There were some pretty funny pregame things with the guy carrying around the giant OJ Simpson mugshot poster and the guys who dressed up as USC Song Girls, but it wasn't as crazy as I thought it would be. Couldn't put my finger on what it was, but the stadium was really not loud at all on Saturday. In fact, it was probably the quietest I've heard it out of the three home games I've been to this year. Not sure if it was just that everyone was nervous and wanted to watch the game instead of yelling, or if we were demoralized and expecting a loss or what, but the crowd didn't really get it going until the fourth quarter.

I think it was just nervousness/tension. It was hard to really let loose because it never really felt like we had a chance in this game until the end of the fourth quarter. If that Tate bomb play had happened earlier and given us the lead, I think people would have really cranked it up. But it was 20-7 when he made that play, and it felt like USC was still in control.

The fourth quarter was spectacular though. During every play, there were flash bulbs going off left and right. Definitely could feel the drama in the building.

Both bands were great as well. Dr. Kenneth Dye brought everything he had, and USC's band did what USC's band always does. They even brought that White Stripes "Seven Nation Army" song to the mix several times. I guess they must have liked it when the Buckeye band was playing it a month ago.

3) Some other college football thoughts from this weekend:

It's becoming more and more obvious as the season goes along that this is really not a very good year for college football. Once you get past Alabama, Florida, and USC, who is any good this year?? And I'm not even sure about Florida or USC at this point. There's just no real elite teams out there in any of these conferences.

ACC -- Miami, Virginia Tech and GT are top 20 type teams, but they've all been exposed as incomplete teams at some point in the season
Big East -- God bless em, but Cincy is a midmajor with two star talent masquerading as the 5th best team in the country
Big 10 -- HA! That's a good one. In all seriousness though, Iowa has taken care of business. They've beaten a pretty good Arizona team, won at Penn State, beat Michigan, and won at Wisconsin. If they get by Sparty, they are going to be 10-0 going into the game in Columbus against the Buckeyes. The rest of the league is crap though.
Big 12 -- Texas is the class of the league, but where is the quality?? OU is banged up, Texas Tech lost to Houston, Oklahoma State ALSO lost to Houston AT HOME, Kansas lost to freaking Colorado, and Nebraska got destroyed at home by Texas Tech. If your 2nd and 3rd best teams in the league lost back to back games to a CUSA school, your league doesn't have a ton of credibility.
SEC - It amazes me that LSU is sitting there as the 9th best team in the country even though we've all watched them and seen how flawed they are. That's a sad commentary on college football this year. After LSU, you've got teams like Auburn who lost to Kentucky at home, a solid but not spectacular South Carolina team, and mediocre Georgia and Ole Miss teams. The SEC is still extremely strong with a deeper pool of talent than anyone else, but the lack of credibility with programs like Georgia and Tennessee this year has hurt the league.
Pac 10 -- I think you could make an argument that the Pac 10 is the best conference in college football this year, but look at some of their OOC scores. Oregon State lost to Cincy at home, Arizona lost to Iowa, Oregon lost at home to Boise State, Stanford lost at Wake Forest, and Washington lost to ND. Those losses don't help the reputation of the league.

I laugh at these teams like Cincy and Boise State and TCU, but who the heck else is going to be in the top 10 right now?? There's just not a lot of quality out there. Georgia Tech is a flawed team, and they are #11. Oregon already lost to Boise. Penn State is #13 and hasn't beaten anyone with a pulse. Oklahoma State lost at home to Houston. Ohio State lost to a 1-4 Purdue team. How could you justify any of those teams in the top 10??

--As for Terrelle Pryor, I mentioned this last week, but Ohio State is really in a jam with this guy. They really have no other options. Pryor probably should be benched, but who are they going to turn to if they sit Pryor?? A walk on like Joe Bauserman?? How is he the answer?? Every recruit was so scared off by Pryor's presence on the roster that they have killed their depth at quarterback. They really don't even have a backup quarterback.

Even worse, there is no one pushing or threatening Terrelle Pryor. He knows as well as anyone that Tressel has no other option but to play him. So he can insist on playing a pro style offense and make as many demands as he wants, and there's nothing Tressel can do about it. Pryor has a gun to the head of the Ohio State program.

Tressel screwed up by not trying to find some 3 star Ohio kid who just wanted to be a Buckeye to come in this past year. Some Joe Germaine/Bobby Hoying/Craig Krenzel type guy. Not a star, but a guy who just wanted to play for OSU and would have happily sat the bench for a couple years to maybe have a chance to play as a junior or senior. Who knows, that guy could have found himself starting this week as a true freshman. I don't know if anyone was out there, but you gotta think there was somebody like that in the Midwest/Ohio.

Either way, Ohio State is an offensive mess. They either need to go all in with Terrelle Pryor and develop a completely new spread option offense for him with a new offensive coordinator, or they need to give it up and move him to wide receiver. If Pryor wants to play in the NFL, he probably needs to be thinking about another position anyway. He's certainly not going to be an NFL quarterback from what I've seen of him.

2) Week 8 Heisman ballot:

4) Tim Tebow
3) Matt Barkley
2) Jimmy Clausen
1) Mark Ingram

Whoa, where did that "Mark Ingram for Heisman" momentum come from?? I thought I was the only one making the case for him, and now he's suddenly the favorite. Best running back in the country, and it's not even close. He's singlehanded carrying my fantasy team this year.

I don't think Clausen did anything to hurt himself, and I think he's got a shot to make a move if ND can win out here. Tebow is going to win or lose this award based on how his team plays against Alabama, but I'm still waiting for him to play a monster game at some point. He hasn't done it so far.

And I'm putting Barkley at #3 because I'm predicting right now that he's winning the 2010 Heisman Trophy. Barkley is going to be an outstanding player. Heck, he's already pretty darn good.

1) Week 8 Power Poll:

3) Florida
2) USC
1) Alabama

I'm moving USC up to #2 this week because I think they can beat anyone in the country on a neutral field other than Alabama. If they continue to improve week in and week out, they have the highest ceiling of any team in the country. Maybe they'd lose to Florida if the game was played tomorrow, but USC has the most raw talent of any team I've seen. USC always plays better as the year goes along, and I have no doubt that they will look like gangbusters coming down the stretch.

I really want to see a USC vs. SEC Champ national title game. We've been wanting that game for years, and this year would be the perfect year to give the fans what we want. Heck, that should be the game EVERY YEAR until proven otherwise. Texas is a fraud, and no one else is even in the conversation. Give me USC-Bama in Pasadena, and I will be really excited for the title game.

WEISND Roundtable Week 7 Picks: The University of Notre Dame vs. The University of Southern California (Oh, and some game in Dallas)

October 17, 2009. Feels like we've been waiting for this game for years.

Couldn't be more excited. I knew the hype would get big as we got closer to the game, but it seems like the national media is really starting to dial it up. ESPN, CNNSI, CBS Sportsline, everyone. I think there's a feeling in the air that we're going to see a classic game at ND Stadium this weekend.

On to the picks:

Cincinnati -2.5 at South Florida (ESPN 7:30pm)

Jeremy: Cincinnati (-2.5)

Isn’t it about time for the USF train to jump the tracks? I know this game is down south and the Bulls have great speed on defense but the Bearcats have looked mighty frisky. They’ve already shown this year that they aren’t afraid to go on the road into a hostile environment and pull out an impressive victory. Brian Kelly and Tony Pike get it done again this weekend.

UC 27 USF 17

Dan: Cincinnati -2.5

Cincinnati has actually become a gambling negative going 0-2 ATS the last 2 weeks after opening 3-0. Meanwhile USF is 2 – 1 ATS. But this Cincy team has a feel to it. It has a certain swagger that you have to like in any close game. While I do generally agree with Doug that I like the home teams on Thursday night, I liked Nebraska last week and I like Cincy this week.

Cincinnati 24 USF 20

Matt: USF +2.5

Couldn’t be more excited about this appetizer for the weekend of football. I haven’t seen Cincy play this year yet, so I’m looking forward to seeing what all of the hype is about this Tony Pike guy. I don’t know why but I have a soft spot for Big East football, partially because it gets ragged on so often when the results really haven’t been that bad over the past few years. And with teams like West Virginia, UC and USF not afraid to challenge themselves with some tough nonconference games, I can get behind programs like that (unlike say…Texas and Penn State…). I think USF pulls off the home upset on the strength of the Florida speed their defense possesses.

USF 20 Cincy 17

Mike: Cincinnati –2.5

The Big East may be the weakest BCS conference, but this is an intriguing game nonetheless. The key to this game will be whether Cincinnati, which relies heavily upon its passing game, can maintain its early-season offensive efficiency against USF’s deep and athletic defensive line. With an extra week to prepare, Brian Kelly should have an effective game plan to counter the aggressive USF pass rush with an array of screens, draws and other quick hitters. In addition, given USF’s track record of being exposed as fraudulent each October, Jim Leavitt bears the burden of proving that this year’s Bulls team is not like prior year’s editions.

Cincinnati 31 South Florida 23

Doug: Cincinnati -2.5

Man, it's almost hard to believe that America is going to be tuning in on Thursday to watch Cincinnati and South Florida. Very surreal. Between the Bengals and UC, Cincinnati has suddenly become the epicenter of football.

Everyone seems to be talking about UC's title hopes, but what about South Florida?? If they run the table, why couldn't they get consideration?? Look at their schedule:

Sat, Sep 5 Wofford W 40-7 --
Sat, Sep 12 at Western Kentucky W 35-13 --
Sat, Sep 19 Charleston Southern W 59-0 --
Sat, Sep 26 at (18) Florida State W 17-7 --
Sat, Oct 3 at Syracuse W 34-20 --
Thu, Oct 15 (8) Cincinnati 7:30 pm --
Sat, Oct 24 at Pittsburgh 12:00 pm --
Fri, Oct 30 West Virginia 8:00 am --
Thu, Nov 12 at Rutgers 7:30 pm --
Sat, Nov 21 Louisville TBA --
Sat, Nov 28 (9) Miami (FL) TBA --
Sat, Dec 5 at Connecticut TBA

How can you really fault them for that schedule?? They are playing FSU and Miami in nonconference play, and they have Big East games with Cincy, Pitt, WVU, Rutgers, etc. How is that any worse than your typical Big Ten or ACC team?? Are teams like Pitt and WVU any better or worse than teams like Georgia Tech or BC or Iowa or Wisconsin?? No way. Those games would be toss ups. If USF goes undefeated (obviously a huge if considering their upcoming games), I think I can make a legit case for them.

I'm not even going to pretend to have any analysis of this game since I haven't really watched much of either of these teams, but I gotta take Cincy here. On paper, I think USF has more talent, and I'm also worried that USF has UC's ex-defensive coordinator for insight into how Cincy plays, but I'm going with my man, Brian Kelly. All this guy has done is win big games throughout his time at UC. Just when you think he has no shot, he finds a way to get it done.

One final note, a message to all non-Big East fans out there. Can you please avoid bashing the Big East tonight?? What is the point?? So that you can feel better about your program?? No one from the Big East is saying that they play the best ball in the country, but I guarantee you'll hear a million people saying tomorrow "man, the Big East is awful!! These teams wouldn't win a game in the ______ (insert BCS conference)" and a bunch of other nonsense. Leave these teams alone and let them have their night. No one from UC is saying that they are better than Alabama, so there's no need to judge them against that standard.

Cincinnati 24 USF 20

Oklahoma +3 at Texas (Fair Park, Texas ABC Sports 12pm)

Jeremy: Texas (-3)

Don’t have too much to say about this game. Both of these teams seem overrated and neither has done much to impress. I’m actually surprised this line is so low. I suppose Vegas thinks Bradford can make a 7-10 point difference. If he had his full complement of WRs and more than one game under his belt, I might be inclined to agree. The Sooner defense keeps this one close, but the Horns pull away in the closing minutes of the 4th quarter.

Texas 31 Oklahoma 24

Dan: Oklahoma +3 (LOCK OF THE WEEK)

Neither team has been good ATS this year, as they have each struggled to cover as large favorites. But this is the Red River Shoot Out. Biggest game of the regular season for both teams. I think we’ll see OU come out with no-huddle and lots of motion to put Demarco Murray in different spots on the field to try to get the ball in his hands (think Golden Tate against UW) in order to keep the UT defense off balance. I think Colt McCoy is the most overrated “Heisman Candidate” in recent history. He has 10 TDs and 6 INTs through 5 games against miserable competition. And their best receiver is a white dude! The pundits seem to think a lot more of Texas than I do. Texas may have won 3 of the last 4 (after losing 5 straight), but Stoops and Co. bounce back this week to win outright.

OU 34 Texas 31

Matt: Texas -3

Yawn. Gameday should be in South Bend this weekend. Rooting for OU to knock this overrated Texas team out of the national championship picture.

Texas 27 Oklahoma 21

Mike: Oklahoma +3

Although Texas enters this game with the lofty national ranking and an unblemished record, there are plenty of reasons to love Oklahoma in this game. For the second consecutive year, Texas has been unable to develop any semblance of a running game, thus causing the Longhorns to rely exclusively upon Colt McCoy. This lack of offensive balance could spell doom for Texas against an outstanding Sooner front four, which should be able to rush the passer with reckless abandon. Moreover, the Sooners’ offense should benefit immensely from the addition of Sam Bradford, who played brilliantly last week in his return, albeit against Baylor. Simply put, this appears to be a great matchup for Oklahoma and it won’t surprise me if the game isn’t particularly close.

Oklahoma 31 Texas 14

Doug: Texas -3

Big week for both schools, and an even bigger week for my fantasy football team. A little first place-second place fantasy matchup this week, and I'm squaring off against Colt McCoy. Definitely going to have the generator up and running in the JACC parking lot to check in on this game.

Texas has three potentially big games left on the schedule. The Big 12 championship game (possibly against a resurgent Nebraska team), the game at Oklahoma State (which would be a lot tougher if Dez Bryant was playing.....darn you NCAA!! You're killing fantasy teams everywhere. Just reinstate the guy already. He did nothing wrong.), and the Red Rivalry game this weekend against OU. If they can get by OU this weekend, Texas has a clear path to an undefeated regular season.

Meanwhile, it's sort of amazing since we've already written them off, but OU can put themselves in the driver's seat in the Big 12 South if they can win this game on Saturday. At the end of the day, it's still Oklahoma. They have owned Texas for over a decade, and you have to think they are going to be extra motivated to try to avenge that loss from last year against Texas.

Big game for the quarterbacks a well. Curious to see how both play from an NFL Draft perspective and a Heisman perspective. If Bradford has a monster game, he probably puts himself right back at the top of the 2010 NFL Draft. He had 5 td passes in this game last year.

I'm rooting for OU in this game, but I think I have to go with the Longhorns to survive. OU has been killed with injuries, and I'm not sure they are ready right now to win a game like this one.

Texas 31 OU 27

Iowa -1 at Wisconsin (ESPN 12pm)

Jeremy: Iowa (-1)

The Hawkeyes are getting some serious Rodney Dangerfield treatment from Vegas this week. Sure they haven’t been too impressive, but that win in Happy Valley looks pretty good. Speaking of unimpressive performances, Wisconsin hasn’t done much itself. I know they outgained OSU in Columbus last weekend, and I know the Camp Randall crowd will probably be buzzing, but the Badgers have to show me something first before I can start to believe in them.

Iowa 20 Wisconsin 17

Dan: Wisconsin +1

Wisconsin dominated every statistical aspect of that OSU game last week except the score. They are due for a win. Meanwhile, I’m not convinced at all that this Iowa team is legit. While they may have a strong front 4, their offense is mediocre and the rest of their defense leaves something to be desired. I think Wisconsin gets that win their due for and alleviates the BCS of another Big 10 undefeated issue.

Wisconsin 17 Iowa 14

Matt: Wisconsin +1

I was at the Ohio State – Wisconsin game last week sitting one row behind the Wisconsin bench where the defensive players and coaches were. Could hear everything that was going on while they were on the sideline and came away thoroughly impressed with their defense and gameplan against Pryor. They were saying all game long to just stuff the run and not even to worry about Pryor throwing. And they were right. I think Wiscy wins this one at home.

Wisconsin 18 Iowa 17

Mike: Wisconsin +1 - Lock of the Week

Despite a somewhat lopsided final score, Wisconsin actually outgained Ohio State by a significant margin in Columbus last week, so there is reason to believe that the Badgers are a bona fide contender in the Big Ten. Iowa, meanwhile, continues to win in unconvincing fashion against feeble opponents on a weekly basis. In other words, the Hawkeyes, undefeated record notwithstanding, appear to be living on borrowed time. Iowa has shown a knack for the close win, but, unfortunately for Hawkeye denizens, this game may not be close.

Wisconsin 34 Iowa 17

Doug: Wisconsin +1 -- LOCK OF THE WEEK

From what I saw out of them last weekend, Wisconsin is a pretty typical Wisconsin team. Hard-nosed, good running game, mediocre QB play, tons of white guys. They aren't what they were under Barry Alvarez, but it's still a decent second tier Big Ten team.

I see no reason why Wisconsin won't win this game straight up. I'm still not buying into Iowa. Iowa is Wisconsin with a fancier ranking. Michigan had five turnovers last week and still should have won that game. What happens when Iowa goes on the road to play an angry Wisconsin team with similar (if not better) talent??

Camp Randall is one of the toughest places to win in college football, especially when the Badgers are desperate. I think Wisky wins this game and maybe comfortably.

Wisconsin 24 Iowa 10

South Carolina +17 at Alabama (ESPN 7:45pm)

Jeremy: South Carolina (+17) – LOCK OF THE WEEK

Great defensive matchup. Is this Spurrier’s best South Carolina team? I know its early, but I can’t think of many better. I think the Cocks can keep this one close into the 4th quarter. But if Bama covers this spread, there should be no doubt that Nick Saban’s got the best team in the country. That SEC title game can’t get here fast enough.

Alabama 23 South Carolina 13

Dan: South Carolina +17

South Carolina may have played like crap against Kentucky, and Alabama may be the best team in the country. But 17 points just seems like a lot of points in an SEC match up between 2 strong defensive teams.

Alabama 20 South Carolina 7

Matt: South Carolina +17 - LOCK OF THE WEEK

Two great defenses going at it. Looking forward to seeing Norwood v. Ingram and Rolando McClain introducing himself to Stephen Garcia. Alabama wins it, but USC keeps it “closer than the experts think.”

South Carolina 9 Alabama 17

Mike: South Carolina +17

This game has all the makings of a classic SEC slugfest, which should please Nick Saban far more than it pleases Steve Spurrier. South Carolina has a defense that is capable of holding its own against the powerful Alabama running game, while the Crimson Tide defense is capable of stifling any offense in the country. If the Gamecocks offense, specifically Stephen Garcia, can protect the ball, this should be a close contest. The Tide will roll, but South Carolina will cover.

Alabama 23 South Carolina 10

Doug: South Carolina +17

Whoa, there's the respect for Bama that we've been waiting for all fall. Last week, they were -6 over an Ole Miss team that everyone knew they would destroy. Now, they are suddenly -17 over a South Carolina team that probably deserves a little more respect than Vegas has given them.

Just goes to show that Vegas doesn't know everything. Take the points here. This line is too high. Bama is great, but more in the "grind you into the ground" way. Saban would be more than happy to win this game 17-3, but that doesn't get you a cover.

Plus, I think South Carolina is a good football team. I don't know what happened against Kentucky, but I've been impressed with that defense.

Bama is not losing this game at home, but 17 points is too steep.

Alabama 24 South Carolina 10

Virginia Tech -3 at Georgia Tech (ESPN2 6pm)

Jeremy: Virginia Tech (-3)

I really have no idea what to think of these two teams. The Hokies have been more consistent to date, but Georgia Tech certainly seems to have more explosiveness on the offensive side. Since the Yellow Jackets keep playing Jekyll & Hyde, guess I’ll have to go with Va Tech.

Va Tech 24 GT 20

Dan: VT -3

I’ve been a Georgia Tech supporter in both reality and gambling ever since the Paul Johnson hire. But I just have a hunch that this VT team has something a little special going and can slow down GT enough to cover relatively easily.

VT 24 GT 17

Matt: Georgia Tech +3

GT’s offense is either really good of FSU was really bad. Probably a lot of both. I apologize for that awful Lock of the Week pick last week. I am hoping for the outright win by the Jackets so we don’t have any possible scenario where Virginia Tech sneaks into national championship contention. They got their doors blown off by Alabama. Case closed.

VT 20 GT 23

Mike: Georgia Tech +3

After some early season struggles, both of these teams’ offenses are really clicking right now. The Jackets’ offense, however, is a notch better than the Hokies’ offense and Tech’s Paul Johnson has a much better track record as an offensive coordinator than the perpetually embattled Bryan Stinespring. By contrast, the Virginia Tech defense, though not as formidable as years past, is better than the Georgia Tech defense, which is a complete mess. These two teams look almost dead even on paper, so I will side with the home field advantage and the points.

Georgia Tech 24 Virginia Tech 23

Doug: Virginia Tech -3

Honestly, I'm intrigued by the idea of Georgia Tech winning this game, but Frank Beamer and his staff are too good to get fooled by the triple option. VT is a disciplined defense that isn't going to get sloppy against that type of offense. If you play fundamentally sound defense, Georgia Tech's offense can be shut down.

I do enjoy watching Georgia Tech play though. Paul Johnson has even said that he thinks the triple option could work in the NFL if a team went all in and made it the focal point of their offense. I think the Miami Dolphins are validating that theory to some degree. They run that Wildcat offense all the time, and it's tough to stop. I never really believed that a Wildcat/option offense could be successful in pro football, but I've seen a lot of NFL teams doing it well.

Virginia Tech 20 Georgia Tech 16

USC -11 at Notre Dame (NBC Sports 3:30pm)

Jeremy: USC

I know its been said a million times already this week, but this is easily the biggest game of Weis’ career. He has basically staked his entire future in South Bend on this weekend. The list of recruits (both in the 2010 and 2011 classes) on campus is mind-boggling. While a bad performance might not destroy the incoming class (remember Floyd committing after the 2007 debacle?), you’ve gotta think these kids will want evidence that the program is heading in the right direction and that Charlie will be the man leading the way for the foreseeable future.

An ND win will give Weis the signature victory he’s been looking for. It would also give the team a much-needed shot of confidence going into the second half of the season. Reports that Floyd could be back as early as the Navy game support the notion that the Irish could run the table and find themselves playing in a BCS bowl come January.

So what do the Irish have to do to be in this game in the closing minutes? Here’s a few thoughts:

1) Put USC in 3rd and long. Its unreasonable to think that ND can stop, or even slow down, the Trojans on the ground. The SC OL and RBs are just too good. But, if ND can put Barkley and 3rd and 5+ a few times each drive and force him to make a play, the defense could get off the field or at least hold SC to a FG.

2) Win the TO battle. The Irish have been pretty good thus far in taking care of the ball. They have not been great in creating turnovers on defense.

3) Make a play on defense or STs. Not necessarily a TD, but a big play that gives the offense great field position.

4) Limit the mistakes on offense. Penalties have killed quite a few drives this year and taken some big plays off the board (70+ yard screen against Michigan, Rudolph’s TD against Washington).

I know some have said that the absence of Michael Floyd will make the difference in this game. I’m not sure that I completely agree with that. The SC defense has been somewhat vulnerable through the air this year, so if the OL (likely keeping a TE in for max-protect) can keep Clausen upright, I think ND can move the ball. If they can stick the ball in the end zone rather than settle for FGs, I think the game could be close in the 4th quarter.

But ultimately, the Trojans just have too much on both sides of the ball. ND can’t stop the rushing attack and McKnight and Co. are sure to break some big runs. Carroll has basically used Barkley as a game manager thus far, but I’m guessing he’ll get to take a couple shots downfield on Saturday. If Ronald Johnson or Damian Williams breaks free in the secondary it could be a very long day for the Irish.

USC 31 ND 24

Dan: USC (win)

No scores, no spread, no winner. I wish I had the time and energy to devote words upon words to this game. But that is Doug’s forte. So I only have one insight. USC has absolutely dominated Notre Dame over the last 7 years. This has been arguably the most dominating relationship between 2 “major” programs in years. Until I see something different out of an ND team on the field against USC, I will struggle to believe in the ability of the team to win. I’ll take USC to win.

Matt: USC

This is the biggest game in recent Notre Dame history. Charlie has been stockpiling talent the last few years and finally has the horses on paper to compete and win against USC. Not only that, take a look at the list of recruits that are going to be in town for the weekend. It’s jaw-dropping. If ND can somehow get this W in front of a frenzied crowd, I would fully expect to see an avalanche of 5 star talent coming on board, not to mention the headway that will be made with the current juniors. In short, win this game and ND is on the road to a national championship caliber team next year and beyond. Lose, and Charlie will have gone another year without a meaningful victory. I hope I’m wrong, but I think on Saturday at 6:30 we will have the same old questions about ND and Charlie Weis.

USC 31 ND 21

Mike: USC (outright)

One can only hope that Charlie Weis spent the off week focusing on fundamentals rather than gadget plays and other nonsense. If the Irish do not tackle better than they have in weeks past, the Trojans’ Joe McKnight and Allen Bradford will run all over Notre Dame, thereby allowing true frosh Matt Barkley to play the role of “game manager.” As usual, USC has one of the best defenses in the nation, but Notre Dame should be able to move the ball effectively if Jimmy Clausen continues to play at his current level. I suspect that the Irish will keep this game close before a spirited home crowd before eventually falling short, yet again, against the Trojans.

USC 34 Notre Dame 27

Doug: Notre Dame

I look at this game through two different prisms. The realist prism and the "I really want to win this game" ND fan prism. A basic summary of both positions:

1) The realist prism -- This version of myself looks at this game and says that we will bring everything we've got (especially early) but that we'll eventually get outclassed by USC. The realist Doug says that we will come out like gangbusters with a well-scripted drive to start the game that Weis has probably been plotting for nine months, but that USC will wear us down, kill us with their team speed, and beat us up at the line of scrimmage.

Let's be honest, we haven't played anyone even CLOSE to as good as USC this year. We've played five games. Two of our opponents are horrible/mid-majors (Purdue, Nevada), two of our opponents are average (Michigan State, Washington), and one of our opponents is only slightly above-average (Michigan). Thus far, we've demonstrated that we are only marginally better than these teams we've played so far, if at all. USC is not Michigan State. USC is not Washington. USC has elite offensive linemen, elite skill players, an elite front seven, and a big time secondary. They have speed and size and depth like we haven't seen so far. We've played a depleted Michigan team, a rebuilding Sparty team with 3 star type talent, and a fairly talented but extremely thin Washington team. If you put the best players on all those teams together, I'm not even sure that combined team would be more talented than USC.

Plus, they have Pete Carroll. Pete Carroll versus Charlie Weis. I look at that matchup and cringe. I think about Pete Carroll whipping his guys into a frenzy and pumping everyone up on the sideline. Then I think about Charlie Weis waddling around with his front butt in full effect and boogers dripping out of his nose. In terms of the coaching matchup, Weis has been outcoached BADLY for three straight years by Pete Carroll.

The realist side of me says that USC's dominant front four will get on pressure on Clausen, they'll bracket Golden Tate with two guys, our running game will stall, they'll hit a big special teams play, and that will be enough. Maybe we make the game interesting with an emotionally-charged performance and make some plays, but the end result is our 8th straight loss to USC.

2) The desperate ND fan prism -- When I look at this game through the ND fan prism, I start seeing scenarios that could give us a fighting chance in this game. All the intangibles are pointing to the Irish. I see an ND team that is DESPERATE to put itself back on the national map. The national media has all but buried ND over the last 2-3 years, and these players know that the only way anyone will take the Irish seriously is if we win this game (or at least have a chance to win it in the fourth quarter). In terms of motivation, I know USC will be ready to play, but how could this game possibly mean as much to USC as it does to ND?? USC has 4-5 HUGE games on their schedule this year. This is it for ND. This is our Super Bowl. We can beat the MSUs and UConns of the world all we want, but the only game that will move the meter for the Irish in 2009 is the USC game. Win this game, and suddenly everyone is buzzing about ND. Lose this game, and we're completely off the radar again in terms of being taken seriously. There is much more for ND to play for on Saturday than USC.

I also see some matchups that could go well for ND, and I see a USC team that is a LITTLE more vulnerable than they've been at other times in the Pete Carroll era. No matter how precocious he may be, Matt Barkley is still a freshman. He was rattled for most of the game at Ohio State. If he is even a little off and throws a couple picks, that might be the window that ND needs to win this game.

I also see an ND team that might actually be able to win a few battles at the line of scrimmage unlike in previous years, and I even see a coaching staff that has really had ND ready to play this year. Charlie's work in changing offenses from week to week and his playcalling early in the game has been masterful. There's no other way to put it. The Wildcat has been effective, the no huddle five wides has been dynamic, the late game two minute offense has been great, and even the running game has been good. Never in a million years did I think a Charlie Weis team could run the ball on USC, but it would not shock me if we have some success on the ground with the 1-2 punch of Hughes and Allen.

Throw in a crowd that should be nothing short of ELECTRIC from start to finish, and it's hard not to start imagining a victory on Saturday the longer I view this game through the ND fan prism.

So there are the two big overviews in my mind on how to look at this game.

With that general overview in place, here are the key matchups from my perspective:

1) How good exactly is the ND offense?? Is it good enough to win this game alone?? --

First, I think this offense is as good as the 2005 offense that gave USC all it could handle. It's the first time I've looked at our offense and felt like we could move the ball on the ground and through the air on just about anyone. All of the things that made the 2005 offense great are back. The crossing routes, the 1-2 punch in the running game with Hughes and Allen, the great quarterback play, good pass protection, and a superstar tight end. When everything is in place, this offense can be a thing of beauty.

With that said, we won't really know what this offense is made of until we see this team against USC. Will we remain sturdy on the line and in the running game, or will morph into the 2006 offense reincarnated and get shoved around up front?? Check out USC's defensive front. Absurd! The scary part is that there isn't one senior in that entire front seven, and that's including their two deep.

Everyone is focused on the Irish defense, but I think our offense is the key to this game. Let's be honest, we are an offensive football team, and USC knows that they have us in the bag if they can shutdown our ofense. If we can't score points or at least control the game with our offense, we can't win this game. They are going to try to force us to be one-dimensional, bring pressure in every way possible if we start passing on every down, and take Golden Tate out of the game. That's USC's strategy. Everyone already knows it.

We have to be a two-dimensional offense that can run the ball, keep Jimmy protected, and make plays down the field. If the running game gets going and USC has to account for it, they won't be able to come after Clausen with reckless abandon. If we can do all those things, we have a great chance to win this game.

2) How good is Matt Barkley?? --

USC is going to run the football on us. It's inarguable. Their offensive line is too good, and our defensive line is too shaky for that not to happen. However, I don't think they can just run it 10 times in a row down the field. USC is going to be in some 2nd/3rd and long situations, and Barkley will have to make some plays for them to win. ND has to capitalize by getting pressure on Barkley and forcing some errant throws. It would be long overdue for one of our corners to make a really big play.

I honestly don't know what Barkley is going to bring to the table in his first SC-ND game. There's not as much riding on it for him as there is for Jimmy Clausen, but Barkley could solidify his status as a superduper prospect with a big game in South Bend. Think about what the media will be saying if Barkley plays great. It'll be like Thom Brennaman on Tim Tebow.

Barkley will have Ronald Johnson back this week, which will be another weapon for him to use. I would imagine that USC will want Barkley to throw no more than 15-20 times on Saturday. If they get in a situation where he needs to lead a big drive for a score, can Barkley march them down the field through the air?? He did it against the Buckeyes, but he's still a true freshman.

3) The Weather/Turf -- Cmon, it wouldn't be USC-Notre Dame in South Bend unless there was some talk about the condition of the turf. I hope we haven't cut the grass in a month, and that Ben Crenshaw was brought in to turn ND Stadium into Warren South. Give me 6" "rough" and slow conditions all day long. I have no desire to see another mudpit, and the long grass might actually help to stabilize the field. Plus, I just love the psychological edge of the "long" grass. It really did seem to get into USC's head in 2005.

As for the weather, there is talk of a high of 49 degrees with a low in the 30s. Brrrrr. Plus, I'm reading about 18-20 mph winds!! Dear god, we have an 8:30 am tee time at Warren on Sunday. British Open conditions!! Might be hitting knockdowns and Scottish bump and runs all day long. Break out those windbreakers and move that ball back in the stance. Yikes. Some of those long par fours are going to feel like par sixes if we're into the wind.

How are those USC boys going to like hitting in that cold weather?? When they get popped a couple times and feel that sting from the cold temps, are they going to fold up?? The temps have been pretty mild in South Bend the last few ND-USC games. How is a warm weather team going to react to playing in true cold weather conditions??

This is the first time in awhile where the homefield advantage might really mean something for the Irish. The crowd is going to be rocking like it hasn't rocked in years, and the weather is going to be downright cold by gametime.

Honestly, I love it. I love going to these kinds of games. Not like 20 degrees or anything where you are too cold to even cheer, but cold enough that you feel like yelling and screaming a lot just because it makes you warmer.

4) Pete Carroll vs. Charlie Weis -- Finally, there's the matchup on the sidelines. Mr. Hollywood versus Mr. Schematic Advantage. Pete Carroll with his "I've had 25 Mountain Dews today and couldn't be more amped and check out all the celebrities on our sideline!!" persona and Charlie Weis with his "Look it, I get up at 3am every morning to watch unnecessary film and can't wait to tell everyone about it" act. Two of the most popular and also unpopular coaches in the business. Two ENORMOUS egos who happen to have some incredible strengths and a few fatal flaws.

First, Pete Carroll. I can't believe how much criticism there is for Pete Carroll. It's Pete freaking Carroll!! Look at the guy's record. The guy has been one of the best cocahces of all time (seriously, his only contemporaries are historical figures at this point), and now people are all over him because he lost to Washington?? Jesus, the standards are high at USC. We would be building a statue of Charlie Weis if he beat Ohio State and Cal on the road in the same year.

I think people are just bummed out that the Trojans aren't the offensive juggernauts that they were in the early part of the decade. USC wins these days with their defense. It's not as glamorous though, and I think USC fans have the same complex that ND fans have when it comes to offense. Both fanbases want the golden boy QB and high-flying offenses that can put up 30-40 points every time out. Pete Carroll dials it up offensively when he needs to, but he's perfectly content to win games 17-10 whenever he can. Personally, that's the type of coach I would want, but USC fans want their Hollywood coach to be more of a Hollywood offensive gameplanner.

With that said, anyone who thinks Pete Carroll is some glorified recruiter who just rolls the balls out there is kidding themselves. Carroll is an outstanding coach. Watch how they play defense. It's incredible. They wrap and tackle, they play with intensity, they bring pressure, they chase you from sideline to sideline, and they ballhawk in the secondary. If you try to run screens on USC, they sniff them out practically as soon as the QB lets go of the ball. To move the ball on USC, it takes extraordinary execution because they are relentless and will not beat themselves.

Even though they have dominated us through the years, Pete Carroll seems to take the ND series seriously. I think he has an appreciation for the rivalry and what the game is all about. I have no doubt that they will be ready for us this Saturday.

As for Charlie Weis, where do I begin?? Sometimes he gives me an extreme amount of confidence in his abilities, and other times I hear the guy open his mouth and just cringe. It's like he just can't help himself. Why is he doing so much talking in the media this week about our "temperament" and how he thinks we're ready to finally beat USC and all this other nonsense?? Why tell that story about the hat with his daughter?? WHAT IS THE POINT??! Is he trying to motivate the press or something?? Does he want Eric Hansen running through a wall for him?? Just stop talking already, get some thicker skin or something, and stop using your press conference as a therapy session. You aren't a message board poster. You're the head coach. Focus your energies on the team and not the media or the fanbase. You don't need to make me feel better about the team or our chances. I'm not the guy who has to run out of that tunnel on Saturday.

Notice how you haven't heard anything like that out of Pete Carroll all week. I haven't seen one quote from him. Couldn't Weis have taken that approach instead of taking the Oprah Winfrey route?? Talk about how good USC is, how special the rivalry is, how we tried to recruit a lot of their players, how hard we are going to have to work in practice to win, and how much we need the fans behind us. And then go out on Saturday and kick butt.

Anyway, back to the game. How is Weis going to ensure that this team can compete with USC this time around?? Is it because we have some great game plan drawn up, or is it because we're a better football team?? I have no doubt that we will have a great opening drive planned, and I think we might even march right down the field and score. But it's a 60 minute game. Are we going to hammer on the things we need to do to win this football game, or are we going to lose focus in the 2nd and 3rd quarters like we have all year and let it slip away??

Weis has many brilliant qualities. He's got a lot of guts, a great offensive mind, very innovative, great feel for how to call a game, and I like that he is creative in using screens and the tight end and stuff like that. We run an NFL offense, and we run it pretty darn well.

But then I think about Weis in a big game and I really can't get a read on it. The last time we really played any big time games like this was in 2006 against USC, Michigan, and LSU. That's how long it's been. And we got annihilated in all three games. We haven't really been relevant nationally since that LSU game, so even our games with USC the last two years were like glorified scrimmages. There have been zero data points for Weis in big games in almost three years.

What is he going to be like in this game?? Is he going to rise to the occasion?? Is he going to melt down?? Is he going to be the steady hand that we need?? Is he going to trust his defense or take too many gambles??

The only answer that we can really give to any of these questions is that we really don't know. We can certainly hope for the best, but we don't really know what Weis is going to be like in his first truly big game in almost three years.

A lot of people are saying that Charlie Weis has to coach the best game of his life on Saturday, but I don't think that's the case at all. The real work for this game started in the summer and in the weight room and in practice preparation for this game. That's where Charlie Weis has hopefully done his job in getting this team ready to win this game. The more Charlie Weis tries to overcoach in this game, the less likely we are to win it.

I guess it's time to make a prediction at this point. USC is going to give us fits, and I have no doubt that there will be times when they make us look like we don't belong on the field with them. There's just no way to simulate their defense in practice, and going up against their front seven will be different from any front seven we've seen since....well....USC last year. I've been reading that USC has some special packages to get to Clausen, and it will be a long day if we can't protect the quarterback. If USC is in Clausen's face all day, expect sacks and turnovers and rushed passes.

But Steve Sarkisian (of all people) said something interesting this week. There is a different energy within and around the Notre Dame program this year. He said you could just feel it on campus. There's a buzz there that hasn't been there in a few years. Part of it is just the desperation of the fans and the campus to get back on top, but part of it seems to be a belief that this team might truly be something special. I think people really believe in this team. I really haven't felt like this since the 2005 team, and I remember having a similar feeling going into that 2005 ND-USC game that I have now. We can beat these guys.

Sure, the defense stinks this year, but the defense stunk in 2005 too. It didn't matter. As much as I hate to face this reality, the key to ND football under Charlie Weis has always been the offense. The whole team feeds off the offense. When Weis has had a balanced offense to go with the potent passing attack, our offense has been very very tough to stop. If we can control the ball with high-quality possessions, score points on most of our drives (FGs or TDs), and hit some big plays when needed, I see no reason why we can't be right in this game.

This game means so much to Notre Dame. It means a ton for Weis. It means a ton for the guys who have gone 10-15 the last two years. It means a ton for the fans. It means a ton for Jack Swarbrick. It means a ton to recruiting. We have been down and out for a long time, and everyone just really wants this game.

Now I know people could ask, doesn't everyone say that when they go up against USC? Didn't Ohio State fans say the same thing?? Didn't Cal fans say this probably two weeks ago?? Isn't every team desperate to beat USC to validate their programs?? And what has that done for them??

True, true. I can't really dispute that, but I will say that there is something about playing at Notre Dame Stadium in a big game that just makes things different. ND Stadium isn't always the most intimidating stadium in the country, but there is something magical about that stadium in a big game. I can't really describe it, but it's palpable. And I have no doubt that I'll have that same feeling on Saturday. In a big game at ND Stadium, there's a feeling inside the building that the Irish can beat anyone.

No matter what happens, there really is nothing like ND-USC at Notre Dame Stadium. The bands, the pageantry, Friday night at The Backer, Mike Collins setting the stage with a weather report and some goosebump-inducing words, the electricity in the crowd, the drama, the tension, the uniforms, the helmets. There's nothing like feeling the sun setting over the stadium and the lights coming on as the second half gets underway. I've read some stuff this week from some former players who say that there's less trash talk in the ND-USC game than any other game they play. It's like they can feel the history of the rivalry unfolding before their eyes. Pretty awesome stuff.

So maybe the smart play is to go with USC here, but I'm going with another magical moment in Notre Dame Stadium. ND shocks the world, and ND fans celebrate deep into the night.......

ummm...

.....well, at least the ones that don't have 8:30am tee times the next day at Warren!! My god! Where do I sign up for the Anthony Kim plan of coming home "sideways" after closing down the Backer and then showing up at the first tee the next day double fisting a 24 oz coffee and a Warren Golf Course breakfast sandwich while trying to keep my hands from shaking?? The loose cannon!!!

Then again, there will be nothing like walking down that second fairway to hit my 245 yard second shot into a howling 20 mph wind and seeing the Golden Dome off in the distance, especially the day after seeing ND win one of the great games of all time.

Go Irish!

ND 27 USC 24

Bonus Picks:

Mike:

Wake Forest (+6.5) over Clemson: Wake is the superior team here, but they are somehow getting a decent amount of points. Even in Death Valley, the Deacs should be able to cover this one.

Marshall (+17) over West Virginia: Is there any doubt that Marshall will be a live underdog in the always heated “Friends of Coal Bowl?” Not in my mind.

Nebraska (-7) over Texas Tech: I like when Texas Tech runs up the score against teams like Kansas State because it causes the Red Raiders to be overvalued from a gambling standpoint.

Connecticut (-11) over Louisville: Can we just pull the plug on the Kragthorpe era now? This is painful for all parties.

Arkansas (+24) over Florida: The Razorbacks were not ready for the big stage in their first big SEC road test at Alabama, but they should give a more honest performance this week.

Doug:

Houston Texas +4.5 at Cincinnati Bengals -- GULP. I'm telling you as a Bengal fan that these are the kinds of games that the Bengals have always lost. Just when you think they are turning the corner, they lay an egg. Marvin has probably been telling them all week how great they are. I'm too scarred as a Bengals fan to truly feel comfortable with this team week in and week out. Houston badly needs a win in this game, and it's not like they don't have talent. I would gladly take a one point win for the Bengals, so I'd recommend taking the points.

New York Giants +3 at New Orleans -- My NFL Lock of the Week. The Giants are the best team in football with the best front seven in the game. The G-Men have become an outstanding organization from top to bottom. If the Giants win the bowl, isn't Tom Coughlin on track towards the NFL Hall of Fame?? How could he not be?? No one talks about him, but he's in the process of one of the great coaching careers of all time between his tenure in Jacksonville and now New York. And to think he was on the verge of getting fired by the Giants the year that he won that first Super Bowl.

Ohio State -14 at Purdue -- Ohio State has traditionally throttled Purdue up there. I can't see Purdue doing anything on the Buckeye defense.

Wake +7 at Clemson -- Wake is QUIETLY having a good year. Heard there is going to be a party of the year in Winston for that Wake-Miami game on Halloween.

Texas Tech +10 at Nebraska -- Color me impressed with Nebraska so far. They look like the team to beat in the Big 12 North.

BC -2.5 over NC State -- BC's last game before their Super Bowl in South Bend. USC is to ND what ND is to BC. We better be ready for those jokers.

Arkansas +24.5 at Florida -- Should be a fun one. If ND is down 21-3 at the half, I'll be in the parking lot watching this game.

Arizona -4.5 over Stanford -- The "Stanford is for real" bandwagon is my "Broken Wheel on the Bandwagon" Award winner of the week. Not a good performance in Corvallis at all last week.

LAST WEEK:
Jeremy: 5-1
Dan: 3-3
Matt: 4-2
Mike: 3-3
Doug: 2-4

SEASON:
Jeremy: 21-19
Dan: 22-18
Matt: 17-23
Mike: 16-24
Doug: 20-20

LOCK OF THE WEEKS:
Jeremy: 3-2
Dan: 3-3
Matt: 1-4
Mike: 2-3
Doug: 3-3