How about an Irish miracle season?

[jason_h537]

How???? We lost to a 5-7 team. A 5-7 team IN THE BIG EAST. A team that lost to Rutgers and UConn and who scored 3 pts against Miami. ND needed a last minute drive to beat a bad Pitt team, and beat a HORRIBLE BC team by 2 points. And you think we would have went undefeated (with our QB giving away that many turnovers)?

How many opponents do we have to overlook that eventually beat us for fans to understand that we shouldn't overlook ANYBODY anymore. Remember Navy (a few times)? Tulsa? UConn? A 2-8 Syracuse team? I could go on and on.

Wear your ND goggles and wear them proud, but don't bash jasonh on this one, because he's absolutely right in saying that BYU could handle ND if ND didn't come to play. He even said he thinks ND will win, but that BYU could win. I absolutely agree with him.

And btw, I don't see how you consider a one pt loss to Texas and a 10 pt loss to a surging TCU team 'blowouts'. They had one bad loss, to Utah. And once they gave the reins to Riley Nelson, they were really, really good. He didn't play vs. Utah, and against TCU, they had 3 (!!!) muffed punts which put them in a huge whole that he damn near took them out of. And the dude can run, and how many elusive QB's have killed us over the years?

Meanwhile, we don't even have an established QB yet, and we're expecting to walk over a ranked team with loads of returners? Sorry, I'm just not seeing it. There's a reason BYU is ranked in many polls. Oh, and we're playing them between Stanford and Oklahoma (trap game anyone?). It should be a battle...

 

[Irishbounty28]

BYU ranked similar to us in passing yards, rushing yards, points for and points allowed.

Notre Dame

Passing Yards-252 p/g (40th)
Rushing Yards-160.4 p/g (54th)
Points For-29.2 p/g (49th)
Points Against-20.7 p/g (24th)
SOS-32nd

BYU

Passing Yards- 245 p/g (47th)
Rushing Yards- 160.3 p/g (55th)
Points For- 30.1 p/g (42nd)
Points Against- 20.4 p/g (22nd)
SOS-103rd

Take what you will from those statistics, but I think we should win.

 

[PraetorianND]

 

[D-BOE34]

How???? We lost to a 5-7 team. A 5-7 team IN THE BIG EAST. A team that lost to Rutgers and UConn and who scored 3 pts against Miami. ND needed a last minute drive to beat a bad Pitt team, and beat a HORRIBLE BC team by 2 points. And you think we would have went undefeated (with our QB giving away that many turnovers)?

How many opponents do we have to overlook that eventually beat us for fans to understand that we shouldn't overlook ANYBODY anymore. Remember Navy (a few times)? Tulsa? UConn? A 2-8 Syracuse team? I could go on and on.

Wear your ND goggles and wear them proud, but don't bash jasonh on this one, because he's absolutely right in saying that BYU could handle ND if ND didn't come to play. He even said he thinks ND will win, but that BYU could win. I absolutely agree with him.

And btw, I don't see how you consider a one pt loss to Texas and a 10 pt loss to a surging TCU team 'blowouts'. They had one bad loss, to Utah. And once they gave the reins to Riley Nelson, they were really, really good. He didn't play vs. Utah, and against TCU, they had 3 (!!!) muffed punts which put them in a huge whole that he damn near took them out of. And the dude can run, and how many elusive QB's have killed us over the years?

Meanwhile, we don't even have an established QB yet, and we're expecting to walk over a ranked team with loads of returners? Sorry, I'm just not seeing it. There's a reason BYU is ranked in many polls. Oh, and we're playing them between Stanford and Oklahoma (trap game anyone?). It should be a battle...

I see where you are coming from. I can agree. I think this years team will have a better 4th quarter than past. It will be the teams such as USC, Mich and OK that scare me the most. I don't think BYU can pull away enough, early. If we let those teams get away what they can, we could be down 17-20 points at half, EASY! I would not be surprised if BYU was up at half, winning or close after 3. I think we show a team that can dominate in the 4th quarter this year. I see BYU up no more than 10 early and us changing heads, as players, and getting it done against a team we SHOULD beat.

I know you were not in response to my point but I also went against Jason post. I just wanted to express my point in why it will be diff. Yes, I will wear the glasses. Mine just may be in a more "trim" form.


EDIT: I can see us losing to a team we shouldn't this year. BYU being that team. I can also see us finally taking that step and beating USC. OU? I dunno, USC, yes.

 

[jason_h537]

BYU ranked similar to us in passing yards, rushing yards, points for and points allowed.

Notre Dame

Passing Yards-252 p/g (40th)
Rushing Yards-160.4 p/g (54th)
Points For-29.2 p/g (49th)
Points Against-20.7 p/g (24th)
SOS-32nd

BYU

Passing Yards- 245 p/g (47th)
Rushing Yards- 160.3 p/g (55th)
Points For- 30.1 p/g (42nd)
Points Against- 20.4 p/g (22nd)
SOS-103rd

Take what you will from those statistics, but I think we should win.

It os not about whether ND can or should win, it is about the hubris on this board that thinks BYU is a cake walk. Considering how these games have turned out in the past.

 

[Irishbounty28]

It os not about whether ND can or should win, it is about the hubris on this board that thinks BYU is a cake walk. Considering how these games have turned out in the past.

Obviously, as Wooly stated previously, any team can win on any given game day. The problem I have is that we should be "worried" about them losing to BYU, who from a talent standpoint should be leaps and bounds below us? I understand that we have been bitten by so-called "lesser" teams in the past, and that point is well made. But BYU is not as talented a team as Notre Dame, which makes them less of a worry compared to the rest of our schedule.

It is commonplace that the emphasis on a schedule, from a fans standpoint, is going to be directed at the "cream of the crop". This is not BYU. NO TEAM on the schedule should be overlooked, but there are certain teams that pose a bigger threat to this team that will get the bulk of the attention.

 

[Redbar]

The unchanging, hopeless look
Out of which all miracles leap
--James Dickey in At Darien Bridge

OK, here's the Hail Mary season: Navy (Kelly goes 2-1, no big deal), Purdue (tougher but Irish make it five in a row), Michigan State (Kelly improves to 2-1 vs. Spartans), Michigan (Irish finally make up four-point differences in past two years), Miami (2010 all over again), Stanford (Luckless Cardinal finally lose), Brigham Young (10-3 last year but three wins by slim margins; Irish pull it off), Oklahoma (hey, Coach Terry Brennan beat a much better Okie team with less), Pittsburgh (not easy but Kelly goes 3-0), Boston College (always tough but Luke Kuechly is gone), Wake Forest (offensive line has lost four starters), and USC (the biggest leap but hey realists should be reading some other post or at least drinking a lot more than they are). Irish win to the 12th power and go bowling!

Stranger things have happened!

 

[Meacon Irish]

After last year, I find it amazing that some people don't understand that "**** happens" and no game is a sure thing. People mock BYU, but we could just as easily lose to Wake Forest or Boston College. Games aren't played on paper.

 

[BleedBlueGold]

Play to win, and ND should finish very admirably.

Play not to lose, and ND may find themselves scrambling for a bowl invite.

As mentioned in another thread, ND has had a huge problem with attitude and thinking they are entitled and self-deserving of victories just because it's ND. If they can come out hungry each and every game, this season could be one for the ages. I feel this way in spite of the DB, WR, and QB situation. I feel this way because I believe what this roster lacks in experience, it makes up for with raw athleticism and talent.

 

[NDhoosier]

BYU ranked similar to us in passing yards, rushing yards, points for and points allowed.

Notre Dame

Passing Yards-252 p/g (40th)
Rushing Yards-160.4 p/g (54th)
Points For-29.2 p/g (49th)
Points Against-20.7 p/g (24th)
SOS-32nd

BYU

Passing Yards- 245 p/g (47th)
Rushing Yards- 160.3 p/g (55th)
Points For- 30.1 p/g (42nd)
Points Against- 20.4 p/g (22nd)
SOS-103rd

Take what you will from those statistics, but I think we should win.

We also beat a 11 win MSU team, which is better than every team on BYU's schedule last year. BYU is simply an average team, we should win by double digits...

 

[PraetorianND]

We also beat a 11 win MSU team, which is better than every team on BYU's schedule last year. BYU is simply an average team, we should win by double digits...

FYI - Lots of average teams on this schedule.

South Florida L 23-20

Michigan L 35-31

#15 Michigan State W 31-13

Pittsburgh W 15-12

Purdue W 38-10

Air Force W 59-33

USC L 31-17

Navy W 56-14

Wake Forest W 24-17

Maryland* W 45-21

Boston College W 16-14

#6 Stanford L 28-14

Florida State* L 18-14

 

[k1ssme1m1r1sh]

This is it guys. It was all spelled out in revelations. Besides it's 2012, and if "Irrelevant" ND pulls this off, people will call it the apocalypse. The stage is set for an awesome season. We are going to see a Brian Kelly offense. I am optimistic. We WILL beat the wolverfags if nothing else.

 

[Bogtrotter07]

This is it guys. It was all spelled out in revelations. Besides it's 2012, and if "Irrelevant" ND pulls this off, people will call it the apocalypse. The stage is set for an awesome season. We are going to see a Brian Kelly offense. I am optimistic. We WILL beat the wolverfags if nothing else.

Dia daoibh,

I had a dream about this. You spelled it out. IF the team maintains its sense of humor, takes it one game at a time, and everybody has everybody elses back, we good to go! I think you are on to something. 40% of the posts on this thread were just chest beating and insults to those least admired (by the insultors). Now that the posturing is over:

Last year was dominated by a team that had no sense of unity, lip service and nothing else. A few bad turnovers and things broke down the way they have for other recent Irish teams. It was exasorbated by incompotent quarterbacking. That's all gone now.

Anyone who says Motta is no good is in the same league with those who said Harrison Smith was no good; bush. I watched bunches of people just crucify him, and I stood up to them. Hell I was ridiculed for it. Motta is in the same boat. He could break that good, (with two years left.)

People are maturing on this team, and growing, faster than on any past ND team. Some inexperienced positions are going to grow right past what they have been for a very long time. Case in point Cam McDaniels. KeiVarae Russell. By the end of this season these guys are going to be Austin Collinsworths and the whole back end is going to be strong and deep.

The defense is going to eat teams alive. I don't need to belabor this. This defense is going to be deeper and far superior to last years. Period. 10x anyway.

Offense is going to be like a chainsaw, bunches of moving parts. These guys are going to be able to lay people out. The line is rediculous, Tight ends can block like guards for the first time in a half of a generation.

The coaching is better. The flips were all good, Martin to O, Alford to rb's, and the three new position coaches are a great improvement! The kids are learning a lot more!

Enough I am with you!

Beir bua agus beannacht,

Bog

 

[rikkitikki08]

Well to be honest would should all be hoping for a perfect season so what the OP says isnt that far fetched. Now would a betting man say we go undefeated....thats a big N.O.

 

[PraetorianND]

We also beat a 11 win MSU team, which is better than every team on BYU's schedule last year. BYU is simply an average team, we should win by double digits...

and we beat them all except for USF because of 5 TOs... Do you even realize how rare it is to have 5 TOs in a single game, let alone in two back-to-back games. We still should have beaten both teams after basically handing them the win. Like people have said, any team can beat anyone on any given day. But the only way BYU will beat us is if we beat ourselves, like we did against USF and BC (still won, but never should have been THAT close). I dont predict 'bad days' and 'fluke plays' like some of you guys like to do, I predict based on talent level and who should win.

What stands out to me is how we didn't beat the average teams on our schedule by double digits in most cases as OP was saying we should be able to do. So it's a combination of losing to average teams and not beating others by double digits that makes me think expecting a double digit victory over BYU isn't a great idea.

Don't get me wrong, I would love to blow out every team on our schedule. I'm just not going to be upset if we win by a few to an average team.

BTW, I don't consider BYU average. Average to me are teams is the middle 50th percentile of teams generally. BYU was just outside the top 25.

 

[Irish Houstonian]

It's definitely possible -- Oklahoma didn't really beat anyone that good last year, and they'll probably be worse. Stanford's dropping off, as is Mich. St. And BYU and Miami shouldn't worry people nearly as much as they seem to do.

Problem is Michigan and SoCal will probably be better.

And, it's always a stretch to hope that you can upset all those teams better than you, but conveniently forget about being upset yourself. Takes a lot of luch with no FCS teams on your plate.

 

[Bogtrotter07]

Not sure how michigan will be better. Too much richrod talent required. NO os receivers. Etc.

 

[Irish YJ]

USC, OK, and UM in that order. I don't agree with the high rankings of OK or UM. I think both are winable so long as we have consistency at QB this year. Even with our DB questions, I don't think either UM or OK will rule the air.

 

[tommyIRISH23]

I'm hoping that BK's attitude, and purple face have chased most, in not all, of the entitlement out of this team. There is absolutely no reason this team should believe that they can just show up and beat a goddamn community college let alone Navy, BYU..etc.

I think the young players on this team are more hungry than any group of players ND has had in a very long time, and it seems like it's rubbing off on the rest of the team. Also, Manti staying to finish what he came here to do must have involved some team discussion that rallied the men together in solidarity.

I will be very disheartend if we see the careless, and mental collapse of ND that we saw last year. Jason is right, if the old ND comes out to play, most teams on our schedule can and probably will beat us. We will be 6-6.

But if ND plays mentally tough, and executes properly like that are more than capable of, they will win 8-10 games.

We have enough speed on our offense (GAIII, CW, Riddick, Davonte, Amir, TJ) and enough big men (TE,DD,JF) that we can cause problems for every defense in football if we execute properly.

We don't need a QB to throw 30/35 for 380 yards to win. We need a QB who can manage the game, and keep the defense honest with his feet and get the ball to any of our play many play makers. To my knowledge, ND hasn't had this much pure athleticism on the field in a very long time, if ever. For the last 10 years, even with Golden Tate and Mike Floyd, Herbstreit has been saying that we don't have the athletes. We didn't. Now we do. Speed kills and BK's offense is built for speed. ND just has to play disciplined, and they will be more than fine.

 

[Bogtrotter07]

Good post, way too many cliches at the end. I am telling you guys, this offense is going to look a lot different than you think.

 

[Kanye West]

I'm feelin it.

 

[NDinFL]

I dont expect us to win by the margin we should every game, I am simply putting a Vegas line on the game and I personally think we are more likely to win by double digits than not.

As for part I bolded, I consider them right above a 45th percentile (54th best team). The only reason you are putting them just outside the top 25 is because they had 10 wins last year and I am saying that those 10 wins are NOT impressive AT ALL. The BEST team that they beat last year was Ole Miss (ya, they have just been the bright spot of college football the past decade), everyone else was equivalent to a MAC team (or worse).

Let me ask you this, how many wins do you think BYU would have had if they had our 2011 schedule?

South Florida - Loss
Michigan - Loss
Michigan State - Loss
Pittsburgh - Toss up
Purdue - Toss Up (being at Purdue)
Air Force - Win
USC - Loss
Navy - Win
Wake Forest - Toss Up
Maryland* - Win
Boston College - Win
Stanford - Loss


4-5 with 3 Toss up games... I highly doubt they win all 3 of those. I was being generous on some of those games as well. Navy can hang around with anybody

Your hypothetical schedule for BYU is irrelevant, my friend.

Those "outcomes" are strictly your opinion.

 

[Bluto]

If this team does not kick the living crap out of BYU I will pretty surprised/disappointed. Just about any team from any of the major conferences could have posted a 10-2 record with the schedule the Cougars played last year.

 

[Bogtrotter07]

How about getting back to the conversation at hand, you know the miracle season, maybe the ramifications. Maybe it's time to stop playing on the mossy side of the tree.

 

[ndcoltsfan2010]

USC, OK, and UM in that order. I don't agree with the high rankings of OK or UM. I think both are winable so long as we have consistency at QB this year. Even with our DB questions, I don't think either UM or OK will rule the air.

I could not agree more. I would love to see us beat two of these three this year. I am so sick of losing to Michigan..., we need to seal the win this year. Oklahoma is beatable in my opinion, but USC will be very tough to beat.

 

[Bicycle99]

I think Michigan is going to get pretty banged up in the Alabama game. If they can beat Alabama, they're nearly unstoppable this season anyway. If they lose - which they most likely will, I expect it may set the tone for the rest of the season if the loss is humongous and they let it go to their heads.

 

[Meacon Irish]

Not that I would ever wish injury to anyone, but maybe by the time we play USC, the football God's will have banged them up enough that we can take advantage of their lack of depth.

If we don't shoot ourselves, we can beat Michigan and Oklahoma straight up. But after last year, I'm expecting us to screw ourselves out of at least one of those games. Until we prove we can step up and finish against very good teams, I will remain skeptical.

 

[RDU Irish]

11-1 with the loss to either OK or USC would be a miracle season to me, and maybe even enought to propel us to the BCS championship game and compete there. Not impossible, which is more than I could say for the previous twenty years or so.

 

[RDU Irish]

Michigan plays Alabama three weeks before us with Air Force and U Mass in between us. They then go to bye week before starting their Big 10 schedule. I don't see how the Bama game beats them up enough to make a difference to us three weeks later. They will be as motivated as ever and Air Force really has the best chance of sneaking in for a let down game after Mich plays Bama.

 

[Bogtrotter07]

If Denard is in the hospital with traction.

If they get beat so badly that it psyches them out.

If they have other key injuries. God forbid a center or a wide receiver goes down for Michigan.

Better teams expose other teams weaknesses; Alabama could show a way (shortcut) to Irish victory.

Each "big" team we play goes through a meatgrinder before we meet them.

Mich has bama; Ok has TT and Texas, at Cotton bowl; and USC has everybody.