Our offense isn't anemic. Also, our defense and special teams haven't scored 100 touchdowns.
^This. The 2002 team won based on luck more often than not. Give them some credit for being an opportunistic bunch, but they could not beat a team that was executing at a high level. This year we are winning based on a rock-solid defense and a capable--if still developing--offense.
There is no question in my mind that we are better this year than we have been at any time in the 21st century. Even during the 8-0 run in 2002, I knew we were getting lucky points off sloppy turnovers and sloppy special-teams coverage by opponents. We were not in the upper echelon of college football. You could tell when the USC game came around. This feels totally different. We are beating teams physically this year, outmuscling them and outlasting them. I have never seen anything like it from an ND team (my memory doesn't go back to the Holtz years).
The barometer is how we play powerhouse programs. During the Willingham and Weis years, we beat sh!tty teams and got stomped by the best teams (except for the Bush Push game). In 2002, USC stomped us. But this team is different. Even going back to last year, we are in every game. Sure, USC beat us last year, but we were only a couple turnovers away from winning. The difference is huge.
