The 8-game win streak starts now!

[Vince Young]

Michigan State was win #1. Here's a quick capsule look at the next 7 opponents. Not exactly murderer's row...

Purdue - 4-0, but we'd be 4-0 too if we opened against I-AA Indiana State, Miami of Ohio, Ball State and Minnesota. The wins were less than impressive too, by 7 over Miami, by 10 over Ball State and by 6 over Minnesota.

Stanford - 0-4, including getting crushed by Navy and Washington State. With UCLA up next, they could easily come to South Bend at 0-5. Speaking of which...

UCLA - 2-1, but their wins were against Utah and... wait, let me double-check this... Rice? There's a university called Rice? Oh, and don't look now, but that loss was at the hands of {NAME REDACTED} and the Washington Huskies. UCLA's next game is a gimme against Stanford, followed by 2 tough games with Arizona and Oregon, so they'll probably be 4-2 or 3-3 coming into South Bend.

(Side note... {NAME REDACTED} is now 3-1 so far this year. RETURN TO GLORY!)

at Navy - America's favorite option team is 3-1. They absolutely spanked Stanford, but struggled to top East Carolina and Massachusetts and just dropped one to Tulsa. Navy always plays up for us, but it looks like their best window for ending the losing streak probably closed last year.

North Carolina - 1-3. I'd make fun of them again for losing to Rutgers, except that Rutgers is actually kinda good this year. They've also been crushed by Virginia Tech and Clemson. Their only win was a 3-point squeaker over the I-AA Furman Paladins after Furman's QB only rolled a 2 while trying to cast Magic Missle and got killed by an ogre. (C'mon. They're called the Paladins. Did you really think I wouldn't crack a Dungeons & Dragons joke?)

at Air Force - Apparently, Air Force is looking to hire a new schedule coordinator, since their current one thought it would be a good idea to open the season with their first bye-week, play one game, and then follow that up immediately with their second bye-week. Brilliant! As such, their record is an enigmatic 1-1 with a heartbreaking loss to Tennessee and a nicely-controlled win over Wyoming. But hey, who needs bye-weeks anyway when you're in the Mountain West Conference?

Army - In an effort to conserve bandwidth, I'm not even going to bother looking them up. It's ARMY. That's all you really need to know.

In conclusion, UCLA and Air Force are the only teams who have any business even playing us close. There is no reason why we shouldn't win all 7, and in some of these games Evan Sharpley should see some quality minutes... in the 2nd quarter.

(This post is for entertainment purposes only. For truly careful and thoughtful analysis, leave me alone and go read Jiggafini's posts instead.)

 

[irish4ever]

Michigan State was win #1. Here's a quick capsule look at the next 7 opponents. Not exactly murderer's row...

Purdue - 4-0, but we'd be 4-0 too if we opened against I-AA Indiana State, Miami of Ohio, Ball State and Minnesota. The wins were less than impressive too, by 7 over Miami, by 10 over Ball State and by 6 over Minnesota.

Stanford - 0-4, including getting crushed by Navy and Washington State. With UCLA up next, they could easily come to South Bend at 0-5. Speaking of which...

UCLA - 2-1, but their wins were against Utah and... wait, let me double-check this... Rice? There's a university called Rice? Oh, and don't look now, but that loss was at the hands of {NAME REDACTED} and the Washington Huskies. UCLA's next game is a gimme against Stanford, followed by 2 tough games with Arizona and Oregon, so they'll probably be 4-2 or 3-3 coming into South Bend.

(Side note... {NAME REDACTED} is now 3-1 so far this year. RETURN TO GLORY!)

at Navy - America's favorite option team is 3-1. They absolutely spanked Stanford, but struggled to top East Carolina and Massachusetts and just dropped one to Tulsa. Navy always plays up for us, but it looks like their best window for ending the losing streak probably closed last year.

North Carolina - 1-3. I'd make fun of them again for losing to Rutgers, except that Rutgers is actually kinda good this year. They've also been crushed by Virginia Tech and Clemson. Their only win was a 3-point squeaker over the I-AA Furman Paladins after Furman's QB only rolled a 2 while trying to cast Magic Missle and got killed by an ogre. (C'mon. They're called the Paladins. Did you really think I wouldn't crack a Dungeons & Dragons joke?)

at Air Force - Apparently, Air Force is looking to hire a new schedule coordinator, since their current one thought it would be a good idea to open the season with their first bye-week, play one game, and then follow that up immediately with their second bye-week. Brilliant! As such, their record is an enigmatic 1-1 with a heartbreaking loss to Tennessee and a nicely-controlled win over Wyoming. But hey, who needs bye-weeks anyway when you're in the Mountain West Conference?

Army - In an effort to conserve bandwidth, I'm not even going to bother looking them up. It's ARMY. That's all you really need to know.

In conclusion, UCLA and Air Force are the only teams who have any business even playing us close. There is no reason why we shouldn't win all 7, and in some of these games Evan Sharpley should see some quality minutes... in the 2nd quarter.

(This post is for entertainment purposes only. For truly careful and thoughtful analysis, leave me alone and go read Jiggafini's posts instead.)

Nice analyst of each game between now and the USC game. I'm glad that Purdue is 4-0 because that should fire up the Irish after their Sat. night comeback high! I hope that they lay the wood to the Boilers ... I'm tired of hearing any crap from their fans in our area!

The Air Force game is the one that I would have the most concern because it's out there in high altitude, middle of Nov. and going against a type of offense that they don't practice against week-in week-out. But hey, the Irish can worry about AF after they dispose of NC. Right now concentrate on kicking Purdue's arsh right back to West lafayette!!!

 

[maison bleu]

(This post is for entertainment purposes only. For truly careful and thoughtful analysis, leave me alone and go read Jiggafini's posts instead.)

You're too hard on yourself, lol. I think you're right on.

 

[nshope]

I like the write-up, but I'm not looking past this weekend just yet against Purdue. Their offense is a fine-tuned machine putting up great passing numbers and points. I do believe we should beat them, but we're not out of September yet. If we can win this one, I'll feel very good about UCLA, Air Force, and USC as our only "real" remaining games.

 

[Indydomer]

YOu gotta be kidding me with Purdue. Finely tuned my ass. They are decent at best. They haven't played anyone and their defense is terrible. Believe me after Quinn tears this defense apart Purdue fans will go back in their holes just like every year.

 

[jiggafini19]

After the last two weeks, is Notre Dame a football team that can simply "show up" and win all of their games up until USC?

No fudging way.

Much of what you say about Purdue, IndyDomer, is what could have been said for Michigan State. And that didn't work out so well for 45 minutes on Saturday night.

Notre Dame is still a team without an "identity", which is exactly what I was thinking moments after the MSU win and exactly what Jesus Weis himself proclaimed a few days later. Who shows up for Purdue? The GT/PSU Notre Dame or the State of Michigan Notre Dame? There is no reason why they should not squash Purdue, but will they? I honestly can't answer that. I have a hard time believing that Purdue's defensive staff did not spend months and months watching ND film after that horrific ass kicking they got last year on national TV. You know, that of Brock Spack Deer in Headlights fame?

Wooden and Schwapp being injured does not settle my stomach. There is not enough depth on this team to lose a starter on either side of the ball.

 

[Guest]

Michigan State was win #1. Here's a quick capsule look at the next 7 opponents. Not exactly murderer's row...

Purdue - 4-0, but we'd be 4-0 too if we opened against I-AA Indiana State, Miami of Ohio, Ball State and Minnesota. The wins were less than impressive too, by 7 over Miami, by 10 over Ball State and by 6 over Minnesota.

Stanford - 0-4, including getting crushed by Navy and Washington State. With UCLA up next, they could easily come to South Bend at 0-5. Speaking of which...

UCLA - 2-1, but their wins were against Utah and... wait, let me double-check this... Rice? There's a university called Rice? Oh, and don't look now, but that loss was at the hands of {NAME REDACTED} and the Washington Huskies. UCLA's next game is a gimme against Stanford, followed by 2 tough games with Arizona and Oregon, so they'll probably be 4-2 or 3-3 coming into South Bend.

(Side note... {NAME REDACTED} is now 3-1 so far this year. RETURN TO GLORY!)

at Navy - America's favorite option team is 3-1. They absolutely spanked Stanford, but struggled to top East Carolina and Massachusetts and just dropped one to Tulsa. Navy always plays up for us, but it looks like their best window for ending the losing streak probably closed last year.

North Carolina - 1-3. I'd make fun of them again for losing to Rutgers, except that Rutgers is actually kinda good this year. They've also been crushed by Virginia Tech and Clemson. Their only win was a 3-point squeaker over the I-AA Furman Paladins after Furman's QB only rolled a 2 while trying to cast Magic Missle and got killed by an ogre. (C'mon. They're called the Paladins. Did you really think I wouldn't crack a Dungeons & Dragons joke?)

at Air Force - Apparently, Air Force is looking to hire a new schedule coordinator, since their current one thought it would be a good idea to open the season with their first bye-week, play one game, and then follow that up immediately with their second bye-week. Brilliant! As such, their record is an enigmatic 1-1 with a heartbreaking loss to Tennessee and a nicely-controlled win over Wyoming. But hey, who needs bye-weeks anyway when you're in the Mountain West Conference?

Army - In an effort to conserve bandwidth, I'm not even going to bother looking them up. It's ARMY. That's all you really need to know.

In conclusion, UCLA and Air Force are the only teams who have any business even playing us close. There is no reason why we shouldn't win all 7, and in some of these games Evan Sharpley should see some quality minutes... in the 2nd quarter.

(This post is for entertainment purposes only. For truly careful and thoughtful analysis, leave me alone and go read Jiggafini's posts instead.)

Purdue is 4-0(yes against shit teams) and we're their biggest rival so they'll be playing with a ton of emotion,and confidence

UCLA's QB has a ton of potential, so if he can pick apart our D it could end up being a shootout type of game.

Stanford looks awful, but they almost beat us last year(our special teams play was awful that day). Walt Harris is a very inconsistent coach, but he has had a lot of success against us over the years, he does a good job of exposing our defense every year.

Every other game looks like an easy win to me. I do expect us to win all these games heading into USC. By the time we play USC we will be much better, I expect Walls to be very good by then.

 

[proudndfan]

Nice analyst, very informative. I'd say your pretty accurate on all games. I think it is too early to try to decide about the USC game. We should play much better by then.

 

[nshope]

YOu gotta be kidding me with Purdue. Finely tuned my ass. They are decent at best. They haven't played anyone and their defense is terrible. Believe me after Quinn tears this defense apart Purdue fans will go back in their holes just like every year.

NO WAY am I kidding about Purdue. Their offense if putting up huge numbers and last time I checked, there is NOT ONE part of our team that is consistent. Offense is sporadic, defense is giving up the same big plays, and even though we won last weekend, we got dominated for 3 quarters. Michigan State handed us a nice little present last weekend and if ND isn't ready this weekend and starts slow for the 3rd week in a row, there's going to a BIG # 2 in the loss column.

I HOPE that ND blows Purdue, but that doesn't mean I'm confident it's going to happen. At this point, wins are expected, but dominating anyone just isn't something I'm thinking about. I had the most confidence in ND in years based on last year's performance and returning players, but this is NOT last year's team. They haven't played up to their potential yet and I hope that changes in a hurry...starting with this weekend. Until then, the jury is out on how good this team really is this year.

I don't mean to be negative, but boy oh boy...these games are just NOT being controlled by ND the way they should be. We're constantly behind and you can't dodge that bullet game in and game out.

 

[maison bleu]

Current Irish rankings (of 119 division 1A teams)

Rushing defense = 92
Total defense = 80
Scoring defense = 94

Against a very tough schedule, for sure. But still, as jigga says, there's room for concern.

 

[BigIrish]

i find no reason to think that we'll roll over purdue. do they have the talent of some of the teams we've already played? no. but they have the confidence that come with being an undefeated team, and that's a dangerous thing.

with the depth on this irish team, i can't take anybody for granted.

 

[Indydomer]

Well fellas you guys are more confident about Purdue playing good than their fans are. I work at a Civil Engineering firm and most of these guys are from Purdue. All of them are terrified of this weekend and think that they have no shot at winning this game. So Im not saying that if we don't come out and play good that we will still win, but we don't need our A game to win this thing.

Hopefully we come out guns blazing and walk over them, but maybe Purdue is better than I think they are. YOu never know.

 

[Dannyboy Ayers]

you never know what can happen that is why they play they still have to play the games. anything can happen. I am allways worried, untill the clock stops.

 

[Golden_Domer88]

Mark my words*

James Aldridge and Munir Prince will see playing time, and they will be the difference in this game against Purdue

 

[Dannyboy Ayers]

i really worry about Aldridges' durability I would love to see him sit out this year and be the big dog next year. Let that leg heal up all the way.

 

[onenybrother]

Michigan State was win #1. Here's a quick capsule look at the next 7 opponents. Not exactly murderer's row...

Purdue - 4-0, but we'd be 4-0 too if we opened against I-AA Indiana State, Miami of Ohio, Ball State and Minnesota. The wins were less than impressive too, by 7 over Miami, by 10 over Ball State and by 6 over Minnesota.

Stanford - 0-4, including getting crushed by Navy and Washington State. With UCLA up next, they could easily come to South Bend at 0-5. Speaking of which...

UCLA - 2-1, but their wins were against Utah and... wait, let me double-check this... Rice? There's a university called Rice? Oh, and don't look now, but that loss was at the hands of {NAME REDACTED} and the Washington Huskies. UCLA's next game is a gimme against Stanford, followed by 2 tough games with Arizona and Oregon, so they'll probably be 4-2 or 3-3 coming into South Bend.

(Side note... {NAME REDACTED} is now 3-1 so far this year. RETURN TO GLORY!)

at Navy - America's favorite option team is 3-1. They absolutely spanked Stanford, but struggled to top East Carolina and Massachusetts and just dropped one to Tulsa. Navy always plays up for us, but it looks like their best window for ending the losing streak probably closed last year.

North Carolina - 1-3. I'd make fun of them again for losing to Rutgers, except that Rutgers is actually kinda good this year. They've also been crushed by Virginia Tech and Clemson. Their only win was a 3-point squeaker over the I-AA Furman Paladins after Furman's QB only rolled a 2 while trying to cast Magic Missle and got killed by an ogre. (C'mon. They're called the Paladins. Did you really think I wouldn't crack a Dungeons & Dragons joke?)

at Air Force - Apparently, Air Force is looking to hire a new schedule coordinator, since their current one thought it would be a good idea to open the season with their first bye-week, play one game, and then follow that up immediately with their second bye-week. Brilliant! As such, their record is an enigmatic 1-1 with a heartbreaking loss to Tennessee and a nicely-controlled win over Wyoming. But hey, who needs bye-weeks anyway when you're in the Mountain West Conference?

Army - In an effort to conserve bandwidth, I'm not even going to bother looking them up. It's ARMY. That's all you really need to know.

In conclusion, UCLA and Air Force are the only teams who have any business even playing us close. There is no reason why we shouldn't win all 7, and in some of these games Evan Sharpley should see some quality minutes... in the 2nd quarter.

(This post is for entertainment purposes only. For truly careful and thoughtful analysis, leave me alone and go read Jiggafini's posts instead.)

We beat a weak Penn State team, Michgan Served us up on a platter and Michigan State gave away that game. So what make us so tough. I'll defense is the worst, we get no pressure on the Quarterback on a consistent basis and our defensivebacks are slow as shyt. So let's be realistic about the team were seeing.

 

[Vince Young]

We beat a weak Penn State team, Michgan Served us up on a platter and Michigan State gave away that game. So what make us so tough. I'll defense is the worst, we get no pressure on the Quarterback on a consistent basis and our defensivebacks are slow as shyt. So let's be realistic about the team were seeing.

I am being realistic. Penn State has lost 2 games and still looks better to me than Purdue, a team whose only convincing win thus far has been against a I-AA team and who struggled to beat the powerhouse triumverate of Minnesota, Ball State and Miami of Ohio.

Sure, ND has weaknesses. But Purdue does not have the horses to take advantage of those weaknesses.

I see no reason to worry about any of the next 7 games. If... (and granted, lately this has not been certain)... IF Notre Dame shows up to play, they will easily win all 7. I'll leave the worrying up to Charlie Weis.