Pre-Gaming: ND vs. Georgia Tech on 9/1

johnnd05

johnnd05

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So come on, let's talk about the GAME! How do you think we're going to do?

In case you need reason for hope, here's a betting site that thinks we're going to pull off the upset:

The 2007 College Football season kicks off Aug. 30, but for those football bettors who just can’t wait, Bodog.com has posted odds for the full slate of games scheduled for Week 1.

Bet NCAA Football at Bodog.com, which has the Notre Dame Fighting Irish as 3-point favorites over the Georgia Tech Yellowjackets on Sept. 1, one of many marquee games in the first week of NCAA Football action.

Notre Dame (10-3 last season) is hoping to take the next step toward becoming a national title-level team under head coach Charlie Weis, who in his two years as bench boss has restored respectability to a traditionally powerful football program that was mired in mediocrity when he took over.

But the Fighting Irish will have their work cut out for them this year, as they have lost a slew of key starters to graduation.

The team goes into the 2007 season without star QB Brady Quinn, as well as Jeff Samardzija, Rhema McKnight, Darius Walker, and most of the defensive front seven. To compensate for the losses, Notre Dame recruited aggressively during the off-season. The result is a rapidly improving talent pool, but one that is not quite deep enough to take the team to the BCS Championship Game.

On offense, Brady’s replacement is still not firm, as Jimmy Clausen, Demetrius Jones, Evan Sharpley are all in contention. The O-line will need to improve after allowing 31 sacks last season. The Fighting Irish will also have new starting receivers and a new starting tailback.

On defense, with big losses at end, the unit will switch to a 3-4 under new coordinator Corwin Brown, meaning more pressure from the outside linebackers. The secondary, however, continues to be a concern and is probably the team’s weakest point.

Notre Dame’s schedule is tough early, but very winnable later in the season. They will want to come out strong against the Yellowjackets ,as they follow that game with trips to Penn State and Michigan.

The Yellowjackets (9-5 overall last season, 7-2 ACC) lost four-year starting QB Reggie Ball and WR Calvin Johnson and will have Taylor Bennett as their starting pivot. Last year's ACC rushing champ Tashard Choice returns in the backfield. The departure of Johnson has left the WR unit a bit weak, with James Johnson the only returnee with solid game experience.

Georgia Tech’s defense is loaded, with eight starters are back, anchored by a powerhouse defensive line. The D has lost just two impact players from last year’s unit. Look for the unit to challenge Virginia Tech for best defense in the ACC.
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But what do YOU think?
 
W

Win4Gipper

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I think a huge factor in this game is going to be that CW has this long to prepare for this game and I believe that is one of his biggest strengths. On the other hand GT is limited on the preperation they can do against us. They have not seen us in our new defensive scheme and they have no idea who is going to be QB.

I say Irish by 13.
 
johnnd05

johnnd05

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I strongly doubt we'll win by THIRTEEN - Tech is a damn good team, especially on defense. But I do think we've certainly got a great shot - I think it will probably be a low-scoring game like last year's, and we'll have to see who's ready to make the big plays for us down the stretch.
 
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NDboy15

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I think this game is winnable, but like you said, it will be low scoring and might not be pretty.
 
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portlaNDgal

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The closer we get to this game the more nervous I get. Tech has a new offensive coordinator, and new coaches give me the jitters. My frame of reference comes from ND's experience in 05 when our new coach turned such an awesome new leaf on our program.

So, if Tech's offense is better than last year, and the defense is its usuall dangerous self, we're in trouble. I'm totally excited about OUR new defensive coordinator so hopefully our D will bring it.
 
Sureal

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portlaNDgal said:
The closer we get to this game the more nervous I get. Tech has a new offensive coordinator, and new coaches give me the jitters. My frame of reference comes from ND's experience in 05 when our new coach turned such an awesome new leaf on our program.

So, if Tech's offense is better than last year, and the defense is its usuall dangerous self, we're in trouble. I'm totally excited about OUR new defensive coordinator so hopefully our D will bring it.
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I second that emotion...

Maybe it's because I'm a Sox fan but I usually look at the bad before the good. I keep reading about their defense and all I envision is us turning the ball over time and time again. Someone give me some peace about this game. By the way I did pick them to win, yet it does not calm the nerve tremors when I think about that defense blitzing like it did last year...
 
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portlaNDgal

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Well, Tech's defense did have a couple of poor defensive performances last year, and their head coach is still Chan Gailey. He's pretty good at snatching defeat from the jaws of victory. For all their vaunted defense, they still finished with a worse record than us last year.
 
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NDboy15

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They lose Ball, which a lot of people think is a good thing, but a huge hit is losing Calvin Johnson for them.
 
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Irishfan1

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ThinkIrish, you raised one of biggest concerns: who will be the kicker. I read that they were all pretty awful in the practice game
 
LOVEMYIRISH

LOVEMYIRISH

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johnnd05 said:
I strongly doubt we'll win by THIRTEEN - Tech is a damn good team, especially on defense. But I do think we've certainly got a great shot - I think it will probably be a low-scoring game like last year's, and we'll have to see who's ready to make the big plays for us down the stretch.
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Last year, BQ and the boys put up 14.

Let's not get too crazy.

I think we will put up more than that...but let's not forget some more seasoned vets we had won 14-10.
 
IrishAlum1997

IrishAlum1997

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Is there anyone out there that thinks that Georgia Tech is maybe a little overhyped going into this game? Don't get me wrong, I like the adversity and I'm betting a chicken dinner that Corso picks GT to win, but they really played a pretty soft schedule last season, and the 2 teams with solid running attacks on their schedule lit them up like a Christmas tree. (WVU and Clemson). We are certainly NOT a pass-first offense this season, which I believe puts us in a different position than last year's team, so the fact that Brady and crew only managed 14 points seems irrelevant. This RB lineup is reminding me more and more of the '93 backs:

-Travis Thomas in the role of Lee Becton
-James Aldridge/Robert Hughes in the role of Robert Farmer
-Armando Allen in the role of Randy Kinder

A veteran center anchoring an improved O line, a mobile QB behind center...

275 yards rushing for the IRISH on 9/1...book it.

ND 35 GT 17
 
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Irishfan1

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Just remember what Johnnd05 previously posted

Just remember what Johnnd05 previously posted

(Georgia) Times-Herald:

Bell ringing again

Kicker Travis Bell looks to be in freshman form – a good sign in his case.

Gailey has made short-to-medium range field goals Bell's focus this preseason, much like they were during Bell's freshman season. Bell converted 15 of 17 field goals that year, including a Georgia Tech record of 15 straight.

He has struggled with his consistency since, making 11-21 in 2005 and 12-18 last season. Of those 16 misses, 11 came on kicks 40 yards or longer.

"I didn't ask him to kick hardly any over 40 his freshman year, and that really helped his ability to go to practice every day and not worry about long field goals," Gailey said. "We'll let him get very consistent at making everything inside of 40 and then we'll stretch it out."

Bell's been close to perfect using that approach this season. He said he's never felt more comfortable, due in part to the return of snapper, Bret White, and holder, Durant Brooks. The trio worked together all of last season.

"We've all molded into one kicking unit," Brooks said. "We have two years working together now and it's easy to get things done. When something goes wrong, we know we can fix it right away."

I hope the ND kickers will be ready game day. We need a kicker to step up this year.
 
johnnd05

johnnd05

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Just a heads-up, FWIW, it seems that across the board, Vegas thinks we'll win by a field goal or so: link. Again, FWIW.
 
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KAPLAN

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When did losing the #1 player in college football make a team better? GT is VERY overhyped and have never played in an atmosphere like ND. The tradition in the ACC is a joke compared to ours. New QB new players do not do well when their first game is in the holy land of college football. Their D was fired up last year b/c it was an opening home night game and ESPN was there. Expect our D to have a similiar level this year. I really think we are going to drill them. Chan Gailey is going to get outcoached by Weis for 4 straight quarters.
 
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NDboy15

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KAPLAN said:
When did losing the #1 player in college football make a team better? GT is VERY overhyped and have never played in an atmosphere like ND. The tradition in the ACC is a joke compared to ours. New QB new players do not do well when their first game is in the holy land of college football. Their D was fired up last year b/c it was an opening home night game and ESPN was there. Expect our D to have a similiar level this year. I really think we are going to drill them. Chan Gailey is going to get outcoached by Weis for 4 straight quarters.
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Very true.
 
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thinkirish

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GT, has never played in an atmosphere like ND! True or not, the stunned factor usually doesn't last too long. GT is a good team and should come to play. Let's hope we can put a quick 14, before they overcome "atmosphere" factor and pull their heads out of the clouds.
 
goldandblue

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Yeah I look for the Irish defense to be the "suprising" deciding factor in this game. I think they will be out there looking to take some names as soon as the game begins. If they can hold that attitude throughout the game, This should be a big W for the Irish. Everyone knows that G.T. has a pretty solid defense. But the noone really has any idea how the Irish defense is going to perform. We all know we have some new faces on D this year but with corwin holding the reigns and some experienced upperclassmen I think this will be a tough defense this year.. I look for zibby to have a big game. He might not get any interceptions or touchdowns but keep an eye on him I bet he'll be bustin heads the whole game.
 
LOVEMYIRISH

LOVEMYIRISH

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thinkirish said:
GT, has never played in an atmosphere like ND! True or not, the stunned factor usually doesn't last too long. GT is a good team and should come to play. Let's hope we can put a quick 14, before they overcome "atmosphere" factor and pull their heads out of the clouds.
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Unfortunately, ND strikes fear in no one. The stadium is not that loud as the old fogies "shh" people. ND is a place of mystique...but for most teams it's their most exciting game all year.
 
F

FleaFlicker

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Another thing to keep in mind here is that even though GT's defense is more acclaimed as of right now, they don't actually have the better athletes (according to Rivals).

ND's starting Defense in '07 will have:
4 - 4 stars - Wooden, AV, Zibby, Laws
6 - 3 stars - Lambert, Bruton, Crum, Toryan, Ryan, Kuntz
1- 2 star - Justin Brown

GT's starting Defense in '07 will have:
1 - 4 star - Kenny Scott (CB)
6 - 3 stars
4 - 2 stars

Just something to think about. Just because ND's defense has been poor in the past, doesn't mean much. Even though it seems like we are inexperienced on defence, we aren't that bad. We've got 2 5th year seniors, 5 regular seniors, 2 juniors, and 2 sophomores.

We've got the talent and experience to be a better defense than GT. The only question we don't know yet, do we have the coaching?
 
Sureal

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Flea,

That makes me feal better and where did you get that picture of Corwin's Army?

It's hot son...
 
johnnd05

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From Dennis Dodd (who can suck it, btw):

Georgia Tech over Notre Dame (Sept. 1): Lost in the hype over, well, everything at ND is that Georgia Tech is the better team going into the game. Significantly better. The Yellow Jackets are more solid at running back, quarterback, linebacker and defensive line. That's a good way to start the season in South Bend. Yes, ND is only a slight favorite but let's see if its fans remember that when Georgia Tech wins.
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Okay, whatever - I disagree with his prediction, but that's not the big deal. What gets me is that he lists this as one of his UPSETS OF THE YEAR. I mean, look at his talk of "all the hype" over ND. WHAT hype? We have an analyst for the biggest sports network in the world picking us to start the season 1-7, we're ranked THIRTY-NINTH in the AP poll, and you're saying we're HYPED?

This stinks of an excuse to turn around and say, "See, we told you you were overrated!" when ND struggles a bit at various points. Why bother going to the trouble of ACTUALLY hyping and overrating us when you can bash us all preseason long and STILL say we're a disappointment?

Asshat.
 
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