PREFACE - I have a dislocation of my right thumb, a flexible cast, a stomach and head full of pain pills and an appointment to visit an orthopedic surgeon in 2 hours time, so SOME of this might not necessarily come to pass....
2008...hmmm....what to "expect"? I always "expect" way more than I should...
I expect:
ND beats UM and does so convincingly as Clausen has a national coming out party to get the national media regurgitating the "story" of ND and Clausen rising from the dead (again) - let's face it, the only thing media hacks enjoy more than this year's ND disgrace and easy fodder is cashing in on ND's national fame to build up someone in the hopes of later getting to tear them up - for the most recent example look at what they did with Brady Quinn last year.
(The sad thing about that is given THIS year's results, can anyone with a pulse and oxygen getting to their brain HONESTLY believe that Troy Smith was better or more valuable or more outstanding last season than Brady Quinn? But after the INT to start the UM debacle last year, you would have thought Brady was achild molester given the level of press tearing him apart...anywho...the point is that this year's seasons for ND and OSU really show just how much leadership each man brought to their respective teams a year ago and the chasm favors Brady by a Grand Canyon sized margin...)
Seriously though, how can I even remotely believe this now, when we sit at 1-9 and are the worst ND team in modern history (really in program history)? Because UM is losing a TON of players to graduation this year and the ones left behind will not be ready to dominate in week 2 of the season next year....shit, look how good their senior laden team handled its first 2 games THIS year...no, next year will be a different UM team than what ND has faced the past 2 years...I see this as a statement game for next year's Irish - one that says 2007 is the PAST and WE ARE THE FUTURE!
ND convincingly beats ALL of the following schools - in most cases because these schools ALL lose significant numbers of highly important players:
PU - No Painter, No Bryant, sorry Tiller, not going to happen...
BC - No "Matty Ice" = NO CHANCE IN HELL ND LOSES AGAIN TO BC in '08....
Navy - complete with the jerk-off Fowler dubbing this "redemption Saturday" and going on and on and on and on and on and on and on about how for teh first time in 43 years Navy is looking to get on a winning streak over ND...
SDSU - I may hang Weis in effigy and revise everything I believe in life if this is a loss...
SU - funny how we manage to find the worst team in the Big East to play against here...
Stan - I don't believe they will beat ND THIS year and we suck ass....
ND struggles (but probably wins) and gets in some very tight games with:
MSU - but hey, THATS WHY YOU'RE MICHIGAN STATE....on another note, this game will likely see Musberger in the booth again and he is in sufferable to sit through even in an Irish win...
Pitt
and most surprisingly against UW - Locker is a difference maker and one who will give ND fits for sure
ND struggles (and probably loses) to UNC...they will be one of next year's "surprise" teams I think - like Kansas or Missouri this year, teams with talent and ability that seem to finally put it together...
That would likely leave ND as 10-1 heading to L.A. for the USC game...very reminicent of 2006. They will be dogged by questions of "who have they beaten?" (because I expect UM to be 4 loss team in 2008 and they will be seen as ND's only other "real" opponent along side a surprising UNC team). They will be told incessantly that despite their biggest turnaround in school history that they are pretenders. The media will salivate all over themselves to write stories about how Weis STILL has not beaten a team that he is supposed to lose to, doing just what they did after the UM game in 2005 by writing off a win against Michigan as "not really counting because they are not that good in 2008...
In short, I expect a return to 2005. I expect no one will believe ND is going to be any good at all. I expect to be unranked to start the year and UM to be ranked in the top-10. I expect that ND will remain ranked BELOW UM even after the week 2 game. I expect that Clausen will look far better than even his best glimpses this year. I expect that people will be shocked at how much improved the O-Line play is. I expect that and more....I expect the USC game to be the most watched game of the year in college football in 2008 (and I expect my brother-in-law to come through with tickets at the Collesium as well)...
Finally, I expect Jimmy Clausen to remain unbeaten as a starting QB in the state of California (obviously I see him leading the Irish past Stanford THIS year too...)
Now, where did I put that bottle of Vicodin at...???
