Pitt Game is going to be HUGE

[Folsteam_Ahead]

Did you really just say this? Since when is it important for ESPN to let Charlie off the hook? Why do people care so much what ESPN says? Unbelievable....

i think the overreactions to espn being part of my comment are missing the point. is pitt a signature win? do YOU think it is? i don't. it's a decent pitt team. signature win means beating UF, OU, Texas, USC, etc.

pitt is a pivotal game, but not even close to being of "signature" status

 

[jason_h537]

Im sorry but I cant let this go unanswered. Why do these 2 names keep coming up? Brian Kelly? Is he the newest version of Greg Schiano? And why Jon Gruden? He took over Dungy's already stacked Tampa Team and won the Super Bowl and then did nothing else with them but plunge them to bottom of the tank.

Weis has the team turning, we can kind of see what happened now looking back. Its obvious he took over a team that was front loaded, then that ran out and they were a high school all star team in '07, got better last year with a middle tier bowl win and prove this year they can play with the best.

Just because ESPN puts a artificial win number on things, Weis is not on any hot seat at all. Im sure hes been informed of this by the inside players already anyway.

Weis is also getting better himself. He is making smarter decisions by the week and not playing games like hes on Madden '09 anymore.

Brian Kelly is the hot name right now because he has Cincinnatti in the top 25. But in reality he hasnt done much in his career other than he is not Charlie Weis.

Gruden's dad i believe coached at Notre Dame for a bit and he grew up in South Bend so he is one of those "dream" coaches that always get brought up like Bill Walsh did or Urban Meyer

 

[kmoose]

i think the overreactions to espn being part of my comment are missing the point. is pitt a signature win? do YOU think it is? i don't. it's a decent pitt team. signature win means beating UF, OU, Texas, USC, etc.

pitt is a pivotal game, but not even close to being of "signature" status

If you look back at Weis' career at ND, so far, this would absolutely be his signature win. Baby steps. Beat a Top 15 Pitt, THEN worry about beating any of the elite teams.

 

[Ultimate Penn St. Hater]

Do they have a game time for Pitt yet?

 

[NeuteredDoomer]

God-bless the effect some good 'ol sex hormones and the role they play with the autonomous metabolic cycle.

Of course getting laid=calories lost. Dude, you need more play...

Look dude. I'm not fat.

 

[irishfan]

Do they have a game time for Pitt yet?

ya seriously ive been waiting for them to releast it all year. kinda surprised that less than 3 weeks before the game it still hasnt been released

 

[WhoDeyIrish]

ya seriously ive been waiting for them to releast it all year. kinda surprised that less than 3 weeks before the game it still hasnt been released

Well there are a few games we are competing with. Iowa vs. Ohio State...

Florida @ South Carolina

I'm thinking it will be an 8 O'Clock game..

But I know that the Bengals play Pittsburgh the next day there at 1...that game will probably have to be moved to the 4 o'clock slot if they play at 8

Unless they want to get rid of the shit Monday night game that week Baltimore @ Cleveland and exchange it for Cincinnati @ Pittsburgh...Lot of things taking place.

 

[bert2834]

Yeah, I would like to know the gametime as well! We are going up for the game and would like to have a gameplan as to what we are going to do all day!

GO IRISH!!!

 

[PADOMERNUT]

i think the overreactions to espn being part of my comment are missing the point. is pitt a signature win? do YOU think it is? i don't. it's a decent pitt team. signature win means beating UF, OU, Texas, USC, etc.

pitt is a pivotal game, but not even close to being of "signature" status

Well figuring we dont ever play 3 of the 4 teams you mentioned its tough to get a signature win according to you.

 

[Folsteam_Ahead]

Well figuring we dont ever play 3 of the 4 teams you mentioned its tough to get a signature win according to you.

yeah. it is tough. we can't play elite teams every week. and we can't claim pitt as a signature win (assuming we actually win) just because its tough to get one.

our schedule only has one elite team, which is why it's so important to make a bowl game where we play a team on the same level as USC. it's one of those pitfalls of being an independent and having close ties to the bigeast and big10, generally weak conferences for several years now.

please tell me why/how pitt qualifies as a signature win? is pitt a top tier program? who have they beaten that is a measuring stick of quality? the bigeast schedule just isn't demanding enough to call a win against pitt a signature win. and don't reason that it would be his best win, because that doesn't make it "signature" by itself

 

[Folsteam_Ahead]

If you look back at Weis' career at ND, so far, this would absolutely be his signature win. Baby steps. Beat a Top 15 Pitt, THEN worry about beating any of the elite teams.

you're misinformed as to what a signature win is

 

[kmoose]

you're misinformed as to what a signature win is

Well, of course............do enlighten me, please?

 

[neags23]

Wasn't UM ranked #2 in 2005 when ND beat them? I know they finished only 7-5, but being #2 at the time... wouldn't that qualify as Charlie's "signature" win?

 

[kmoose]

Wasn't UM ranked #2 in 2005 when ND beat them? I know they finished only 7-5, but being #2 at the time... wouldn't that qualify as Charlie's "signature" win?

I think that's probably a stretch. If it had been a #2 Michigan, after 6 or 7 games, then I would agree. But it was the first or second week of the season, as I recall. Given how they ended the year, I don't think you can really hang your hat on that. Although.......... depending on your definition of "signature win", it certainly is one of the best wins Weis has had.

 

[PADOMERNUT]

you're misinformed as to what a signature win is

Ever consider the fact that maybe you are the one who is misinformed? What makes you the ultimate ruler on this subject?

 

[Folsteam_Ahead]

Ever consider the fact that maybe you are the one who is misinformed? What makes you the ultimate ruler on this subject?

i'm not claiming to be the ruler of the subject. it's simple fact. wins against teams outside the top ten generally are not signature wins. typically wins against teams that have a great year once every 10 years or so do not qualify either. pitt doesn't stand out and beating them would not be impressive. it would just be what's expected against a team from a weak conference.

i'd appreciate it if you addressed one of my questions from this morning. i'm willing to change my mind if you can convince me. i just need someone to tell me how pitt is in fact a signature win. utah beating pitt in a bcs bowl is a signature win.

nd beating a middle ranked pitt (whose schedule is far from challenging) midseason doesn't seem like a signature win. beating usc seems like a no-brainer. how do you reconcile the difference between these two games while putting them on the same level?

 

[PADOMERNUT]

Because I do not consider signature wins to only come from perennial powers. It is about the here and now.

This is what drives me nuts. People cant have it both ways. For example, many so called experts were picking Nevada to upset Notre Dame, but when the Irish won convincingly, they all said, well its just Nevada. Either you give the Irish credit for beating a team that many thought would win the game outright, or just say Nevada sucks from the get go. You cant have it both ways.

So lets transition that argument, to this one. In 2005, Notre Dame went on the road and beat then #3 Michigan. But no one considers that Weis's signature win because Michigan went on to finish 7-5 that year. So that tells me a signature win has to occur against a highly ranked team. Pitt should be between 10-15, and it is on the road. Unless I am mistaken, if we win, then this will be the highest ranked team that Weis has defeated on the road since that 2005 game against Michigan. So again you cant have it both ways. If a perennial power struggles, you say its not a signature win. But when you beat a highly ranked team, well they arent a perennial power.

So to me, when considering all of that, it is a signature win. You are correct in saying that it would not be a signature win for Notre Dame. Maybe that is where our arguments differ. But at this point in his career, it would be Weis's best road win, and thus the signature win of his tenure to this point at Notre Dame.

 

[weisbank4]

This is what drives me nuts. People cant have it both ways. For example, many so called experts were picking Nevada to upset Notre Dame, but when the Irish won convincingly, they all said, well its just Nevada. Either you give the Irish credit for beating a team that many thought would win the game outright, or just say Nevada sucks from the get go. You cant have it both ways.


Oh man how bout it? I heard for months leading up - "watch out for Nevada" "Nevada has one of the best offenses in the country" "so goes the Nevada game goes the ND season" "Notre Dame will start off with a loss to Nevada and Charlie Weis will be right back on the hot seat"

Then ND drubs Nevada and everyone goes "its NEVADA - big deal"

 

[Folsteam_Ahead]

the here and now is important but the opponent's entire year matters.

shouldn't the fact that it's pittsburgh matter? they're likely to finish with 3 losses, maybe even 4. this would be similar to UM 2005. a team's ranking at the end of the year certainly has an effect on the staying power to make it a signature win. UM seemed signature until they fell apart. if pitt falls apart then the same thing would happen.

how about this...we wait and see if ND wins this game, and then we wait and see how pitt's year ends up. too many factors have yet to be determined. if pitt finishes 12-2 then it will have won the bigeast and have won a bcs bowl game. that would change my mind. i just dont see that scenario panning out.

the bottomline is that pitt needs to impress me enough to consider it a signature win. they haven't done that yet.

 

[Riddickulous]

The three things that scare me about Pitt:

1. Jonathan Baldwin
2. Dorin Dickerson
3. Bill Stull

 

[BornNDfan81]

Game Time?????

Game Time?????

I'm going to be at this game. Does anyone know when they might determine a time for this game? Night game?

 

[Riddickulous]

I'm going to be at this game. Does anyone know when they might determine a time for this game? Night game?

It was originally listed for a noon time slot.

 

[PADOMERNUT]

It was originally listed for a noon time slot.

It is still TBA

 

[mick2]

i hope its not at noon

 

[BGIF]

The three things that scare me about Pitt:

1. Jonathan Baldwin
2. Dorin Dickerson
3. Bill Stull

Does ND's mighty run defense keep Dion Lewis of your list?

He's only the NCAA's 3th leading rusher with 128.6 ypg. He's already over the 1000 yd mark with 1065 on 185 carries for a 5.56 ypc.

 

[weisbank4]

Does ND's mighty run defense keep Dion Lewis of your list?

He's only the NCAA's 3th leading rusher with 128.6 ypg. He's already over the 1000 yd mark with 1065 on 185 carries for a 5.56 ypc.

Yeah, I was wondering that as well, he left off the elephant in the room.....

Stull is going to pick us apart. Were gonna need to go bigtime plus in the turnover margin Im thinking. We need some breaks. A returned kickoff for a TD would be nice. Just something to offset that defense of ours.

 

[PADOMERNUT]

Yeah, I was wondering that as well, he left off the elephant in the room.....

Stull is going to pick us apart. Were gonna need to go bigtime plus in the turnover margin Im thinking. We need some breaks. A returned kickoff for a TD would be nice. Just something to offset that defense of ours.

Keep in mind Pitt's pass defense leaves ALOT to be desired as well.

 

[WhoDeyIrish]

Bill Stull is playing well...but he doesn't scare me. But the way our defense is playing maybe I should. Stull is still terrible in my book.

 

[weisbank4]

Bill Stull is playing well...but he doesn't scare me. But the way our defense is playing maybe I should. Stull is still terrible in my book.

Stulls QB rating - 161 Clausens QB rating - 161

Thats some kind of terrible.

 

[GoIrish41]

Nothing about Pitt really scares me. They have played Youngstown State, Buffalo, Navy, NC State, Louisville, UCONN, Rutgers and USF. If their stats weren't inflated, I'd be shocked.

Their only loss came to NC State, whose only other two wins were against Murray State and Gardner Webb. (WTF?). NCS has lost to Wake Forrest and Duke, and they got waxed by Boston College 52-10.

Pitt is a paper tiger, and if ND plays well, they should beat the living s&%# out of them.