Upcoming Season Hopes

[irishfaith]

I don't feel it necessary to predict a record. But I am ready for changes. After Davies, I was ready to see something other than the option. After Willingham, I was done with philisophical explanations on something as simple as Juilius Jones getting his number back after being reinstated to play his senior season. This year, I am ready to see the program win 'em all at home. Is this achievable? I think it is. I am curious what other people are looking to see from the Irish this year. Should be fun!

 

[FightingIrishLover7]

9 wins... right it down.

Kelly knows how to win in a hurry.

 

[nd1]

this year i will be happy if he beats the teams they are surposed to beat. if he does that thn we will have a good year and bowl.


I'm tired of watching nd play down to the other teams level. we've had alot of games were the other team should not have been close to us but they played down to their level and made it close and ended up losing some games they should not have.

 

[phork]

I don't care if ND goes 1-11. Beat Michigan by 4 TDs and I will be happy.

 

[PatsandBostonfan1975]

I don't care if ND goes 1-11. Beat Michigan by 4 TDs and I will be happy.

I can't I repeat cant agree with more.

 

[KPENN]

I don't care if ND goes 1-11. Beat Michigan by 4 TDs and I will be happy.

I'll pass on losing to western Michigan, Tulsa and army.

 

[irishfan]

I feel like most tend to be expecting an 8-4 or 9-3 season, so I am curious what bowl game we would go to? Didn't our deal with the Gator Bowl end this past year, and the Cotton Bowl most likely would be more interested in whichever team of Oklahoma, Texas, and Nebraska that misses out on a BCS bowl game. Would that leave us in the Champ Sports Bowl or something?

 

[Rocket89]

We will not lose when Vegas has us favored.

Which is pretty much the same as saying we'll beat the teams we're supposed to beat.

 

[BGIF]

I feel like most tend to be expecting an 8-4 or 9-3 season, so I am curious what bowl game we would go to? ... Would that leave us in the Champ Sports Bowl or something?

Cha ching!

Phil Steele projects ND to play Va Tech in the Champ Sports Bowl on 12/28/10.

Steele also projects 11 of the 12 teams on ND's much maligned schedule will play in bowl games. Everybody except WMU.

 

[irishfaith]

This is my first thread and I am definitely thankful for the replies. I have a new thought on the subject. I appreciate the experts' opinions on where our team may land when the dust is settled this year. However, they do not understand how the nd nation has endured talented teams with average coaches underachieve year after year. Starting now, I am ready for ND to be the team that opponents have to hope they don't get mowed over by. Hope that this team doesn't bring it the way Kelly is working on teaching this team to bring it. I truly feel Notre Dame is going to be very hard to beat.

 

[irishmarine]

I think Kelly will have them physically and mentally prepared every week. The talent is there so all we can do is hope the coaches can put it all together.

 

[GoingGreen]

I hope for twelve wins and a National Championship every year, but for this year I see about nine wins. The schedule looks pretty good, but Pitt and U$C will be tough games. But I say that we beat the Trojans this year, and have a 9-3 or 10-2 season.

 

[NDFan537]

This is the Second off season I have been a part of the Irish envy family. Everything that is being said is the same as last year.Hope for a 12 win, should be a 9 win season. All I have to say about that is 15 years ago we expected a nc every year, and that is what I hope to get back to.

When Lou Holtz took over ND was an undisciplined team full of talented cry babies that just wanted individual honor. Poor coaching choices hurt ND and when Lou took over we were on the brink of falling into a slump, that would be no different than where we are today. He was just what we needed, and all we can hope/believe is Kelly is the second coming.

They better win 9 games! I will be disappointed if they only win 9. USC is a team that I hated with "Sneaky Pete" at the helm, but hatred is not a strong enough word to use to describe how I feel about Montys boy. What a joke, not even worthy of saying his name, Born on third base and thinks he hit a triple. I hope we never disgrace our history by losing to that piece of trash.

 

[Lou Holtz]

[/quote]They better win 9 games! I will be disappointed if they only win 9. USC is a team that I hated with "Sneaky Pete" at the helm, but hatred is not a strong enough word to use to describe how I feel about Montys boy. What a joke, not even worthy of saying his name, Born on third base and thinks he hit a triple. I hope we never disgrace our history by losing to that piece of trash.[/QUOTE]

I agree I had a little respect for Pete but I will never respect that moron and his trash talking, cant back it up son

 

[NoJusticeNoPeace]

Beat the service academies and Michigan, don't get blown out by USC, make it through the season healthy, show improvement on defense, and play well enough to go into next season as a national championship contender. That's it. Whether that's 7-5 or 11-1, it is what I hope for. Coaching changes are tricky...

 

[ACamp1900]

I expect a better team on defense but not by leaps and bounds... it's still the same unit... I expect a lot more creativity on offense... I expect us to lose to the majority of "big games" we have on the schedule (Michigan, MSU, BC, Stanford, Pitt, USC) drop one game to a team we have absolutely no buisness losing to and finishing at or around .500 again... I DO think it will be a better team and momentum will be laid for a better record and more competitive team in the future... just not this year.

That's what I expect... I hope we win every game by 50 and boat race Bama in the title game... must be Bama only b/c hundreds of their fans will slit theri wrists if they lose to us in a title game again... and the only good Bama fan is a dead one imo... although, judging by their math skills in counting their national titles, if twenty of their fans die they'll report to the fed. to bring in the National Guard because 50 ba-gillion people just died...

 

[johnnykillz]

... hope we win every game by 50 and boat race Bama in the title game... must be Bama only b/c hundreds of their fans will slit theri wrists if they lose to us in a title game again...

And because the next year following all of those hats will say ND on them rather than crimson and burnt orange. They are all bandwagon fans.

Time is ticking...

 

[irishtrain]

I expect an air of expectation to win to return. They will play with their hair on fire and be in every game. You will know if I'm right by the way they play their first game. It will be obvious. I'm thinking 8/9 wins but more importantly a total profile change.

 

[Riddickulous]

A fast, physical, aggressive, fundamentally sound football team. That above all else. Players who know not just where they're supposed to be, but why they're supposed to be there and what they need to do when they get there.

Wins, wins, wins, especially against Michigan and USC.

A defense that can tackle and cover.

Manti Te'o destroying Matt Barkley and Tate Forcier.

 

[IrishandColts]

Sept. 4 PURDUE (W)
Sept. 11 MICHIGAN (W)
Sept. 18 at Michigan State (W)
Sept. 25 STANFORD (W)
Oct. 2 at Boston College (W)
Oct. 9 PITTSBURGH (L)
Oct. 16 WESTERN MICHIGAN (W)
Oct. 23 at Navy (W)
Oct. 30 TULSA (W)
Nov. 13 UTAH (W)
Nov. 20 ARMY (W)
Nov. 27 at USC (L)

 

[nd1]

i think that standford game going to be really close and could go either way.

 

[Riddickulous]

i think that standford game going to be really close and could go either way.

Stanford always plays close, 2006 being the lone exception in recent years.

 

[nd1]

Stanford always plays close, 2006 being the lone exception in recent years.

yea i know but they are putting together a really team and starting to recruit really well.

 

[IrishAddiction]

Like i say every single year, its national championships or bust. I always hope and think we have a chance... even in the 07 season i did lol.

 

[Riddickulous]

yea i know but they are putting together a really team and starting to recruit really well.

Harbaugh certainly knows what he's doing. However, if Rodriguez fails at Michigan, that's where he'll be next year.

Like i say every single year, its national championships or bust. I always hope and think we have a chance... even in the 07 season i did lol.

You're not the only one. Lou Holtz predicted a ten win team and a surprise BCS appearance. Most magazines had us at about 7-5 or 8-4.

 

[nd1]

Harbaugh certainly knows what he's doing. However, if Rodriguez fails at Michigan, that's where he'll be next year.



You're not the only one. Lou Holtz predicted a ten win team and a surprise BCS appearance. Most magazines had us at about 7-5 or 8-4.

i agree with u about the michigan thing and i don't never want nd to lose. i hope they don't lose and win championship this and so on.

 

[ryno 24]

exciting team lots of tv sets being turned on and by the way a lot of wins

 

[Irish4Life09]

I think we win at least 9 games,including a big bowl win.
Kelly has these kids inspired unlike the last regime.
Couple that with a more college-friendly, up-tempo offense, and a much stronger defense...i think we will be in every single game this year.
i honestly will be surprised if we lose to anyone by more than 10 points...just because we have a coach that will keep us in it, and will force teams to score 35ppg to beat us.
I'm going to go out on a short limb and say we will finish
with an 11-2 record, including our first ever BCS bowl win.
I think we lose to probably MSU or Pitt, and then USC right down to the wire.
I'd like to see us play someone like Boise or Florida in a BCS game where the over/under would be something like 80.That'd be cool.

 

[GO IRISH!!!]

I HOPE - I don't break another TV set by throwing a beer can through it out of frustration.

I HOPE - I can actually watch a second half where we have a lead and not feel like I am going to vomit as I watch the other team come back.

I HOPE - my wife doesn't leave me after I become intolerable after too many ND losses.

I HOPE - the menu I have picked out for each and every game suits all who attend my game watch parties and my guests enjoy themselves to the fullest extent.

I HOPE - we stomp the living crap out of those stinkin', lyin', cheatin' rat bastards from Souther Cal. I want to see Tommy Trojan bucked off of Stomper or Trampler or Traveler or whatever the fuck that horse's name is and watch as his lifeless corpse is dragged around the Coliseum as the ND fight song plays victoriously.

 

[Riddickulous]

much stronger defense

Don't know about that one. I'm remaining skeptical until I actually see some results.

The stat that scares me is this: Cincinatti gave up 197 points combined their last five games (45 to Connecticut, 21 to West Virginia, 36 to Illinois, 44 to Pitt, and 51 to Florida). One of those teams (Illinois) was horrible, another (Connecticut) was mediocre, and the remaining three finished ranked. That's nearly forty points a game, regardless of schedule strength. We simply cannot give up that many points, especially while breaking in a new offense that may struggle early on or, if God isn't kind, the entire season. They ranked 61st in run defense (ND: 89th) and 78th in pass defense (ND: 76th).

That's the bad.

The good is this: that defense (67th in nation) had only one returning starter. And somehow, the defense managed to pull this off with the offense being dead last in the COUNTRY in time of possession. This defense was led by the same defensive coordinator we currently have in Bob Diaco. And that defense was better than our 86th-ranked crapfest.

The Cincinatti offense, on the other hand, was the 11th best offense in the nation, averaging just four yards less than Notre Dame (8th) did per game. They were 4th in the nation in scoring offense (38 points per game). They had a good quarterback in Tony Pike (Crist will prove much better if he lives up to his potential), a pretty decent running back named Isaiah Pead (we have three in Allen, Wood, and Gray), and a solid receiving corps (Mardy Gilyard, Armond Binns, DJ Woods). However, the talent gap compared to our current corps of players is remarkably wide, perhaps a measure of the coaching ability of Brian Kelly. Kelly consistently maxes out the potential of his players.

Time of possession will be key this year. The offense better be able to score when they have the ball (or the defense better be able to stop the opposing offense on a semi-regular basis), or else we'll be seeing a lot of Weis/Willingham-esque blowouts all too frequently in 2010.