What is an acceptable record in 2012?

[D-BOE34]

Navy - W
Purdue - W
Mich. State - W
Michigan - W
Miami - W
Stanford - W
BYU - W
Oklahoma - L
Pitt - W
BC - W
WF - W
USC - W

Oklahoma will reload and beat us badly! USC will play us tough but I think we handle them in the 4th. Michigan will be a good game again only this time I think Lynch and Tuitt will be able to really pressure DR. Win that by 10 with a late TD to end the game. Besides those games I see no issue. I don't think our defensive backfield will be any worse than this year. I think Slaughter has a break out year next year and Bennett fills the shoes very well of Blanton. I think the LB's will struggle as they did this year but I expect the extra year under Ishaq belt will make for a great step up in both knowledge and play.

I say 11-1 with hopefully a mess at the top to some how catapult us to BCS NC. Not likely. If we end 10-2 I am ok. I think after last night, Hendrix will make up for a lot of the loss of Floyd. Yes, I just said that. Hendrix with the amount of athletes we can put on the field next year will ease the pain. Eifert going could hurt bad though.

To be safe ... 10-2 because we won't blow games like USF this year.

 

[tommyIRISH23]

Notice how you say "Possible" win after most of your games? Well, i'm afraid to say that it's NOT possible with Notre Dame because we seem to always lose those "Possible" games. Sorry bud but by saying at worst we will be 9-3 next year with losing all or our talent and quarterback issues and poor fundamental football week after week, year after year. I don't see ANYTHING that points to us going 9-3 at worst. lol

IMO I think we will be better off with some of the upper-classmen leaving. The younger guys are hungrier, and play faster with more purpose. They aren't okay with losing.

Our defense will be fine, the secondary can't be much worse then it was this year, we also have more speed back there.

Manti should stay because he has to work on his coverage skills, he is average at best in that department.

It all hinges on the QB. The offense has the weapons to move the ball, and I was a Rees supporter, but he isn't a threat to stretch the field. If Hendrix proves to be a viable option, then ND should be a tough team. 10-2 is there ceiling, I'll go with 9-3. But if the QB position does not improve...7-5 is the worst case scenario

 

[IrishSteelhead]

8-4 again.

My prediction has nothing to do with the schedule, just the simple fact that this program seems doomed to win 7-9 games every season until rapture, and I'm beginning to accept that, while hoping for the occasional win over scUm or USC to ease the pain of being an also-ran.

*Until it's proven otherwise, this is the cold hard truth IMO.

 

[Chicago Irish Fan]

Navy (in Ireland), Purdue, BYU, @BC, and Wake Forest are games that I just don't see us losing.

@MSU, Michigan, Miami (in Chicago), Stanford, and Pittsburgh are games that we have a good chance in, but could easily lose.

@Oklahoma and @USC are probable losses.

I think we win the first 5 I mentioned, go 3-2 (if I had to guess I would say wins over MSU, Miami, and Pitt with losses to Michigan and Stanford) in the second group, and lose the 2 in the last group. 8-4 sounds about right to me.

 

[N_D_Fighting_Irish]

Sept. 1 Navy (Dublin, Ireland) --Win
*We will pummel them. It will be a scrimmage. DL will dominate.

Sept. 8 PURDUE --Win
*It will be a good test for our young secondary. If they play well, it will be a blowout. If they don't then, it will be close game but we still should win.

Sept. 15 at Michigan State --Win
*We match up well against them. They lose key players Cunningham and Cousins on the O and I believe the big guy on the Dline. DLine should generate pressure against their inexperienced QB.

Sept. 22 MICHIGAN--Toss Up (Frankly it depends if the officiating is reasonable)
*I have never seen a team get so many calls.

Sept. 29 Open Date

Oct. 6 MIAMI (Soldier Field, Chicago) --Toss Up
*Depends which Miami team shows up.

Oct. 13 STANFORD --Win
*Luck was their Manning...without Luck, Stanford will play tough but will lose.

Oct. 20 BYU --Win
*On talent alone and BK coaching, we should win.

Oct. 27 at Oklahoma --Loss
*It will be a close game because OK will have a new QB but I don't see our offense doing much against their D.

Nov. 3 PITTSBURGH --Win
*We played as bad as we could this year and we won. Unlikely we will play as bad next year.

Nov. 10 at Boston College --Win
*Unless Rees starts.

Nov. 17 WAKE FOREST --Win
*D will dominate.

Nov. 24 at USC --Win
*Emotion and anger will carry us.

I think we go 9-3 with a chance of 10-2.

Disclaimer: Assumes QB is a dual threat and plays at a consistent level and no major injuries on the DLine and Oline.

 

[NDFan537]

10-2, I would be fine with 9-3, but we need some serious improvement in the win column. This year should be 10-2. I will give BK a pass in year two to lose those games early on he should have won, but by next year if we are still the same old Irish what was the point in everything Kelly has done?

 

[Green Goblin]

Yes, we lost Jonas Gray and Floyd.

However, I don't see why we're so afraid for the offense...

We've developed Cierre Wood, Theo Riddick, Tyler Eifert, TJ Jones, Roby Toma into a pretty good offensive unit I think.

Also, having Hendrix, Golson, and Rees to pick from as QBs has to be more effective than this year's strategy of Rees or death.

 

[IrishSteelhead]

Yes, we lost Jonas Gray and Floyd.

However, I don't see why we're so afraid for the offense...

We've developed Cierre Wood, Theo Riddick, Tyler Eifert, TJ Jones, Roby Toma into a pretty good offensive unit I think.

Also, having Hendrix, Golson, and Rees to pick from as QBs has to be more effective than this year's strategy of Rees or death.

If anything, the offense will improve IMO. The QB play will be more consistent (hopefully), and that alone will boost production. Hendrix looks like the future, and could be the real deal.

 

[IrishLax]

Yes, we lost Jonas Gray and Floyd.

However, I don't see why we're so afraid for the offense...

We've developed Cierre Wood, Theo Riddick, Tyler Eifert, TJ Jones, Roby Toma into a pretty good offensive unit I think.

Also, having Hendrix, Golson, and Rees to pick from as QBs has to be more effective than this year's strategy of Rees or death.

I don't think people are. Our O should be fine, but replacing TRob and Dever on the OL is no joke... and if we lose Eifert in addition to Floyd we might have some serious growing pains through the beginning of the season.

What isn't fine is Lo Wood and Bennett Jackson being our only CBs with any real experience... and replacing Harrison Smith... and also replacing Flemming and Te'o and Ethan Johnson... we are going to have some serious issues there.

 

[NDPhilly]

8-4 but I think 9-3 we lose At USC one of the michigans and @USC

 

[BabyIrish]

8-4 with losses to MSU, Michigan, Oklahoma, and USC.

 

[Irish4Life09]

Notice how you say "Possible" win after most of your games? Well, i'm afraid to say that it's NOT possible with Notre Dame because we seem to always lose those "Possible" games. Sorry bud but by saying at worst we will be 9-3 next year with losing all or our talent and quarterback issues and poor fundamental football week after week, year after year. I don't see ANYTHING that points to us going 9-3 at worst. lol

I say possible because no one knows what it going to happen...
When you talk about losing talent...yes we lose Michael Floyd and Jonas Gray. 2 GREAT players who are going to be tough to replace,but we do have compliments to back it up. We still have Cierre for next year to take most of the snaps,combined with Rididick,GA3,Roberson and McDaniel. Floyd is one of our best,if not the best WR to play at ND,so you cant simply replace him with one guy...but we do have a lot of talent with our WRs including some young guys like Davaris.
Our defense will be just fine. The only loss is Smith...he has played GREAT the last 2 seasons.And as a fellow person from Knoxville,he will be greatly missed.

Our schedule really isn't difficult from a black and white perspective at the moment.It all depends on who leaves who and so on.
The same of course was said about this season...and had we not had 10 TO's in the first 2 games we probably would be 10-2 right now.Things happen.

As far as QB issues go...I am not worried in the least. In fact, I could not be more excited. Last night was the first time I havn't been upset after a loss. Not only because I anticipated the loss, but because we saw our next star QB.
Go back and really watch Hendrix. He came in ice-cold after playing very little this year and kept driving us down the field against a BCS defense with relative ease. He had one "bad" pass,which was an awkward throw that was only slightly overthrown and picked.All of his throws were lasers,pinpoint accurate and on the money.The ones he missed were only sightly overthrown,and one was an awesome catch by 'It's NOT a Toma' that was wrongly overturned.
Look at the TD pass of his to Floyd.That was a pinpoint perfect throw.
He looked awesome...will have 15 practices with the 1st team to develop a true rhythm, and has the confidence from a great half of football against a great team to possibly destroy whoever we play in the bowl game.

 

[tko]

9-3

 

[aubeirish]

I'm going to go with 8-4 and open with surprises

 

[phork]

Have you seen the schedule? 7-5 would be acceptable and is probable. With a bowl win. We aren't going to be much better next year with the schedule and minus Floyd, Te'o, Hayseed, Trob and most likely Eifert too.

Next year = this year.

+1. Sorry folks. This year was our BCS shot, and we shot our load in the first 10 seconds. Premature.

 

[pkt77242]

I think anywhere between 8-4 and 10-2, so lets go with 9-3 as the middle ground.

 

[birdsnd11]

Looking at their schedule they could run the table if Jones and Barkley go pro...I dont think either of them will..9-3

 

[DomerInHappyValley]

Pinky: What do you think ND's record will be next year Brain?
Brain: The same thing I expect every year Pinky. Undefeated.

Honestly I'm thinking 10-2

 

[Whiskeyjack]

I had to sadly chuckle reading through all the posts pointing out that USC, MSU, and Oklahoma will likely lose their starting QBs to the draft.

We lost our starting QB to the bench against Stanford. We'll be breaking in a brand new QB for the 3rd year in a row. That guarantees growing pains, mistakes, and otherwise avoidable losses.

2013 and 2014 are Kelly's BCS years. 2012 is a rebuilding year, as we have to train a new QB and replace a ton of experience on the defensive side of the ball. I'll be happy with 8-4 or better. I could live with 7-5, depending on where and how the losses fall.

 

[BeauBenken]

I'm going to say 6 wins.

Certainly they can't let me down now, right?





















RIGHT?

 

[NDPhilly]

I'm going to say 6 wins.

Certainly they can't let me down now, right?





















RIGHT?

Not in NDOMs eyes

 

[IrishAlum1997]

I had to sadly chuckle reading through all the posts pointing out that USC, MSU, and Oklahoma will likely lose their starting QBs to the draft.

We lost our starting QB to the bench against Stanford. We'll be breaking in a brand new QB for the 3rd year in a row. That guarantees growing pains, mistakes, and otherwise avoidable losses.

2013 and 2014 are Kelly's BCS years. 2012 is a rebuilding year, as we have to train a new QB and replace a ton of experience on the defensive side of the ball. I'll be happy with 8-4 or better. I could live with 7-5, depending on where and how the losses fall.

How exactly do you sadly chuckle? (insert .gif here)

We won't be breaking in a brand new QB unless it is Everett Golson or unnamed incoming-freshman. Andrew Hendrix was broken in last night, and may continue to be in what will be a very competitive bowl game. Not sure that any of the teams you mention have QB's that will have played snaps in a meaningful football game prior to next season.

I don't believe your analogy guarantees anything.

 

[bert2834]

Only acceptable record is 13-0 with a total score of 1300-2(Bullcrap holding call after a good punt by Navy in Dublin).

 

[Whiskeyjack]

How exactly do you sadly chuckle? (insert .gif here)

We won't be breaking in a brand new QB unless it is Everett Golson or unnamed incoming-freshman. Andrew Hendrix was broken in last night, and may continue to be in what will be a very competitive bowl game. Not sure that any of the teams you mention have QB's that will have played snaps in a meaningful football game prior to next season.

I don't believe your analogy guarantees anything.

Crist started 8 games in 2010, and despite being significantly "broken in", he still managed to crush us twice this year with critical mistakes.

Rees started 4 games in 2010, and 11 games in 2011, and despite all that experience, he cost us several games this year.

Hendrix will be going into 2012 with fewer snaps under his belt than Rees, so on what basis should we believe that he'll adapt faster and make fewer mistakes than Rees did this year?

As I mentioned earlier, playing QB at a BCS-caliber requires experience, and no amount of athleticism can make up for that. 2010 and 2011 were basically wasted as far as QB development goes. 2012 will be another rebuilding year as Hendrix makes the inevitable mistakes and we drop games we otherwise should have won; God help us if he's not the guy.

 

[Rhode Irish]

Crist started 8 games in 2010, and despite being significantly "broken in", he still managed to crush us twice this year with critical mistakes.

Rees started 4 games in 2010, and 11 games in 2011, and despite all that experience, he cost us several games this year.

Hendrix will be going into 2012 with fewer snaps under his belt than Rees, so on what basis should we believe that he'll adapt faster and make fewer mistakes than Rees did this year?

As I mentioned earlier, playing QB at a BCS-caliber requires experience, and no amount of athleticism can make up for that. 2010 and 2011 were basically wasted as far as QB development goes. 2012 will be another rebuilding year as Hendrix makes the inevitable mistakes and we drop games we otherwise should have won; God help us if he's not the guy.

For this reason, I hope Golson is given a chance to win the job. If it is unrealistic for him to begin the season as the starter, I hope he is given a chance at some point during the year. If we go through most of the season with Hendrix as the starter only to realize he isn't the longterm solution, then we are right back in the same place as we are now.

Finding the QB that will be the starter in 2013 and 2014 is the no. 1 priority next year, whether that is Hendrix, Golson or Kiel. It is imperative that the issue is resolved, hopefully by 8 or 9 games into the season. If we do that I could live with 8-4 or even 7-5. I don't think it is completely out of the question that we win 10 games next year, but it will require a complete reversal of the fortune that we have grown so accustomed to around here. I don't think the schedule is as intimidating as some seem to, but I also knew we were going to beat Michigan and USC this year.

Also, I do think that there is a chance that Hendrix will be less mistake-prone than Tommy or Dayne. There is no way to know that for sure, obviously, but I just think it is a lot easier to make mistakes with the ball in the air. Hendrix will have the ability to pull the ball down and use his feet when he doesn't like what he sees down the field, so hopefully that will lead to less forces into coverage and less turnovers.

 

[irish4ever]

Personally, I'd be OK with 9-3 as long as we beat scUM. If we lose to them, only 11-1 will appease me haha

Ditto that one thousand fold!!!!

 

[phork]

Ditto that one thousand fold!!!!

7-5 is my ceiling. Anything more and I will be thrilled.

 

[aaronb]

13-0

Every loss is an indictment on Kelly himself. Bunch of old guys bitch about "Back in my day" and "Waking the echos" and "The Ara Era"

Oh...wait....This isn't Blue Gray Sky?

 

[irishfan]

9-4 after the bowl

 

[North Buffalo Irish]

As I mentioned earlier, playing QB at a BCS-caliber requires experience, and no amount of athleticism can make up for that. 2010 and 2011 were basically wasted as far as QB development goes. 2012 will be another rebuilding year as Hendrix makes the inevitable mistakes and we drop games we otherwise should have won; God help us if he's not the guy.

Logan Thomas.

With Hendrix at quarterback, Notre Dame outscored the #6 team in the country 14-7.