2013 predictions

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texbender

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9-3 wouldn't surprise me. Just afraid the O will struggle. Special teams can be the difference if they come through, omn both sides of the ball.
 
NDPhilly

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If we beat Michigan by 10+ I think we will go into the Stanford game undefeated, and if we go into the Stanford game undefeated, I don't think we lose that one.
 
Whiskeyjack

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ACamp1900 said:
Hey!!
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You get a pass, as a true fan who came by his pessimism honestly. Credentialed media types who troll Irish fans for clicks are despicable, though.

pkt77242 said:
Stewart Mandel has us going to the Orange Bowl vs Florida St.

Bowl projections: Alabama-Stanford BCS title tops preseason picks - College Football - Stewart Mandel - SI.com
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Tommy's first full season as a starter (2011) ended with a deflating loss to FSU. Would be a poetic ending to Tommy's career if he goes out by leading us to our first BCS victory against the same team.
 
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IrishLax

IrishLax

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What about predictions for the rest of CFB? Here is what SI is thinking: Alabama, Stanford lead 2013 preseason Crystal Ball predictions - College Football - SI.com

Yes, many analysts around the country are legitimately picking Stanford to beat Alabama. The team that couldn't score a single offensive TD against ND last year, won 8 games by 7 points or less, and has almost zero receiving skill position players of note... apparently they're going to run the ball down Alabama's throat.

Here are some bold predictions from yours truly...
-Stanford wins 8 games or less including a week 1 loss to San Jose State.
-Baylor wins the Big 12.
-Tajh Boyd wins the Heisman.
-USC wins 10 games.
 
woolybug25

woolybug25

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Here are mine:

- scUM loses 5 games and Fred Flinstone's seat starts to get warm (rule of 3)
- USC wins 10 games (i'm with ya Lax)
- OSU goes to the title game and gets blown out
- Bama does not make title game
- Manziel takes a monster step back
- Texas makes BCS bowl
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- Called Scumbear correct
- Called USC
- Close but no cigar on OSU
- Called Bama
- Missed big on Manziel
- Close, but no cigar on Texas. They did almost make a BCS game though.
 
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GO IRISH!!!

GO IRISH!!!

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Here are my predictions:

- USC struggles with finding stability at QB and limps to a 6-6 record
- Manziel has a scandalous arrest (maybe DWI) sometime around midseason.
- UCLA wins the Pac12 including consecutive wins @ Stanford and @ Oregon.
- Alabama loses 3 games.
- Georgia will lose 3 of their first 4 games (Clemson, South Carolina, and LSU).
 
K

Kak7304

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Louisville is the only undefeated BCS team at the end of the year, sparking a lot of debate and controversy about who should play for the NCG.
 
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Kak7304

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condoms SUCk said:
Midseason?? You're giving JF a lot of credit.
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I support this prediction. A&M will be keeping a close eye on him and trying to keep him out of trouble early. Midseason, they start to cut him some slack and he messes up big.
 
ACamp1900

ACamp1900

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Whiskeyjack said:
You get a pass, as a true fan who came by his pessimism honestly. Credentialed media types who troll Irish fans for clicks are despicable, though.
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This makes me feel better...

I'll raise the stakes...


5-7
 
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ACamp1900

ACamp1900

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I agree with teh last sentence actually... but I don't see ND getting to 6-0... So each on has us at 10 wins basically...

I'd take that just about any year.
 
Whiskeyjack

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OFD's CW just published a (sort of) 2013 preview:

Irish fans always assume the worst is going to happen, and after the last decade or two, it's easy to understand why. People are already freaking out about the defensive line depth in 2014 and Brian Kelly maybe going to the pros. It is exhausting. I encourage you: Stop. This team is really good. It might not go undefeated, but it's going to win a lot of games. Winning games is fun, so I suggest you not worry about boogiemen coming out of the shadows and just sit back with your friends, binge on your preferred mix of caffeine and alcohol and enjoy the ride.

(I have had friends tell me they don't want to get too excited because of the fear of disappointment. I've given up on managing expectations, because I've gone into season and games with lower expectations and the pain after losses is basically the same. Might as well enjoy that hope and anticipation.)
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CC: ACamp
 
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K

koonja

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" I suggest you not worry about boogiemen coming out of the shadows."

But NDinLA is still living near the stadium and he's already scared off EV and Elijah Hood on his visit.

"binge on your preferred mix of caffeine and alcohol and enjoy the ride."

I will be doing exactly that, all in one. White Russians all afternoon! College football is great.
 
Whiskeyjack

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kuehnja said:
I will be doing exactly that, all in one. White Russians all afternoon! College football is great.
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The-Dude..png


"Far out, man."
 
ACamp1900

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That ND boogieman is harder to overcome than the one that was under my bed when I was four..... He's really scary...
 
Whiskeyjack

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From our very own IrishLax:

Luck of the Irish?

If you haven’t been living under a rock, you’ve surely heard by now that Notre Dame is actually fielding a terrible football team in 2013, and last year rode an insane streak of blind dumb luck to a 12-0 regular season. According ESPN, Sports Illustrated, and really every media entity imaginable, Notre Dame owes its success to some combination of golden horseshoes, four leaf clovers, and shooting stars. That’s why 5 out of 7 Sports Illustrated writers have picked Notre Dame as their “flop” team for this year. And ESPN College GameDay made sure to put up a graphic dedicated to Notre Dame’s five single-score wins as they discussed why Notre Dame would be “lucky” to win 8 games this year against a daunting schedule.

According to every network analyst sans Lou Holtz, all of that 2012 magic must surely have run out when the proverbial clock struck midnight on January 7th, 2013 as Alabama stomped all over the Irish’s previously unblemished record. So short of Brian Kelly performing regular sacrifices to Hermes, Tyche, and all the other gods of luck, there is effectively a 0% chance that Notre Dame has good season against a schedule that ranks among one of the toughest in the nation. Never mind that the concept of “luck” or “chance” is extremely hard to quantify in sports… these pundits point to three anecdotes as irrefutable evidence of Notre Dame’s seemingly outrageous good fortune:

1. The controversial end to the Stanford game.
2. The missed field goal against Pitt.
3. The high number of close wins during the 2012 season.

The argument for “luck” in the Stanford game hinges on Stanford getting stopped at the goal line on 4th down after being stoned the previous 3 plays from the 2 yard line. On one hand, many believe Stepfan Taylor got in even though the call on the field was reviewed and upheld. On the other hand, Stanford was “lucky” to even have the opportunity to tie the game up and send it into a second overtime. Notre Dame held Stanford to an anemic 272 yards of offense and Stanford didn’t score an offensive TD all game long. Their lone score came on a defensive fumble recovery. Notre Dame out gained Stanford by nearly 30%, had a time of possession edge, got incredibly unlucky with a botched field goal at the Stanford 10 yard line, was unlucky to have Golson knocked out with a concussion in the 4th quarter as Notre Dame moved the ball down to the Stanford 5 and looked to be going in for the game winning TD, and was unlucky on the OT coin toss. So who actually got lucky during that game?

Against Pitt, Notre Dame certainly was “lucky” to have the Pitt kicker shank a very makeable field goal. There is no doubt about that. But Pitt was Ritchie Rich level fortunate to even be in that situation. The truth is that Notre Dame dominated Pitt, especially in the second half. Overall, Notre Dame out gained Pitt 522 to 308. That is a truly ridiculous margin for the score to be as close as it was. Pitt got huge breaks throughout the game. One of the biggest breaks was Cierre Wood mysteriously fumbling the ball while walking untouched into the endzone, which in turn set up Pitt’s field goal attempt to win it all. Additionally, the game never would have gone to OT in the first place had Kyle Brindza not missed a very makeable field goal of his own during regulation, much less an extra point. Notre Dame also maintained over a 10 minute time of possession edge and ran literally twice as many plays as the Panthers. So I’ll ask again, who actually got lucky during that game?

The final sticking point is that “Notre Dame had so many close wins they easily could’ve been a 9-3 or 8-4 team.” The part about this that is maddening is that nearly every single other team that is ranked high this year had numerous close calls but gets a complete free pass. Here is a breakdown of the chief offenders ranked above Notre Dame who are garnering high praise as teams likely to make a title run and possibly beat Alabama:

• #2 Ohio State – 6 one-score wins – embarrassing performances against Indiana, Purdue, Michigan State, Cal, and no post season due to infractions.

• #4 Stanford – 8 one-score wins, 2 losses – embarrassing performances against SJSU, Washington State, Arizona, and Washington.

• #9 Louisville – 6 one-score wins, 2 losses – embarrassing performances against Florida International, Southern Miss, South Florida, Cincinnati, Connecticut, and Rutgers. Seriously.

For comparison, #14 Notre Dame had 5 one-score wins with shaky performances against Purdue, Pitt, and BYU. Draw your own conclusions from the above on whether Notre Dame is being sold short relative to their peers.

It’s a bit of a mystery why when Louisville beats Florida people go “wow, Louisville is really good!” instead of going “Florida just lost to a team that is coming off a blow out by Syracuse, followed by a loss to 5-7 UCONN and a 3 point squeaker over Rutgers. And earlier in the year Louisville had a 4 point nail biter against 0-12 Southern Miss. Maybe Florida isn’t as good as we thought.” No team in the country had more close wins than Stanford, so where is their ESPN segment on “luck”? Where was Ohio State’s graphic about 6 single-score wins? Where was the talk about them giving up nearly 50 points to Indiana? Or needing a miracle comeback and OT against Purdue?

The bottom line is that if you want to criticize Notre Dame because you don’t believe in Tommy Rees, or you think Te’o will be too hard to replace, or the schedule is too difficult, or any myriad of other rational reasons that is perfectly legitimate stance to take. But belittling the 2013 Notre Dame team for getting “lucky” last year while turning a blind eye to the “luck” of every single other team in CFB is, at best, lazy and ignorant. At worst, it’s tantamount to being a “hater” and looking for any excuse to degrade Notre Dame’s prognosis for this season.

The silver lining is that the on field product gets to do the talking now. The team will be measured on how they perform against Michigan, Oklahoma, ASU, USC, Stanford, and the like. The bad news is that the polls are the end-all, be-all for post season aspirations. Notre Dame has seemingly no chance to pass either Ohio State or Louisville simply because of where they started, and Louisville literally doesn’t play a single ranked team all year. Their toughest opponent is Cincinnati and their third strongest opponent is Temple. Yes, you read that correctly. Notre Dame’s week 1 cupcake is a marquis “tough” game for the Cardinals. They get a BCS AQ from playing in what remains of the Big East and have a legitimate title shot due to their lofty pre-season ranking. How’s that for “luck?”
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