S
SteveM
Guest
Let me try to isolate the pervasive thread that is woven through many of the arguments here.
And they center around the two questions. How good is Notre Dame? And how good can Notre Dame be?
I think for all of us, our point of reference is this year versus last. First of all, we are 2-0. Clausen hasn't proven that he is the real thing yet, but he is a year older, a year smarter and hopefully a year tougher.
And from my point of view, the biggest difference is the overall team vibe. I've been around football a long time. And some teams just find ways to lose. And other teams just find ways to win. Teams in both conditions exude a visceral vibe that tells you where their hearts are at.
Last week against Michigan, Notre Dame was presented with opportunities and capitalized on those mistakes. With efficiency and skill. That same team last year may have recovered those fumbles. But then probably would have went three and out and then missed the field-goals. Last year for sure you would've had that sinking feeling in your heart. And you probably would have been right. Because last year, ND became a team that found ways to lose.
And I mentioned this in another post. The knife edge ND commitment challenge for me was at the 3:30 mark of the first half against Michigan. Michigan got a couple of scores, had momentum, and had they punched it in for a third score prior to half time, it would have been last year all over again.
But our guys sucked it up and got it done. That tells me that this Notre Dame team can find a way to win.
Notre Dame is not the perfect football team. Yes, there are still some performance gaps in various phases of the game. And yes, coaching quality may still be an open issue. But the fact is, this is not last year's team. So in the C-W-R context, I suppose we are all anxious to see whether ND is Crawling, Walking or Running.
But the fact is, they are moving forward. And that makes me happy.
SteveM
And they center around the two questions. How good is Notre Dame? And how good can Notre Dame be?
I think for all of us, our point of reference is this year versus last. First of all, we are 2-0. Clausen hasn't proven that he is the real thing yet, but he is a year older, a year smarter and hopefully a year tougher.
And from my point of view, the biggest difference is the overall team vibe. I've been around football a long time. And some teams just find ways to lose. And other teams just find ways to win. Teams in both conditions exude a visceral vibe that tells you where their hearts are at.
Last week against Michigan, Notre Dame was presented with opportunities and capitalized on those mistakes. With efficiency and skill. That same team last year may have recovered those fumbles. But then probably would have went three and out and then missed the field-goals. Last year for sure you would've had that sinking feeling in your heart. And you probably would have been right. Because last year, ND became a team that found ways to lose.
And I mentioned this in another post. The knife edge ND commitment challenge for me was at the 3:30 mark of the first half against Michigan. Michigan got a couple of scores, had momentum, and had they punched it in for a third score prior to half time, it would have been last year all over again.
But our guys sucked it up and got it done. That tells me that this Notre Dame team can find a way to win.
Notre Dame is not the perfect football team. Yes, there are still some performance gaps in various phases of the game. And yes, coaching quality may still be an open issue. But the fact is, this is not last year's team. So in the C-W-R context, I suppose we are all anxious to see whether ND is Crawling, Walking or Running.
But the fact is, they are moving forward. And that makes me happy.
SteveM
