next 4 games critical!

[ACamp1900]

In terms of this season obviously the next four are huge... in terms of where this team will be next year and beyond Utah and SC may say more about this team

 

[Dizzyphil]

Hope Kelly can continue the trend of winning the close games. Seems like ND has been on the short end of games decided but a touchdown or less as of late.

Not trying to make any excuses- We scored our last TD against UM too early. The defense had just made 3 excellent stops in a row, and then two plays later, they were back on the field. That play to Rudy was probably just a 'get us out of the end-zone' play and it turned into a big ol' chugger down-field.

The close games will all be in the coaching of Kelly's staff. Coaching discipline and common sense to the team - which of our past three coaches lacked, I think Kelly is instilling this theme.

Diz

 

[mick2]

In terms of this season obviously the next four are huge... in terms of where this team will be next year and beyond Utah and SC may say more about this team

road test against msu should be a very good measuring stick game, after watching sc play the last two weeks it looks like stanford is the best team on our schedule, followed by utah. but sc on the road to end the season will be a fun one.

 

[ACamp1900]

road test against msu should be a very good measuring stick game, after watching sc play the last two weeks it looks like stanford is the best team on our schedule, followed by utah. but sc on the road to end the season will be a fun one.

I agree... Standford and MSU could meet in the Rose Bowl... no, really... that is possible.

we must win one of these two if we want to have a good year this year...

the bright spot if we don't is we should be able to easily win 4 of our last 6 without getting out of bed and this is year one and a very hard 6 game start... so beating Utah and or SC could carry much more wieght into next season...

time will tell

 

[mick2]

I agree... Standford and MSU could meet in the Rose Bowl... no, really... that is possible.

we must win one of these two if we want to have a good year this year...

the bright spot if we don't is we should be able to easily win 4 of our last 6 without getting out of bed and this is year one and a very hard 6 game start... so beating Utah and or SC could carry much more wieght into next season...

time will tell

ok, so this week, as well as all the remaining weeks have been upgraded to "must win, at all costs, no matter what, do whatever the hell it takes!" status

 

[IrishinSyria]

ok, so this week, as well as all the remaining weeks have been upgraded to "must win, at all costs, no matter what, do whatever the hell it takes!" status

I hope not.

I really really really want them to win all three. And I will curse and scream at my TV (or, this week, at the field) all game long trying to will them to victory. But I don't see how any "must win" games, unless you're afraid recruiting is going to go off the rails.

 

[Jerry]

I was actually thinking about recruiting this morning. It would be nice to at least get to a decent winnable bowl game. Which since ND isn't going to make the BCS should be a possibility this season. That would help with recruiting IMO. Show's recruits that the program is headed in the right direction.

 

[nd1]

ok, so this week, as well as all the remaining weeks have been upgraded to "must win, at all costs, no matter what, do whatever the hell it takes!" status

we all knew nd would not be that good this year. well refrase that. they would have growing pains this year. they are improving and will continue too and will be a good team at end of year. may be too late but atleast we have the right coach in here that will get us back in contension every year. I don't think there is a must win this year as long as they keep improving week to week. everybody needs to step back and relax. there is a saying " it's going to get worse before it's gets better".

 

[ndcoltsfan2010]

we all knew nd would not be that good this year. well refrase that. they would have growing pains this year. they are improving and will continue too and will be a good team at end of year. may be too late but atleast we have the right coach in here that will get us back in contension every year. I don't think there is a must win this year as long as they keep improving week to week. everybody needs to step back and relax. there is a saying " it's going to get worse before it's gets better".

Totally agree with this statement

 

[dsotm]

Critical to what? For all intents and purposes, the season is over. We're non-conference so there's no conference championship, and even if we win out by some miracle- do you really want a Pity bowl bid?

 

[mick2]

Critical to what? For all intents and purposes, the season is over. We're non-conference so there's no conference championship, and even if we win out by some miracle- do you really want a Pity bowl bid?

a pity bowl bid for winning out? hmmm yeah i actually would want a bowl bid for winning out, that would be pretty amazing considering whose in line to play us the next few weeks.

go back under the rock you crawled out from.

whats with all these 1 post wonders coming out of the woodwork after a loss?

 

[mrmiller8]

Every game is Critical you idiots!!!!!

 

[irish4ever]

Critical to what? For all intents and purposes, the season is over. We're non-conference so there's no conference championship, and even if we win out by some miracle- do you really want a Pity bowl bid?

OMG. the sky is falling, the sky is falling. A "pity bowl" IF for some chance they would end up 10-2, 9-3, 8-4 ..... please, come to your senses! A "pity bowl" are for teams that finish 6-6!

 

[dsotm]

OMG. the sky is falling, the sky is falling. A "pity bowl" IF for some chance they would end up 10-2, 9-3, 8-4 ..... please, come to your senses! A "pity bowl" are for teams that finish 6-6!

First off- reality check. They're not winning out. Even if they manage to get to USC without losing, it's 9-3. That, won't get you a BCS bowl- and IMO, who cares about the other bowls?

FYI- to answer the other poster - I didn't know this site existed. I was really just looking to see if anyone felt the same I did after the last 2 weeks- specifically about Kelly. Guess I'm alone, in dissapointment, and reality.

 

[dsotm]

a pity bowl bid for winning out? hmmm yeah i actually would want a bowl bid for winning out, that would be pretty amazing considering whose in line to play us the next few weeks.

go back under the rock you crawled out from.

whats with all these 1 post wonders coming out of the woodwork after a loss?

I was referring to a BCS bowl, not one of the million other pity bowls. To clarify.

 

[mick2]

I was referring to a BCS bowl, not one of the million other pity bowls. To clarify.

thanks for clarification, now be a good little boy and leave.

 

[dsotm]

thanks for clarification, now be a good little boy and leave.

Nah, I like it here. Thanks though.

 

[IrishTimer]

LOL at us winning out.

We won't beat Stanford.

BC will be a tough game(as it always is) espeically on the road.

Pitt is still a very solid football team. Thankfully this one is at home.

We may not win another game until October 16th. That'd be a 1-5 start. Best (realistic) case scenario for us right now is most likely 7-5. More than likely we are looking at 6-6. Worst case IMO is 4-8. We aren't winning out and won't be playing in a bowl game taking place any day later than Christmas.

 

[mick2]

newbie nation

 

[RDU Irish]

I don't care what our record is, I watch and cheer on the team regardless of the record. 3-9 was brutal but I enjoyed watching how our young men responded to adversity. It is easy to be a fan for a national champion but all the whining after losses gives me some perspective on why there are soooo many haters out there.

Now, in defeat, I see a lot to love about our team and I am more realistically optimistic than I have been since Lou left town. Meanwhile my emotional optimism is less than it was with Davie, Golfingham or Weis. All evidence points to better days ahead IMO, however I feel like Charlie Brown running to kick that damn ball that everyone knows Lucy will yank away at the last second.

It is obvious to me that WHEN double digit wins becomes the standard again, ND nation will not have learned her lesson and run very good coaches into the ground for no good reason.

 

[IrishinSyria]

I don't care what our record is, I watch and cheer on the team regardless of the record. 3-9 was brutal but I enjoyed watching how our young men responded to adversity. It is easy to be a fan for a national champion but all the whining after losses gives me some perspective on why there are soooo many haters out there.

Now, in defeat, I see a lot to love about our team and I am more realistically optimistic than I have been since Lou left town. Meanwhile my emotional optimism is less than it was with Davie, Golfingham or Weis. All evidence points to better days ahead IMO, however I feel like Charlie Brown running to kick that damn ball that everyone knows Lucy will yank away at the last second.

It is obvious to me that WHEN double digit wins becomes the standard again, ND nation will not have learned her lesson and run very good coaches into the ground for no good reason.

Now, ya see, I was going to rep you for this but you just had to take the obligatory shot at Weis. I was very optimistic with him as coach and one of the main reasons for that was that I thought he consistently produced MEN. It was gratifying to watch players like Jimmy, Zbikowski, Quinn, Samardzija, Golden and Armando come in as kids and, regardless of the results on the field, leave as Notre Dame men. The good news is I think Kelly will have the same success off the field as Weis and I think he is poised to do even better on the field.

 

[RDU Irish]

I have absolutely no hard feelings for Weis. He left this program in better shape than he found it and did it just as Syria says, producing ND MEN. He put every ounce of effort he had into the job, he just is not cut out to be a college head coach. I would have found it interesting if he would find a successor and move to the booth as an OC. I never once questioned his love and respect for ND (unlike Davie or Willingham). I have to say it is not fair to loosely throw Weis in with Davie and Willingham.

I was emotionally hopeful he would find a way while my brain just said the defense and depth was completely neglected and there was no continuity on the coaching staff. Rather than stregthen the weakest link of the chain, Weis would overly focus on the strongest.

 

[RDU Irish]

And on the BCS or bust concept... GET BENT. I was so ticked off the last time the team voted to sit out a lower tier bowl. GO OUT THERE AND BEAT THE CRAP OUT OF THE OTHER TEAM AND PROVE YOU DESERVED BETTER!!!!

I don't care who is lined up on the other side, kids should just want to play. Thinking you are better than "that" is so arrogant it makes me want to barf.

 

[IrishTimer]

newbie nation

I wasn't aware me being a newbie would hinder my ability to look at a schedule and evaluate matchups with teams that we have yet to play.

Stanford is a Top 25 team and rolling right now.

BC has been a pain in our *** pretty much ever since Lou ran that fake punt on them in the 4th quarter of the 1992 contest...and the game is in BC. I can't remember the last time we played well at Chestnut Hill. It's not an easy place to play, especially for a young team. That game will msot likely resemble the Michigan State game in a lot of ways.

Pitt may not be the team many thought they were but with Dion Lewis they always stand a chance until our D gets it's act together.

That's two toss up games in the next 3. I think we hang with Stanford a bit but lose by 13 points or so. BC and Pitt could REALLY go either way. You're looking at 2-1, 1-2, or 0-3. Is 3-0 possible? Sure...but it's not realistic and I don't think we've seen much as fans that would lead us to believe this team will walk into it's toughest stretch of the season and take 2 or 3 games.

It's completely possible to be encouraged by Kelly and what he is doing but still being realistic about the expectations for results of games based on what we have seen from ND and their opponets thus far.

Have anything of substance to say or are you going to stick with the lame "newbie" rhetoric?

 

[mick2]

I wasn't aware me being a newbie would hinder my ability to look at a schedule and evaluate matchups with teams that we have yet to play.

Stanford is a Top 25 team and rolling right now.

BC has been a pain in our *** pretty much ever since Lou ran that fake punt on them in the 4th quarter of the 1992 contest...and the game is in BC. I can't remember the last time we played well at Chestnut Hill. It's not an easy place to play, especially for a young team. That game will msot likely resemble the Michigan State game in a lot of ways.

Pitt may not be the team many thought they were but with Dion Lewis they always stand a chance until our D gets it's act together.

That's two toss up games in the next 3. I think we hang with Stanford a bit but lose by 13 points or so. BC and Pitt could REALLY go either way. You're looking at 2-1, 1-2, or 0-3. Is 3-0 possible? Sure...but it's not realistic and I don't think we've seen much as fans that would lead us to believe this team will walk into it's toughest stretch of the season and take 2 or 3 games.

It's completely possible to be encouraged by Kelly and what he is doing but still being realistic about the expectations for results of games based on what we have seen from ND and their opponets thus far.

Have anything of substance to say or are you going to stick with the lame "newbie" rhetoric?

I understand the need for differing opinions. i am just referencing the fact that people who i have never seen on this board suddenly appear the day after a loss to tell me how the irish suck so bad. you cant be a judge of kelly on 3 games. scratch that you cant be a competent judge of kelly after only three games. but you can be a screaming lunatic wondering why we're not blowing teams out, and laughing at the positive fans for thinking we have a chance against stanford.

I was a newbie once and offered my perspective but didnt go about laughing in the faces of other posters suggestions. i've really spent too much time on this anyways, i wasnt referencing you individually but the collection of people that join after a loss to spew garbage then crawl back into there hole never to be seen again until the next loss.

I've seen it for about 5 seasons now its all too familiar to me by now, don't know why it bothers me. if you actually turn out to be a contributing poster i will eat my words, but until then, Go Irish!

 

[IrishTimer]

I understand the need for differing opinions. i am just referencing the fact that people who i have never seen on this board suddenly appear the day after a loss to tell me how the irish suck so bad. you cant be a judge of kelly on 3 games. scratch that you cant be a competent judge of kelly after only three games. but you can be a screaming lunatic wondering why we're not blowing teams out, and laughing at the positive fans for thinking we have a chance against stanford.

I was laughing at the fans talking about is winning out. I do think it's laughable that people actually think/have any confidence in us doing that. Based on what evaluation of this team would anyone have any confidence in us winning out the rest of the way? We haven't even hit the toughest part of our schedule yet and are below .500 yet you have people actually talking about winning out or only losing 1 or 2 games ove the remaining 9. That is jumping the ship from being "positive" to being an irrational homer IMO.

I was a newbie once and offered my perspective but didnt go about laughing in the faces of other posters suggestions. i've really spent too much time on this anyways, i wasnt referencing you individually

You specifically quoted me.........

And this may come as a shock but a lack of posts =/= to lack of knowledge or lack of ability to analyze the upcoming games in the face of this "winning out" or "1 or 2 loss" talk.

I find it odd you take issue with me posting what I did and giving my reasons for why and my evaluation of the rest of the season (6-6, 7-5, or 4-8) and your amazingly intelligent response is nothing more than "newbie nation". Tremendous discourse there.

You having never seen me post before, and me being a "newb", doesn't devalue, discredit, or prove my statements about the upcoming Notre Dame games/season false.


If you weren't referencing me individually then why quote me individually?

 

[mick2]

I was laughing at the fans talking about is winning out. I do think it's laughable that people actually think/have any confidence in us doing that. Based on what evaluation of this team would anyone have any confidence in us winning out the rest of the way? We haven't even hit the toughest part of our schedule yet and are below .500 yet you have people actually talking about winning out or only losing 1 or 2 games ove the remaining 9. That is jumping the ship from being "positive" to being an irrational homer IMO.





You specifically quoted me.........

And this may come as a shock but a lack of posts =/= to lack of knowledge or lack of ability to analyze the upcoming games in the face of this "winning out" or "1 or 2 loss" talk.

I find it odd you take issue with me posting what I did and giving my reasons for why and my evaluation of the rest of the season (6-6, 7-5, or 4-8) and your amazingly intelligent response is nothing more than "newbie nation". Tremendous discourse there.

You having never seen me post before, and me being a "newb", doesn't devalue, discredit, or prove my statements about the upcoming Notre Dame games/season false.


If you weren't referencing me individually then why quote me individually?

i quoted you because you took issue with my newbie nation post.

i never quoted you before that, and i will most likely never quote you again. you can go cry a river and be upset about being sub .500, what did you expect? i expected 1 or 2 losses possibly in the first 6, we are a team that lost our 3 year starter QB and biletnikoff WR. and there in the Nfl already contributing to the teams they are on, they were that f-ing good.

what you want 12-0 every season, you get real, you're the irrational one for wanting more out of this team with a first year head coach and qb, not too mention we lost mccarthy the leader of our defense. sure theres talent and we should have won both of those games. im not gonna sit here and pout about it though, we're 1 and 2 and we have a real tough game on the horizon that i believe we can win, you dont think so? cool, but dont **** on my parade because you think youre all knowing. i have a copy of the schedule and a tv too. i know just as much as you when it comes to ND football hot shot. you predict 6-6 all year long thats fine with me, but dont come here the day after a loss and start saying i told ya so!

 

[Irish Man3]

Im sorry but I have a very hard time reading this thread and not getting irritated. Why with some Irish fans is it all or nothing? If its BCS or nothing and thie season is "all but lost" then you are not an Irish fan and you dont understand how college football works.
You cant bring a new coaching staff in, that installs two brand new systems and expect to make a BCS bowl in year one. These are not BK's guys. We have a talented group no doubt, but they are young guys learning a new system. Brian Kelly is an amazing coach and has embraced tradition and hit recruiting head on. You can not ask for more than that from a first year coach. College football has no pre-season and unlike a lot of upper tier programs, we don't schedule cupcake opening games. So our athletes are learning new systems against three solid Big Ten programs and a program that will fight Oregon for a spot in the Rose Bowl.
It all starts with Dayne Crist at quarterback. We need to stop looking for someone to blame and realize that this kid has three starts under his belt and thats it. From what we saw in the third quarter of last weeks game and in the second half against Michigan, we should be pretty damn excited to have a kid with the upside that Dayne has. Saturday night we went on the road and put us in a position to win. What more can you ask for? He made his mistakes but he looked damn good for awhile.
As far as predictions go....... who cares? Nobody really has an upper hand in the evaluation because you really dont know what other teams look like against your team, until the game is played. Relax and realize that there will be growing pains throughout this season. It comes with a new coach, new quarterback, new wide recievers, and a new defensive scheme. Those of you who are tired of "the same old thing"..... go somewhere else and find a new team. Those who didnt take anything positive out of Theo Riddick becoming a BEAST or Dayne Crist growing up on the job saturday night, your not an Irish fan. Wins and losses matter of course, but you need to realize the growth that is taking place within this program.
For me, I couldnt be more excited at where this program is heading. Right now its tough and I was crushed with the last two losses as well, but we were there in the end. I know sometimes that gets old but its where we are right now. Im excited about our young WRs in Theo Riddick and TJ Jones. Jones held us above water in weeks one and two and Riddick was a straight monster last week. We have awesome young talent and I dont know how close you follow recruiting DSOTM, but we are in the top 10 on all recruiting web-sites. That says something about this teams future because unlike the previous coaching staff, this staff has proven they can develope talent. If your not excited for all we have going for us and your focus is straight wins and losses than maybe you should jump on the Bama bandwagon. We have plenty to be excited about here in South Bend.

 

[IrishTimer]

i quoted you because you took issue with my newbie nation post.

I was asking: If you weren't directly referencing me with "newbie nation"(Which you said you weren't)..then why post it right after I post? Sorry I used the word "quoted". Mea culpa.

i never quoted you before that

Yeah you just posted "newbie nation" right after I made a post.................Sorry I somehow took that as a response to me.......I mean who could ever make that mistake......

and i will most likely never quote you again.

you can go cry a river and be upset about being sub .500, what did you expect? i expected 1 or 2 losses possibly in the first 6, we are a team that lost our 3 year starter QB and biletnikoff WR. and there in the Nfl already contributing to the teams they are on, they were that f-ing good.

I expected 8-4 at the absolute best. I'm not crying. This team is 1-2 right now. They aren't exactly under performing to my expectations at this point in the season. We basically opened the schedule with One sure win(Purdue) one sure loss(Stanford) and 4 toss ups before CMU comes to town. Two toss up games haven't gone our way yet. Meh.

what you want 12-0 every season

Of course I want that every year. What team or it's fanbase doesn't want that? Does that mean I expected/predicted that? No.

you're the irrational one for wanting more out of this team with a first year head coach and qb, not too mention we lost mccarthy the leader of our defense.

LOL at you carrying on about this when you have no idea what I "wanted" or "expected". Man you get worked up easy.

, but dont **** on my parade because you think youre all knowing. i have a copy of the schedule and a tv too. i know just as much as you when it comes to ND football hot shot. you predict 6-6 all year long thats fine with me, but dont come here the day after a loss and start saying i told ya so!

I never told anyone "I told you so." All I did was think it's hilarious based on a somewhat sloppy 1-2 start to expect this team to win out or only lose 1 or 2 games the rest of the way. Would I love it if that happened? Hell yes. I hope Notre Dame never loses another game in my lifetime..or ever...but that doesn't mean I'm going to sit here and expect it to happen (especially with this team)

 

[mick2]

Cool youre awesome, you win I don't like to argue on message boards anyway, that's a newbie thing.