Old Man Mike
Fast as Lightning!
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Gamblers with hunches. Not necessarily "smart money."
I'm also more nervous about this game than the game last week, because we have already won the game last week.
Loy just sent out his game preview without any mention of guys being out.
Last time they were looking for a big upset at home they had Bill Romanowski. Did a big pregame video that was shown on the big screen before the team took the field, trying to get the stadium fired up....kind of like the one Metallica did for Virginia Tech. I expect they're going to play this one tomorrow.
Thanks for this. I was making myself nervous.
This can’t be a serious statement
The offensive performance in 2002, in hindsight, wasn't all that surprising. The offense that year was abysmal, even when Holiday was healthy.
ND ranked 91st in scoring in 2002, and even that is being generous. ND's defense and ST accounted for a lot of the points they ended up averaging. The Purdue game, they won 24-17 and scored all three TD's on defense. They, in fact, did not score an offensive TD until week 3 against Michigan.
Going into the BC game, ND was averaging about 4 turnovers forced per game and had a +12 turnover margin.
Over the final 5 games of the season, the turnover margin was -7.
They rode the defense too much and they wore out in the home stretch.
Thankfully, the offense this year is at least quasi-competent, rather than the unholy trainwreck it was in 2002.
That is true. ND relied on a defense that produced turnovers that gave the offense a short field. The BC game was an anomaly since the Irish were starting former walk-on Pat Dillingham who quickly came down from earth after his initial performance. I believe TE Gary Godsey played QB vs Purdue that season as well. They could never get anything going on offense.
The 2015 team didn’t have that excuse as they were a high-powered offense. In the BC game, Kizer kept throwing it to the wrong team when he got in the RZ making that game way too close for comfort.
My dad has been writing up some funny / witty game predictions to send to his friends and family for the past few seasons and we just realized it might be worth sharing his predictions online. If you have a few minutes, you should check them out!
Rog's Irish Picks
It wasn't just the BC game though, the offense struggled in the final quarter of the 2015 season.
They couldn't move the ball for shit against WF the week prior and only had 282 yards. Really, other than Adams' 98 yard touchdown, ND was REALLY bad on offense in that game. Against Stanford, they moved the ball well, but their redzone woes continued and they settled for FG's when they needed TD's.
Who steps up in the DT rotation? Rylie Mills?
Line is shifting towards BC late. That almost always means we’ve got some COVID issues...
The other LB, Richardson leads the nation in tackles. McDuffie is just #3 in the country.
Last time they were looking for a big upset at home they had Bill Romanowski. Did a big pregame video that was shown on the big screen before the team took the field, trying to get the stadium fired up....kind of like the one Metallica did for Virginia Tech. I expect they're going to play this one tomorrow.
Absolutely, they can't make a big bowl so this is typically their season. BC and Pitt live for no reason other than to spoil seasons, they put all their energy into it.
Were you old enough to remember the BC upsets? May have been awhile ago, but they like to play us close still...closer than it ever should be.
I'm also more nervous about this game than the game last week, because we have already won the game last week.
Not to go all Lou Somogyi but...
Strange things have happened in this series. Yes, 1993 was 27 years ago when none of these current players were even born but keep in mind for ND fans, the Irish have never been the same since that fateful day.
Then you got 2002, when #4 ranked 8-0 ND upsets FSU only to come home to South Bend and turn the ball over 5 times vs an inferior BC team. Irish lost by a TD and their season unraveled from there.
2015 was a close call. I don’t recall how many times Kizer & the offense turned the ball over in the RZ but it was enough to make it a close final score in a game that ND was expected to blow them out. Then the Irish slept walk thru Senior Day hosting WF where Mike Elko limited the Irish offense making for another game where the Irish were expected to annihilate their opponent more lackluster. Had that ND team not choked vs Stanford in the final game of the year, conventional wisdom said that ND still wouldn’t have been in consideration for the CFP based on their lackluster performance vs inferior teams in BC & WF.
This is college football. Assuming ND wins w/ no problem is not advisable. Remember...”winning is hard”
Sorry I have not been around this season, I been working every Saturday when our team is on but I am here today.