They only stink in terms of production. As in: yes, they have sucked all year, and that's undeniable. But they have a ton of talent, and have shown glimpses of improvement on a weekly basis. That latter part of the PSU game showed how dangerous they are when they just let their WRs make plays. And USC's quick hitting offense was a load for our defense to handle.
The bigger issue is that their defense is good, and well suited to stop an ND offense that is reliant on running the ball right now because the passing game is a disaster. What they are vulnerable to is what Wimbush exploited last year in the first half (as did Ohio State) which is that they leave their guys on an island so you can beat them for big chunk plays. If I thought Book could throw a good deep ball or that Long was capable of doing what PSU did (getting someone like Keys or Lenzy in the slot and attacking their LBs/Safeties) then I'd feel confident... but I don't believe he can do that. I think he's likely to play right into what Michigan likes to do. And Michigan has shown repeatedly that they throttle teams that can't win their 1v1 matchups, and that they get smoked by teams that can. So I understand why Michigan is a small favorite at home, and I think ND is going to need to be uber aggressive to score 20+ points.
