The Official 2010-2011 Notre Dame Fightin' Irish Sports Thread!!!

[POJO_Risin]

ND is a team that's harder to judge as cyclical...because they actually have standards for their football team that fits the university...unlike EVERY other top 10 or 30 school...

including my alma mater...and Brett's...

both excellent academic schools...that have those "special" rules for their football team...

[Va Beach VH Fan]

Originally posted by POJO_Risin
including my alma mater...

Yeah, but they have great parties there, so it evens itself out....

[POJO_Risin]

Yeah...you can't discount the party factor...lmfao...

[conmee]

Brethren and Sistren,

Another fine start to a new head coaching career at Notre Dame. The offense looked much better and the defense got the job done, for the most part. But Pitt was over-rated anyhow, so I'm not going to be dancing in the street just yet. But if Weis can keep the Irish competitve this year, expect good things.

Michigan at the Big House will be a better test. And with USC and Tennessee on the schedule as well, next Saturday's game will be a good indicator of whether or not this year is 9-2, 6-5, or 5-6. The players are basically the same as Willingham had, and this season could still go either way in a hurry.

But for now... all is well in South Bend.

GO IRISH!!!
GO UNLV!!!
GO CHARGERS!!!
GO PADRES!!!

Icon.

[Mr. Vengeance]

Hardest sched in the nation. And they absolutely crushed Pitt, who were overated, but it's still a nice way to start the season.

[Brett]

Please Pitt blows, they shouldn't have even been ranked. Michigan will be a much better test of where Notre Dame is. And I can't imagine that awful pass defense can stop USC.

[POJO_Risin]

But...overrated or not...they certainly weren't pushovers...and Notre Dame slaughtered them...

I agree...next year is the game to guage from...but...is Michigan overrated?

[Va Beach VH Fan]

ND's offensive line was the key, they were pushing the Pitt D-line back 5 yards on every play....

[conmee]

Michigan is always over-ranked by 5-10 spots... or is it that Lloyd Carr only gets 85% production out of Top 5 recruiting classes... lol

Michigan will indeed be the test, and on the road in the Big House... and sad to say, but I agree with Brett... the pass defense had better improve ALOT between now and the USC game, or Leinert will clinch his second Heisman mid-season...

GO IRISH!!!

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[POJO_Risin]

I'd go with the Carr thing...

It's funny how a guy gets entrenched in a place...who is a good coach...at a university that needs a great coach.

The best part about it is that his victories over a worse coach...John Cooper...helped entrench him.

As for ND's secondary...

WTF is a USC fan even worrying about Notre Dame at this stage of the game. They aren't in the same league right now...

jesus h. christ...

Brett...you keep trying to validate how good USC is...WE FUCKING KNOW...THEY'VE WON 2 NCAA'S IN A ROW!

lmfao...

[conmee]

Well, technically, they've won 2 BCS/AP/ESPN/USAToday trophies. lol

As for the Irish... not in the same league as USC, no way to argue otherwise. But the offense looks good, and if it gets better, then by the time ND plays USC, it will at least be COMPETITIVE. Hell, it was competitive for about 2.5 quarters LAST year until Ty Willingham decided to prove once again why he's the Greatest Coach on the Planet... Sunday thru Friday.... but come Saturday... he's not even MAC, WAC, or Mountain West material. Just take a look at what he did at Washington this past weekend, giving up a 17-6 lead with 10 minutes in the fourth quarter and pinning BYU on its own 1 yard line, only to give up two quick TDs and LOSE!!!! And don't forget the poor clock management at the end of the game as well, when they still could have come back and won. All the dumbass Huskie fans prattle on about how things will turn around, but this is the shit that happened REGULARLY at ND during his three years... losing to teams he should win against, and looking completely outcoached in games he should at least be competitive in.... hell, he was modestly paid and low key and won 55% of his games at Stanford, and that's good enough for a school like Stanford.... but that won't cut it at ND... hell, that won't cut it at WASHINGTON!!! He'll be gone in three years at Washington too, and everyone who bitched about ND not giving him a fair shake, will realize that he just isn't Division I - Top 25 caliber.... and if Stanford had Big 10 or ACC or Big 12 competition in the Pac 10, it would have never made it to a Rose Bowl when they did...

But.... back to the topic....

The Irish are back in the Top 25 in both polls. I think if they keep it close and lose at the Big House, they'll still manage to hover around #24-#25, but if they win, I can see them climbing to around #15... and if they open up the season with two road wins against ranked teams, they deserve to be that high. But I've gotten my hopes up early in the season every year for a decade now, only to have them pretty much dashed by week 4 (except for Willingham's first year)...

So we'll see what the Irish can accomplish this upcoming weekend at Michigan. If Lloyd Carr fooks with his defense and we can control the clock and be successful running the ball, it should be a close one.

GO IRISH!!!

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[Brett]

Poj there are two games to win every year....UCLA and Notre Dame. I don't give a shit how bad or good they are. Yes validation every second is necessary. Let me have my fun, god damn it.

With that said, Notre Dame looked good last week. Their defense is what is going to cost them this year, especially their pass defense.

[conmee]

Brett is one of the few USC guys I can respect and appreciate... lol

Michigan and USC are must wins at ND each year (actually Navy is a must win given they haven't beat ND since Staubach was running the offense... but a this would be an altogether different beast if ND loses to Navy... akin to Hawaii or Cal State Northridge beating USC... lol)... if we go 9-2 this year, everyone will be happy, per se, but if those two losses are Michigan and USC... there's a certain lack of lustre to the results...

GO IRISH!!!!

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[Brett]

That's what I'm saying, I don't care if SC doesn't win the title this year (I care but it's been a fun run), but if they go 11-1, that one fucking loss better not be to the Irish or the Bruins. I'd almost rather lose to Hawaii....well maybe not...LOL.

Christ, SC didn't beat Notre Dame for like 18 fucking years or something. There was some long ass run from 82-99 or around there. Now I think SC has won the last 4 or 5.

[Warham]

Lou Holtz never lost to USC while he was at ND.