HBGCrusader
LeSean McCoy's Future Agent
That's how I see it playing out also.Wells4Heisman;847405; said:
I just want to win a freakin bowl game
Upvote
0
-
Follow us on Twitter @buckeyeplanet and @bp_recruiting, like us on Facebook! Enjoy a post or article, recommend it to others! BP is only as strong as its community, and we only promote by word of mouth, so share away!
- Thread starter BB73
- Start date
I just want to win a freakin bowl game
Wells4Heisman
Fifth Year Freshman
They'll most likely be blown out by USC so thats just going to dishonor the Green Jerseys.... Good Luck Though ND, Your gonna need it.
Upvote
0
3 old maids from Canada were drinking cherry wine when up came the subject .. wait... nevermind 
Upvote
0
Upvote
0
IrishCalves
A fleck of Gold in a sea of Scarlet and Gray
Wells4Heisman;847405; said:
The thing of it is, with all the crazy variables surrounding the Irish, this next year could bring ANYTHING.
When I look at the schedule, you could make a case that they could lose to any of their first 8 opponents - not very likely vs. Michigan State, but even the much belittled John L. Smith got the Irish once at South Bend.
In the same breathe, there are only two teams that pretty much anyone would pencil in as losses - USC and Michigan. You could make a case that ND has a shot at beating any of the other 9 programs - even if it is in an upset capacity. Anyone outside those two aforementioned programs was either beaten last year, or not on the schedule at all (Duke, BC), so its not utterly dismissable.
I guess what I'm saying is, with all the new factors (defensive coordinator, 3-4 scheme, Charlie's recruits taking over on offense), predicting how the Irish do is very much a crap shoot. A lot of people thought during Weis's first year, they'd start out awful, like 1-5. He ended up 4-2 over a 6 game stretch, and took a USC squad down to the final seconds of the game.
However unlikely in either case, its plausible that they go 5-7, and its plausible (never said probable) that they could go 10-2 - though the latter would definitely need some luck.
Best guess is 7-8 wins. But anything can happen.
Upvote
0
ulukinatme
Old Skool
I'm thinking 7 or 8 too, thats a pretty good estimate. UCLA will be a tough game, if the offense shows up before the last 30 seconds of the game, the defense shouldn't do much worse than they did last year. Boston College is always a toss up, since '93 they always seem to have our number. USC is a given, they've got too many returning starters, lots of depth, and our offense probably won't have enough experience mid season to compete. People automatically assume Michigan will be a loss, but this game tends to be screwy. Irish were underdogs in Ann Arbor 2 years ago and won convincingly, on the other side they were favored at home last year and lost in a blowout. The Irish have won more encounters against the Wolverines in recent years, but with the game being early in the season, and an inexperienced offense and new defensive scheme, it'll either throw the Wolverines off or end in another blowout, I'm guessing the later. I would be more apt to say Michigan State will be a loss as the Irish have lost to them numerous times in recent years, but with Stanton gone and a new coach, there will be a lot of questionables the first year for them.
Upvote
0
IrishCalves
A fleck of Gold in a sea of Scarlet and Gray
sandgk;862844; said:
You can nit pick, look at it from a million different angles, and use revisionist history if you want. The results that matter most don't lie: 10 wins are still 10 wins. A BCS birth is still a BCS birth. Your team has to do something good to get there - and considering they won 11 games in the previous two years, thats a pretty substantial accomplishment.
To say going into the year, "Yep, even though this squad has piddled their pants two years running, and is bringing in a new coaching staff, they're a BCS contender!" would be ludicrous. But they did get there, and exceeded expectations in doing so.
I know that everyone got really turned off by the post 05 deification of Charlie. It was over the top, no question. But results are results, and that team - Weis included - did do well. Not in the league of Pete Carrol, or Tressel, but he's done well and could reach that upper echelon if he continues to reverse the downward trends of the previous two coaching regimes.
I'm not saying this year will repeat exceeding expectations once again, but its hard to completely discredit a team when their head coach has proven he can coach at the pros and in college. 3 Super Bowl rings as an offensive coordinator, and in two years producing back-to-back BCS games are pretty good indicators that this guy knows what he's doing when it comes to football.
Upvote
0
IrishCalves;862951; said:
Those of us in BCS Conferences call them BCS berths.
But we understand that ND fans think they're entitled to them by birth.
And since you also want to talk numbers, 617 yards are still 617 yards.
Upvote
0