Fotop

QUOTE(tonyho7476 @ Sep 19, 2005 -> 12:15 PM) I don't have a non-paying-up problem. This is chicago...bookies are a dime a dozen. This is also 2005...use the internet. My favorite Sox hat just got destroyed...so I had to order a new one. Thank God the Bears and the Sox won yesterday or this would have been quite the awful weekend.

QUOTE(IlliniKrush @ Sep 14, 2005 -> 01:09 AM) Notre Dame: Wide receiver Rhema McKnight will not play against Michigan State this week because of an injured right knee. "He is not lost for the season," Notre Dame coach Charlie Weis said Tuesday. "He has a procedure that will keep him out this week." The junior has five catches for 69 yards this season. He scored a touchdown against Michigan on Saturday. He'll be back for USC. Book it. Until then, itd be nice to see someone step up. He's a big loss, but thankfully we have some semblance of depth at WR. I'm sure we'll see more of Shelton, Stovall, and Smarj (maybe even Hord? true freshman anyone?) until Rhema comes back. I'm not worried about the offense though w/o Rhema. Granted he was a great playmaker, but we have plenty of weapons to use against our next few opponents...dont forget the depth at TE as well (Fasano, Carlson, Hiben). The passing game should be fine.

QUOTE(greasywheels121 @ Sep 11, 2005 -> 11:02 AM) ND won that game. I'm glad about that. However, some ND people are getting a little too ahead of themselves. Ty had a pretty nice start to his inaugural year too.. I've already touched on this a bit, but don't want to type it again, so here's the link to the Other Thread As for getting ahead of ourselves, no one had THAT strong of expectations going into this year. I thought we'd win 6-7 games...but in that prediction Michigan was a loss, so maybe 8 games now. With the schedule that we play, it's damn hard to get ahead of yourself because pretty much any team can beat us on any saturday (Take MSU for example this coming weekend...Stanton scares the s*** out of me). The point is, we're finally going in the right direction again. And this time, it's no fluke... I promise you that.

QUOTE(Chisoxfn @ Sep 10, 2005 -> 08:16 PM) ND may hit the top 10 today. I'm guessing they'll sky-rocket in polls. They still got a hell of a schedule. Regardless, the Weiss era has opened in definate style. 2-0 with 2 wins against ranked opponents at the time (one of which was #3 Michigan in the big house). It's Weis. Get it right.

QUOTE(Brian @ Sep 10, 2005 -> 03:56 PM) I taped the game and FWD to the end of the game. 2 minutes left and Henne had a nice pass to Mannington who may of made a nice catch if the D-back didn't grab him and stop him from running. Obvious pass interference call, but oh well. When do the fans toss crap on the field? Haven't seen it yet. After both Instant replay decisions, play was stopped because Michigan fans were throwing things on the field.

Go Irish. Our defense really stepped it up today. It was defintely a close game (which we all figured it would be), and the turnovers made the difference. Quinn looked shaky all day, his passes weren't as precise as they usually are. Walker had a nice game, hopefully Mcknight will be ok (he did walk off under his own power) but i fear an acl injury. One thing that bothered me about the game was the Michigan fans throwing stuff on the field. It's your home field, your rules, and you've made your bed in regards to Instant Replay. Sleep in it. Of course if this was at ND, they wouldn't have had to worry about IR . Anyways, tt just seemed really classless to me that they had to stop play twice for their shenanigans. Either way, it's gonna be a madhouse here at ND next weekend. Can't wait.

And Pitt loses to Ohio...that doesnt make ND look as good anymore. I'm still confident about ND as a team, but this defintely showed that Pitt is really not a good football team.

QUOTE(Rex Hudler @ Sep 6, 2005 -> 09:23 PM) I think Michigan's offense as a whole is better this year. The combination of another year's experience for Hart and Henne, the offensive line and the depth of receivers they have will make them better. No one player is better than or can make up for what Edwards brought to the table, but the sum of all the parts can be greater this year. From a selfish point of view, it is a damned shame that the game isn't in South Bend so I could watch it in HD. NBC finally got off their asses and is broadcasting ND home games in high definition this year. Instead, we'll get the crappy ABC SD feed. Outside of Avant, who do they have at receiver? Breaston is very quick but runs some pretty poor routes. He's much more of a threat in the return game than he is on offense (knock on wood). You are very correct about the line even though they lost Baas. Michigan always has good lines. I'm not saying their offense is bad...it's good I just don't think they're THAT much better than Pitt's was (experienced qb, deep threat in Lee, depth at TE). Granted, Pitt has no running game right now...so in that respect Michigan is much better. That's why I think it comes down to the ground game, which is one of our strengths with an experienced line and depth at RB (Walker, Powers-Neal).

QUOTE(Brian @ Sep 6, 2005 -> 09:16 PM) Not going to undermine the ND win last year, but Carr hadn't been playing Hart yet. You won 28-20, I believe. Could of been very different if we had a running game. I can't even remember who Lloyd had in the backfield the first few games. Underwood started. Got hurt in the first quarter, and Hart played the rest of the game. Mind you it was Darius Walker's first game as well.

QUOTE(Wedge @ Sep 6, 2005 -> 09:03 PM) no sweat, Computer Science. I did my undergrad there as well and I was in the band. Band? Nice, I tried out for drumline freshman year and didn't make it. What did you play? /thread hijack by ND nerds

QUOTE(Wedge @ Sep 6, 2005 -> 08:55 PM) I'm here as well. I'm now a 2nd year grad student in the CSE department. We've probably unwittingly bumped into each other at the Backer or something. Funny, but more than likely true. I'm not that big of a fan of the backer...I guess it's more of an alumni/grad school love than an undergrad. I'm sure that once I leave though, I'll be itching for some backer fun. Hate to sound ignorant...but what's CSE?

QUOTE(knightni @ Sep 6, 2005 -> 08:42 PM) I've been around 'SC fans. They hate UCLA more than ND. Send them a mineral water and a salad and they are happy. Agreed SC fans are pretty laid back. Put them in a Bowl game and they show up right before kickoff...unlike most schools that just turn the town into a college town for a week. Michigan fans are downright brutal (not saying any of them here are). Most of the experience I've had around big state school teams (Michigan, and recently Pitt) is that they're usually extremely obnoxious and lack creativity. "f*** the Irish!" Clap,Clap,Clap is NOT something that shuts us down, and that's pretty much all they have (sans random Rudy comments, which are usually pretty irrelevant). Throwing full beer cans at us...well that works but it's not very sportsmanlike (it has happened). As a student, you learn to accept the fact that you're the Yankees of College Football. Love us or hate us. This past weekend, I kept my mouth shut outside of the standard 11 National Championships response and let our play on the field send them home crying. It's all about an air of confidence and not about being the most obnoxious, vile human being possible.

QUOTE(Brian @ Sep 6, 2005 -> 07:40 PM) I am worried about this weekend's game. It helps that it as the big house. First off, Notre Dame will NOT stop the Michigan offense. Second off, Michigan's defense, if they played like they did on Sat, will NOT stop Notre Dame's offense. Michigan got some turnovers and NIU shot themselves in the foot a bunch of times. Wolverines need to sew up there holes and fast. They stopped Michigan's offense last year...granted we had a little more depth (even though I think watson was out) w/tuck on the line but the same talent is pretty much there. I'm not saying we're going to shut them down, but I don't think our defense is just going to roll over. Especially if Lloyd is playing the conservative game he LOVES to play. This game is going to come down to who protects the ball better and who controls the ground game. If ND can run the ball, they'll be able to keep the ball out of Michigan's hands (same goes for if Michigan can run the ball). The passing game should be even, both secondaries are unproven. With that said, the only thing that scares me about this game is that in the past few years the road team in this series NEVER wins, and last time we were at Michigan we got HOUSED. Needless to say, I think it's going to be different this time...I mean come on Ty had a winning record against michigan (2-1) Real quick on Avant, I know he's talented but you can't say he's better than Edwards. That's just nuts. QUOTE(Wedge @ Sep 6, 2005 -> 08:05 PM) This is going to be one helluva game. I don't dare predict who will win, but I'm not going to lie, I like the Irish's chances. Fotop, did you go to ND? I'm there currently, Wedge. This is my fourth and final year. I'm a double major in finance and history.

QUOTE(thedoctor @ Sep 6, 2005 -> 01:26 PM) i heard all this right after willingham started, too. Too bad this isn't all smoke and mirrors like Willingham's first season. We were really lucky that season...obviously ND fans were excited but in hindsight we should have seen the letdown coming. Diedrick and Baer weren't setting the world on fire when it came to scheming. We never really "handed" it to anybody that year, and right out the gate Weis hands it to a ranked opponent on the road. Funny thing is, everyone was like "I can't want until we get Ty's recruits into HIS system" With Weis, you don't need players to fit a system...he makes the system around you. I can see where you're coming from with your comment, but being around this team for the last 4 years I can personally tell that this is NOT like the beginning of Ty's regime.

QUOTE(Rex Hudler @ Sep 5, 2005 -> 10:40 AM) fotop don't overlook Jason Avant. He is more of a possession receiver, but Henne will find him often. While not as xplosive as Edwards, he certainly could become the go to guy as Edwards was last year. His first TD catch Saturday was very Edwards-like. I agree Avant is a threat...but he's still no Edwards. With our secondary though, any above average receiver looks good. However, is he better than Greg Lee (Pitt)? I don't think so, and Greg Lee was somewhat quiet after the first quarter against us. The reason I'm most worried about Massaqoui and Breaston is because they've done it to us in the past and they've got lots of talent (especially Breaston). They also present some mismatches, and I know Carr will probably try to exploit them. I really hope we kick away from Breaston...I'm not sure our special teams can handle him. Needless to say, I'm extremely excited for this game. We have nothing to lose and everything to gain...and if we somehow pull this one out, our first home game will be a madhouse the week after against MSU. I'd love to see that again...it's been a few years.

QUOTE(Chisoxfn @ Sep 4, 2005 -> 12:36 PM) So true on #2. Its why Tyrone was fired. I really was impressed though. Run defense looked strong and offensively the team looked like it was capable of. However, Pitt isn't exactly known for their strong defense so it will be a major test next week against Michigan. UM has a very strong offense and Henne will definately put a lot of pressure on a young, untested ND secondary. At the same time Michigan didn't look all that grand in their victory this week so it should be a pretty exciting game. ND definately has to cut down on some of its penalties, but they were the type of penalties that can be easily cleaned up and you know Weiss won't tolerate those type of mistakes. All in all I don't think Weiss 1st game could of went any better. At the same time, thats probably the easiest foe ND has in the next couple weeks. A few things: 1) Tyrone got fired for multiple reasons it wasn't just recruiting...hell i could handle not having an awesome class every year; but getting blown out in all of your losses? That's just unacceptable. Again those aren't the only reasons, but they are major. 2) You have to give Pitt's defense a little more credit, their front 4 are weak but their linebackers and secondary are seasoned. Blades is a damn good linebacker and they have some nice talent in the safety/db dept. 3) Michigan's offense was better last year. No Braylon Edwards to torch us this year (even though we did win last year...people tend to forget that). Sure, Henne is a bit more seasoned and we'll get Mike Hart for a full game this year but really the only two people that scare me on Michigan's offense is Massaqoui TE (sp?) and Breaston. Obviously both of their lines are good as well...but it's still Lloyd Carr calling the shots, I don't think Michigan runs the score up on too many good teams this year (not saying ND is, we haven't proved much yet, but still). 4) ND is very thin at corner, true. However, try running across the middle on our safeties and you will get destroyed. Zibikowski is a playmaker and Ndukwe hits HARD. That may be my biased opinion, but the talent is there...they just haven't proven anything yet. However, they're far from "young" it's not like there's a bunch of true freshman running around out there. 5) Pitt was ranked. I'd have to say MSU or Washington are an easier foe...especially since MSU is at home. 6) It's Weis, not Weiss. Get it right, Grammar Master.

Just got back from Pittsburgh and to say I'm excited would be an understatement. I know it's only one game, but it was a big one for our program...proving that we can win right now is huge. I understand that our defense has its holes and the big time programs (michigan, usc, tenn) will probably make it harder for us to score, but my god I haven't seen an Irish team score 35 points in one half. We didn't punt until the end of the third quarter; 507 total yards are you kidding me? It was as unbelieveable in person as it probably was on tv. With all that being said, I actually feel as though it's going to be a game next weekend at the Big House. I'm sure our offense will keep us in the game, and if we can shore up the defense a bit I think we'll have a shot to take it. One thing is sure though, and that's the fact that we're not going to get out-coached this year. Either way it's been a great weekend and it will be a good week to be an Irish fan (especially since I took ND +3.5)

QUOTE(He_Gawn @ Aug 15, 2005 -> 08:48 PM) Lymon has been in the J and C (Local Paper here) it seems like every day. Finally they announced last week he was ineligible. BTW, check out the knew ND sig. Hell yes Now THAT's a Sig. Cheers.

QUOTE(soxhawks @ Aug 14, 2005 -> 09:01 PM) notre dame sucks, and with their schedule will never win a national championship again well judging by your birthday...you're too young to remember when ND dominated EVERYONE (hell I'm too young as well, the Holtz Era was a little before my time but not TOO much...i could comprehend things in '93). so i'll take your ignorance with a grain of salt. But I guess if you want to jump to conclusions about ND, at least do it for the right reasons. The schedule being hard wouldn't be a good place to start if you're trying to say that we'll never win another National Championship. I mean how can you say ND's schedule is going to be hard in 5 years, 10 years, etc. You can't. So i don't see how that correlates because you don't know the quality of your opponents until maybe a year before you play them. All teams go through cycles, I doubt you remember when USC sucked...or when Miami sucked...or when Oklahoma sucked but guess what they did for one time or another. The thing about ND up until recent memory is that we NEVER went through that cycle. Since we are now, everyone wants to put us in the ground. But guess what, elite programs survive the test of time. So as I've been saying, we may not win this year, or maybe next, but it's coming and it's coming soon. ND will be on top again...I can say that with full confidence (even though i may be biased).

QUOTE(Rex Hudler @ Aug 14, 2005 -> 06:10 PM) Notre Dame already has Zach Frazer, a higher rated QB signed. I don't see where getting an option QB is such a great catch fotop. What am I missing? Dual option is a bit of a misnomer...because it basically means a qb who can both run and pass. He isn't an "option" quarterback...he's just a really fast qb who can book it if he doesn't have anywhere to throw it. Plus 4.43 speed is pretty damn nice at qb. And just because Frazer is in the fold doesn't mean getting Jones isn't huge. You can never have too much depth at skill positions. I mean next year's depth chart at qb is going to be pretty sick w/Quinn the senior, Sharpley the sophomore, then Frazer and Jones. To me this is a big recruit because we took him out of Big 10 country. Illinois, at least during Ty's reign was all big 10 kids. Now with Weis at the helm we're starting to get our feet back into areas which we should be dominating, mainly Illinois, Ohio, Michigan, etc. Also, like I said earlier getting guys like jones, frazer, aldridge, et al. at this point is something we haven't seen in a few years. It's damn nice to hear about all of these class recruits that are already in the fold. The only thing about all of this that bothers me is the fact that we'll probably lose Mustain now. According to a few sources it was a two horse race for Mustain (ark v. nd) with miami being the darkhorse. Arkansas has too much on the line with Mustain (not landing him could cost Nutt his job) so I'm betting they're making a MAJOR push.

On the recruiting front (i figured this was the best place to put this), Demetrius Jones has verbally committed to ND. Jones is an Illinois product (Morgan Park) and is ranked as the second best dual option quarterback in this year's recruiting class...some sites have him ranked #33 in overall recruiting. As much as I know the season is all that matters, it's nice to see that we actually have recrutiing momentum before the season starts (for once). This was also a pretty big recruit since I know Illinois was in the mix as well and for some reason ND has lost some big recruits to their home states in years past (mainly Big 10 states). We can all feel the tide turning over here, and it may not be this year or next, but ND will be back VERY soon.

If our mascot is ever forced to be changed, I will eat my own foot. It is NEVER, EVER happening. That is all.

QUOTE(Brian @ Aug 9, 2005 -> 08:31 AM) I realize ND usually has Michigan, USC, and some others, but I'm talking Stanford, Navy, BYU, and Syracuse. SUrprised no Air Force to TRY and beat up on this season. Well yes, we have unranked opponents...we can't play everyone. But to say that our schedule would be harder if we were in the Big 10 is downright laughable. There are years in the big 10 where teams get to dodge other top teams (read: Purdue this year). Add in the fact that there's only about three elite teams in the big 10 (mich, iowa, ohio state) then at most you have 3 big games a year (usually dodge one of those teams, add a decent non-con game and you're set). The rest of the games are winnable. Whereas ND has to open the season at Pitt, then goto Michigan and so on. And the teams that aren't ranked are all major conference teams (sans Navy, but we have tradition to uphold there). There's no western michigan on our schedule as a "tune up."

QUOTE(Brian @ Aug 7, 2005 -> 09:31 PM) Notre Dame fears a tough schedule beginning to end. QUOTE(Fotop @ Aug 6, 2005 -> 01:26 PM) Irish are in at #41 Just to list some irish opponents: #1 USC, #3 Tennesee, #4 Michigan, #16 Purdue, #25 Pittsburgh. Welcome to ND, Charlie. Yep, we certainly fear a "tough" schedule. All those top 25 teams sure are pushovers. We consistetly have one of the hardest schedules in the nation EVERY year. The big conference teams can't really say that (Nebraska, I'm looking in your general direction). And ND will NEVER join the big 10. For many reasons: they don't NEED a conference when they're on national tv every week, they have their own tie-ins to the BCS, they DO share bowl money now but the BCS kicksback money to ND every year they don't make a BCS, and as much as everyone may think otherwise...they're still an elite program that can hang by themselves. Also, I think I specifically remember the last time this whole Big 10/ND thing was talked about (in reality) Michigan and Ohio State were highly against it since it would clog up their plans of winning the Big 10 every year. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ As for greasy's post (sorry about the delay, just moved back to campus) I think we've got a good shot at 7 wins. 6 is a little more of a conservative estimate, but it's also a possibility. I think our offense will surprise some people since nearly every offensive starter is returning. The big question is the defense and the overall depth of the team. We're very thin (thank you, Tyrone Willingham) and injuries could cripple us. The secondary has always been a question mark but I think our safeties will have quality seasons. If one or two players could breakout on defense, we may be in for a great year. I know it's a lot of ifs but anything can happen in college football and I fully believe that I will see a major upset at home this year (USC is a longshot, but Tennesee can be had). Either way I'm crazy pumped for our opener against Pitt.

Irish are in at #41 Just to list some irish opponents: #1 USC, #3 Tennesee, #4 Michigan, #16 Purdue, #25 Pittsburgh. Welcome to ND, Charlie.