Moving Right Along

Well, it's time to look at the future. Obviously this season is a waste. As a Cubs fan, I'm used to saying, "Wait till next year!" We can still cheer for Clausen, Tate, and Floyd to build impressive numbers. They are fun to watch. We just have to hope and pray that all 3 stay one more year and a good coach can what out of this team what they should. Let's first take a look at the obvious things for next year. If those guys are back, we're looking at a senior QB who will be #1 in the nation. Clausen is on track right now to end with 3,689 yards, 25 TDs and 4 INTs. He'll break pretty much all of Quinn's records in one more year. We'll have Tate who has already set ND single season marks for receptions and receiving yards, and will easily set records for career yards and TD catches in one more year. He's on track to end with 1,413 yards and 13 TDs. If Michael Floyd can stay healthy and stays at ND for 4 years, I still believe he will eventually break all the records that Tate is setting! After 2 years (of which he has missed games) his numbers better Tate's first 2 years by 1494 yards and 15 TDs to 1211 yards and 11 TDs. Next we'll have one of the best tight ends in the nation back in Kyle Rudolph. As our 3rd receiver, we can pick from Kamara, Shaquelle Evans, or Goodman. Then we'll have Robert Hughes, Armando Allen, Theo Riddick, and our redshirted RB Cierre Wood to pick from at RB. Maybe a good coach can figure out how to use all these weapons. The bad news is the loss of 4 out of 5 offensive linemen. While that is very important, we will have Trevor Robinson back and have to hope that highly recruited freshmen Chris Watt and Alex Bullard will be ready to step in as Sophs along with senior Matt Romine. Then we take a look at the D. LB Manti Te'o is the real deal and will only get better. Darius Fleming and Brian Smith will also be back at LB and both have looked strong at times. Our entire defensive line also returns. We do lose a lot in our secondary, but they aren't very good anyway. Kyle McCarthy and John Ryan are the only defensive players we'll miss. Now in coming freshmen rarely make a big impact, but we do have the #4 defensive lineman in the nation coming in DE Chris Martin. Now looking at the 2010 schedule, tell me why if we have Clausen and Tate back and a good coach that we can't go 10-2?
vs. Purdue-beat them this year
vs. Michigan-should have beaten them this year
@ Michigan St.-beat them this year
vs. Stanford
@ Boston College-beat them this year
vs. Pitt
vs. W.Michigan-what do I need to say here?
@ Navy
vs. Tulsa-what do I say here?
vs. Utah
vs. Army
@ USC

Enough Is Enough

I really don't even want to keep this thing going the rest of the year, but I'll do my best. I defended Charlie all last year, but said coming in with this weak schedule and the talent we have that anything less than 9-3 going into bowl play was unacceptable. Well, with Stanford looking the part right now, I'd say we'd be lucky to be better than 7-5 going into bowl play. That's not even improvement from last year! Bring on any of the rumored coaches. TCU, Cincy, Boise St., Gruden, even Skip Holtz. We've got to go another direction. I like the idea of writing Urban Meyer a blank check and telling him he can have and do anything he wants if he'll come. I still doubt it, but maybe after he's won his 3rd National Championship he'll feel like he needs a new challenge? As for the game, I thought the play calling was ridiculous. I actually thought Jimmy's decision making was very questionable as well. So much for the Heisman hopes. Why did it take so long to get Tate and Floyd involved? If you look at their numbers, it looked pretty good: Tate had 9 catches for 113 yards and a TD and Floyd 7 catches for 107 yards. However, it came so late. How does an offense like this sputter for so long? I think because Charlie tries to be too smart. He makes it too complicated. It should be simple. The defense was actually a pleasant surprise. I honestly thought we'd give up 40 or more for sure. The overturned call that went against us and ultimately cost us the game was crazy. How was that play overturned? His arm was going forward and was called that way on the field. Bottom line is we didn't deserve to win anyway. BTW-Tate needs 78 yards to break the single season receiving yards record at ND. He's projected to end the season with 1,406 yards. That would break Samardzija's record by 257 yards! He needs 4 catches to break his receptions in a season record and is projected to end with 89. That would break it by 11. If he finishes at this projected pace, he will also break the all-time receiving yards in a career at ND. Anyone else nervous he'll leave early? I think all we can do is pray that Urban Meyer calls up Tate, Floyd, and Clausen and says, "Boys, I'm coming to town. Give me one more year of your life, and we'll bring the glory back to Notre Dame!"

Odds and Ends

I'm a little slow on this, but I don't know if some of you heard Dayne Crist tore his ACL. He is out for 6 months or so. I really wanted to see him get a few more snaps of experience this year with the fear that Clausen may leave early. Not to mention it's not the easiest injury to come back from. They are reporting that Kyle Rudolph is probably out until the bowl game. On a bigger note, it's time to start daydreaming about possible Weis replacements. The names that pop up immediately are Jon Gruden and Cincinnati coach, Brian Kelly. Gruden scares me a little. Here's a big name former NFL coach that I'm afraid could end up like Weis? Maybe not though. I couldn't be too upset with that choice. Other unrealistic names that are coming up are Urban Meyer (of course) and Nick Saban. Obviously if either would come, it's a no brainer. Just not going to happen. Other more realistic names are Skip Holtz of East Carolina, Gary Patterson of TCU, and Chris Peterson of Boise St. Wow! I'd have to say I'd be excited about any of those possibilities at this point. Let's also talk about the scary possibility of losing Clausen, Tate, and Floyd early to the NFL. How would a Weis firing affect their decision? I would have to think Clausen likes Weis. His system definitely helps Jimmy's numbers. I guess you can point to Jimmy's injuries and say that should encourage him to leave or stay, however you want to look at it. He will also lose most of his line this year. Tate's stock is awful high. You would think Floyd would want one healthy college year, but he could play in the NFL next year no problem. Some very scary thoughts.

A Look Ahead: Pitt

It's painful to even do this anymore because I feel like it really doesn't matter what we do from here. I guess at this point I'm cheering for Jimmy, Golden, and Michael to put up big numbers. I guess it's interesting to see how many games we manage to lose and will it make it obvious that Charlie is gone. I say we have to win out and be 9-3 going into bowl play for him to stay. I really think we'll lose 2 of 3. Pitt is #12 in the BCS and #8 in the AP. They have an experienced QB (Bill Stull)with a high completion ratio, 17 TDs and only 4 INTs. That's about the worst thing this Irish D could go against. He may break Pitt passing records against us! They also have a RB (Dion Lewis)with over 1,000 yards and 12 TDs. They beat Navy 27-14. I guess the only good news is they really haven't played anyone. I guess UConn and S.Florida are the two best teams they've played. No one ranked. Early line has Pitt favored by 6.5 points. My prediction: Pitt 40 ND 31.