In honor of the first week of the college football season (it begins Thursday!!), let's make some bold predictions for the results of this season. And by this season, I mean the Irish.
Here's how I see the season breaking down:
Game 1 at Georgia Tech: this game actually scares me a lot more than most of the rest. In Calvin Johnson, GT has one of (if not the best) wide receiver in college football. What was the biggest weakness in the Irish defense last year? Exactly. I think the Irish win this one, but it is a lot more nerve-racking than the Pitt game last year. Irish 35-24.
Game 2 home against Penn State: PSU was absolutely gutted by graduation. I understand that they are a traditional power and have a hell of a linebacking corps and some very talented sophomores, but Michael Robinson will be difficult to replace. Irish 28-14.
Game 3 home against Michigan: Michigan is a difficult team to evaluate because they always look better before the season than during it. Plus, the Irish tend to play Michigan well even when the team was down (anyone remember the game in '97?). We win this one and it is not going to be as close as people predict going in. Irish 31-UM 17.
Game 4 at Michigan State: MSU, for some cosmically ironic reason, has had our number for a long time. Weis will have the guys "revenge-motivated," but this game is still closer than any of us like. Plus, it will almost certainly be a shootout, which is notoriously dangerous to the favorite. Irish 42-MSU 31.
Games 5-11: Purdue and Air Force are the only opponents I think will give the Irish a game here. Those two always play us tough. The Irish win both of those though, and Stanford, UCLA, Navy, UNC, Air Force and Army might have an occassional close game mixed in, but I cannot predict we lose any of those.
That brings us into Los Angeles 11-0 to face a USC team that very well might be 11-0 themselves. I know they lost Leinart and Bush (and White, blah, blah, blah), but that team -- perhaps more than any other in the recent era -- really does reload rather than rebuild. If we do roll into LA 11-0, though, I find it hard to believe the karma gods stop this train. Irish 35-USC 28.
So I have the Irish at 12-0 (so does Herbsteit, by the way). Bowl game is another story to be dealt with in December.
Agree? Disagree? Complete homer-ism? Probably.
6 comments:
For the sake of argument, one of the service academies will probably make it closer than is comfortable.
Just be happy you're not playing BC this year. They know how to screw an Irish undefeated season like no other.
I like your predictions and hope that you are right. I think U of M will be closer than you think. Those games are almost always within a TD. I like ND 24 Mich 20. Otherwise, I agree I think we end up undefeated. I think it will be ND vs. WVU for the national title, replay of 1988.
1993.....so much pain.......
While we're at it...2002 BC at ND when ND was 8-0. Ty sported the Green Jerseys.
ND lost that one and thus began the downward spiral of the Ty Willingham era which was firmly capped off with 3 straight 31-point losses to USC.
"Thank you, sir! May I have another?!"
Could we PLEASE put away those green jerseys for good?? Break them out for the second half of a game we're already up 35 if you need to, but Jeebus, those things have a stank to them right now.
I still don't know why Davie decided to break them out at the '99 Gator Bowl.
Maybe Charlie needs to break them out against North Carolina just to break this losing streak.
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