great post.
really clears some stuff up for me.
Mexican Leprechaun | Email | Homepage | 06.24.09 - 10:09 am | #

so according to this, florida wont sniff the top 25 and we win the NC? ok.
belocki | Email | Homepage | 06.24.09 - 10:58 am | #

good post. more confirmation that:
1) the OL has every reason to excel in 2009 but
2) we won't know until they do (or don't).
ahh, the joy of sports (needs to be settled on the field but can engender endless debate).
as for the DL, interesting. the two williams kids could be huge hers this year if they play reasonably well.
oakvilleIrish | Email | Homepage | 06.24.09 - 11:08 am | #

meant to say "huge heroes" not "hers".
oakvilleIrish | Email | Homepage | 06.24.09 - 11:09 am | #

Good to see our OL has now seen the field enough to know when the DL is blowing by them.

My only concern is whether these starts are "quality starts," in that one year in USC's system the last few years is apparently better than four years in ours. Hopefully, Verducci can change that.

I also seem to recall pundits pointing out the great experience of our OL before the 2006 season when we started out ranked #2. Let's hope the results this year are even better.
JM | Email | Homepage | 06.24.09 - 11:37 am | #

After a long and tired process we're finally getting that magical combination of talent and experience on our offensive line this year. I think we'll have a few growing pains on our DL, but the arrow is certainly pointing up, as Charlie would say, for their future.

It's now time to bash the hell out of the doormats we play and get some meaningful minutes for our backups, while at the same time keeping our main guys fresh. I think our nonexistent depth which has plagued us the entire Weis era, has hampered any progression on a year over year basis.

We simply haven't had enough confidence to plug in guys to spell the starters or fill in when we get his with the injury bug. Here's to hoping we can stay rested and fresh across the board this year.
Treyu | Email | Homepage | 06.24.09 - 11:54 am | #

Pretty sure our DL starts total 42, not 45, if the numbers you are referencing are accurate.

15+15+8+4 = 42.

Sorry to be that guy.
DomerOC10 | Email | Homepage | 06.24.09 - 12:09 pm | #

I think it's also important to remember these are the DL start totals at the beginning of the year; experience for each DL unit will grow each week as we progress through the schedule (Stanford could be interesting-- last game of the year, preseason highest DL).

Though it probably doesn't matter, I'm glad we're playing USC in October rather than November (as far as their DL accumulating starts and experience goes). Of course with their squad, talent is just as big a threat as experience.

In a perfect world, we'd play USC the coldest, nastiest, snowiest week of the year at home, but that's just wishful thinking.
NDdallas | Email | Homepage | 06.24.09 - 12:48 pm | #

Nice catch DomerOC10.
Pat | Email | Homepage | 06.24.09 - 12:57 pm | #

I think by the USC game the DL will have settled in. So much talent waiting to be used.

Cant wait for the season to start.
Mexican Leprechaun | Email | Homepage | 06.24.09 - 2:12 pm | #

Break out the tin foil, killers! I don't know how the pressure on our offensive linemen could be any higher. If they rise to the challenge, look the hey out. Let 'em pack their toys and tape their glasses in the middle Iron League style. Pass us by, pressure - let's just be retards and go kick Hector in the teeth.
indy | Email | Homepage | 06.24.09 - 2:40 pm | #

It would be interesting to compare talent rankings (avg of scouts/rivals/espn, etc over the last four years) versus experience and then relating both to performance to see which one might be a stronger influence.

I'm willing to bet experience trumps inexperienced talent simply based on how ND performed in 07, but it'd be nice to see another correlation besides our abominable performance that year.
suave_andrew | Email | Homepage | 06.24.09 - 2:54 pm | #

Why bring up '07? It is history. The handwriting was clearly on the wall before that season started, but few could believe it because that couldn't happen to Notre Dame. It did, and history may show we were better for it in the long run.
Ted | Email | Homepage | 06.24.09 - 5:25 pm | #

If the O-line runs the ball effectively (4.2-4.6) ypc and takes the pressure off the passing game the Irish should average near 40 points per game. If the running is like the past few seasons all bets are off.
azjimbo | Email | Homepage | 06.24.09 - 6:55 pm | #

Joseph Fauria left school and will not play this season. Says he may be back for the spring.
Jimmymack | Email | Homepage | 06.24.09 - 7:01 pm | #

I've only lightly breezed through the comments, but there are 5 guys on the OL and only 4 on the DL. Even if you factor that in, ND's OL still "out-experiences" the opposition DL, but it's closer.
Jon | Email | Homepage | 06.24.09 - 10:12 pm | #

Of the 100 starts, how many were of the non-Latina variety?
ThE LoSt BoY | Email | Homepage | 06.24.09 - 10:18 pm | #

The TE hex remains.
GB | Email | Homepage | 06.25.09 - 1:44 am | #

Joseph Fauria Not coming back this season. Bummer
Mexican Leprechaun | Email | Homepage | 06.25.09 - 10:01 am | #

Andrew Hendrix Commits.
First QB and maybe the only.
But we need one bad.
Mexican Leprechaun | Email | Homepage | 06.25.09 - 10:04 am | #

good news. listening to mike frank's show, looks like a couple of others hopefully to follow soon.
and also, hopefully chris martin stays put. but after omar hunter, you have to be sceptical.
what's the deal with fauria? anyone know?
oakvilleIrish | Email | Homepage | 06.25.09 - 10:35 am | #

Man, we can't seem to keep a full TE stable to save our lives.
Brad | Email | Homepage | 06.25.09 - 10:47 am | #

Fauria?
I heard it was something to do with disciplinary issue and was suspended.
I dont know im not sure. Just what I heard.

I really hope Chris stays put.
But a part of me doesnt think he will change his mind. He moved all the from Cali to New Jersey for the Irish. So...... I dont know time can only tell.
Mexican Leprechaun | Email | Homepage | 06.25.09 - 2:43 pm | #

OOh, love to play with the data.

Granted, as has already been mentioned, the # of starts is far from an exact predictor of anything.

HOWEVER:

I took the numbers and compared ND's OL vs the competition DL AND ND's DL vs the competition's OL.

ND's OL has, on average, 60 more starts than the DL's they will face.

ND's DL has, on average, 25 less starts than the OL's they will face.

Of the biggest differences
ND's OL should manhandle WSU (94 dif), Southern Cal! (84 dif), UM (83 dif), UConn (77 dif), & Purdue (75 dif).

ND's DL should give fits to the OLs from Navy (ND has 10 more starts on DL than Navy has on OL!), MSU (5 start dif), Stanford (11 dif) and Purdue (14 dif).

Notice that Purdue shows up on the list 2x.

If we combine the differences, so that we look to see where ND's OL has the biggest advantage, and ND's DL is giving up the least we get these numbers:

11 Boston College
15 Washington
18 Pittsburgh
22 Stanford
28 Connecticut
35 Southern Cal
40 Nevada
44 Navy
47 Michigan State
50 Michigan
54 Washington State
61 Purdue

Which probably doesn't mean anything, but could maybe indicate where ND will do the best in the trenches, with Purdue being easiest and BC being a pain in the ass.

This probably means nothing, and there's bound to be a math error, but it was a fun exercise nonetheless.

Here's hoping ND beats Michigan by 45.
atepesm | Email | Homepage | 06.25.09 - 3:17 pm | #

If we multiply the number of starts by the W-L % of the last 20 games (50%) - we only have 50 winning starts.

It will be interesting to see if the better success indicator is total starts or winning starts.
ThE LoSt BoY | Email | Homepage | 06.27.09 - 11:04 pm | #