Great job guys. That was a fun read.
Irish Glory | Email | Homepage | 08.29.07 - 10:58 am | #

Glad to see a lot of optimism on Penn State. Last week I saw a message board where an tOSU fan picked ND over Penn State. His reasoning: "What good is it to bring back all your starters if they sucked in the first place?"
bgr | Email | Homepage | 08.29.07 - 11:01 am | #

And yes, the Kool-Aid in the BGS Lounge tastes delicious.
Pat | Email | Homepage | 08.29.07 - 11:02 am | #

(Threadjack--my apologies)

A nice little story about Ethan Johnson:

http://www.oregonlive.com/prepfo...4740.xml& coll=7

Highlights:
--Great work ethic
--Cares about the classroom
--Takes a dig at Michigan
--HS changed to a 3-4 defense this year

I love this kid already
Domer Guy | Email | Homepage | 08.29.07 - 11:06 am | #

What do you make of Weis comment regarding the qb issue:

Q. Have you explicitly told them yet or are you not going to sit them down Thursday night?

COACH WEIS: You've requested, the media has requested both Demetrius and Evan today. Five seconds after you're done talking to them everyone will know exactly what they're doing so they don't have to lie to you, okay, because I don't want them ever to have to be put in a situation where they have to lie to you.

I don't want them to do that. But once they're not requested anymore, okay, we won't have that problem (laughter).
Michael | Email | Homepage | 08.29.07 - 11:06 am | #

Underplayed: Even more that the youthful aspect of the team, any reference from televised media as to the cause of that youth - good ol' Molder - will cause my head to explode.
Bullfrog | Email | Homepage | 08.29.07 - 11:20 am | #

Washington will tank, and no comparisons will be made or necessary. Pundits will pretend they saw it coming, and TW will slip into ignominy as CW gets fitted for his glass slippers. GO IRISH! DRINK YER MILK DAMN YE!
indy | Email | Homepage | 08.29.07 - 11:38 am | #

Dudes, you guys are like the Chicago Bears Super Fans. 11-1? 10-2? 10-2? Majority taking ND over Michigan?

Is Coach Weis driving the bus? I still like Mears.
G | Email | Homepage | 08.29.07 - 11:38 am | #

Re: Weis & QB's:

I think somebody absolute obliterated the head on the nail in another comment on this blog a couple days ago. In fact, I'm going to go find out who it was. . .

OK, Fitzwater pointed out that there have been numerous articles about Charlie Weis being an arrogant douchebag for not presenting his starting quarterback to the media on a silver platter. There have been exactly zero articles about the immense amount of pressure facing young Joe Q. Starting Quarterback.

Something tells me that Charlie doesn't mind using his thick skin to take some of the heat off his starting QB.

I think Charlie has created a situation with the team where every single player knows who the starter is, but when the QB's are asked, "Who's the starter?" they can say, "Coach Weis hasn't named a starter yet, I'm just gonna go out and do my best, spot on the bus, blah blah blah."

Weis has always been extremely selective with his words, and he's passed it on to his players.

There's no doubt as to who the QB is, but there's no official statement declaring who it is either.
Pete | Email | Homepage | 08.29.07 - 11:50 am | #

Tiny Weiss 114
GA Tech 6

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O...h? v=OrCowDmLRKM
Chris Farley | Email | Homepage | 08.29.07 - 12:07 pm | #

To continue the threadjack related to our new best friend, Ethan Johnson, his quote about Michigan academics is classic:


" He thought about the graduation rates of athletes (at Notre Dame it's 98 percent, Michigan 87 percent). He wants to study business and wondered how far the schools are from where he would be staying and from the football facilities. He wanted to know how many other football players were studying business.
“If you're killing on the football field but none of your football players are graduating, why do I want to go to that school?" said Johnson, who for the past two summers interned at the Portland law firm Stahancyk, Kent, Johnson & Hook. "It's a school. You go 'cause you want to get an education first."
At Michigan, he found out there was one other player in the business program.
"And he was the punter," Johnson said, laughing. "Is there anything else I can say about that?" "

He laughed about the punter (which Brian at mgoblog will continually remind you that said punter is the Romanian Conquerer of the Universe because his name is Zoltan) being the only Business major on the team.

Any Michigan fans want to bad-mouth Ethan now? I mean, he was offered by Michigan - one of 13 of ND's verbal commits? Anyone? Anyone? Buehler?
chrisnd | Email | Homepage | 08.29.07 - 12:08 pm | #

You said it Pat, the BGS Kool-aid is damn fine this year! Ya'll make me look like a nervous-nelly with my timid 8-4 prediction followed by lots of qualifications.

Is it Saturday yet?
jaisn | Email | Homepage | 08.29.07 - 12:16 pm | #

I can't believe some of you picked ND to lose to BC. That's borderline treason.
suave_andrew | Email | Homepage | 08.29.07 - 12:20 pm | #

Count me in on the people who think ND will beat Michigan this year. Think about the past few years. The past three times (I believe, correct me if I'm wrong), whichever team is higher ranked and more favored has lost. I don't know if I'd go so far as to say UM is overrated (I hope they aren't, because then a win over them means little), but I think we can pull that win out.

And I, too, think Fitzwater hit the nail on the head with his comment about the QB race. CW doesn't care about the media; I bet he laughs his butt off every time he sees some type of media report obsessing about ND's starting QB. Why do they care so much if ND isn't going to be any good anyways?
Jade | Email | Homepage | 08.29.07 - 12:45 pm | #

Scanning the picks blew me away and I expected some optimism. BUT WOW!!! Pass the koolaid and the 3-foot bong!

PSU is kinda out there with 4 of 9 picking the Irish but 6 of 9 picking us over the Skunkbears?!?!?! How can that be combined with the fact only 4 of you guys think we'll beat UCLA?
Irish Rat | Email | Homepage | 08.29.07 - 12:47 pm | #

Dylan is out of his mind
Dawgs101 | Email | Homepage | 08.29.07 - 12:56 pm | #

Pete, dude, I'm sure you're a great ND fan, but COME ON BROTHER? When asked about the game the Irish will win that will surprise people, you say Penn State?!?!

Dude, you might be the only person ON THE PLANET picking ND over 'SC. I saw a couple experts (or idiots, take your pick) on ESPN this morning saying this might be the best USC team EVER.

I love the optimism, but it might makes sense to explain pick over 'SC instead of PSU.
Irish Rat | Email | Homepage | 08.29.07 - 1:04 pm | #

My predicted losses: UofM, UCLA, USC, and 1 of (GT, PSU, BC). I'm greedy enough to hope it's GT or PSU so tickets are reasonably priced for the MSU game since I may be driving down to campus that weekend.

Surprises: PSU or BC are surprise wins, the 1 L from GT, PSU, and BC will be surprise loss.

Overplayed Storyline will be Weis vs. Willingham 3rd year. I may lose a TV to this story before November.

Underplayed Storyline will be the team's youth.
PAK'00 | Email | Homepage | 08.29.07 - 1:16 pm | #

Holy Homers! You remind me of Redskins fans. You guys have the kool-aid, the bong and the needle.

7-5 or 8-4 would be real good results. If the schedule were arranged differently, we might see a different record. We are breaking in a new QB, new D and we have an undersized D-line. I think we will be a lot better by mid-season but the results were be attributed to the teams we are playing at the end of the year.

Also, someone said top 5-10 in 2009. I say look out in 2008.
Deputy Dog | Email | Homepage | 08.29.07 - 1:19 pm | #

On a side note, is anyone else getting annoyed hearing some of the opponents some of the Top 25 are playing?

SC vs. Idaho
West Virginia vs. Wes Direct. Mich.
Florida vs. W. Kentucky
Oklahoma vs. N. Texas
Va Tech vs. E Carolina
Louisville vs. Murray St- MURRAY ST?!
tOSU vs. Youngstown State

Deputy Dog is right- if we had some (even 1) of our opponents of the dessert cart up first, we'd be a hell of alot better off.

I give props to Cal and Tennessee for having the stones to play each other in the opener.
Irish Rat | Email | Homepage | 08.29.07 - 1:33 pm | #

UM doesn't guarantee anyone (including athletes) admission to its business school.

Notre Dame does.

Sometimes logic alone tells the story.

However, after looking at these picks, I can see that sort of premise would be lost here.
Ben | Email | Homepage | 08.29.07 - 1:38 pm | #

Irish Rat,

No doubt beating USC would be a way, wayyy bigger win than beating Penn State, but the question was, "Which game will ND win that will surprise people?"

If ND beats Penn State, it will be a big headline-grabber for the team, as young and inexperienced as they are, to go out and beat a highly-respected team early in the season in an immensely hostile environment.

On the other hand, if the team plays like I think they will, the USC win, while undeniably bigger, will be less of a surprise because they will have proven by that point that they are talented and capable of playing with just about anyone.

Sorry for the confusion, brother.
Pete | Email | Homepage | 08.29.07 - 1:38 pm | #

is it saturday at 2:30 yet? I can't get anything done at work...
bleeding irish | Email | Homepage | 08.29.07 - 1:51 pm | #

This goes out to Pete regarding PSU...His first sentence...I think he was talking about ND and meant to say ND not PSU. When was the last time PSU was considered to be elite? 94'? Surely not 05' when they won the Orange Bowl and surprised everyone. You need to re-examine your thinking
GA | Email | Homepage | 08.29.07 - 2:05 pm | #

Pete, maybe I missed the logic, but even if the Irish pull the upset in Happy Valley, beating USC will still be a MUCH, MUCH, MUCH bigger surprise.

PSU while considered to be a solid team, is not an elite team. USC is.

If the Irish do handle the Lions as you say they can (which, by the way I'd love as I can shove that in ex-wife the Penn State grad's piehole), you know the pundits, etc. will say that PSU is just not that good. While some think they can win the Big 10, most are saying Wisconsin.

USC is picked by most to win the NC this year. The only possible speed bump on the Condoms way to the Bend is their date at Nebraska which I think will be 2-TD victory 'SC.

So again, no matter what the Irish do against Penn State, a win against 'SC would be monumental.Hell, we haven't beaten them since the Davie era (Yikes!).
Irish Rat | Email | Homepage | 08.29.07 - 2:19 pm | #

I just hope playing our last four games against Navy, AF, Duke, and Stanford doesn't make us forget what it's like to play a real team with size and speed, because I don't want to be taken by surprise again heading into a bowl.
Erik '04 | Email | Homepage | 08.29.07 - 2:29 pm | #

Ben -

He's not talking about the graduate B-School, he's talking about business (and all its permutations) as a major.

To have only one player on the entire Skunkbear roster majoring in any of the many business disciplines is, if accurate, totally unbelievable and more of a condemnation than the 87% grad rate.
Irish Right | Email | Homepage | 08.29.07 - 2:31 pm | #

i agree, rat, no matter what other teams we beat this season and by how much, beating USC (especially if they are undefeated coming in), would be the biggest win not only of the year, but of the Weis era.
fbs | Email | Homepage | 08.29.07 - 2:45 pm | #

I believe UM has an admissions application to their undergraduate business school as well as their grad program.
Jay | Email | Homepage | 08.29.07 - 2:47 pm | #

regarding michigan and grad rates: 87% is pretty deceiving. Go look at their graduation rate for african american football players. i believe it's well below 50%.
fbs | Email | Homepage | 08.29.07 - 2:47 pm | #

A few months ago I was thinking 8-4. However, after a summer of intense football study (and BGS enlightenment) I'm going with 10-2 in the regular season (losses to Michigan and USC).

But always dreaming of 13-0, of course.
Fighting Binny | Email | Homepage | 08.29.07 - 3:08 pm | #

fbs

whre exactly does one get stats by race on grad rates? would love to see that one. not doubting that it's there, but i just can't find it...

thanks
bigappledomer | Email | Homepage | 08.29.07 - 3:09 pm | #

bigappledomer, it's all published on the NCAA website.
Jay | Email | Homepage | 08.29.07 - 3:25 pm | #

Yeah, why are our last four games, no offense to anyone, fluff? Why can't we spread that around throughout the schedule?
24 hour | Email | Homepage | 08.29.07 - 3:43 pm | #

Ben-

You make a good point. Notre Dame recruits must prove they can succeed academically before they step foot on campus. UM lets their players figure it out later. Also, I'm curious as to how many even applied for the business school.
Brendan | Email | Homepage | 08.29.07 - 3:55 pm | #

Irish Rat - It's Western Michigan University. Pick on someone else.

BTW - The Observer says Tom Hammond will be back for the MSU game.
Subway Alumni | Email | Homepage | 08.29.07 - 4:32 pm | #

Jay,

8-4?! You PANTYWAIST!!!!!
Morrissey Health Commissioner | Email | Homepage | 08.29.07 - 4:44 pm | #

Re Michigan and grad rates: UM only graduates 38 percent of its African-American players. That seems dismal to me. Unfortunately, it's also a reflection of college football. That UM grad rate is 7th in the 11-team Big Ten.

There's a good article with facts, Numbers the major point in Harbaugh-Michigan crossfire, at:
http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/c...36& sportCat=ncf

I also appreciated the following comments it made regarding UM (football program coach and player; the fans are often even worse): "you wonder why the football program would be so bellicose in response to anyone questioning such a thing, especially a former player of significant stature (Harbaugh). It seems as though folks in Ann Arbor are defensive for a reason these days. Even to the point of devouring one of their own." (!!)
Greg | Email | Homepage | 08.29.07 - 5:15 pm | #

Wow, you guys are drinking the Kool-Aid. I love your blog, and you are fantastic writers, but shouldn't last year's irrational exuberance have tempered your picks a bit this year? 11-1? I certainly hope so, but I think even 5-7 might be more likely than that. (btw, I'd guess 7-5 with a bowl win)
Jamie | Email | Homepage | 08.29.07 - 5:34 pm | #

Easy Subway, that was a joke.

The boys here have often called the various D1 schools in the state of Michigan besides UM and MSU by some sort of "Direction Michigan" moniker. The point is, it doesn't matter- Western, Central, Eastern - they all blow.
Irish Rat | Email | Homepage | 08.29.07 - 7:20 pm | #

Irish Rat -

We in Michigan are rather proud that we named our universities after directions on the compass. Makes them easy to locate.
No offense taken.
P.S. You forgot Northern Michigan.
Subway Alumni | Email | Homepage | 08.29.07 - 7:53 pm | #

ben's point seems muddled for another reason (though I highly doubt he is still reading this thread):

Is he implicating that our #3 ranked undergraduate business school is inferior because it doesn't require separate application?

Or perhaps, that Michigan's recruits aren't smart enough to get into their program?


Regardless of how you get in, you can't argue with a team GPA above 3.0 in a prestigious program. Our players don't just graduate, they graduate in 3.5 years with multiple difficult majors. That point sells itself to the right type of player (Ethan Johnson).
yak | Email | Homepage | 08.29.07 - 8:45 pm | #

Dylan... you're nuts.
your mom | Email | Homepage | 08.29.07 - 9:42 pm | #

Great work guys as usual.

I remember Lou Holtz speaking last year on ESPN about the '05 season and he said we couldn't win b/c we had so many big games in a row. He said it is hard to get up mentally for that many in a row. None of you think this will be true?
Max | Email | Homepage | 08.30.07 - 12:46 am | #

You guys are ranting about how smart you are while picking Notre Dame to finish 11-1.

Think about that for a second.
buddha | Email | Homepage | 08.30.07 - 4:18 pm | #

I see only one person picking ND to go 11-1 there buddha. There are twice as many 8-4 predictions. I also fail to see where we rant about how smart we are.

I know I'm pretty ordinary.
Pat | Email | Homepage | 08.30.07 - 6:18 pm | #

These predictions are hilarious. Regarding Michigan being just like Notre Dame last year, I really doubt it. Mike Hart is way, way better than Walker ever was, Manningham is better than Smzajewowajfoi, Long is better than any lineman ND had/has and Henne was much better as a junior than Quinn was. We'll see if he develops as much as Brady did senior year. They also return some of their defense, but admittedly a lot is gone. Then you realize that even if Michigan is like ND last year, that ND this year sucks much, much harder than that AND the game is in Ann Arbor. So basically, big lol @ the majority of you guys picking ND to win.

Regarding the business school stats, Michigan does indeed require undergrads to apply, usually after sophomore year, and the acceptance is very, very selective. The school is repeatedly ranked in the top 5 B-schools in the country, and expecting tons of football players at a huge football school to also take one of the hardest courseloads in the nation when many of them are less academically qualified than the rest of the student body as a whole is ridiculous. If Notre Dame does not require separate admissions for its B-school, then any complaining that Michigan doesn't put any football players through theirs is absurd and lacks any depth.
Scott | Email | Homepage | 08.30.07 - 7:01 pm | #

re: B-schools, Michigan has a far different philosophy in terms of admissions than ND. Michigan prefers the very low student-faculty ratio and treats its undergrad program very much like its grad program. ND's b-school, based on published figures, admits many more students (1500+, or about 20% of the entire undergrad population). according to businessweek, UM only has 364 undergrad b-school students, or about 1.5% of the total student body. it is possible that Ethan Johnson was told he had no guarantees at Michigan and that he would have to apply just like everyone else without special consideration. the school is, indeed, extremely selective. it's probably the toughest undergraduate unit (aside from inteflex - does UM still have that?) to gain admittance to.
andrew | Email | Homepage | 08.31.07 - 12:23 am | #

also, the ross b-school site indicates that high school seniors may now apply for and gain admittance to the b-school beginning sophomore year (they must first be accepted to UM, of course). however, of the 900+ applicants, only 65 were admitted. i suspect ND's b-school admissions is a little less selective.
andrew | Email | Homepage | 08.31.07 - 12:25 am | #

Is this shit real or satire? I can't tell.
Korea Blue | Email | Homepage | 08.31.07 - 3:14 am | #

As a Kool-Aid drinking fan raised by multiple ND grads I must still state my surprise at some of the aggressive predictions. But first...the PSU game was not even close last year in my opinion, as many of you may recall that Joe Pa (if he was watching the game at that point) left his first string for a long time after ND pulled the starters. Why PSU is poised in '07 make this leap to a top tier team this year is beyond me, given Morelli has proven little and they lost Hunt...As for the UM fans who take issue with the optimism going into Ann Arbor, it may be irrational, but you are reading a ND blog...duh. What do you expect. Go elsewhere to here how thoroughly you will thrash the irish. ND fans have never seen Llloyd beat the irish in consecutive years so forgive others if they foresee an irish victory. Given the history of this rivalry the lower-ranked team tends to win these things, for whatever reason.

And on the matter of graduation rates...38% for African American Athletes...I think there are a handful of those on your football squad. Business major application process or whatever, UM fans can stop pretending the program does not accommodate lackluster academics for its scholarship athletes at this fine state institution on occassion, much like most large programs. To be honest, I do not care; idiot athletes are allowed into most scholarship sports programs across the country in all Division levels and this will continue to be a practice. UM is not unique in this regard.

ND- 9-3 (losses to USC, UM (close game) and gulp....BC)
JohnR | Email | Homepage | 08.31.07 - 10:09 am | #

Holy typos and grammatical errors in prior post...apologies.
JohnR | Email | Homepage | 08.31.07 - 10:11 am | #

First of all, a rat with a pulse can graduate from Notre Dame. That's not a bad reflection on Notre Dame - said rat can also graduate from 7 of the 8 ivy league colleges. But apples should be compared with apples.

That being said, HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA. Enjoy your season.
Justin | Email | Homepage | 08.31.07 - 10:42 am | #

Why the hell shouldn't we be optimistic?
Jay | Email | Homepage | 08.31.07 - 11:35 am | #

Those rats from NIMH are pretty damn smart.
Pat | Email | Homepage | 08.31.07 - 12:28 pm | #

you all are incredibly terrible football predictors! Better go back to your day jobs boys
MisterEd | Email | Homepage | 09.01.07 - 9:29 pm | #

Haha.. Worst predictions ever. ND is 1-7 now.
Benny Lava | Email | Homepage | 10.25.07 - 5:16 pm | #

Oh Jesus, I couldn't have enjoyed that more. Genius, thanks guys.
Weis is God | Email | Homepage | 10.26.07 - 3:28 pm | #

Holey prognostications Batman!
dickey moe | Email | Homepage | 10.27.07 - 12:35 pm | #

HAHAHAHAHA... NEWS FLASH!!! Notre dame only has one win. So that means your contributers know nothing about football. Nice work, try again. Can we get predictions for next season?
Robby | Email | Homepage | 11.05.07 - 6:37 pm | #