Amen! @@#$!! beat SC!
Felipe | Email | Homepage | 01.09.09 - 2:18 pm | #

Awesome - direct, to the point; no question as to his clarity of thought. Just what the Irish needs!

Go Irish - beat 'SC!
HB Domer | Email | Homepage | 01.09.09 - 2:40 pm | #

How many times does CW get to lose to SC?
cv | Email | Homepage | 01.09.09 - 2:51 pm | #

I don't know, guys. We've got a long way to go. TWENTY-SEVEN teams have won a bowl game since Notre Dame last won one. We should scroll that along the bottom of our TV screens to emphasize that humiliation...
Andy | Email | Homepage | 01.09.09 - 2:54 pm | #

Following the final AP Top 25 rankings, here's a little on-the-fly analysis to tuck behind your ear ready for deployment against the barrage of "ND has a Charmin-soft Schedule in 2009" comments which will be heard night and day from now until September.

Florida are playing two games against AP Top 25 teams in 2009. These are both home games (although one is in Jacksonville, not Gainesville). The Gators play Georgia (13) and Florida State (21). They also have home games against [drum roll] ... Charleston Southern, Troy and Florida International.

USC are playing two games against AP Top 25 teams in 2009. These are both road games against Ohio State (9) and Oregon (10). They open with a home game against San Jose State. By dint of the less-than-stellar quality of the PAC-10 Conference, they have a couple of relatively gentle encounters against Washington and Washington State, but history shows that USC can easily trip themselves up in these matchups.

Now for Notre Dame. The Irish "soft" schedule has two games against AP Top 25 teams - USC (3) and Michigan State (24). Our gentle opener is a home game against Nevada. Washington and Washington State are also on our docket, with the Washington State game being "home", albeit in San Antonio.

On the "yes, but the rest of the schedule ..." argument which will undoubtedly follow: Florida have one game against teams in the "Others Receiving Votes" list (LSU), USC have two (Cal and Arizona) and Notre Dame have two - Pittsburgh and Fredo.

A pox on any ND strength-of-schedule-haters.
Burbank Steve | Email | Homepage | 01.09.09 - 3:11 pm | #

Guys, Kevin White did utter that same phrase, but he was referring to Stanford ;-)
The Contrarian | Email | Homepage | 01.09.09 - 3:45 pm | #

Jack, that's a great goal which I wholeheartedly applaud. So what's on your action list to ensure we get there?
c-stone | Email | Homepage | 01.09.09 - 4:02 pm | #

So now USC is our "aspirational peer"?
DCDomer | Email | Homepage | 01.09.09 - 4:27 pm | #

c-stone & Jay
Watching last night's game I couldn't help but chuckle at the similarity of the offensive set Florida was running quite often and the offensive set Tom Pagna suggested a few weeks back and to which a couple of our bloggers alluded: remember Tate and Allen as split backs, flaring out after the wides cleared out in front of them, getting matched on line-backers? Perhaps the answer as to how we beat SC lies somewhere between a 70-somthing year old ex-coach in South Bend and the 40-something year old in Gainsville. Generation gap? Ha! Waddaya think?
Domerplayer | Email | Homepage | 01.09.09 - 4:31 pm | #

DCDomer, I actually thought about working in an "aspirational peer" quip in the post. Nice job.

You know, when Monk coined the term it was about turning N.D. into Stanford or one of the Ivies. But in football terms, holding Southern Cal as an "aspirational peer" is a welcome goal.
Jay | Email | Homepage | 01.09.09 - 4:49 pm | #

DCDomer, if we aspire to be a perennial top-5 program, be consistently in the national title conversation, have heisman trophy prospects, have a top-3 recruiting class each year, and be deeper at each position than the Grand Canyon... then yes USC would be that school. Oh, and I'm pretty sure their defense held opponents to an average of NINE (9) points per game with 3 shutouts this year. When was the last time we pitched a shut out? 2002 I think.

Sure there are plenty of schools that are dominating the football landscape in the 2000s, but we don't play them every year the way we do USC.
Erik '04 | Email | Homepage | 01.09.09 - 4:49 pm | #

Ahh, didn't know the aspirational peer reference. Nice.
Erik '04 | Email | Homepage | 01.09.09 - 4:50 pm | #

Andy:

Have you been asleep the last three weeks?
okiedomer | Email | Homepage | 01.09.09 - 5:31 pm | #

Tebow isn't that great of a quarterback its his enthusiasm and competitiveness that will make him one of the greatest athletes to ever play collegiate football. If Clausen had some of that enthusiasm to pump up the offense (and in Tebows case the defense and special teams and the fans) Clausen would easily make the team much more better. We are all aware of his cockiness (arriving at the College Football Hall of Fame in a hummer limo) and he needs to use his socal swagger to pump up the team, get in the face of other players, and make them want to win this game. Tebow is an amazing athlete, but his desire and passion for the game is what makes him one of the best. Clausen needs to start acting the same way
hoosierIrish | Email | Homepage | 01.09.09 - 5:46 pm | #

Go Irish!
hoosierIrish | Email | Homepage | 01.09.09 - 5:46 pm | #

Beat BC also.
Gold Wave | Email | Homepage | 01.09.09 - 5:46 pm | #

OkieDomer. I don't think he's been asleep.

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com...ds/divia/today/
Mike | Email | Homepage | 01.09.09 - 6:01 pm | #

Mike:

thanks.

right over my head.

humility is hard work!
okiedomer | Email | Homepage | 01.09.09 - 7:53 pm | #

hoosier Irish, I agree that Tebow certainly is a motivating QB for the Gators, but you cannot just make Clausen an identical twin of him. He is a different person than Tebow.

I believe ND can be a Florida without a Tebow cheerleader.

While everyone is comparing what ND should be like, Utah might be an interesting look alike.
Ted | Email | Homepage | 01.09.09 - 11:44 pm | #

Is ANYONE going to comment on the fact that Eagle in Atlanta finished dead last in the pick six?

Fill in Fredo joke here _______.
Mark | Email | Homepage | 01.10.09 - 2:12 pm | #

Is ANYONE going to comment on the fact that Eagle in Atlanta finished dead last in the pick six?

I didn't scroll down that far.
slater | Email | Homepage | 01.10.09 - 6:29 pm | #