Offseason changes, Improved O-Line, a formidable schedule, and Impact
Freshmen hope to erase the Horrific Images of 2007 for the Irish
By
John Kelly, Football Reporters Online 9-1-08
Head Coach: Charlie Weis
Record: 22-15 4 Years
Offensive Lettermen: 20 Defensive Lettermen: 17
Charlie Weis kept repeating the same phrase "Were looking past 2007" to
the South Bend press like he was pledging to a fraternity this offseason. You can
repeat that phrase till the cows come home but the Irish's issues on the offense,
the defensive line, and the lack of big playmakers at the skill positions still
leaves Irish fans nervous for 2008. Weis's ability to develop young talent to the
level of 20 wins he accumulated in the first two seasons in South Bend will tell
his tale the next two years.
2007 saw bigger lows in Notre Dame history then when Ty Willingham was there and like Obama's major talking point of change, the Notre Dame version has played out this offseason with physical hitting practices, Weis handing over his play calling duties, and the hiring of linebackers coach Jon Tenuta.
Why were physical practices implemented?
Weis last year limited contact in practice barring his players from the real game experience especially the O-line. I am not saying physical practices could have helped that team anyway starting with Georgia Tech, Penn State, and Michigan.
By giving the freshmen, O-line, and defense a chance to hit people it will help
them in real game situations instead of touch football NFL practices. The Irish
O-line looks better on rivals' videos thanks to these physical practices and it
seems to be benefiting all players. Holtz always allowed hitting in his practices
and implementing this style will help all Irish players develop.
Haygood now Calling the Shots:
Andy Reid and Mark Richt are great offensive minds known throughout the football world. What you don't know is that they had the sad task of handing
over their play calling duties to some else. Andy Reid and Mark Richt had
success letting other people take the reins of the offense. The Eagles won the
NFC East in 2006 and the Georgia Bulldogs were the hottest team at the end of
the season. Charlie Weis recently handed over his play calling duties to
Offensive Coordinator Mike Haygood who now has another job besides being
the running backs coach. It was tough for Weis to do this stating to the media
that he will miss devising game plans in the fall. By doing this Weis is letting a
coach with no experience calling a game to take the reins of an offense that was
just better than Temple last year. The good news is he is letting his coaches
coach instead of controlling everything as well as opening up to his players, a
side of him he never showed the first two years imitating the Tuna. With
Haygood the offense will not be as predictable and will emphasize running the
football. Weis though is making a tough choice but the right one now can help
develop the younger talent to the level their rivals ratings put them don't forget
his 2005 offseason at Notre Dame saw him molding
Brady Quinn into a First
Round Pick so the fat man can coach.
A Key defensive Acquisition:
The idea that no one wanted to hire Jon Tenuta for a defensive coordinator or coaching job makes me want to pull my hair out. At Georgia Tech Tenuta's
defenses were an aggressive blitzing style that came play after play. This man's
defense was the scariest I had ever seen Notre Dame face charging like a pack of
wolves coming after prey. Tenuta's defenses at Georgia Tech led the nation in
sacks in 2007, ranked 20th in the county totally, and 20th against the run. This
is a good sign and should help because Notre Dame's run defense was
atrocious last year yielding several one hundred yard games, including one from
each service academy. Weis hired Bill Lewis as Defensive Backs coach when he
could not solve his coverage's and now he has done the same with Tenuta. This
is the guy that should provide that nasty attitude Irish fans have hoped to have
since Weis arrived in South Bend in 2005. With Defensive end
Kerry Neal,
Linebacker
Brian Smith, and a bevy of talented corners, expect ND to bring the
kitchen sink all year, and get to the quarterback and terrorize him every Saturday
including several new ones making their first starts.
What improvements to look for on offense? Can Clausen stay upright? Can he improve?
While most of the fans are excited for the new aggressive Notre Dame defense and we love the potential of offensive playmakers
Duval Kamara,
Golden Tate, and
Robert Hughes the question still is will Quarterback
Jimmy Clausen have the time to throw to them or will their be running lanes for Hughes? Lets not forget, outside of right tackle
Sam Young most of the Notre Dame offensive line was making their first starts last year and coming into 2008 they are heavier and stronger. If that does not sell you that Notre Dame has a stronger right side of the line this year with a heavy 337 pound
Chris Stewart and 330 bulked up right tackle
Sam Young. Offensively, Notre Dame has the best stable of running backs it has had since Holtz was there. Speedster
Armando Allen, bruiser Robert
Hughes, and
James Aldridge definitely can get the job done and with a bigger
right side those stretch plays and dives right will go for 5 and 6 yards opposed
to negative yards. Expect Hughes to be the star this year out of the bunch and
rush for 900 yards and 12 TDS with Allen providing that speed threat and
Aldridge providing quality depth. All those sites that said
Jimmy Clausen was
overrated last year must only pay attention to his high school statistics and
failures and forget the kid's arm was not one hundred percent. Ten pounds of
more muscle and a better grasp of the play-book will easily help Clausen and
due to offensive line issues expect ND to roll him out more this year. Clausen
will improve in all facets this year and next year be a sleeper to win the Heisman.
Sorry to all of you Clausen haters, you will be hearing his name a lot.
The Irish wideouts have the most potential of any of the skill players with David
Grimes providing great leadership to the receiving corps. The real talent lies in
the underclassmen where
Duval Kamara set a freshman record with 32
receptions and should be the go to guy this year with help from incoming
freshman Michael Floyd.
Golden Tate is a lot more improved according to
receivers coach Rob Inaello and will be deployed all over the field, not just on go
routes. By the end of the year this offense like Georgia's of last year will be
extremely hot and a threat in 2009. While there is a load of talent and many
questions still they should be answered by the end of the season when Notre
Dame should and will be playing their best football.
Wow a real winnable schedule (something the Buckeyes get every year):
Notre Dame sees a schedule in which 7 of the teams beat them last year the
good news most of those teams are in transition and that suits a team looking
to improve in 2008. Outside of USC this schedule is extremely light and could
see Notre Dame win as many as 10 games Yes!! I said it, Ten. The Cupcake games
like Stanford, Navy, Syracuse, and San Diego State right off the bat are 4
guaranteed wins where the Irish are clearly more talented. Four wins are better then 3 in 2007. Michigan, Purdue, Washington, Boston College are 4 swing games that Notre Dame needs to win and will judge if they go bowling. Michigan is going through a major makeover with
Rich Rodriguez's spread offense being
implemented and their visit to Notre Dame will be their first road test with an
inexperienced quarterback so the Irish have an advantage and if they stay
turnover free should win a close one. Purdue returns gunslinger
Curtis Painter but loses all their star receivers including first round pick
Dustin Keller and their
defense has been atrocious and let an anemic Notre Dame team back in the
game last year. Washington has a dangerous dual-threat signal-caller in Jake
Locker who can do it all but has zero playmakers around him and also the
defense is terrible and looks like the unit Ty Willingham fielded at Notre Dame
before he was canned. This game will be emotional and for a young team this
should be a measuring stick. It is also a late night national televised game plus
Willingham is on the hot seat and losing to him will only make more controversy.
No
Matt Ryan right off the bat will make it tough for the Eagles in 2008 plus
ND's defense should be scary and harass who ever is playing quarterback for
BC. BC always plays their best versus the Irish and this game is another tough
road test and will be highly emotional since BC has won the last 5 meetings. If
Notre Dame comes prepared and plays their game they should get out of
Chestnut Hill with a victory. Fans wont hate Weis as much if his only win this
year was to a dubious Boston College team. USC, Pittsburgh, Michigan
State, and North Carolina prove to be steal games. USC will clobber Notre Dame
even though the Irish should make it interesting, Pittsburgh is unpredictable but
due to ND's inability to stop the run this game is challenging, North Carolina
will be a tough road test facing a Tar-Heel team reminiscent of themselves plus
with Butch Davis coaching the game is not a walk in the park. Michigan State
returns
Brian Hoyer their starting quarterback but there is no
Devin Thomas or
Kellen Freeman-Davis because both are in the pros. Despite being the road team in
this series has won the last 6 games, which should be a good sign for the Irish,
State always gives Notre Dame trouble.
Impact Freshmen:
Michael Floyd-
Floyd might be the biggest impact Freshman out of all of them at 6'-3" & 215lbs and
with a physical body, and solid route running skills up to college speed. He has
the potential to be the first big Notre Dame playmaking wide receiver since
Derek Mayes. He can stretch the field taking a 5-yard gain and turning it into 30
yards something the Irish have lacked in recent seasons. He also has cracked
the depth chart as one of the top 4 receivers right out of fall camp, which should
tell you something. They are comparing him in South Bend to
Randy Moss who
was denied acceptance to Notre Dame due to a criminal action back in 1995.
Floyd's big plays in the All-America game definitely show his potential either as
Randy Moss or another great receiver of the past and his name will be heard
a lot this year by Notre Dame Fans.
Kyle Rudolph-
The 6-7 255 Tight End will probably be playing more than any other Notre
Dame Freshmen this year with the loss of starting Tight End
Mike Ragone.
Rudolph like Floyd was a Rivals Five-Star recruit in 2008 and the top tight end
in the nation. While blocking is a definite challenge of his, coach Weis is very
high on him and said he can run faster down the seam than all of his tight ends.
Rudolph is a weapon at 6-7 and barring better pass protection, he could be a
major target of
Jimmy Clausen. Here is the scary part he was 222 in high school,
gained 30 pounds of muscle before coming to school, and will be even bigger
and tougher to defend down the road.
Trevor Robinson-
His long curly brown hair reminds me of Kevin Steele of the Steelers and
Robinson definitely plays with that demeanor. At 6'-5" 301 pounds he is a
monster and can blow up a defensive linemen like no other. He already has
cracked the two deep roster in fall camp like fellow Freshman Michael Floyd and
could be a huge help to improving Notre Dame's offensive line.
Ethan Johnson-
At 6'-4" 275lbs he has great pass rushing ability, which Notre Dame has not had
since
Justin Tuck. Johnson will play probably situational this season but his rush
ability along with John Tenuta's new scheme will allow him to harass the
Quarterback this year.
Record Prediction:
While the pundits believe this is a make or break year for
Weis and see 7 wins in 2008 from Notre Dame, they are sadly mistaken. This
analysis is not coming to you just because I have been following Notre Dame since I was 6. Like Lou Holtz (who by the way predicted 11 wins for the Irish in '08) my father and i know Notre Dame football and their schedule. We also know that Notre Dame bounces back better than anyone in the country and this year will prove it. Notre Dame has a chance to be 4-1 or 3-2 going into back-to-back
road tests with North Carolina and Washington in October. Michigan is down
this year, San Diego State is a pushover, Purdue has to travel to Notre Dame
where they have only won twice since 1963, and Stanford is still rebuilding.
North Carolina is winnable but will be tough. Washington will also be a tough
emotional matchup but Notre Dame's athletes should overpower them in the
end. November proves to be the toughest month with Pittsburgh, Boston
College, and USC. If Notre Dame can stop the run they have a chance to beat
Pittsburgh. BC will give ND a scare but they should pull that game out and USC
is a toss-up. Hopefully, Notre Dame can make it close with the Trojans by the
end of the year something they have not done since Weis's first season. While 10
wins and 11 have been shouted around by Lou Holtz and some South Bend
Papers 9-3 and a gator bowl victory seems fitting with concentration hopefully
on a BCS game in 2009.
Original Story:
