ROCK BOTTOM: THE FACTS AND MYTHS ABOUT THE CURRENT STATE OF NOTRE DAME FOOTBALL
Derek Schultz
I’m not going to lie to you. There are few things that I love in life as much as Notre Dame football. The short list probably includes IU basketball, ice cream cake, beirut (not the country), watching any live sporting event with my dad, hot wings, and IU chicks wearing those short-shorts that say “Indiana” on the back. That’s why this is such a hard time for me as well as the rest of the Notre Dame nation.
We can handle losing. We’ve seen plenty of it since old Lou was pushed out for the incompetent Bob Davie. Then came Tyrone Willingham, who probably fell somewhere behind Gerry DiNardo and Emilio Estevez on Notre Dame’s head coaching wish list. But, after back-to-back seasons which earned BCS bids (deservedly or not) under Charlie Weis, it looked like Notre Dame was on it’s way back. Now, after three weeks of maybe the worst football I’ve ever seen in my life, it’s clear that attaining that feat is going to be a bit more of a struggle than I originally thought.
Let’s go through some of the facts and myths about the current state of Notre Dame football.
FACT: Notre Dame has a really good chance of starting this season 0-8.
Coming out of the gate, I thought that the contingent led by the lovable Mark May was being unrealistic in their 1-7, 2-6 predictions for the Irish. After these first three weeks, picking Notre Dame to win a single game seems like a stretch, even for the world’s most delusional Irish homers (i.e. Lou Holtz). This offense is bad, there is no other way around it. Michigan’s defense, which is going to have a hard time holding even average offenses under 30 points, completely dismantled the Irish. Sure, a lot of the futility was self-imposed but the eight sacks and two interceptions were not. The Wolverines gave up over 1,000 yards of offense in their first two games against Appalachian State and Oregon, but gave up just 79 to Notre Dame. The Irish won’t be favored in any of their next five games: Michigan State, @Purdue, @UCLA, USC, and Boston College. The combined record of those teams is 13-1.
After looking poised in a 31-10 loss to Penn State, Clausen looked like a nervous freshman QB vs. Michigan
MYTH: Notre Dame will lose to Navy.
I’m not kidding, I’ve actually heard people say this and it’s really laughable. Say what you want about Notre Dame and their 0-3 start. It’s been really, really bad. But, remember this didn’t come against two MAC schools and Indiana State. The Irish took on Georgia Tech: probably one of the top 3 teams in the ACC, Penn State: who looks like the best team in the Big Ten right now, and Michigan: maybe they haven’t shown it, but they do have the offensive talent of a 10-win team. Last Saturday, Navy lost to Ball State…at home. I know you Notre Dame haters are licking your chops, but c’mon let’s be serious, they ain’t losing to the Middies.
FACT: Charlie Weis deserves a majority of the blame for Notre Dame’s start.
It always starts with the head coach when a team plays as poorly as the Irish have played through the first three weeks of the season. Weis tried to outthink himself with a gimmick offense that crashed and burned against John Tenuta’s blitzing Georgia Tech defense. Then the Irish were then unprepared and overwhelmed against Michigan. I will say that despite the lopsided defeat, I think the Notre Dame offense did about as well as it could against Penn State, considering the atmosphere and the Nittany Lions talented D. In hindsight, Weis should have named a starter in July and made sure that each of his young quarterbacks learned a basic offense instead of making them memorize a playbook with more pages than War and Peace. Oh, and maybe he could’ve told Offensive Line coach John Latina to teach the O-Line how to block. Right now the team looks flat, confused and uninspired….all of that falls in Weis’ lap.
MYTH: Tyrone Willingham doesn’t deserve any blame for Notre Dame’s start.
Of the 16 member 2004 recruiting class which is now the Notre Dame senior class, only seven players remain. Of those seven, only three are starters (Vernaglia, Lambert, Crum). So out of an entire recruiting class, Notre Dame netted THREE starters. That would be absolutely devastating for any program. It’s true that a lot of fifth-years like Zibby, Sullivan, and Laws are back, but even they can’t fill the gaping hole unfulfilled by Ty’s 2004 class. Willingham certainly doesn’t deserve much of the blame, but he definitely deserves a little for the current downward spiral of this young football team.
FACT: Willingham’s last two recruiting classes (the current senior and junior classes) were the worst two classes in Notre Dame football history.
Do you know how many offensive lineman Ty lured to South Bend in three years? Two. Think that has anything to do with the pathetic O-line ND has in place right now? His last two recruiting classes ranked behind Missouri. One thing that you can never knock on Weis is his ability to recruit. That was Willingham’s real downfall and the program is feeling it right now.
Alot of blame should fall on Weis, but with just 7 seniors remaining from a lackluster recruiting class, Ty deserves some as well
MYTH: Notre Dame just doesn’t have any talent.
This is what really infuriates me about this season so far and this is why I feel that Weis deserves a lot of the blame for this start. Would I have been surprised if Notre Dame had been 0-3 at this point three weeks ago? No, I wouldn’t have. But, they have looked absolutely clueless and inept in those three embarrassing losses. Freshman RB Armando Allen is going to be a superstar once he gets behind an offensive line that actually blocks. Senior TE John Carlson could be the best at his position in the country, ditto for C John Sullivan (despite the snapping fiascos vs. Michigan). DE Trevor Laws will be playing on Sundays. Even the guys that haven’t performed well, like Sophomore RB James Aldridge and Freshman QB Jimmy Clausen, were five-star recruits out of high school. This is Notre Dame. They are always going to have talented kids, maybe not to the level of USC or Florida, but they’ll get talent. What this team lacks is experience and leadership, not talent.
Freshman RB Armando Allen has 4.3 speed and chose the Irish over Florida
FACT: Weis has won with Ty Willingham’s one good recruiting class.
Willingham did a great job capitalizing on that great debut season in 2002. Ty inked a superb class that year, one that included QB Brady Quinn, DE Victor Abiamiri, TE John Carlson, LT Ryan Harris, DL Trevor Laws, CB Chinedum Ndukwe, P Geoff Price, C John Sullivan, S Tom Zbikowski and WR Jeff Samardzija – all players that were essential to ND’s success in 2005 and 2006. This class rankings-wise wasn’t as good as Weis’ first two classes (which were both top ten nationally) but Weis can only hope that his recruiting efforts can produce as many playmakers as that ’03 class did for Willingham.
MYTH: Weis has only won because he’s had Tyrone Willingham’s players.
So, when Ty won 10 games in his first season at ND in 2002, he only won because he had Bob Davie’s players? In any context, this argument is incredibly stupid. It’s like those that think that Mike Davis only took Indiana to the National Championship game in ‘02 because he had Bobby Knight’s players. In reality, Weis, Davis and Willingham won with those players because of their systems. Having Jared Jeffries as a point-forward and surrounding him with players that could shoot the lights out (Coverdale, Fife, Hornsby, even Odle) was perfect for Davis’ system. Having Brady Quinn as his quarterback, tall wide receivers (Samardzija, Stovall, McKnight), and pass-catchers/tremendous blockers at tailback (Darius Walker) and tight end (Fasano, Carlson) was perfect for Weis’ system. Having future NFL players in DE Justin Tuck, LB Courtney Watson, CB Vontez Duff, Safeties Glenn Earl and Gerome Sapp made Willingham’s senior-laden D in ’02 one of the best in the country. It’s about coaches adjusting and implementing systems that suit to the talents of their players. Would Bob Knight have won more games than Davis did in his final four years? Yes. Would he have taken that 2001-02 team to the Championship Game? No. Just like Willingham wouldn’t have taken that 2005 ND team to the Fiesta Bowl.
FACT: Notre Dame football is no longer elite.
There is no getting around this reality. When Charlie Weis took over and had instant success, it fooled a lot of the Irish faithful into believing that all was well with the program. While 2005 was a great season, I really believe that 2006 was a major disappointment considering all the hoopla and lofty predictions going into the season. This may be suppressed in most Irish fans’ memories but the truth is that this team hasn’t won a bowl game since 1994. They’ve won 10 games just twice since then (2002, 2006) and lost at least three games in each season. They are 1-5 vs. Boston College since ’99, 0-5 vs. Michigan State at home since ’97. The Irish have finished in the final AP top ten just once (2005, 9th) since Lou Holtz left. Does that sound like an elite team to you?
MYTH: Notre Dame football will never be elite again.
In fact, Notre Dame’s “Return to Glory” (the 678th version) could come as soon as 2008. Next year, the schedule begins to lighten a bit. Notre Dame actually opens up with two straight home games (San Diego State and Michigan), something that hasn’t happened since 2000. Weis will have the fourth year of his system (hopefully with the current flaws fixed) in place, and three top ten recruiting classes to work with. Clausen, Allen and some of the other youngsters on offense will be another year older and some of the dead weight like Travis Thomas and Ambrose Wooden will finally be gone. It’s not likely that Notre Dame will be BCS-caliber next year, but judging by their recruiting rankings from the class of ’06, ’07 and this season, they could be National Championship contenders by 2009. Of course, this is all hypothetical. Bob Davie had top ten classes nearly every year he was in South Bend and he never even had an undefeated September.
To sum up, I felt I needed to respond to all the opinion pieces written about the Irish in the last 10 days. If you had read what some of the talking heads had to say in the past couple weeks, you would’ve thought that Willingham cured sick puppies and walked on the St. Joseph River. Actually, Willingham was at the helm of the worst stretch of futility in Notre Dame history in 2003:
9/13/03 @ Michigan (L, 0-38…sound familiar?)
9/20/03 MICHIGAN STATE (L, 16-22)
9/27/03 @ Purdue (L, 10-23)
10/11/03 @ Pittsburgh (W, 20-14)
10/18/03 USC (L, 14-45)
10/25/03 @ Boston College (L, 25-27)
11/1/03 Florida State (L, 0-37)
Willingham actually lost more games by three touchdowns or more than Gerry Faust and Bob Davie combined. Don’t get me wrong, this year under Weis could actually be worse that that stretch in ’03, but let's not pretend like Ty didn't have the same struggles.
This is going to be a rough year, maybe the roughest year in Notre Dame history. But, the opinion that Weis should be fired after his third year like Willingham is misguided. Weis is coming off back-to-back BCS bid seasons and top ten recruiting classes. Willingham was coming off back-to-back .500 or worse seasons and the two worst classes in ND history. It’s not about black and white, it’s about results, both on the field and on the recruiting trail.
To clarify, I don’t hate Tyrone Willingham. In fact, the 2002 Notre Dame football season was by far my favorite season as a Notre Dame fan. When they were 8-0, it was the only time since I was 11 that I truly believed they could win a National Championship. My point is that you can talk about this current Notre Dame team or the Weis vs. Willingham debate until you're blue in the face. However, unless you’ve watched every single Notre Dame game for the past 10 years like I have, you (i.e. the national media) have no idea what you're talking about.
2002 was a time of sunshine, gumdrops, and an 8-0 start for my Irish
I sat at Notre Dame Stadium in 2004 when Boston College came back for a 24-23 victory over the Irish and I thought that was rock bottom for the program. I’ll sit at Notre Dame Stadium for the next three home games against Michigan State, USC (gulp) and Boston College, and I’m sure I’ll want to shield my eyes just like I did in ’04. What I can say is that at least the future looks somewhat bright for Notre Dame, and that’s more than you could say in 2004 when the program was mired in mediocrity with no end in sight.
Cheer up Irish fans. Only 354 days til kickoff vs. San Diego State…
SHOOTING THE REST OF THE SPORTS WORLD:
Swish: Clint Bowyer
The 28-year old captured his first career Nextel Cup race victory at the New Hampshire International Speedway, and it couldn’t have come at a better time. Bowyer was the only member of The Chase that hadn’t had a victory in 2007 and blew a shot at the lead last week at Richmond. The win pushed Bowyer all the way to fourth in The Chase standings, 15 points behind co-leaders Jimmie Johnson and Jeff Gordon. Bowyer ran from the pole and led 88 of the 300 laps, but said he felt sick to his stomach over the final stretch, despite a comfortable lead. If Bowyer and the 07 car can build on a breakthrough victory, he could make a run at the Cup Championship.
Bowyer picked a great time for his first career Cup victory
Brick: Norv Turner
It’s always fun to see a bad coach like Turner get absolutely pantsed by Bill Belichick, sans video cameras. The Patriots ran the Chargers right off the field in the first half, jumping out to a 24-0 halftime lead before finishing off the Bolts with a 38-14 victory. LaDanian Tomlinson couldn’t do much of anything against an aggressive Pats attack. Turner hasn’t done himself any favors on his coaching staff with offensive coordinator Clarence Shelmon, a recently promoted Running Backs coach, and former Jets defensive coordinator Ted Cotrell, who my buddy Jay (a die-hard Jets fan) believes is the worst coach in NFL history. San Diego has the most talented team in the NFL and they will win a lot of games this year. But, they’ll only go as far as Norv Turner will take them, which is maybe just past Wild Card weekend. Is anyone else as excited as I am for the Colts/Patriots AFC Championship game in January?
Air Ball: Bill Belichick and “Cameragate”…along with Roger Goodell
I can look at this situation with objectivity because a) I'm not a delusional Colts fan and b) I could care less about the Patriots. I’ll say that this was a classic example of the complete arrogance of Belichick and the rest of the Patriots organization. What did Belichick think when he had his camera guy out there taping the defensive signals on the sidelines of Mangini, one of his former coordinators? Did he think that Mangini wouldn’t be looking out for something like that after spending all those years in New England? What an idiot. Obviously the penalties handed down by Goodell were not nearly enough and he should’ve made the Patriots forfeit that game. That was clearly a blatant and egregious act of cheating. Simply fining Belichick and slapping the team on the wrist by taking away one of their first-round draft picks (did I mention they have San Francisco’s first round pick?) was one of the only bad decisions that Goodell has made recently.
Belichick is a great coach, but he's also a huge jerk
Swish: Yankees-Red Sox
Everyone wonders why the Yankees-Sox get so much publicity from ESPN and the rest of the country, but the fact is the rivalry never fails to disappoint. The Friday night rally was incredible and Sunday night’s game was a great capper to the season series. It was a battle of huge egos (Schilling vs. Clemens), clutch performers (Jeter vs. Schlling), and the two most feared late-inning players in baseball (Mo Rivera vs. Ortiz). There’s not a matchup I would rather see with the bases-loaded in the 9th inning than Mariano Rivera against David Ortiz, and I’m saying that as a BASEBALL fan, not as a Yankees fan. Ohio State-Michigan is great, but I don’t think it can even be mentioned in the same breath as Yankees-Sox. It’s true theatre, year in and year out.
Rocket and Schilling added perhaps their final chapter to the Yankees-Red Sox rivalry
Brick: Louisville
Well it looks like The Shots finally hit the nail on the head with a prediction. I told you last week that Louisville was garbage and that poor defense was in full-effect on Saturday night, giving up 460 yards of offense and 40 points in a upset loss to Kentucky. I'm not taking anything away from the Wildcats, who have a good football team down there in Lexington led by the nation's most underrated player in QB Andre Woodson (275 yds, 4 TD vs. L'Ville). But, what's most interesting is that at the exact same time this game was going on, USC was putting up 49 points on the road against Nebraska and LSU was shutting out Middle Tennessee State and holding the Blue Raiders under 100 total yards. That's the same Middle Tennessee State team that racked up 555 yards and 42 points against the Cardinals. Now tell me who the real National Championship-caliber teams are...
The Shots was finally right on a prediction!
Air Ball: OJ Simpson
The former murderer NFL star was arrested and held without bail on Sunday after being charged in a memorabilia heist at a Las Vegas Hotel over the weekend. All in all, OJ is charged with two counts of robbery with a deadly weapon, two counts of assault with a deadly weapon, and conspiracy to commit a crime and burglary with a firearm. The district attorney expects to charge Simpson with a total of seven felonies and one gross misdemeanor. Also, an audio tape was released on Monday with what sounds like Simpson’s voice on it barking orders and yelling expletives. This is simply a case of a guy that thinks he can get away with anything. It’s a real black eye on this country and our legal system that he was acquitted of killing two people over a decade ago. It doesn’t look like O.J. will be so lucky this time.
The Shots What to Watch this week:
Baseball – Tuesday through Sunday
There are no particularly good series, in fact a lot of the teams fighting for playoff berths like the Yankees, Phillies and Cubs, are playing bad teams. But, with two weeks to go in baseball’s regular season, it always gets crazy. By the way, keep your eye on the NL East where the Phillies are surging and the Mets are collapsing.
Indiana vs. Illinois – Saturday
The Hoosiers win here and they’ll be 4-0 and will only need two out of three against Ball State, Northwestern (who lost to Duke) and Minnesota (who lost to Florida Atlantic) to clinch their first bowl berth in nearly 15 years. IU maybe off to a 4-0 start and Notre Dame maybe winless until October feels really strange for me. What’s next? The Yankees in last place and the Knicks winning an NBA Championship?
San Francisco at Pittsburgh - Sunday
It's NFC vs. AFC and the only matchup of 2-0 teams in Week 3. The Niners have gotten the job done despite being unimpressive in wins over Arizona and St. Louis. Pittsburgh has looked really good, yielding just 10 points in the first two weeks and putting up 60 of their own. With the Ravens early season struggles and the Bengals porous defense, the Steelers could get back to the top of the AFC North this season.
The Shots YouTube clips this week:
I’m not gonna lie, even I laughed at this. Kudos to the Michigan fan that likely put this baby together.
Um, but this is sports related. There just aren't any players or coaches involved.
The Shots Chick Pick this week: Jenna Fischer (you know, Pam from The Office)
By far the best part from Blades of Glory.
See you next week.
Shoot your own Shots in the mailbag: derek@espn950.com.
