The opening week’s IBG is hosted by Frank over at UHND. You probably already know he runs one of the top ND fan forums on the net, but he also writes one of the better Irish blogs too! So head on over there, check out his responses to his own questions and links to others!
1. The big news of last week was Dayne Crist winning the starting QB spot. Are you happy with the outcome and how comfortable are you with Crist as the starting quarterback for the 2011 season?
I think anyone who reads HLS knows I was pulling for the other guy to win the job, but that’s not to say I’m not confident in Crist or that I’m disappointed with Kelly’s decision. Even I admit that “on paper” or “in a vacuum, Crist is the better QB than Rees. I’m just a big sucker for “if a team is winning, there’s not much to fix.” And whether it be “because of” or “despite” Rees at QB for the Irish, the ND football program pulled off a string of wins against a quality level of programs that we’ve not seen in quite a long darn while – all after probably the most tumultuous in-season rough patch ND’s ever seen, but I digress. Assuming Kelly’s not an idiot, and also puts a ton of value in winning games, I have to also assume that in making this decision, Kelly saw real improvement from Crist over a year ago. And if that’s the case, Crist is poised not to just manage a game for a winning team, but help the team win games in a fashion that should force both voters and computers to take notice. That’s all that really matters in college football today.
2. A lot of people say you see the biggest improvement between year 1 and 2 after a coaching change. What area do you hope to see the biggest improvement in 2011?
I think the biggest key I’m hoping to see is consistency. One of the reasons the end of 2010 was the sort that will probably forever live in Irish lore is that it was such a high high after such a massive trough. Granted, “consistency” could be the sort we saw in 2007, but – shudder – I reay doubt that’s going to happen. If the Irish can turn the corner to where they’re truly, consistently good, then there are plenty of teams on this schedule that the Irish should blow out in the same way Mississippi State is blowing out Memphis as I write this (hope Memphis doesn’t pull off a crazy comeback now).
In 1996, I was a freshman at Notre Dame, and I remember watching the Irish dismantle a visiting Rutgers squad. Now, granted, the college football landscape truly has changed since then. Practically everyone has entered the arms race that was, in 1996, the domain of maybe 35 programs. But that Irish squad obliterated that Rutgers team not because the Irish were a dominant team, but because an ability to be consistently better than most had become ingrained within the program. Hell, that same 1996 team got rocked by Ohio State and lost a miserable game to Air Force, so it wasn’t exactly part of the cream of the crop for 1996, but the program that Holtz had built was able to withstand the cracks that showed up that year to allow the Irish to roll inferior programs. That’s what I’m hoping to see signs of in 2011. The Irish may still lose one or even 2 that they shouldn’t lose, but there should also be a handful of games in which the student section is mostly just waiting for the clock to run out on a major Irish victory so they can hurry up and get warm by the candlelight of a post-game SDH meal.
3. I think we’ve all covered this year’s highly touted freshman class quite a bit this off-season already so instead, who do you see as this year’s Corey Mays? Mays played primarily special teams for 3 seasons before a breakout season as a 5th year senior in 2005. Who on the Irish roster can pull off a similar performance this season?
I’m going with Filer. I see – like so many – such an absurd amount of potential in that kid. So much that, really, we should have been spending at least some of his career, to this point, talking about him like we all talk about Manti. If he manages to fulfill that potential, then Filer wont even be an appropriate answer to this question because it wont be a similar performance to Mays. It would be a legendary performance well beyond that.
4. Theo Riddick is a player I’ve been touting all off-season and think the is ready to become a big name in college football. What player on Notre Dame’s roster who hasn’t yet broken out are you expecting to put up big numbers in 2011?
It’s gotta be Riddick. 2011 just feels like the confluence of so many factors in his favor: Absurd talent, the likelihood that Kelly spent much of the offseason developing a contingency plan for a Floyd-less Irish squad, Kelly’s own professed belief in the potential of Riddick, etc…
And to be honest, it’s sort of a cop-out to pick him, assuming he remains healthy, as 2010 was already turning out to be the star of the show. Through 6 games, he had 37 catches for 395 yards and 3 TDs to Floyd’s 35 grabs, 467 yards, and 2 TDs. And that was before Kelly really seemed to trust in him.
5. Notre Dame plays a legit opponent in South Florida unlike a lot of teams around the country. How do you see this game playing out and does it help or hurt Notre Dame that they play a BCS conference opponent this weekend while Michigan plays Western Michigan?
I think the 1st half will be a little rough. South Florida has a very fast defense, which means they can recover from quite a few mental errors. Meanwhile our offense will be working out the kinks with a “new” quarterback. But I suspect our defense will be just as fast, and probably more capable, and South Florida’s offense will have even more kinks. By mid-3rd quarter, I suspect the Irish will catch a groove and take over.
That said, it’ll be much more of a contest that what Michigan will be facing, and I’m done believing that playing a cupcake in week 1 is somehow bad for you long-term. Don’t get me wrong, I hate the practice, but no longer do I believe it’s somehow an advantage to have to face real competition in week1. You know what’s a real advantage? Having a butt-load of kids on your roster who’ve already seen real game-time by the time a tough contest comes around. So frankly I’d be all for a situation where the Irish got to blow an opponent right out of the water by the middle of the 2nd quarter, and I spent all of the 2nd half having to look up players’ names online because I don’t yet recognize the 3rd stringers.
6. Stealing this one from my IBG pre-season questions from last year – who is the Notre Dame player the Irish can least afford to lose this season? For the sake of getting some different response, you can’t use Michael Floyd or Manti Te’o here.
David Ruffer. I know, I know, I’m going to get killed for that. I know what the stats say about what a difference an “above average” kicker makes to a team over an “average” kicker, but I also know all-too-well the quixotic travails that have been undertaken by recent Irish squads in search of even a “respectable” kicker, so if Ruffer goes down in some freak accident during a roughing incident, color me worried.
7. Obligatory pre-season prediction question:
Notre Dame’s final record (noting the losses): 10-3 – The Irish will lose to both or either of Stanford and MSU, and then they’ll lose one game they should not lose. If they lose to both MSU and Stanford, then with 3 regular season losses, they’ll go to a bowl game and beat up an opponent much like last year. If they Beat either MSU or Stanford, they appear in a BCS game and lose a close match.
Notre Dame’s bowl game and opponent: Actually gotta agree with you and say Sugar Bowl vs. LSU
Final ranking for Notre Dame: 12
Best opposing offensive and defensive player ND will face in ’11: Also gotta agree with you on Andrew Luck, Stanford QB; Luke Kuechly, Boston College LB
Best opposing coach ND will face: Assuming the Irish are in a BCS game this year, whoever we face in that game, so, gulp, Les Miles?
Notre Dame game you won’t miss for anything: I’ll miss them all. I stopped watching live ND games after I caught the very end of Tulsa last year. I attended the Navy game. So obviously I’m a jinx. It’s okay. Not watching games live has brought my blood-pressure down considerably, and we’ve been winning. You’re welcome.
Notre Dame game you could watch on DVR this year: All of them. This is my promise to you.
National Champion: Oklahoma. Monster talent, and the opportunity to sort of sit out all the off-season distraction of conference realignment. Yes, granted, awful tragedy, but I do actually think it might be a unifying factor for that team.
Heisman Trophy Winner: Luck, unfortunately. Not that I dislike him, but a winning Heisman campaign that must pass through Notre Dame probably must also involve beating Notre Dame.
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NDtex
You seriously said we can’t lose Ruffer, and after I made the joke in my own post earlier this week.
This joke will never die at this rate.
PootND
I can’t wait to beat this joke to death the same way Craig James beat those poor hookers…allegedly #RIP5DH
Matt Q.
I’ve never met a joke I wouldn’t overuse.
The Subway Domer
No new 2011 IBG banner? Fail. Ruffer jokes? WIN!
Matt Q. (DMQ)
I’m not sure what’s happening. I could swear I used the same IMG link as the previous week. I’ll check and edit later.
Craig
Ruffer? Really? You’re being grossly unfair to Tausch, who’s an excellent kicker in his own right but with about five yards less leg. Has everyone already forgotten that the consecutive made field goals record that Ruffer broke was previously held by Tausch?
trey
Tausch has 2 more years…he’ll get his shot again.
Craig
No doubt he will, and he may well get beaten out by Brindza. I just bristle at the notion that we’re in any kind of trouble if something happens to Ruffer. We’re not. We’ll be just fine.
GB
I’m going for Woods for breakout player.