Half Empty

It occurred to me late Saturday night (top row, Alumni Stadium, 50-yardline, last-minute flight, we all make bad decisions), that the ND isn’t 0-3 against its peers (UNC, Pitt, BC) this season. It’s actually 3-0 (Michigan, Purdue, Stanford).

The Irish didn’t finish 0-4 vs. the Big Ten in 2007; they won the battle for Michael Floyd.

Weis and his staff weren’t outcoached by Dave Wannstadt’s unit…they outhustled them for Darrin Walls.

The Irish aren’t 0-3 vs. USC under this current regime…they’re 3-0 (Dayne Crist, Cierre Wood, Shaq Evans).

ND wasn’t embarrassed by an SEC power in a bowl game…it showed that tradition and eternal hope(lessness) still have a place in football, winning the battles for Golden Tate and Harrison Smith.

Allowing 617 yards in the Fiesta Bowl in an acid test vs. a true Big Ten power? No matter: Ohio’s own Kyle Rudolph is in an Irish uniform.

Rutgers has more victories since 2005 than do our Irish? Who cares? Mike Ragone, Duval Kamara and Hafis Williams know Jersey guys belong in South Bend.

ND doesn’t lose because it can’t force a turnover or hang onto the ball (MSU, UNC, BC); it loses because its offense isn’t built for today’s gimmicky overtime system (Pittsburgh).

There’s no reason to actually hit someone for 60 game minutes when you can simply prance up and down an opponent’s sideline instead (we all know swagger is much more important than pad level, anyway).

There’s no reason to think a young team should be able to handle the hostile environment of Spartan Stadium (home record 16-11 over the last four seasons).

There’s no reason to think a rebuilding (checking for lightning bolts) 3-9 team could walk into the Mecca of College Football – Kenan Memorial Stadium – and pry away a win from a reloading 4-8 unit on its home turf. (For crying out loud, that team has ACC speed...)

And did you really expect Notre Dame to defend its home field vs. the East’s Reigning Road Super Power from the Steel City? After all, Pitt’s fourth-year coach has won 8 of his 19 career road contests (though apparently Bowling Green’s scheme was a bit too much to overcome for the Panthers at Heinz Field just two months ago. Mental note: the key to beating Pitt is scheme and playing at Heinz Field).  

So for those of you calling for Coach Weis’ firing after the 2008 season, please note:

A premature (re: contract) firing would (re)open the Irish program to a new level of national mockery. A coaching change would result in defections from yet another stellar (*****) recruiting class arriving on campus in time for September’s opener vs. traditional rival Nevada. A change at the top would likely lead to multiple transfers of young, underdeveloped talent on this roster. The type of untapped talent that’s just dying for the proper guidance and instruction not seen since its collective high school days.

There are better days ahead for the Notre Dame Football program. The Irish might have the nation’s best receiving tandem in 2009. The offensive line that improved by leaps and bounds in pass protection from last November to this fall could (plausibly) learn to hit an opposing linebacker at the second level at some point next September. (Besides, I read somewhere it takes six years for a college offensive line to gel).

There will be (at least) two zone-busting TE available to a Head Coach that knows how to utilize the sports most underused weapon. There will be a quartet of cornerbacks capable of matching up with 11 of the 12 offenses on its schedule. And there will be a quarterback that I’m certain will be a star as a junior and senior signal-caller.

Of course, there will be holes in the dyke that need to be plugged (did you know that 3-4 and 4-3 both equate to 7 open running lanes?) But I’ve decided to put my faith in the leader of my alma mater’s football program, not because I have blind faith, but because I know he'll continue to work. There will be staff turnover in the off-season. Unexpected battles will be won (just not on the field) this January and early February. Position changes in the spring will be augmented with a sage slogan to remind the roster of its past failings. It’s even likely the NFL’s best offensive play-caller of this decade will decide he should again offer that same skill to his current pupils.

Oh there will be changes prior to the 2009 season. But change isn’t always a panacea. And if you were an Irish fan in 1996, 2001, or 2004, you’d know that by now.