Roller Coaster Football

It is what it is, folks.  We're just going to have to adjust to the fact that this team can't play top quality football every week quite yet.

But that's not the problem with Notre Dame Football and its fans.

When the Irish are good.. we call them great and we give the head coach an extension.

When they're bad.. we call them the worst team ever and try to fire the coach.

But this year they're both.  Or Neither.  I'm not sure which.  San Diego was a win, but a bad one.  After Michigan we were back and planning on a battle of the unbeatens in the Colliseum.  Michigan State, however, pulled us back to the ground and they ran all over us.

That's called a roller coaster.  Slowly get higher and then a BIG drop.  Sorry folks, get used to it.  That's going to be the theme of the 2008 season when all is said and done.

I'd also like to take the time to address the pro-/anti-Weis junk.  Weis has been more of the Millenium Force ride at Cedar Point.  We shot straight up way too fast, although we were having so much fun we barely noticed that when we hit that drop last year all of a sudden our stomachs were getting twisted by 4 G's of force. 

Now we've finally come out of it but Weis has decided to twist us around so that we just don't know which direction we're going anymore.  But at the end when all things were settling, and we got off of the Millenium Force, we loved our time with it.  I think we will with Weis, too.

Maybe I was only partially right last week when I said "Weis gets it".  Quite frankly we can all see that we can pass the ball.  Even in youth, Clausen and company get it done.  So why do we run to set up the pass? 

Shouldn't we pass to set up the run?  It's what we're good at.  Someone suggested starting out in a no-huddle.  I love that.  We did it with Brady Quinn all the time, why not with Clausen?  If anything, Clausen has shown that he's better in the no-huddle than he is in a regular offense.

But to those of you who think Charlie should be using the spread offense, you're dead wrong.  There's a difference between a spread offense and just spreading your offense out.

Yes we need to run more shotgun to give Clausen a better image of the defense, and by spreading your receivers, you spread the defense.  You know what that does?  It makes it even easier for Clausen to read the coverage.

From there, we should continue to run the pro-style offense we run now.  Not the spread offense.

So now we have a greater grasp on this season and Purdue is coming to town.  I think this is the perfect game after a loss.  Purdue isn't good.  Like, at all.  Painter is a good quarterback, but that team has slowly been going down hill for several years now.  They aren't on a roller coaster, they're at the water park.

But the Irish?  Yeah, we're on a roller coaster.  And you know what?  It's time to go back up.