Notre Dame Fighting Irish

Got to have a ND thread on the forum

Not that much to cheer about this year, we started ranked based on potential, at 2-2 we are not ranked but we are showing some signs of improvement.

We have a lot of talent all over the field apart from at the most important position on the field. QB. Dayne Crist has been replaced by Tommy Rees. Who IMO is just not good enough, I think he's thrown 6 interceptions this year to 7 touchdowns. He's only a sophomore but he locks onto receivers, he has happy feet and makes some terrible decisions and he fails to tuck the ball away under pressure

We did recruit a duel threat QB Golson Everett who suits the Kelly spread, and he could challenge next year but I'm just not sold on him from what I've seen. I do like Andrew Hendrix Who is 6'2 and 220 but he is a pro style guy rather than a spread option type guy.

All in all I just can't see a QB who is a top talent who can get us close to a National Championship. Unless I have missed something as well, we are not close to recruiting one this year either.

Anyway we will finish with a winning record this year, will go to another mid level bowl but we are not touching the BCS games for a few years yet by the looks of it.

Watched your game last night against Pitsburgh & Colin Cowherd was convinced you were going to perform a "rout" on them with a prediction of 35-17,in fairness if your QB Rees didnt have a stinker in the first three quarters he would have been spot on!

The last quarter drive from Rees just made a mockery of what went on beforebut credit to the coach for sticking with him,most would have taken him out!

I think that it is because we know we don't have anything better. Rees is just a strange one, he was over throwing all night, he was having difficulties recognising any converges and where the pressure was coming from. Then all of a sudden in the final 7 minutes, the guy could not miss.

We just need that signal caller.

Why every ND fan absolutely loves Te'o, the most mature college player I've ever come across. After announcing he will return to ND for his senior year and give up a 1st round draft selection:

""I came back for more than dollar bills," Te'o said. "I understand that I could've left and made all this money and money that I've never ever seen before. Money that growing up I never would've thought that I would've made, you know what I mean? And I would've made it in what, four months? That's something that has never crossed my mind because I've always known it's the relationships you build with people. It's the connections you make. It's the memories you build that's gonna last a lifetime, you know what I mean?

"And I've always known that one day we all gonna pass on, one day we all gonna move on to the next life, and I ain't gonna be able to take my Ferrari, my Mercedes. I'm not gonna be able to take that big mansion and all those nice things. The only thing I'm gonna take with me is my family, my friends, my teammates, the connections I make with people. And that's what's gonna last me"

If this was Facebook I'd hit the 'Like' button.

He is a stand up player with a good head on his shoulders. Won best student athlete at Notre Dame so he takes his studies seriously as well. Whichever NFL drafts him will get a great great player (Watching him you have to think Patrick Willis IMO) and a great guy for the locker room and community.

Not that it matters but we chucked that game away last night. We could have ended the season on a high, helped with recruiting, but again out offence stuttered its way through the game. They didn't have a single first down the whole quarter and we could only put 7 points on the board, and that came from the defence.

Reed and Hendrix combined for one TD pass and 3 interceptions. It's been the story of the season, poor inconsistent QB play. It was a fond farewell to the best receiver I have seen at ND with Michael Flloyd. Playing last game. He will be a first round pick this spring (good chance the Jets might opt for him to be honest).

Everett Golson will surely win the QB job for next season. Highly touted prospect who just sat and redshirted his freshman year. Won offensive player of the year on the scout team and I think Rees and Hendrix have shown they are not the right guys.

We were a couple of players off being a BCS team this year, if only we still had Jimmy Clausen we could have really made some noise. Another year though and another dissapointing end,

I haven't been keeping an eye on recruiting this year, so had a quick look tonight and saw Gunner Kiel has committed to ND, absolutely delighted about that. Best QB commit since Clausen: most class him as the top quarterback in this years recruiting class.

Stats:

2009: Passing 68%, 2200 yards, 25 TDs; Rushing 400 yards, 5 TDs.

2010: Passing 67%, 2645 yards, 36 TDs, 6 INT; Rushing 238 yards, 7 TDs.

2011: Passing 53%, 2517 yards, 28 TDs, 4 INT; Rushing 109 carries, 482 yards, 12 TDs


Recruiting Service Rankings:

ESPN - 4 Star (#2 QB, #1 in IN), #20 Overall (Grade 83) - ESPNU Top 150

Rivals - 5 Star (#1 QB, #1 in IN), #18 Overall (Grade 6.1) - Rivals 100

Scout - 5 Star (#1 QB, #1 in IN), #38 Overall

247Sports - 5 Star (#1 Pro QB, #1 IN), #24 Overall (Grade 98) - Top 247

MaxPreps - 5 Star (#1 QB, #1 IN), #2 Overall

Penn St sanctions announced:

$60MM fine
A loss of 20 scholarships per a year for 4 years.
All victories stripped from 1998-2011, meaning Paterno is no longer the winningest coach.
A 4 year ban on any post-season games
Any student on the current football program can transfer to any other school so they may compete in another football program

The NCAA have certainly hit them hard

But fair?
It's a hard one to call. On one hand it's really just the people left at Penn who are being punished, but, of course, you can't condone all the things that have gone on there.

It is certainly a very tough stance.

As AC said the damage has been done and the people involved have gone and Paterno has died since this all came out, its the people there now who weren't involved who have been hit.

The program has been crippled by this and may never recover, the wins being taken away and the bowl ban was expected but the loss of scholarships and players being allowed to leave is gonna affect them badly

Anyone who follows me on twitter knows my views on the Penn State scandal.

As for the punishments, i fully agree with the loss of a year's revenue, and a great idea to send the money to the specific charity they selected.

Absolutely agree with vacating the 13 years worth of wins of Joe Paterno, college football can't have such a manipulative, evil man at the top of it's "winningest coaches". Now, that's happened, the statues been taken down, and been vindicated, he can go back to rotting underground, probably saving a seat for Sandusky well he's at it.

What i don't agreee with, is the reduction in scholarships, this way, 10 kids who perhaps can't afford to go college may misss out, the chances are if you're being recruited by penn State, other schools will want you, but it's a viscous chain which means there's 10 less places for a scholarship somewhere.

It's also extremely harsh on Bill O'Brien, not only has his job gone from difficult, to borderline impossible, no bowl games, 40 less scholarships, and any player can transfer now, cue an exodus (if i was there, and could transfer, it's an easy decision, athletes want to win).

On the whole, i think Penn State should consider themselves lucky though, there's more than enough evidence for the "death penalty", so at least in 4 years, although they might not be an elite program, mayb eever, they'll still be a program playing in some postseason bowl game.

I take it you disagree with Bill James then Adam?

Vehemently

How's everyone looking forward to Notre Dame's opener in Dublin this coming Saturday?
I tried to get tickets but it's completely sold out. Every hotel room in the city is booked out. There must be a huge support coming over to support the Fighting Irish!