Massive week of games, especially with Friday being a full day. Teams in RED would help ND’s seeding in some way and the team I will be rooting for in the respective games. * All times are Central Time Zone 22 Ranked Teams play a decent game this week Thursday Night 6:30 - Memphis @ #17 Tulane - ESPN - Decent Thursday night game plus Tulane could get in if a number of things go their way Friday Morning 11:00 - Oregon State @ #11 Boise State - FOX - Dont see the upset happening, but there is a ch
I'm much more excited this year then I have been in the last 10 years or so. It started well before the season started. Faith and I talked privately about how this could be a title run. We are much better then we were last year. I know things can still go sour. We've already taken 3 hits to our secondary with Collinsworth, Lo Wood and Slaughter. Slaughter's injury may prove costly, but each week that goes by, our secondary will get better. OK, here are 6,000 reasons to be excited. (just kidding)
1. Recruiting~~When I was in a fraternity they hammered into us that recruiting was 'the lifeblood of the fraternity'. I never forgot. I did my part and brought 7 guys to my fraternity from my high school. Kelly does this on a much bigger and much more important scale. We have lost so many guys like Darby, Shepherd, Greenberry, Lynch, Prestwood, etc...... but we keep getting better, faster, bigger and deeper. When we have a weakness, it won't be a weakness for long. Bank on it. Kelly recruits athletes by size, speed and athleticism. Even with all the busts in recruiting defensive backs, we have a group of 4 star athletes over there. Russell, Shumate, Baratti and Farley are all freshmen in eligibility and were recruited because they were athletes, not necessarily defensive backs. Kelly da man!!
2. Manti Te'0~~This may be my favorite player of all time. It didn't start out that way. I thought we had him overrated. Well, he has improved every year and considerring what he has gone through this past couple of weeks, I think he is a remarkable young man and epitomizes everything that is good about Notre Dame. He is a man of great character, great faith, and great ability. It will be a shame if he doesn't win the Butkus award. I think he will!!
3. Defense~~Doesn't this unit just make you bust your buttons with pride?? It started with the recruitment of the defensive line. We already had Manti, but we added Nix, Tuitt, Springmann, Hounschell and Day. This is a remarkable assembly of great lineman. Day is blowing my mind as a true freshman. Tuitt is absolutely becoming unstoppable. It reminds me of Leroy Selmon of Oklahoma when I was a Sooner. Just think, he is just a puppy and I think he will stay 4 years. His momma will want him to and he is having too much fun. He wants to shatter the record books. He wants his degree. He can be the greatest defender in Notre Dame history, and that includes every position. He is on pace for 18 sacks. Tuck told him he hopes he breaks his record.
4. Speed~~It's not all that evident yet, but we are gathering athletes that will make us look more like Oregon. Already, espn announcers don't joke about our lack of speed. We now have some speed at quarterback and more coming in the likes of Malik Zaire. George A3 is just beginning to develop and use his jets. Chris Brown will be a scary deep threat with his burners and 6' 2'' frame. DaVaris Daniels is another speedster with a big frame. Jaylon Smith will be the fastest linebacker ever at Notre Dame next year. I think we get K. Muhammed out of Cali as another blazer in this next recruiting cycle. Have you ever seen a defensive lineman run 77 yards with a fumble at Notre Dame? Speed kills. Day has very good speed.
5. Diaco~~I just love listening to his interviews. Augustine, Ghandi, and player descriptions that include the 'tangibles' such as length, leverage, speed etc.... I have watched this man grow in his defensive knowledge. He can now shut down the triple option. He does not like smaller players. Just look how big we are getting as a team. This is a big reason for our ascent. We need to hang on to coach Diaco.
6. Luck~~Face it. The ball is bouncing our way. Denard throws 5 straight interceptions!! Give me a break. The curse is lifted my friends. There is no way we should have lost to USF and Michigan last year. We were much better then them. Losing those two games made the pessimists think they were realists. Three straight years we lost to Michigan and we were double digit better then them.
OK. Only 5,994 more reasons to be optimistic, but I'm tired and I'm going to bed. Way too much football today and we didn't even play!