Here Come the Irish 2009 Edition

The 2008 version of the University of Notre Dame Fighting Irish football team rode a roller coaster of emotion. The Irish came racing out of the gates winning four of their first five games; a promising start for a young but talented Fighting Irish squad. As with many talented young teams, inexperience turned the season's tide resulting in a 2-5 record over the last seven games as the Irish stumbled through the stretch run including three losses in which the Irish blew double digit second half leads (North Carolina, Pittsburgh, Syracuse). Hopes of a bid to a New Years Day bowl vanished and what little solace was left for the young Fighting Irish squad was taken in a bid to the Hawaii Bowl.


The Irish could have mailed in the season and simply enjoyed the fun and sun of Hawaii. Instead, the Irish took advantage of the extra month of practice to pick themselves up off the mat and pummel the defenseless Rainbows 49-21 on their home field ending a 15 year postseason victory drought. The dominating performance left many Irish fans, players, and coaches buoyed with confidence believing the growing pains of 2008 will lead to a strong performance in 2009 similar to the coming out party Brady Quinn and company enjoyed during the 2005 season when the Irish went from mediocrity to BCS challengers in one season.


Is it reasonable to expect such a strong turn around in one season? If history and the Hawaii Bowl are any indication, the answer is yes, but failures fresh in the minds of the Irish Nation from the 2007 and 2008 seasons leave many doubts. Rest easy Irish fans. Here are 5 reasons why the Irish will return to the BCS in 2009.



1. Talent infusion continues: Irish fans are getting tired of hearing about the potential of great young talent and want to see production on the field. With 3 top ten recruiting halls and a 4th recruiting hall ranked in the top 20 under Charlie Weis's leadership, the lack of patience by Notre Dame fans is understandable given the team's record over the last two seasons. However, you can never have enough talent and the incoming class of freshmen figure to contribute early. Players like Manti Teo, Cierre Wood, and Shaq Evans figure to see significant playing time for the Irish this season while adding more athleticism and speed to the roster.



2. Improved O-line Play: Arguably the most important area which needs to improve this season is the play of the offensive line. After posting the worst single season sacks allowed total and the two worst rushing offense performances in school history over the last two seasons, the offensive line needs to have a dramatic turn around. Enter Frank Verducci the new offensive line coach and running game coordinator. Early indications are that Coach Verducci is a stronger teacher of fundamentals than his predecessor John Latina and it has showed with strong ground game performances in the Spring Game and throughout fall camp. If the Irish are going to reach their potential in 2009, the experienced offensive line needs to learn fast.



3. Offensive Firepower: If the offensive line upholds its end of the bargain, the Notre Dame skill players will take advantage. It all starts with Jimmy Clausen. The Junior quarterback appears poised to have a breakout season as he enters his third season in Charlie Weis's pro-style offense. Clausen will have plenty of targets to throw to including arguably the best wide receiver tandem in college football Golden Tate and Michael Floyd as well as super sophomore tight end Kyle Rudolph. At running back, the do it all junior Armando Allen has his burst back which made him a top recruit three years ago. Allen should form a nice one-two punch with talented sophomore tailback Jonas Gray. With a maturing leader in quarterback Jimmy Clausen and Charlie Weis taking over the play calling reigns once more, this Notre Dame team should average more than thirty points per game.



4. Faster More Athletic Defense: Notre Dame's defense will have to overcome youth and inexperience in the front seven most noticeably the defensive line. However, when was the last time Notre Dame fielded a defense which has as much overall team speed and athleticism as this one? You would have to go all the way back to the Lou Holtz era to find one. The secondary is the strength of this unit with proven talent and depth. The return of Darren Walls at corner back is an added boost to a depth chart which already boasted top recruits Raeshon McNeil, Gary Gray, Robert Blanton, and Jamoris Slaughter not to mention veteran safeties Harrison Smith and Kyle McCarthy. Coach Tenuta should have plenty of weapons to use in his blitz heavy scheme at the linebacker position including defensive captain Brian Smith, freshman sensation Manti Teo, and up an coming sophomore Darius Fleming. The key will be if the inexperienced defensive line can hold the point of attack against the run and generate an occasional pass rush without having to send the house on every play leaving the secondary exposed. Coach Randy Hart and graduate assistant Bryant Young have a lot of work to do in a short period of time with this group but have plenty of talent to work with. Under Tenuta's leadership, this defense has the talent to be ranked among the top 35 defensive units in college football. Given the talent on offense, that should be good enough.



5. Rocket Who?: The special teams coverage units were one of the best in college football last year not yielding a single touchdown. With the return of fifth year senior and special teams captain Mike Anello, look for the Notre Dame coverage units to be exceptional again this year, but what about the Irish return game? For most of last season, the Irish returners looked more like snails stuck in their own sludge than top collegiate athletes playing for the most storied college football program in the country. But then on Christmas Eve in Hawaii, the ghost of bowl games past appeared in the form of Golden Tate and Armando Allen all the while having Irish fans swearing they saw the Rocket Ismail in an Irish uniform that day. Armando Allen's 98 yard kickoff return for a touchdown and Golden Tate's punt return for a touchdown (which was called back due to a penalty) give Irish fans hope for more happy returns in 2009. Coach Weis has already indicated that Tate and Allen will split time on punt returns in order to keep them fresh on offense while the kick returning job appears to be open for one of Notre Dame's talented young freshmen. Cierre Wood and Shaq Evans appear to be the front runners for the kick return position, but if they falter Notre Dame has a capable man for the job in Armando Allen.

Coach Weis has never had a team with as much talent and depth as this year's team. One of the residual effects of having this much talented depth is improved blocking on special teams which should provide plenty of opportunities for this talented group of return men to take it to the house that Rockne built.



Season Prediction 10-3 with BCS Bowl Game: The University of Notre Dame Fighting Irish have many reasons for optimism this season. Former Coach Lou Holtz and super fan Beano Cook have already predicted an appearance in the BCS National Championship Game against the University of Florida. While I respect their opinions, Notre Dame is still a year or two away from playing on the National Championship stage. Notre Dame's two toughest opponents this season on paper are Michigan State and USC. The odds of Notre Dame winning or losing both of these games is slim, so the Irish will take a split here. Notre Dame will be favored in their remaining 10 games, but odds are they'll slip up at least once against a traditional rival like Boston College or a tough Pittsburgh team on the road. The Irish will continue their positive trend upward improving their regular season win total by four games and give a valiant effort in their BCS appearance. However, they will fall short against a stronger team leaving Charlie Weis 0-3 in BCS games. In 2010, the Notre Dame defense will catch up to the offense priming Notre Dame for a run at the National Championship.