This week’s poll is a little bit different. We have a couple people contributing to the rankings instead of just me this week. Jimmy from Domewire.com and OC Domer have both begun voting in our weekly poll as well as Kyle Flavin from here at UHND. If any other Notre Dame bloggers out there would like to join our poll, please contact us.
2009 UHND Opponent Poll |
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| Opponent | Record | Last Week | Next | Comments | ||
| 1. |  |
#4 Southern Cal Trojans |
1-0 | 1 | vs. #6 Ohio State (9-12) | USc racked up over 350 yards on the ground in freshman Matt Barkley’s starting debut. USC will get a tough test in Columbus next weekend. |
| 2. |  |
Michigan State Spartans |
1-0 | 2 | vs. Central Michigan (9/12) | Michigan State wasn’t overly impressive in their season opener, but that is the kind of team MSU is. They aren’t flashy, but Dantonio has MSU playing sound football. MSU and Pitt were tied in this week’s poll as the 2nd toughest Irish opponent. |
| 2. |  |
Pitt Panthers |
1-0 | 3 | @ Buffalo (9/12) | Pitt wasn’t tested this weekend, but it looks like they might have a capable replacement for Shady McCoy in Dion Lewis. |
| 4. |  |
Boston College Eagles |
1-0 | 6 | vs. Kent State (9/12) | Boston College pitched a shut out against Northeastern and probably won’t be tested again this weekend. BC and Michigan both jumped up a bit and were tied for 4th. |
| 4. |  |
Michigan Wolverines |
1-0 | 7 | vs. Notre Dame (9/12) | Michigan was one of the surprises from the opening weekend in college football with a 31-7 win. This weekned’s game looks much tougher now than it did 2 weeks ago. |
| 6. |  |
Navy Midshipmen |
0-1 | 8 | vs. Louisiana Tech (9/12) | Welcome to our world Ohio State fans. After Navy put a big scare into Ohio State, maybe outside fans won’t give Notre Dame as much grief about playing them every year. |
| 7. |  |
Stanford Cardinal |
1-0 | 5 | @ Wake Forest (9/12) | Stanford wasn’t overly impressive against Washington State, but will get a tougher test from Wake Forest this weekend. |
| 8. |  |
Washington Huskies |
0-1 | 10 | vs. Idaho (9/12) | Washington was another surprise this weekend after giving LSU a tough game. Jake Locker is a great QB and as long as he’s healthy, he will give Washington a fighting chance in most games. |
| 9. |  |
Nevada Wolf Pack |
0-1 | 4 | @ Colorado State (9/19) | Notre Dame shut out Nevada for just the third time in Chris Ault’s tenure with the Wolf Pack. |
| 10. |  |
Purdue Boilermakers |
1-0 | 11 | @ Oregon (9/12) | Purdue ran the ball very well in their season opener, but will be hard pressed to duplicate that success against Oregon. |
| 11. |  |
UConn Huskies |
1-0 | 9 | vs. #21 UNC (9/12) | UConn won, but looked ugly doing so. Zach Frazer was intercepted three times as UConn squeaked by Ohio. |
| 12. |  |
Washington State Cougars |
0-1 | 12 | vs. Hawaii (9/12) | Washington State looked a little better than they did last year, but they are still a mess. WSU was the #12 team in all four ballots this week. |
UHND Opponent Poll Voters
- Frank Vitovitch & Kyle Flavin – UHND.com
- OC Domer – OC Domer Blog
- Jimmy Irish – Domewire.com
C-Dog and Chris,
You are right on. Ride that wave of hate right into Ann Arbor and let the bodies hit the floor.
All this is just what ND needs providing the IRISH get hell bent on a little pay back. I say to Pat and Mark – keep it comin’….Know where you are going Irish but dont forget what you’ve ben through these past few years. Man if that doesnt motivate them to play like the old ND of old nothing will. GO IRISH! Take care of business in Ann Arbor.
Did anyone else see Pat Forde’s comments about ND yesterday in his notes? He “told” Rich Rod to please be prepared and beat ND because the Irish are getting “uppity” again. We won 1 game, our first game, and are getting “uppity”.
He and Mark May should move in together and let their unbridled rage for Notre Dame take full effect, while they hold eachother crying in the dark.
What a dick.
Pat Forde says nothing of value. He’s marketing to fat slobs who don’t know the difference between analysis and soap opera fluff. He should hang out with the group of biddies who sit around with Barbara Walters and chat.
He’s useless and don’t even let ESPN see you’ve read his articles.
Pat Forde doesn’t know what he’s talking about.
ND must also stay keenly aware that they are not and will not be respected until they start taking care of business against their rivals. This is fodder for a team that finally appears hungry! If Weis is smart he uses this for all its worth and turns this hunger into a raging fire!
He must also CONTINUE to EXECUTE throughout the game until the final whistle. He let 8-9 minutes go by and in essence wasted by not giving a back up QB anything of substance to run in a real game situation. I mean 3rd and 7 and Weis calls a draw? Weis lowers the bar by doing this and he may not even realize it but come on! I beleive Weis must present a dire game situation to these younger guys in the huddle when they are ahead like that. If the game is on the line, you’re gonna call a play action pass not a draw so why allow them to practice something that isnt realistic should a Clausen or an Allen go down. Man it just grinds me to see that ultra conservative play calling and wasted opportunity to push your team towards excellence! Trust your players – challange your players raise the bar for your players! Its not running up the score by demanding good execution and if you think it is remember its not the Irish’s job to keep the score down – thats the opposing teams job. Practice what you expect to accomplish in a game. Play with the intention on using every situation to get better.
The national spotlight and an ability to get a Crist and other young rising stars some real playing time in this venue is absolutely priceless and rare. You simply can not replicate this in practice and to let similar opportunities slip by is tragic especially with what ND Football has been through these many years. While I am sure some players need to be eased into this situation I dare say most are chomping at the bit to have an opportunity to shine! It seems successful teams get players involved a lot more earlier and they end up having 2-3 years of impact verses us waiting like 3 years to have one good year – there are of course exceptions but it still seems to be the norm. In any event overll I like what I see – GO IRISH!
i couldn’t agree more. the playcalling towards the end of win……sucks, for lack of a better word. all i have to add to this is, look at oklahoma now. without bradford, they lost due to the back-up qb lacking any real experience. yes he was a redshirt freshman, but it still serves the purpose of what can happen with a back-up that has no real experience running the offense. handing the ball off does nothing for the qb and the running back who has to take the punishment because the defense knows where the ball is going.
I was very surprised by Washington. They didn’t look like the same team against LSU. I’ll wait to see if we beat Michigan and Michigan State, before I get my hopes up.
ND will be too much for Michigan to handle – Irish wide outs Tate and Floyd will run wild over the smaller Michigan secondary. A lot of youth on Michigan and I do not think they have the horses this year. Forcier will be on a big stage which is a ton of pressure for a true freshman. If the Irish offensive line plays like they are really capable of playing – a win should not be in doubt. Tenuta will make things miserable for Forcier and company – ND 38 MI 14.
Chris, I like your thinking.
Remember a couple of years back, ND sent a team full of freshmen and sophomores into the Big House to
play Big, Bad, Michigan? The week before little old Appalachian State went in there and embarrassed the Wolverines. App. State was a team that played fast and loose, and with a ton of confidence.
Made Michigan look really bad in their home opener. Flushed their season in week one.
So what happens? At the start of the following week, Big Shot Mike Hart shoots off his big mouth and guarantee’s a Michigan win over ND. A Michigan team loaded with seniors and first round draft pick’s playing against a young inexperienced team at home. What a gutsy call. What a class act Mike was that day. Classy enough that I still remember.
I remember Michigan beat us pretty good that day. They had us down 38 to 0 and were going for more as
the game, and 4th quarter ended.
Well come this Saturday, this same ND team is going back to the Big House. To face off against Big, Bad, Michigan once again.
Only this time we are not going back as wide-eyed, intimidated, inexperienced freshmen. We are the ones coming in with tons of confidence and playing fast and loose. Although I can’t promise that Mr. Hart will be on the sidelines for this game. I will predict that if he is, he’ll be forced to keep his big mouth shut.
Where is Mike Hart? Did he even make it in the NFL? I wonder how he balanced studies with practice time?
In 2008 he was a 6th round draft choice for the colts.
Put up some real Mike Hart numbers(6yards on 2 carries)and carried Peyton Manning’s jock.
This year he got cut, then assigned to the practice squad
C-Dog, you got that last part backwards. It’s how he balanced practice time with those bothersome studies. It is, after all Michigan.
Now if he shows up at your front door and you can’t get rid of him, I suggest that you just pay him for the pizza.
Shazamrock,
That was so well put. Thanks for making my day a good one.
I could see MSU move down if they don’t get a run game going. Michigan now looks scary. Navy looks tough too. Washington also looks very different. Those who say ND’s schedule is light might have to eat their words by the season’s end.
UCONN should be 1-0 according to your comment on them. I would agree with that order. Interesting game this weekend.