Not a whole lot of movement in this week’s opponent poll. Washington State did retake the 12th spot after getting blown out by Oregon though.
2009 UHND Opponent Poll |
||||||
| Opponent | Record | Last Week | Next | Comments | ||
| 1. |  |
#4 Southern Cal Trojans |
4-1 | 1 | @ Notre Dmae | USC made short order of Cal and bottled up Jahvid Best. USC will get Ronald Johnson back for their trip to South Bend. |
| 2. |  |
Michigan Wolverines |
4-1 | 2 | @ #12 Iowa | Michigan suffered their first loss of the season to in-state rival Michigan State in overtime. They face a huge test visiting Iowa this weekend. |
| 2. |  |
Stanford Cardinal |
4-1 | 3 | @ Oregon State | Stanford held on for victory against UCLA and shares the lead in the Pac 10. |
| 4. |  |
Pitt Panthers |
4-1 | 4 | vs. UConn | Pitt took care of business against Louisville and will face 3-1 UConn this weekend. |
| 5. |  |
Boston College Eagles |
4-1 | 5 | @ #5 Virginia Tech | Boston College nearly blew a 21-3 lead to Florida State, but held on to take down the Seminoles. They face 5th ranked Virginia Tech this weekend. |
| 6. |  |
Washington Huskies |
2-3 | 6 | vs. Arizona | Washington nearly came into South Bend and knocked off the Irish. They’ll get an easier test this weekend against Arizona. |
| 7. |  |
Michigan State Spartans |
2-3 | 7 | @ Illinois | Michigan State took down Michigan in OT and should get back to .500 this weekend against Illinois. |
| 8. |  |
Navy Midshipmen |
3-2 | 8 | vs. Air Force | Navy took out Air Force in overtime and should notch another win this weekend against Rice. |
| 9. |  |
UConn Huskies |
3-1 | 9 | @ Pittsburgh | UConn comes off the bye week looking to take out conference rival Pitt. |
| 10. |  |
Purdue Boilermakers |
1-4 | 10 | @ Minnesota | Purdue lost their 4th game in a row against Northwestern this past weekend. |
| 11. |  |
Nevada Wolf Pack |
1-3 | 12 | vs. Louisiana Tech | Nevada got their first win with over 700 yards of offense including an eye popping 559 on the ground. |
| 12. |  |
Washington State Cougars |
1-4 | 11 | vs. Arizona State | Washington State got taken to the woodshed this weekend against #16 Oregon. Their schedule won’t lighten up much with Arizona State, Cal, and Notre Dame their next three opponents. |
UHND Opponent Poll Voters
- Frank Vitovitch, Kyle Flavin, & Jeff Felix – UHND.com
- OC Domer – OC Domer Blog
- Jimmy Irish – Domewire.com
Frank,
Can you update this? What’s interesting is looking at the records. The Pac-10 actually brings down our schedule rating at this point in the season. Nevada is winning and so is Navy. Purdue beating Ohio State helped. Guess “The” Ohio State forgot to show and just Ohio St. played. MSU is winning and looking strong. Stanford, and Pitt look tough. BC and UConn must be taken seriously. ND can slow BC’s run and must block. UConn should be a win if there is no let down. WSU is woeful. Navy will not be an issue. More like Nevada than Michigan. Navy won’t have help from the refs.
If ND can just play a little better on defense, meaning tigher pass coverage and consistent run stoppage, this team should win out. Maybe no BCS bowl, but consider a solid win in a New Year’s day bowl against a top 15 opponent. It’s always about what’s next. ND can make a go at what’s next.
Question: How is UConn #9 and Pitt #4 on this SOS listing. They are without a doubt the two toughest teams ND will play this season outside of U$C.
1. U$C
2. Pitt
3. UConn
4. Stanford
5. Michigan
6. Washington
7. MSU
8. Navy
9. Nevada
10. BC
11. Purdue
12. Washington State
No arguments
Frank,
Can we get a recruitment update?
I read a quote today from coach latex where he said, And I quote:
” This, being a bye week, is a huge week for Academics”
I’m assuming he’s talking about his players opening one of those pesky, cumbersome class books that they sometimes carry around.
Wouldn’t he be surprised to know that every week is a huge week for Academics when you attend Notre Dame!
Shazamrock you got it. At ND school is in session every day.
I think Pete was talking about football academics. They’ll be studying the play books. Don’t want any more weightlifting accidents. He’s worried all that free time might be spent on risky activities. Nope, they’ll prepare like a pro team.
As for collegiate studies, they handed in they’re doodle pads the summer before freshman year. Doodles are the equivalent of AP credits for USC football players. They’ve effectively tested out of actual classtime during their stint in Watts.
C-Dog.
I heard Taylor Mays was a little rusty in his tackling in his first game back from injury agianst Cal. So he decided to skip his ballroom dancing class so he could practice more on the tackling sled. I hope the young man isn’t jeopordizing his future by skipping classes. You know, after football you can’t get on “Dancing with The Stars” with one gimppy leg.
I would like to see ND get a early lead in the game. Up until the Cal game, USC had struggled for points. Cal was way over rated. Once USC took away the running back, Best, Cal was one dimentional and had no passing game. Ohio State had them bottled most all day. If Tressel hadn’t been so conseritive in his play calling OS would have won. While there is no substitute for sound tackling, I think Tenuta has been holding some of his schemes back so far this year in preperation for this game. He’s facing young freshmen QB’s who are pocket passer’s. That’s his speciality. Breaking down or overwhelming pocket passers. And while a QB like Barkley could burn you with scramble runs, he is no Tate Foricer.
Get a lead, get the crowd going, keep the pressure on, then look for the Freshmen QB to force the ball, panic, loose composure, and make freshmen mistakes. I don’t care how good or talented a QB might be. Get constant pressure and he become very, very, ordinary.
Shazamrock’s gotta great point. We have to remember, this kids only a freshman. Rock him a few times and keep him on his heels.
USC has played 5 games this year. If I remember correctly he (Barkley) missed one of those games with a bad shoulder. This will be only his 5th start. Ohio State and
Washington were the only decent defences that he has faced. They lost 1 and should have lost the other.
ND restricts their freshmen from talking to the media. Basicly because they haven’t earned the right yet. But slippery Pete lets his kid shoot off his mouth week after week.
I hope Tenuta has a few tricks up his sleeve for this guy. He hasn’t paid his dues and needs to be put in his place
Well said. I agree completely
Barkley did not play against UW.
To beat USC, we’ll need to run effectively. Carrol’s teams can shut down a running game to nothing. If we eliminate plays for no gain or a loss and keep our average close to what it is now, we’ll test his patience. Carroll does not react well to teams who do run well against him. But we’ll need to be patient. Weis will need to run a series that is vanilla but effective. Mix a few fancy plays in, but mostly pound. That line better get psyched for something like that. They’ll need a spark. With fewer players travelling, USC won’t be able to liberally substitute. WE should wear that defense down.
On defense, ND should substitute every third playor so. Keep the kids fresh. Teo can play a whole game, but I’d rest him at intervals. The corners need to tighten up a bit but still keep it in front of them. When playing with help, the corner safety combo need to play as a team of two. Know your assignment and trust the other guy. Tackling, first guy wrap, next two or three guys hit. Gang tackling, swarming.
Finally, don’t get psyched out. These guys are mortal. Carroll with all his smiles teaches intimidation. They bump up against opposing players, coaches and refs. They work everyone out there. Weis’ personality won’t help him with the refs, but he can let the team know, they will stand tall.
This game is about ND becoming and being ND. If the team concentrates on themselves, USC becomes another opponent. ND will win.
does anyone know how Oklahoma is ranked #19 in the AP? they are 2-2, with wins against idaho state and tulsa.
i believe this is a prime example of how much emphasis is placed on margin of victory and/or defeat.
sure they crushed the bengals 64-0, and the golden hurricanes 45-0, but who cares? a w is a w
sure they lost to byu by 1, and miami by 1, but who cares? they still lost the game!
the teams play the games to win, not cover the spread.
i don’t think nd deserves to be ranked at this time, but neither does oklahoma. if bradford gets healthy and they beat texas in a couple weeks it will be a different story, but for now, bullshit!
you might find these interesting:
http://www.blueandgold.com/content/?aid=7940
http://www.blueandgold.com/content/?aid=7945
thanks for the heads up.
Notre Dame is spelled wrong (Notre Dmae) as usc’s next opponent. Please fix.
Jog on dude. Everyone gets the point
In my opinion, the Huskies are no slouch. They have a solid redzone defense and a gamer at QB. Bottom line is, we won.
-The Leprechaun
http://www.myfightingirish.net
What did he say ? #2:
USC Freshmen QB Matt Barkley:
I respect him (JC) as a quarterback — I think he’s awesome regardless of what people say about his attitude,” Barkley said. “I like the kid.
“I think he’s a great competitor, but at the same time I think he’ll get a little taste of what our defense is all about next weekend.”
Since Jimmy just keeps his mouth shut and goes about his business, I think it’s up to his offensive line and defence to answer this punkass freshmen who has only played 5 games. I hate these bold as brass west Coast brats that think that they are so freakin special. Who the hell is he to spout off about ATTITUDE? This “kid” needs to be put in his place.
He tries to come off like he’s some great 5th year senior. After just 5 games, he hasn’t done jackshit. Make him look like the freshmen that he is.
SHUT HIM UP GUYS. SHUT HIM UP GOOD.
Man, these people sure can talk some smack.
What they say? #3 headline:
Notre Dame benefits from, yep, luck of the Irish
Back from Berkeley in time for a landscape recap, with inspiration from USC Sports Writer Joe Kapp.
* Luckiest weekend team: Notre Dame Fighting Irish, as in “the luck of the . . . ”
Joke: How many Irish players does it take to stop Washington (twice) on the goal line?
Answer: One Washington offensive coordinator.
(Notice how they didn’t blame the ex-USC now Washington Huskies head coach)
Clausen has 12 passing touchdwons and Barkley only has 3.
i would never want nd to hurt another player on purpose, i want to beat them fairly, and yes i know you were kidding.
best chance is our secondary doing something with the way tenuta is calling the defense right now. keep playing manti(he earned it). stay with the subbing on the d line. offense needs to keep doing what they are doing, minus the penalties although referee pissing matches need to stop! tate needs to watch his ass going across the middle with mays there looking for helmet to helmet action because he knows pac10 refs won’t call it esp. after last week. jimmy needs to look after his wr’s so they don’t share in this criminal action that i feel is coming. weis needs to keep planning like he has except for one thing, stop trying to out think a college defense, they are not the nfl teams you are used to. wait for them to stop what you are doing before changing. better yet, mix it up so no one knows what you are doing, including us fans.
“What do you guys think is the perfect recipe to take out Southern Cal?”
is that you, pete? are you really that scared? i would be too!
What do you guys think is the perfect recipe to take out Southern Cal?
(besides purposly injuring their Quarterback)
I think we have a way better chance then they think.
Also, I can’t wait till we get our hands on Boston College, it’s about time we gove them a nice ass kicking