Return to "Return to Glory"

There is no more optimistic time of the year than the few weeks leading up to football season. I think that a lifetime of being a Cubs fan and eternally "waiting til next year" has made me one of the most optimistic preseason Irish football fans, seeing as how I've never predicted a record worse than 8-3. And even as I look at the schedule this year, it would be easy to point to all but two or three games and say we should win the rest. Add in an upset or two, and the excitement of having a new coach, and the fairy tale season writes itself. But Charlie has been out of the college game for years, and our defense, especially in the secondary, is such a HUGE concern that there will inevitably be some frustration along the way. Playing four of the first five on the road and having a front-loaded schedule makes me wonder what the physical and mental state of this team will be when facing Navy, Syracuse, and Stanford in the last three weeks. But five of our opponents have new coaches too, and overall I think we will acquit ourselves well against one of the nation's toughest schedules.

Pitt -- Deja vu all over again. A new coach's first game, at night in an NFL stadium, against a team that had a very successful season last year and made its first BCS appearance but got blown out. We'll even score an offensive touchdown this time in winning by 10.

Michigan -- They have a ton of weapons and it could be a long day for our CBs. Their secondary is down too though, and we might hang with them for a while before eventually losing by 13.

Michigan State -- This is a D-line that our offensive front should dominate. They allowed 172 yards per game on the ground last year and our backfield will have a big day. A big win in the home opener by 16.

Washington -- Any one of us could coach this team this year and be virtually guaranteed of improving on a one-win season. It'll be interesting to see how much credit Willingham gets for their "turnaround." They'll get a reality check here, though, as we win by 25.

Purdue -- I'm already sick of hearing about their national championship hopes just because they don't play OSU or Michigan. They won't even win the Big 10 because one, they don't have any open weeks and two, every year they seem to have at least one inexplicable loss. Over the last four years they've lost to Illinois (twice), Indiana, Wake Forest, Bowling Green, and Northwestern. They also have a young offensive line, so even with their deep receiving corps it'll be a matter of whether Kirsch can stay upright long enough to be effective. Their defense looks to be underrated, and while they won't score 41 again, they will beat us by 13.

USC -- Since we beat them in 2001, they've gone 40-4 and will probably be on a 27 game winning streak when they come to South Bend. They have their Heisman Trophy winning QB back, along with two freaking awesome running backs and their top 5 receivers from last year. This one has all the makings of another blowout...except that that's exactly what triggers those magical moments at ND. This game will go down in history as one of the best in the rivalry. Speaking of deja vu, it'll be the first time #1 has come to ND since Nebraska and, as in that game, we might even take them to OT. In the end, though, it will be four in a row for SC as they get a big play late and win by 4.

BYU -- The difference (well, one of the differences) between Charlie and Co. and the previous two coaches is that these guys won't let the team go into a tailspin after a close loss. We take it out on the Cougars and win by 28.

Tennessee -- Another good team with many weapons. It's very tempting to pick the upset, but the Vols know how to win in our stadium. Plus, this is the point in the season where a key injury will really limit our effectiveness somewhere and UT gets revenge, winning by 8.

Navy -- After two excellent years by Navy standards, it'll be a rebuilding season for the Mids. In four home games against Navy, Mr. Find A Way and the Golfer only beat them by an average of 8 points. Finally, a big win over Navy that feels like it should -- win by 35.

Syracuse -- A one-dimensional team whose new coach is trying to foist the west coast offense on, despite having a mediocre QB and virtually no receivers. They'll experience growing pains that we might be familiar with, including this road loss by 26.

Stanford -- If these guys haven't completely mailed it in by this game, I'll be surprised. They're not that good to begin with, and they'll have faced UCLA, USC, and Cal in three of the previous four weeks. Throw in this being their 9th straight game and we'll cruise on the Farm again, winning by 32.

So we'll finish strong and be 7-4 heading into the bowl game. Shockingly, the coaches won't take the month of December off and will actually be prepared. Recruiting continues to be strong, especially if we upset USC or Tennessee. Most importantly, I think we'll see fewer dumb mistakes and wasted timeouts, and the mistakes that are made won't be repeated. The winning tradition will return sooner than some might think, because these coaches know how to win. I'll take a three-time Super Bowl winning offensive coordinator over someone from the Pac 10 who did get Stanford to a Rose Bowl but otherwise was a .549 coach. It won't happen overnight, like it didn't with Lou, but this is the real deal.