whether or not ND is overrated, I'm intrigued that you think the #1 team in the country, with a rugged defense and a Heisman finalist at LB, is going to have a legit problem with a freshman QB making his first start behind a makeshift offensive line.
We take care of business against little brother and we are in a BCS bowl. I think even in the unlikely chance we get to the p-12 champ game and heaven forbid lose to ucla. If we don't beat them we are in trouble. USC beating ND and FSU beating florida we can be back in the championship, but odds are not great of either happening.
ND hasnt been that great against the long ball. If this freshman QB can sling it accurately down the field then i see Lee having a huge game. I think ND has one of the most overrated offenses in college(thats saying something because no one is high on NDs offense) but there ability to capitalize on opponents mistakes is quiet amazing. there D puts their offense in great position all the time. If USC plays a clean game without any big mistakes they will win. Thats not going to happen but I think usc will have a shot just not a good one. Sent from my SPH-L710 using Tapatalk 2
You realize ND almost lost to Pitt, BYU and Purdue at home.....right? ND is VERY beatable. It's why Vegas has them only as a 6pt favorite.
...when was the last time USC got 6+ points at home [in a football game]? Smart money is on the Trojans.
All that freshman QB needs to do is drop the ball to his enormously talented WR's or hand off to the equally talented TB's and away they go.
USC CAN BEAT ND! Hear me out. Monte was regarded as a great defensive mind at one point, and USC isn't devoid of talent on D. The teams that ran all over them? UPTEMPO SPREAD OFFENSE TEAMS. The Ducks, Zona, UCLA. The more traditional/pro style teams? Stanford, Washington, Cal (before all the injuries) didn't do much against USC's defense. ND's offense is not exactly a pro style, but it's not the type of spread offense that will give USC's defense fits. I've heard ND fans predicting a blowout because of USC's "horrible defense". Not if USC comes into this game with passion & focus (despite their epic fail of a season). If Barkley was playing, I think USC wins this game easily. The X factor is fill in QB Max Wittek. USC will hold ND to around 20 points. How many points can they score? The kid doesn't appear to lack confidence. He's already gone on record to guarantee a win. It could happen. In fact, it feels like it SHOULD happen. ND has been the beneficiary of way more than their share of breaks this season (Stanford goal line, Pitt kicker missing a chip shot in OT, and a few more narrow escapes over subpar teams). This feels like their week for it all to come crashing down! http://www.ksdk.com/usatoday/sports...antees-defeat-of-Notre-Dame?usatref=sportsmod
I for one think ND is beyond LUCKY to be in the #1 spot at all! Let's take a good look at their tough schedule: How the BCS views this winner of a schedule as hard is beyond me!!! 1) Beat Navy.... Just about every team in the Pac could beat Navy! 2)Beat the Boilermakers by a field goal 20-17 Purdue is 5-6 3) Beat Michican State another 5-6 team 4) Beat Wolverines by 7 at home 5) Beat Miami a team that lost to Virginia and is a shell of their gloried past! 6) Major bogus game against Stanford where the refs handed them not going into overtime, again by 7 7) Beat a 6-5 BYU team by a FG 8) Their big win against an overrated Sooner team by 17 9) Beat a Pitt team that is 4-6 in the big least by a FG in triple OT!!! 10) Beat a 2-9 Boston College team 11) Beat a Wake Forest team that is 5-6 Now playing a Barkley less USC team.... If any team is do to be rocked it's the Freakin Irish!!! If the wimpy Irish do make it to the national championship, Bama will absolutely crush them!!!!!
They would've beaten Navy anyway, but starting a QB who had fumble-itis and was going to be benched 3 games later after a 1-3 start made it look way more lopsided. Since Navy replaced him with a freshman, we're 6-1. We'll see if a Pac-12 team can beat them, since they'll play one in the Fight Hunger Bowl. But you're high if you think that Colorado or WSU would even make it a game. East Carolina is 7-4, 6-1 in C-USA and we beat them by 24. Air Force is 5-2 in the MWC. Indiana's not nearly the worst team in the Big 10, and we beat them. We played 9-2 San Jose St. with the bad QB (and having a bad QB in the triple option kind of hamstrings your offense) and only lost 12-0.
If its ND vs Bama/Georgia I have no faith that ND wins that. I'd put money on the SEC team 10 times out of 10 and would expect to win it 9 out of 10.
