They have their own television network, movies have been made about their gloriuos past, and the legion of fans are spread across the country. But nearly every football season, Notre Dame proves it does not belong among the elite teams of major college football.
Saturday's 38-34 loss to Michigan is a prime example of why. Notre Dame came into the game with experienced and talented players at most of the skill positions; Michigan came in with a quarterback who was in high school last June and new running backs. Notre Dame came in with a tough offensive and defensive line; Michigan came in with a one-year old offensive scheme - the spread. Notre Dame was in a bowl last year; Michigan went 3-9 and entered this year with the distractions of possible NCAA rules violations for breaking workout rules.
So what happens? Michigan's freshman quarterback Tate Forcier drives the Wolverines down the field for the game-winning touchdown with ease. In fact, Forcier won the game twice. Before his game-winning TD pass, he had a receiver drop one in the end zone on the previous play.
Notre Dame might be a solid, successful football program but does not deserve mention as one of the elite programs of the country until it can beat the Michigans of the world. Head coach Charlie Weiss is now in danger of losing his job because of this loss. Weiss botched the clock management in the final minutes of the game, calling two pass plays instead of runs that could have eaten nearly a minute on the Irish's last possession. What were they thinking?
If there was one good thing about Notre Dame's loss to Michigan, it was that another incredibly overrated program - Ohio State - stole some of the lack of thunder when the Buckeyes lost to Southern Cal and its true-freshman quarterback Matt Barkley, 18-15. USC beat Ohio State in every meaningful statistical category and Barkley outplayed OSU's famed sophomore Terrelle Pryor.
Labels: College, Notre Dame, Ohio State
