2008 Season Preview: Birthday Edition

Then they survive another game against Virginia Tech, where Beamer does away with the offense and defense and runs nothing but special teams plays all game long, but North Carolina ground out a victory on the ground. Tarheels won 33-14

Their game against Miami was a tale of two halves, with both teams jumping out early, and the offenses stagnating in the second half. Jimmy Johnson parachuted into the game, then punched out Coach Davis before trying to wrangle the headphones from Randy Shannon during the fourth quarter. He and John L. Smith are reportedly both heavily medicated but showing signs of improvement at an undisclosed sanitarium. They won the game 31-28.

The game before this one was a methodical dismantling of Connecticut by a score of - you guessed it - 42-6.

The Tarheels and Irish met on the gridiron, and they battled it out in an epic game. The lead changed hands 5 times, and both teams had big plays on offense and defense. It was like a championship bout, with the teams trading blow for blow. Burkhart missed a field goal, bouncing it off of the upright, from 61 yards as time expired in regulation, sending the game into overtime.

Hours later, Greg Little fumbled on the 1 yard line during an attempted two point conversion, recovered by the Irish and ending the longest game ever.

Prediction: 96-94 Notre Dame (13 OT)

at Washington

There was much anticipation regarding this matchup between Weis and Willingham in each of their fourth seasons as the leader of their respective programs.

The first quarter got started under the leadership of Ed Donatell, the defensive coordinator, sparking whispers around the stadium that the winless Huskies had finally jettisoned the beleagured Ty Willingham.

However, part way through the game, Willingham pulled into the stadium in his golf cart, with his golf bag still in the back. After signing his scorecard, he took the clipboard and headset, and started glaring at his players, who had already fallen behind 14-0.

The Irish rolled easily over the Huskies, although they did have some trouble with the athletic Jake Locker, who threw for one touchdown and ran for two more. Problem is, they were all called back for penalties.

But the Irish offensive attack was on full speed during this game, spreading the ball to 20 different receivers and using 12 different players to run the ball. They had 7 different players score. Crist played the entire fourth quarter, throwing for a touchdown of his own - the second of his career.

Prediction: 49-0 Notre Dame

vs. Pittsburgh

Charlie Weis put on a clinic this week at Pitt. Aside from an early mistake by Brady Quinn Jimmy Clausen, which I'm willing to chalk up to first game jitters, Notre Dame scored touchdowns on 6 of their first 7 drives. They made Wannestedt, a "defensive guru," look silly. And, Notre Dame's first team never had to punt.

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