Now Or Never For Charlie Weis

The upcoming 2009 football season for Notre Dame will be pivotal for all involved. Beginning at the top, Charlie Weis finds himself in the hottest seat in college football as head coach at the Golden Dome. His first two years saw two BCS Bowl Appearances, a 19-6 record, and the grooming of a Heisman runner-up in Brady Quinn. The following two years brought the worst season in school history at 3-9 and a 7-6 season, three losses coming from games in which Notre Dame led at halftime.
 
The entire country will be observing closely to see which Irish team is on the field this fall. Will this be a repeat of 2005 with a talented junior QB rising to lead them? Will it be a team that struggles to run the ball and stop the run defensively? Will the past three recruiting classes mature enough to close games and get over the hump?
 
This may be Notre Dame's lightest schedule of recent memory. Michigan is still a year or two away from being contenders. Michigan State is rebuilding after losing their quarterback and running back. Purdue, Pittsburgh, Boston College and UConn are in similar situations. The Irish play 7 home games and one neutral site game against Washington State. Stanford is still rebuilding, Navy lost its core players, Washington will be improved under Sarkisian, and Nevada's defense was ranked in the 100's last year. That leaves Southern Cal, which loses nine defensive starters and has a green QB in Aaron Corp. At this point I have no reason to believe ND has the size and speed to match up with the Trojans. I don't see the Irish losing 38-3 in 2008 to rebound in 2009 with a stunning upset.
 
The Irish return 16 starters, they are experienced and fast at all the skill positions, and Jimmy Clausen enters his third year in Weis' offense. Talent is there. Three top ten recruiting classes tell us so. Flashes of brilliance from Michael Floyd, Golden Tate, Brian Smith, and Robert Blanton tell us so. Two big questions in my mind are in the trenches. Can the offensive line, under new coach Frank Verducci, get the Irish average yard per carry above 3.3? And does the young but explosive defensive line have enough beef to stop the run?
 
Every football game is won and lost in the trenches. If the problems there are addressed and improvements are made quickly, an 11-1 season is within reach. If not, Weis and company will have many questions to answer, and so will Urban Meyer. Irish fans are clinging to memories of the 2008 Hawaii Bowl for a look into the future, but they should also remember the day Syracuse came into South Bend on Senior Day and won. It will be interesting.