The State of The Nation, The Irish Fan Base

I have been reading and writing several articles about Notre Dame football. I think what all can agree on is a huge improvement over the last 2 seasons. The degree of the improvement seems to be a matter of debate. This is the year Charlie Weis has to show what he can do with his own recruits.

What concerns me is the comments people are leaving. I seem many comments of "high standard" and big achievements with 9 or 10 wins this season. Now, that is certainly a large improvement but not what we should expect. We caught many lucky breaks with this schedule. We should all expect 12 wins, not 8, 9 or 10. 

In the 2000 season, we opened up against Nebraska. The game came down to the final minutes and the tie breaking system. I was startled to see that Irish fans were satisfied with just playing the game close. My wife gave me a DVD committed to Notre Dame football history. The commentator recapped the last touch down drive by the Irish. What was disheartening was how the commentator seemed to think that was enough. We did not win that game. The "Bush push" was not the only thing that went wrong in the final minutes of that game. Attitude and determination was missing from that squad, not that they had none just not enough.

Injuries, bad calls and bad luck can derail a football season. In 2005, for example, if Rhema Mcknight stays healthy who can say what would have happened. My main concern is not to accept lower results. Remember, USC was not always just appointed nearly invincible every year. I still do not understand why people are just willing to write that game as a loss this year. New quarterbacks do take time to adjust, 5 games should not be enough time. As I said before, we will need to see what happens on the field.

What I expect is 12 wins this year. Our offense can attack in many different areas. Our defense should be able to contain our opponents. We need a blow out victory over Nevada to prove this. If that does not happen all bets are off. We should not just expect the worse and accept it. We should always strive for the Championship as the goal not just a few wins.