Notre Dame Irish Playing In the Title Game Is Possible, But....

Lou Holtz made a bold prediction last week that has both Notre Dame fans and haters buzzing. He predicted that Notre Dame would go undefeated and play in the BCS Title Game against Florida. Of course the USC fans and other haters say that it is impossible.

Nothing is impossible and Holtz's prediction is more possible than the haters will acknowledge. I think Notre Dame were re-energized last Christmas in Hawaii. I expect big things for the Irish this year.

While I do believe that the Irish can compete for a National Championship this year, I know that it is still a long way to get there. Two years ago Michigan entered the season with aspirations of winning a National Championship. Well in the first game of the year, Appalachian State changed those plans very fast.

USC coach Pete Carroll is famous for saying you can't win them all if you don't win the first one. That is another way of saying that a team has to take a season one game at a time. Based on that, a national championship should be the furthest thing from the minds of the players and coaches.

Right now they are still in training camp and have about a week left. After that the focus has to be squarely on Nevada. They can't be looking ahead to Michigan, Michigan State, USC, Boston College, Pittsburgh, or whoever else. The focus needs to be on Nevada at this point and nothing else.

Nevada is a game that the Irish should win. However, the Wolfpack is a team that scares me. Head Coach Chris Ault said last week that they are not going to South Bend to be competitive, they are going to win. That could happen if they are taken lightly. Then any talk of the title game would be all done.

Picked by the league’s coaches to finish second to Boise State in the Western Athletic Conference, Nevada have seven starters back on offense led by junior quarterback Colin Kaepernick and junior running back Vai Taua.

Kaepernick is the WAC’s preseason pick for offensive player of the year. Last season he became only the fifth player in NCAA history to pass for more than 1,000 yards and run for more than 2,000 yards. Taua ran for 1,512 yards last season.

In recent years I have watched Nevada take both Boise State and Hawaii to the limit. That was when both were BCS caliber teams.

At the end of the day the WAC is not the same level of competition that the Irish will face on a weekly basis, but they do have solid football teams.

Irish fans can only hope that when Nevada comes to South Bend, that the team isn't looking ahead. If they are, Notre Dame will make headlines the first week. For all the wrong reasons.

While a trip to the title game is more realistic than many think, it seriously needs to be the last thing on the minds of Irish players.