“Still, it’s doubtful Notre Dame’s offense will be the well-oiled machine it was in 2005 and ‘06 or that it’s defense will be nationally elite, which is why the Irish’s sudden inclusion in the top 25 remains a bit of a leap of faith. I don’t believe it’s justified just yet.”

-Stewart Mandel, Sports Illustrated

Mandel, of course you realize, this means war (at least on the offense comment). Because Notre Dame’s offense will be better in 2009 than it was when Weis ruled offense back in 2005.

First, let me say that there aren’t many better college football writers than Mandel. He writes well, is extremely knowledgeable (few people know enough to write a book on their craft), is even-keeled in judgments, and has Northwestern smarts. Plus, he gets bonus points for objectifying women in the smoothest possible way-as innocent “mailbag crushes”. (He takes a hot, but “down to earth” girl and parlays her likability into increased readership. Brilliant.)

But in this case, he is wrong.

Let me count the ways.

1.) The quarterbacking explosion in ‘05 was a surprise, but you can see this one coming. Nobody expected Quinn to turn into a franchise quarterback after his first 2 years (26tds, 25ints). Weis came aboard and changed his whole career (and Irish fortunes). The turnaround that he accomplished with seasoned players was unavailable. Now, Weis is going into his 3rd year of tutoring Clausen (only 2 with Brady), and the lights are starting to come on. We’ve already seen Jimmy’s potential in games like Purdue, Stanford, North Carolina (Weis put the whole game on the sophomore’s shoulders-and it nearly worked), and of course, Hawaii. After all of his learning experiences, Clausen could make a quantum leap this year, which would lead to an unbelievable offensive season.

2.) Offensive line should be better than 2005. Both have experience (over 100 career starts). 2005’s was senior-laden, and 2009’s will be. 2005’s had one big name Ryan Harris-and the rest (Stevenson, Levoir, Sullivan) were solid guys who did their job. Weis was damned if he had to sub one of those guys though. 2009’s has a giant name as well-Sam Young, but the overall depth and competition (Weis said he could be comfortable going 2 and maybe 3 deep) means that this line will have hungrier players who have earned the rights to knock helmets. As we know from Pete Carroll, competition brings out the best in spirit-and in play.

3.) ND’s offense will have more options. In 2005 versus 2009, the only clear choice for 2005 is the smooth Darius Walker at running back. The 2009 receiving corp of Tate, Floyd, and Rudolph, is far more explosive than the Samardzija, Stovall, Fasano group of 2005. In 2005, Weis could not even trot out 5 wide. In 2009, the depth chart has top 100 receivers (as recruits) in Duval Kamara, Deion Walker, and Shaq Evans to take pressure off the main guys. Clausen already throws with more accuracy and zip that Quinn could (though Quinn was phenomenal in the pocket). I’ll take my chances with explosive-the 2009 group.

(That’s three big ways- exactly the same amount of licks it took to get to the center of a Tootsie-Roll Pop back in the day.)

The 2005 Irish offense has some top-of-the-line players, but the 2009 offense has the weapons and diversity to put on a show like we haven’t seen before (if the o-line does their part).