Q: Why Will Notre Dame do so well this year?

A: The schedule is easy, it has Nevada, Washington, Washington State, UConn, etc. The Irish will be favored in every game except USC.

The Wisdom of Blonde

That’s what the consensus is among savvy media types. Even Lou Holtz is in on this (well, actually, this is not surprising, he has picked Notre Dame to win every game since he joined ESPN, and hasn’t picked the Irish to even have a bad play since 1996-when he actually roamed the sideline).

The schedule is not the answer. As guys like Matt Hinton have already pointed out, The Irish had a similarly “damn easy” schedule last year. And they went .500. And lost to Syracuse. And almost to Navy (again). And almost to San Diego State.

While schools have suffered losses (Pitt doesn’t have LeSean McCoy, for example), and many are breaking in new quarterbacks, you can expect Nevada, Michigan, and Michigan State to give the Irish fits this year as well. USC is USC, and the Irish would have to tear off the clothes of at least 3 Rachel Phelps’s from Major League cut-outs to make up the point differential between the two teams.

So no, the answer isn’t the schedule. The answer is the players. It’s Clausen, Allen, Tate, Floyd, Rudolph, and the entire o-line on offense. It’s Johnson, Lewis-Moore, Fleming, Te’o, Smith, Walls, Blanton, McCarthy, and Smith (yes, a different one) on defense. Are they significantly better as a year wiser (and is Te’o a man from day 1)? Were they an underachieving bunch before? Will adding Verducci, Alford, Hart, and Young up their football prowess? How much better do players get with age (the fine wine pun is tempting here)?

If the players live up to their blue-chip status, Notre Dame will annoy a lot of haters this year. If not, ND lovers will be left to wonder what it will take to make the Irish truly viable again.

If there is one thing that separates Jimmy Clausen from becoming a great quarterback-it is his footwork in the pocket. In 2007, he was dropped more often than the prom dresses of every high school girl that spring. After this experience, he spent 2008 bailing out of the pocket faster than Pete Carroll tweets a ! at the end of every sentence.

But, in 2009, the word is that Clausen can now handle the pocket.

From Eric Hansen (press conference notes):

One of the most profound improvements Weis has seen in junior quarterback Jimmy Clausen since the end of last season is his footwork.

“But (the more-experienced) dropback quarterbacks - the Tom Bradys and Peyton Mannings of the world - what they do is shuffle in the pocket and find that window. It might be six inches. It might be three feet. But he’s done a real good job of finding that window instead of just bailing out when pressure comes his way.”

His secret to learning the art of moving in the pocket?

Beside a lot of film study to become even more comfortable in the offense, Weis forced Clausen to become a master of the game Twister by playing with his offensive lineman and a group of girls. Why? Because if Clausen could learn to keep cool and collected while getting body parts tangled with hot babes, and his face getting stuck near Sam Young’s plumber’s butt- then stepping up in the pocket when defensive lineman collapse it wouldn’t be a problem.

As tough as that sounds, that was the easy part. Now, he has to back up Weis’s claim during the season when defenses go wild.

PLAY THIS, AND YOU CAN BE A GREAT QUARTERBACK TOO! (Also a great way to get close to girls.)

Nobody really knows how Notre Dame’s season will turn out, but one thing is certain for Irish fans:

It cannot turn out like a Rodney Carrington song.

Rodney Carrington is a comedian/county singer. He is a good ‘ole boy that loves beer, boobies, fat chicks, this country, and his own wiener (however, he is afraid of anybody else’s wiener-as any straight man should be). But, he often finds himself in a hairy situation, and that aspect reminds me of the Fighting Irish in recent years.

Here’s what I mean.

I recently wrote an article that basically said the talent on this Notre Dame roster will have all the answers this season-for the fans, and for anyone involved in the Notre Dame institution. Maturing talent + new explosive playmakers=victories.

But, there are still 3 major questions.

1.) The offensive line
2.) The defensive line
3.) Charlie Weis’s coaching abilities

The offensive line hasn’t yet learned the precise science of run blocking (knock the defender on his rump). The defensive line has Ethan Johnson and a bunch of question marks. It’s not an SEC-type d-line that requires a graphing calculator to solve for the number of interchangeable interior lineman that can disrupt offenses (x=a lot). And we all know that Weis’ offensive genius has been mocked more than Newton when he said gravity was the reason an apple fell on his head (in other words, Weis has to prove himself again.)

The o-line must figure out run blocking (looking at you, Frank Verducci). Kapron Lewis-Moore, Ian Williams, Brandon Newman, Kerry Neal and Co. must show that the d-line isn’t a one-trick pony. And Charlie must bring a diversified offense that causes guys like Jason Whitlock to come up with some new material instead of doing his comedy tour based on the “decided schematic advantage” routine, and gives the boys at Blue-Gray Sky even more ways to demonstrate they could give Ron Jaworski a run for his money in breaking down football schemes.

The point is, that even with the talent assembled, we might not get the good that is expected-and the season could be a major disappointment. Rodney Carrington-style disappointment, at that.

Rodney knows what to say when you don’t get what you bargained for. Would you?

Put Your Clothes Back On!