A message to the best receiver in college football. (I am not sure who you are, but some say you are Oklahoma State’s Dez Bryant. Some say you are Alabama’s Julio Jones. Then, there are others that say Georgia’s A.J. Green, or Illinois’ Regis Benn.) Whoever your are, your days may be be numbered. There is a new kid in town. The entire nation has now been introduced to Irish sophomore sensation-Michael Floyd.

To be fair, Floyd was not an unknown. He has the best receiving season for a freshman in Notre Dame history: 48rec, 719yds, and 7 touchdowns. The national media did give him some props, but it was always as second fiddle to the receivers mentioned above. Especially annoying was that 2 of those (J. Jones, and A.J. Green), are both true sophomores like Floyd, show similar talent levels as Floyd, but they (and not Floyd) are considered the cream of that year’s crop. It must be because those boys play in the SEC , and that automatically means they’re numbers have a higher value than Floyd’s (Okay, they had a little bit better numbers, but you had to worry about the Tide’s running game first when playing ‘Bama, and Green was only the third ‘Dawg to worry about after game-planning for Moreno and Stafford). Or maybe he was overshadowed because Jones had some picture that went viral where he appeared to be doing his Incredible Hulk impersonation and leaping over the Empire State Building.

A look at any college football analyst’s best wide receiver list looks something like this:

1. Dez Bryant, Oklahoma State
2. Julio Jones, Alabama
3. A.J. Green, Georgia
4. Damian Williams, USC
5. Arrelious Benn, Illinois
6. Jordan Shipley, Texas
7. Golden Tate, Notre Dame
8. Mardy Gilyard, Cincinnati

Hmm… there is a certain name missing. But, after September 5th, Michael Floyd’s name will not be missing anymore. Not after a 4 catch, 189 yard, 3 touchdown clinic. Not after showing the holy receiving trinity of size, speed, and leaping ability. Basically, Floyd has more potential as a receiver than Luke Skywalker had as a Jedi. And it won’t hurt Floyd that he has Clausen throwing to him, and having Tate and Rudolph will make it dangerous to double him.

So college football talking heads, scratch your heads, get your erasers or white-out ready, make your finger ready to hit delete on your keyboard, and be prepared to move Michael Floyd on up to the east side of college football’s best receivers. (Even thought you don’t want to because he’s a Domer.)

“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).

I almost died today. In a fiery wreckage of a car crash. Here’s what happened: I was on the road for work and listening to ESPN personality Colin Cowherd. It was slightly after 11:00am and I heard the shock jock say, “A lot of you will hate me, but Notre Dame is gonna win 10 games this year. Without question.” Remember, this from a guy who shouts with joy that cold weather football programs are dead, Notre Dame is too academically rigid, too small, too religion driven, etc. My head started spinning and my vision became blurry. My muscles lost control. By the time I realized I was about to rear end a Honda Accord, it was almost too late. I channeled my inner Carrie Underwood (God, Jesus Take The Wheel is one of my most-hated songs), jerked the wheel to the left, and swerved into the next lane, missing the Accord by like 2 microns. Pileup avoided. The hot blond who I almost hit gives me the finger, and I am fully back in reality. Did Cowherd just say what I think he said?

Look, The Herd is the best radio show on ESPN (and I love Mike & Mike). It is the best because Cowherd is a manipulative S.O.B., and understands that sports fans run on emotion. He attacks this weakness. Makes claims like “Nobody can compete with USC, nobody else can get the athletes. They just pass the eyeball test. Bigger and stronger than everyone else, they made Notre Dame’s players look like little kids.” This, of course, sends Irish fans into a frenzy, foaming at the mouth and ready to fly to Connecticut and meet Colin in the parking lot with a baseball bat.

The problem is, a lot of what he says has some roots of truth. The Irish have lacked athletes (especially defensively). The football powers in the south are stronger than the others (although it is not as simple as “warm weather, pretty girls”).

And when he made his claim about Notre Dame football today, his reasons were right as rain (sounds like a shampoo ad).

-The offensive line experience. The number of starts together by an offensive line has a direct correlation to success. The Blue-Gray Sky has delved into this before. Pre-season magazines get predictions wrong when they look at returning skill players, and ignore the line returnees. The Irish have close to 100 cumulative starts, and should be among the most seasoned in the nation. If you can’t get it done with a senior-laden line that has played together, you will never get it done.

-Weak schedule. USC scares the hell out of me. After that? Umm… Michigan? Michigan State? Boston College? It is a schedule of teams that couldn’t compete in the SEC or Big 12. That ND has to worry about anybody else (Michigan has some rebuilding to do) is just a testament to how bad ND has been lately.

So, Notre Dame should win a lot in 2009. Like double digit wins. When even media guys like Cowherd who like to bang on Notre Dame agree, it clearly indicates that Weis has to win significantly this year. That, or bust.