Best line this week, from a young ND alum….
“Dayne Crist might not be on anyone’s Heisman list, but at least he wasn’t arrested for kicking anyone in the head.”
So true, so true.
It’s been an off-season like no other in college football history. The list of miscreants and investigation targets reads like a Top 10:
Ohio State. Auburn. Oregon. Boise State. LSU. Miami. (And throw in USC and North Carolina from last season.)
If ever there was a time that a program like Notre Dame needed to rise up and be the face of college football, this is it. Put the low points of the last 12 months aside; the Irish have a chance to show the rest of the sport how to reach the top level without operating like bandits.
Coach Brian Kelly and staff have changed attitudes, improved conditioning, upgraded recruiting.
Now it’s simple, really — just win games.
The keys to the season may well be the early-season matchups with Michigan and Michigan State. The Irish have lost 8 of their last 12 games against their two northern neighbors, including four of the last five vs. Michigan and three of the last four vs. MSU.
It’s been nine years since the Irish made it out of September unscathed, when Ty Willingham’s first squad in 2002 used pluck and luck to squeak out a series of odd wins en route to an 8-0 start.
If the Irish can start fast with some early wins, maybe even ESPN (which isn’t ashamed to air an hour-long Season-Preview Special with nary a mention of ND) will notice.
