Notre Dame Football: National Championship and Heisman odds show the Irish as real contenders
- Thread starter 88ND
- Start date
I think this is more of a reflection of the blue blood brand name than any real evidence ND is a contender this season.
Week 3 will begin to tell us what we need to know -- heading down to NC State. How this team approaches the contest will give us an insight for the remainder of the season. Then OSU/Duke back to back -- heading to Duke (who is projected to be sneaky good) after what I anticipate to be as an emotionally and physically charged game with OSU (think back to last fall after OSU).
Really a fair assessment considering they have ND listed as the 12th most likely team to win it all. There are high hopes for Hartman too and they have him listed as the 5th most likely to win a Heisman. We have a QB with a proven track record at the helm, best RB room in years, some very young, but talented WR's and an o-line with two NFL tackles. Defense looks strong as well minus the D-Line which has something to prove this year.
I'm excited! My only concern is ND recruiting 2024 and beyond. We have to get more top-100 talent. Chasing kids in the 300-600 range statistically won't get us to a National Championship. Bama & Georgia are averaging 58% and 41% of their recruiting classes being made up of kids in the top-100 in the past 4 recruiting cycles. Ohio State is at 37.1%. ND is at 14.6%.
An 11-1, 10-2 season with at least one big win (Hopefully OSU) will help along with not getting blown out in a big bowl/ play-off game.
Last edited:
Baby steps....
MF had taken a big baby step. We aren't running yet but we've definitely taken our first baby step.
The simple fact we were in a position to win a major bowl game is leaps and bounds more than what his predecessor did in those games. Which is to say he gave fuel to the talking heads we had no business being in those games.
We coulda, shoulda, beat OkSu but the fact we were right there was definitely a step forward.
Last year didn't hurt either. Buchner tried giving SCarolina the win but we still prevailed.
MF beat Clemson soundly in a normal non covid aided weird year!! Dominated them with a tiny QB and no WR help.
We are progressing forward
Oh the pain and agony...
Here's the thing that happens with teams after those games....
The teams with good coaching and a top QB find a way to win those hangover weeks.
We had neither at that point last year. TR was still doing the BK sleepwalking offense. Marahall and Stanford gambled knowing TR couldn't help himself.
He couldn't...they made us pay.
Then what happened? We were still inept at QB but...we committed full bore to running power football. I mean REALLY committed to it. First time in 20 years.
It was no Mickey Mouse east west run sweeps...
Nope! It was straight ahead imposing our will against theirs power football.
The dynamic and tone immediately changed.
This year we are NOT undermanned at the QB spot so I expect if we drop a game to OSU we bounce back with a vengeance. Eveb without vigor our good QB will do enough to salvage a hangover game.
Remember.. those moments happen even to the top teams but they just have good QB play to overcome the lull period.
At least on paper we finally have that ability.
We shall see
Good post but i wanted to reply to this part.
It looks even uglier when you break down the percentages of a recruiting class in the top 50 overall.
ND is like ZERO percent in the top 50 and Alabama and others are like 25-35%.
It is like being a fan of an NFL organization that simply refuses to draft in the first two rounds.
"Nah we are fine over here waiting until the mid 3rd round before we reinforce our roster. Na, we don't want the best football prospects in our organization -- thank you!"
As a fan you can't help but be exasperated
Last edited:
Agreed. Last year at this time we were talking about Keeley and Bowen. Dante Moore had just visited and Richard Young and Caleb Downs were setting up visits. Now it's kids that are three-star athletes that aren't even in the top 300 and/or top 25 in their respective positions. We're supposed to be excited about the future?
We all know this is Freeman's first head coaching gig which no one has ever done well in the history of ND football with the exception on Knute Rockne. BUT! The main selling point for Freeman was his ability to land big time, top-100 recruits. The '22 cycle we landed 3 and the '23 cycle we landed 2. So far for '24, we have 2 with Carr and Williams but there is still a long way to go. If we only end up with those two, I'm going to be very, very concerned. That said, I don't know how much is Freeman and how much is Notre Dame. I think these kids love Freeman, but not ND. The other football powers offer way too much compared to ND. That's on Swarbrick and Jenkins.
We already have 2 top 50 recruits and our QB is actually fully committed so this time last year we were hoping for Moore. We already got him.
Not everyone was talking about Bowen. We were on him early. He didnt skyrocket up the rankings until much later
We lead for another top 50 kid in Scott. Gotta close.
And we'll have a lot of talented players visit (the DE from Arizona is a 5 star), we'll get Beasley and Aaron Scott on campus again. We'll see what happens
Agreed. That said, if past is prologue it doesn't bode well for us. I think Georgia is far from being done with Scott and money WILL come into play here. ND will lose that battle. Elijah Rushing (5-star DE from AZ) just came off a great visit at Miami where HOF'er Jason Taylor is the d-line coach. Who better to learn from if you're an aspiring edge with hopes to make the NFL? Oregon & Arizona are also pushing real hard for him. Money will come into play here as well and ND will lose. We had Keeley committed forever and as he moved up the rankings, the big boy's stepped in... and won. I'll say it again, I think these elite kids like Coach Freeman and his staff, just not ND.
I wish you would never reply. To anything.
Go find someone else to read your garbage.
But he's right! Get pissed all you want but he's speaking the truth man. How is he wrong?
