1. this was an over-achieving team that finished 10-2. a 10-2 record is fantastic; remarkable, really, when considering all the injuries(even before all of the injuries, i thought we'd be 8-4 with losses to Clem, Stan, and GT--but they were awful this year--and we caught USC at the right time following their coaching debacle). i remember it wasn't so long ago that coaches like t. willingham and c. weiss would have finished 2-10 with the injuries we had this year
2. pure speculation, but i think ND was given their walking papers when the playoff committee dropped us from 4 to 6, and moved OK up to 3 to make up for last years big 12 snub. at 5 i could see us getting in after the conf. playoffs were over. at 6, it was a much longer shot. with OK winning and our loss to stan our ranking is a moot point now anyway. [i think there was a strong possibility that even if we had beaten stan, and OK had lost to OSU, some other team--probably from ohio--would have been given the 4th spot. i heard a lot more talk today about scenarios for the other teams 5-9 getting in to the 4th spot than i heard talk about ND getting in. whether that's anti-ND bias or the result of poor play over the past two weeks, or both, i don't know]
3. for next year: offense has weapons, but needs to get a lot better in the redzone. defense needs work. defense needs to find a way to remain strong as the season progresses, and not wither as it has 2 years in a row. i'm excited about special teams for the first time in years
4. it may be far better for this team to go to a good bowl game and play against level competition than get gashed by some the teams i saw play today
overall, great year. many great games, great moments. thanks to the team and coaches for all your hard work.
2. pure speculation, but i think ND was given their walking papers when the playoff committee dropped us from 4 to 6, and moved OK up to 3 to make up for last years big 12 snub. at 5 i could see us getting in after the conf. playoffs were over. at 6, it was a much longer shot. with OK winning and our loss to stan our ranking is a moot point now anyway. [i think there was a strong possibility that even if we had beaten stan, and OK had lost to OSU, some other team--probably from ohio--would have been given the 4th spot. i heard a lot more talk today about scenarios for the other teams 5-9 getting in to the 4th spot than i heard talk about ND getting in. whether that's anti-ND bias or the result of poor play over the past two weeks, or both, i don't know]
3. for next year: offense has weapons, but needs to get a lot better in the redzone. defense needs work. defense needs to find a way to remain strong as the season progresses, and not wither as it has 2 years in a row. i'm excited about special teams for the first time in years
4. it may be far better for this team to go to a good bowl game and play against level competition than get gashed by some the teams i saw play today
overall, great year. many great games, great moments. thanks to the team and coaches for all your hard work.
