IRISH FACE GEORGIA TECH IN OPENER

Notre Dame has waited eight months to erase the disappointment of last season’s 34-20 loss in the Fiesta Bowl, and the Irish finally get their chance on Saturday night in Atlanta against Georgia Tech. This year’s squad carries the weight of higher expectations after Charlie Weis engineered a remarkable turnaround in 2005, but the team is poised to improve upon its 9-3 record.

The Yellow Jackets feature several talented and experienced players, and figure to provide solid opposition in the nationally televised contest. Several analysts have gone as far as to predict a Tech upset, but they underestimate Notre Dame’s outstanding core of senior leaders.

Led by quarterback Brady Quinn, top receivers Rhema McKnight and Jeff Samardzija and a veteran front line, the Irish offense will find ways to score against Georgia Tech’s blitzing and stunting defense. Conversely, Notre Dame’s retooled defense should be able to contain the Yellow Jacket’s passing combination of Reggie Ball to Calvin Johnson.

Each defense will take a different approach in attacking the quarterback. Tech will attempt to disrupt Quinn with numerous fronts and blitzes. If they are even partially successful in frustrating the Irish early in the game, the crowd could become an important factor. More likely, however, the Irish signal-caller will demonstrate his skill in reading the pressure and finding the open man. Similarly, Notre Dame’s offensive line saw every conceivable gimmick last season and managed to keep Quinn upright with very few exceptions.

The Irish defensive front should fare slightly better against Georgia Tech’s blockers, who had difficulty maintaining any consistency in fall camp due to injury and personnel shifts. Notre Dame will try to limit the scrambling of Ball, a 50% career passer, and force him to throw. Irish fans do not want a repeat of Troy Smith’s running exploits, and this game represents the perfect opportunity to see if the defense and its coaches learned any new schemes in the off-season.

The most intriguing matchup for the Irish defense will be end Victor Abiamiri against Tech offensive tackle Mansfield Wrotto, a converted defensive lineman. Derek Landri figures to have a good game in his battle with left guard Matt Rhodes, while Tech’s defensive end tandem of Adamm Oliver and Darrell Robertson will provide stern test for Notre Dame’s true freshman and much-heralded offensive tackle Sam Young.

The passing game comparison favors Notre Dame in that Quinn is more accurate than Ball, and he enjoys the luxury of two All-American caliber receivers vs. the dangerous Johnson. The Irish secondary returns intact and figures to improve over last season’s performance, while the Yellow Jackets will deploy three new starters with veteran cornerback Kenny Scott.

Both offenses will benefit greatly if the running game is working, and once again the scale tilts in favor of Notre Dame. The Irish offensive line is simply better than Tech’s, and Ball is unlikely to win the game by throwing over 30 passes. The running backs on both sides are talented and reliable. Darius Walker leads the Irish and Tashard Choice will tote the rock for the Yellow Jackets. Freshman speedster Munir Prince may see action for Notre Dame if the game situation allows.

A key for Notre Dame’s defense, of course, is whether its revamped linebacking crew can tackle. Tech appears to have an advantage in that area with KaMichael Hall and Phillip Wheeler, but Weis will challenge them to cover tight ends or wide receivers in space rather than run right at them.

Special teams are always a mystery heading into the opener, and Notre Dame fans hope that the game does not come down to a field goal try. It might be best if kicker Carl Gioia can ease into the season rather than face a long attempt late in regulation or in overtime. Georgia Tech counters with kicker Travis Bell, who struggled last season after a stellar freshman campaign.

The Irish punt returns will rest in Tom Zbikowski’s capable hands, but the kickoff return team will draw the most scrutiny. Last year’s group underachieved, and the coaches spent a lot of time this fall in an effort to effect improvement.

Neither team holds the upper hand in terms of preparation time in a season opener, nor is there a psychological advantage to be found. The respective coaching staffs will be challenged to adjust to numerous surprises and new wrinkles from the opponent, and Weis is second to no one in this regard. Both teams have proven capable of excellent performances in similar situations. Tech beat highly-regarded Auburn last season in its opening game, while Notre Dame became consummate road warriors under Weis last year. In summary, the teams match up as follows:

Position Advantage
Quarterback: Notre Dame
Running Back: Even
Receivers: Notre Dame
Tight Ends: Even
ND OLine vs. GT DLine: Even
GT OLine vs. ND DLine: Notre Dame
Linebackers: Georgia Tech
Secondary: Notre Dame
Punting and Kicking: Even
Return teams: Even
Intangibles: Even

Notre Dame should be able to stop the run and concentrate its defensive resources on slowing the Ball to Johnson connection. Notre Dame is more likely to force Tech into turnovers, and potential Irish weaknesses in the kicking game and at linebacker should not be decisive in this contest. While the Yellow Jackets will field one of the better defenses Notre Dame will face this season, they are not physically dominant and will be unable to hold off an Irish attack that will be even more versatile and potent than last season.

NOTRE DAME 35 GEORGIA TECH 20

Mooooo Part Twoooooo

Obviously I stated my point unclearly in my original Moooo entry, so I'll try to clarify and simplify.

I find it illogical that, at a time the athletics department has a critical unfunded need like the Joyce Center renovations (that will help multiple sports), over 90 percent of a windfall like the Fiesta Bowl payoff was redirected to the academic side of the equation.

I find it illogical that the athletic department has to turn over such a large percentage of its significant surplus to Notre Dame while having to go hat-in-hand to University donors to get funding for projects like the Joyce Center.

I did not say the athletic department should keep all of its money. I did not say support of ND academics by athletics is a bad thing -- in fact, I said the complete opposite of that. I simply don't see why the athletic department is not allowed to take care of its own overdue needs before turning over funds to Notre Dame for "graduate stipends" and the like. It does not seem like an efficient way to budget.

And yes, the Joyce Center is the second-most-used building on campus. Dorms are used mostly by the couple hundred students who live in them. Classroom buildings are used mostly by the students who have classes there. The Joyce Center is used for men's and women's basketball games (players, students and fans), men's and women's volleyball games (players, students and fans), men's and women's aquatic sports (players, students and fans) and dorm sports. The bulk of the athletic department is housed there, and a lot of coaching offices are located there. The pool is used by the community year-round. And I believe a couple PE rotations have their classes there. It also hosts the major convocational events (frosh orientation, JPW, and graduation, including Mass for each). All of which makes it the second-most-used building on campus after the Admin Building.

The Pathetic Obsession Continues

No, I'm not talking about my Joyce Center rants. I'm talking about the obsession with Charlie Weis that our little friends at Bucknuts.com have, as evidenced by this quote in their latest article:

Every move you make, every breath you take, every Twinkie you inhale…That’s right, Little Tuna, we’ll be watching you. As Charlie Weis outs himself, this year, to the rest of the world as 1) Mortal 2) Obnoxious and 3) Unbelievably arrogant, we will take every opportunity to let you in on the case slowly being built to take off the emperor’s clothes (1). Such an opportunity presents itself again this week as Charlie turns loose..."

Bucky Bucky Bucky Bucky Bucky. Chaz really has you worked into a nice little snit, donnee? You'd think he was a Michigan coach. Here's a guy who doesn't coach a team on your schedule (yet), doesn't coach a team in your conference, yet you're covering him almost as much as you cover your own guys.

The decaf's in the red carafe, my friends.

The reasoning behind the obsession is, of course, obvious: Recruits read the Bucknuts site. They figure if they emphasize the "negatives" around Charlie Weis enough, Cheaty McSweatervest and the Columbus couch-burning teargas experience will look better by comparison.

I could put a paragraph in here examining the basis behind a hypothesis that Bucknuts is doing so under orders from McSweatervest or one of his plausible-deniability-creating minions, but I won't. This is Ohio State, after all -- they don't break rules there.

Instead, I'll offer a suggestion. Below are quotes from NFL coaches, owners, players, GM's, and media creatures, none of whom are associated with Notre Dame, about Charlie Weis' coaching acumen. Instead of the pathetic attempts to pillory Charlie Weis, maybe Bucknuts.com should come up with quotes from those kind of non-tOSU people in praise of the Sweater. Otherwise, their criticisms smack of the high school girls bathroom.

We're waiting, ladies.

(BTW, all kudos and props to poster Igor Stravinski for collecting these and bringing them to my attention)

Redskins DC Gregg Williams on the 2006 hiring of Al Saunders with unsolicited side comments on Charlie Weis.

"I'm very excited about (the hiring of) Al Saunders...I think he's the best offensive coordinator in (NFL) football, I'm happy I don't have to against him except in practice...I thought Charlie Weis was in that same way, got rid of him - he's now in college football, don't have to go against those two guys anymore."

Bill Belichick, Patriots Head Coach:

"Charlie is a very smart person," Belichick said during the week before the Super Bowl. "He really understands what defenses are doing and how to attack them. He's an outstanding play-caller and has a great sense of timing of when to call certain plays. It's one thing to put together a game plan, and it's another to call the plays at the right time, when they match up the way you want to match up. It's not an easy thing to do."

"He's very good at making adjustments during a game. He sees when some of the things that we thought were good now don't look that good and we need to shift to something else. He is decisive and smart. He can pull the trigger. He's not afraid to make tough decisions or to make calls in critical situations. He knows what he wants to do and he does it with a lot of confidence, and I think that gets conveyed to the people who are executing it."

"A lot of times teams will show certain tendencies on film or certain statistical tendencies, but that often changes based on the score or weather conditions or whatever," Belichick said. "Some play-callers are late to adjust to those changes, but Charlie was very good at anticipating what was going to happen and staying ahead of the curve."

"From the beginning he could keep a lot of balls in the air," says Belichick. "He's a really smart guy -- you could see that from Day One."

"My first impressions of him were that he was smart, he was a multi-task person. He could process a lot of things at the same time. When I left the next year to become the head coach of the Cleveland Browns, I made a point to keep an eye on him and maintain contact with him. I thought he had a chance to be special."

Tom Brady, QB Patriots

"Charlie is a great coach," Tom Brady says. "He's very cerebral and is a great motivator. He really enjoys coaching and is fun to be around."

"He sets the tone for every meeting, every practice, and he has since the day he got here. He has a very authoritative personality. He likes to take charge. He likes to take command. His word carries a lot of weight, so when he makes a point, everybody listens. He makes sure that everybody understands what he's trying to get across. He is very good at what he does. He has proven that, and he's very capable."

"Where do I start? He's always been the guy that I go back to. He's always the guy that I have so much trust in because he always seems to be right."

Zach Thomas, LB Miami Dolphins

"Don't even try to type him. It's a waste of time. He'll never repeat tendencies."

"I think Charlie Weis is one of the best; he has great schemes," Thomas said. "You can't let your guys up front go. You just have to be patient. When Charlie was with the Jets, it was so tough to watch and practice because they will run the same plays but they would do them from so many different formations. You don't get tendencies."

"They throw you off with everything they do and they try to get you thinking and guessing," Thomas said. "That's the one week I try not to over-study. It's not going to help. It's ridiculous, but over-studying is only going to throw you off."

Mike Vrabel, DL Patriots

"I've heard [Miami linebacker] Zach Thomas say that numerous times," said New England linebacker Mike Vrabel. "Zach watches a lot of film. He's one of those guys who is at it until 9 o'clock every night, hoping to get an edge. He's told me countless times he can't do that with a Charlie Weis offense. He knows whatever he's watching is something he won't see again."

Christian Fauria, TE Patriots:

"Charlie is just a great play-caller," Fauria said. "In his own special way, he makes sense. When Bill [Belichick] says something, he backs it up with information. Charlie is similar. It's never the same cookie-cutter offense. He's always challenging us."

Chris Mortensen, ESPN Analyst

"Charlie Weis is a genius," Mortensen said. "You hear that term a lot in football, but I mean he is really a genius. He may be the only true genius in the NFL. He scored a perfect 1,600 on the SAT. He's got a 160 IQ. That comes in handy in football."

"There are a lot of people who can draw up Xs and Os. I remember Joe Gibbs telling me that there were a lot of coordinators who can come up with brilliant game plans during the week. The key is what happens after the kickoff. Can they manage a game? Who makes the in-game adjustment."

"Weis is brilliant at that. I'm not talking about what happens at halftime. I'm talking about making them between plays during the first, second and third quarter. Can they see what is happening on the field with the human element and then fix the problems. Charlie is great at that."

The Chicago Sun-Times, quoting an NFL personnel boss:

An NFL personnel boss laughed Monday when asked if Charlie Weis will be able to recruit at Notre Dame. "Can he give away scholarships? Hey, the quarterbacks should be paying him,'' the personnel boss said. "The guy is the best offensive coordinator in football, No. 1 at any level. Who wouldn't want to learn how to play in the NFL?"

Chris Landry - NFL Scout

"I think he is an absolutely brilliant football mind and will give Notre Dame a game week preparation and game day coaching edge that it has not had in a very long time. If there is 6 win talent, he will win 7 or 8."

Bill Polian - Colts GM

"Charlie has proven to be one of the outstanding offensive minds in football. His teams are exceptional in their use of personnel, exceptional in the way they attack defenses, exceptional in the concepts they use."

John Clayton, ESPN

"Normally, coaches from the teams without Super Bowl rings spend parts of their offseason studying the schemes of the past champion. This offseason, time was certainly devoted to breaking down Bill Belichick's complex, flexible defensive schemes. But maybe not as much time as was invested in dissecting the Patriots offense. Thanks to the brilliant schemes of offensive coordinator Charlie Weis, the Patriots got the most out of what had been considered average talent. "

Chris Collinsworth, NFL analyst and former Bengals WR on the Patriots in the 2005 season (first without Weis)

"The Patriots have been able to present an entirely different look each week on offense to every team that they play. It has been nearly impossible for teams to game plan against them for that reason. They may still be able to do it, but losing Weis is the blow that I don't think they can overcome in the playoffs."

Peter King, Sports Illustrated

"There's no question Weis's creativity and game-planning have been big factors in New England winning two of the last three Super Bowls. Just consider this: The Patriots rank fourth in the league in scoring, yet none of the 20 offensive players who dressed on Sunday were first-round draft picks."

Dan Pompei - Sporting News:

"Notre Dame will be better off with Charlie Weis as it head coach than it would have been with Urban Meyer. Based on his work in New England, Weis should have one of the most prominent offenses in college football with the talent he'll get at Notre Dame. And he will get talent. In my dealings with Weis, I've found him to be a natural salesman. His charm will serve him well in recruiting. His toughness will serve him well in motivating. This is an excellent hire."

Paul Zimmerman (Dr.Z), Sports Illustrated

"The cerebral nature of the Patriots' offense usually takes second billing to their defense, but it's a very high-toned affair, very high indeed, and you get the feeling it can operate any phase of the game if it chooses to. Make that, if Weis chooses. And this is what I think -- if the Patriots are going to be beaten, it will be because their defense is starting to show cracks."

"Here's another thing about Weis' system. You never know who the featured receiver will be, which package will be presented."

Oh, what the heck, here are some ND guys' opinions

Mike Haywood, ND Offensive Coordinator

“His knowledge of offense is huge,” Haywood said. “The amount of information he has accumulated is incredible. When he looks at the (chalk) board and he draws a play, you say 'what is that?’ But then when he explains it, it’s really quite simple.”

Brady Quinn, ND QB

“It’s tough to put into words what he knows. You see it when he comes to practice. He’s very intelligent and when he puts in an offense, he has a great way of teaching it.”

Bill Lewis DB coach, former Miami Dolphins DB coach, NFL veteran coach, and former national championship defensive coordinator at Georgia.

"I came here for two reasons: because of Coach Weis, and because it's Notre Dame. I had competed against Charlie for nine years, 20 games with the AFC schedule twice a year and a couple times in the playoffs, and I just felt that he was the best offensive football coach that I had ever competed against ... the best."

Shawn Wooden, former DB Miami Dolphins

"His offense could be frustrating. One thing he does, he knows how to attack defenses. He knows your strong points and your weaknesses, and he doesn't put his players in a position to be at a disadvantage. It's a chess match out there, and one he wins most of the time."

"What Charlie was good at was that no matter who was in there for him, his offense was pretty big (complex), but it changed by his personnel. He was also able to adapt his game plan to what the defense was going to give up. Those two things are why he is so successful. He doesn't lock into, 'Well, we're going to pound the ball inside, because that's our philosophy.' You have to be able to adapt as a head coach and an offensive coordinator, and I think that's what Charlie does best."

David Givens

''He's been a teacher and a coach of high school kids, and he's got so much experience coaching young NFL players like myself,'' Givens told the Boston Globe. ''There's no doubt in my mind he would be an outstanding recruiter because he relates so well to young people. I can say this because I've played for Charlie and I've played for Notre Dame. They're all things Charlie would do very well with.”

Moooo [choke]

Once again, I'm reminded of the bass-ackwards way in which Notre Dame funds its athletics programs via an email fowarded to me today.

ND had $11.2 million in cash (after expenses) from the Fiesta Bowl bid that the football team earned last season. Here's how the money was spent:

• $1.5m for retrospective purchases for the Library and other Library needs
  
• $1m to endow job placement services for spousal hires
  
• $2.7m for Jordan Hall equipment
  
• $2m to endow undergraduate need-based financial aid
  
• $2m to endow graduate student financial aid
  
• $1m to endow ten new undergraduate summer research stipends
  
• $500k towards architecture graduate student financial aid
  
• $500k towards MBA student financial aid

Setting aside for a moment (a) the ridiculous expenditure on "job placement services for spousal hires", (b) the spending of the same amount of money on graduate student financial aid endowment as undergrad endowment even though there are four times as many undergrads, not to mention the curious lack of the word "need-based" in any financial aid line items other than undergrad, (c) the expenditure on Jordan Hall equipment, a project that was supposed to be donations-driven, and (d) the departure of these windfalls thanks to the recent BCS negotiations (all of which could be blog entries in and of themselves), I can't help but notice not one dime of this surplus earned by an athletic team was reinvested into athletic endevors, while some sports are going hat-in-hand to University benefactors looking for the basic tools they need to succeed.

To be fair, the $11.2m was after what was deducted for bowl expenses and what was called "other athletic department allocations". Based on that math, out of $14.5m paid for the bowl appearance, $3.3m was spent on those bowl and AD expenses. Given that schools have either turned down or severely cut back on expenses when travelling to bowls that pay less than $2m, it's a logical assumption that's what was spent by ND to take the team/band/etc. to Tempe. That means $1.3m out of $12.5 -- ten percent of the total -- of athletics-earned money was actually reinvested into athletics.

Any businessman will tell you if you only reinvest ten percent of your money into your business, your business will most likely fail.

I'm not advocating 100 percent reinvestment and the creation of some kind of athletic fiefdom. I think it's excellent and appropriate that the money earned in athletics is invested to help the school -- after all, the purpose of a school is to educate. I just think it's equally wrong for a such a low percentage of reinvestment, especially when Notre Dame isn't exactly known to spend its windfalls wisely (see: Center, Performing Arts).

Let's say Notre Dame implemented a 25 percent reinvestiment policy for moneys earned by the sports teams after expenses. That still leaves three dollars for every four for the University at large. 25 percent of $12.5m is $3,125,000, which would be a nice contribution to the facilities upgrade funding. Granted, professor's spouses would have to find their own jobs (which I'm sure is a bewildering prospect in a job market the size of South Bend's) and there'd be 10 fewer "endowed undergraduate summer research stipends", but I think an improvement to the second-most used building on campus would justify that.

Besides, those strike me as the kinds of things donations should cover. Or so I've been told.

I've read estimates that ND clears up to $48m per year from football. Assuming that's true, 25 percent of that for one season would pay for just about every athletics capital improvement plan outside of the Joyce Center redo. And that's just one season.

In his email detailing the Fiesta Bowl expenditures, Fr. Jenkins said Notre Dame was "extremely fortunate to have at Notre Dame a spirit of cooperation and mutual support between our athletics department and the academy." Sorry, but I don't think that looks mutual at all. Athletics is funding a lot of things that look pretty specious, while they beg for infrastructure and salary improvements that would help them bring in even more money.

Businesses that are successful aren't used as cash cows. They're nurtured so they can continue to provide for the community. Feeding our cow cheap oats is not the way to go here.

Note: I've closed comments on this entry, feel free to reply to my "Mooo part Twooo" post

Too Old for Hide and Seek

From Deep Throat on down, a lot of good has been done by anonymous sources over the years. But the age of the Internet has brought them out of the woodwork like carpenter ants from a falling tree, and the degree of accountability has fallen in direct proportion to their multiplication.

And now, Weis vs. the Media has finally brought out its entry. In a recent article, Mike Freeman of CBS Sportsline referenced a "prominent Notre Dame booster" to comment on how Charlie Weis allegedly treats the people around him. Here's what that person, whose name was withheld in "fear of reprisals from Charlie Weis", had to say about the coach:

"Am I happy with his X's and O's? The answer is yes, without question. How could I not be? But am I happy with how he has treated some key alumni and supporters like myself? No. He has treated some of us horribly. He has already alienated some boosters, alumni, members of the athletic department and others around him. He at times can be arrogant, moody and nasty."

I don't know who this "prominent Notre Dame booster" is. But we're fortunate at NDN that we get a pretty broad range of readership, so my chances are relatively good this guy reads our site or knows someone who reads it (or someone who can read it to him).

So I'll take my chances and talk to him via this medium. In the words of the commercial, today I salute you, Mr. Prominent Notre Dame Booster. And I'm here to tell you:

You're a shitheel.

Yes, I realize profanity can be unbecoming of a person of my advancing age who strives for professionalism, but I believe in simplicity in communication.

So you're a shitheel.

When I was at Notre Dame, I learned about something called accountability. When you're asked to do something, you're held accountable for the results. When you ask something of someone, you're accountable for that request.

That's why when the Call for Change letter was being circulated, 412 of us signed it with our real names and everything. I wanted to see changes made at my alma mater, and I felt asking for such changes anonymously was not the Notre Dame way. So my name was on it. The first signature, as a matter of fact.

(Yes, I mention that a lot. I'm rather proud of it)

Did I think there was a possibility there might be blowback? Sure. I was in the final stages of a book on ND basketball, and having ND withdraw its support for the work would have been quite the kick in the fruitstand. I like going to ND football games, and I'm sure ND could have tweaked my lottery results if they really wanted.

But as I said, it's not the ND way. If you want to criticize someone, you look them in the eye and do it, and you're willing to put your name behind it.

But now we have you, Mr. Prominent Notre Dame Booster. You give a lot of money to the school, and you most likely get perks associated with your "generosity", which you obviously enjoy. But Charlie Weis has put your nose out of joint. You want to say so, but you reeeeeeally like the perks you get for being so Prominent in your Boosterism.

So you decide to have your cake and eat it, too. You whine to a journalist about how injured your precious feelings are, which enables that journalist to write a lame attack piece. You get your pound of flesh without jeopardizing your football tickets or sideline passes or whatever undeserved gratifications you get from Notre Dame, while also enjoying the satisfaction of knowing you got back at Charlie Weis for being such a jerk.

In short, Mr. Prominent Notre Dame Booster, you're sackless. You're a wuss. When other people put up, you shut up. You sit in your prime seats with your parking passes and team access, smugly thinking how you gave that big meanie what-for in the press but didn't have to actually look him in the eye and back it up.

How wonderful for you. And how awful for a Notre Dame education, which takes a major hit being used the way you're using it. I know mine is worth less right now than it was this morning because it turns out that a gutless worm like you may be in possession of a similar sheepskin.

If this cowardly behavior is indicative of how you live your life, it's no wonder you have to buy your access with money because the chances people would pay attention to you without it are certainly much lower. Say what you want about the SBT writers that brought Weis' wrath upon themselves, but at least they had the balls to stand behind their article and look Weis in the face while doing so. You can't even do that much.

I call upon you to make amends, Mr. Prominent Notre Dame Booster. Show us you're really a Notre Dame Man (or Woman). Pick up the phone, call Charlie Weis, and acknowledge yourself as the source of the quotes. Be enough of a human being to be honest in your dealings with Notre Dame and its football coach. Don't pat people on the back one minute and stick a knife in it the next. Show us you have integrity. Show us your Notre Dame tuition wasn't wasted.

Signed,

Mike Coffey
Notre Dame Class of 1991

(see, using your name isn't so hard)

The Unclaimed Championship

by omahadomer

Notre Dame conventionally claims 11 national championships: 1924, 1929 and 1930 under Rockne; 1943, 1946, 1947 and 1949 under Leahy; 1966 and 1973 under Ara; 1977 under Devine; and 1988 under Holtz.

Now, there are several years pre-Rockne where ND was also somebody's national champion: Jesse Harper's 1913 team was 7-0-0, outscored the opposition 268-41 and clobbered both Army and Texas on the road. There were, however, 5 undefeated and untied teams that year, so who knows.

Harper's 7-1-0 1915 team is also the national champions of some minor services (that squad lost 20-19 on the road to Nebraska, but crushed everyone else). But there were several undefeated teams that year (including Nebraska and Oklahoma), so this is not a good claim.

Rockne's 1919 team was 9-0-0 and avenged that Nebraska loss in Lincoln. Again, however, there were other undefeated teams and they played harder schedules.

Rockne's 1920 team also has a claim as it went 9-0-0 and beat Nebraska in Lincoln, Army, Michigan State, Indiana and Northwestern. Again, however, there were undefeated teams with harder schedules.

So, pre-1924 I'd say that a reasonable claim could be made to all of these years except for 1915 (where ND lost to Nebraska), but because of the relatively easy schedules and the existence of other undefeated teams, it's hard to make the claim affirmatively.

1924, 1929 and 1930 are all easy: ND was undefeated and had the hardest schedule and beat most of the major competition along the way. In fact, in 1929 because the stadium was being built, the closest ND got to a home game was playing at Soldiers Field.

One minor service makes Rockne's 1927 team that national champions, but this is a silly claim at that team was 7-1-1.

Now, beginning in 1936, the AP poll came into existence, and it becomes the cleanest way of claiming a national championship, and this is the foundation for ND's claims thereafter: 1943, 1946, 1947, 1949, 1966, 1973, 1977 and 1988.

Now, the AP poll is probably the best-accepted measure, but it was hardly flawless, particularly before the late 1960's when it began taking its final poll after the bowl games (the UPI, later ESPN-USA Today coaches poll, actually didn't shift over until after the 1974 season, hence Alabama's continued claim to the 1973 championship despite getting beat in the Sugar Bowl by Ara's Irish).

Now, if we look outside the AP poll for claims to championships in other years post-the creation of the polls, we find claims to national championships in 1938 (Layden's 8-1-0 team), 1953 (to which I will return below), 1964 (Ara's 9-1-0 team), 1967 (Ara's 8-2-0 team), 1970 (Ara's 10-1-0 team that beat Texas in the Cotton Bowl; Ara was so annoyed at finishing #2 in the AP poll that he asked for and got a revote), 1989 (Holtz's 12-1-0 team) and 1993 (Holtz's 11-1-0 team). Now, I'm not going to revisit all of these, but I will point out that under the BCS system, ND would have been the 1989 champion. The championship game that year would have been N.D. and undefeated Colorado. The only effect of the loss to Miami would have been that ND would have worn white and not blue jerseys in the game (much like OU's loss to KSU in the Big 12 championship game did not keep OU out of the NC game). We, of course, know how that game turned out: 21-6 ND.

Back to 1953. ND that year was 9-0-1. Critically, ND opened the year beating Oklahoma in Norman 28-21. Oklahoma was a fantastic team under Bud Wilkinson. They tied their next contest with Pittsburgh (which ND beat 23-14 two weeks later) but then blew through the rest of their schedule, won the Big 8 and beat Maryland in the Orange Bowl.

The best argument against ND winning the 1953 championship was the 14-14 tie with Iowa (a good team, finished in the top 10). ND actually controlled the game but was mistake prone. ND faked an injury late in the 1st half and the 4th quarter to buy extra time that got them the scores necessary to tie the game. Iowans refer to it as the "Fainting Irish" game. However, this was a common tactic then and the referees could have kept the clock moving, but didn't. If Iowa was the victim of bad calls, well join the club (yeah, I'm looking at you, the Pac 10 refs). But ultimately you have to go by what was on the scoreboard, which was a tie, and a tie in a game that ND mostly dominated.

So, who's the competition in 1953? Well, it's Maryland. Maryland was a very good team, going 10-0-0 in the regular season, but playing southern schools who were sort of in a different universe from ND's competition. The only common opponent they had in the regular season was North Carolina, which Maryland beat 26-0 at home and ND beat 34-14 on the road, so that would have be adjudged about a draw.

But the critical factor was the bowl game against OU. Maryland lost and ND had beaten OU, on the road, in the regular season. There were no undefeated teams other than ND after the bowls. So if "national championship" in that era means a relatively uncontroversial claim to having actually been the best team on the field, then meet your 1953 national champs: Notre Dame.