Irish Blogger Gathering: Bye Week Edition

Welcome to my latest entry in the Irish Blogger Gathering, hosted this week over at UHND.com! As you will see, I copped out on two answers, but I know virtually nothing about recruiting, so I figured my answers to those questions would add absolutely nothing to the conversation.

1. With our beloved Irish on the bye this weekend, how much college football will you be watching Saturday and what games are you most looking forward to
watching?

I really don't know how much football I will be watching on Saturday. My sister (a fellow Domer) is coming to visit me. And yes, she's only coming because neither of us has Notre Dame football to watch, as we do on a typical fall weekend. That said, the chances of us eventually ending up at a bar watching football are probably somewhere in the 90-100% range.

As for other games, I'm looking forward to Purdue at Northwestern, the original alma mater. Northwestern is getting close to bowl eligibility, and the more places I have to go this December and January when it gets cold, the happier I will be, and this one looks winnable for the 'Cats. Other games I will at least check in on while sipping a beer are Pitt-Navy (to keep up a weekly trash talking fest with a Pitt fan) and Michigan-Penn State (mostly to see exactly how many points Penn State can ring up on Michigan). Yes, those are all crappy games to want to watch, but I don't care.

2. Not to look too far ahead… but in looking at the 2009 schedule, do you think the Irish will be set up for a title run if they continue to improve each week as they are doing now?

Definitely. I haven't spent much time looking at it, but the schedule next year alone sets up well for the Irish in terms of wins. The Irish drop games to San Diego State, North Carolina, and Syracuse for games against Nevada, Washington State, and Connecticut - I think the Irish would beat all of the latter teams this year, and that would be the same for an improved 2009 team. The only team that would scare me with regard to an improved Irish team in 2009 is USC. Even that part of the schedule is better next year than this - Notre Dame gets USC after the bye week, which I hope means the Irish will be rested and very ready for USC, much like the 2005 season.

If the Irish keep improving, I personally don't think that there will be any trouble in making a run for the title in terms of players. Sure, the defense might not be to the level I would like, but an even more improved offense would allow the defense to operate at something less than perfect, which would still translate into wins.

3. If you could take 1 recruit we missed on from each of the last 4 years (1 from each year), who would they be and how differently would this team look like right now if we had gotten that 1 player each year? (Note, the players should be players the Irish either led for at one time or were at least a finalist for).

I'm not a recruitnik, so I am not even going to take a stab at answering this question. Sure, I pay a little attention to it (what else am I supposed to do during the offseason?), but it's not something I even pretend to know. And yes, I realize that this is the internet, where lack of knowledge is a great qualification for commenting on anything and everything, so I should answer. But I'm not going to.

4. If Notre Dame could only land 1 more recruit on each side the ball in this recruiting class, who would you like it to be? (Again, it should be someone we have a reasonable chance with).

See my answer to No. 3.

5. If you could take one of Notre Dame’s bowl losses since the 1994 Cotton Bowl win over Texas A&M and turn it into a win, which one would it be? Why? And What if any impact do you think that win would have had on the Irish.

Fiesta Bowl, 2005/2006. On a personal level, I was there, and it would have been GREAT to win, if only to run around Tempe that night in a better mood than the mood I had running around Tempe that evening. But it also would have capped a great year for the Irish, and I think that the Irish were a better team than Ohio State that year, and should have won the game.

Moreover, I think a Fiesta Bowl win would have given the 2006 version of the Irish a boost of confidence that the team seemed to lack much of the time during the 2006 season (if nothing else, I think that Michigan score would have ended up much less lopsided).