The Coming Fall, Bowl Projections

Larry Felser of the Buffalo News has an excellent piece (albeit a week old) that details everything I've been saying about Notre Dame since the end of last season.

The fact is that, despite the offensive fireworks that they are sure to put up, Notre Dame has absolutely zero defense and at the end of the day this will be their undoing. The old saying, "Offense wins games, defense wins championships" is no less true today than when it was first uttered and the Domers' utter lack of a secondary (Tom Zbikowski, who is an excellent player, notwithstanding) will be their undoing. Everyone likes to talk about the possibility of an 11-0 Notre Dame team heading to the LA Coliseum on Thanksgiving Saturday but Charlie Weis knows better than anyone to take things one game at a time, and I honestly don't see how the Irish are planning to stop Georgia Tech on September 2nd. Not only will all the intangibles be in the Yellow Jackets' favor--the pervasive Notre Dame hype and corresponding lack of respect for Tech in the national media, the desire to prove themselves on the national stage after being blown out in their bowl game (although admittedly this will also be a factor for ND), the broiling summer Atlanta heat--but the matchups also do not favor the Irish. At the end of the day, they simply have no answer for Calvin Johnson. Notre Dame is incapable of stopping the Yellow Jackets' passing attack, and will find their own attack stymied by Chan Gailey's defensive schemes. If the Fiesta Bowl taught us anything, it's that when faced with an opponent who actually plays defense, Notre Dame crumbles like the drywall in my dorm room in Gabelli last year when Quinton Porter threw a pick-6 against Virginia Tech and I ripped the fire extinguisher off my wall and hurled it across the room. Those of us who are sick of the Notre Dame hype only have a few more weeks to wait it out. Georgia Tech will win on September 2nd, and it won't be pretty.

Speaking of the Domers, their fear of BC won't help them avoid a matchup with the Eagles this season--as the Ireland Trophy will once again be awarded to the winner of this year's Gator Bowl, whose organizers will pick BC ahead of Virginia Tech. Normally this choice would be a no-brainer for the Hokies but the possibility of a BC-ND matchup and the knowledge that Domer bandwagoners will buy up whatever tickets BC fans don't will lead the Gator organizers to roll the dice on the Eagles. Projections for the other bowls:

Poinsettia Bowl - San Diego State vs. North Carolina State
Las Vegas Bowl - Stanford vs. TCU
New Orleans Bowl - Southern Mississippi vs. Louisiana-Lafayette
Birmingham Bowl - Rutgers vs. Central Michigan
New Mexico Bowl - Nevada vs. BYU
Fort Worth Bowl - Utah vs. Tulsa
Hawaii Bowl - UCLA vs. Hawaii
Motor City Bowl - Miami (Ohio) vs. Kansas State
Independence Bowl - Alabama vs. Iowa State
Emerald Bowl - Virginia vs. Arizona State
Holiday Bowl - Oregon vs. Texas A&M
Houston Bowl - Oklahoma State vs. West Virginia
Music City Bowl - Maryland vs. Arkansas
Sun Bowl - California vs. Texas Tech
Liberty Bowl - Mississippi vs. Marshall
Insight Bowl - Memphis vs. Colorado
Champs Sports Bowl - Virginia Tech vs. Illinois
Meineke Bowl - Navy vs. Georgia Tech
Alamo Bowl - Michigan State vs. Oklahoma
Chick-Fil-A Bowl - Florida State vs. LSU
MPC Computers Bowl - North Carolina vs. Boise State
Outback Bowl - Wisconsin vs. South Carolina
Cotton Bowl - Florida vs. Nebraska
Gator Bowl - Boston College vs. Notre Dame
Capitol One Bowl - Georgia vs. Penn State
International Bowl - South Florida vs. Northern Illinois
GMAC Bowl - Fresno State vs. Central Florida

Rose Bowl - USC vs. Ohio State
Sugar Bowl - Tennessee vs. Miami
Fiesta Bowl - Texas vs. Louisville
Orange Bowl - Clemson vs. Iowa
BCS National Championship Game - Auburn vs. Michigan



Good article in yesterday's Herald on Tony Gonzalez. BC fans already know that Gonzo is a great receiver, but some may not know what a great person he also is. Benching him for 2 years behind such luminaries as Grant Adams, Joel Hazard, and Larry Lester when Gonzalez was clearly the team's best wideout for no reason other than seniority is one of the most damning coaching moves of the TOB era.

Also an article from the Globe on the team's third scrimmage.

Thumbs-up to Jerry York for landing another heralded prospect, US National Developmental Team member Cam Atkinson. The 5'6 Atkinson will carry on the tradition of Nate Gerbe and the Gionta brothers at the Heights.

11 days