USC Thoughts
by Randy W. Hall

Like a pyramid scheme I so wanted to believe. All the positives of the “plan” are built up and displayed and all of the negatives are dismissed or minimized. But deep down you know there’s something wrong there and it creeps into your thoughts demanding to be heard, “too good to be true”.

Now I’m not saying the 2006 edition of the Irish are a scam or anything like that. I’m just saying that it never was it was cracked up to be. If you looked from the outside you saw 8 returning starters from a high-caliber offense that featured a stud four-year starter at QB. You saw a defense that with some hard coaching could be workable that also returned 9 starters from 2005. But when you looked under the hood the foundation was as shaky as Jello during an earthquake.

I’m talking depth here people. As in Notre Dame, as a result of the callow 2004 & 2005 recruiting classes, had little to none of it. As in the drop-off from starter to back-up was like from Brando to Carrot Top. As in no margin for error and little rotating in of reserves to give the starters a blow every now and then. As in “a disaster waiting to happen should some things go inevitably wrong”. And God forbid there be an injury or two. Armageddon as it were would ensue.

Now Charlie Weis did a great job in his first true recruiting class getting the numbers in the ballpark of where they need to be in order to field a competitive team. Still he’s got quite a ways to go before he has a team stockpiled the way “Poodle” Carroll has his team from stem to stern.

Of course this is compounded by the fact that the veteran offensive line, a supposed strength of the team entering the campaign, is as effective as wet firecrackers when it faces so much as a stiff breeze in competition. Maybe I’m being a bit harsh here but as a unit they underachieved on such a monumental level it may never be comprehended. Sam Young, a freshman, outplayed just about everyone on a week-in, week-out basis. Ryan Harris had some moments as did John Sullivan. Bob Morton and Dan Santucci, in short, were brutal. In my humble opinion the offensive line is why we got our asses kicked by Michigan and USC so thoroughly. The offense, the strength of the team, fell apart with their ineffectiveness. Frankly we were lucky to eke out wins over Georgia Tech, Michigan State and UCLA (especially) with these guys “blocking” for Brady Quinn and Darius Walker. I don’t know what it was but these guys were mistake-prone and never jelled as a unit. I think when real fans look at this team as the years go by they will be mystified by this offensive line performance.
My post isn’t all gloom-and-doom however. I’m hopeful that the guys who play next year will be “nasty” and will play as unit seeing as the majority of them will be sophomores who came in together. I’ve heard it mentioned repeatedly that last years recruiting class has a close bond and are completely committed to turning around Notre Dame from a “good team” to a “good program”. When one analyzes who has beaten us the last two years three teams stand out: Michigan, Ohio State and Southern Cal. All are decidedly better than the Irish in terms of where the program is at. There’s no shame in losing to them. It’s just so painful when we get our hopes up only to have them slammed back to reality when our flaws are exploited to the hilt. We’re heading for the upper echelon, even though when you get thrashed 44-24 by the Trojans it might not feel or seem like it. Charlie Weis is undoubtedly the man for the job. He’s a great coach and an up-and-coming recruiter. He has some tough decisions to make on some of his assistants but I have the utmost faith he will figure it out. I think next year we will see a drop-off but we will also see a team on the rise that is learning to be great. That will be very exciting to see. Take heart Fighting Irish fans your salvation truly will come in time even if you feel burned by the snake oil the media (and even I this preseason) tries to dish you.