Syracuse’s 10th Win in 4 Years

Syracuse had won 9 games in the past 4 seasons prior to Saturday.  Notre Dame was Syracuse’s 10th win in the past 4 seasons.  Those other 9 wins came against:

  • 11/01/08 – Louisville (28-21)
  • 9/20/08 – Northeastern (30-21)
  • 10/20/07 – Buffalo (20-12)
  • 9/22/07 – at #18 Louisville (38-35)
  • 11/18/06 – Connecticut (20-14)
  • 9/30/06 – Wyoming (40-34)
  • 9/23/06 – Miami (OH) (34-14)
  • 9/16/06 – at Illinois (31-21)
  • 9/10/05 – Buffalo (31-10)

Not exactly a list of teams we’d like to be a part of.

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19 Comments

  1. I am dumbfounded that anyone who has watched this team all season can’t see the obvious: they don’t care. Some of the players do, but certainly not all/most. These new comments by Tate just prove me right even more. No emotion. No killer instinct. No fire. They WILL themselves to lose. The EXPECT to lose. The Syracuse game was just more evidence, but not a revelation of any kind. Talk all you want about strength and conditioning, Xs and Os etc. None of that matters when your heart fails to beat. It’s not lack of execution that’s the problem – it’s a mindset that expects that you WON’T execute. AND YES, THIS IS THE HEAD COACH’S FAULT – NOT HIS FAULT ALONE, BUT HIS FAULT. Leaders of men get it, others don’t. I have played on both kinds of teams in my life. I have played for coaches who got it and those who didn’t. I understand this concept intimately.

    I have been pounding the table on this ALL YEAR. Having patience w/ Weis is one thing-accepting fundamental flaws is another-and that’s what we are dealing with. Last week’s article entitled “Irish Lack Killer Instinct” was dead on target. This team’s problem(s) have nothing to do with talent. Their talent is adequate/good enough to deal with the schedule they have. The lack of killer instinct / caring is a result leadership. As we have all discussed before on this site – WEIS DOES NOT KNOW HOW TO SET THE PROPER TONE! If he truly is worried about the perception of “running up the score” on opponents he is a fool! There is a difference between putting a team away by the 2nd or 3rd qtr. and running up the score! C’mon! As if that is an issue being discussed around college football. When you watch Sportscenter and a given team wins by 2 – 3 touchdowns, are you hearing the pundits talking about that team running up the score on the loser? So why can’t ND do that?!!!! Preposterous. All season, ND’s wins AND losses this year have been absent of any instinct of going for the jugular. (With the exception of the Michigan game where they gave us turnovers on a silver platter.) The horrible stats in the redzone this year are also a result of this same problem. When you get in the red zone, the pressure ratchets up a bit to get the job done-we fall apart. Because ND lacks the leadership on the field and off, they are not licking their chops to get the ball in the end zone. IT IS A MINDSET THAT PERMEATES A TEAM. Weis’s NFL demeanor and lack of understanding in this area is killing us. Indiana Joe’s comments earlier in the year about Weis not interacting with anyone but JC is an excellent one that furthers my point here!

    I am not saying this can’t change, but I don’t believe it will. If it doesn’t change, ND’s talent level, running game, o-line etc. will be of little concern either way. All of that is just semantics without solid leadership from the top down, which ND just does not have. And this is not me lashing out after a tough loss – I have been saying the same thing all season, win or lose.

    Oh well, at least we get to see “highly-inspirational halftime stories” on NBC about ND student Suzie O’Sullivan and how she is studying in Nigeria this semester. Gee, ask me if I give a flying f#%@ about her when she says “We are the Fighting Irish”. Sorry Suzie – it’s not your fault that Charlie Weis is in over his head right now.

    I want more than anything to see CW succeed. I swear I do. But hasn’t got much time. I predicted that they would lose 3 out of their last 4 games. (You guys will have to take me at my word here.) I don’t know whether Weis should get one more year or not. But I do know that he is NOT A LEADER OF MEN, NOT EVEN CLOSE. Fire him after USC. He is awful and an embarrassment.

  2. i’ve supported weis all year but i’ve had it he needs to go I dont even care who replaces him. We need a coach that shows his players he cares and has a little emotion

  3. Plain and simple…..Fire Charlie.

    If I have to take one more season of listening to Mark May’s constant Irish bashing I am going to throw a remote through the plasma.

    We need a COLLEGE coach, not a former NFL coordinator.

    Let’s throw $15 million a year at Pete Carrol, Urban Meyer, Steve Spurrier, or hell, bring back Lou…or maybe even Skip Holtz.

    We are a joke to the rest of the college football world and it has to stop.

    If we get beat by 30 or more, and we lose a bowl game, Charlie has to go.

    Hey, “GENIOUS”, how about you put Floyd in the slot (when he can play), and Tate on the edge ON THE SAME SIDE!! Putting them both on the outside edges leaves nothing to figure out…let’ see, 2 yeard run, 5 yard screen, or Clausen going 3 for 25 on deep post routes…wow, great gameplan Mr. GENIOUS. Oh and the corner fade from the 10yd line in…what a mystery, we have only used it 50 times this year.

    We need to get back to running the ball, spread/option offense, and jam it down people throat like we USED to do.

  4. We should get BC’s coach. His last QB product is an NFL phenom, and he turns 2-star defensive linemen into beasts. And he knows how to work within the structure of a Catholic/academic institution.

  5. There has been no emotion all year! Defense is once again abysml and the offense has to progress into the 21st Century. Claussen is a joke–how he was so heralded I haven’t seen it in two years. It looks like a 6-7 record this year after another bowl lose. And guess who will ram it down our throats to start 2009 the Wolfpack from Nevada. A look at next year’s schedule still doesn’t show a return to the glory days. Recruiting-hah! is that what it’s called no kicker, no qb, no rb’s, and certainly no d-backs. As touted as the recruits are by Rivals that seem to find the abyss when they reach South Bend.

  6. I think Weis and Clausen get one more year. I’m just hoping we’re overreacting after an embarrising loss. I have a feeling we’re not though.

    Weis (or the next coach) needs to bring in some charismatic person. The team has absolutely no emotion.

    On a side note, what is with the terrible officiating this year? Almost every single game, and not just on us but both teams. Like how can they have not seen that facemask on the fumble recovery.

  7. I’ve been a ND fan since 7th grade…that would be 1960. Our 7/8 grade team was the St. Andrews Fighting Irish. I have an alumni jacket, hats, THE brick, and books galore.

    There are so many problems with ND, but do we really know what they are or their depths?

    Clausen, IMO, is no Quinn. He’s tough, but he’s skinny, slow, mediocre arm, so-so decision maker.

    The offensive line is simply…offensive (and this is ND?).

    No running game (and this is ND?).

    The play calling is suspect.

    Team spirit takes a break after half time.

    Now, if the talent that’s being recruited is as good as the experts say it is, the issue has to be coaching. Personally, I think the talent is far less than proclaimed, good but certainly not great. Clausen, so far, is the poster child for overrating.

    But…Weis appears to be out of his element as head coach. He should retreat to the NFL and do Xs and Os. Unfortunately, he has 7 more years on his contract and the AD has already said he is there to stay…at least another year, so we are forced into hoping that he will “improve”.

    (It’s no comfort, but Michigan looks like Notre Dame looked last year. What will they do?)

    ND hasn’t won a title since 1988. It has lost more bowl games than I care to recall in the interim. Next Saturday is shaping up to be a cataclismic embarrassment. Where will it all end??

    My only solace is Florida. I lived in Jacksonville ’68 – ’92. Many of those were lean years, but not the last sixteen. If only ND had half their talent… or coaching. Go Gators!

  8. I hasten to add, we don’t need to shoot ourselves in the foot prematurely. Even though this season has been no picnic and certainly tumultuous; cooler heads prevail.

    We need to preserve all the proven talent if we are going to make some changes to move forward.

    I don’t like the prospest we may end up 6-7 for the year. However, I am very concerned with the demeanor of the team heading into the USC game. I am not sure they can survive a 60-0 pounding mentally or physically. And where would that leave us?

    I hate to say it, but if we lose (more than likely) to USC, we need to forget the bowl and regroup on the future of ND football. A potential 17 losses in two years is difficult to rebuke.

  9. We are a national laughingstock. You can’t fire the players, so you have to cut the head off of the monster. Charlie Weis: Great guy…..phenomenal pro coordinator, but what a shi**y motivator. Our receivers couldn’t catch a cold, Claussen looks terrible (again), our defense is WEAK, and our special teams is a joke. Brandon Walker should be cut. Immediately.

  10. Weis is a good offensive coordinator, an X’s and O’s guy with a good mind for offensive schemes. I used to buy that he was a good teacher, someone who could get a player to learn and execute.
    But how can a guy be considered a good head coach and allow these things to happen?
    Last year’s 3-9 season could in part be attributed to bad recruiting at O-Line and the poor transition. But really it should have been a wake up call to some major deficiencies by the coach. We gave him the benefit of the doubt, thinking he would never let that happen again. Teams in the last two years that have not had near the talent as ND have not only beat us, they have out muscled us. That is so basic, a highschool coach could at least figure that out. Even Gerry Faust with Pinkett left Pinkett right, Pinkett up the middle had his O-line prepared. Weis does not seem to know nor is he ready to learn how a head coach manages all apsects of preparing a team.
    But here’s the more impoortant part. For those of us who attended Notre Dame, we understand that in many ways the team is defending the honor of the Lady on top of the Dome. Lou always preached that to his team with some fanatacism. Those players went out and in great years or not so great years, buried teams like a 2-8 Syracuse. To have let happan what took place yesterday was like hiding in a corner while your mother, sister, or girlfriend gets molested. At least Navy was a well coached team last year with a winning record. And forget our record, this loss has me feeling sick. The “Nasty” Weis talked about is more like “Cowardly”
    ND needs to figure this out. I’d hope they keep Tenuta, but other than him, they need a new direction and some leadership at the head coaching position. I wanted to believe in Weis just as I wanted to believe in Willingham. No more. Notre Dame deserves better.

  11. I have been the biggest Charlie Weis fan as i could be over these past years but all i can say now is he can recruit and thats it he can’t coach by the time he got his hands on Brady Quinn his development had already almost been complete and all CW had to do was not F@ck it up

    Charlie Weis’s play calling was terrible, on the FIVE YARD LINE we ran a pitch with our slow “power” “up the middle” back and then two bad pass plays where theres no way the receiver would be open, the first play we had Kyle Rudolph lined up at FB and everyone in the stadium new that we were gunna fake it and pass to him, can anyone honestly tell me that if we ran a power formation and ran the ball straight up the middle 4 times that we couldn’t gain 5 yards! and it took Charlie Weis 3 quarters before he figured out what i saw in the first, about 60% of the game they had Golden Tate 1 on 1 and WITHOUT SAFETY COVERAGE! and Golden TAte lined up on the opposite side of the field from me and TAte was RIGHT IN FRONT OF CHARLIE.

    I think we let him bring in this recruiting class and when they are all signed we let him go and find a coach that knows how to coach.

    HELP WANTED, HEAD COACH THAT CAN COACH AND NOT JUST RECRUIT

  12. More on ND Schizophrenic nature

    AP PRESS Nov 22nd

    THE REALITY
    Even before the end, there was ugliness for Notre Dame.

    The Irish players were pelted by snowballs on the sideline for much of the first quarter by fans sitting on the student section. Defensive end Ethan Johnson was struck on the left cheek and several other players also getting hit by snowballs despite three announcement urging fans to stop.

    The Irish were booed several times during the game, including Clausen on Notre Dame’s next-to-last possession when third-and-8 the Syracuse 31 he missed a wide open David Grimes.

    THE DELUSIONAL MIND
    “Weis said the key now is to get the Irish ready and thinking they can win next week’s game at No. 6 USC.

    “If you don’t go with that mind-set,” he said, “then you’re just asking for a massacre.” ”

    Probably the best fix will come from time amd healthy perspective. Miami (FL) football has gone from the bottom to top to bottom and is rising again. Yet the steady hand of leadership guides Miami in more important ways. President Shalala (Catholic)recently earned a presidential freedom award and U of M is rising in prominence in more important ways.

    So will ND, just be patient.

  13. I still don’t think that getting rid of CW is the answer at this point.

    the story of the 2008 season has been the irish giving up the lead in the 2nd half. it happened against…
    Stanford (win)
    North Carolina (Loss)
    Pitt (Loss)
    Navy (win)
    and Syracuse (loss)

    and both of the wins were close calls.
    Dont you think by now someone on the coaching staff would be trying to come up with a gameplan to hold onto the lead for late in the game?

  14. I missed the game and thought people were f’cking with me when they said we lost to Syracuse. There are peewee teams with more intensity and killer instinct than the Irish under Charlie Weis. Im a big Bama fan too and watching the way they hit, and fly around the ball is what football should be, and what Notre Dame football used to be. The onside kicks against Navy were a perfect example. There is no aggression or intensity.

  15. YOU HAVE GOT TO BE F’ING KIDDING ME!!!

    Syracuse….Syracuse….Syracue…I have memories of Jim Mora saying, “Playoffs”, and AI saying, “Practice”.

    We have hit the bottom. Navy ran out of time last week or we would have lost that game too.

    Charlie needs to step down, and we need to throw as much money as possible at a top COLLEGE coach…not some NFL coordinator who it is pretty mch confirmed now cheated in his NFL days.

    It is also fitting that Ron Powlus is coaching Jimmy Clausen. One overrated ND QB teaching another!! Where is your limo and fur coat now Jimmy? I would rather take JD McCoy from Friday Night Lights the TV show. But in Dayne Crist now.

    We can’t run, we can’t pass without a running game, we have idea how to throw quick slants or hit the tight enod over the middle. We rely on streaks to Golden Tate, or slip screen plays that DO NOT WORK.

    If Charlie ate a hamburger every time we went, “3 and out”, he would be twice as big.

    Bring back Ty, hell, bring back Bob Davie….15 losses in 2 years is UNACCEPTABLE!!!

  16. That we lost to Syracuse is a complete and utter embarrassment. I am from Syracuse and attend UND, so I know first hand how bad they are. If Weis is not fired, we are doing ourselves a disservice. Weis should give back any cent he has “earned” in his joke of a tenure at our beloved Notre Dame. Get him lout before we suffer another pathetic season.

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