UHND Opponent Poll – Week 8
2008 UHND Opponent Poll – Week 6 |
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| Opponent | Last Game | Next | Comments | ||
| 1. |  |
Southern Cal Trojans (5-1) |
W, 69-0 – Washington State | @ Arizona (10/25) | Frank : USC was back to its normal dominating self with a complete dismantling of Washington State this weekend. Washington State is one of the worst BCS teams in the country, but USC flexed their muscle a little bit this weekend. |
| 2. |  |
#17 Pittsburgh Panthers (5-1) |
W, 42-21 – Navy | vs. Rutgers (10/25) | Frank: It looks like Pitt has put their opening weekend loss to Bowling Green way behind them. LeSean McCoy has gotten on track and that is not a good thing for us. McCoy is the type of back that could give our defense fits. |
| 3. |  |
North CarolinaTar Heels (5-2) |
L, 13-16 (OT) – Virginia | vs. Boston College (10./25) | Frank: UNC lost a tough game to UVA this weekend. UNC is not going to win a lot of games without Brandon Tate and TJ Yates unless they create turnovers like they did against Notre Dame. |
| 4. |  |
Boston College Eagles (5-1) |
W, 28-23 – Virginia Tech | @ North Carolina (10/25) | Frank: Boston College had a very nice win over a Virginia Tech team that was improving. Tech’s offense looked awful against BC this weekend, but the price took its toll on the Eagles. Brian Toal was lost for the year in the win. |
| 5. |  |
Michigan State Spartans (6-2) |
L, 7-45 – Ohio State | vs. Michigan (10/25) | Frank: Having Brian Hoyer at quarterback finally caught up with Michigan State. The Spartans couldn’t move the ball through the air and OSU bottled up Ringer. When MSU has to pass, they will have trouble moving the ball. A visit from Michigan this weekend might be just what the doctor ordered for MSU. |
| 6. |  |
Stanford Cardinal (4-4) |
L, 20-23 – UCLA | vs. Washington State (11/1) | Frank: Stanford had a nice win over Arizona last week, but lost to a pretty bad UCLA team on Saturday. Stanford has shown signs of turning the corner at times this year, but they are still not much more than an average football team. |
| 7. |  |
Purdue Boilermakers
(2-5) |
l, 26-48 – Northwestern | vs. #24 Minnestoa (10/25) | Frank: This might be the worst team of the Joe Tiller Era at Purdue. Oddly I don’t feel bad at all for Tiller either. |
| 8. |  |
Navy Midshipmen (4-3) |
L, 21-42 – Pitt | vs. SMU (10/25) | Frank: After a couple nice wins for the Middies, Navy got beaten pretty soundly by Pitt. |
| 9. |  |
Michigan Wolverines (2-5) |
L, 17-46 – Penn State | @ Michigan State (10/25) | Frank: Michigan is a lot worse than I thought they would be this year. Their defense, which should have been sound is getting picked apart at times. Michigan has a real chance to end this season with just 3 wins. |
| 10. |  |
Syracuse Orangemen (1-6) |
L, 13-45 – South Florida | vs. Louisville (11/1) | Frank: Still don’t see this team winning another game this year. Greg Robinson’s seat is no longer hot though – its already been burned to the ground. |
| 11. |  |
San Diego State Aztecs (1-3) |
L, 7-70 – New Mexico | vs. Colorado State (10/25) | Frank: Ummm….. a 70-7 loss to New Mexico? How the hell did we only put up 21 on these guys? |
| 12. |  |
Washington Huskies (0-6) |
L, 13-34 – Oregon State | vs. Notre Dame (10/25) | Frank: Washington could end this season without a win. Notre Dame should not have any problems with the Huskies at all this weekend. |
Frank Vitovitch has been Co-Owner and Editor in Chief of UHND.com since joining forces with Kyle Flavin in 1999. Since that time, he has written over 2,000 articles covering Notre Dame football, recruiting, and basketball. He also works with all staff and external writers on all articles published on UHND.com. Frank's love for Notre Dame football started at a young age watching Rocket Ismail give opposing coaches ulcers in the late 1980's. By day Frank works in marketing and holds a degree in Digital Media from Drexel University. Frank's work has been cited by online/print editions of NBC Sports, ESPN, and Sports Illustrated and has been quoted on air by ESPN's Collin Cowherd. He's conducted interviews with Notre Dame legends Rocket Ismail, Randy Kinder, Lee Becton, Reggie Brooks, Michael Stonebreaker, and Ned Bolcar among others over his 20+ years of covering Notre Dame football. He's also been published in the print edition of USA Today Sports Weekly and the USA Today College Football Preview multiple times. Other Published Works/Citations for Frank Three Reasons Notre Dame Will Beat Alabama - USA Today Notre Dame Suspends WR Kevin Stepherson, RB C.J. Holmes Indefinitely - Bleacher Report Notre Dame / Ohio State Fiesta Bowl Preview - Eleven Warriors Brace Yourself: The Fighting Irish are Relevant Again - Sports on Earth Interviews with the Enemy: A Q&A with Frank Vitovitch of UHND - Yahoo! Sports Five Good Minutes: Notre Dame Football Preview With UHND.com - BC Interruption Vicious Electronic Questioning with UHND - MGO Blog
Thanks for the poll Frank.
I might swap the middle three around with Navy possibly going ahead of Stanford, but definitely ahead of Purdue. Purdue should be better. Stanford is getting better.
Two observations, first, you look at the two losses and what this Irish team can do right now and you’d like to have those games back. But that’s the learning esperience. ND now could beat MSU, not because MSU had an incredibly bad game against OSU, but becuase ND’s come pretty far since that game. But again, that’s why you push as a coach. The UNC game, well, poor seocnd half play calling and some bad decisions by Clausen or that game would have been very different. I am dissappointed that UNC lost to Virginia, but I am impressed with the progress under Butch Davis. He’s a good coach and classy guy.
Second observation. the last 4 teams in the poll flat out stink. But ther rest are at least respectable. Even Michigan threatened PSU for a half. so anytime the pimps at ESPN, or the haters bust on ND’s schedule, I’d like to point out the flops in the PAC-10, aka, most of USC’s oppornents, and the flops in the Big-10, PSU’s and OSU’s opponents. In fact I am totally surprised that the computers rate USC’s schedule in the top 50, given that the PAC-10 went 1-6 against the Mountain West this year. the Big Ten hasn’t done super hot against so called inferior conferences either. ND’s schedule is not it’s toughest, but it’s no worse than any non-Big 12, non-SEC team.