Notre Dame Football 2011: The Brian Kelly Era...Ascends?

• Tobias Fünke

  

  9/3....South Florida
  9/10.....@ Michigan
  9/17.....Michigan State
  9/24.....@ Pittsburgh
  10/1.....@ Purdue
  10/8.....Air Force
  BYE
  10/22.....Southern Cal
  10/29.....Navy
  11/5.....@ Wake Forest
  11/12.....vs. Maryland (@ FedEx Field)
  11/19.....Boston College
  11/26.....@ Stanford
  
  Nine 2010 bowl teams.
  
  The Irish return 4/5 lineman, the entire backfield, and potentially the entire receiving corp.
  
  Defensively , they return 2/3 on the DL, 3/4 on the LB's, and 3/4 of the DB's.
• vball10set

  could start out the season knocking off a Holtz coached team, and then go on to kick tsun's ass--from there the sky's the limit
• Crimson streak

  

  The way this defense has played this second half of the season has me excited for next year. The only real question is the qb situation but I can definitely see a 10 plus win season with that schedule
• cbus4life

  Should be looking at a BCS bowl next season.
• Tobias Fünke

  

  South Florida - 65% - Deceptively good. I imagine Notre Dame will be charged though, but Skip Holtz was one of my favorites to take the ND job. Look out.
  
  @ Michigan - 80% - Notre Dame's offense went through them like a hot knife through butter last year with Crist, and it will be the same way this year. They may put up 50. the defense actually did fairly well against Denard. Something like 50-30 will be the score hahah
  
  Michigan State - 50.1% - Your guess is as good as mine. Notre Dame played them as tough as anyone in 2010, can they do it again? I think so. Michigan State, and any of the pro offenses opponents run match up well with Notre Dame's stingy defense. I expect Louis Nix to be a big player here, but Cwynar is very capable.
  
  @ Pittsburgh - 75% - Correct me if I'm wrong, but they won't be as talented in 2011 as they were in 2010. Not overly anxious about this game.
  
  @ Purdue - 90% - "W."
  
  Air Force - 77% - I'm not sure about them. They were TOUGH in 2010.
  
  Southern Cal - 55% - Depending on losses to the NFL, I expect 2011 to be the beginning of the downfall of this program. A lack of real depth will be a rather serious issue here. The Irish should hope for another downpour here, as I don't see USC's offense scoring too often.
  
  Navy - 70% - Navy needs a new master at QB. Notre Dame will be out for vengeance.
  
  @ Wake Forest - 98% - Yeah, okay.
  
  Maryland - 65% - Tough to tell. I don't know who their coach is, although I expect it to be Leach. One would think Notre Dame's defense would have plenty of prep against an air raid in practice.
  
  Boston College - 77%- I don't think this offense gets much. The defense is good, but not good enough.
  
  @ Stanford - 45% - Does Harbaugh return? Does Luck return? I thought they'd take a step back after not having Gerhart, but they marched forward. Now, they could lose Harbaugh, Luck, and a slew of fifth-year seniors; they are due for a step back. Will Notre Dame's offense be churning out 40 ppg by this point?
  
  I fully expect big things in 2011, if you can't tell. They return too much to not do well.
• Skyhook79

  

  Navy needs a new master at QB. Notre Dame will be out for vengeance.

  
  I admit that made me laugh.
• Tobias Fünke

  

  I laughed too, while writing it. But it's "how the game works," the triple option puts so much pressure on the quarterback, and Navy needs to reload in that department. Plus the embarrassment from 2010 will have the Irish fired up no doubt. I'm very confident Notre Dame will handle the Midshipmen that Saturday.
• vball10set

  ccrunner609;619741 wrote:and here is where it starts

  
  LOL--I believe it was an OSU fan that posted this...and for the record, I see it as a distinct possibility as well
• vball10set

  cbus4life;619721 wrote:Should be looking at a BCS bowl next season.

  ccrunner609;619741 wrote:and here is where it starts

  
  I have to agree with Clintonville- I don't think ND getting to a BCS bowl next season is out of the question at all.
• Con_Alma

  Tobias Fünke;619809 wrote:I laughed too, while writing it. But it's "how the game works," the triple option puts so much pressure on the quarterback, and Navy needs to reload in that department. Plus the embarrassment from 2010 will have the Irish fired up no doubt. I'm very confident Notre Dame will handle the Midshipmen that Saturday.

  
  There's no reloading at qb. Navy has a kid who is faster than Ricky Dobbs and has been running the TO longer than him. He's not the charismatic, leader Dobbs was but he's had many people clammering for him to start last year and even this year during the Maryland game when Dobbs was turning the ball over.
  
  Your verbiage makes it sound Like Navy is starting all over at QB. Far from it. Kris Proctor runs the triple very, very well.
  
  In addition, you might want to take a look at what Air Force has coming back from that stoudt defense. They were by far the best service academy team this year and they're expected to better next year.
• Tobias Fünke

  

  Kriss Proctor may have all of the talent in the world, his live experience is rather limited. It's rather moot though; I think if Notre Dame comes out with the right game plan they will beat Navy. Diaco might put 80 hours into his work that week. haha
• Tobias Fünke

  

  "(The win over Miami is) just a testament to the progress we've made since coach Kelly came in," (Harrison) Smith said. "The offseason workouts, the summer, training camp, then just getting better throughout the season. It's heading the program in the right direction."

  http://www.wsbt.com/sports/wsbt-harrison-smith-acts-the-part-123110,0,1908765.story
• sherm03

  

  With all the talent coming back, I'm pretty excited for next year.
  
  Anyone think the Irish will get any love in the preseason rankings? I think somewhere between 20-25 isn't that big of a stretch considering what ND is returning.
• hoops23

  

  ND looks to be on the right track.
  
  However, South Florida is going to be VERY good next year. I have them winning the Big East next season.
  
  As for ND in the preseason polls, definitely. I could see them being top 20, potentially.
• Tobias Fünke

  

  Yeah I've been saying a ranking around #22 is appropriate. The first four opponents went to bowl games in 2010, so if they get a nice run out of the gate they will ascend up the polls.
  
  In 2011 I'm excited about Cierre Wood. He may become the first Notre Dame rusher to hit 1,000 yards since 2006. He had 602 with a 5.1 average. His 5.1 average in 2010 is the highest for an Irish leading rusher since Julius Jones' 5.5 in 2003. Wood was a sophomore (RS-Frosh) in 2010 with legitimate patience issues, which were nearly gone by the end of the season. With 4/5 returning offensive lineman, and a rather easy replacement pending, I expect something like 1,200 yards, seven touchdowns, and a ~5.3 average. I say that because the team amassed 1,646 rushing yards in 2010. I expect that to grow to 2010 to ~2,000, and Wood is good enough to be the "feature back" so to speak. Big, big year in 2011 for Cierre Wood.
• Con_Alma

  Tobias Fünke;620005 wrote:Kriss Proctor may have all of the talent in the world, his live experience is rather limited. It's rather moot though; I think if Notre Dame comes out with the right game plan they will beat Navy. Diaco might put 80 hours into his work that week. haha

  
  Not sure what you mean by limited live experience but if it's as you say a moot point I won't dwell on it. Navy doesn't have the same rules to run their program by as Notre Dame by virtue of them not having "scholarship athletes". I would bet Kris Proctor has run more live snaps than other QBs in the country before the season starts and against a variety of defenses.
  
  Notre Dame should beat Navy but to suggest that it's because of the Midshipmen having to reload at QB as you stated above is simply not correct nor the right reason ND should win.
• The Equalizer

  

  Depends on Floyd and Rudolph, mainly Floyd. If he comes back I think we'll start around 15-16, if he leaves, 20-21.
• Tobias Fünke

  

  [video=youtube;uJg1dzUlSkM][/video]
• Thinthickbigred

  I can actually see them going unbeaten into the Stanford game ..... Kelly will bring back ND for sure ... Right now he is in the top 3 I think in the USA or will be after next season
• rock_knutne

  Kelly has set the program up for great things, now he just has to get them to the next level which he's more than capable of doing. 2011 should be an exciting year in South Bend.
• killer_ewok

  

  The entire backfield returns? I thought Armando Allen's hip injury appeared to be career-ending?
• karen lotz

  

  killer_ewok;621505 wrote:The entire backfield returns? I thought Armando Allen's hip injury appeared to be career-ending?

  
  
  Well considering he has been out since October and Wood has been starting those games, its technically true. Hughes is also gone and he was a beast down the stretch. Jonas Gray is going to have to step up and stay healthy next year.
• killer_ewok

  

  karen lotz;621511 wrote:Well considering he has been out since October and Wood has been starting those games, its technically true. Hughes is also gone and he was a beast down the stretch. Jonas Gray is going to have to set up and stay healthy next year.

  
  Ah, okay.
• athlete37

  

  Armando's eligibility's out even if he was healthy. He has started games all four years.
• Tobias Fünke

  

  I was referring to the starters down the stretch. It's like saying the starting TE's return, because Rudolph was out for so long.
  
  But I guess technically we do lose Hughes. I'm not losing sleep over it, he impressed me in like three games throughout his career, and only one game, against USC, since his freshman year. Jonas Gray, to me, seemed to be a more agile Hughes. Against Miami I saw Hughes do his usual find the first guy to run into and fall down routine.
  
  Wood is a stud, Gray will be a solid power-ish back. If Huggins commits he will see the field. Roberson has been impressive in practices all fall, they say he's ready to play.
  
  I'm not worried about RB's next season. Especially is Carlisle and Huggins commit.