2006 Notre Dame Football
With a second year under Charlie Weis, the 2006
Notre Dame football team should have national title
aspirations. How big of a role does coaching play
in college football. Just ask the Notre Dame Fighting
Irish who, under Charlie Weiss last year, found an
offense which had been absent for years. With last
year’s top returning Heisman vote-getter, Brady Quinn,
back under center and after a 9-3 2005 season, the
expectations couldn’t be higher in South Bend. The
pollsters and odds makers seem to agree that Notre Dame
is in great position to once again hoist a national
championship trophy, but despite their talent, it will
be difficult for them to top a team from a major
conference such as Ohio State or Oklahoma. However, the
fact that they are an independent gives them a great
chance to get to the title game this season. Although
the Irish play a tough schedule, they often play their
opponents during their opponents conference season when
a game with Notre Dame isn’t nearly as important as a
game with a conference rival. With that said, things
could be slightly different this season, as the Fighting
Irish will be marked men because of their potent offense
led by the aforementioned Quinn, and standout wide
receiver Joe Samardzija who tied Notre Dame’s catch
record with 77 receptions last season and set new marks
in receiving yards with 1,249 and touchdowns with 15.
The Irish also return 4 offensive lineman including the
all important center John Sullivan and big left tackle
Ryan Harris. Having the majority of their O-line in tact
is even more important to the success this team will
have in ‘06 than any of the big names returning. One
player that has gone forgotten, but could prove a major
asset to lure defenders away from double covering
Samardzija, is Rhema McKnight who was the Irish’s
leading receiver in ‘03 and ‘04 before missing most of
last season with an injury.
Despite returning 9 starters on the defense, the “D”
might just be Notre Dame’s Achilles hill which keeps
them from a National Championship. The “D’s” biggest
problem last season was it’s susceptibility to giving up
big plays. You don’t have to look too far back to
remember that the Ohio State Buckeyes torched them with
plays of 56, 68, 85, and 60 yards in the Fiesta Bowl.
Weis and his staff will likely need to find replacements
for linebackers Corey Mays and Brandon Hoyte as they
just weren’t able to get the job done a season ago. The
defensive strategy will be to put more pressure on the
opposing teams quarterback with Abiamiri who stood out
last season recording 8 sacks and 15 tackles behind the
line of scrimmage. We’ll find out what this defense is
made of early on as they will be tested by Big 10
powerhouses Penn State and Michigan in weeks 2 and 3
after opening at Georgia Tech. The good news is that
Penn State and Michigan will have to come to South Bend.
The bad news is that both Big 10 teams are expected to
bring in running attacks that the Irish may not be ready
for so early in the season.
Read the articles on the official
Notre Dame football
site to keep posted.
Odds to win the national title:
Pinnacle: +682
Bodog: +400
Over/Under win Totals:
Pinnacle: Over 10.5 +178/Under 10.5 -201
Bodog: Over 10 +105/Under 10 -135 |
