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2009 Notre Dame Football Predictions

Written by Jimmy Boyd

notre dame 8409 It’s now or never for head coach Charlie Weis if he wants to remain in South Bend. He was starting to leave the hot seat when he had the Irish off to a 5-2 start last season, but a 1-4 finish to the regular season, including a home loss to lowly Syracuse, put him right back in the oven. The Irish rolled in the Hawaii Bowl 49-21 over Hawaii to finish the year at 7-6, but let’s face it, Notre Dame fans are only interested in BCS bowls. Get my take on the Notre Dame Fighting Irish in this 2009 NCAA football betting preview. Notre Dame is listed at +2,200 to win the 2009 BCS title at BetUS.

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Offense – We should see the best Notre Dame offense since 2006, Brady Quinn’s senior year, taking the field this season. 10 of 11 offensive starters return and Charlie Weis is calling the plays so anything under a 30.0 points per game scoring average will be considered a major failure. Jimmy Clausen showed signs of being the player he was expected to be when he came out of high school last season. The junior threw for 3,172 yards and 25 touchdowns while helping the Irish boast the 34th-best passing attack in the country (245.4 yards per game). While I respect his competitive nature that makes him want to make plays, he will have to do a better job of not forcing the football this season, as that practice was largely responsible for his 17 interceptions. I expect the Irish to boast one of the premier passing attacks in the country in 2009 with Clausen continuing his maturation and with a stellar group of receivers. Golden Tate will once again be Clausen’s no. 1 option. Tate finished with 58 catches for 1,080 yards and 10 scores last year. Michael Floyd and tight end Kyle Rudolph will also be expected to make plays. The running game has not been very good each of the last two seasons, but the program is expecting progress behind an experienced offensive line that returns four of five starters. Armando Allen, who finished with 585 yards and three touchdowns on the ground in 2008, is expected to get the most totes.

Defense – The Fighting Irish have the potential for a solid year on defense as long as the line steps up. The Irish have lost Trevor Laws and Pat Kuntz each of the past two seasons and it’s time for the remaining upperclassmen to get the job done. Junior nose tackle Ian Williams and junior defensive end Kerry Neal will be expected to anchor the unit. Co-defensive coordinators Corwin Brown and Jon Tenuta do have the luxury of solid linebacker and defensive backfield units so they are expected to use these positions in numerous blitz packages to help out the front four. The linebacker unit is strong with returning starter Brian Smith leading the attack. The secondary lost safety David Bruton and cornerback Terrail Lambert, but three solid corners remain and a pair of star safeties in Harrison Smith and Kyle McCarthy. McCarthy is the team’s top returning tackler with 110 stops last season and Smith moves from outside linebacker to fill the void left by Bruton.

Prediction: The Irish are a legit top 25 team this season and USC is the only team on the schedule who I believe they don’t have a chance to beat. A 10-win season is very much in the cards if this team plays up to its potential, and with the pressure on, I believe it will. My recommendation is to bet Notre Dame over 9 regular season wins at BetUS.

Beat the college football odds this fall with the help of Jimmy Boyd’s expert football picks!

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