That game @ Northwestern in a couple weeks and then the season finale in Southern California are going to be tough for the Irish IMO.

Overrated based on what? Their dismantling of a Michigan team who will beat OSU this year? Their beat down of Stanford? Their beat down of Virginia Tech in Virginia Tech. Which is one of the toughest environments at night much like being at Penn State.

 

This was the first game since they changed qbs that they struggled some and still won. They didnt lose to a mediocre team like some teams did this weekend and they definitely didnt get blown out to a mediocre team like OSU did last year to Iowa. Notre Dame did what a good team should do and thats win even when they didnt play well at all.

I’m with you on this. Notre Dame isn’t overrated. They are better than most on here give them credit for.

Getting back to my biggest pet peeve in sports. People do not understand what the term "overrated" means. Rankings, by-in-large, are a product of simply not losing. UCF is ranked #9, but most do not feel they are the 9th best team in the country. Our eye test establishes where we fill teams rate among their peers. Most feel Notre Dame has some warts, but are a really good team; but, I do not think anyone feels they are an elite juggernaut like their ranking may suggest.

I will say, this is a game Notre Dame normally would have lost.

 

The more I watch Ian Book, the more he looks the part. It feels different with him at the helm.

Getting back to my biggest pet peeve in sports. People do not understand what the term "overrated" means. Rankings, by-in-large, are a product of simply not losing. UCF is ranked #9, but most do not feel they are the 9th best team in the country. Our eye test establish where we fill teams rate among their peers. Most feel Notre Dame has some warts, but are a really good team; but, I do not think anyone feels they are an elite juggernaut like their ranking may suggest.

I have difficulty finding teams behind them that are better. Maybe move LSU ahead of them. You can’t move them behind Michigan. Notre Dame is properly rated as the 4th or 5th best team in the country IMO.

While I realize that Ian Book has earned the starting job, the majority of the game it seemed like the Irish were having more success with QB runs than anything else. I wouldn't have minded seeing Wimbush get a series to see if he could do anything to jump start the Irish. That being said, it is doubtful that he could have been nearly as effective as Book was during the 4th quarter.

 

In the grand scheme of things this will go down as a win, as ugly as it might have been, the Irish survived and advanced towards a playoff berth. Hopefully this preformance will prove to be abnormal.

 

The defense continued to play great. They allowed one of the touchdowns and made a crucial penalty to extent the Pitt drive on their initial touchdown.

I said it before; it looks a lot like 2011.

That game @ Northwestern in a couple weeks and then the season finale in Southern California are going to be tough for the Irish IMO.

 

I agree.

I said it before; it looks a lot like 2011.

 

Could be, I hope not.

Could be, I hope not.

 

I'm just poking and having fun. ND is a very good team. They are on par with every team competing for the title including Bama. They can beat anyone on any given day. That defense is nasty, and once Kelly gets a good feel for what Book is really good at and really bad at, the offense will be on par as well.

I said it before; it looks a lot like 2011.

 

Not even close. That 2011 team had a pretty good defense but besides Eifert on offense not much.

I'm just poking and having fun. ND is a very good team. They are on par with every team competing for the title including Bama. They can beat anyone on any given day. That defense is nasty, and once Kelly gets a good feel for what Book is really good at and really bad at, the offense will be on par as well.

 

I'm hoping you're right. I do think Book is a game changer.