Tonight

Sorry for the lack of posts. Been a good Thanksgiving holiday with the family. 

A few notes before a very defining game for Charlie Weis and the current state of Notre Dame football:

-  Notre Dame has not beaten USC since 2001; USC's average margin of victory is nearly 24 points in those wins.

- USC's defense is averaging only 8.7pts given up per game. That's tops in the country. 

- The point spread is up to 32 points (USC favored of course) in some spots

- The Irish defense hasn't given up more than 24 points all season against an opposing offense. 

-  In the 5 Irish road games this season, the Irish have turned the ball over 19 times versus only 3 takeaways.

We all want the Irish to win this game, but it just doesn't seem possible. Funny things happen when programs and coaches and players are "near the edge", but there have been no indications on the field at any point in the last 2 seasons to indicate the Irish have a chance to even stay in this game. 

Prediction time

Prediction 1  -  The Irish get a few lucky bounces tonight. Likely early, a turnover or two. How the Irish handle these gift wrapped chances will determine if we stay in the game past the first half. 

Prediction 2  -   The Irish have some success on the ground. Not much. Maybe 100 yards rushing total, which is good for the Irish against USC, but not good enough to win the game without major help elsewhere. 

Prediction 3  -  If USC covers the spread (which is likely), Charlie Weis will be fired on Monday evening. 

Prediction 4  -  If Notre Dame wins this game (impossible . . . nearly), Charlie Weis will enjoy success in the next few years and fully coach out his 10 year contract through the 2015 season. 

Prediction 5  -  Brian Kelly (head coach of Cincinnati) will be hired as the new Notre Dame coach as soon as next weekend if Prediction 3 comes true.

Some meaty predictions there. I have been thinking about the Weis situation all week, and I just think if the Irish get blown out, Weis is gone. His recruiting has been good, but losing winnable games and getting blown out by a rival just dont fly in South Bend. Our schedule was weak this season, and 7 wins was really the basement for this team. 6-6 would have been 5-7 or 4-8 with a more difficult schedule. 

Score prediction  . . . 

IRISH   13     USC  38

USC does not cover the spread, but soundly beat the Irish. Weis's fate is completely up in the air with this score, maybe with odds of fire/stay being 60/40%. Firing Weis after a blowout is completely fair, but definitely will hurt our recruiting and be a painful divorce from our program. But the firing would be justified and the right move. 

Go Irish, beat Trojans.