◊ I added a bunch of new photos over the past week. New albums:
• 2006 Youngstown St @ PSU
• 2004 Akron @ PSU
• 2003 Indiana @ PSU
• 2002 Central Florida @ PSU
...also...
• some additional photos in 2005 Ohio St @ PSU
Check it out!
First, before I get into this, I'd like to thank those over in the land of Rocknefor reading ZN. I personally love when outsiders venture into enemy territory. But when they dedicate a whole thread to it on a Notre Dame message board, I'm more thrilled than a pig in poop. Let me just run down what the Irish fans had to say:
Original Thread by "Frankie V"..."Pretty laughable read from a PSU blog about how their 3-9 season in '03 was way better than ours....
Here's my favorite part...
"More than any other factor leading to the demise of these two teams, was the presence, or lack of leadership from the top down. The 2007 Irish had virtually no guidance from its head coach, with players defecting and speaking out against their former coaches--mainly against Weis. In its biggest game of 2007--hosting USC--Notre Dame was shutout, in what could barely be described as a college football game. Penn State, however, met defending national champs, No. 6 Ohio State at home in 2003. The Lions played the Buckeyes down to the wire, looking more like two BCS-caliber squads sparring toe-to-toe, rather than Goliath pounding David. Penn State lost by one point, after Ohio State scored a touchdown with just more than a minute left."
Yeah, Penn State was 3-9 in 2003, but it was a good 3-9 ya know?"
Then, amazingly enough, McSweeney chimed it with this nugget. I was actually caught off guard by his honesty and rationality... "What's laughable is the fact PSU averaged a 5-7 record from 2000 through 2004
These guys are trying to make a case that not all 3-9 records are created equal. Well, technically, they're correct. ND's 3-9 came after two back-to-back BCS bowls. PSU's 3-9 record came during a stretch in which they failed to break .500 four times in five seasons.
In fact, PSU's amazing 2005 run was amazing more for the fact PSU has been anywhere from mediocre to awful for going on a decade now. Consider Weis lost three games in each of his first two seasons at ND, while 2005 is the only season since 1999 that JoePa has lost less than four games."
And there's my point. I originally wanted to add that to the original post, but never got around to it. Fortunately, Irish fans just couldn't leave this one alone, and in turn made my point for me. Notre Dame had NO excuse for going 3-9 in 2007. Charlie Weis had a pretty damn good recruiting class in 2005 (even if he only had a few months to work at it) and an awesome one in 2006. Follow that up by getting guys like Jimmy Clausen and Anthony Aldridge in 2007, and you should at least break .500. In 2003, Penn State didn't absolutely implode the way Notre Dame did in 2007. Penn State was on a steady decline since going 5-7 in 2000. The Irish played in two consecutive BCS bowls in 2005 and 2006. Penn State's decline was like setting off a stick of dynamite every day over a few years. Notre Dame's collapse was more along the lines of dropping a hydrogen bomb.
But before I end this, here's what poster "IanY77" said to Frankie V's thread... "Does the "Zombie" in "Zombienationpsu" refer to Paterno?
I know, I know, I'm being lazy and going for the easy joke. But if they put that out there, they're just asking for the joke to be made. They opened the door, I just walked through it."
Yes, Ian, I'm sure that if you asked a random person what they thought of when they saw the name of this blog, they'd think of that. Or, it could be that you sat there for 10 minutes trying to think of something clever to say on the forum. And that brings me to my final thought on this. Isn't it interesting that the only place Notre Dame fans were willing to discuss and argue against my postwas in the friendly confines of an Irish message board? I'm now extending an official invitation to fans of all teams to visit ZN and leave their comments whenever they please. I welcome criticism, as long as it's (figuratively) to my face. Man up, Domers.
Coming off a New Year's Day bowl, losing a ton of talent and leadership, and high expectations summed up the preseason attitude of the 2003 Nittany Lions and the 2007 Fighting Irish.
Penn State had just finished up its season of redemption, earning a Capital One Bowl berth after two, very un-Penn-State-like, consecutive losing seasons. The Lions lost to an Auburn team featuring young stars like Ronnie Brown, Carnel "Cadillac" Williams and Jason Campbell, 13-9 under the Florida sun. But the spark seemed to be back in the Penn State fan base. Looking at the 2003 schedule, even the pessimists predicted nothing less than 7-5.
Then, it started. The opening win against Temple was hardly impressive, and the following week against Boston College was an utter disaster. Fans soon began to worry, as Penn State let Nebraska avenge the previous year with an 18-10 victory in Lincoln, in which the Huskers rumbled for more than 300 rushing yards. "We'll pull it together, we have to" said most, but it never happened. Penn State finished with a 3-9 record--beating hapless Kent State (5-7) and Indiana (3-9)--complete with a 41-10 whipping by a Michigan State team lead by pothead Jeff Smoker.
The offense never seemed to work when it had to, and the defense couldn't get their act together against the run. The young stars never broke out, and the veteran leaders couldn't live up to their past accomplishments. To put it plainly, Penn State was a bad team in 2003.
Now take a look at Notre Dame during 2007. Charlie Weis' boys were coming off two BCS berths. The program lost stars on both sides of the football, but most fans felt a respectable record was possible. But then, after starting 0-6, the Irish offense ranked dead last IN THE NATION and the defense didn't show up until they faced the service academies and Duke. If there's one statistic that best sums up the 2007 Notre Dame football team, it's this: 58 sacks allowed. Yes, that number is correct--the Notre Dame quarterbacks were sacked 58 times. Notre Dame crawled its way to 3-9, with its first lost to Navy in 42 years and two of those wins coming against Air Force and Duke.
But these teams weren't all that alike. Notre Dame was a virtual clinic on how not-to-block. Frequently, once the Irish fell behind, things just snowballed and got worse as the game wore on. Penn State just seemed to die a slow, painful death as the game wore on. Often opponents would get up early on the Lions--Penn State had plenty of early, and costly turnovers--but not score much the rest of the game. Of course, that had a lot to do with the fact that opponents averaged 209 rushing yards against the 2003 Lions.
More than any other factor leading to the demise of these two teams, was the presence, or lack of leadership from the top down. The 2007 Irish had virtually no guidance from its head coach, with players defecting and speaking out against their former coaches--mainly against Weis. In its biggest game of 2007--hosting USC--Notre Dame was shutout, in what could barely be described as a college football game. Penn State, however, met defending national champs, No. 6 Ohio State at home in 2003. The Lions played the Buckeyes down to the wire, looking more like two BCS-calibur squads sparring toe-to-toe, rather than Goliath pounding David. Penn State lost by one point, after Ohio State scored a touchdown with just more than a minute left.*
What does this all mean? I really don't know. I was really bored today, and there's not much else to write about. I love history, and love comparing past teams to each other. This was originally supposed to be a story about how Notre Dame had no excuse for going 3-9 last season, but I didn't want to put in the effort of backing up that claim.
*On third down, Ohio State "completed" a pass which lead to the go-ahead score. The ball clearly hit the ground before skipping up into the receiver's hands. (I saw this in person from the West sideline) The refs said it was a good catch. Bullshit, Bullshit, Bullshit! To this day, it's pure--did I say this already?--Bullshit!!!
2/4.
Everyone argues that strength of schedule should mean everything in college football, until someone calls their team out on scheduling Directional Community College...
As promised, here's the top five toughest schedules BCS bowl teams have played from 2003 through 2007. In case you're already thinking of your team's "really, really tough [insert year here] slate," here's my criteria for selection:
-I-AA schools! If a team played anyone outside I-A, they're automatically out. A team should never be rewarded for playing those games. Frankly, I'd rather the NCAA force teams to take a bye that week instead of paying a couple hundred grand for a win. I realize that Florida International might get beaten nine times out of ten versus Appalachian State, but it doesn't matter. ASU is in I-AA. If they want to be considered on the same level as I-AA, then apply for that level and move up. If you want proof of my convictions, I would have left off Penn State's 2006 schedule in a heart beat if they made the BCS. Why? Youngstown State. If Penn State makes it to the BCS in 2008, they're not making the list either. Why? Coastal Carolina. If you want respect, play teams from your own division.
-Opponent records, looking back. Was a team good at the beginning of the season, only to implode and prove to be a bad team? Look at Ohio State's win versus Washington in 2007. The Huskies were coming off a victory over Boise State, 2-0 and a star quarterback in Jake Locker. Ohio State beat them handily, and everyone was praising the Buckeyes. Washington turned out to be a bad team, at 4-8. And what about Boise State, which lost in week to to Washington? That loss didn't look so bad when Washington was 2-0, but now that's considered a real bad loss.
-Opponent conference affiliations. OK, I know I'm one of the first to argue that the SEC is not the juggernaught its fans want to think it is, but it's still one of the top conferences each season. That being said, if a team like Notre Dame in 2005 convincingly defeats Tennessee, even thought he Vols finished 5-6, it still counts more that beating a 5-6 ACC or Pac-10 team. (By the way, that Vols team beat LSU in Baton Rouge) Beating a mid-level Big Ten or SEC team is much better than beating the Sun Belt or MAC champions.
So here's what I came up with. Debate all you want, but you're not going to be able to convince me your team's schedule was harder in the last five years. THIS IS ALL IN NO PARTICULAR ORDER!
Just missed the cut. Close, but not tough enough...
West Virginia's 2007 schedule was tougher than most think. Mississippi State proved to be a worthy opponent to at least eight teams, and East Carolina came on strong. Oklahoma, regardless of what happened in the bowl, was still a powerfull team in 2007:
I think Texas' 2005 slate was bolstered mostly due to the night game at Ohio State. If the Longhorns had played one more tough road game, or at least one more top-15 team, this schedule would have made the top five:
Sure, Miami played a lot of really good teams in 2003, but it also played in the Big East and a game against a pathetic ECU team. There were tons of somewhat tough games, but none that particularly stood out:
Ohio State put on a good show in 2006 until getting pantsed in the championship game, but that didn't take away from the strength of their schedule that season. Playing a night game away versus the defending national champ will always gain you brownie points, but too many teams on this schedule turned out to be mediocre:
I know what you're thinking, "How did Notre Dame even get consideration in the first place?" Well, I hate to burst your bubble. The Irish's schedule in 2005 wasn't out of this world, but it definately wasn't as easy as you thought. Just having USC on there brought it out of the depths, and playing a bunch of bowl teams gave it the edge over many others:
Now for The Top Five Toughest Schedules Played by BCS Bowl Teams From 2003-2007...
I bet you looked down before finishing this, noticed Michigan, and though "Yeah, right." Hold on there cap'n. Playing in Autzen Stadium has been the death of many great teams, and matchups against Iowa, Minnesota, Ohio State and USC far outweigh the games against Indiana and Illinois. Add Purdue to that, and you have five ranked teams:
Why do you think it was such a big deal when West Virginia beat Georgia in the 2006 Sugar Bowl? This is why. The Bulldogs faced only six bowl teams in the regular season, but three other teams were one win away from bowl eligibility. LSU was probably one of the top two teams in the nation, but no one knew it. I hate to admit it, but getting throught teh SEC is really hard to do:
Scream all you want about Oklahoma's struggles in the Fiesta Bowl lately, but the 2006 schedule was much harder than most thought at the time. Eight bowl teams, and a Washington team one win from eligibility, sets this slate a notch higher than it could be. Plus, losing to Boise State that year wasn't all that bad, even if the Sooners should have won. The two BCS OOC games did it for me:
Here's my top underrated schedule on this list. Ohio State played two bowl-eligible BCS teams OOC, and a ranked, MAC champion Bowling Green squad. Going up against ten bowl eligible teams--five ranked--isn't something you run into every day. I wasn't totally convinced with this schedule, until realizing that the Buckeyes didn't really get a break outside of the Indiana game: 
Remember, this is in no particular order. So you SEC fans don't go thinking that I put LSU here because I think they had the hardest schedule since 2003. But if you want to find a great schedule, look at LSU's 2006 docket. I really think that the 2006 Tigers were better than the rankings indicated. I'd like to see your team go through five ranked SEC teams in one year, including the eventual national champ, Florida. Tulane and Fresno St. turned out to be quite cakie, but the rest of the teams more than made up for it:
So that's it. Sorry it took so long to get this up, but hey, I'm not getting paid to do this. I don't know yet when I'll have Schedules, Part 3 up, but I'll keep you updated as to its progress.
Ok, so I've already called a timeout and changed the play once, now I'm changing the play again at the line of scrimmage. I'll have Schedule, Part 2 up soon, but not covering the top five worst schedules since 2003. Rather, it'll be the top five hardest from 2003-07.
More below the fold...I'll have Part 2 of "Schedule..." up today this week, but slightly different. Rather than go over what I think were the top five worst schedules of all the BCS teams since 2000--I really don't feel like going through all 70+ teams--I'm going to narrow down the criteria to the teams that actually made it to the BCS games, Rose, Sugar, Fiesta and Orange since 2003--the last five years. I'm also going to go over the BCS Championship Game participants from 2006 and 2007. That should be real fun (that is, not that anyone reading this blog should be having fun), especially once the SEC folk finally wake up from their moonshine haze. See you all then.
© Templates by Ourblogtemplates.com 2008 / Edited for Zombie Nation
Back to TOP
