May 9, 2017 · 12:12 PM

Notre Dame: best 4-8 team of 2016…

… or best 4-8 team ever?

By the way, Mr. Connelly projects Notre Dame as an almost four-point favorite when the Dawgs come calling in September.

29 Comments

Filed under Notre Dame's Faint Echoes, Stats Geek!

29 responses to “Notre Dame: best 4-8 team of 2016…”

  1. PTC DAWG
    May 9, 2017 at 12:30 PM

    They did beat Miami at home by 3.

    Like

  2. Uglydawg
    May 9, 2017 at 12:32 PM

    What a drawn out bunch of horseshit. If Georgia has a 60 percent chance of losing to the R-ish , then we’re in for a very bad 2017. These guys just take what they want to be true and twist statistics around to try to make it so.

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    • DawgPhan
      May 9, 2017 at 12:45 PM

      yep. that is Bill C. Just twisting those made up stats to prove that ND is the best 4-8 team ever.

      Like

  3. Jack Klompus
    May 9, 2017 at 12:38 PM

    Oye- these guys are going to give us their best shot! They’ll be preparing their whole offseason for this game. I was talking to a ND alum and he said they’ve had this one circled on the calendar for quite some time.

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    • Tronan
      May 9, 2017 at 2:28 PM

      UGA: Giving other programs signature wins since 2005.

      Like

    • Nashville West
      May 9, 2017 at 6:56 PM

      Yeah, we’re The One they can’t wait for. They probably won’t even think about USC, who they’ve been playing since the 1920’s and who ran up 40+ on them, until October. The annual slugfest with Stanford probably won’t be on the radar screen until November…

      Hate to break it to you but we’re just another name on the schedule for nd. (BTW-I hope that the Dawgs change that status by the end of Week 2).

      Like

  4. mg4life0331
    May 9, 2017 at 12:48 PM

    Ah yes, that s&p stat people here love.

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  5. 81Dog
    May 9, 2017 at 1:15 PM

    if we lose to a mediocre ND team, even at ND, that doesn’t bode well for the rest of the year. On the other hand, it’s not the end of the world, given that we’d have the entire conference schedule to right the ship.

    Eason’s in his second year. I expect him to show marked improvement, and continued grit. I expect the running game to be stronger. I expect some of our weapons in the passing game to be used more effectively. In short, I expect our entire offense to show signs of development that I didn’t really see last year.

    The defense should be better, too. If it isn’t, I’d take that as a bad sign.

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  6. Cojones
    May 9, 2017 at 1:22 PM

    ND’s rushing O was glammed over with the weakest of stats. Their rushing D had better get a great deal better before their second game.

    I’m with Uglydawg that this is “a drawn out bunch of horseshit” and would love to see this workup applied to UGA (would probably show we are King Kong coming to take a crap on The Dome).

    Nice that we are underrated to Miami, but I think the opposite is true; that we will take them in their second game, whereas, Miami will get them after they have met a strong team and have learned more by their game time. Both games may be interesting, but UGA’s game will be less so.

    Humbly suggest that we double-circle the ND game on our schedule board and give them our best after preparing all summer to play whack-a-mole in South Bend. I’m more worried about Temple whipping their arse before we get there.

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  7. stoopnagle
    May 9, 2017 at 1:31 PM

    New QB. New co-ordinators on both sides of the ball. Less talent (ND is consistently 4-5 spots behind UGA in national recruiting rankings).

    I guess they’ve got home field?

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    • 81Dog
      May 9, 2017 at 4:16 PM

      if all those things were UGA factors instead of ND factors, the poor mouthers would be expecting us to lose by 20. We ought to roll in there and beat them like they stole something…..if we are actually any good, which I have every expectation we should be. I don’t expect the staff or team to be bleating about how bad we’re going to beat them, I just want them to plan on beating them, expect to beat them, and then beat the ever loving hell out of them, like we didn’t get the chance to do in 2012.

      Liked by 1 person

  8. Mike Broome
    May 9, 2017 at 1:34 PM

    This may not be the correct area for such discussion, but I got bus tix (the georgia dawgs party bus) a few weeks back and now I need tickets to the game itself. Obviously, season ticket holders/donators have most tickets locked down – what seems to be the general idea for most of us left hanging: order now via stubhub etc or wait until week of? I have had good success buying the day of – but that is a big risk to travel and “wing it” —-thanks!

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  9. Ace
    May 9, 2017 at 2:00 PM

    I’m a rare breed in that I am a UGA fan/alum but consider Notre Dame my #2 favorite team. In watching ND closely each season, I’ll share a couple observations: 1) Brian Kelly is an insufferable ass who has made my desire to see ND win evaporate for the time being. Seeing him in pain is worth far more than an ND victory to me at this moment, and I don’t see how he could change that opinion. 2) ND fell apart last year partly because of Kelly and partly because the team lacked chemistry (which may also be all Kelly’s fault). Still, if a couple bounces went the other way early on, such as beating Texas to start the year, the season could have gone differently. 3) ND is easily one of the most talented teams UGA will play next year. We can all prognosticate, but it is not unreasonable to say that any of the following teams could turn out to be the most talented UGA will face: Auburn, Florida, ND, and Tennessee. Having to play at ND is a huge deal, and UGA fans should not automatically expect ND to have a sad 4-8 season when its talent composite (247 sports) clearly shows that ND has top 10 overall talent. UGA should very well EXPECT to beat ND, but Jacob Eason, whose father went to Notre Dame, is going to have to play a solid game for that to happen. Will he be inspired to play where his father did, or will that moment get to him and undermine his play? We have NO idea. Be ready for a classic battle folks and enjoy a game against a rare opponent in a special college football setting. A win, even a one point win, should be celebrated if UGA can get it.

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    • Otto
      May 9, 2017 at 3:03 PM

      Ohio St, ND, Texas and USC (in that order at the moment) are my most disliked. I seriously would be more angry if UGA lost to ND than Florida.

      I have posted on here many times, I want to see one P5 out of conference game, 2 cup cakes and GT on the schedule. ND is an inconic match up even if they are down. I hope UGA resumes scheduling more games like Az St, Colorado, and ND.

      Like

  10. MGW
    May 9, 2017 at 2:36 PM

    Post it in the locker room. Anything that helps us take a 4-8 team more seriously is a good thing.

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  11. Macallanlover
    May 9, 2017 at 3:13 PM

    What they are is the most consistently over rated team in CFB. They have been exposed since they began playing in bowl games, unable to hide behind their made-for-order schedule. It isn’t to say there weren’t good ND teams in the 30s, 40s, 50s, and 60s but who would know? Between them and the Big 14, who would only play the PAC8 champ in a bowl every year, they would interlace their schedule with a few meetings and add mostly cupcakes. Chances of an unbeaten, or once beaten, team every year was pretty high. Then the AP writers would rate them all highly as they sat home during the holidays watching the bowls (while ohio and Mich hid out in Pasadena and dodged other power teams from the SEC, SW, and Big 8 conference.) And that is how you get exaggerated records,rankings, and perceptions for many of those programs over the past 90 years.

    I wouldn’t be shocked if we lose at South Bend, hell look what we did last year. We still have some of those same same questions we had last November, and will until we prove we have moved forward. But I don’t put ND football on a pedestal, we have to play 2-4 programs most every year that could have accomplished what ND has given the same circumstances. How many significant wins have they had in the past 40 years? But they continually get invited to bowls they don’t deserve because they are a TV ratings guarantee. Trouble is, in many of those bowl games they flopped and rolled over in an uninteresting game. To show you the ND hype machine is still kicking, the Domer’s QB Wimbush has similar Heisman odds as Nick Chubb! Now he may turn out to be decent but who, outside of Vatican City and South Bend, has ever hear of him? He has virtually no credentials, yet he is listed in the Top 20 players in the country going into 2017. (Disclaimer: I don’t think Chubb has much shot at a Heisman either, even if he is the best player in the country in 2017, because he isn’t going to get the stats that drive that award, and will probably be on a team that finishes outside the Top 10. But Wimbush ranked that high? Come on man!

    I doubt you see ND favored by four points in September, if at all, which means Vegas sees the game virtually even. Both are wounded animals, coming off disappointing seasons, so yeah, both should played inspired football and give the other “____ ___ _____”. But victory over the other will not guarantee either success, both will face bigger challenges later in the year. And one coach is will leave the field with their arse very warm.

    Liked by 2 people

    • 69Dawg
      May 9, 2017 at 3:45 PM

      Well said. Any team with it’s own network not named Texas has a lot of national following and that translates into over hyping them early in the season. We have had the same thing happen to us for years except we usually get over hyped one year and forgotten about the next. ND is always in the NC discussion because they are “God’s” team but most of the national sporting press needs ND to be relevant for the national publications. Most college football is regional even the B1G but ND is national. We’ll at least get to find out quickly if this 2017 UGA team is any good.

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      • Uglydawg
        May 9, 2017 at 4:21 PM

        69 Dawg..Last years opening win over North Carolina makes your last sentence debatable. While I do mostly agree, I took the bait last year and was fooled.

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  12. ugafidelis
    May 9, 2017 at 4:14 PM

    This is just step one in the Dawgrading process.

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    • Uglydawg
      May 9, 2017 at 4:27 PM

      Or step one in the annual R-ish hyping process…Build them up to be a great, under the radar team, and should they beat Georgia, the road is conveniently paved for a top ten early ranking.

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  13. eethomaswfnc
    May 9, 2017 at 5:48 PM

    The ND game this year is like the Alabama-Clemson game in 2008. We need to go in there with the intention of methodically taking the Irish apart like that Bama team did to Clemson in the Georgia Dome. While that may not indicate that we’re back in the conversation, it will go a long way to addressing my fear that this year is going to be a lot like last year.

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  14. Brian Kelly
    May 9, 2017 at 7:05 PM

    University of Georgia: Worst 8-5 team of 2016…..or worst 8-5 team ever?

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