THE MEASURING STICK

October 14, 2009

Walk into any home with small children, and you will see the marks. You will normally find them on a door frame. These little slashes tell anyone who walks by how much each child has grown over time. In some cases, a child may be measured in this fashion every few months. The norm is to perform this little ritual once a year on their birthday. That way mother and father can say, “See how much you’ve grown over the past year?”

This Saturday in South Bend, Indiana, Charlie Weis steps back up to the doorway. His critics are anxiously waiting there with their markers to see just how much the Irish have grown since last season. The measuring stick is in town. That measuring stick is USC.

Those in power in South Bend are growing restless. The return to glory that seemed so imminent after back-to-back trips to the BCS has not come. They look at the Trojans and say, “That used to be us.” They are right.

Notre Dame was once the program in college football. A high school football player knew he was elite when the Fighting Irish wanted him to wear that gold helmet. Now, those same elite players look west. They look to the warm weather and glitz of Southern California. They look to Pete Carroll. They look to the song girls. They look to USC.

So many Irish rooters felt they had their man in 2005. In Weis’s first year, he beat Michigan in Ann Arbor and lost a classic to the Trojans, now best remembered for the “Bush Push.” Since then, support for Weis has waned year by year.

As USC, continues to compete for national championships year in and year out, the Irish have been out of the hunt for #1 since 1993. To make matters worse, the Trojans haven’t simply beaten Notre Dame seven straight times. With the 2005 exception, they’ve dominated the Golden Domers. The combined score the last two years alone has been 76-3. Last season, Notre Dame failed to get a first down until the final play of the third quarter.

USC has had better coaching and better athletes. Even the staunchest ND supporter would say the current Trojans are still more athletic, but now the Irish have Jimmy Clausen. The golden boy that turned down the Trojans is starting to hear his name and Heisman thrown around in the same sentence.

The Irish offense is potent. The Trojans are starting a true freshman QB. The game is in South Bend. All of those factors added together have lead to optimism in South Bend this time.

I don’t believe Charlie Weis has to win this game to keep his job. However, he cannot afford to lose another laugher. When Notre Dame went 3-9 in 2007, Irish defenders said over and over, “Give them time. They’re all freshman and sophomores. Ty left the cupboard bare.” The 4-1 start is nice. The team has found ways to win with close calls over Michigan State, Purdue and Washington. Beat the Trojans or even lose valiantly, and you can call this progress. Get run off the field again, and you suddenly appear to be lucky you aren’t 1-5.

How much has changed since last year? We find out Saturday when little Charlie steps up to the door frame to be measured.

Games of the Week:

Oklahoma vs. Texas – This game lost a little luster when BYU knocked Sam Bradford out for a month, and in his absence, BYU and Miami combined to knock OU out of the national title hunt. It is still a bowl game in mid-season. It is a neutral site game with half the fans in burnt orange and the other half in crimson. The Longhorns have to weather the early storm. They have been a 2^nd half team all year turning close calls with Wyoming and Colorado into laughers by outscoring each 28-0 after halftime. There’s no question OU is more tested coming into this game, but the Longhorn vets have been just waiting for this Saturday to explode. I’ll take Texas to remain perfect.

USC @ Notre Dame – USC is playing a rivalry game on the road with a freshman QB starting, and they are still a 10 point favorite. Even Charlie Weiss is playing up how big this is for the program (i.e. him). The Irish need a strong showing. I think they get it. I picked them to win this game in the pre-season. The closer it gets, the more I think USC just has too much for them. Both teams have had two weeks to prepare. I’m expecting a moral victory by ND, but the USC D will be too much.

Virginia Tech @ Georgia Tech – The Hokies have jumped back into consideration for the national title game. Ga Tech has bounced back nicely since their stumble at Miami. The ground game is dominating again after steam rolling FSU. Last year, this game was earlier in the season and the Hokies prevailed 20-17. The Yellow Jackets rushing attack is impressive, but Virginia Tech is the more complete team. I see another Hokie win.

Upset Alert – Wake Forest @ Clemson – The Tigers season is jumping the tracks again. Here we are in mid-October, and Clemson has lost three times, twice in conference and is coming off a bad loss to Maryland. The Deacons were my pre-season ACC Sleeper. They have two three-point losses and sit atop the Atlantic Division. The Wake offense is clicking behind senior QB Riley Skinner. Look for Wake to take another step toward a berth in the ACC Final.