Sorry for the absence, I've been sequestered for the final week before football in the Pacific Northwest, trying to survive the last week without exploding any internal organs. I've also used the opportunity to commune with some fellow otters to obtain their wisdom and insight into the coming season.
Tomorrow, the college football season starts and we will get our first glimpse of the Irish on the field. Right now, hope blossoms in the heart of every fan as they extrapolate all of the tidings from fall practice. Blogs find reason for optimism amongst the player and coach quotes and the statistical breakdowns of last season and what adjustments are going to yield a surprising number of wins. We rely on sea mammals. Their prediction for ND - GA TECH:
ND OTTER WIN!!
High Fives All Around!
The Otter says: anyone paying close attention will realize that Notre Dame's hopes rely on two major areas of improvement: 1) the impact of defensive coordinator Corwin Brown on a rejuvenated defense and 2) improved offensive line play allowing a power running game to give time for a young quarterback to come of age. If Notre Dame achieves substantial improvements in these two areas they will be able to stay in games with their defense and play a ball control offense which grinds up the clock and relies on their offensive strength - depth and talent at the running back position.
Of course, in the first game, hope meets reality. In terms of defensive improvement, Corwin Brown brings a new fire to the position of defensive coordinator and fans are hoping for an improvement similar to the impact made by Michigan coordinator Ron English in 2006. The defensive secondary is very experienced and has added depth. The increased depth will allow them to field more packages without sacrificing talent. Hopefully, the schemes will eliminate the big plays given up in 2006 and generate more interceptions against the passing game. The other big question mark will be the interior line play, particularly the nose guard in the 3-4 alignment. Notre Dame is undersized in this position and has little depth until Darrell Hand rejoins the team following his 3 game suspension. Georgia Tech will be a tough test in that they have a back in Rashard Choice who can grind out long drives in small chunks if the defensive line can't bear the point of attack.On offense the key will be the offensive line, even more so than which quarterback starts the game. Expectations were high heading into 2006, with BGS assessing our OL as the 3rd best in comparison with our opponents. The assessment last year was that we had one of the most experienced lines in ND history, but now the post-mortem of last season laments the line's inability to guarantee short yardage. This year's version is the opposite of last year: the line is shorter on experience, but longer on talent and size. If true, it will allow our new quarterback to gain confidence while we rely on a stable of running backs to pound away. This will be a true test because Georgia Tech brings a stout and confusing defense which will test our OL right away. So as cliched as it is, the game will be won or lost in the interior line tomorrow. Get a good rest, boys and bring your A game.
