Blue and Gold Illustrated

February 2012

Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football

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FAN FORUM AT A LOSS I have a question that I hope you can answer or give an explanation of some sort. In June 2010, the NCAA finally nailed USC's behind to the barn door wall. It was banned from bowl games for two years, lost 30 scholarships, and had to "forfeit" its last two victo- ries in 2004 and all victories in 2005. Some reports said they were "stripped of" or had to "vacate" those victories. Here is what confuses me: In the tiny 2011 Notre Dame Media Guide, (I needed a magnifying glass to read the print) in the "All-Time Scores" section, it still shows Notre Dame lost to the Trojans 41-10 in 2004, and 34-31 in 2005 (the Bush Push Game). If Southern Cal must forfeit, is stripped of, or has to vacate those wins, then why is Notre Dame still being tagged with a loss? Maybe I'm dumb, but I don't get it. John Paul White Hemet, Calif. FROM THE WEBSITE The page on the 2011 season had barely been turned before our subscribers began looking forward to the 2012 campaign, Brian Kelly's third season with the Irish. Here were a small sampling of predictions prior to the Dec. 29 Champs Sports Bowl. Texasdomer1: No more Kool-Aid and bandwagon. Just realistic expectations. I say 9-3, maybe 8-4. Tiud: There are so many variables right now. I can't even imagine venturing a guess. Who will start at QB? Will we have a cornerback that can cover? Will Eifert return? Will we have a reliable and healthy backfield? Who will attempt to fill Floyd's shoes? Way too many questions right now. IrishForever: I am going with 10-2. We all know the third year is key to new coaches and I expect Coach Kelly and the team to deliver in 2012. I believe with another year under the belt the Irish will be in position for a breakout year. WeareND76: IF the QB situation is ironed out with Golson/Hendrix, as expected, finally running Kelly's offense for the first time since he's been here, and IF the front 7 is as dominant as they have the potential to be to take some pressure off an inexperienced secondary, I think we could have a solid 10-2 season. It's a tough schedule but not nearly as tough as the names on the schedule would make you think. A number of those teams are losing key pieces, rebuilding, or in a tough time, so we are getting that schedule at about the best time it could considering we play Michigan, USC, Oklahoma, Miami, MSU, etc. That is a lot of name value but they are all beatable. Merlin08: After thinking we would go 10-2 this past year, I will bring down my expectations to 8-4 next year. Unfortunately during his five years here, Brian Kelly won't ever get to 10 wins in the regular season, I believe. NDGuyinFL: Michigan is very beatable, Miami is rebuilding, USC will be Kalil/Perry/etc.-less. MSU loses a lot of talent, including Mr. Cousins. 11-2 is a realistic, really good season guess, 9-4 at the bottom end (bowl game results included). I do think we will end up in a BCS game. IrishTN: 6-6 to 8-4. A lot of the big-name opponents are down, but they all still have a lot of talent and pride. We don't have a stable QB situation, lose our two best offensive players in Floyd and Gray without solid replacements, and a much weakened secondary, losing Blanton and Smith. Besides Navy and Purdue (and maybe Wake), every game is going to be a dogfight and I just don't see us pulling out more than half of those. Now, if Hendrix or Golson play and are lights out, we are plus-10 or more on turnovers (instead of minus-13 with two 99-yard fumble returns against us), there are no key injuries and our young corners and receivers emerge and exceed expectations, then I think there is a chance we get to 9-3 or maybe get lucky and hit 10-2, but that is the ceiling. www.BLUEANDGOLD.com Head coach Lane Kiffin, who was an assistant at USC from 2001-06, and the Trojans had to vacate their 2004 and 2005 victories over Notre Dame, but both still count as losses for the Irish. PHOTO COURTESY USC Mr. White, you're not the first to ask that question, and you might not be satis- fied with the answer, but here goes. When a school vacates a win — rather than forfeiting it — all it means is it no longer counts it as a win on their end. It's not about the other school, or now Notre Dame counting it as a win and not a loss. In the Notre Dame record books, the game is still acknowledged as having been played, and that was the result. If Notre Dame doesn't include it, then if it was never played you also have to exclude the records of Brady Quinn, Jeff Samardzija, etc. because the game never existed. In Notre Dame's eyes, those two games were still played and the results were what they were. In the NCAA's eyes, USC cannot count them as a victory, so it takes away from their all-time win total. We realize it might not necessarily fly in Logic 101, but that's how it is. Don't shoot the messenger. FASHIONABLY LATE I love the new helmets, and the rock and roll music in the stadium is awesome! I can hardly wait for the Jumbotron and FieldTurf! Glad to see Notre Dame entering the 21st Century. Go Irish! Gary Ross Via the Internet Send your letters to: Letters BE HEARD! Blue & Gold Illustrated P. O. Box 1007 Notre Dame, IN 46556 or e-mail to: lsomogyi@blueandgold.com Want to stay up-to-date with all the Irish news? Like Us On Facebook: www.facebook.com/ blueandgoldillustrated Follow Us On Twitter: www.twitter.com/BGInews FEBRUARY 2012 7

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