That being said that was our best offense in probably 15 years. Personally I think that talent wise were nearly there, and were close enough that I actually believe that we will have a decided schematic advantage. I don't think Petey is that great of a gameday coach. He just has so much more talent then the other team.

While that was Carroll's worst defense at SC, their offense that season was one for the ages and ND was 65th in Total Defense. That's why our game plan on offense was to take shots but for the most part take the air out of the ball.

On paper we match up better with them in 2009 then we did in 2005.

we've had in the last 10 years from a personnel POV. Maybe not as many stars, but the ones ND had (Quinn, Shark, and Stovall) could hit SoCal right where they were the weakest. Plus Zibby returning punts against Pete's weakest punt coverage team in his tenure. We had a lot of cards to play that day. This time, if ND is to win, it will be much more about playing a better football game regardless of matchups.

--
Sometimes I rhyme slow sometimes I rhyme quick.

to think that even at our absolute best under Weis, we might not be good enough to beat USC in its current state. We like to bring up 2005, but that was the worst defense Carroll will probably ever field at SC (recall that the Ting brothers had major roles in that game).

The Trojans have tripped up once or twice in the last few seasons, but I doubt we'll ever be so fortunate because of the nature of the rivalry.

seem awfully, awfully tough.

I always think about depth in football because from Pee Wee on up through HS, I always remember hating having to play against the teams that could just keep throwing new players in there while your sorry butt couldn't complete a 40 in under 6 seconds. That number is going to pay big against us in the mid-3rd Q on thru the end of the game.

No excuses for not being competitive, but I hate that our "best chance in years" still looks on paper like it'll take a fair share of luck too.

--
Sometimes I rhyme slow sometimes I rhyme quick.

If you give Top 60 players a 3 point value, the guys from 61-100 a 2 point value, and the guys from 101 to 250 a 1 point value:

SOUTHERN CAL: 132

FLORIDA: 87

TEXAS: 85

LSU: 75

NOTRE DAME: 75

OHIO STATE: 73

ALABAMA: 71

GEORGIA: 69

OKLAHOMA: 65

MICHIGAN: 56

- No text -

at least according to Rivals.com. ND will almost certainly move up this list in August because this includes players that signed in February and there will be non-qualifiers.

Top 250-100-60
*denotes teams breaking in new starting QBs

*USC: 57-45-30

TEXAS: 46-25-14

FLORIDA: 45-24-18

LSU: 43-19-13

OHIO ST: 41-20-13

*GEORGIA: 40-19-10

*ALABAMA: 40-18-13

NOTRE DAME: 39-22-14

*MICHIGAN: 36-13-10

OKLAHOMA: 32-19-14

NO...F*CKIN....EXCUSES