Expectations

While surfing the message boards, I have read a lot of people positing that 8-4 would be a good season for ND this year. The prevailing thought is that this year's team is too young and that the previous regime left the cupboard bare. If you believe any of that, I have a bridge to see you in Brooklyn.

There is no reason why this team cannot be successful. They are young, but the younger classes are more talented than their predecessors. It is a trade-off.

Additionally, there is another factor that may work in ND's favor. In their first two years, Weis and his staff were beholden to doing right by the players they inherited. This season they will be free to develop their younger players and use them anyway they see fit. I fully expect that we will see a much different attack than what we have seen in the past. There is no need to build a team entirely around ball control passing as there was when Quinn, Walker,and those receivers were around.It would have been a dick move by Weis to use a more varied attack featuring his younger players while Quinn and the gang were still on the team, but now things have changed.

Finally, regardless of the team's make-up, the expectation at ND should always be a national championship. Teams that are not supposed to be very good do sometimes when championships. However, teams that do not expect to be good and have fans that do not demand them to be good never when them. That is what seperates ND from Purdue.