BIG EAST FOOTBALL PREVIEW: WEEK #1 NOTRE DAME

September 4, 2008


Last year was a forgettable season for Notre Dame football fans. The Irish were awful under Charlie Weiss, finishing 3-9 with their wins coming against UCLA (6-7), Duke (1-11) and Stanford (4-8) and they will try to but last season behind them when they open their season this Saturday on the Notredame Broadcast Channel, better known as NBC on your local listings, with San Diego State at 3:30 PM.

For the Irish to have any hope to reach one of the plethora of NCAA Bowl Games this year, starting off on the right foot against SDSU is a must. There is no Marshall Faulk for SDSU this year as, well, they are awful, something they proved in their loss to Cal Poly last weekend.

Cal Poly racked up nearly 500 yards of offense against SDSU in the 29-27 win at San Diego State. The Irish should have a field day, and despite Michigan looming the following week, the NCAA Football Odds are listing the Irish as 20+ point favorites in their opener.

Expect QB Jimmy Clausen to be much improved and an upper-classmen heavy offensive line should fare well against SDSU allowing him to find a comfort level. There are not enough SDSU's on this schedule to help the Irish get bowl eligible, but for one weekend, Notre Dame Stadium will have something to cheer about.


Prediction:

Notre Dame 48
SDSU 17