2007 "not so homerish" Season predictions Part 1

A new season. A new era. The star heisman contending quarterback, Brady Quinn is gone. Jeff Samarzija is gone as well Rhema McKnight, Notre Dame's two top receivers. Notre Dame's durable running back, Darius Walker is gone. The only thing that remains of the 22 starters from last year is 7 people. What sounds like to be a tough season, actually turns into quite a magical one.

Game 1. Georgia Tech. Final Outcome: ND 31 GT 7.
Georgia Tech came into this game ranked in the top 20 in the country and wanted revenge for last year. The problem was, they were missing their gamebreaker Calvin Johnson, and their game loser Reggie Ball. Their Defense remains stingy, but they are playing in a hostile environemnt which is always tough first game of the season. Anyway heres the game recap.
Notre Dame wins the coin toss and stand out freshman armando allen makes a good impression to kick off the season with a 97 yard touchdown return. Georgia Tech couldn't do a thing with the ball the whole day with Notre Dame's new defensive scheme, the 3-4. They force a punt and with 11 minutes left in the 1st quarter, Terrail Lambert blocks the punt and returns it for a touchdown in the endzone. Talk about special teams. Since that set the tone for the rest of the game, i might as well tell you the rest of it.


TommyZ has an interception and averages 14 yards per punt return
Travis Thomas goes for 133 yards on just 17 carries, 1 TD
Sophmore Quarterback Demitrius Jones throws for 10 of 16 passes 171 yards, including one 70 yard pass that was a screen to george west, his only catch of the day
Armando Allen had two kickoff returns for a total of 133 yards.
Maurice Crum has 2 sacks.
John Carlson has 3 catches 1 td
Kamara has 3 catches
Grimes has 1 catch
West has 1 catch 1td
Gallup has 1 catch
Parris has 1 catch
James Aldridge goes for 77 yards on 9 carries
Brandon Walker is 1 of 1(yes 100%) for field goals
Terril Lambert intercepts a pass on defense and blocks a punt for a TD.

Georgia Tech's stats:
bennet: 7 of 17 for 99 yards
Choice goes for 111 yards on 22 carries
James Johnson catches all 7 of bennett's passes.


MVP: one complete game as a team so the whole defense gets mvp.


Game2: Penn State. Outcome: ND 24, PSU 17
Penn State goes into the game ranked in the top 15 in the country. as much as the game looks close it really wasnt. It was 24 to 3 until the fourth quarter when Penn State gets 2 touchdowns against our back ups and third stringers.
Travis Thomas has 167 yards on just 16 carries, 2 touchdowns
Demitrius Jones continutes to stand out going 13- for 19 170 yards
Duval Kamara gets a 33 yard diving touchdown catch
Armando Allen Returns two kickoffs, 1 to psu's 33 yard line, the other to ND's 39
James aldridge goes for 67 yards on 10 carries
Tommy Z gets an interception
Terrail Lambert gets an interception
Offensive line doesnt give up a sack
Crum 8 tackles
Kamara 4 catches, 1td
Carlson 3 catches
Grimes 2 catch
Gallup 2 catches
Parris 1 catch
Thomas 1 catch

MVP: Travis Thomas

Game 3: scunk bears: outcome Notre Dame 35- Michigan 34.

Notre Dame wants revenge for last years beatdown at home. The players know its going to be a tough game, considering they are ranked number 2 in the country. Notre Dame is now ranked 17 in the country, and fans are starting to believe this could be the year, even though it was the most unlikely. Anyway to the game
Michigan wins the coin toss and they differ for the 2nd half. George West gets the kick off and instantly right way he crosses the twenty gets hammered. ND goes 3 and out. Michigan scores after a long drive. The rest of the first half is controlled by Michigan. Leading 24-7 at the half. ND's only touchdown comes on a punt return by Tommy Z pummeling over all of Michigan's special teams, breaking 12 tackles in one play.

To the 2nd half. On the kickoff, Crum strips the ball from hart and grabs it at Michigan's 23 yard line.
First Play of the 2nd half: Demetrius Jones passes a perfect strike to john Carlson in the endzone. Touch Down 24-14.
Hart rushes for a 2 yard loss, and then Henne gets sacked. 3rd an 17. Henne throws a perfect strike, except it was to terrail lambert and he returns it for a touchdown. Notre Dame is back in this game. Michigan the next possesion kicks a 54 yard field goal. 27-21, skunk bears. On the kickoff, Armando Allen returns one to the 47 of michigan.
Travis Thomas instantly gets 2 straight 11 yard gains. Then Jones goes up top to Grimes for a td. 28-27 Notre Dame. Next possession, Michigan gets a touchdown in 7 plays, finishing with a hart run of 7 yards. 34-28 Michigan with just 3 minutes left in the game.
first play of the drive from the 20, Jones and Thomas run the option, Thomas breaks it for an 80 yard touchdown, but is called back because of holding. They do the same thing again and this time thomas gains 40 yards before being shoved out. Then Jones throws a 16 yard, sliding strike to David Grimes. Ball at the Michigan 34 with a minute 40 remaining. Travis Thomas on the next play catches a screen for 11 yards. Ball on the 23. The next play, Jones is looking for a receiver, but not a soul is open. He decides to take it himself all the way to the 1 yard line before being shoved out. time for the formation that Notre Dame fans have been waiting for. the wish bone. Jones, Laterals the ball to aldridge and starts running right, but then he laterals it to Thomas and hes running left, and scores an uncontested touchdown with 27 seconds remaining. 35-34 Notre Dame. It is not over yet though. Michigan returns the kick to their 49. Instantly Henne passes a dart to Manningham to the 33. 2 seconds on the clock, they call a time out. They decide to attempt a long 48 yard field goal. But the kick is blocked by terrail Lambert blocks the kick! Notre Dame wins! Return to Glory.

In the Part2 series. You will see the games of Michigan State, Purdue, and UCLA

Introduction

First off, to start my blog, I would like to introduce myself. My name is Dan and I am crazy about ND football. I plan to have everything you need here. If you are not the message board type like I am, come here for your information. I will not just have information but predictions for this year. Yes the predictions are homerish, but I am a homer. The information will be on ND football news, recruiting, and anything related to college football. This is going to be a great blog. Feel free to comment.