An LA View on South Bend

Anyone who knows me from ChiSoxBlog, knows that I'm quite the optimist; I held onto the belief that the Sox would squeak by and reach the playoffs as long as possible. Although my beloved Bruins are nowhere near as talented, on paper, as my even more beloved Sox were, I still have hope for a win. Not a ton off hope, but I can dream, can't I?

The prevailing thought about our chances aren't that great. LA fans seem to be realists more than dreamers, but I say where there's a will, there's a way. We are after all, playing the team that ended our 88 game winning streak in basketball. (Yes, 88 game winning streak, how ridiculous is that?). If we learned anything from that game it's that no win is guarenteed. Just ask Auburn who slipped up against Arkansas or Arizona who choked against the Bears.

When I say LA fans are realists, I mean in general. I do have friends who are making the pilgrimage to South Bend and are fully expecting a win. I met a Mexican family at a tailgate who said they were going in for the Notre Dame game and to quote the patriarch of the family, "Man, I hope we win, but if not, fuck it, at least we'll get drunk." The full spectrum is represented, but I think most people, if they are brutally honest will tell you they're not expecting great things tomorrow.

I don't know what to expect, to be honest. I've seen this team look alternately great and alternately Duke-ish (we're talking about football, remember), often times in the same game. UCLA kicked off the season as underdogs against Utah, and proceeded to demolish the Utes. They also looked like a damn good team for the first half of the Washington game, but then decided that a half of football was good enough and lost the game. (Washington is a good team; if they had 5 more seconds or any sense of clock management they would have knocked off the Trojans)

Honestly, it'll probably come down to quarterback play. If we can contain Brady Quinn and get a good game from our backup Patrick Cowan, we'll be in good shape. That's a big if though. Quinn is probably the most polished QB in the college game; he may not be the best overall, but he's up there. The D-line needs to get pressure on Brady, which they are fully capable of. Hickmon alone could wreak havoc in the backfield, and if he plays up to his potential, he could make things quite a bit more difficult for the Irish.

The defense is actually our strength this year. We're not the high-scoring machine of last year. We lost Olson (Drew that is), Mercedes Lewis, and Maurice Drew. This year we had Ben Olson, the former top QB recruit, but he hurt his knee so we're down to Patick Cowan. In relief of Olson against Arizona he looked great; he actually looked to be an upgrade, that is until he played against Oregon. He was seriously dismal last week, so it's up in the air as to what we should expect.

If only we could merge last year's offense with this year's defense; it would be NCAA title number 100 for the Bruins, but oh well. If Cowan sucks it up, we gotta hang our hopes on Chris Markey (pronounced like Marquee) who is a solid running back and has some speed to burn. If I'm Notre Dame I'm stacking the line to stop Markey, and forcing Cowan to win the game.

So there are a lot of ifs that need to go our way if the Golden Domers are to go down, but it's not too big of a longshot. The Bruins could pull it out and make my football teams 2-0 against ND. (I was raised a Michigan football fan). But if they lose or if they get stomped on, please Notre Dame, do me the small favor of beating USC, yah, that other team from LA.

(8-Clap Time) Ooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooh
Clap**Clap**Clap**Clap**Clap**Clap**Clap**Clap*
U!
Clap**Clap**Clap*
C!
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Lllllllllll*Clap**Clap**Clap*llllll
A!
Clap**Clap**Clap*
U-C-L-A
Fight, fight, fight!