A Steping Stone to an 09 BSC Return

I could not agree with this any more....

From Rivals.com:

It won't be much of a surprise if Notre Dame emerges from the wreckage of its 2007 season and regains some respectability by going 6-6 or 7-5, but a look at the Irish's schedule shows it isn't so far-fetched to think they could do even better than that.
Instead of beginning the season with a "Big Six" program the way they usually do, the Irish open the 2008 slate with a near-certain victory against San Diego State. Then, they play host to a Michigan team retooling its offense under a first-year coach. If the Irish pull off a victory in those first two games, they should have plenty of confidence as they face the meat of a schedule that includes only one program (USC) ranked among the top 24 teams in Rivals.com's preseason countdown.
Notre Dame returns just about everyone on offense other than center John Sullivan and tight end John Carlson. Assuming Jimmy Clausen lives up to expectations in his sophomore season – and that the line gives him enough time to throw after allowing an NCAA-leading 58 sacks last season – the Irish should at least be average, which would represent a major upgrade.
The defensive line is a major question mark, but the pass defense could be solid with David Bruton and Darrin Walls in the secondary. There are plenty of potential losses on this schedule, and you have to think the Irish will slip up at least four times while facing the likes of Michigan State, Purdue, North Carolina, Pittsburgh and Boston College.
But when you study that schedule, the only near-certain loss is the season finale against USC. So maybe that 6-6 or 7-5 finish everyone's forecasting might be more like 8-4 or 9-3.

I showed this to my buddy Brad and he said to me: "What, you're excited about a 6-6 record?"

But that's not the point. The point is that this year is what I refur to as a "stepping stone year". There not going to win 10 or 11 games this year, but 7 or 8 is certainly not out of the question. This year is all about the progression of Jimmy Clausen. To me, you have to throw last year out. I'll be the first one to say it- the blame for last season goes squarely on the boulder-like shoulders of Charlie Weis. We all knew that it was going to be a transition year. There was no doubt about it. When you loose one of the best quarterbacks in your modern history, the next year is bound to take a hit. But it didn't have to be that bad. It didn't have to be loose to Navy and Air Force bad. But Weis did as worse a job with the quarterback situation as he could have. Demitrius Jones never should have started the season. Despite this, he never should have been pulled during the Georgia Tech loss. In retrospect, last year should have been Evan Sharply's year. It should have been Clausen's year to learn from the bench, not from the battle lines. A Sharply year would not have made a gigantic difference but it would have at least gotten them a bowl birth.

There is not a logical reason why this Irish team can't win at least 7 games. After last year, I'll take that in a second.

Exactly two months from today, I'll be writing my first game recap column...and I think it will be a happy one.

-Jordan Lauterbach