[Bigdaddydvo]

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There is no comparison to the 2005 Irish, which regularly blew opponents out, and only lost in OT to MSU, USC with the "Bush Push", and played OSU close for 58 minutes in the Fiesta Bowl until the Buckeyes put on a 2nd TD lead w/2 minutes left.

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In 2005, they beat what would eventually be a 7-5 Michigan team 17-10 while getting outgained in total yardage and winning the turnover battle; a turnover battle that included a Chad Henne fumbling the snap on the the ND 1 yard line, Chad Henne throwing a pick from inside the red zone on the ND 1 yard line, and another drive that stalled on the ND 5 yard line. Credit to the ND defense that game, but since you concede winning the turnover battle is mostly high variance and indicative of mostly luck ("zomg Ty's 8-0 team luckboxed its way into so many turnovers" you say), you should admit that ND was ridiculously lucky to beat a very mediocre Michigan team, given that we turned the ball over twice on the ND goaline and should have had another score.

You "blew everyone else out" because you played a 5-6 Tennessee team that didn't make a bowl, a 5-6 Pitt team that didn't make a bowl, a 5-6 Purdue team that didn't make a bowl, a 5-6 Stanford team that didn't make a bowl, a 6-6 BYU team, Washington (2-9 that season), Syracuse (1-10 that season), and Navy. And one of ND's losses at home that season was to those unstoppable Gods of the Gridiron, the 5-6 in 2005 MSU Spartans, noted for (like most of the rest of ND's opponents that year) not making a bowl game.

But I understand beating a crummy 7-5 Michigan team via high variance events is the signature win in Weis's career at ND (along with the stunning 31-34 upset of USC in the Green uniforms that will live on forever in Notre Dame lore as the greatest game of Jabba the Weis's carreer), so I can't blame you for a revisionist history of Notre Dame's historic 2005 season when Weis took Ty's incompetent players and led them to huge blowouts over college football powerhouses like Washington and Syracuse (3 combined wins in 2005). What the hell else are you going to point to justify the constant fellatio Weis gets from ND fans, the 10 year contracts he gets handed, etc? Certainly no accomplishments based on actual events. So it's completely understandable why ND fans would have to invent a mythology around the "2005 Irish" and the legendary job Charlie did, coaching them up to victories over service academies, Stanford, 1-10 Syracuse, and 7-5 Michigan.

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Fair enough, call the win vs. UM in '05 lucky (they were ranked #3 at the time but whatever). The main point of my post was that Ty settled into an expected mediocrity level when huge turnover margins and defensive scoring dried up. Weis followed a 9-3 year with a 10-3 effort, which while not spectacular, was the first back to back 9+ win seasons for ND since '92-'93 (which, as I mentioned earlier in the thread, was the last time ND had an elite football program IMO).

The jury is still out with me for whether Weis will be an elite college head coach. Please find me some examples of "constant Weis fellatio" of ND fans right now...I know I've been unafraid to be critical of what's gone wrong this season. There are currently signals that point in both directions (+awesome recruiting, smart/hard working coach who is unafraid to self evaluate and fix what isn't working) (-lack of a "signature win" so far, gross offensive/special teams underperformance with a very young team) What is beyond dispute for me is the mediocrity that Willingham brings to a program and how he'll never be more than a .500 level coach. Which is why, despite the anti-Irish vitriol, I can't help but feel bad for Bernie and other honest Husky fans who will watch a program with a fine football tradition continue to languish in mediocrity.

You've obviously made up your mind on Weis. Fine. So tell me, would you be excited if Willingham replaced LLLoyd next year? I somehow doubt it.