BEWARE OF NEVADA

Offenses named after weapons are always scary. Fact.

People have been taking their shots at Notre Dame’s schedule this year, and for the most part it’s warranted. This year’s Irish will not face a meatgrinder, and the reality, in the BCS-era of college football, is that nobody will. For all the emails I’ve gotten about SEC teams and how tough they have it, they still run out Coastal Carolina, Swofford, and any other directional school that they have to pay to beat down.

The lowest hanging fruit for Irish haters has been the opening game against Nevada. “Nevada?” “Nevada?!?” Yes, Nevada. They terrify me. The New York Times, which, you know — is full of smart people with educated opinions, has been ranking the teams in college football from the bottom to the top in anticipation of the upcoming college football season. Many of us wouldn’t scoff when we see a team like Western Kentucky rank dead last at #120, but would it surprise you to see these historically decent teams ranked below “lowly” Nevada?

103. Syracuse
99. Washington
94. Purdue
89. Mississippi State
81. Virginia
76. Louisville
72. Texas A&M
66. Maryland
63. Minnesota
60. Boston College
59. Arizona State
57. Michigan
53. Missouri
52. UCLA
50. Stanford
49. Arkansas

I could’ve listed about five or six more teams that most people would associate with being “decent,” but I think the above list makes my point quite nicely.

Now Notre Dame doesn’t deserve any credit for looking into the crystal ball and prophesizing that Nevada would have a vaunted Pistol offense and be one of the best non-qualifying teams in the country. Nor do they deserve scorn for playing teams that are traditionally solid like Purdue and Washington State.

I see your pistol and raise you a machine gun…

But the Irish find themselves in an undesirable place right now and more aptly on September 5th. Expected to defeat handily a team that is far better than many are giving it credit.

Even though he doesn’t have a website like Tate Forcier, he’s a better QB.

Until then, let’s all just sit around and make fun of Michigan for being ranked below Western Michigan.