2011 Notre Dame Predictions

by: Vernon Croy

Notre Dame and the golden domers are ready for a return to glory. The Fighting Irish is a preseason top 20 team, and 2011 Notre Dame football predictions are as high and lofty as they have been in recent history. The school has had enough of the disappointments, and everyone believes that this is the year that they begin to turn things around and make some real progress towards the top, on their way to a major BCS bowl.

It's the second season in charge for Brian Kelly, the former coach of Cincinnati. Those making college football picks for the team will certainly want to consider his track record as a coach and for making major improvements with teams in short amounts of time. In his first year in South Bend, he did pretty well for himself, and exceed some college football picks that people pegged the Fighting Irish with. Things didn't go perfect, they finished 8-5, but they made it to a decent bowl game and they won it.

Better yet is the trajectory of the season, and the momentum they built up is something else you'll want to remember with your 2011 Notre Dame football predictions, because they finished so strong last time out. They were 1-3 after 4 weeks, but then won 7 of their last 9 games, including their final four. That four game stretch saw them defeat #15 Utah, USC and then Miami in the Sun Bowl. So it was a really strong and positive finish to the year.

Kelly is an offensive guy, and Notre Dame is known more for offense than defense. But the defense may just be the lynchpin of this unit. Safety Harrison Smith is a force in the defensive backfield, nose tackle Louis Nix eats up the middle of the field, and linebacker Manti Te'o is a consistent tackler and playmaker, and holds everything together, so there is talent at every depth level of the unit.

Now, Kelly and company believe the squad is primed for a run towards the top. They have experience with 17 returning starters and a lot of talented players, plus a lot of promising young recruits. The schedule isn't easy, but it's something they could easily survive and wind up with a one or two loss campaign on their way to a BCS bowl. Their biggest challenges will be South Florida, Michigan State, Pittsburgh, USC and Stanford. There are some tough teams in there, especially Stanford, but it's not an unbeatable group by any means, and there are lots of other winnable games on the schedule.

As mentioned, it all adds up to high hopes and really optimistic 2011 Notre Dame football predictions. Should you believe in the hype with your own college football picks for the upcoming season? For the first time in some time, the Fighting Irish are a team worth taking seriously. They have a strong defense and some talent at skill positions on offense, and are in a good place to make a real run.

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