In various e-mails over the last week, my friends have tossed out their win-loss predictions for the 2008 Notre Dame football season.  I haven't partook yet, if only because my opinion of what this team could do fluctuates from minute-to-minute from "Oh, we got this" to curling up in the fetal under my desk, hoping things can't possibly be that bad two years in a row.

This is going to sound embarrassingly obvious, but one way to win football games is to be good at something.  Having something you can lean on in the darkest of times, whether that rock of Gibraltar is a savvy veteran quarterback, unrelenting defensive line or pounding running game, can you help you get through games when everything else just isn't clicking.  The 2007 Notre Dame team didn't have a go-to unit, but they did have one shining light of a go-to player all Philadelphia Eagle fans should happily smile about every single day: Trevor Laws.  Of course, Laws is now a professional, meaning that the 2008 Irish have to find their go-to players or unit.

The problem is, I'm not sure where we might get that kind of consistent production from.

The smart money says to go with the offensive backfield, where a slew of talented running backs that started finding some green at the end of the season will be joined by a bigger, stronger, hopefully smarter Jimmy Clausen.  If Charlie Weis has proven himself in any area throughout his football career it is that he can coach up a quarterback.  He's no Eric Taylor, but he did manage to mold Brady Quinn, who obviously had talent but was terribly unpolished, into a lethal weapon his last two seasons, and I'm sure he had at least some positive effect on Tom Brady's development.  Throw in the fact Clausen can play-action to a half dozen different backs, then look downfield for big, seemingly easy targets like Duval Kamara, Michael Floyd, Mike Ragone or a streaking Golden Tate or David Grimes, and hey, you can feel pretty good about our offense working out. . .

Wait, nope, sorry.  I just received word from the NCAA rules committee that you have to field an entire offensive line when competing this season.  I realize Notre Dame tried to play the 2007 season sans any sort of pass protection or run blocking, but I feel the results were pretty conclusive that it's better to put an offensive line out there.  While I think some added depth, different camp regiments, a new attitude and a year of experience will lead to some serious improvement in the trenches, I'll hold to the same belief that caused me caution last year when others were projecting double-digit win seasons. 

In 2006, the Notre Dame offensive line was not very good, but that was covered up by superior efforts from Quinn and Darius Walker, along with a pretty easy schedule in the middle of the season.  Going into 2007, without that experience at the skill positions, the Irish line either had to rely on A) people who were on the unimpressive 2006 line or B) weren't good enough to play on the unimpressive 2006 line.  We're in the same scenario going into 2008, and while I will sip the Kool-Aid that everything will be all better with a change of attitude and some new personnel, I can't fully embrace the fact Notre Dame will have a good line until it's actually proven in September.

Before we slide over to defense, let's touch on the special teams.  The one guy who was sort of consistent there, Geoff Price, is gone, and the one thing most fans would consider the most important aspect of special teams - place kicking - has been an absolute joke the last two years.  While Armando and Golden returning kick-offs could be very exciting - if only because you can hold up two fingers on one hand and three on the other and cover all your bases - that's perhaps the only thing you would want to bet on coming into 2008.

Starting at the front of the defense, I think anyone that didn't realize how important Laws was to the team last season will certainly notice it when the Irish are trying to scrap together a defensive line rotation from Ian Williams, Morrice Richardson, some converted linebackers and some veterans everyone is hoping take that next step.  Thank goodness Tenuta will be blitzing every other down, because I'm not sure how the team would get pressure any other way.  If you thought the line play was bad last year, there's a chance it might have only been a harbinger of much, much worse things to come.

Linebacker has some promise thanks to Kerry Neal and Brian Smith, but they may be spending some of their time with a hand or two on the ground coming from the outside.  Mo Crum, Jr., is the veteran presence, but other than his Hall of Fame UCLA performance where he pretty much won the game by himself, with an assist from Karl Dorrell's gameplan, he was not that consistent, play-making presence the team needed last year.  Hopefully some of the freshman can work into the rotation, and while a lot of people are high on Toryan Smith, he's got collegiate-level production comparable to Ragone and Floyd.

Sliding back one level, you find perhaps the one area of the team that seems pretty reliable: the safeties.  David Bruton was in competition as the second best player on the defense last year, and Kyle McCarthy has impressed everybody for a while now, not disappointing taking over for Zibby in the spring practices.  They will desperately be needed to stop the run and help corral wide open receivers, because Darrin Walls' absence leaves us with some excitement at the corners, with a veteran who didn't contribute a lot last year (Terrail Lambert) and two guys who have never really played (Raeshon McNeil, Gary Gray).  I'm actually somewhat thankful for this, because if I followed a Notre Dame team that actually had lockdown corners, I would really be uncomfortable.  I like the fear gripping my heart in a vise any time the ball is thrown downfield, just assuming someone got wide open by delivering a vicious jab-step off the snap.

(And if you want to point at the pass defense rankings last year as some sort of sign of progress, please don't even bother.  Nobody had to pass on the Irish last year; they just did it to mix things up and have fun.  Remember Purdue in the first half?  Or that Vidal Hazelton embarrassment where he just zigged and zagged like he was in a cartoon?  Notre Dame wasn't good at defending the pass in 2007.  They just didn't have to do it that much.)

So personnel-wise, there are a lot of question marks, but there are just as many on the sideline.  We have a new guy calling the plays, a head coach being the head coach for the first time and two guys splitting the defensive coordinator position, which could either be as beautiful as a Kenny Rogers/Dolly Parton-like duet or something much, much worse.  (And yes, I'm uncomfortable with the UK's blasphemy of McCartney and Wonder as well.)  All of this could go smashingly well, but there are also no guarantees that any of these guys will still be around this time next summer.

My roommate Andrew wanted me to point out that this is a lot like going into 2005: there are a lot of exciting pieces involved, some potential for talent and expectations all over the board.  He also pointed out that while that's a perfectly suitable situation to be in for a first year coach, it probably isn't best to be in this situation in your fourth year on the job.  While last season will (hopefully) be Weis' worst, this one will most likely be his most challenging, as the excuses have run out, the expectations are starting to rise again and all of "his players" are in place.  How this season will play out is going to be a giant mystery, but there do seem to be a couple variables on which everything else hinge. 

Looking at this team, there is one giant "if" that will of course dictate everything: If the offensive line can hold it together, then there is more than enough talent at the skill positions to put some points up on the board and make amends for the offensive atrocities put forth in 2007.  Growing up in Steeler country with my father and uncles repeatedly telling me that the most important thing in football, by far, is the offensive line, last season felt like a clear-cut proof of their thesis' accuracy by showing what happens when you field an abysmal offensive line: you get a completely wretched offense.  I like to think that our line is getting bigger, faster, more athletic and used to playing each other, but until they're poking holes in the Wolverines September 13^th, I am not getting my hopes up.

On defense?  I wish I could tell you I had some idea, but I don't, and I feel like anyone who claims to is either one of the more enlightened individuals you could talk to or a complete idiot.  I think there are enough playmakers that when they are put into Tenuta's aggressive scheme good things will happen, but that's all conjecture at this point.  I think there's a potential for the front three to cause enough trouble to at least keep teams honest in their interior blocking, but there will be a lot of pressure put on the corners, both in their ability to cover on islands and to take down runners that happen to pop outside and escape the tsunami of blitzers. 

I think the only thing that is certain in regards to this upcoming season is that things will certainly be interesting.  Whether that's a good thing or not is the other giant question mark we're going to find out together.