Weis on the hot seat, pre-season accolades, and BC loses its quarterback (LOTD 6/3)

We are blogging today, on location from Liverpool, NY, where the sun is actually shining (at least for now).

I'm not sure if you've heard, but Charlie Weis is sitting squarely on the hot seat (it's more like the hot recliner). Dr. Saturday's Doug Gillett has a breakdown of Weis' current predicament, with the magic number being nine wins for the coach to save his job. I agree with the theory that Weis gets another year with nine wins, but, as Gillett says, anything less than nine victories leads to two phone calls being made: "one from Notre Dame to Urban Meyer, the other from Weis to Tom Brady, to see if Mr. Bündchen has a couch he can crash on"

I actually think nine wins is a bit generous for a coach who barely had a winning season last year and only won three games the year before, especially when considering how weak the schedule is in '09. This year's Irish squad has more talent than any team they play, with the exception of USC. That should equal a one-loss regular season... unless, of course, we get outcoached. That said, I can't imagine the administration firing Weis if he wins 9 games and gets to a January 1st bowl game.

An interesting note from the Gillett article: Weis has never started a season 3-0. Gillett also has this interesting statement: "In fact, one loss before the Southern Cal game on Oct. 17 could well foreshadow yet another loss to the Trojans by 30-plus, and that alone could hang Weis regardless of final record." I would agree with that. An early loss to Michigan or Michigan State could mark a major turning point for this team, leading to a downward trend... but I've already covered that ground.

Three Irish players have received some pre-season national recognition. First off, Golden Tate was named to Phil Steele's Pre-Season All-American list (Right next to Arrelious Benn... oh the irony). Steele's magazine comes out in less than a week (hoorah!), and I'll have a breakdown of the publication (bible) for all of you who aren't willing to pay $10+ for a pre-season mag. Also, Jimmy Clausen was listed as the 95th best player in the country by Rivals, while Michael Floyd landed two spots ahead of his quarterback at number 93.

Rivals had this to say about Clausen:

Clausen had the most prolific season of any sophomore quarterback in school history last season by throwing for 3,172 yards and 25 touchdowns. Clausen’s struggles on the road keep him from ranking higher, but he showed signs of turning the corner by throwing for 401 yards and five touchdowns in a Hawaii Bowl blowout of Hawaii. Clausen throws to one of the nation’s top receiving corps, which could help him emerge as a Heisman Trophy contender.

And this to say about Floyd:

Alabama's Julio Jones and Georgia's A.J. Green earned more attention, but Floyd may have been as good as any freshman receiver in the nation last season. Floyd caught 48 passes for 719 yards and seven touchdowns to set school freshman records in all three categories. He misssed two full games and most of a third with a knee injury. He and Golden Tate form one of the nation's best receiving duos.

Cheers to all three. Now match the hype with production (please).

Rakes of Mallow has a nice breakdown of Luke Harangody's draft prospects. RoM watches more NBA basketball than I do, so he may be able to provide a bit more insight then I did the other day. Either way, it's worth a read.

A couple of non-ND stories before I go. First, quarterback Dominique Davis has decided to transfer from Boston College after being suspended for academic reasons. The decision leaves the SUPERFANS with a two-deep at quarterback that has never thrown a pass at the D1-A level. I still have the feeling that somehow, someway, by the ghost of Douglas Flutie, BC will manage to beat us.

Finally, those crazy hippies at Cal have decided to cut costs (and their environmental footprint) by taking a bus to Pasadena as opposed to a plane. It takes about 5 hours to drive from Berkeley to LA, which isn't a huge amount of time. I would expect the Bears to go down the night before, but if they don't go down until Saturday I will bet that they lose to UCLA.

That's all for today.