Notre Dame Football: OFD Mailbag - Miami (OH) Week

After Notre Dame’s convincing win over Michigan State last week, I was expecting more questions this week, but as it turned out not so much. I’ll work with what we got.

Just looking at their schedules, I’m going to say it’s not Notre Dame. The Irish play a MAC team in Miami and then travel to North Carolina, who has been quite bad to put it nicely, before they take on the Trojans. The way Notre Dame has looked so far, I can’t see them losing either game.

USC on the other hand has a slightly tougher schedule. They take on No. 19 Washington State in Pullman tomorrow night. It won’t be an easy game by any stretch, but still a game the Trojans should win. After that they take on Oregon State and Utah at home; both should be Ws.

So to answer your question, the team with the better chance to lose is USC. But I don’t see either team losing before October 21st.

Interesting question. This team is more on the verge of breaking out than they are plateauing. I say that because I don’t think we’ve seen anything close to what this offense is capable of. Brandon Wimbush made strides throwing the ball last weekend against MSU. He’s only going to get better in that regard. When he does, then you’re going to see more out of guys like Equanimeous St. Brown, Chase Claypool and Alizé Mack — three guys who haven’t even scratched the surface yet.

The defense has looked immensely better, and well coached as well. That is a unit that should only improve as the season goes on.

Also, I think the schedule over the next few weeks should help this team out. You have two games they should win, which means they should have two games to build confidence before USC comes to town.

As for the next couple of years, they should be better as well. 16 of the 22 guys who started last week against MSU are slated to come back next season. They have another strong recruiting class coming in, too.

No, I don’t think so. But I guess it would depend on what your definition of getting your hopes crushed by USC is. To me, even if they lose to USC, I don’t see them losing in a way that would make me think all the progress they’ve made is a fluke. My hopes would only be crushed is if they go out against USC and get outclassed. That’s what would be soul crushing. Hey, we should be used to close losses by now ... right?

That said, I don’t think USC is going to roll into Notre Dame Stadium and blow the Irish out.

As always, we’ll finish with a fun one courtesy of the Man, the Myth, the Legend — Pat Rick.

***Editor’s note: I know nothing, nor have ever claimed to know anything about surfing***

First, I’m going with Equanimeous St. Brown. He’s from California, so just from that he might have some surfing in his blood. Also he’s a heckuva athlete and light on his feet. Something that I think would work well on a surf board.

Second, I’m going with Deon McIntosh. He’s from Pompano Beach, FL, so maybe he’s done some surfing in his life.

Third, Myron Tagovailoa-Amosa. Solely because he’s from Hawaii: he’s HAD to do some surfing in his life. He is quite big, so who knows how good he’d be.

Matt Cashore-USA TODAY Sports

Lastly, I’m going with Tyler Newsome. Being from Georgia, I’m sure he’s probably never sniffed a surfboard in his life, but he looks like a surfer. Just look at those long blond locks! For that reason alone, I’m picking him to win the big surfing contest!

All right, that’s it for this week’s mailbag! Feel free to message us on Twitter (@OneFootDown & @RENorell_III) or on Facebook with questions for next week’s edition. Go Irish!