Ty and Dan talk with Chris Brown from SmartFootball.com about turnover among offensive assistants in college football and the impact new philosophies will have on their respective teams.

With Dan feeling under the weather, Ty talks with Uncle Joe Colarusso about the BCS, Cam Newton and NFL combines, and then plows through the inbox with East Coast Elliott, who introduces a strange name game, disses Charlie Weis, and seals his deal for a trip to hell with talk of his Dead League.

Ty and Dan are joined by Andy Staples to discuss recruiting wars in the SEC, the re-emergence of Florida State, and God’s Power Offor’s other profession.  Plus, a full boat of Verballer e-mails from the last few weeks.

Ty and Dan are joined by Bryan Fischer from CBSSports.com to discuss all the latest recruiting news, National Signing Day, and how to balance bathroom breaks with prospect announcements.

Ty and Dan welcome back Bruce Feldman from ESPN to discuss all the offseason coaching news and his thoughts on Brady Hoke, Mack Brown, Will Muschamp, Rick Neuheisel, and Mike Leach.

Ty battles a raging blizzard and failing technology to connect up with Dan and special guest Spencer Hall to discuss coaching attributes, oddly amusing football programs, and alternatives in the college football offseason.

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Ty and Dan hand out the 2009 Verbie Awards.

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Ty and Dan welcome ESPN’s Bruce Feldman back to the program to discuss recruiting hostesses, Big Ten expansion and bad Pac-10 TV deals, and, later, unveil the first annual Verbie Award nominees.

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Ty and Dan discuss the hiring of Brian Kelly at Notre Dame, plow through a loaded mailbag, and lay the groundwork for the first annual Verbie Awards (next Thursday).

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Ty and Dan recap the weekend’s action and comb through the controversy as yet another slate of BCS bowls is revealed. Plus, ranting voice messages, information about the Solid Verbal Bowl Contest and a special announcement for next week’s episode.

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Ty and Dan delve into the warped world of duck fat with Spencer Hall from EDSBS.com and discuss Saturday’s huge SEC championship game, the problem with NFL scouts and the coaching search at Notre Dame.  Plus, Week 14 picks, e-mails, and yes, Dan Rubenstein hecklers on Nebraska radio.

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Ty and Dan examine the firing of Charlie Weis and the resignation of Bobby Bowden, as well as the wacky week in college football. Plus, voice messages and a winner in the Solid Verbal fantasy league!

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Ty and Dan plow through a cornucopia of voicemails, e-mails, week 12 news and week 13 picks due to the Thanksgiving holiday and their live broadcast this Saturday at 3pm ET.  Tune in at SolidVerbal.com or Livestream.com/solidverbal.

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Ty and Dan dissect TCU’s big win from a number of angles, evaluate Cincinnati’s BCS ceiling, bow down to Toby Gerhart, and batten the hatches for another Notre Dame coaching search. Plus, commentary from Jerry Palm and East Bay Greg, as well as voice messages and results from pick ‘em and fantasy football.

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Ty and Dan lament the losses by Notre Dame and Oregon and reflect on the other events that rocked the BCS foundation during last weekend’s slate of games.

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Ty recaps his trip to South Bend and laments Notre Dame’s eighth consecutive loss to USC; Dan talks about his brief getaway to Vegas.  Plus, voice messages and a review of all the week’s action.

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Ty and Dan invite Chris Brown from SmartFootball.com to talk about the intricacies of the spread offense, including Ohio State’s misuse of Terrelle Pryor against USC, Michigan’s ability to keep Notre Dame guessing, and whether Tim Tebow classifies as a “system quarterback” or not.  Plus, loads of voice and e-mail messages from the Solid Verbal faithful.

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Ty and Dan review the second week of the 2009 college football season despite Ty’s emphatic request to talk about anything OTHER than the Notre Dame – Michigan game.  Plus, taunting voice messages, a recap of the college fantasy league, and a quick rundown of the Solid Verbal pick’em pool.

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Ty and Dan get fired up for the 2009 season by making their picks for the major games of the week.  Plus, voice messages, your e-mail, and painful discussion about the anti-Charlie Weis billboard.  Well, painful for Ty, anyway. (Episode 56)

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Ty and Dan ramp up their efforts in preparation for the start of the college football season by inviting two guests to the program: Rob Moseley from the Eugene Register-Guard to talk Oregon and Anthony Dasher from UGASports.com to discuss Georgia.  Plus, some chit-chat about Rich Rodriguez and Dan’s adventure in the Canadian wilderness. (Episode 55)

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Ty and Dan discuss the latest predictions by Lou Holtz, the curious three-quarterback set at Michigan, Julio Jones’ fishing trip and USC’s practice regimens. Plus, drunken voice messages!

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*To enter the Solid Verbal’s pick ‘em pool, follow this link (http://football.fantasysports.yahoo.com/college) and use group ID # 7669 with a password of “solidverbal” *

Throughout August, we will be counting down the 25 teams (as listed here) going into the 2009 season. Today, we travel (figuratively) to South Bend, Indiana, to preview the Fighting Irish of Notre Dame.  Seeing as how this write-up was authored by Notre Dame fan extraordinaire Ty Hildenbrandt, you should expect a heavily biased and bitterly sarcastic perspective of the 2009 season.  If you can’t handle that, then go somewhere else, damn it.

First Impressions

If there were ever a year for Notre Dame to reach the 10-win plateau, it is 2009.  In fact, it MUST happen this year, otherwise the Irish echoes will be awoken not by the ghost of Rockne, but rather by the cries for Charlie Weis‘ head on a silver platter.  With an offense returning several veteran, playmaking pieces and a defense that started getting organized in the second half of 2008, the table is set for a healthy run through one of the weakest schedules the school has ever seen.  Simply put, there can be no excuses this time around.

Looming large on October 17th is Notre Dame‘s yearly gut check against USC, a game that will most certainly define their season.  Still, plenty of other questions remain.  Will this be the year that Jimmy Clausen lives up the hype?  Will this be the year that Notre Dame finally learns how to win the battles in the trenches?  Will this be the year that Notre Dame finally deserves a preseason top-25 ranking?  Only time will tell.

Last year

Though a 7-6 season with a bowl victory was a marked improvement over 2007′s 3-9 campaign, the Irish‘s 2008 season will be forever marred by a stunning loss to Syracuse that nearly derailed the Charlie Weis Train and almost sent Ty Hildenbrandt into a downward spiral of alcoholism.  Not cool.  That, in conjunction with a 38-3 bedwetting against USC, and Notre Dame‘s season couldn’t help but be viewed as a disappointment.  Wins against San Diego State, Michigan, Purdue, Stanford, Washington, Navy, and Hawaii were nice.  Losses against Michigan State, North Carolina, Pitt, Boston College, Syracuse, and USC were not.

The main problem with Notre Dame‘s 2008 campaign was its offensive line.  In two unceremonious years, Jimmy Clausen has shown signs of brilliance; however, the majority of his dropbacks have been under serious duress.  Offensively, this inability to block had a cataclysmic effect on the team’s ability to deliver a balanced attack.  Specifically, they couldn’t run the football, ranking 100th in rushing offense and averaging only 3.27 yards per carry.  Clausen was being asked to win every game — a task nearly impossible for a quarterback with no protection.

But the season was not a complete loss.  ND‘s 49-21 win in the Sheraton Hawaii Bowl was impressive, and it became apparent that Clausen could flourish with some protection and three surehanded targets (Golden Tate, Michael Floyd and Duval Kumara).  However, was this a legitimate leap forward, or just an aberration against a mediocre opponent.  We shall see.

People

You already know about Jimmy Clausen, whose 3,172 passing yards quietly put him at 23rd in the nation amid all the other hoopla surrounding Charlie Weis’ future with the team.  Clausen got a bad rap as a showboat with the way he entered college (and for his ghastly haircut to start the ’08 season), but, by all accounts, he’s a model teammate and one of the hardest workers on the team.  With more support, he will blossom into the talent that many thought he’d be.

This year, that support comes in the form of several offensive weapons.  Golden Tate had a breakout year in ’08 with 1,080 yards receiving and figures to be Clausen‘s main deep threat.  Complementing Tate is surehanded sophomore Michael Floyd, who logged 700+ yards of his own.  And not to be overlooked at slot man Duval Kumara, or tight end Kyle Rudolph.  According to Phil Steele, this is the best receiving corps in the nation.

Notre Dame’s offensive line is anchored by 6’8″ tackle Sam Young.  While the last two years have certainly fallen short of expectation, 2008 was still a major improvement from 2007, and 2009 figures continue trending upwards.  This unit is experienced and needs to step up to help Armando Allen become more effective as a running back.

Defensively, look for coordinator Jon Tenuta to be aggressive and attack opposing offenses, and the move back to a 4-3 base seems like a smart move.  The Irish defense was better than most realize in 2008.  Listen for names like SS Kyle McCarthy, FS Harrison Smith and a speedy group of linebackers with Brian Smith, Steve Filer, and freshman Manti Te’o.

This Year

This team should be able to score points, especially against a weak schedule.  The opening game against Nevada will provide an immediate test for the Irish in the form of Colin Kaepernick‘s dangerous passing attack.  On paper, outside Michigan State on September 19th and USC in mid-October, there should be no other potential losses on the schedule.  But the games aren’t played on paper, and you never know when this team is going to have a recurrence of its hiccups from 2007 and 2008.  Remaining unmentioned opponents: @Michigan, @Purdue, Washington, USC, Washington State (in San Antonio, TX… for some reason), Navy, @Pitt, Connecticut, and @Stanford.  Yeah.  Don’t be afraid to be the OVER.

Conclusions

This should be the best team Charlie Weis has fielded in his rocky tenure.  And that’s good for him, because in light of last season’s bowl victory, the standard for 2009 is a BCS berth.  No way around it.  Notre Dame has all the pieces in place to make a run at an undefeated season, and it’s not out of the question to think that this team could down USC on October 17th.  Realistically, though, you should expect a loss against the Trojans and one other wildcard team (maybe Michigan State).  As a Notre Dame fan, I am cautiously optimistic and excited about this season.

Prediction

10-2

Highlights Set To Unfortunate Music

www.youtube.com/watch?v=d7QSs27MJlU

--Ty

Ty and Dan fly solo and discuss the now-infamous Forcier Press Release, the wholesome goodness of the Florida football program, and the release of Phil Steele’s 2009 College Football Preview.

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Ty and Dan are joined by Mike Frank from IrishSportsDaily.com to talk about recruiting at Notre Dame, Charlie Weis’ job as coach, and things to do in South Bend, Indiana.  Plus, Joe Paterno: unfiltered and the SEC coaches’ summit.

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Ty and Dan are joined by Jay Christensen from TheWizofOdds.com to discuss college football “Armageddon”, the on-going (and maligned) Ron Prince era at Kansas State, Charlie Weis’ convenient bio, and Miss California’s breast augmentation.  Plus, Ty and Dan reflect on reaching the 10,000 download plateau.

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Ty and Dan talk with Spencer Hall from Every Day Should Be Saturday about a myriad of topics, including Mike Leach’s thoughts on the NFL Draft, the best Twitter feeds among college coaches, the disaster of SEC regional sports networks, and the glory of West Virginia.

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Ty and Dan talk with Adam Rose from the Los Angeles Times about USC and UCLA football, Greg Paulus potentially going to Michigan, Charlie Weis contemplating quitting, and Erin Andrews.  Plus, Dan and Ty riff about National Skirt Day and plow through the “Lipton Box”.

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Ty and Dan are joined by SI.com recruiting guru Andy Staples and discuss the strangest names in this year’s class, the shady things that the public doesn’t know about, and the ever-changing saga that is Bryce Brown.  Plus, hear Dan’s feud with a reader and meet the prospective Solid Verbal Girl!

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Ty and Dan talk about Lane Kiffin’s disproportionately hot wife, the tailgaiting scene in Corvallis, OR and the next event in the Solid Verbal Combine.  Plus:

• The SEC Championship game and why Florida will win
• Why the guys are rooting for chaos in the BCS
• The coaching carousel and the pure amusement of Mike Leach potentially going to Auburn
• A strange penalty for USC and a DUI for the Penn State Nittany Lion
• Another bizarre email from Mike in Milwaukee
• Dan sings!
• More inaccurate game predictions

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Ty and Dan read an e-mail from their second (confirmed) female listener, as well as another masterpiece by Mike in Milwaukee.  Plus:

• Dan’s upcoming trip to Corvallis
• Embarrassing losses by Texas Tech and Notre Dame
• The end of the Bob Stoops BCS Campaign
• Dan’s singing of the Washington State fight song
• The hosts give their “solid verbals”
• Picks of the week

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