I can't help this negative feeling either

I'm afraid Godfather has it pretty close to right, although I STILL hope that ND will pull something out of the archives and make this a winning effort.

I don't know too much about Utah, but in thinking about this game, I remembered that Sunday morning after the band reunion/Stanford game, I sat in the airport next to an older gentleman. By his size, I guessed that he'd played college football. After he finished reading his sports page, he turned to me and asked if I would like to read it. In our brief conversation, he mentioned he was from Utah and came to see the game. Perhaps he was a scout for Utah. That makes me very nervous because by my recollection, the Stanford game was when the wheels either got very loose or came off the team.

This team has had nearly every handicap thrown at it this year - a new coach, plenty of injuries, hard losses, a death in the student ranks, and plenty of doubters in the media and even in the stands. (Not referring to you, Godfather!) This is when we'll find out what the program has for backbone. Will they come together and give a good showing, and at minimum scare the Utes? Or will they go armadillo on us and curl up in a ball by halftime and hope to deflect futher attacks and injuries?

I'm hoping they'll dig deep within themselves and play beyond all expectations. I hesitate to do this and will probably be wrong, but I'm picking ND by 3. Irish 24, Utes 21. Go Irish! Give the Godfather a huge traffic jam! Score that winning field goal at :03 left in the 4th quarter!