Either the team rebounds from last week and surges to the NC or it will be back to the drawing board. We have some very good young players but, with Landis and Kavanagh graduating, next year's team will not be as good IMO. They are the stalwarts on offense and defense that make everyone else better. This year's team has more potential than we have had in the past so this is the year we have to close the deal. If we fail, I fear we are looking to 2018 or beyond before another NC opportunity will present itself.

We are a deeper team than at any time in the program's history. After Kavanagh, our next 4 top scorers all return next year. I really like the chemistry that Wynne and Garnsey seem to be building and we've got two more years of that combo. The defense/LSM core has Epple, Sexton and Crance returning. Schantz has another 3 years. Geiss has come along and i think he has 3 years of eligibility left. Trolley has another year left if he wants it. Opponents are going to be saying "Hasn't he been at ND since 2006?" by the time he graduates. Doss is back for his senior year.

There's no reason not to shoot for Memorial Day weekend next year. It's another tribute to the job Corrigan has done. We reload now. We don't rebuild.