The Oliver "moving on" and the Hart hiring got me thinking about areas that the Irish and Coach Weis should focus on in order to reach championship level.

Obviously, every Irish fan (including Charlie Weis) has identified "rushing offense/offensive line play" as one area where the Irish are far below championship caliber.

But what else?

I propose 3 other areas the Irish could use vast improvement: rushing defense, third down conversion rate on offense, and turnovers.

Some notes:

I suggest that 3.00 yards per carry or less is the mark that signifies a great college rushing defense. Notre Dame's best year over the last three seasons was 2006 when the Irish held their opponents to 3.80 yards per carry, 4/5ths of a yard per carry more than my imaginary and magical 3.00 line for a great rushing defense.

Converting on third down seems to be more key evidence of a great college football team. I suggest 45% or better as a benchmark. That 2006 Irish team was the best during the last 3 years, but only converted at a 39.55% clip.

Lastly, neither of those mean much if you turn the ball over and do not create some turnovers. The 2008 Irish were -3, the 2007 Irish were even, and the 2006 Irish were +5.

Here are the handful of teams that beat the 3.00 threshold over the last three seasons and were over 45% in 3rd down conversion percentage, and were at least even in turnover margin:

yds/carry against (nat'l rank), 3rd down conversion rate (nat'l rank) and turnover margin:

2008 TCU 1.72 (1) 51.61 (7) +13 11-2 Poinsettia Bowl win
2008 Southern California 2.73 (3) 45.83 (25) +7 12-1 Rose Bowl win
2008 Penn State 2.82 (7) 52.02 (6) +8 11-2 Rose Bowl loss
2007 Penn State 2.71 (5) 45.88 (18) +2 9-4 Alamo Bowl win
2007 Texas 2.86 (7) 47.15 (10) +1 10-3 Holiday Bowl win
2006 Southern California 2.97 (13) 46.07 (14) +4 11-2 Rose Bowl win
2006 West Virginia 2.98 (14) 49.67 (5) +7 11-2 Gator Bowl win

Those seven teams went a combined 75-17 (.815 winning percentage), averaged nearly 11 wins a season, and had a 6-1 bowl record (with the 2008 Trojans beating the 2008 version of Penn State).

Interestingly, the 2008 South Florida team held opponents to 2.84 yds/carry against and converted 47.40% on third down, but were -8 in turnover margin; the Bulls finished 8-5. The 2007 Ohio State Buckeyes were 11-2 (and lost to LSU in the National Championship game) with 2.53 yds/carry against and 45.90% on third down, but were -3 for the season in turnovers (and would have been even for the year without the 3 turnovers against LSU in the big game).

The last three national champions? The 2008 Florida Gators allowed 3.35 yds/carry (good enough for 19th in the nation in that category but above the benchmark), converted 51.55% of the time, and were +22 in turnover margin. LSU in 2007 was a slightly less absurd +20 in turnovers, converted 46.64% of the time on 3rd down, and were just above the benchmark at 3.20 yds/carry against. Meanwhile, the 2006 Florida Gators won the national championship with 2.74 yds/carry against, a third down rate just below the 45% threshold at 44.31%, and a turnover margin of +5.

Thoughts? Can we hope for that kind of improvement from a Coach Weis-led Irish squad?