L-S-WHO? Irish Defeat Tigers 31-28

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Music City Bowl Logo

If the 2012 championship game against Alabama was a yardstick applied with gusto to the backside of Coach Brian Kelly's Irish, the 2014 Music City Bowl victory over 23rd-ranked LSU was yet another sort of measure in Notre Dame's journey from relevance to validation. Trading gaudy, gash-y runs and kick returns for shattering, clock-consuming drives, the unranked and injury-riddled Irish bested a ranked-SEC squad for the first time since 1992, unless you count back-to-back wins over A&M in … [Read more...]

Coach Speak: Post-Practice Pressers from Kelly and Miles

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Kelly141

Monday marked the end of Notre Dame's third, and LSU's first, post-season practice in anticipation of their upcoming clash in the Music City Bowl on December 30th. Louisiana State University's Head Coach Les Miles and Notre Dame's Head Coach Brian Kelly each addressed the media to give the lay of the land. Coincidentally, both coaches gave over the first half of their pressers to off-topic issues. In this post, I'll give you both the highlights and the links to each. BRIAN KELLY: The biggest … [Read more...]

Tempo for Tigers: Comparing the Pace of the Irish Offense

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Screencap via @SupermanTDJesus

When Brian Kelly assumed the mantle of coaching the Fighting Irish, there was an expectation that he would bring the crazy insane, up-tempo offense that put his Bearcats in that year's Sugar Bowl against Florida. "Up-tempo" can mean a couple of things. Think "number of plays per game," or "time between plays," or "caravan of fat people charging into an all-you-can-eat casino buffet." For the purposes of this piece, I'm going to look at the number of plays per game the Irish have managed under … [Read more...]

Losing the Trenches: What’s Wrong with the O-line?

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Trenches

For the Fighting Irish, the 2014 campaign ended, perhaps ironically, exactly opposite how 1914 ended for the British Expeditionary Force and the French on the Western Front, one hundred years ago. Faced with the highly-professional and dedicated Kaiser's host, the French and British retreated throughout August, falling ever back, until they pressed against the very gates of Paris. There, at the Marne, they stood and counter-punched. The masses of French on the left smashed into the Germans and … [Read more...]

Friday Roundup: Moving the Goalposts

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Friday Roundup

Goalposts define space. They give us something to shoot for, to aim at. They represent a known, often set against a sea of uncertainty. This week has me thinking about goalposts, both real and perceived. http://youtu.be/cRdTrLQcqb4 Mississippi State yanked a scholarship offer from Chason Virgil, a three-star quarterback, who had been committed since May. Apparently, State has a "numbers issue" with its scholarships for the incoming class, so it makes sense that they'd pull one back from a … [Read more...]