Being a Notre Dame fan sure isn't easy. I've known this my entire life, but it's times like this when it's reinforced. With Army breaking its 14-year losing streak versus Navy, the college football regular season is over. I've always loved bowl season. As a kid, bowls were like Christmas presents that came after the big day. That was also an era when your favorite team could move up several spots in the polls with a great bowl performance. The playoff has changed all of that. Rather that ...
Notre Dame’s Mr. Right
Rumors are swirling in every direction. Brian Kelly kicking the tires on Oregon or the NFL? Notre Dame possibly negotiating an exit deal with Kelly? This is the time of year when the ax starts to fall on coaches. Might that be the situation in South Bend? If Notre Dame is going to make a move or if Brian Kelly is, is there a Mr. Right in the mix that can finally return "consistent" glory to South Bend? The list is long. But the problem is several are just not fits at Notre Dame and would ...
Groundhog Day
In a season that has become a comedy of errors for Notre Dame, the Irish once again snatched defeat from the jaws of victory on Senior Day losing to Virginia Tech 34-31. The loss dropped the Irish to 4-7 and insured the first losing season of the Brian Kelly era. It was the third time this season that the Irish blew a double-digit lead in a loss. When the Irish jumped to a 17-0 lead, I actually felt uneasy a feeling that has been foreign in previous seasons under similar circumstances. My ...
NCAA Bias Showing in Too-Harsh Penalty
In one of my favorite scenes in the film "Stripes," Bill Murray remarks as his girlfriend leaves him on a day when he virtually lost everything: “And then depression set in." This is kind of the feeling I have as I write this article in the midst of a very bad football season for Notre Dame. Did we just lose 21 games in one day? It seems that the NCAA has decided so. It is funny. I thought about this situation earlier in the season and concluded that perhaps nothing was going to come of it. ...
And the Season is Over….
At 2:44 p.m. EDT on Nov. 5, the 2016 Notre Dame season essentially came to an end on the heels of a 28-27 loss at the hands of Navy. In my years of watching Notre Dame football, this is one of most frustrating losses. Certainly, it's the most frustrating loss to Navy. As I sit here and write this though, it should not be a surprise. Between missed opportunities and an inability to win close games, this is a really bad football team. It is a team with zero identity. Is it a passing ...
No Quit in ND
During the bye week at Notre Dame much was made about a recruit walking, Jack Swarbrick giving the dreaded “vote of confidence” to Brian Kelly and the players standing by their coach. The larger question was: How would the Irish respond against a pretty good Miami team? The response was excellent. We know at this point this team is majorly flawed. However, how they finish will say a great deal about the remainder of Brian Kelly’s tenure in South Bend. If Saturday is any indication, ...
Bye Week Blues
I hate bye weeks. Good, bad or ugly - I miss the Irish. Fall Saturdays are not the same without them. Having said that, I'm shocked at the Irish's 2-5 start. I, in no way, saw this coming. I thought the Irish would be, at worst, 5-2. Texas was a concern, especially after the Irish embarrassed them so badly last year. I felt good about Sparty at home and even Stanford. I also thought NC State and Duke were virtual locks. Suffice it to say, I shouldn't be betting on football anytime ...
Debating a Bowl Game for Staggering Irish
At 2-4, the Irish are long shots to make a bowl game. Can they make it to six wins to become bowl eligible? And if so, should they even go to a bowl? Stanford, Miami and Virginia Tech are all tough opponents, but they're also home games. I watched Stanford closely last Saturday. Christian McCaffrey is banged up. The offense is struggling. The defense doesn't appear great either. Washington State largely dominated the Cardinal in Palo Alto. I think the turnaround begins Saturday in South ...
I Never Liked The VanGorder Hire
I never liked the Brian VanGorder hire. VanGorder was hired in 2014, following the departure of Bob Diaco to become Connecticut's head coach. The criticism of Diaco was his "bend but don't break" approach made his defenses appear somewhat vanilla or "boring." So what? They were fundamentally sound, rarely beat themselves and were always in the top half of the nation in total defense. Much enthusiasm ensued when the Irish brought VanGorder and his NFL pedigree to South Bend. Many media ...
After Last Night, I See Only Four “Likely Wins” Left
We can now confidently conclude that the Texas loss was no aberration. It was not the result of a hostile crowd, an outmatched-but-inspired Texas team or some fixable defensive errors. Notre Dame is a deeply flawed team this year; last night confirmed that. It was almost hard to watch the Irish make huge errors on special teams, continue to play defense with the density of Swiss cheese and make questionable coaching decisions in a game they absolutely had to win. There was seemingly no ...