Believe me, I know there is plenty that I should be happy about. Even non-ND folks have pointed this out and rightfully so. This team is ahead of schedule, exceeded our wildest expectations, and has a solid foundation that will keep us a contender for years to come.

There will be plenty of time to examine what this team achieved in 2012. We will have detailed analysis of where we fell short against Alabama and how to improve.

This isn’t one of those posts. This loss hurts too damn much.

The Good Book tells us that “there is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under the heavens” and right now, this certainly feels like a time to mourn. If we look at the five stages of loss and grief, as a fanbase, we are all over the map. Personally, I’m somewhere between anger and depression — yes, that would be three stages — and I need to vent.

My favorite local sports radio station here in DFW has a great way of starting the healing process after such a loss. When one of our local teams sees their season come to an abrupt end, an audio montage will lead the segment that discusses the demise. So, before I go any further, I pass this bit of audio healing on to you while I reflect on the game.

Hit it, Johnny (via):

Perhaps the biggest punch to the gut isn’t just that Alabama destroyed Notre Dame, but destroyed a Notre Dame team that we all thought was blessed by destiny. Think about it: two goal line stands, a victory using only our backup QB (who didn’t even play to his full potential) for a whole game, and an overtime opposing game-winning field goal that sails wide right.

Against Alabama, everything went wrong.

Alabama scored easily on their first drive. Notre Dame’s offense has their first drive cut short on a questionable incomplete pass ruling (note: I have yet to rewatch the game; however, replays provided in the stadium made it look like a clear reception — even ‘Bama fans around me were shocked). As if that wasn’t enough, Notre Dame gets slapped with a fair catch interference penalty which certainly appeared to be fumble recovered by the Irish. The defense that had created sparks all season was stunned and beaten.

It’s like Lucy allowed Charlie Brown to kick the ball for an entire game, but, when it came time for the game winning field goal, she yanked it away yet again.

On offense, the Irish seemingly abandoned the rushing game that helped get them to this point. While I certainly understand the desire, as well as the need, to stretch Alabama’s defense, the play-calling was simply maddening. It felt like the Irish were simply calling four verts the whole time and hoped for the best. Upon focusing on route running for a drive or two, I saw I wasn’t too far off.

However, even more frustrating was the execution, which inevitably brings me to Everett Golson who definitely played like a redshirt freshman. He continuously made poor reads and had tunnel vision on the boundary go/vertical routes. To top it all off, there were moments of indecision on whether or not to run the ball that cost him dearly.

His night was filled with all kinds of mistakes, but this time there was no magical Pitt-like comeback, nor an appearance of Tommy Rees to save the day. The later doesn’t surprise me too much as placing in the less mobile Rees would’ve been a likely death sentence against the pass rush the Irish saw. However, in the end, ‘Bama dared Golson to beat them and beat them deep. He bit and he lost.

Switching to the other side of the ball, you have a performance that depresses even more. The strength of this Irish faltered; however, they weren’t getting pushed back five yards on every play. Our D-line found themselves in the backfield. Our linebackers filled gaps properly. We had plays stopped behind the line of scrimmage on many occasions…and then everyone bounced off of Eddie Lacy as he was made of rubber.

Or, if you are Danny Spond, unceremoniously slammed to the ground.

While Lacy certainly deserves a load of credit for being a beast, as well as the Alabama line for coaxing D-line penetration away from the plays, there are no words to describe how it feels to watch your Heisman finalist linebacker simply come up short on nearly every solo tackle attempt. However, should I find them, they would also describe the pure terror I felt while watching Amari Cooper run past our DBs as if they were standing still and the sickening feeling in my stomach when I watched simple dump passes turn into easy TDs.

Then you have the punt return game which I can’t even bring myself to talk about. I wish we had simply fair caught everything after watching Davonte Neal add to the “freshmen mistakes” collection.

I watched as something beyond my worst fears unfolded in front of me throughout the entire game. I found myself in a stunned coma of hopelessness that I haven’t felt at a game in a long time. Worse was that I knew there was nothing that the Irish could do about it.

And while Notre Dame struggled mightily, every “Roll Tide” began to eat away at my soul. Every ‘Bama touchdown a punch to the gut. The “S-E-C” chant toward the end of the night practically did me in. Having one of our fans grab a security guard to get Alabama fans to set down sent me in a blind rage.

We came so close to reaching the top of the mountain only to be swatted away, finally allowing all talking heads and ND doubters to be right for the first time all season. We will inevitably hear about how the Irish didn’t belong, how all our victories were overrated, and how the game would’ve been better had anyone else been in it. These comments will inevitably re-open the healing wounds from January 7th and the hurt will rise to the surface again.

However, such pain is fuel and the hurt turns into motivation. The scar left from the 2013 title game will be a reminder of the level that ND needs to reach. It isn’t just some idea anymore, each player saw exactly what it was right in front of them. More young talent will arrive into South Bend and our current young talent will become hardened veterans and they will not rest until they hit that level.

This loss hurt. It will always hurt.

And the Irish will be more than happy to pass that pain along to every future opponent.

The post Hurt appeared first on Her Loyal Sons.

The #1 team in the nation fell, the QB Flavor of the Week Award Heisman Trophy race got another contender, Kansas State has a QB on the cover of SI, the usual sampling of news that can be found in the Roundup below, we got a new sponsor, our server had some major issues (I’ll sleep one of these days), and the Notre Dame campaign is starting to get into full swing.

I’m still firmly of the belief that the bottom line is winning. Style points be damned — just ask Alabama how handy all those style points are right now. However, with the Tide’s loss, the first domino has fallen. With blood now in the water, Kelly has been far more public and open with campaigning for his team. ND’s Director of Football Media Relations, Brian Hardin, has transformed his Twitter feed into the official continuous stream of reasons why ND should play in Miami on January 7th.

Sure, a lot can still happen within these next three weeks; however, to loosely quote Training Day it’s “chess it ain’t checkers”. The board is now wide open for the taking and the Irish are no longer playing quiet defense and simply biding their time. Now is the time to attack on all fronts, fire the verbal salvos, and back it up on the field.

Should Notre Dame beat Wake as expected and college football has yet another hell of a week, the Irish will be primed to not just slide into the #2 spot, but could make voters think about lining their votes up with the computers and place the Irish as the #1 team in the nation. Even should this week stick to the status quo, momentum can build, a few voters can be swayed. That .101 difference between ND and a title berth could continue to shrink.

Needless to say, there is a lot that could happen and only one thing is for certain.

These weeks sure are a hell of a lot better those of a past few years.

The Roundup

Also having a hell of a week, Alabama. I hope you caught the Paul Finebaum show in order to have a healthy dose of schadenfreude. If you missed it, relive the glory.

Need more Bama pain? Fine, enjoy some fans having a rough time dealing with the loss.

And the Aggies celebrate. Thankfully they have done it in gif form. Even LSU Freek got in on the action.

Let’s start the Southern Cal hate a week early, shall we? We will let UCLA lead the way.

It’s ok though, Robot Lane Kiffin will keep the peace. He just loved doing this message.

Here’s something that we can all agree on: MACtion. If you don’t know what this is, you should.

College football is about to set a record. It’s looking to be the best year of offense ever — well, unless you are facing the Irish defense, of course.

Take a moment to remember Declan Sullivan. As much as some hacks love to shove that tragedy in our face, it’s great to see someone do the direct opposite for a change.

In honor of senior day, a bunch of Te’o links. ESPN had a feature, so did the Observer, he did a fantastic interview, and, yeah, don’t forget about that Heisman thing.

Put These Games on Your Radar

#18 USC @ #17 UCLA, 3:05pm, FOX – Be sure to keep an eye on this game. Not just for SOS, but this game will determine Oregon’s opponent in the Pac 12 title game.

#13 Stanford @ #2 Oregon, 8:00pm EST, FOX – This will be the first solid defensive unit that Oregon has faced. Plus, with Oregon suffering loads of injuries on defense, this could be one of the better chances that Oregon has to fall.

#1 Kansas State @ Baylor, 8:00pm, ESPN/WatchESPN – Probably not a lot of danger here for K-State; however, Baylor does have a decent offense (but sadly not much defense). One thing going for us in this game: the SI jinx as Collin Klein is on the cover.

Predictions

Tex

Ok, so I’ve been off, especially when I think there’s going to be a blowout that never happens. Screw it, going to keep calling for one. Wake’s offense is really just that bad. ND will have plenty of time to make something happen.

ND 42 – Wake 3

Biscuit

Leprechauns of course!

Wake Forest played us well last year.  They had a good game plan and executed it well, and it was down to the wire.  But that was at home for them, and ND clearly came out flat-footed.  I don’t expect a similar test this Fall, but it won’t be a blowout either.  (can you tell I’m starting to get tired?  yeah?  well, good on you!) But Our Lady trumps your Deacon any day of the week.  That said, injuries and fatigue could play a role here for ND.

ND Wins 27 – 21

  1 Leprechaun for the Deamon Deacons.  They played us well last year, and will come in fired up for the Irish, and we’ll be a bit tired and hurt.  They could upset.

Bayou

ND 38 – Wake 0

Twibby

Irish 31, Wake Forest 13 (garbage time TD with ND walk on seniors in the game)

Grantland-X

Uhhhh 27-20 Irish. For whatever reason, the home games continue to thrill

Closest to the Pin – Week 10

Twibby and Biscuit were the closest by far. Both had the smallest margin of victory out of all of us. However, Twibby nailed BC’s score perfectly, so I’m giving him the nod this week.

The Beer

It’s winter time (or at least it should be, still Fall here in Texas). It’s time for a good stout. In particular, I’m a huge fan of oatmeal stouts and will definitely be picking up a six-pack when I get off work and start my Thanksgiving vacation. Thus far, I haven’t run into one that I didn’t like; however, much like the pumpkin ale request, I am looking for some suggestions in the comments. Y’all didn’t steer me wrong last time.

Related, oatmeal stouts are an acceptable form of breakfast while on vacation, right?

The post Friday Roundup: The “One Hell of a Week” Edition appeared first on Her Loyal Sons.