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 ...
LSU
Music City Bowl Predictions
Okay, Loyal Readers, it's time to do the prediction thing one more time. In order to get your predictions in, use this handy Google form. Now, full disclosure, I completely had the prediction post slip my mind yesterday, so in the interest of time, I do not have updated standings or HLS staff picks. I thought about pulling quotes, but I don't think I'm ready to relive the Southern Cal disaster on gameday. We will have one final, mega-post later this week to detail the final results as well as ...
HLS TV (Episode 15): Music City Bowl Preview
The Christmas holiday is over, 2015 is rapidly approaching, and the Music City Bowl between Notre Dame and LSU will go down tomorrow. That means it's time to get back to business here at HLS and that business kicks off with another episode of HLS TV. Molly Moran and I return to preview the game, share our thoughts, and give a bit of a primer on what LSU brings to the table, especially in their rushing game. We also tossed in some graphics in this episode, so let us know how you like ...
Notre Dame to Play LSU in Music City Bowl
Notre Dame will have a chance to ease the pain of the 2014 season and perhaps remove some of the sting from the 2007 Sugar Bowl as the lottery odds were in the Music City Bowl's favor. The Irish and LSU Tigers will face off in Nashville on Tuesday, December 30 at 3:00pm ET on ESPN. Before I get too far into my thoughts on the game, as well as some comments from Brian Kelly, I am happy to announce that we are able to be an affiliate with Prime Sports, from whom you can purchase primary market ...
Notre Dame Remains #10; What We Learned from the College Football Playoff Committee
I mentioned on Monday that I would write a rebuttal to Bayou's hypothesis that playing Navy close would cost us playoff positioning. Thankfully, the College Football Playoff Committee saved me from loads of writing by making theĀ argument for me by keeping the Fighting Irish ranked at #10. As I said during the ND Fan Radio Navy post game show, I felt that the narrow win against Navy would mean about as much to the committee as the blowout win against Rice did: nothing. Last week, I put ...
Friday Roundup: The “Brian Kelly Hates the Goal Line” Edition
So last week, I spent a lot of time discussing how the change were good and the new FieldTurf is just one example of progress. This week, I realize that I have failed you. Just watch the final time lapse of the FieldTurf installation. Let's see if you notice it: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d40pJ_tL-2I Did you see it? You probably missed it. The distraction of plastic cancer-causing grass, kickoff shamrock logos, and midfield monograms likely distracted you from the truth. Let's try ...
Friday Roundup: The “Changes” Edition
This past week, Notre Dame football and its fans witnessed one of the most visible changes that the program has seen. But the new artificial surface is only the tip of the iceberg of the changes that Notre Dame has seen recently. Earlier this month, Notre Dame officially became an Under Armour school. The Bookstore channeled Black Friday with a midnight event as soon as the calendar flipped to July and demand hit a level that forced the cancellation of many online ordersĀ as inventory flew off ...
Friday Roundup: The “Rejected Notre Dame FieldTurf Proposal” Edition
Earlier this week, Notre Dame unveiled their new FieldTurf design that will debut this season. Jack Swarbrick made some waves by announcing there would be a midfield logo and shamrock kickoff markers, elements of design that have never been seen in Notre Dame Stadium. But if you think that announcement caused an uproar, you should see one of the design finalists that was rejected in favor of what was announced this week. That design was...well, it was certainly different: And yes, ...
The Myth of the SEC
The SEC is home to the last six BCS National Titles and they will have a shot to make it seven in January. They are home to some of the best teams that college football has to offer. Their style of play is the standard to which the rest of college football is measured in this era. Make no mistake, the SEC is good; however, like some good things, their actual excellence is oversold, over-hyped, and grown into a myth of epic proportions. ...
Friday Roundup: The “Just Win, Baby” Edition
Much of the talk this past week in college football has centered around one central topic. If Alabama, Kansas State, Oregon, and, yes, Notre Dame remain undefeated, who goes to Miami to compete for the national title? Schedules have been compared. Style points tallied. Tea leaves read. Throughout all of the these activities though, one thing must not be forgotten: win. Every. Damn. Game. ...