Despite Three More Turnovers, Irish Finally Get Win

Cierre Wood ran for two touchdowns as the Irish finally get a win, 31-13 over the 15th ranked Spartans.  Notre Dame still turned the ball over three times in the game, but were able to make defensive stops when they needed to throughout the contest. In fact, they held one of the best rushing teams in the country to 29 yards on the ground.

So what does this tell us about the Spartans?  They aren't very good unfortunately.  They started off 2-0 playing very weak teams, which made them look impressive.  Playing a good team in the Irish today made them look like an average team at best.  This is what happened to State last year.  They won a school record eleven games only to be annihilated by Alabama in the bowl game.  The good news is next weekend they have Central Michigan, who was pounded by Western today 44-14, so they should get an easy win to build their confidence back up before they get into the big ten schedule. 

 As for the Irish, they should be able to coast through the remainder of their games until they face Stanford in the season finale.  If Stanford beats them, the Irish are still 9-3 and get a legitimate bowl game.  Michigan State plays a tough schedule in the Big Ten, so I look for them to drop four or five games this year and will play a bowl game before New Years.

Irish Woes Continue

Another thrilling finish to another game between Michigan and Notre Dame leaves the Irish stunned again, dropping them to 0-2 on the season.


There was so much hype surrounding this team in 2011, returning 19 starters from a season ago.  The sporadic play and consecutive losses has people scratching their heads, trying to figure out what's going on with the Irish.  This team has all the talent in the world, but they appear to be undisciplined.  Five turnovers against South Florida and then five more Saturday night against Michigan.  Of these 10 turnovers, five of them were inside their opponents five yard line.  This is virtually 35 points they gave away in two games.  You cannot beat any team with these mistakes.  This is simply a lack of concentration on the players part.  Being disciplined comes down from the coaching staff, and it's very surprising to see a Brian Kelly coached team play with such a lack of mental focus and discipline. 

This team is almost there.  Over 500 yards of total offense in each of the first two games.  We know this team can move the ball and put up points.  They just need to hang on to the ball and punch it in the end zone when they get inside the red zone instead of handing it to the other team.  They will play a stout Michigan State defense next weekend, who gave up just one first down last week against Florida Atlantic.  If they turn the ball over five times against State, expect the Irish to lose this one by 20.  If they play turnover free, they may win by 20.  

I will be at the game on Saturday to see what happens.  These two teams always put on an exciting performance, and this year should be no different.

What We Learned From the Irish in Week 1

Notre Dame came into the fall with their highest preseason ranking in nearly a decade.  Returning 19 starters and being the 16th ranked team in the country, you think the Irish would have been fired up for this season and the home opener against South Florida.  What we learned is it's another year, but the same old Irish program.

I've known Brian Kelly for years, dating back to his coaching days in the late 90's at Grand Valley State University, and the one thing he's always preached to his players is discipline.  That's why it was so surprising to see the Irish so out of sorts during this entire football game.  They showed absolutely no discipline in any phase of the game.  Notre Dame is hands down the better team.  They realistically should have had 44 points.  Three turn overs inside South Florida's five yard line was easily 21 points given away.  Then a 30 yard missed chip shot by one of the most accurate kickers in college football gives away another three.  Add that to the 20 points Tommy Rees managed to put up in the second half and they win the game 44-23.

You can say football consists of a lot of "what ifs".  This is true for any game.  But to dominate the field, putting up 500 yards of total offense, only to turn the ball over three times at the goal line?  That is simply a lack of concentration and discipline.  The Irish turned the ball over a total of five times on the night.  Theo Riddick had one of the worst games you can imagine a receiver/punt returner to play, fumbling a punt away while bobbling the rest of them.  He also dropped three balls on offense, and then failed to make a hit on the on side kick which would have allowed Michael Floyd to recover the kick and give Notre Dame a chance to tie the game.
And then there's the quarterback controversy.  Dayne Crist played awful in the first half.  The first drive looked promising for the Irish, but Crist still over threw receivers, put the ball on the wrong shoulder too many times, and looked lethargic in the pocket.  Coach Kelly knows quarterbacks, so I had confidence in his choice of Crist starting the year for the Irish.  It turns out he made a huge mistake, and Tommy Rees is the much better player.  Rees sparked the entire team when he came into the game, and threw for 300 yards in the second half.  The offensive unit seems to respond better to Rees, and the defense even played harder when Rees was at the helm.  We knew the kid could play last year, winning the final four games of the season, including a bowl victory over Miami.  I'm not sure why he didn't get the job during the summer, but it looks like it's his job to lose now.

On a positive note, the Irish defense played extremely well.  They shut down South Florida's offense the entire night, apart from a crucial seven minute drive in the 4th quarter that ultimately put the game away for the Bulls.  It looks as if RB Woods is the real deal on offense for the Irish.  If they were in a position to run the ball late in the game, he could have easily put up 150 yards rushing.

So where do the Irish go from here?  Well, you have to stay with Rees at QB.  He proved he can spark the offense and he's been able to win big games for your team.  The defense looks stout, so that's definitely a plus moving forward.  Michael Floyd may be one of the best receivers in the country, and I look for him to have a huge season.  As for the turnovers; if the Irish play this way against Michigan and USC, they will lose by 30 points.  They were fortunate to be playing a South Florida team that was not very explosive on offense, and failed to take advantage of opportunities given to them.  Coach Kelly said "You can't turn the ball over that many times and expect to beat a good team."  Well, you can't turn the ball over that many times and beat any team.  If you do that against a good team, it will be an ugly scene for the Irish.

I still think Rees provides a spark for this team and they win 9 games this year.  In order to do that, Kelly has to go back to the drawing board and get these kids motivated.  If any one can do that, Coach Kelly can.