How have I not blogged about this Notre Dame team yet? An unforgivable oversight.
Notre Dame fans have been waiting a long time for a team like this. No, it’s not probably a national championship contender. There are at least four SEC teams, possibly five, that would be favored over the Irish on a neutral field. Oregon would be too. Maybe a few others on top of it.
But right now, they’re undefeated. And it’s been a decade since that happened. It’s been much longer since it was legitimate.
A lot of people remember the 2002 team. It was the “Return to Glory” season, supposedly. It was Tyrone Willingham’s first year as head coach. It was a miraculous 8-0 start, including road wins over Michigan State, Florida State, and an Air Force team that was generating Boise-type buzz at the time before Boise was Boise.
It was a complete mirage.
None of us admitted this at the time. Granted, I was 15 and probably not intelligent enough to see it even if I was willing to admit it, but I remember having arguments with a friend of mine who inexplicably named himself an Air Force fan for the year before that year’s game and being beyond thrilled when Notre Dame ripped the Falcons. And I remember being beyond crushed when the Irish, ranked third in the BCS, dropped a steaming turd at home against a mediocre Boston College team.
In retrospect it was obvious what had happened. That year’s team was smoke and mirrors, fueled by turnovers and a defense that was very good but not great. There was no offense – in fact it took until the third game for the offense to score a touchdown. It was Bob Davie’s recruits playing above their heads for a coach they thought they could be confident in.
The 2012 team may yet prove to not be terrific. But they damn sure are not a mirage. There’s no 5-7 2013 waiting for this team like the 5-7 team that schlepped through 2003 after that “Return to Glory” season. This team is the result of building a program – it’s just ahead of schedule, that’s all.
This is where we come to my mea culpa about Brian Kelly. I had an autographed picture of Kelly on my refrigerator heading into the fall of 2010. By the end of the Tulsa game, I was so mad, and so certain after watching consecutive travesties against Navy and the Hurricane, that I trashed the picture. I thought the guy was an unadulterated failure. I said on Facebook, with ND sitting at 4-5, “5-7 at best against this pathetic schedule means Brian Kelly cannot be our football coach next season. Under no circumstances.” I even defended that insane idea against all the people who told me firing a coach after year one was a pretty bad plan.
Well, you know what happened from there. Notre Dame upset Utah, upset USC, spanked Miami in a bowl game and sucked me in again. Then came South Florida, the Crist/Rees debacle, Michigan, and a reminder of why I’d trashed the picture.
But this year has been a reminder of why Kelly was hired in the first place. While several of its key cogs (Nix, Lewis-Moore, Te’o to name a few) are Charlie Weis recruits, make no mistake about it. Kelly and defensive coordinator Bob Diaco have built this defense. And they’ve turned them into a unit that has not surrendered a touchdown now in four straight games against four straight BCS-AQ opponents. (And consider where they might have been had Aaron Lynch used the rubber with his girlfriend.) But more importantly, Kelly and Diaco have turned this defense into a unit that wins at the line of scrimmage, and does so consistently.
Proof was in the pudding last week against Stanford. Whatever your opinion of the final play, it can’t be debated that in three straight plays inside the 4-yard line, Notre Dame won the battle at the line, and they won it over one of the best teams in that department in the country.
(It’s worth noting that even Mark May, who is paid by ESPN to play the jackass ND hater to Lou Holtz’s ultra-homer on TV, said on the air that while Taylor probably scored, the play should not have been overturned based on the ‘indisputable video evidence’ standard that you hear every week from every announcer.)
Regardless of that play, Irish fans believe again, and now they believe for the right reasons. Defense. Offensive line. Running game. These have been foreign concepts to Irish fans most of the last 16 years, but they are the cornerstone of this squad.
Of course, the predictable backlash came from the media. It took until halfway through the season for Notre Dame’s feel-good story to turn into the Empire Strikes Back, but the controversial goal-line call brought with it an avalanche of hate. “Notre Dame’s not legit…they have no chance of going undefeated…their schedule isn’t that great.”
The answers to these criticisms, in respective order, by the way, are “What the heck is your definition of ‘legit’?”, “Their chances aren’t great, but they’re a hell of a lot better than the teams that aren’t undefeated”, and “Yeah, you’ve got a point”. (Seriously, this is about the umpteenth year in a row that Notre Dame’s schedule has ended up being the opposite of what was originally thought about it. Whenever ND is hammered for a creampuff schedule, it ends up being tough, and vice versa. How does that always happen?)
However, the schedule doesn’t explain the 4 straight games without surrendering a touchdown. That streak hasn’t been bettered by an Irish team since 1980. That team was coached by Dan Devine. Who’s been dead for years. That’s how long it’s been.
Hell, LSU’s vaunted D gave up as many TDs to Towson – 3 – as the Irish have surrendered all year (1 to Navy and 2 to Purdue).
This Irish team is full of flaws. Everett Golson is progressing much more slowly than was hoped. Brian Kelly, although I’m about ready to give him a full and complete apology for burying his Irish coaching career nine games in, still doesn’t commit to the run game as much as he probably ought to. The Irish don’t have what you would call a big-play guy on offense, although George Atkinson III may be fast becoming one. The secondary, while exceeding any even semi-reasonable expectation anyone may have had for them so far, are still a work in progress.
Yes, Notre Dame is full of flaws. Yes, the team is probably a year away from being in position to legitimately contend. But, most importantly, Notre Dame is 6-0.
Six wins. Zero losses. The dream, no matter how insane it may be, is still out there. At worst, if Notre Dame only wins the four games they ought to out of their remaining six, they’ll go to a BCS game.
But for now, screw the minimum expectation of a BCS game. As long as the Irish keep finding a way to win, I am on board. I’ve been waiting to get my heart stomped on, and it may yet come, against Oklahoma, or USC, or even by somebody else. But I’m all in. I’ll see you all on the other side of the coin.
Notre Dame fans have been waiting a long time for a team like this. No, it’s not probably a national championship contender. There are at least four SEC teams, possibly five, that would be favored over the Irish on a neutral field. Oregon would be too. Maybe a few others on top of it.
But right now, they’re undefeated. And it’s been a decade since that happened. It’s been much longer since it was legitimate.
A lot of people remember the 2002 team. It was the “Return to Glory” season, supposedly. It was Tyrone Willingham’s first year as head coach. It was a miraculous 8-0 start, including road wins over Michigan State, Florida State, and an Air Force team that was generating Boise-type buzz at the time before Boise was Boise.
It was a complete mirage.
None of us admitted this at the time. Granted, I was 15 and probably not intelligent enough to see it even if I was willing to admit it, but I remember having arguments with a friend of mine who inexplicably named himself an Air Force fan for the year before that year’s game and being beyond thrilled when Notre Dame ripped the Falcons. And I remember being beyond crushed when the Irish, ranked third in the BCS, dropped a steaming turd at home against a mediocre Boston College team.
In retrospect it was obvious what had happened. That year’s team was smoke and mirrors, fueled by turnovers and a defense that was very good but not great. There was no offense – in fact it took until the third game for the offense to score a touchdown. It was Bob Davie’s recruits playing above their heads for a coach they thought they could be confident in.
The 2012 team may yet prove to not be terrific. But they damn sure are not a mirage. There’s no 5-7 2013 waiting for this team like the 5-7 team that schlepped through 2003 after that “Return to Glory” season. This team is the result of building a program – it’s just ahead of schedule, that’s all.
This is where we come to my mea culpa about Brian Kelly. I had an autographed picture of Kelly on my refrigerator heading into the fall of 2010. By the end of the Tulsa game, I was so mad, and so certain after watching consecutive travesties against Navy and the Hurricane, that I trashed the picture. I thought the guy was an unadulterated failure. I said on Facebook, with ND sitting at 4-5, “5-7 at best against this pathetic schedule means Brian Kelly cannot be our football coach next season. Under no circumstances.” I even defended that insane idea against all the people who told me firing a coach after year one was a pretty bad plan.
Well, you know what happened from there. Notre Dame upset Utah, upset USC, spanked Miami in a bowl game and sucked me in again. Then came South Florida, the Crist/Rees debacle, Michigan, and a reminder of why I’d trashed the picture.
But this year has been a reminder of why Kelly was hired in the first place. While several of its key cogs (Nix, Lewis-Moore, Te’o to name a few) are Charlie Weis recruits, make no mistake about it. Kelly and defensive coordinator Bob Diaco have built this defense. And they’ve turned them into a unit that has not surrendered a touchdown now in four straight games against four straight BCS-AQ opponents. (And consider where they might have been had Aaron Lynch used the rubber with his girlfriend.) But more importantly, Kelly and Diaco have turned this defense into a unit that wins at the line of scrimmage, and does so consistently.
Proof was in the pudding last week against Stanford. Whatever your opinion of the final play, it can’t be debated that in three straight plays inside the 4-yard line, Notre Dame won the battle at the line, and they won it over one of the best teams in that department in the country.
(It’s worth noting that even Mark May, who is paid by ESPN to play the jackass ND hater to Lou Holtz’s ultra-homer on TV, said on the air that while Taylor probably scored, the play should not have been overturned based on the ‘indisputable video evidence’ standard that you hear every week from every announcer.)
Regardless of that play, Irish fans believe again, and now they believe for the right reasons. Defense. Offensive line. Running game. These have been foreign concepts to Irish fans most of the last 16 years, but they are the cornerstone of this squad.
Of course, the predictable backlash came from the media. It took until halfway through the season for Notre Dame’s feel-good story to turn into the Empire Strikes Back, but the controversial goal-line call brought with it an avalanche of hate. “Notre Dame’s not legit…they have no chance of going undefeated…their schedule isn’t that great.”
The answers to these criticisms, in respective order, by the way, are “What the heck is your definition of ‘legit’?”, “Their chances aren’t great, but they’re a hell of a lot better than the teams that aren’t undefeated”, and “Yeah, you’ve got a point”. (Seriously, this is about the umpteenth year in a row that Notre Dame’s schedule has ended up being the opposite of what was originally thought about it. Whenever ND is hammered for a creampuff schedule, it ends up being tough, and vice versa. How does that always happen?)
However, the schedule doesn’t explain the 4 straight games without surrendering a touchdown. That streak hasn’t been bettered by an Irish team since 1980. That team was coached by Dan Devine. Who’s been dead for years. That’s how long it’s been.
Hell, LSU’s vaunted D gave up as many TDs to Towson – 3 – as the Irish have surrendered all year (1 to Navy and 2 to Purdue).
This Irish team is full of flaws. Everett Golson is progressing much more slowly than was hoped. Brian Kelly, although I’m about ready to give him a full and complete apology for burying his Irish coaching career nine games in, still doesn’t commit to the run game as much as he probably ought to. The Irish don’t have what you would call a big-play guy on offense, although George Atkinson III may be fast becoming one. The secondary, while exceeding any even semi-reasonable expectation anyone may have had for them so far, are still a work in progress.
Yes, Notre Dame is full of flaws. Yes, the team is probably a year away from being in position to legitimately contend. But, most importantly, Notre Dame is 6-0.
Six wins. Zero losses. The dream, no matter how insane it may be, is still out there. At worst, if Notre Dame only wins the four games they ought to out of their remaining six, they’ll go to a BCS game.
But for now, screw the minimum expectation of a BCS game. As long as the Irish keep finding a way to win, I am on board. I’ve been waiting to get my heart stomped on, and it may yet come, against Oklahoma, or USC, or even by somebody else. But I’m all in. I’ll see you all on the other side of the coin.
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