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Ahh, the bye week. It gives a program time to reflect and recharge. The players and coaches have a week to go back and focus on fundamentals. Work the kinks out. The R&R also helps the players get healthy. And, the coaches have a chance to hit the recruiting trail, and see high school players in person. It's a beautiful thing. Especially after a 1-3 start.

The bye week also gives fans a chance to reflect and recharge.

Some Thoughts About the Season to Date

I like this team coming out of the bye week. I see this team winning 5 or 6 of their final 8 games. And, no, mental illness does not run in my family, and I have not been sniffing glue. Progress has been made on offense. Quinn has provided a spark. The defense looks like they are getting hungry again. They had five sacks against Purdue, and nearly held the Boilermakers to under 200 yards of total offense. That's a lights out effort.

ND's defensive line has been catching a lot of flack, but our starting front four, so dominant a year ago, has not been healthy (the D should be back at full strength after the break). Big Ced and Hilliard have been hampered by ankle problems. Tuck has been banged up. Abiamiri has played very well in place of Tuck, but he is not Tuck. Speaking of Tuck (how many freakin' times can I say Tuck in this paragraph), record the games, and watch him on tape. He is held ninety percent of the time he is in the game. On passing plays, it's literally the only way he can be blocked. Are these refs suffering from situational blindness? As Tuck's star rises, he will start drawing more holding calls.

Speaking of refs, a reader made a good point in a response earlier this week. One BIG reason not to join the Big Ten? BIG TEN REFS.

Should Jeff Jenkins, or Powers-Neal be given a shot at tail back? Maybe one of them can break some tackles. Powers-Neal was the leader in yards per carry last year and ran hard. Jenkins is not a burner, but is a hard nosed guy. If Ty and Co. are committed to running inside the tackles, especially with the emergence of Josh Schmidt at full back, it might be time for a change at RB. Grant runs like he's standing at attention, and Wilson should be doing commercials for Blue Bonnet. Jones is a talent, but is most effective on the outside when he can turn the corner--and we haven't been utilizing him in that fashion.

Stovall and McKnight are starting to emerge. Stovall sure didn't look like a bust last week! Rumor has it McKnight called Stovall out before the Purdue game saying the team needed more from him. Stovall certainly responded. McKnight stepping up and letting Stovall know how he feels is exactly the kind of "unquestioned leadership" I was talking about. This team could use more of it.

Tell me Brady Quinn doesn't look like a future number one overall pick. I wish the Bears could draft him this year. He already has more upside than Rex Grossman.

Jeff Samardzija is going to greatly benefit from this bye week. He strikes me as a fast learner who just needs a little time to iron out the wrinkles. Imagine this kid when he physically matures and puts on another 15-20 pounds of muscle? The Ed McCaffrey comparisons are legit.

After watching the tape of the Purdue game, one should note that the secondary played very well most of the time--thanks to Coach Baer utilizing a more aggressive strategy. Yes, we got burned badly at the goal line, but most of the time Kyle Orton had no one to throw to, and was running around like a Klan member at a rap concert.

We are going to have to chuck the pill 50-60 times a game to win this year if our running game is going to continue to be so vanilla. As long as the receivers continue to evolve, that might not be such a bad strategy.

Michigan let down aside--our defense has kept us in every game we have played. They will continue to do so.

Brady Quinn should tuck the ball and run more often. He's an athletic and gifted runner. He should be used on QB draws and roll outs more often. He should also SLIDE or run OUT OF BOUNDS as much, and as often, as possible.

Dillingham, who has put on muscle and improved his arm strength, is a capable number two if the staff wanted to move Holiday to another position right now and truly commit to the WCO. Holiday could take some snaps as the #3 while spending the rest of his time somewhere else. Playing another position, like flanker or safety, will also help him become a better QB (read: perhaps actually playing safety will help him figure out how to look one off). All this talk about Holiday not being able to switch positions during the season is garbage. Corey Jenkins, from South Carolina, moved from QB to strong safety toward the end of his senior season last year, did a great job, and ended up getting drafted by the Dolphins in the sixth round. Had he not made the switch, Jenkins would have surely gone undrafted.

Furthermore, I would love to see Carlyle Holiday used on special teams immediately. His positive attitude, speed, and overall athletic ability are being wasted when he is on the sideline for four quarters. Holiday could really provide a spark for this team. Get him on the field!

Can't wait for the Duff-Fitzgerald match-up. These two will be seeing more of each other at the next level.

This offensive line (which has also been banged up) may not be able to run block, but they have looked increasingly better on pass protection to me. Quinn, who did an admirable job getting rid of the ball on blitzes, will start making defenses pay when he and his receivers get on the same page. Expect more plays like Quinn to Stovall, McKnight, or Samardzija for some serious YAC in the near future.

Pass first and ask questions later. In Stovall, McKnight, and Samardzija we have three strong receivers who are very difficult to tackle in the open field. Most of our future opponents do not have capable enough corners to cover and/or bring down our wide outs. If we can continue to get the ball to a member of this trio on the fly--eventually the running game will open up.

With such a young team, it is imperative we make a bowl game. The extra practice and experience is invaluable. I don't care if it is the Lysol Toilet Bowl. The coaching staff needs to find a way to get this team to the post season!

Speaking of the coaching staff…

Willingham and Co.

Everyone makes mistakes, and learns from them--sooner or later. Learning from your mistakes is just as important as a coach. I think what Tyrone and his staff are learning the hard way is; ND is a long way from Palo Alto in more ways than distance.

"Are you humiliated?"

I bet you never got asked that question at Stanford, eh Ty? Can you imagine? Stanford gets blown out by USC and a reporter asks, "Are you humiliated?" At Stanford, Tyrone very easily could have responded, "Of course not. Stanford has a long history of cream puff showings. This one is no different." Success at Stanford is not terribly difficult. You really have nothing to lose at a place that is used to losing. At The University of Notre Dame, however, you had better bring it--because failure is far too easy if you don't.

Honeymoon's over Ty. Welcome to the land of endless nagging. With this 1-3 start your "honey-do" list just became War and Peace.

One thing Willingham has that the fans don't is patience. Too much? Perhaps. But, we're thinking right now, and Tyrone Willingham is thinking about how his team will be destroying people in 2005. He's building for the future with measured reactions, responses, and attitude. He doesn't want to lose this young team. Only one teensy weensy problem with that. There's no such thing as a rebuilding year at ND. Not with these fans. Not while you have a glut of highly touted athletes on your roster.

Perhaps Ty should change his moniker of, "Our only goal is to win," to "Our only goal is to win as soon as $%%&#$# possible."

The Sky is Not Falling

In closing, I asked my sister (who lives in South Bend) to drive by the Notre Dame campus on her way home from work yesterday and make sure it was still there. It was. The point? No amount of losses are going to change what ND is, and what it will always be. One of the finest academic and athletic institutions in the world. I have gotten many e-mails from fans in distress. I understand. I'm worried too.

Now imagine being on the inside of this pressure cooker.

Imagine being Carlyle Holiday and seeing the t-shirts--"Holidays Over, Quinn to Win!" Imagine how that must feel to a guy who's done nothing but give this program his best effort on and off the field. Imagine being Tyrone Willingham. The first black coach to ever be hired at ND--period. His own future--and the future of so many other ambitious minority coaches resting on his success. Whatever we're feeling, it's nothing like living a life where your potential failures get etched in the stone of college football history.

ND is enough of a pressure cooker when the fans AREN'T calling for your head.

I have written about hope. There is still hope for this season. There are eight more games to play. I have also written about taking cues from our opponents. How about this one? Two years ago Pittsburgh started out 1-5. It looked like the program would never turn the corner. It seemed all hope was lost. But, Walt Harris refused to be tossed out on his back side. He buckled down, made some changes, and the Panthers ended up reeling off six in a row and went on to a big win over N.C. State in the Tangerine Bowl and a 7-5 record. It was make or break time for their program, and knowing this, the players responded. Recruiting picked up measurably with that win streak. A season that started as one of the worst in the program's recent history turned into one of the most amazing and awe inspiring. Now Pitt is stocked with talent and a top program again.

Take this bye week, and give yourself time to reflect and recharge. Don't give up hope that we could still have a memorable and inspiring season in 2003. And, remember that, as disappointed as we are, anything is possible if you put your mind to it. That goes for us fans as well.

Thanks for all your comments so far this season! Keep them coming and, most importantly, GO IRISH!!!

Send questions or comments for Todd Carr to nddomehome@hotmail.com