Notre Dame v. Northwestern – Shamrock Stickers

Will Fuller - Notre Dame WR vs. Northwestern
Notre Dame Fighting Irish wide receiver Will Fuller (7) catches a pass against the Northwestern Wildcats at Notre Dame Stadium. Northwestern defeated Notre Dame in overtime 43-40. Mandatory Credit: Brian Spurlock-USA TODAY Sports

Notre Dame put forth another embarrassing effort in a loss to 17 point underdog Northwestern.  The Irish have now lost back to back games and have a litany of problems from turnovers to a defense that can’t get stops.  Brian Kelly also coached an atrocious game from benching Max Redfield, a decision to go for two that could have cost the Irish the game, to playing Cam McDaniel in a critical situation when Tarean Folston has proven to not have a ball security problem.  Notre Dame looked soft and looked as if they didn’t want to win anywhere close to as badly as the Wildcats, which ultimately falls on the group of subpar seniors on the Irish team.  The following players did their best to get the Irish the victory though it didn’t pan out:

Will Fuller:  Since being called out by Brian Kelly Irish receiver Will Fuller has responded loud and clear.  Fuller was making plays all day long for the Irish versus the Wildcats totalling nine receptions for 159 yards and three touchdowns.  Fuller likely would have had bigger numbers if Everett Golson didn’t one hop throws to him when he was wide open on multiple occasions.

Tarean Folston:  Irish running back Tarean Folston eclipsed 100 yards rushing again and could have had an even bigger day if Coach Kelly had have shown the commitment to the run game that he should have.  Folston rushed for 106 yards and a touchdown versus Northwestern and was gaining big chunks of yardage at will early until his carries were limited.

Issac Rochell:  Defensive lineman Issac Rochell had his best game as a member of the Irish in defeat.  Rochell was a force up front getting penetration and causing problems for the Wildcats offense.  Rochell had nine tackles to go along with a sack and two pass breakups as he was forced to play a bigger role when Sheldon Day went down.

Cole Luke:  Cornerback Cole Luke had a solid effort as he continues to play a larger role with Cody Riggs limited due to injury.  Luke had seven tackles including one for loss to go along with a forced fumble and an interception on a day where turnovers were plentiful.

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97 Comments

  1. Well, gents, I don’t trifle with discussion of Christ. By the bye, I thought that John Jenkins, that wimp should have been defrocked and removed from his post when he let Weis blaspheme before 2007. Anybody remember what went on? Guess first, I’ll fill in the blanks later.

    But Christ, ever the Way, the Truth and the Life, offered us a path to liberation from the ultimate tyrant and inflicter of pain: ourselves.

    Now, Burgundy, frivolity is appropriate, even here. But, you ninny, what was in the briefcase of Pulp Fiction was the original of the thing locked in the briefcase in Ronin which included the precise quotation which Bill Murray uttered to Scarlett Johannson at the end of “Lost in Translation.”
    Everyone know this! Even Wes Mantooth.

    Quit picking on Rush Limbaugh, otherwise the Committee to protect fat pillpoppers who are in a conspiracy to make their alien housekeepers score oxycontin, et al. for them, because they are guilty of having ducked the draft will come after you. Admit nothing, deny everything.

    But, quite seriously, Christ provided us the tools to liberate ourselves from ourselves.

  2. The freedom that God grants transcends any feeble attempt of any human body or group to play the pretend game of granting freedom. Learn well the lesson of the denarius.

    For God alone grants the ultimate freedom from the irascible tyrant that has robbed more humans than any other tyrant in human history. Can you guess that tyrant?

    1. The Denarius? …. Walker?

      Notre Dame’s 4th All time leading rusher with 3,249 yards?

      Yes I remember now…

      “And the toss sweep shall set you free”

    2. So I’m guessing you are not gonna tell us. Real nice! Now I’ll never know this or what was in that briefcase at the end of Pulp Fiction.

  3. Wisconsin is just like ND in the sense that they’re both 2 fine, Mid-Western academic institutions whose football teams consistently find ways to choke away games to inferior talent and also lose bowl games.

    Thank God it’s indeed a free country!

  4. precisely George! Just as Wisconsin rammed the ball down Northwestern’s throats when the Badgers crushed the Wildcats. Unfortunately, those pond scum who report scores have practiced some revisionist history and actually
    determined that Northwestern BEAT Wisconsin 20-14. But I guess some knuckledraggers would rather run and score 14 that score 40.

    Ya know, it’s a free country!!

    1. So your point is that ND in fact was NOT capable of running all over NW. Or perhaps you’re just looking to underscore that ND is inferior to or at the very best equal to Wisconsin. What a pessimistic outlook you have.

    2. Oh wait, I suppose there is actually a third option. But no, I’m certain you’re not trying to imply that NW has a respectable football team. You’re not going to be the first on this site to make that argument, are you?

  5. ND could have rammed the ball down Northwestern’s throats, but BK doesn’t play that way. He warned us to get used to it, so get used to it. He just can’t help himself.

      1. Over 20% of those rushes were just EG trying to make chicken salad. But either way, there’s no reason to expect anything different going forward. I think most would agree that BK puts the game in EG’s hands. He has full faith in EG despite all the turnovers, and that is not going to change.

  6. After watching meltdowns the last two Saturday’s it occurred to me that Notre Dame just needs to join the ACC in football too. Remaining independent in football so they can continue to play a schedule on a “national scale” no longer makes any sense because they have proven over the last 20 years (give or take a year) that they can’t compete and play that type of schedule well enough to compete for major bowls and national championships. They can consistently go 8-5 with their present schedules but that gets you a birth in the toilet bowls not the playoff system. I will give them credit in that they have never backed away from a tough schedule, but ultimately it places them in a situation where they cannot compete at a high enough level, consistently enough, to be successful and realistically have a shot at a National Title. The Irish should just join the ACC in football and play 8 ACC teams per year. They could then play 4 other teams per year – keep USC every year, keep scheduling other elite programs such as a Georgia or Texas or Oklahoma, keep a longtime regional series such as a Purdue, and then have room for one more. The move to the ACC would still allow them to play a pretty good schedule when you include the likes of Florida State, Miami, Va. Tech, Clemson, Ga. Tech, Louisville, etc. to the list above. This would certainly be a schedule that would challenge them but also be realistic enough that they could realize some more success and have a shot at a 10 win season every year. Their current scheduling philosophy, admirable as it is, doesn’t provide them with a legitimate chance to win 10 games. I say join the ACC in football, continue to schedule USC and perhaps another elite program non-conference each year and see if they can compete a little better. Oh, and drop Navy. They get too many players hurt playing against Navy’s style of play and they gain nothing from playing Navy – nothing except a load of injuries each year.

    I love the Irish but they are killing me right now. They are tough to watch.

  7. I will answer the best I can. When you see players just walk away from the
    coach and ignore him he isnt getting through and they have lost respect. If
    you saw their attitudes compared to Northwestern you would see what I mean.
    I was watching the game with people who played a lot of sports and with a
    father of one of the players and they all saw it.

    1. Jerry,
      Per my last question(s)/comments to you, I admitted having seen Golson do this. I just personally hadn’t seen anyone else. It’s possible that the body language and reactions are due to many other factors rather than just “lack of faith” in the coach.

      Again, like the reasons why ND is losing, there are probably several factors involved. Poor play, losing some faith and trust in eachother as players, rampant injuries and the affect that’s having on the field etc. Lots of deer in headlights out there. Just my opinion.

      But granted, on this site, if you don’t take a radical and extreme view such as:

      -FIRE KELLY
      -IT’S ALL ON THE D!

      then you will be castigated, said to be making excuses etc.

      For what it’s worth, as a former scholarship D1 college athlete, team dynamics and sports psychology are interesting things. Unfortunately, solutions are generally not found by myopic, simple-minded approaches such as yelling louder/more, blaming all the problems on one person, player, facet of the team etc.

      But it sounds good and makes people feel better.

      1. A slight breach of etiquette by skipping the double-dare and going right for the throat with the triple-dog-dare.

      2. Haha- you are correct Ron. I simply forgot to add the second part. I thought it was a cute question though, as I think he was inferring that it was probably soccer I played, since soccer is sometimes thought of as a wimpy sport. It was probably a backhanded attempt at an insult.

        But for what it’s worth, I hate soccer.

  8. Those of you that cant understand Kelly has lost this team, just study the
    players reactions when they come off the field. They have no respect for the ego maniac.

      1. He did say about a hundred times back in August that it was going to be an exciting year.

        So he has that going for him.

    1. We were supposed to study the players’ body language first. I respectfully asked Jerry to elaborate and he wouldn’t or couldn’t. Now he’s telling us we must study the players’ “reactions”.

  9. I don’t think BK should be fired. However, there are things he needs to improve upon and when you consider that he’s been a head coach for 20+ years, it’s cause for concern.

    He has to lose the throw the kids under the bus mentality. He wants his kids to be accountable. He’s gotta stop the hypocrisy and show them what that looks like.

    At this point, what is the harm in playing Zaire if EG continues to turn the ball over? Players respond to playing time. Nothing else has seemed to work. What do you have to lose?

    BVG has lacked answers for a month now. It doesn’t matter if the opponent runs or throws — ND can’t stop them. These kids are constantly out of position. I know they’re young but that’s too convenient an excuse. They were young earlier this year when the defense was playing better. To me, it looks like the teams have adjusted to BVG’s defense and he has yet to make the adjustments he needs to make to counteract that.

    1. You owe it to the kids to win. If EG gives you the best chance to win he plays end of story. The seniors playing their last home game ever deserve to win. If EG gives you that chance then he plays.

      I love listening to you guys drone on about adjustments by the staff or lack thereof. If you’ve ever played or coached you would understand these “adjustments” aren’t necessarily visible to the naked eye and certainly you can’t see them on tv. You can argue the success or non success they are having but trust me you wouldn’t know an adjustment unless bj posted a YouTube clip of it.

      Most of the time it has to do with how you block a certain front, or the alignment of a DT from a 3 technique to head up on a guard. It’s rolling coverage on the back end from quarters to 2 deep or stacking a LB over the guard vs B gap responsibility. There are so many things happening that you can’t see on tv because it follows the ball.

      So enough with the they don’t make adjustment wining.

      1. Ron, if EG keeps turning the ball over, then he doesn’t give you the best chance of winning, particularly against an inferior team — that’s why you make the change.

        As for the adjustments, you can use all the football lingo you want but the bottom line is that these kids are out of position too many times. Either the coach has called the wrong defense or the kids aren’t grasping what the coaches want them to do. Either way, that’s the coach’s responsibility to fix and that’s not happened near enough.

      2. The coaches, who know EG and MZ far better than us, keep playing EG. Ergo he gives the team the best chance to win. What is your MZ assumption based on? Rivals ratings, hs football clips, rumor, inability to hold a PAT snap???

      3. And can someone please explain to me why on earth BK would risk a multi million dollar a year job by not playing the best qb. Last year it was Hendrix and now it is Zaire. It makes absolutely zero sense.

      4. Ron, I never said EG should be benched from this point going forward. What I am saying is that if EG continues to turn the ball as often as he has been, then there are serious concerns as to EG giving you the best chance to win. If that’s the case, then maybe MZ gives you the best chance to win and therefore should be playing.

        As to what the choices see — I don’t know what they see. But that doesn’t address your point that the coaches, who see them daily and know football, have yet to put in MZ despite having EG continue to turn the ball over.

        The answer is that this is no longer a football question but a logic question. We can agree that BK and his coaching staff are human beings, right? Ergo, that are fallible and make mistakes. Is it possible that this is one of those times where BK and his coaching are mistakes? Absolutely.

        Therefore the answer to your question is this: Despite what they know and what they see, it is quite possible that they are just flat out wrong and that maybe they do need to start to bench EG if he continues to commit turnovers. That is a statement of fact based on logic that cannot be questioned.

      5. It’s not a fact Mike, it’s your opinion. Maybe the kid only knows 25% of the play book! maybe he is hurt, maybe he has a bad attitude, maybe he fumbles all week long in practice, maybe his teammates don’t trust him, maybe he is the second coming of Joe Montana. Who knows. A lot of guesses.

        The only facts are these: jerry thinks BK has lost the team, bj thinks Lou is a half priest, duranko has a thesaurus, Rick uses caps lock, d train is an angry Aussie, Mikey likes haiku, you are obsessed with rivals ratings, Paddy Murphy think there is ND bias everywhere, Toulmin is fast, Roberto thinks this team lacks guts, and I have salon quality hair.

        Beyond that, just watch the game with a ice cold one and relax.

      6. Ron, you’re missing the difference between opinion and fact. As a result, you’re misrepresenting me. Therefore, you need to be slow-walked through what I’m telling you. I apologize to everyone else.

        It is your opinion that we should defer to the coaching staff regarding who gives ND the best chance to win because they see the players in practice every day plus they know what they’re doing — that’s why their coaches.

        It is my opinion that EG doesn’t give them the best chance to win if he continues to commit turnovers at his current rate. I don’t care what they see or what they know. Therefore, IMO, EG should benched for MZ if he continues his problems with the turnovers.

        Those are opinions and we’re going to have to agree to disagree.

        The following statements are facts: Nobody’s perfect. Therefore, despite seeing what they see and knowing what they know, it is possible that the coaching staff makes mistakes. They could be flat out wrong they conclude that an EG who commits turnovers as often as he’s been doing gives ND a better chance of winning than does MZ.

        Do you agree that nobody’s perfect?
        Do you agree that coaches make mistakes from time to time, even the best ones?
        Do you agree that it is possible that they’re judging MZ incorrectly when compared to EG? Re-read that sentence. Is it possible? Not “do you think it’s happening”, only that it’s possible.

        I draw my opinion based on the above facts.

      7. bj’s YouTube adjustment clip would be a silent black and white from the 1920’s when he was a freshmen at ND and they still ran the flying wedge.

        Or in bj’s case…. the flying wedgie.

  10. I read and re-read your take on the running game. I do believe that Folston is a guy who can handle the load and most likely he will only become better and better. Personally, I fully believe that Kelly forgets that he has running backs or that he thinks his QB gets lonely standing by himself durning games. Lol

    As far the comentary from the uhnd faithful…Im truelly impressed. The Irish ball club needs a victory this weekend. Personally, I still very much believe in Kelly, this team and the direction. That said. I’m expecting to see better football from the neck up this weekend.

    From the neck up! Go Irish.

  11. Lou Iacovo,

    Perhaps “duranko” should take some lessons from you about crafting a well-reasoned and tightly argued piece.

    You, sir, are a breath of fresh air with your insight minus the ad hominem insults and gratuitous “burgundian” ironies.

    I truly look forward to reading more of your thoughts.

    Go Irish!

    1. Lou , I went through a pot of coffee reading your lengthy input. Being pretty wired towards your closing, I thought maybe you were headed towards “I’ve had it , I’m done being a Notre Dame fan.” I wonder what college team these “ex Irish fans” root for?

      1. Are there any ex-Irish fans on here? If so, then are they really ex-fans?

        I think Lou raised some excellent points.

        Perhaps rather than some smug, stupid response, a serious dialog would be better served.

        At least Burgy tried to engage Lou seriously and respectfully.

        I don;t know of any ex-Irish fans. I know a few who would be better off cheering on some mediocre teams since mediocrity is what they seem to enjoy rooting for.

      2. Lou , your piece on Notre Dame 2014 and past years was well done and you spent time doing research on the data. My comment was a stupid attempt at humor of ND fans, like my brother , who are a life long fans and all of sudden decide not to be. To infer or insinuate with humor that you were/might end your closing with “I am done with Notre Dame” was stupid. It could have been another poster, yours just happened to be the first one I read when I awoke this morning.

  12. Saturday is Senior Day. Seniors are supposed to walk out to midfield to greet their folks and then play. The following players will not do one at least one of those things. Some will do neither:

    George Atkinson III
    Brad Carrico
    Davaris Daniels
    Jarrett Grace
    Aaron Lynch
    Troy Niklas
    Tony Springmann
    Stephon Tuitt
    Ishaq Williams

    It is what it is.

    1. None will play.
      Three were injured and can’t.
      Two are suspended from playing.
      Three chose the pros for ’14.
      Anxious to see how many see the day as worth travelling to. Some might have a pressing previous event. Some might not feel much like celebrating being a former player at ND. For those who return and those left, here’s hoping the team and coaches can rise to the occasion and those seniors leave the field their last time celebrating a final win at home. That’s, as Lou has said, is
      Whats Important Now – WIN.

  13. With the utter collapse of the Notre Dame football team in the past few weeks, many of the Notre Dame faithful are in full anguish mode – me included. I want to believe that Brian Kelly can and will take us to the promised land of another Football National Championship, but after 5 agonizing years of promise and collapse I don’t think he’s the one to lead us there. Brian Kelly is a good coach but I don’t think he is the charismatic leader we need to get to the top.

    Not all of the current circumstances are necessarily Brian Kelly’s fault. Over the past 20 years the Notre Dame football team has struggled to be consistently dominant. This decline has gone hand in hand with the perceived decline of the Big 10 as a power conference. Is there a connection? I don’t think it is a coincidence that today the top two conferences for college football are the SEC and the Pac 12. These regions have the most good high school football players and the good weather. The three states with the most high school football players who get scholarships for Division IA football teams are Florida, Texas, and California in some order. These states are located in or near the SEC or Pac12 as are many of the next most prolific states for football recruits. The Big 10 and Notre Dame are at a competitive disadvantage trying to get young student athletes to leave home for a cold climate. Our program has to be better than the competition just to have a fighting chance against those southern and western conference teams. Also, as the years go by, young players know less and less about Notre Dame’s storied football history so that can no longer be much of a draw for players. If it happened more than 4 years ago, they probably have no clue what you are talking about. If you don’t think there is a problem, consider Nick Saban’s head coaching records at Michigan State, LSU, and Alabama. He was an OK coach at Michigan State but has been dominant in the south (Winning Percentages for Nick Saban: Michigan State 58.5%, LSU 75.0%, and Alabama 84.6%).

    Given that it is not a level playing field, consistent success for Notre Dame football can only come if the head coach is charismatic, organized, has an overall strategy, and is a tactical genius. I am not sure that Brian Kelly has enough of these traits to get us to the next level in football. My major concerns about his performance follow:

    1) There has been a lot of praise for Kelly lately saying that he will soon be the first coach in a long time at Notre Dame to start his ND career with 5 straight seasons of 8+ wins. Even assuming he gets his 8th win this year, I am not sure that this is that big a deal. College football teams play a lot more games than they did 40 to 50 years ago. Getting 8 wins in 13 games (counting bowl games) is a winning percentage of 61.5% (good but not great). Heck, Bo Pelini has won 9 or 10 games each year at Nebraska (and oddly enough has lost exactly 4 games each year) and Nebraska fans are clamoring for his ouster. Brian Kelly’s winning percentage at ND is 71.0% and this is just under Pelini’s winning percentage at Nebraska (71.7% counting one win as an interim bowl game head coach earlier in his career at Nebraska). Games won each year are not as important as winning percentage when comparing coaches over different eras. For the 8 head coaches at Notre Dame since 1964, Brian Kelly ranks 4th in Notre Dame winning percentage (Parseghian 83.6%, Holtz 76.5%, Devine 76.4%, Kelly 71.0% (through the Northwestern game), Davie & Willingham 58.3% (tie), Weis 56.5%, and Faust 53.5%). [Data from sports-reference.com]. Granted, Kelly inherited a mess from Coach Chuckles so that may bring his overall winning percentage down but I’m not sure the data support any claim that he is a great coach.

    2) Brian Kelly’s defenders point to the great 2012 Notre Dame season as support for his great coaching abilities. But a closer look at the data may show otherwise. Two of the victories (Purdue, BYU) were by 3 points each and two other victories (Stanford, Pitt) came in overtime. In these four close games, only Stanford was a great team (12 – 2, Rose Bowl Champions). BYU was 8 – 5 and both Purdue and Pitt were 6 – 7. Why were the three games against mediocre competition so close? Maybe the other teams got lucky or maybe we were looking ahead to other opponents. If the ball had bounced a different way a few times in those games we very easily could have lost 2 or 3 more games. Perhaps we were a very good but not great team in 2012. We certainly got exposed in the BCS Championship game by Alabama. With a few bad breaks the 2012 record would be very similar to Kelly’s ND records from other years, a minimum of 4 losses every year so far (and possibly this year).

    3) Brian Kelly has an excellent overall coaching record but much of his record was at lower levels of collegiate football. He was a 2-time NCAA champion coach at Division II Grand Valley State with a winning percentage over 75%. But the coach who followed him (Chuck Martin) also won two NCAA championships there and had a winning percentage over 90%. His record at Central Michigan was only 19 – 16 (54.3% over 3 years). His record at Cincinnati was a great 34 – 6 (85.0% over 4 years) but Cincinnati played in a weak Big East Conference and his team was thoroughly outclassed in each of the major bowls Cincinnati played in during his tenure (after the 2008 season they suffered a 20 – 7 Orange Bowl loss to Virginia Tech and after the 2009 season they suffered a crushing 51 – 24 Sugar Bowl loss to Florida [Kelly did not coach in this game as he had already departed for ND]). The coaching landscape has been littered with the remains of coaches who succeeded at a lower level but failed in the big time atmosphere of Division IA football [see: Gerry Faust]. This is not to say that Brian Kelly has failed but perhaps he has reached his ceiling as the Notre Dame head football coach and a 3 or 4 loss season is what we should expect in the future.

    My other concerns are more specific to Notre Dame’s performance on the playing field:

    4) Five years of horrible special teams play is not an aberration, it is a trend.

    5) Our running game is marginal at best. We can get over 200 yards running against inferior teams but when we meet teams with an average or above running defense we get nothing on the ground. Every running play seems to be a sweep or end around. There is no power running. This is either a talent problem or a coaching problem and I am not sure which. Some people say that the talent level is not there but every year Brian Kelly seems to get a top 10 – 15 recruiting class so what is happening with player development? If the talent is there then it has to be the coaching, either the line coaches are bad or Kelly’s play calling leaves a lot to be desired. Just look at Wisconsin – every year their recruiting classes are in the middle of the pack and every year they have a great power running game. This year they also have a great defense. That’s coaching. If they had a better QB they might even be in serious consideration for the College Football Playoffs. We have the better recruits, so the experts say, so why can’t we run the ball. The failure here has to be with Brain Kelly.

    6) I am concerned that the offensive game plan is too complex and that college football players who are limited to 20 hours of practice a week and have to take a full load of classes just can’t absorb all the intricacies of the plays in the time allotted to football. The playbook needs to be slimmed down. This is not the NFL. Perhaps complexity is a problem for the defense, too. Keep the defensive plans simple so players can react more and think less.

    7) Kelly apologists will say that the problems on defense stem from the fact that the defense is so very young. And it is. But why is it so young? This is the 5th year of the Kelly era and shouldn’t there be a pipeline of players from each year available as needs arise due to injury. It’s not like we are coming off sanctions with limited scholarships or that we have had mass defensive player defections early for the NFL (a few maybe). Other schools have to deal with injuries why can’t we? This is either a coaching problem or a strategic recruiting problem but again this is a problem Brian Kelly must solve.

    8) Brian Kelly needs to hire an offensive coordinator and let him call the plays. I am not sure his ego will let him do this. (I believe he gave up play calling for a year but has since taken it back). There is a reason no one has ever heard of the offensive coordinators he hires. A really good offensive coordinator would not take the ND job if he couldn’t also call the plays. That type of person is looking to make a name for himself as a play caller. Being in on the planning process for a game but not actually calling the plays only appeals to those coaches who have never done either task before. I believe the quality of our play calling is compromised by the present situation. With a real offensive coordinator calling the plays, Kelly could concentrate on strategizing during the game and seeing the big picture. Then he might be able to correctly make seemingly simple but important decisions like when not to go for 2-point conversions and when to take a knee as the clock is running out.

    9) Brian Kelly needs to admit at times that he has erred. He always seems to deflect the blame to someone else, often a player. This is by far his worst trait as I see it.

    I am a graduate of ND (Class of 1967). It has been 26 years since any of us has seen a football championship. Since we are not in a conference, it is either national championship or nothing. I am not sure Brian Kelly can get us there. I keep hoping he can but my hopes keep getting crushed in the cruelest and most exasperating of ways. I think our next coach must have had head coaching experience at the highest of levels before he gets to Notre Dame. Brian Kelly had this type of coaching experience (sort of) but lately I think he is being exposed as a fraud. I sincerely hope I am wrong.

    1. That’s a lot of words to say you don’t like BK. There are lies, damn lies and then there are statistics. Somebody (with a lot of time on their hands) could point to some stats to make BK look great. You seem to pick and choose which stats fit your argument and then shoot down others that don’t. I get it and have done it before.

      My point is careful what you wish for. If ND let BK go he’d be unemployed for about 3 seconds. I bet the folks down at UF would fall all over themselves to have him.

      ND was an absolute train wreck for a decade. BK has done a hell of a job rebuilding this thing.

      Winning NC’s don’t grow on trees. This ain’t the 40’s and 60’s anymore. Bowden won a bazillion games and has 2 titles to show for it. You could argue the 93 title is in question.

      Don’t get me wrong, I’d love to see another title but I’m a realist.

      Coaching at ND nowadays is tough enough. If you fire a guy who rebuilt the thing and is doing by and large a hell of a job, who ya gonna get??

      Have a solution, who is this magic coach you want??

      Meyer, Saban, Stoops ain’t walking through the door. Who ya Got???

      1. Two great posts . . .Lou and Burgundy
        “Everyone is perfect, and we can all use a little improvement” is an ancient Buddhist tenet. Burgundy asks,
        Who ya got? Brian kelly
        How’s he done? Considering the expectations from fans, administration and alumni, a whole lot better than what we had, and maybe as good as we can get right now.
        Brian Kelly isn’t going anywhere soon.
        Watching the players development over the next year or two will determine if the insights of Burgundy or Iacovo bear out. I’m hoping you’re wrong, too, Lou.

      1. Hasn’t coached in 6 years, hasn’t coached in college since 1991, has a career winning percentage barely above 50%. Make a boatload of cash doing nothing and everybody complains about BK being too aggressive.

  14. Sorry I agree with Ron, less workey in the class, more workey on the field. I expect a championship in my relevant lifetime. As in not when I was 7 and not when I’m 97. I’m a Cardinals fan, we win championships. Compete in the playoffs year after year. This I expect in the College Football Playoff eara. This Cubs mentality is quite worrisome of some of you Northern Goldendomers.

  15. What I don’t understand is why are we so demanding in the classroom but not on the football field? Isn’t that our bread and butter? Excuses excuses excuses excuses and more excuses!

  16. Well… He went 12-0 by year 3 and made it to the National Championship game.
    (Something that hadn’t been done in over 20 years)

    In 5 years he has yet to post a losing season.

    His player GPA and graduation rates are among the best in the nation.

    And unlike his predecessor, Kelly was not given a raise and long term extension after just one year.

    He was given one after the 2012 season… which sounds like Swarbrick was satisfied with the results.

    1. Well, that’s all great. What about winning! I guess that’s asking a little bit too much from such a storied University like Notre Dame!

      1. And Making it to the National championship is great. Outstanding! But we didn’t win. And we got so embarrassed like we didn’t even belong on the same field. And where are we now? Back to the circus!

      2. We were embarrassed by an Alabama. That’s correct.

        However, the conversation about that 2012 bans team and 2012 ND team doesn’t stop with that point.

        ND, wasn’t even close to having the team in place to compete with them.

    2. Take out 2012 Shaz and tell me that 8-5 is acceptable at any top ten program. Like Bill Parcells says if you 8-8 there is a reason your 8-8 and it isn’t the ball didn’t bounce your way. BK is being measured against his peers which are Saban, Meyer, Carroll when he was at USC and Les Miles. 8-5 doesn’t cut it and you can only ride 2012 for so long.

      I don’t think firing Kelly over what has transpired in the last couple of games would be smart, but the leash is getting shorter. Let me just list some of the inconsistencies with his teams

      1. Special teams suck!
      2. Offenses that turn the ball over
      3. Take away 2012 not a top 50 defense
      4. Suspensions for cheating, Lizzy Seaborn, and Declin Sullivan.

      These are things that will not be tolerated at ND. He needs to get it together and finish the year at 9-3 or next year the seat will get hot. He will be returning 98% of his starters, his QB and have all the players recruited by him. Time to start getting the job done.

      1. Since we are taking years out can we remove 2010 instead? Can we take 1988 away from Lou and therefore he has no titles?

      2. Okay Burgundy let’s examine records

        86 5-6
        87 8-4
        88 12-0
        89 12-1
        90 9-3
        91 10-3
        92 10-1-1
        93 11-1
        94 6-51
        95 9-3
        96 8-3

        In his first five years he had three double digit winning seasons. 5 of his 10 years he won double digits. BK has done it once. In 88 he not only beat #1 Miami but three top ten teams that year. Don’t be dumb Burgundy and compare BK and Lou, your just not thinking

      3. Jack
        I’d recommend a Valium and a nice glass of wine. If you don’t get the joke I can’t help you.

      4. Burgundy it’s hard to tell if your joking or series at times. If I relax I like one of the following

        1. High priced bourbon on the rocks
        2. Bombay Sapphire Martini Dry
        3. Single malt scotch with a fat Cigar.

        No need for wine or a Valium don’t need to end up like Whitney Houston. I keep it natural with relaxation I stay away from big Pharma and alcohol.

      5. Yes and there is an argument that ND really won another championship in 1993. At least one poll had ND#1.

        Holtz’s ND teams were much more solid.

    3. Swarbrick has the results he wants. $700 million for stadium upgrades to benefit rich alumna and donors.

      A fan base willing to pay gobs of money just to pretend that they were around when Notre Dame was great. Swarbrick is creating a Disneyworld theme park based on the Notre Dame of 1913-1993.

      If the fan base keeps buying the fantasy, Notre Dame football has no need to match it with reality.

  17. “Injuries, suspensions, and poor coaching can all have an effect on a team”

    I’ll buy that.

    Ohio St was banned from post season play last year… but they survived… which is acceptable for them.

    I’ll buy that.

    Some programs survive down years by way of junior college transfers, over signing, and greyshirting.

    I’ll but that too.

    Jack Swarbrick is a fair man of principle, a man of action, and a man who expects results, and the only one qualified to evaluate Brian Kelly.

    I’ll take Jack Swarbrick and accountability for $200 Alex.

    1. You’re absolutely right. Swarbrick expects results, like most of us. Sports is all about results whether it’s fair or not. Well, Look at Kelly’s results the five years he’s been here. WELL!!

  18. Everyone take a deep breath. All will be ok. I will admit, my depression level the last three days is peaked in the red, but lets take a step back and look at some critical points.

    Notre Dame is a very young team. We started 9 underclassmen (2 Fr., 7 So.) against Northwestern. That leaves 13 upperclassmen (7 Jr., 6 Sr.). Mostly due to suspensions and injuries, our young players aren’t just forced into action, they are forced to perform at an extremely high level. Alabama started 5 underclassmen (2 Fr., 3 So.) against Mississippi St last saturday. That means 17 upperclassmen started (8 Jr., 9 Sr.). Mississippi St started only 3 underclassmen (0 Fr., 3 So.). We started 9!

    With all of the mistakes that occured (ALOT OF THEM WERE BAD LUCK – Golson gets hit from behind, the ball goes off the Head of a lineman, and falls right into the hands of a Northwestern player…Chris Brown fumbles on the 1 yard line stretching for the endzone…Cam McDaniel, Mr. Reliable, fumbles with 1:40 left in the game when we have the ball in plus territory, when Northwestern has zero timeouts left…3rd and 10, 1 minute or so left in the game, Northwestern has the ball, the play clock expires, no flag, Northwestern gains 17 yards for a first down… last week Golson has 3 fluke interceptions. When ND tips the ball at the line of scrimmage, the ball goes into no-mans land for an incomplete pass. When Golson’s passes get tipped, they are intercepted. It all seems to be a lot of bad luck. And when you have THAT many mistakes/unlucky plays, with such a young team, you’re going to lose, and lose ugly.

    Another point about how young our team is: Beginning of the season, 5 players suspended: Daniels (Sr.), Williams (Sr.), Russell (Sr.), Moore (Sr.), Hardy (Sr.). Add to that: Jared Grace still not able to play (Sr.) – His back up Joe Schmidt (Sr.) gets hurt. Collinsworth(Sr.) goes down and has hardly played. Baratti (Jr.). Now we have Day in a leg brace (Sr.). Riggs has been banged-up/injured the last two weeks (Sr.). That’s 11 upperclassmen. Now we have Freshman and Sophmores taking their place. Out of the 29 non starters that participated last saturday, 17 of them were underclassmen. Out of the 51 players that played, 26 were underclassmen.

    A lot of fans will doubt the coaches and players, but keep the faith. If we lose faith, so will the players. The bad luck is going to end. The turnovers are going to end. We have an extremely young team with a lot of bad luck, and a head coach that thinks he has to score a ton of points in order to negate the negative. Because of the young team and the bad luck, Kelly will realize that he has to start playing like he did in 2012. Play keep away. Give the ball to the running backs more. Don’t make Golson do everything.

    Don’t give up on our team. Let’s understand that this young of a team is not going to make the playoffs; they are not going to make a major bowl. the 6-0 start made all of our blue and gold glasses a lot more blue and gold than they should have been. We have Loisville coming to town this saturday. We will play a cleaner game (mistakes will be down; turnovers will be down). They will play a much better game. Give this team a little slack. Let’s support our team like they deserve.

    Goooo Irish!

  19. If everyone stays?! That’s college football these days. Let’s face it, when you struggle against the likes of Navy and NW you are just not a good team. ND can’t beat the teams they need to beat to contend. Its another one of Kelly’s “ho-hum”
    seasons. Great potential but cannot deliver the goods. Way too many of those already during Kelly’s tenure. Sooner or later the alumni are going to be tired of the 8-4 season and look elsewhere. With Louisville and USC up next, the elsewhere could be closer than you think. Wake up ND and smell the roses. Your season is about to self destruct over the next two weeks or so if you don’t perform a miracle and get your act together. Maybe it’s time for change, as in QB and coach?

    1. Who is this miracle coach you speak of? He played for the title 2 years ago. If you fire him 2 years after that it is not helping.

      1. How about bj’s favorite…Nickara Holtzmeyer?

        The best of the past and present all rolled up in a man!

    2. Rich, you are spot-on correct with everything you said. Many on this board bring up injuries, suspensions and whatever. Are we the ONLY freaking team with injuries or suspensions. Excuse makers everywhere! OH we’re so young and all that crap. Our problems are from the neck up and for that BK is at the top of the list.

      1. So your saying that injuries and suspensions don’t have any effect on a team?

        The Vegas line makers might disagree.

      2. Sure, if they are key injuries like QB. Injuries are part of football. At the beginning of the year all we heard is about the depth of this team. It’s been many many years since we had the depth. How do teams like Ohio State, Alabama survive year after year? My guess is the coaching. Yes they have great talent but they also go through injuries/suspensions and everything else.

        With us year after year after year after year it’s always an excuse. For 20 some years it’s always something.

        Bk has been here 5 years! 5 YEARS! And this is what we see last saturday. A freaking circus! Out hustled and out everything by a terrible team ON OUR HOME FIELD!

        I’m Not saying BK should be fired. Not yet anyway but he definitely should be called out for this total mess!

      3. Are you saying that the only injuries that matter are injuries to a quarterback and/or “skilled positions”? You are confusing “excuses” with facts. And you are making my prior point about platitudes when saying things like “injuries are part of football”. That doesn’t really mean anything. We WERE fairly deep at defense, although young, but aren’t anymore because of injuries and suspensions. Like most things in life, ND’s problems are multi-faceted. Also, Alabama oversigns and consistently has about 85 players on the scholarship roster to our 75. Those numbers matter. Again, not an excuse, but a factor in the equation.

      4. You Sir, are one of the excuse makers. What we go through is no different then many many teams. But it seams year after year we have a very good (top 15) class year after year and we play like Bozo’s year after year making excuses for Navy, Northwestern, Tulsa and barely getting by the Purdue’s and Syracuse and many more.

        This year BK FINALLY had his QB. Well, what’s the excuse now? OH, we’re too young we’re too this too that.

        Say what you want. This football team should be Notre Dame excuse makers!

      5. Haha! Well you certainly do like the word “excuse”. You’ve certainly made your point, but completely missed mine. Have the best day ever. And maybe have some hot tea or something and calm down a bit.

      6. Ron, I’m with ya. JDH is definitely an excuse maker. We are deep at every position, yet we cannot get the job done against pathetic oppenents. FSU beat Clemson without their Heisman trophy winner. Ohio State is 9-1 with their backup QB. Why? Because their coaches prepared better and the other guys stepped up. They didn’t make excuses and neither should we.

      7. Oh look, more namecalling and the perpetual use of that word again. You think I’m an excuse maker. How on earth will I ever sleep at night now?

    3. KELLY MUST GO. HIS TIME SHOULD BE UP! BUT KNOWING NOTRE DAME THEY WILL EXTEND HIS CONTRACT,AND THE FANS WILL SUFFER SOME MORE!!!

      1. fred,

        BK’s earned at least the time to finish out this season and the remainder of his contract. I’m as critical as anyone here about where this program is at. But firing BK now or even after the season makes no sense. Burgundy has correctly asked who does ND replace BK with? Serious question.

        We’ll have a better sense of what we as fans have in BK after next season. If Bk falls short again, the let’s talk.

        But right now it’s time to stop yelling for BK’s head and hope that he can salvage this season and this recruiting class.

        Go Irish!

      2. Agree that BK should stay possible little longer but really need change in coach for defense. Not as good as was in first few games, also need a change at QB. The team needs some spark from someone , so BK, really needs step up and take control as ”LH” did.

  20. Spot on, BK needed to go with the 3 wood and manage the game, especially after Golson got hurt. BK teams continue to play down or up to the talent level. That is on the coach, he sets the tone.

    The defense made a bad offense look like Baylor. Collingsworth fell on a critical play under 2 minutes where NW should have scored.

    The senior class, BK recruits, are minus Tuitt, Lynch and Nix, Atkinson, Daniels, Williams, Grace and Niklas. This is a top 5 team if everyone stays.

    The kicking game looks like it usually does under BK, all promise no delivery.

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