pro⋅gres⋅sion
Pronunciation [pruh-gresh-uhn] – noun
1.    the act of progressing; forward or onward movement.
2.    a passing successively from one member of a series to the next; succession; sequence.

Progression—in football, it’s used to describe two things. First, it’s used to describe the mental and physical process a quarterback goes through on a passing play to “check off” his receivers when they are…

The season is winding down and the BCS picture is becoming more and more clear. With so many one-loss teams a controversy is brewing, but a lot (albeit not all) should be settled with the conference championships.

Visit these links to see the prior releases of the ESP for weeks eight, nine, ten, eleven, and twelve. After next week the AV Ranking will be used…

For the third time this season, and second at home, the Fighting Irish squandered a double-digit lead to lose the game. The first two times this occurred against average competition. Against Syracuse, Notre Dame’s implosion took place against an obviously less talented opponent at home on senior day.

Make no mistake about it, Syracuse isn’t even close to a mediocre football team, and the statistics…

The Irish welcome Syracuse to South Bend for their home finale this weekend. The Orange come in as a decided underdog against an Irish squad that hasn’t met many fans’ expectations this season. The Orange are anything but stellar themselves.

Syracuse averages fewer than 300 yards of total offense per game, with 133.4 coming through the air and 151.8 on the ground. Additionally, the Orange…

It was a bipolar affair for the Fighting Irish against Navy (more on this here).

On special teams the Irish made both attempted field goals, held the Midshipmen to negative punt return yardage, and blocked a punt. However, they also allowed two consecutive onside kicks to be recovered despite the painfully obvious situation in which they occurred.

On offense the Irish ran the ball at…

The story for the Irish this year is completeness, as in playing a complete game. The pieces are present—a dynamic vertical passing threat, a recently developed dependable kicking game and solid defense, excellent special teams coverage units, and talent at nearly every skill position—to be a good team, but Notre Dame has yet to put it all together.

I’m not talking about an elite team,…

Little has changed from week eleven to twelve of the ESP. The difference in the top teams lies largely in who does and who doesn’t control their own desitiny.

As the season draws to an end, the national championship picture becomes more clear and the AV Ranking more closely approaches Sagarin. Similarly, the ESP approaches the BCS although subtle differences will remain at the season’s end.…

This past weekend was a very difficult one for many Irish fans. The frustration and disbelief I felt at the end of Notre Dame’s match up against Boston College was similar to the disbelief a young man feels when he breaks up with his very first girlfriend. In one moment, the young man realizes that the faults in his “relationship” with his girlfriend far outweigh…

The United States Naval Academy always presents a unique challenge for the Fighting Irish. This weekend, with the memory of last year’s win fresh in the Midshipmen’s minds and Notre Dame losing three of their last four, it figures to be an uncharacteristically close affair.

The Midshipmen run an unconventional option offense to the tune of nearly 30 points and 310 rushing yards per game.…

Boston College had their way with Notre Dame Saturday.

The visiting Irish repeatedly turned the ball over, lost the time of possession battle, and converted only 33 percent of their third downs. The red zone offense didn’t even have a chance to continue it’s ineptitude as the floundering Irish failed to cross their opponent’s twenty-yard line.

Notre Dame’s offense looked completely unprepared. Despite being a…