For most Notre Dame Football fans this off-season has been a whirlwind of news—a somewhat reserved excitement and hopeful optimism for what the 2010 season holds for the Fighting Irish. Notre Dame let a coach go, hired a promising replacement, said goodbye to a handful of players who are currently demonstrating their abilities for the NFL draft, welcomed eight new position coaches (nine if you…

With all of the recent and dramatic change in the Irish football program, the 2009 season seems to be mostly forgotten.

There is no bowl game. Sensational quarterback Jimmy Clausen and unanimous All-American and Biletnikoff Award-winning wide receiver Golden Tate have left for the NFL. And Notre Dame head coach Charlie Weis has been replaced by Brian Kelly.

This seemingly serves as a forward-looking time…

Editor’s note: I was at the Ole Miss – LSU game this weekend and was unable to watch Notre Dame play Connecticut. This analysis is directly from the box score and will undoubtedly lack certain insight that comes from viewing the game.

The Irish dropped their third straight Saturday, this time at home, on Senior Day, to the visiting Huskies. For the coaches, players and…

The Fighting Irish return to South Bend Saturday on the heels of their second consecutive loss and looking to avoid a second-half season meltdown. Despite the promise this squad showed early in 2009, the last handful of games have looked eerily similar to the last six games of 2008 when the Irish sputtered to a dismal finish.

Notre Dame’s opponent, the Connecticut Huskies, should not…

Notre Dame couldn’t complete the comeback Saturday, falling 27-22 to Pitttsburgh at Heinz Field. The Irish offense sputtered for three quarters while the defense kept the score close in the early going.

For the second consecutive week, the team looked unprepared and unmotivated until the fourth quarter. This final 15 minute period showed some potential for the Irish, but head coach Charlie Weis hasn’t found…

The Irish opened 2009 with a resounding 35-0 defeat of Nevada. While the Wolfpack offense turned the ball over three times—twice in potential scoring position—the game was a fairly one-sided affair. Notre Dame ran the ball well, controlled the clock, and displayed a dynamic downfield passing attack.

Since then, games have been anything but one-sided. Nevada may not be as talented as Michigan, Michigan State,…

Bye weeks are good for many things.

For head coach Charlie Weis this week was an opportunity to rest key personnel with injuries, self-scout the first five games, and get the reserves meaningful practice repetitions.

For fans it is a chance to reflect on (and potentially readjust) their season expectations and, this year, to get a break from the heart palpitations that accompany nail-biting wins.…

You can say the Irish are a lot of things, but boring isn’t one of them.

If last week was good for hypertension, this week was enough to incite a heart attack. In what is becoming a recurring trend, Notre Dame needed late-game heroics from quarterback Jimmy Clausen to secure victory.

The Huskies deserve credit. Washington head coach Steve Sarkisian led a determined squad that…

Notre Dame begins a three game homestand against the Washington Huskies this weekend. Coming off consecutive last-minute victories and laden with injuries to key personnel, the Irish need a convincing win to build confidence and the subsequent bye week to nurse the wounded.

Washington enters the game with victories against Idaho and mighty USC, a close loss to LSU, and a rather one-sided defeat at…

Notre Dame fans need treatment for hypertension. The last three games have been decided in the waning moments, with the the last two needing gifts from the opposing team to secure a victory.

Against Michigan State it was quarterback Kirk Cousins overthrowing a wide open Larry Caper in the back of the end zone followed by a poor pass on the next play that was…