Yes, you read the title correctly. The Notre Dame Football program is at a unique crossroads this week as it recovers from a marathon loss to Pittsburgh and is preparing to face Boston College. This week is more crucial to the outcome of the season for the Fighting Irish than their bye week was two weeks ago. Why? Because this week, as Notre Dame Football …

Charting the Irish offense from Saturday’s game against Washington leads to some interesting results. Namely, the Irish still frequently give away their run/pass intention prior to snapping the ball.

While offensive coordinator Mike Haywood had arguably his best play calling game of the year, the Irish are extremely predictable based on personnel grouping and formation. In other words, Saturday’s contest against the Huskies was more …

This past week, the Notre Dame Football team found themselves at a very unique crossroads. For a long while, the Irish have yet to field a football team that could be so enjoyable to watch and yet, with a split second and a mental lapse, could be so frustrating to watch. When they are clicking on all cylinders, this football team has the ability to …

At first glance the Irish offense seems dramatically improved from a unit that spent last year near the bottom of the country in every meaningful statistical category. A closer look at the numbers, however, reveals a different story.

For example, through six games the Irish stand at 4-2, a far cry from the 1-5 record they held midway through the 2007 campaign. But the competition …

You Call That A Tendency?

Charting the Irish offense from Saturday’s game against North Carolina leads to a painful—yet obvious—conclusion: Notre Dame offensive coordinator Mike Haywood telegraphs the pass. It is puzzling how the Irish still managed 383 yards through the air, a testament to the talent Notre Dame has on offense.

Disclaimer: The following analysis excludes the first two drives of the game …

The Notre Dame kicking game the past two years, featuring the first two kickers that Charlie Weis has recruited, has had one signature trait: inconsistency. And we’re not talking about your typical college gamble on a 40+ yard field goal attempt either. This inconsistency is marked by the sound of every Notre Dame fan in the country collectively biting their fingernails whenever a 4th down …

Whenever the Irish saddle up to play the Boilermakers, I am usually looking forward to a game of little excitement. Even though Purdue is a team that likes to dink and dunk the ball down the field, they usually end up playing a vanilla type of game with the Irish. It’s not like when Notre Dame faces USC or Michigan—where you can expect a certain …

It wasn’t quite the Miami/Florida International brawl. However, anyone who went to the 2008 Blue-Gold Game remembers the scuffle that occurred when Harrison Smith intercepted a Jimmy Clausen pass and ran it into the end zone for a touchdown. What we saw that day was what had been brewing since December.

This past off-season, Charlie Weis did some soul searching to figure out if maybe …

In light of last week’s game against San Diego State, I was pretty wary about watching the Irish this Saturday. It’s not that I didn’t think that the Irish would perform badly, but that there was so many unknown aspects about both Notre Dame and Michigan that could make this game a pleasant surprise for Irish fans, or a hellish nightmare. Luckily for Irish fans, …

On Friday night, I couldn’t sleep. As part of my annual tradition, I watched Rudy. I know—in my previous article, I bashed people who watch Rudy and then make predictions on the new football season. Let’s just say I was trying to gear myself up for a new year of football laced with optimism. Plus, I’ve already made my season predictions.

Finally, Saturday morning …