When Brian Kelly was hired to coach at Notre Dame, one of the biggest and most legitimate questions Irish supporters had was his ability to recruit on a national level. If Brian Kelly and his staff showed nothing else on National Signing Day, they responded to fans’ worries with an emphatic “yes,” and did their best to put those questions to rest…for now.

On Tuesday, Kelly …

It may be head coach Brian Kelly’s first year at the helm, but positive change is already tangible.

While the 2008 and 2009 Irish squads finished 1-8 in November, this year’s unit went 3-0. It isn’t time to anoint Kelly the next Lou Holtz or Ara Parseghian, but Notre Dame played its best football down the stretch without several critical players such as quarterback Dayne Crist, …

Editor’s note: The previous week’s results can be found here: week 14, 13, 12, 11, 10, 9, 8, 7 and 6.

The dust has settled on the 2011 season, and the Auburn Tigers came out on top. It was quite the turnaround for head coach Gene Chizik. Auburn finished the 2009 season in relatively pedestrian fashion. The Tigers compiled an 8-5 record, including a dubious …

Notre Dame faces Miami in the Sun Bowl New Year’s Eve. The game marks the first meeting between the two teams since 1990 and is a preview of three future contests—a neutral site game at Chicago’s Soldier Field in 2012 and a home/away series in 2016 and 2017.

In many ways the two teams are heading in opposite directions. The Irish enter the game on …

The Irish stopped the Trojans eight-game win streak in dramatic fashion Saturday night. Robert Hughes five-yard touchdown run with 2:23 remaining capped off a physical, run-heavy drive that gave head coach Brian Kelly his second three-game win streak of the season.

Looking back this could certainly be a season of what if’s. What if quarterback Dayne Crist hadn’t been injured in the Michigan game? What …

After getting shellacked by Navy and losing a heartbreaker to Tulsa (with some questionable coaching decisions to boot), it was difficult to imagine the Irish becoming bowl eligible, let alone having a chance to win out.

But Notre Dame has outscored their last two opponents by a combined 55-6 and heads to the West Coast to battle the rival Trojans on the heels of two …

Three of the top four AVR teams were idle this week, and Boise State blanked Fresno State. Auburn and the Broncos remain one and two while TCU and Oregon flip-flopped. Of all the teams in the top 10, the Ducks have the least impressive resume with the 109th ranked strength of schedule.

The Irish moved from 52nd to 37th with their win over the Black …

The contest against Utah wasn’t decided by production. For the most part, it wasn’t decided by efficiency either.

The Irish won because they created opportunities and took advantage of them. Notre Dame was able to force two turnovers—one that turned into seven points on the next play—block a punt for a touchdown, and string together two 60-plus yard touchdown drives.

But it was the defense …

As noted prior to the season, Clashmore Mike has the honor of hosting the Irish Blogger Gathering (IBG) for the bye week/Utah game. For those unfamiliar with the IBG, check out some previous additions (in order of opponent) hosted by UHND, Her Loyal Sons, Inside The Irish, One Foot Down, Domer Law, Irish Round Table, We Never Graduate, and Subway Domer (Navy and Tulsa).

If you are …

A home loss to a non-BCS conference opponent is always tough. But off the heels of a blowout defeat at the hands of the Midshipmen, it hurts even worse.

The 2010 Fighting Irish are beginning to look a lot like the previous two versions. Perhaps the most distinguishable characteristic of the past two teams has been late-season collapses. After opening the year relatively strong, the …