After yesterday's victory The Fighting Irish now have a break from the toughest part of their schedule and can look forward to a victory over Western Michigan next week.
The Irish could go 9-3 for the year by running the table in their remaining games.
Two tough ones stand out. Utah have an unbeaten season so far and also beat Pittsburgh while USC will be USC no matter what their record shows.
A 9-3 season would be a dramatic improvement for a team that started off so poorly and even an 8-4 would be very satisfactory.
Brian Kelly would probably have taken 9-3 when he arrived at the Golden Dome before the season started but there must be a lot of 'what if's' too.
The last second defeats against Michigan State and Michigan prevented what would have been a sensational start to his career at Notre Dame and the Irish would now be sitting at 5-1.
However, it is probably best they are not. The expectations after Charlie Weis's fast start went through the roof and we all know where that ended up.
Notre Dame fans are dreamers and see a national title in every new season. It is hard to blame them given the great historical record but let's face it that was then and this is now.
It looks like Coach Kelly has a solid, decent start to his career at Notre Dame.
We could really not have asked for anything more.
7 Comments
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
Switch to the desktop site to post a comment.borefield | Oct 11, 2010, 03:43 PM EDT
KELLY, What a GREAT NAME. I wish him continued SUCCESS.
IrishEddy | Oct 10, 2010, 09:01 PM EDT
I have tickets to see ND play Navy.
SouthBendNative | Oct 10, 2010, 08:01 PM EDT
andfan1..please take off the rose colored glasses. As someone whose relative's signature is on the bell in the Basillica, please don't tell me who is a true ND fan. Father Sorin used to celebrate Mass on my Great Grandfather's kitchen table before the original Sacred Heart was built. Stones from our family farm were used to construct the Grotto. Don't tell me about being a true ND fan. ND has not played a difficult schedule. If you have watched the games you would have seen that Purdue was weak, Michigan was a 1 man team with a mediocre defense, Michigan State was decent. Stanford was decent, BC was pitiful, as was Pitt. Please explain how tough the schedule was again. Being that Brian Kelly has 19 years of Head Coaching experience, one should expect fewer time clock management brain farts. The execution of Kelly's offense is inconsistent. He drops the running game at the drop of a hat..when in the Pitt game he was having success with a balanced attack. Please give a logical explanation as to why he abandoned the running game in the 4th quarter when the offense should be burning time off the clock? Why pass the ball on 3rd and 2 when an incomplete pass stops the clock, but a run gaining zero yardage keeps it running? As a true ND fan, I cut thru the pollyanna crap and hold the coach accountable for his poor game management. At this point you can barely tell the difference between Kelly and Weis. That is a huge disappointment. I hope he gets it together, but so far, not so much.
carlosadrian | Oct 10, 2010, 04:18 PM EDT
Hey! This is my first visit to your website and I'm really impress ;) Yes, our Notre Dame still has a chance; I just hope that we win ALL the rest of the games :) By the way, I'm trying to find about my last name Mulby roots... can you help me?
SeamusMor | Oct 10, 2010, 10:43 AM EDT
Notre Dame gets better every week. They will be playing bowl caliber football by the end of the season.
andfan1 | Oct 10, 2010, 09:51 AM EDT
Posted by SouthBendNative on Oct 10, 2010, 09:41 AM EDT For the love of God, you are like a weather vane in the wind. ND has played a crappy schedule and has a mediocre record in those games. The offense looks terrible, especially when the coach inexplicably abandons the running game in the 4th quarter. We not only could have asked for more, we should demand it. Stop the talk about national championships and running the table until some competence is exhibited. Keep in mind that our big 2 game win streak is against 2 teams with dopes for coaches and middling talent. ND has played exactly 2 decent teams so far(Michigan State and Stanford) and has lost to both. The time for optimism will be when they can actually execute their offense and they start winning all of the games they should win and some of the games that they are underdogs in. Until then it is all hyperbole. Crappy Schedule, no one has played the type of early schedule that Notre Dame has. No other team has played they type of schedule that ND has for the six first games. ND will finely be playing the teams that everyone else has warmed up with. Is every fan happy? No. But this is team is starting to get it together. If you are a true ND fan you would understand that.
SouthBendNative | Oct 10, 2010, 09:41 AM EDT
For the love of God, you are like a weather vane in the wind. ND has played a crappy schedule and has a mediocre record in those games. The offense looks terrible, especially when the coach inexplicably abandons the running game in the 4th quarter. We not only could have asked for more, we should demand it. Stop the talk about national championships and running the table until some competence is exhibited. Keep in mind that our big 2 game win streak is against 2 teams with dopes for coaches and middling talent. ND has played exactly 2 decent teams so far(Michigan State and Stanford) and has lost to both. The time for optimism will be when they can actually execute their offense and they start winning all of the games they should win and some of the games that they are underdogs in. Until then it is all hyperbole.