Postgame Analysis- NOTRE DAME 20, USC 16

THE EIGHT GAME LOSING STREAK IS OVER!!!!!!!!!!!!! FOR THE FIRST TIME SINCE 2001, NOTRE DAME HAS BEATEN USC!!!!!!!!

*Deep breath*

WE WON WE WON WE WON!!!!!

I'll calm down now, I promise.

This one was an absolute nail-biter. It came right now to the wire. It seemed bleak for Notre Dame at times. It looked there was a chance we were once again going to be on the receiving end of some ridiculous, "you've gotta be kidding me" crap. There was a lot of nervous pacing and loud swearing at my house.

But the Irish held on. They stood their ground, didn't give up and fought back. I didn't lose hope that they could come away with the win (my Twitter feed can back that up).

It wasn't the prettiest win. It was far from flawless. There were plenty of mishaps to go around. But right now, all that matters to the Irish is the scoreboard. The scoreboard that reads Notre Dame- 20, USC- 16.

And what a sweet sight it is.

Game Ball-

This was a no-brainer. The entire defense played great. They were easily the most dominant unit in the game, for either team. If they didn't play the way they did, Notre Dame doesn't win this game. End of story.

If I had to choose one player to give the game ball to, it would be a three-way tie between Manti T'eo, Brian Smith and Robert Hughes. All three had great games for the Irish. Brian Smith came up with some big plays when the team needed them. Robert Hughes gave the offense a much needed boost late in the game. And can anyone tackle better than Manti T'eo? Imagine what a dominate player he'll be when he's a senior.

Positives-

-Notre Dame beat USC for the first time since 2001 in Southern Cal!

-The defense. Whether it's the adjustments Bob Diaco has made or Brian Kelly instilling a new mindset or something else altogether, I don't know. But whatever it is, it's working wonders. It's hard to believe that just a few short weeks ago, the defense was being heavily criticized. The defense has been Notre Dame's biggest asset over the past three weeks and the defense is what won this game. They played with heart and didn't give up, even when things were rough. They came up big when they needed to and were the difference in the win. They were especially effective against the run game- without their starting nose tackle. Even with the offense committing turnover after turnover and giving the USC offense short field after short field, the defense didn't cave under pressure and held strong. They couldn't have played much better than they did last night.

-As badly as they struggled most of the game, the offense produced in do-or-die situations. That last touchdown drive was a thing of beauty.

-Notre Dame beat USC for the first time in 8 years!

-Robert Hughes. The sight of him pounding the ball hard up the middle was glorious. I'm not sold on Cierre Wood (he does well when he finds the right hole but he dances around and is too indecisive for my liking). Hughes was just what the doctor ordered. He gained good chunks of yardage and gave Tommy Rees some much-needed relief. I don't think he had a single negative run all night. He's a beast.

-As you all can imagine, I was happy that Brian Kelly didn't completely give up on the run. A few play calls were questionable, but that last drive was made up almost completely of running plays which took some pressure off of Rees. The final run-pass ratio was 27:32.

-The offensive line had one of their better games. When you're watching the highlights of the game, keep an eye on Braxston Cave during Hughes's five yard touchdown run. Perfect blocking.

-Gary Grey has another year of eligibility left and will bring his tackling skills back to Notre Dame next year.

-Did I mention that Notre Dame beat USC?

-The Irish only took one penalty the entire game (a 10 yarder). USC took eight for 47 yards. Penalty yardage is an often overlooked but key component of football games. It's something that only gets noticed when it starts costing you the game(s).

-This game reaffirmed what we already knew- Lane Kiffin can't coach and his dad takes power naps when he's supposed to be calling plays. If this game is anything to go by, Brian Kelly is going to have fun with USC while he's at Notre Dame.

Negatives-

-Turnovers, turnovers, turnovers. Not only did Notre Dame lose the turnover battle 4-1, but USC scored all 16 of their points off of Notre Dame turnovers. Yes, they still found a way to win but if the defense hadn't been so lights-out, those turnovers would've been lethal. They nearly were, even with the way the defense played.

-I hope Brian Kelly is working on recruiting some defensive linemen because Notre Dame needs a better pass rush if they're going to return to relevance. The defensive line did a good job of getting penetration when USC ran the ball, but gave Mustain too much time to throw.

It was an excellent win to finish the regular season and a fitting way to end Brian Kelly's first regular season at Notre Dame! The Irish finish the season 7-5 and are bowl eligible. Everyone savor the fall of Troy as we await to find out which bowl game Notre Dame is going to attend.

Postgame Analysis- Notre Dame 27, Army 3

Start spreading the news- Notre Dame is on a roll.

After a huge win at home last week over a ranked Utah team, the Irish picked up right where they left off and dominated Army almost the entire game. As a result, Notre Dame left NYC bowl-eligible.

For the second straight week, the entire Irish team played consistently and played well. The defense, Notre Dame's weakest point for most of the season, has been phenomenal. They're playing with a purpose and with heart. And it's incredibly encouraging.

I, unfortunately, only caught bits and pieces of this game (family obligations take precedence, even over Notre Dame football) so this week's entry might be a bit on the short side, but I'm confident I saw enough to at least write a post.

Game Ball-

I considered not giving out a game ball this week since I didn't get to watch the whole thing, but I'm going to go ahead and give it to the entire Notre Dame defense. I'll sing their praises more specifically in a bit, but I like the energy and physicality they've been showing over the past two games. And hey, I love defense.

Positives-

-Overall consistency. Notre Dame played well on both sides of the ball last week against Utah and continued to do so against Army. Special teams has been solid too. Playing all-around good football is generally a good way to win games.

-The defense. They've been lights-out the past two games. Haven't given up a touchdown in the past 11 and a half quarters they've played. I was worried about they'd fare defending the triple option after the Navy game (can you blame me?) but they did well. I give credit to Bob Diaco for making some late season adjustments. Notre Dame's been going with a four man front as opposed to a three-man front, and it's made a difference. He also had the safeties creeping down to the outside to help out against the option, and it showed.

-Tommy Rees is improving each game. And he's doing so without Kyle Rudolph or Theo Riddick. He still makes some stupid passes/mistakes but he is looking better.

-Turnover battle won. Success.

-Notre Dame beating a team they're supposed to beat! This isn't something Notre Dame fans can take for granted. Yet.

Negatives-

-The o-line has been a little better as of late but they still look shaky to me. I hope Brian Kelly goes out and recruits some offensive linemen in the offseason because if the Irish are going to become an elite program again, they'll need to be able to protect their quarterback.

-Even though Notre Dame won the turnover battle, they still need to do a better job taking care of the ball.

Enjoy this win, Irish fans, and get pumped for the USC game this weekend! How fitting would it be if Brian Kelly was to beat the hated Trojans to finish his first season 7-5?

Postgame Analysis- Notre Dame 28, Utah 3

First and foremost: WOOOOOOOHOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!

What a game! What a win by the Irish! After two very disheartening losses, to see Notre Dame come out and play so inspired against the reeling Utes was just what the doctor ordered. Again, what is a Ute? Does anyone know?

My dad was actually at the game and he told me that from the start Notre Dame had all the intangibles to win, from their extra week of rest to Utah's crushing 47-7 loss at the hands of TCU the week before. He also said the atmosphere was incredible after Robert Blanton's blocked punt, and that the defense was the biggest difference maker in the game. He was thrilled to see them win their best game of the season in person. But not enough to storm the field.

I myself was so pumped that as I was driving back to school with my friends (we had gone to Pittsburgh for the weekend), I rolled down the windows, blared the Notre Dame fight song full volume on my iPod and sang along at the top of my lungs. My friends half-jokingly groaned (I'm a terrible singer) but luckily they all understood what a big win it was, or at least know how useless it is to try and reel me in when I'm riled up over football. I have such great friends.

Notre Dame came to play. They got big plays when they needed them. Their defense was strong. Tommy Rees stepped up. They finished the game. No fourth quarter lapses. The seniors had the satisfaction of winning their last home game against a ranked team. They came into the game believing they could win and they played their hearts out.

Her loyal sons marched onward to victory to end their 11 game losing streak against AP top 25 teams. And they did it without their starting quarterback, leading running back and three of their top four wide receivers.

Game Ball-

I give this week's game ball to every single senior on the Notre Dame football squad. The Fighting Irish haven't won a Senior Day game since 2007 and these guys more than deserved it with the way the played. I also want to give wide receiver Duval Kamara a special nod. The senior, who had 7 catches on the season, caught two touchdown passes in his best game of the season, maybe of his career. He stepped up in a big way for a team missing three of their top four receivers.

True freshman quarterback Tommy Rees gets the honorable mention for his three touchdown performance and first career win.

Positives-

-EVERYTHING! Just kidding.

-The entire defense. As my dad said, they were the biggest difference maker in the game. Manti T'eo had a huge third down stop. Harrison Smith had a huge pick. They forced turnovers. They never let Utah's running game get going, giving up only 71 yards on the ground. Utah didn't even score after the first quarter! If the opposing team doesn't score a touchdown the entire game, you know you're doing something right on defense. Especially against a team that can put up 400 yards of offense and score 40 points a game.

-NOTRE DAME RAN THE BALL MORE THAN THEY THREW IT! IT'S A MIRACLE! The ratio was pretty even, 29 rushing attempts and 20 passing. Maybe Brian Kelly learned last week against Tulsa that he can't put the entire game on Rees' shoulders. You all can imagine how happy I was to see the Irish constantly pounding the ball effectively and Brian Kelly not abandoning the run game. It definitely helped to give Rees some relief and wear down Utah.

-Notre Dame played almost completely mistake-free and didn't turn the ball over while forcing Utah to make mistakes. The Utes had three turnovers (counting the blocked punt) and 11 penalties. They also capitalized on Utah's mistakes. The Irish weren't lazy or sloppy. They got the job done.

-Killer instinct. After jumping ahead to a 14-3 lead at halftime, Notre Dame never let Utah get back in the game. They finished them off and didn't let the Utes hang around like they did with so many other teams this season. I can't have been the only one worrying about another fourth-quarter collapse, but it didn't happen.

-As I mentioned above, Notre Dame has now snapped a 11 game losing streaked against top 25 teams, which could end up being significant in the new Brian Kelly era.

Negatives-

-I'm not to spoil such a great victory by the Irish by nitpicking. I'm going to continue being excited over this win and relish it. I hope you all do the same!

This was definitely Brian Kelly's signature win this year under the Irish. These are the kind of games he was brought here to win. Whatever he did to prepare them in the bye week worked. Notre Dame is now 5-5 on the season and still in the hunt to remain bowl eligible. Let's see if they can keep the momentum from this game and come out with the same heart and inspiration against Army next week.

#15 Utah at Notre Dame Preview

Well, this marks the last Notre Dame home game of the season. This will be the seniors last home game at one of the most special places ever in college football. Notre Dame will be facing a tough opponent when the #15 Utah Utes come to South Bend. This should be a great match-up for Brian Kelly's squad as they have had an extra week to prepare. Utah also got manhandled last week by a TCU squad who is trying to boost their resume so they can hopefully be in the Nation Championship talk. So, what is it going to take for the Irish to come out on top?

Utah is coming into this game with a record of 8-1, while Notre Dame sits at 4-5. So what can we expect out of Utah when they make their trip to South Bend? Well, their only big win of the season came in their first game of the season against Pittsburgh. The only other big test was TCU, which ended badly for them. Utah has a QB who is not lighting the world on fire. Wynn had thrown for 14 touchdowns, but also 8 interceptions. One stat that should not be overlooked is the fact that he has only been sacked 3 times. This is a pretty outstanding number which shows that he had time and can move around in the pocket to extend some plays. Utah has no lost back to back games since their 0-2 start in 2007, but coach Whittingham can't overlook the Irish.

Wynn is the leader of this Spread Offense attack that Utah runs. They also have 2 backs that almost split time right down the middle. Wide and Asiata have combined for 15 touchdowns on the year. Utah also relies in running the hurry up, and getting into a rhythm a lot like Notre Dame, and a lot like the 2004 Utes led by quarterback Alex Smith. Utah is average 41 points per game which is 9th in the country, but this number is skewed because of the opponents they have played. Overall, the Utes will be a great matchup for Notre Dame, and we should learn a lot about the growth of Notre Dame after this game.

Notre Dame also has some interesting intangibles coming into this game. With quarterback Dayne Crist out for the season true freshman Tommy Rees will now step into the spotlight. He showed some signs of greatness last Saturday stepping in for the injured Crist, but he also showed some signs that prove that he is still just a true freshman. He has had an extra week to prepare, which should be beneficial with his relationships with the recievers. Also, WR Michael Floyd should be playing at a higher level this week since he had an extra week to recover from a nagging hamstring injury.  Look for Tommy Rees to be looking for Floyd as his primary target and go to guy.

Notre Dame is poised and ready for a signature win under Kelly and this could be it. Notre Dame's defense will have to step up, and force some turnovers if they want to be in this game in the fourth quarter. The key for there defense is going to be stopping the run by pushing them inside, and not letting them get the outside running lanes. The Irish are looking to become bowl eligible so this would be a great starting point to lead them on a run for their last 3 games. According to Coach Kelly Tommy Rees is ready and up to the challenge. Lets hope Tommy Rees can get our seniors a well deserved win, and get the whole Notre Dame Nation a win that we can ride into the last 2 games of the season!!

LETS GO IRISH!!!

Where do we go now?

Well Irish Faithful, for some of us this isn't the season we came to expect. With key injuries to Floyd, Riddick, Crist, and Rudolph our offense has been hobbled the last couple of weeks. We have been fighting and clawing without them, but it has been noticeable in our offensive output. So, where do we go from here for the rest of the year?

Well I believe Tommy Rees has everything it takes to run this spread offense. For the time he played in Tulsa he looked very well. Aside from the 3 interceptions he ran the offense very well, and kept up the quick tempo. He is on the small side so I worry about him getting injured while scrambling or getting sacked, but the kid can throw. He is going to go through growing pains (see last minute interception against Tulsa) but he will learn, and hopefully get better over the last 3 games of the season. He has a tough final 3 games, so all we can hope for is to see growth, and hopefully a couple of wins!

Lets keep believing and give our beloved Irish some faith! Go Irish!

Postgame Analysis- Tulsa- 28, Notre Dame- 27

I don't even know where to start to talk about the Notre Dame-Tulsa game that involves family-friendly language. What a fiasco.

The best part about watching the game was that I got to watch it with my father who was visiting for parents weekend. He told me stories of the Notre Dame glory days, when the fullback ran the ball up the middle on first down and it was successful 99% of the time. It helped keep the two of us from losing our minds.

The blocked point after that was returned by Tulsa. Dayne Crist's season-ending injury. Tulsa's punt return for a touchdown. Notre Dame's defense giving up a 3rd and 26. A few questionable calls by Coach Kelly.

I miss the glory days.

Game Ball-

I thought long and hard about this one. I had a few candidates in my head but they all made too many or too big of mistakes for me to give it to them. I was going to give it to Tommy Rees for stepping in for the injured Crist, but then he threw the game-ending interception. I was going to give it to Kapron Lewis-Moore (#89 on the d-line) for deflecting a number of passes, but he was beat on the outside too many times for my liking. Finally, I decided on cornerback Gary Gray just because he continues to impress me with his ability to square up, wrap up and make the tackle. Plenty of the other Irish defenders would do well to take lessons from him.

Positives (spoiler alert: this list is very short)-

-The tribute to Declan Sullivan at the beginning was very appropriate and touching. (Read more details of the accident here.)

-Once Crist went out, Rees did do a better job than expected. After what happened in the Michigan game I'm sure most Irish fans were expecting much worse. He was the first freshman quarterback in Notre Dame history to throw for four touchdowns in a game. If only he could stop throwing off his back foot...

-Michael Floyd was able to play today so his hamstring injury is obviously doing better.

-Iowa creamed Michigan State 37-6. Woohoo!

Negatives-

-Injuries are piling up. Crist is done for the year with a ruptured patella tendon in his left knee. Theo Riddick is out for 2-3 more weeks. Nose tackle Ian Williams is out 4-5 more weeks with a sprained MCL. Armando Allen was out this game too. His hip was probably bothering him again and his absence was very noticeable in the running game.

-The run game was basically non-existent. They piled up a grand total of 70 rushing yards. Against Tulsa. The Golden Hurricanes were starting to look worn down at the end of the game, so why didn't Brian Kelly take advantage and pound the ball? Especially with an inexperienced backup in at quarterback. Putting the outcome of the game solely on Rees' shoulders was too much to ask of a freshman QB with little to no real-game experience.

-Turnovers. Again.

-Notre Dame always seem to fail to dominate on either side of the line of scrimmage, and that is where the game begins and ends. Tulsa was in the Notre Dame backfield too often for my liking (despite only registering one sack) and Notre Dame didn't get enough consistent penetration from the defensive line.

-As my dad and I were discussing, and Brian Kelly has hinted at, there may be a mental problem with the team. They've come to expect mediocrity and so they're sort of looking out mainly for themselves and waiting to "escape" to the NFL. This is just a theory but it makes sense in some ways.

Notre Dame is 4-5 going into the bye week on a two game losing streak. Utah is up after the bye week.

Postgame Analysis- Navy- 35, Notre Dame- 17

I would like to apologize to our readers for not writing a post after Notre Dame's game against Western Michigan last week. I did watch the game, but had some family stuff to deal with at home over the weekend and then a very stressful work week back at school.

(If I had posted something, it would've been a lot of ranting about giving up on the run way too early and letting Western Michigan hang around for too long.)

Anyway, back to the task at hand:

Navy- 35, Notre Dame- 17

Remember when Notre Dame won 43 straight games against Navy? Remember when playing a game against Navy might as well have been a guaranteed 'W' on the Irish schedule?

Me neither.

I don't know if this game was more or less heartbreaking than last year's triple overtime loss. Granted, Dayne Crist was missing his best three targets (Kyle Rudolph, Michael Floyd and Theo Riddick were unavailable due to injury) but in theory Notre Dame had plenty of talent to beat the Midshipmen. Notre Dame marched down the field on the opening drive but Navy made a huge goal line stand to force a turnover on downs. From there it only took them three plays to go 99 yards to score a touchdown. Notre Dame never quite recovered from that early blow.

Maybe Notre Dame got too comfortable after winning three-straight games. Maybe Navy was still riding the momentum of their come-from-behind win last week. We can sit here and speculate all day, but when it came down to it, Navy wanted it more and was much more fired up to play than the Irish.

Game Ball-

Backup quarterback Tommy Rees for putting together Notre Dame's best drive of the game at the end, even though it was in garbage time. He was 6-of-7 for 79 yards on the drive. It wasn't a bad idea to stick him in that situation and let him get a little playing time and he looked pretty confident.

Positives-

-Strained hip or not, Armando Allen still looked good (when they used him). He's not the biggest running back out there but he's very strong and physical for his size. Even more importantly, he keeps his legs moving until the whistle.

-At least Tommy Rees put together a nice fourth quarter drive on that last touchdown, right? Granted Navy had pretty much taken their foot off the gas at that point, but it was still a pretty drive. Notre Dame's offense actually did a decent job of moving the ball but made costly mistakes at all the wrong times.

-Other than one untimely pass interference call, Notre Dame was not flagged at all during the game. Not committing stupid penalties is always a plus. Too bad no one really notices how much a team in penalized until it starts costing them games.

-Navy could beat us by 50 points and we would still have a better mascot than them. I'm sorry, but those "Fear the goat!" signs that Navy fans bring to games fail miserably at sounding intimidating. There's not even an actual term for the irrational fear of goats. My roommates looked it up after one of them caught a glimpse of a "Fear the goat!" sign. The closest term is "zoophobia", which is the fear of animals in general. Ohh, what now Navy?! (Yes, I know there is an actual story behind why Navy's catchphrase is "Fear the goat!" Yes, I know I'm really, really pushing it here. But I couldn't think of anything else positive to say about Notre Dame's performance today. Forgive me.)

Negatives-

-Where to start? I'll go for the most obvious; the run defense. We all knew going into this game that Navy favors the triple option offense. It's their bread and butter. Their trademark. They've only been running that offense for the past ten thousands years. So why, why, why did Notre Dame look so ill-prepared to defend it? Navy quarterback Ricky Dobbs attempted TWO passes the entire game. We all knew Navy would be running it to the outside all day and that's been an area of weakness for the Notre Dame defense, so it makes no sense that they wouldn't put a majority of their focus on that aspect of the game. Fullback Alexander Teich rushed for 210 yards (a season and I think a career best for him), averaging 8.1 yards per rush. He's not even Navy's first string fullback! Starter Vince Murray was out with a knee injury! Navy's rushing offense alone put up almost as many yards as the entire Notre Dame offense. Coach Kelly claimed the defense made adjustments at halftime, but it didn't show. The run defense was flat-out ugly any way you look at it.

-Dayne Crist took a step backwards this game. Again, Rudolph, Floyd and Riddick are all hurt which made his task all that much harder, but I don't know who or what he was throwing to some of the time. The timing on his interceptions couldn't have possibly been worse either. Some of this can be chalked up to missing his top three targets, but there was definitely something off with Crist today.

-As always, I would've liked to see the Irish run the ball more. I was willing to be more lenient in this category, given how fast they fell behind and were playing catchup the entire game, but handing the ball off to Allen and Wood more often would've taken some of the pressure off of Crist and the younger, more inexperienced receivers.

-I bet you all thought I was going to forget my traditional rant about turnovers, didn't you? No such luck. Once again, Notre Dame lost the turnover battle. As I mentioned two paragraphs above, Crist's pair of picks came at what might have been the worst possible times. The first one, at the end of the second half, was especially brutal. Notre Dame had the ball deep in their own territory with a little over two minutes left in the half to try and put together a scoring drive (the Irish were down only 14-10 at this point). Crist throws an INT to De'Von Richardson at Notre Dame's 30 yard line. Navy scores a touchdown to make it 21-10 going into the half and they would also get the ball first coming back from halftime. What a difference one touchdown makes, huh? Navy scored 14 points off of Notre Dame's turnovers. 21, if you count the turnover on downs at the Notre Dame one yard line that led to Navy's first touchdown. If Notre Dame scores that TD on their first possession and Crist doesn't throw those interceptions, it's a completely different ball game even with the horrendous run defense.

Notre Dame is now 4-4 on the year. Tulsa is looming next, a team with a decent running attack but a weak defense. Hopefully the Fighting Irish can rebound against a very beatable Golden Hurricane squad.