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 wise Rocky Balboa said, “It ain’t about how hard you can hit. It’s about how hard you can get hit and keep moving forward.” After Notre Dame’s stunning loss to Tulsa, it would have been easy for the Irish, who stood at a record of four wins and five losses heading into their bye week, […]

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 […]

“Three things can happen when you throw the ball, and two of them are bad.” –Darrell Royal, University of Texas Following Notre Dame’s clash with the Pittsburgh Panthers, head coach Brian Kelly’s squad faced a very probable scenario of gaining some momentum with, what most people tabbed as, three “soft” opponents. The rhythm on offense, […]

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 […]

Notre Dame returns home Saturday before getting a much-needed bye week. The Irish are beset with injuries on both sides of the ball and the team’s psyche is undoubtedly fragile after the decisive loss to Navy. After reeling off three-straight victories, head coach Brian Kelly’s team took a big step back in East Rutherford. Notre […]

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 […]

Notre Dame faces rival USC Saturday in South Bend. Both teams enter the contest coming off a bye week and, save wide receiver Michael Floyd, the Irish are as healthy as they’ve been since the season opener. Lately the series has been owned by the Trojans, with seven straight victories by an average margin of […]

With the Blue-Gold game over and the football team taking time-off until June, the staff of Clashmore Mike sat down to determine several key players in this year’s team. Some are needed for the Irish to have a great season. Others have been named as players to watch and are expected to put up record […]

What I appreciate most about the Notre Dame fan base, and what normally annoys anyone who doesn’t bleed Blue and Gold, is our unending devotion to the Irish and our blind support of the football team—including to the point of humiliation (see: 2007). If we sit around long enough and think about the team enough, […]