Notre Dame opens the 2009 season Saturday by welcoming Nevada to South Bend. For many this is the “make it or break it” year for head coach Charlie Weis. Two consecutive disappointing campaigns have exhausted all the leniency from the overachieving Irish squads of his first two years. Weis made several changes in the off-season: […]

At times during the 2008 season the Irish offense looked like a passing juggernaut. Other times Notre Dame sputtered when faced with a short field, frequently failing to produce an effective rushing attack. This led to poor red zone and third down efficiency that cost the Irish more than one game. In fact, many of […]

A relatively young off-season has brought a host of changes to the Notre Dame football program. The Irish landed a solid, albeit not great, recruiting class and three new coaches were hired to replace offensive line coach John Latina, defensive line coach Jappy Oliver, and offensive coordinator and running backs coach Mike Haywood. A more […]

pro⋅gres⋅sion Pronunciation [pruh–gresh–uhn] – noun 1.    the act of progressing; forward or onward movement. 2.    a passing successively from one member of a series to the next; succession; sequence. Progression—in football, it’s used to describe two things. First, it’s used to describe the mental and physical process a quarterback goes through on a passing play […]

The story for the Irish this year is completeness, as in playing a complete game. The pieces are present—a dynamic vertical passing threat, a recently developed dependable kicking game and solid defense, excellent special teams coverage units, and talent at nearly every skill position—to be a good team, but Notre Dame has yet to put […]

This past weekend was a very difficult one for many Irish fans. The frustration and disbelief I felt at the end of Notre Dame’s match up against Boston College was similar to the disbelief a young man feels when he breaks up with his very first girlfriend. In one moment, the young man realizes that […]

Before the season I predicted the Irish would be 8-4 with losses to Michigan State, Pittsburgh, USC, and one other game (North Carolina or Boston College) because of youth. The Michigan State game is explicable. The Spartans matched up well against the Irish: an average-to-good defense with a potent rushing offense. The Notre Dame team […]

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. […]

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 […]

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 […]