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, …

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 …

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 …

The Irish host 15th ranked Utah Saturday in the first ever meeting between the two schools.

Notre Dame limps into the contest off a bye week at 4-5, and with a rash of injuries to key personnel including quarterback Dayne Crist and several of his primary targets.

The last two outings—a decisive loss to Navy and a home loss to Tulsa that featured a questionable …

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 …

It was game of superlatives. Unfortunately, they weren’t generated by Notre Dame.

Navy posted the most rushing yards (367) in the 84-game series with the Irish. Backup fullback Alexander Teich ran for the most yards ever by a Midshipmen (210) against Notre Dame, and most ever by a Navy fullback in the program’s history. And the Irish defense allowed the highest third down conversion rate …

The game against Western Michigan provided the perfect opportunity for first-year head coach Brian Kelly’s squad to show something lacking in recent Irish teams—a killer instinct. Unfortunately, it didn’t surface , at least not in the first two quarters of play.

The Broncos shrugged off an 80-yard touchdown strike from quarterback Dayne Crist to wide receiver Michael Floyd on the first snap of the game …