At Clashmore Mike we strive to monitor the college football landscape as a whole, objectively and without bias. While we have a vested interest in Notre Dame, we attempt to view the performance of the Irish via appropriate statistical metrics that benchmark on-field production (irrespective of how said production is measured). One such example is […]

Better late than never I guess… The Fighting Irish played arguably the best 60 minutes of football in the past 24 games Christmas Eve, beating the Hawaii Warriors in all three phases of the game. Notre Dame dominated in time of possession (33 to 27 minutes), total offense (478 to 359 yards), average yards per […]

With the offense out of the way, it’s time to move on to the defense. For comparison purposes, the mid-year defensive review can be found here. The numbers haven’t changed appreciably, neither has the season story for the defense. Most pre-season prognosticators believed the Achilles’ heel of the Irish defense would be stopping the run. […]

To put it mildly, USC had their way with the visiting Fighting Irish. In most games you can find a silver lining, but in this contest looking for good in the Irish performance is an exercise in futility. While Notre Dame stayed even in turnover margin, they failed to enter the red zone, held the […]

For the third time this season, and second at home, the Fighting Irish squandered a double-digit lead to lose the game. The first two times this occurred against average competition. Against Syracuse, Notre Dame’s implosion took place against an obviously less talented opponent at home on senior day. Make no mistake about it, Syracuse isn’t […]

It was a bipolar affair for the Fighting Irish against Navy (more on this here). On special teams the Irish made both attempted field goals, held the Midshipmen to negative punt return yardage, and blocked a punt. However, they also allowed two consecutive onside kicks to be recovered despite the painfully obvious situation in which […]

Boston College had their way with Notre Dame Saturday. The visiting Irish repeatedly turned the ball over, lost the time of possession battle, and converted only 33 percent of their third downs. The red zone offense didn’t even have a chance to continue it’s ineptitude as the floundering Irish failed to cross their opponent’s twenty-yard […]

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 […]

It was really a game of two halves (and four overtimes) for Notre Dame Saturday. Through two quarters of play the Irish held a three-minute time of possession advantage, outgained Pittsburgh 240 to 71 yards, and secured a two-touchdown lead. From the third quarter on Pitt reversed the fortunes, outgaining Notre Dame 275 to 146 […]

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. […]