What needs to be done.

The Irish will know sometime around 8pm Saturday night who they will be facing January 7^th in Miami for the BCS National Championship.  At that point, we will have five weeks to look at every opposing player, coach, game, injury, astrological sign, etc.  Until that point, and even after, there are things that the Irish needs to do no matter who they play.

Stay Focused - There will be a lot of distractions along with the many storylines that will develop over the next five weeks, with much media scrutiny for sure.  This team has done a great job staying focused on the job at hand, looking at one game at a time, one team at a time and no matter who they play on January 7^th, they will need to focus on them.  Besides, after the National Championship Game, the Irish’s next opponent will be the Temple Owls, which is a team we can focus on later.

Stay Healthy – Obviously, this a great time to rest and recover from the bumps and bruises of a long and hard fought season, but I am sure there is a lot of hard work, practice and training going on in South Bend that gives cause for concern each day. 

Improve Red Zone TD / Field goal ratio - The Irish push down the field and settle for field goals, and while three points are better than none, seven would be best.  This is an area that can definitely be improved in practice over the upcoming weeks.  A lot of this will be on the shoulders of Golson and his reads, checks and reps.

Let Longo do his thing - Kelly said that the team was hitting their stride in the weight room and that should continue.  Paul Longo deserves as much credit as anyone for this team’s success.  The worse thing that could happen is that the players lose their physical edge.

Stay out of trouble – Idol hands are the devil’s workshop.  Just consider the past transgressions of Rees, Calabrese, Wood, and Utupo.

 

What I know.

I often say, “I’m not always right, but I am never wrong.”  Most think it’s stupid and that I am being arrogant, but what I am really portraying is that I work within my scope and I try not to talk or get involved in things I don’t understand.  There is what I know, what I don’t know and what I don’t know that I don’t know.  For now, let’s just focus on what I know and what I don’t know about this team and this season. 

 

What I know

The Irish are undefeated at 12-0, Manti T’eo will be in New York for the Heisman Trophy Award, Notre Dame will play in the National Championship Game on January 7^th in Miami Florida, and I will be watching the SEC Championship on Saturday,

 

What I don’t know

Who the Irish will play on January 7^th (I think ND matches up better against Alabama, but I think Georgia will win the SEC Championship game), or what eligible seniors will come or be asked back for a 5^th year (although I have my suspicions).

Regardless of our National Championship opponent, Irish fans will look forward to first Monday in January with excitement.  For the next several weeks we will dissect the players the coaches and the season as it all leads up to the final game.  Six weeks may seem like an eternity, especially since it seems like only yesterday we were in Dublin watching the Irish dismantle the Midshipmen of Navy.  My recommendation to Irish fans is to enjoy every minute from now till the 7^th of January.  We’ve waited decades for this.

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With Six weeks to go before the Irish take the field again we will posting inspirational and motivational material on our Facebook and Twitter accounts almost daily.  This of course will be in addition to our regular blog posts.