What Irish Fans can be thankful for this year

It may seem that there is not a lot to be thankful for this year as a Notre Dame Fan.  However we took a deeper look as where we are as Irish faithful and even at 4 and 7 believe it or not there are things we can be thankful for.   As you go through this list you will notice that most of them do focus on the future, so here we go.

To be part of a great tradition with a great history.

Josh Adams; a bright spot this season with 2 years of eligibility left, guaranteeing at least one more year with the Irish.

Jarron Jones

Chris Finke; a former walk on that has made for an inspirational story this year.

Jarron Jones; always giving us hope that an extra point or field goal might me blocked. 

DeShone Kizer; giving us hope (if he returns) for next season

Isaac Rochell; for four years of loyal service and leadership.

Equanimeous St. Brown; for bringing unlimited potential to the receiving corps.

USC; because maybe, just maybe a win over the hottest team in the nation to end the year will make us feel a little better about the 2016 season.

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

Can the Irish make it to .500?

With five games remaining on Notre Dame's  schedule the Irish need to win four of them to be a .500 team and become bowl eligible.  This is possible but after seeing how the first seven games of the season have gone not probable.  Here is a quick look at Notre Dame's remaining opponents ranks on the best to worse chances of winning.

Army (4-3).  The Black Knights have a nice win early against Temple but also have a losses to Buffalo and North Texas.
Navy (5-1). With the exception of  their win over Fordham before yesterdays win over Memphis the Midshipmen don't have a victory over seven points.  Navy could also be at the top of this list as the toughest tem they the Irish still have to play.
Virginia Tech (5-2).  Even with an odd 31-17 loss to Syracuse the Hokies are playing well with wins over Miami and a ranked North Carolina team.

Miami (4-3).  The Hurricane's losses have come against good teams and their wins have come against cupcakes, but this is a talented team.

USC (4-3).  This is not your father's rivalry matchup.   After opening the season by being lambasted by Alabama and going 1-3 the Trojans have seemed to righted the ship.

More or less these are interchangeable.  It would be interesting and a bit exciting (which might be a good thing) if Notre Dame's game against the Trojans was the deciding factor if the Irish become bowl eligible.

The bye week and deep sigh

Ok, we are at the bye week and I think it is safe to say we are not where we thought the Irish would be at this point of the season.  When I looked at the schedule at the beginning of the year I thought we would need it to rest, recover and rejuvenate for second half of the season a run at the college playoffs not a break to stop the bleeding.

Here are a couple of things to put the first half of the season into perspective.  When the Irish play Navy in a few weeks Notre Dame will be unranked and Navy will probably "still" be in the top 25 and they are ahead of only a 1-6 UMass team among Independents.  We were supposed to have a dominate offensive line and two if not three high level running backs the running game is ranked 29th in the country.  We knew the defense might be a bit off, especially with a new line backing corps and a depleted defensive secondary but to be ranked 68th nationally in points allowed, accompanied by being 68th for points scored? 

If you had not watched a game and were to only look as some specific player stats a 2-5 record word surprise you.  Kizer; 1775 yards with 14 passing TD's and7 rushing scores and a 147.4 rating, Josh Adams; 4.7 yards for a total of 416 rushing yards, Equanimeous St. Brown averaging 19.7 yards a catch / 95.2 a game for 611 yards and 6 touchdowns.

Food for thought:  Overall for the season points for the Irish are 202 and opposition is 177.  Opposing teams have scored a total of 75 points off of Irish turnovers, Notre Dame overall has more offesnive yards than their opponents 2590 to 2503.  The Notre Dame defense only has 3 sack on the season whereas the Irish have been sacked 15 times so for this season.  Out of 6 games played Maki Zaire has appeared in 4 of them.  Notre Dame has fumbled 11 times losing 6 of them.

The bottom line is that there is a lot of room for improvement and a lot of work for Kelly and crew to do in the second of the 2016 football season.

Where do we go from here?

2-4 with losses to teams that in the summer we thought we should beat or at least could beat and the tough games are still to come.  A winning season and a bowl bid in serious doubt and keeping an optimistic but realistic approach  it's now a "take one game at a time" season.  Each win should be celebrated as individual victory not a means to an end. 

Out of loyalty let's see what we need to so to get a bowl bid, get to 6 wins.  The Irish need to win 4 of their final 6 games.  Balancing logic and hope we'll lean and the side of positive thinking and give Notre Dame wins to the 3 remaining unranked opponents, Navy, Army and USC (I would bet that Navy will be ranked this week and USC's stock is rising).  That means Kelly and crew will need o have at least one win over one of the remaining ranked teams in Stanford, Miami and Virginia Tech.

Going back to celebrating individual wins and zooming out to a 30,000 foot view here are things that Irish fans need to focus on and ponder.  Keeping players injury free for both the rest of the season and next year including those with NFL possibilities.  After that wins over any of their ranked opponents, USC, Miami and Standard would be feel good moments upsetting rivals in the role of underdog.

As disappointing as Saturdays loss to NC State was what may have been more disappointing was the manner the Irish loss.  I for one thought the play calling lost the game and that is what is making the season even worse.

At least we beat Syracuse

I have to admit even though it may be a bit sad it is still true that I felt relived after beating Syracuse to get to 2 - 3 on the season.  As much as it seemed possible that this season could not have gotten any worse a loss to the Orange would have done just that.  Imagine 1 - 4 with back to back losses to Duke and Syracuse.

Even though the Irish scored 50 points this in no way was a great game for Notre Dame.  I will give credit where credit is due; it was a tale of two half's as far as how the defense held the Syracuse offense in check (relatively speaking) on Saturday afternoon.  The first half looked as if the combined final score would easily reach 100 points and Orange quarterback looked like Tom Brady.  Of course against the Irish secondary this year that is not hard to do.

Let's start with the offense that looked as good as they are supposed to against a team like Syracuse (2-2 heading into the game).  Kizer!  Folks we could have two more years of this kid, working along  Equanimeous St. Brown and Josh Adams.  23 of 35 for 471 yards and 3 touchdowns through the air, along with rushing touchdown.  Overall the Irish offense racked up a total of 654 yards (471 in the air and 183 on the ground).  There is still room for improvement after going 3 for 12 on third downs and committing 6 penalties (including 4 defensive offside's) for 55 yards.  The good news if the Irish need to score 50 points a game each game this season I feel they can, the bad news is it might not be enough.

Jarron Jones Blocked PAT

The second half against Syracuse was the best game of the season for the Irish defense all season.  Kelly said that they would be playing more guys on defense, 28 different Notre Dame players, including 9 freshmen made tackles yesterday (note that some were on special teams and 1 was offensive lineman Quenton Nelson after a turnover).

Special teams at times defiantly looked special; C.J Sanders averaged 35.8 yards on 4 kick returns including 1 for 93 yards and a touchdown and Jarron Jones blocked is second PAT of the season (both have been returned for 2 points).  I'll give Justin Yoon partial credit for making 6 extra points and going 2 for 3 on field goal attempts.

 

Is 2016 Salvageable?

With a season that has started began with promise that lead to a quarterback controversy that never was, a 1 – 3 record and a fired defensive coordinator can Irish fans have any hope for a “successful “ year?

For true Irish fans any season with three losses can’t be successful since they will not be in the hunt for the College Football Playoffs and a bid for a National Championship.  Maybe the real question should be can Notre Dame have a respectable season?

In theory with eight games to go the best the Irish could finish is 9-3, of course along those lines the worst they could finish is 1-11.  If your program is supposed to be a top program 9-3 doesn’t cut it, it defiantly will not put you in the discussion for the playoffs, let alone a National Championship.  However keeping things in perspective finishing 9-3 would probably be seen has a success based on how we started and 1-11 is not likely either.

For this discussion we are going to predict a 4 and 4 finish for the Irish.  To be fair they could finish 6-2 but they could also finish 2-6, so let’s split the difference.  That would put the Irish at 5-8, totally unacceptable.  Even if Kelly and crew could win 6 of their last 8 that would get them to 7-5 making them bowl eligible, probably the Gildan New Mexico Bowl against North Texas.

Keeping this as optimistic as possible let’s say we finish the regular season with 6 to 8 wins.  First if one of those wins can be the season finale against USC and second if we can have a convincing bowl win (although we know it will have to be a lower level bowl) maybe the season can be salvaged in some way. 

Brian Kelly, a look back.

I have been and still am a Kelly supporter.  However after the firings over the weekend of Notre dame defensive coordinator Brian VaGorder and LSU head football coach Les Miles I decided to think a bit more about the man leading the hopes and dreams of millions of loyal Irish fans, Brian Kelly.

Let’s take a look at his body of work in South Bend.

2010: 8 wins vs. 5 losses and a Sun Bowl 33-17 win over the Miami Hurricanes.  Following up on Charlies Weis’s 2009 campaign of 6-6 and no bowl appearance things were looking up.

2011: Another 8 -5 record but this time with an 18-14 loss to a Jimbo Fisher lead Florida State Team.  No improvement but a lot of talk about “wait until he gets his players in there”.

2012: An unbelievable and an unexpected 12-1 season earning the Irish a trip to the National Championship game.  Even though Kelly and his team got demolished 42-14 by a team that some thought could beat some NFL teams in Alabama, the slogan of wait till next year sounded promising for once.

2013: A hiccup year going 9-4 with 29-16 win over a 6-6 Rutgers team in the Pinstripe Bowl left fans feeling a bit flat.  Note that this was the same season that Florida State won the National Championship just two years after playing the same 8-4 record Seminoles.

2014: Back to 8-5 with what may be Kelly’s signature win in a 31-28 victory over a Les Miles coached LSU squad.  At least the bowl win left fans feeling satisfied with the season on some level.

2015: 10-3 sounds pretty good until you realize that the three losses were again to teams in the upper echelon of college football meaning we can beat those we are supposed to but not those we need to.  This season seem to capture the essence of Kelly teams; signature losses (almost beat Clemson and Stanford) and when it comes to Major Bowls we get clobbered in a 44-28 loss to USU and it wasn’t that close.

So what do we have?  One great season in 2012, one a little better than good season in 2015, one barley good season in 2013 and three fair at best seasons in 2010, 2011 & 2014.  Remember that any season not in the hunt or discussion of a National Championship should be considered subpar.

There is a lot to like about Kelly but…

The Day After - Duke

In a loss against Duke that drops Notre Dame to 1 - 3 it doesn't seem impossible to want to select any stars of the game but here we go.

Stars of the game:

Nyles Morgan

Quarterback DeShone Kizer; 22 for 37, 381 yards and 2 passing touchdowns along with 60 yards rushing on 11 carries and 1 rushing touchdown.  It seems that sometimes Kizer is the only one who can get things done.

Receiver Equanimeous St. Brown; 6 catches doe 116 yards and 1 touchdown.  St. Brown continues his development as the leading receiver on this offense.

Linebacker Nyles Morgan; 10 tackles (7 solos & 3 assisted) and one sack (Notre Dame's first of the season).



Since it was an Irish loss the has to be consequences.

On Blast:



Justin Yoon

Justin Yoon; 1 missed field goals, 6 kickoffs with only 1 touchback.  We expect, deserve and need better from Yoon.

Brian VanGorder; He seems to be Irish public enemy #1 these days.

Brian Kelly; When you're the head cheese you have to take responsibility.  What put me over the edge with Kelly yesterday were his post-game comments about DeShone Kizer.



A long road to hoe.

With 1/4^th of the season already in the books the 2016 season has taken a different path that most of us had hoped for.  College football playoffs, gone, a 10 win season doubtful at best and a major bowl appearance on life support what does the 2016 season hold now for the Irish.  Let’s look at the rest of the schedule and re-evaluate.

9/24 Duke.  At 1-2 the Irish should still beat and beat convincingly the Blue Devils to make it to .500 on the season.

10/1 Syracuse.  Another 1-2 and very possibly a 1-3 team when they meet in the Meadowlands should help the Irish move back to a winning record at 3-2.  Most of us thought Notre Dame would/could be 5-0 at this point.

10/8 NC State.  This match up could be tougher than originally thought when the Irish travel to Raleigh in October.  I would still pick them to win. 

10/15 Stanford.  I saw this as a pick’em game before the season started now, well let’s just say the Irish will be 4-3 after the Cardinal.

10/29 Miami.  Anther preseason win pick here but now that the Hurricanes are 3-0 and ranked #15 I might reconsider but for the fact those wins are over a FCS team and two borderline FBS teams this still should be a victory for the Irish.  A loss however would be devastating on many levels.

11/5 Navy.  The Midshipmen are always pose concern for Notre Dame.  I’d like to predict and Irish win here but I wouldn’t bet the farm on it.

11/12 Army.  Even though he Black Knights are currently undefeated at 3-0 we should be confident on Her Loyal Sons being victorious.

11/19 Virginia Tech.  Let’s pencil this in as a win.

11-26 USC.  Taking the Alabama shacking out of the picture  it’s still early to tell what kind of team the Trojans are, they did respectable against Stanford only losing 27-10.

So obviously the best Notre Dame can finish is 10—2, however lets be a little more realistic.   At this point a very good (regular) season would be 9-3 and a good season is 8-4.  A 7-5 season is disappointing and anything .500 or below is devastating.  

The Day After

Traditionally we do not do stars of the game after a lose but we have decided that it might be unfair to players who stepped up and performed.  So each week if the Irish lose we will offer stars of the game (if warranted) and or  those players, coaches and pays that may need to put on blast.  We are doing this in part out of frustration but also you have to take the good with the bad and if the coaches and players are going to say they take responsibility and should be held accountable lets accommodate them.

Stars of the game:

Equanimeous St. Brown

3rd Star - Receiver Equanimeous St. Brown;  4 catches for 83 yards and a touchdown.   He looks like the future is now for St. Brown.

2nd Star - Punter Tyler Newsome; 6 punts averaging over 50 yards per kick with a long of 71 yards and 3 within the 20 yard line.  It not good when your punter is one of your best players.

1st Star - Quarterback DeShone Kizer; 344 passing yards with 2 touchdowns along with 2 rushing touchdowns.  He may not have to "carry" this team but he is instrumental in its success. 

On Blast:

Brian VanGorder

Brian VanGorder; it's season three for VanGorder and there is still criticism, schemes, player rotation and execution are all suspect.  

Miscues / Mistakes; missed or poor tackling, poor (and costly) punt coverage, 2 lost fumbles.

Offensive play calling; 2.3 yards per carry rushing the ball for a total of 57 yards which was the majority of the what was going on during MSU domination compared to 344 yards passing when the Irish were rolling.  Let Kizer take control.

Who's up next?

Jarron Jones

Heading into Saturday’s match-up with Michigan State the Irish are starting to come into focus as a team, offense / defense and individual players.  Some players are playing as expected and there are some that we are looking forward to seeing take that next step this season, hopefully Saturday.

Durham Smythe

Jarron Jones.  He obviously still has “it” with a blocked kick and an interception.  He needs to get more snaps on defense, that would be a VERY good, fresh legged 1 -2 punch with him and Cage, especially against the run.

Durham Smythe.  I don’t expect to see him develop into an early round draft pick or be the second coming of Kyle Rudolph BUT I think he can play a leadership role and be more impressive than he has been.  1-2 catches a game with a couple of touchdowns this season while being a very solid blocking end would be good enough for me.

Jay Hayes.  I know that Jay Hayes is hobbled right now but the Irish need him and I want to see what he can really do.  If he can get 100% he should be a solid contributor for the Notre Dame defense.

Josh Barajas and Asmar Bilal.  I’m not sure exactly what it is about these two that intrigues me.  It might be that they are very probably the future of the Notre Dame Linebacker corps and like Greer Martini last year where we need to start seeing what they might be able to contribute. 

Josh Barajas and Asmar Bilal

A look at Sparty

Michigan State is coming into South Bend Saturday night for a primetime showdown under the lights with a 1-0 record.  It was a 28-13 win over the Furman Paladins and truth be told I had to google information about Furman as they don’t have representation on ESPN.com as they are a FCS school.  By the way Paladins were warriors for Charlemagne.  But I digress, here is a snap snapshot of the Spartans so far this year.

Against Furman

Only led in time of possession 30:29 to 29:31

Passing: 190yards, all by Tyler O’Connor who went 13/18 with 3 touchdowns and an interception.

Rushing: 171 yards by 8 players led by L J Scott who had 105 yards on 20 carries and a touchdown.

Receiving: 13 passes were caught by 6 players led by Monty Madaris with 5 reception for 85 yards.  3 players caught passes for touchdowns; Davis, Price and Lyles.

Kicking Game: Michael Geiger was 4 for 4 on extra point with no field goal attempts.  Jake Hartbarger averaged 44.7 yards with a long of 58 on 3 punts.

Return Game: R.J. Shelton returned 2 punt for 19 yards and a kickoff return for 18 yards.  Darrell Stewart Jr. averaged 26 yards per kickoff return.

Penalties: Michigan State was flagged 10 times for 120 yards.

Defense:  Riley Bullough had 8 tackles (4 solo 4 assisted including 1 for a loss) and 2 quartedback hurries while Andrew Dowell had 1 interception.

Obviously Furman was not a great test of what Michigan State has in store for the Irish add to that The Spartans had two weeks to recover and prepare for Notre Dame it is hard to say how good or bad for that matter this week’s opponent really is. 

The Youth Movement

I wanted to highlight and give some credit to some of the underclassmen who have already shown that they have the ability to contribute to this Notre Dame team sooner than later.  Even though we are only two games into the season some freshman and sophomores have stepped up, admittedly in some cases a limited roles, and shown their worth.

FRESHMEN

Devin Studstill

Safety Devin Studstill – I know he may be playing a bit out of necessity but 7 tackles (6 solo) in his first two games is not too bad. 

Honorable Mention; Daelin Hayes, Kevin Stepherson, Chase Claypool, and Julian Okwara

SOPHOMORES

Sophomores Josh Adams, Justin Yoon and Jerry Tillery (who has under achieved a bit so far) are no surprise after last year’s performances.  I will credit them for not having an early sophomore hangover.

Wide Receiver Equanimeous St. Brown – He looked ok in limited action last year but this could be a special year for him with 11 catches so far.

C.J. Sanders

Linebacker Te’Von Coney – 8 tackles so far (7 solos and 1 for a loss), building on last season’s start.

Running Back Dexter Williams – Looked really good against Nevada. I wasn’t sure how much work he might get after his off-field incident and playing behind Adams and Folston but don’t be surprised to see this backfield rotate tree running backs this season.

Receiver / kick Returner C.J Sanders – Already drawing comparisons to Irish greats of the past and looks to be an all-purpose yard machine.

Honorable Mention; Chris Finke

Notre Dame’s opponents

A quick look at how the rest of Notre Dame’s opponents did last week.

Nevada 30 – 27 WIN over Cal Poly

#12 Michigan State 28 – 13 WIN over Furman

Duke 49 – 6 WIN over North Carolina Central

Syracuse 33 – 7 WIN over Colgate

NC State 48 – 14 WIN over William & Mary

#7 Stanford 26 – 13 WIN over Kansas State

#25 Miami 70 – 3 WIN over Florida A&M

Navy 52 -16 WIN over Fordham

Army 28 – 13 WIN over Temple

Virginia Tech 36 – 13 WIN over Liberty

USC 52 – 6 LOSS to #1 Alabama

Of Notre Dame’s 2016 opponents only USC lost (and lost BIG to #1 Alabama).  Of course if you take the time to look at who most of the wins were against they are not too impressive.  Most of them should be ashamed that they even have them on their schedules.

The better records Notre Dame’s opponents have the better and tougher their schedule looks, especially Texas.  Right now it may be a little difficult to tell how good the rest of the Irish’s opponents are.  Obviously the ranked teams (Michigan State, Stanford & Miami) will be very good.  Expect Duke, Navy, NC State (all getting votes in national polls) to put up challenges and Brian Kelly and crew cannot afford to overlook and get tripped up by the likes of Nevada, Army, Virginia Tech & USC.

Onward to Nevada

It’s a little weird that the second game of the season against unranked Nevada is basically a “must win” for the Irish.  Not so much for a spot in the College Football Playoffs (which it is) but more for the pride of the program, getting on track for a successful season, perhaps Brian VanGorder’s job and to keep Brian Kelly from having a coronary.

None of this will be rocket science and it will insult Captain Obvious’s intelligence but I also thought everyone know when Swoops went into the game they were going to run the ball so stop the run but that didn’t happen, so I guess it does need to be said.

DeShone Kizer should be the starting quarterback.  Initially I was OK with letting this QB battle go on for a couple of games before meeting up with Michigan State but that was before I knew we will need to put up 50+ to win a game. 

Tackling will have to improve.  Texas may have had a big back but Nevada has the quickness and misdirection to make very good teams look very stupid.  There were too many broken tackles last week, due in part to arm tackles and not wrapping up.

Our defensive backs looked like Alan Bosley (Ryan Golsling) in Remember the Titans.

I don’t know if Texas had super speedy receivers, if we are slow or our DB’s didn’t know their coverage's.  To me it doesn’t matter, that’s for Todd Lyght, Notre Dame’s defensive backs coach to figure out, and quick.

Offensively let’s use the run to set up the pass, run on 1^st and 2^nd down and pass on 3^rd if we need to.  I know this is boring and predictable but with our offensive line and proven backs; 1) It should work, 2) I don’t care how it looks.

Finally, win, just win.  A win won’t propel the Irish back into the National Championship discussion but an 0-2 Notre Dame going into Michigan State will with very little doubt be catastrophic to the program on many levels.  

A quick look back - Texas

Well that was not our finest hour to say the least.  Sunday night was frustrating and disappointing and there is nothing we can do about that so let's take a look back so that we can move forward.

The Good: DeShone Kizer; 215 yards passing with five touchdowns passes along with 77 yards and a rushing touchdown.

The Bad: There is a lot to cover here but for this we'll pick the defense and tackling to be specific.  

The Ugly: The Officiating; I am not saying that bad officiating coast the Irish the game, the superior play of the Longhorns took care of that.  The officials seemed incompetent highlighted by the non-call of the helmet to helmet hit on Torii Hunter Jr. in end zone.

Traditionally we have not done stars of the game after losses but that is unfair to the players did well, so here it goes.

3rd Star(s): Jarron Jones for the extra point block and Shaun Crawford for the return

2nd Star: Nyles Morgan with 13 tackles, 9 solo and 4 assisted.

1st Star; DeSone Kizer went 15 of 24 for 215 yards, five passing touchdowns & NO interceptions.  He also rushed for 77 yards and a TD.

What to look for Sunday

Here are a few things that we will be keeping an eye on during the season opener against Texas.

The quarterback rotation.  One way or another this will be a big topic of discussion during and after the game, good or bad.  What will the rotation look like?  How will Kizer and Zaire perform?  How will the rest of the offense respond?  I would like to see one of these guys separate themselves from the other to cement a solid number one.

The offensive line.  This is supposed to be one of if not the number one strong point of this team.  They should do more than control the line of scrimmage and maybe more importantly as to me it is a measurement of a quality O-line, eliminate offside penalties.  Since depth seems to be more than good I am interested to see if and how Harry Hiestand rotates in players to keep them fresh.

Running Backs.  Simply what the split will be between Folston and Adams.  I would add Dexter Williams to the mix however since his run in with police I think Kelly will discipline like a parent and make him stand there and watch the other kids play.  Unlike the quarterback position I would love it if both received equal time and were had 1000 yard years.

Receivers.  This is a wide open area for the Irish.  There are a half dozen guys who could emerge as the go to guy.  Really, outside of Corey Holmes and Torii Hunter there is little to no real game experience on the roster.  We will look for ball distribution as well as yards after catch to see who has the extra skill outside of just good hands.  I am closer to the running backs as than the quarterbacks here, the more potential threats at the receiver position makes it harder for defenses to scheme and cover.

Tight ends.  We separated them for this discussion for one there are so many potential good receivers to look at and I think the tight end position is going to play a lesser role in the offense this season from a pass catching perspective.  Durham Smythe has seemed to separate himself from the pack but I am interested to see if and how Nic Weishar and Tyler Luatua will close the gap.

Coaching.  Kelly has his crew and most have them have at least a couple season in South Bend under their belt.  We’ll be looking at play calling, personal moves and for me penalties.

Defensive Line.  The starting front four look to be as good of a D-Line unit in the country.  First we need to see if that is in fact a true statement.  Second we need to see if players rotating in (as I assume they will) will be able to keep the level of play up to those on the first team.  Our overall depth is a bit unproven.

Linebackers.  This will be a pretty new looking crew on Sunday night.  If the defensive line can do their job it should take off some pressure from the linebackers.  Again, depth and player rotations could be an issue.  Nyles Morgan is on top of my list (out of all players) to see in action on Sunday.  Can/will he live up to his hype and abilities?

Defensive Backs.  If there is any area that is the biggest question mark it would be here.  It is the great unknown.  I believe there is little question about athleticism but if that translates to on field play is the ultimate question.

Special Teams.  Is there a better one- two punch in the kicking game besides Justin Yoon and Tyler Newsome? 

COUNTDOWN TO KICKOFF

Here are our thoughts on some stats from UND.com

14; Notre Dame last played a non-Saturday regular season game on Thursday, Sept. 5, 1996, collecting a 14-7 season-opening win at Vanderbilt.

TI: The Irish do have a bit history of playing on Non-Sundays, however that was many years ago.  I think it would be nice to be highlighted on some different days maybe even a Thursday night game.

13; Only 13 teams have more than Notre Dame's 39 wins since 2012.

TI: Not bad but that leaves us out of the top ten as it might pertain to the upper echelon of big time college football.  We seem to be the best of those just out of the best.

12; Sophomore Justin Yoon has made each of his last 12 field goals, the fourth-longest streak in school history.

TI: Great, way to jinx it.  Seriously I could see this kid going his whole career without missing an extra point.  Damn now I just jinxed him.

11; The Irish claim 11 consensus national championships and a share of 11 more. The 10th consensus championship came following a 38-10 win over Texas in the 1978 Cotton Bowl. Vagas Ferguson was the offensive MVP with 100 rushing yards and a 17-yard TD catch from Joe Montana.

TI: Nice but not relevant.  No disrespect meant but often we look at past games and records against teams and the truth is it makes little difference (unless it was the previous year) because the players and coaches are mostly different from those pervious mat-ups.

10; Notre Dame is opening its season with a true road game for the first time in 10 years (2006) when the Irish commenced their season with a 14-10 win at Georgia Tech.

TI: Most people would say it’s better to open a season at home and I am sure the players and students would enjoy it but it could also be said there are often less distractions playing on the road.  Either way I don’t think it will impact the game that much.

9; Notre Dame's nine wins over Texas are the most of any school that has never been in a conference with the Longhorns.

TI: That reads nice in the papers but the only thing it may do is give the Irish a bit of confidence (as if they needed it).

8; Head coach Brian Kelly begins his seventh year at Notre Dame. He won at least eight games in each of his first six seasons at the helm, the only Irish coach to accomplish that feat.

TI: This reaffirms that we have the right guy in charge and there is some more constancy when it comes to winning (during the season).  HOWEVER big bowl wins are a must!

7; Notre Dame returns just seven starters (three on offense and four on defense) in 2016. Since 2004, the previous low total of returning starters entering a season was 10 (2007).

TI; every team has turn over.  What I want to see and what I thing Kelly has done a good job at is re-loading and not re-building each year.

6; Each of Notre Dame's last six regular starting tight ends have been NFL draftees with five of the six going in either the first or second rounds.

TI; That’s great for recruiting and would be nice to continue but I think that steak ends this year.  Not that our current group of tight ends won’t do well but they will probably not be a big focus in this year’s offense.

5; The Irish have captured each of the last five meetings with Texas and hold a 9-2 advantage in the all-time series.

TI: I expect that to be 10-2 by Sunday morning.

4; Notre Dame is undefeated in four all-time meetings with Texas in Austin, claiming victories in '13, 1915, 1952 and 1996.

TI:  Again how can we make comparisons between this years team and teams from 1915 and 1952.

3; Since 2000, other than Josh Adams, only three "Power 5" true freshmen have averaged at least seven yards with at least 100 carries: Jamaal Charles of Texas, C.J. Spiller of Clemson and Nick Chubb of Georgia.

TI: Now this is a stat I can get behind.  That is good company to be in, now let’s not see a sophomore hangover.

2; Notre Dame ranks second all-time with 892 victories, while Texas is in third place with 886.

TI: Even if this is not a super close match up and records don’t have a direct impact on the game these are the kind of stories programs that make this match up great.

1; Notre Dame is one of just five teams nationally that returns multiple starting quarterbacks that beat a "Power 5" team in 2015.

TI: Overall a very nice position to be in, thanks in part to season ending injuries and good recruiting.

0; Notre Dame landed at No. 10 in the Associated Press preseason poll. No Fighting Irish team has been ranked higher to open a season since being No. 2 in 2006.

TI: It’s not how you start, it’s how you finish.

Two QB's Pros & Cons

It is often said that “If you have two quarterbacks you have none.  Let’s take a quick look at the pros and cons of using two-quarterbacks, especially how it pertains to Notre Dame’s current situation

PROS

• Keeps defensive coordinators on their heels.  Maybe not so much in this case as both Kizer and Zaire have similar styles so the overall offensive scheme won’t change much.
• Keeps fresh legs (and arms) on the field.
• Defensive backs and linebackers trying to work on timing and especially in this case where one is left handed and one is right handed, so one will be rolling more right and one will be rolling more left.

CONS

• Timing with the line (cadence), handoffs to running backs and with receivers.
• QB’s can’t get into a rhythm if they are alternating series’.
• Passing and catching the ball where in this case where one is left handed and one is right handed the rotation of the ball will be reversed for each QB.
• Overall I’m not a big fan of a two quarterback system, mostly because it never seems to really work out.  It may in certain games or game situations but as a total process for a season teams usually come up short. 

Answering the questions Part 2. Responding to John Heisler’s article Sunday Brunch: 20 Questions on Notre Dame Football 2016

11) Q: How will Notre Dame fare against its ACC foes in 2016?

A: We know the ACC is not the SEC but has made strides in improving their reputation on college football’s national landscape.  I think Duke and N.C. State may give the Irish some competition but as long as Kelly keeps the boys on task they should make it through the ACC undefeated.

12) Q: Can the Notre Dame defense, with two full years working under VanGorder, put things together on a more consistent basis this fall?

A: If they do I think it will be a combination of the payers stepping up and grasping the defense and VanGoder simplifying his schemes a bit.  Of course if the injury bug strikes again consistency may be its biggest casualty.

13) Q: Can Notre Dame's rebuilt line backing corps come anywhere near the numerical productivity of the Jaylon Smith years?

A: Jaylon is a very rare player and it’s not fair to draw comparisons.  If the defensive line is as good as advertised the linebackers should have an easier path than last year’s linebackers.  No one needs to be great but they all need to be good to be successful.

14) Q: Can Notre Dame's defensive front this fall be one of the strong points of the depth chart?

A: It should be one of the strong points of the team, as far as its depth that’s another story.  There is without a doubt potential along with some flashes of excellence from those who will be second string and rotation players.  So yes it can be but it is a ways of from being a sure thing.

15) Q: How well will the Irish secondary stand up in 2016 with a bare minimum of returnees with extensive game experience?

A:  The loss of Max Redfield did not help.  Well, if they’re not young they unproven.  The one big positive here is they are athletic and that can go a long way in those positions.

16) Q: What will that coaching continuity mean for the Irish in 2016?

A: This should only help. Kelly has rebuilt his coaching staff with top notch talent now it is time to show results.

17) Q: Can (C.J.) Sanders continue his all-purpose contributions in 2016 as well as make Irish fans stand up in anticipation every time he's back to return a punt or kickoff?

A: Not to be too pessimistic but prior to last season the return game was less then pitiful and realistically last year probably looked better than it was because of that so Sanders will probably do well but it won’t be the second coming of the Rocket.

18) Q: Can the Irish play at that elite level again in 2016?  (referring to Notre Dame’s play against Clemson and Stanford).

A: The players are there to make the plays to say yes.  The team needs to come together to have the confidence and a little bit of swagger to raise themselves to that level.

19) Q: What's in the postseason future for the Irish?

A: It seems as if Notre Dame make a mid-level bowl we do well, when we go to a major bowl we get spanked.  It almost seems to be a question of do we want (a season) to go to a mid-level bowl and win or go to a major bowl and lose.

20) Q: How strongly will Notre Dame's 2016 agenda ultimately rank?

A: It’s not how you start but how you finish.  Right now the schedule looks pretty respectable with some ranked teams but if they finish poorly and have losing records at the end of the season the Irish will have had a week looking schedule. I think it will look as tough at the end of 2016 as it looks now.  Some teams will finish better and some will finish worse than predicted.