A Step in the Right Direction
By Joe

Trailing 23-0 at halftime in West Lafayette Saturday, Notre Dame could have accepted a fifth straight embarrassing blowout loss. Purdue had dominated a sloppy, mistake-ridden Irish squad in the first half and easily could have led by much worse. Notre Dame, it seemed, was on the verge of conceding defeat -- not only on the game, but perhaps the rest of the season.

But Notre Dame's players didn't give up. And consequently gave Irish fans hope for the rest of the 2007 and beyond.

In easily their best half of the season, Notre Dame looked like a decent football team. They ran an efficient offense. They made key defensive stops. They put pressure on the opponent. And they played with the fire and passion I hadn't seen yet this season.

While Notre Dame fell short of pulling out a much-needed win, the Irish gave themselves a chance -- which is more than can be said about the first four games.

After the game Weis summed up the importance of Notre Dame's second half play.

"For the first time this year, we played a half of football where you could win," he said. "That's closer to winning football."

There were numerous positives to take away from this loss.

*Charlie Weis opened up the playbook and managed his team in the second half much the way he coached a year ago with more experienced players. He took chances by going for it on fourth down, threw downfield (including on 4th and 5 in the third quarter), and stuck with what worked -- short slants, the occasional deep throw, and few running plays. He forced the running game too much in the first half, when it obviously wasn't working, and it severely hurt the Irish offense. Still, Weis coached "looser" and his players played better.

*Both quarterbacks played fairly well, particularly Evan Sharpley. I was impressed with Sharpley's ability to throw the deep pass and he stayed poised despite facing a Purdue defense that routinely dropped six and seven defenders in coverage in the second half. He made one bad decision by prematurely throwing into double coverage in the end zone. But it's hard to expect him to play error-free considering his inexperience.

*By the middle of next season, and maybe sooner, Notre Dame's wide receiving corps will be one of the best in the nation. George West, Robby Parris, Golden Tate, and Duval Kamara played great and showed that Weis has in fact recruited some very talented players. If they can gain more experience this season, this group will cause all sorts of problems for future opponents.

*The defense made adjustments and locked it down for much of the second half. It was disheartening to watch Purdue move right down the field for a score right after Notre Dame had cut the lead to 26-19. Still, the Irish defenders also didn't allow the game to get out of hand in the first half by forcing the Boilermakers into field goals instead of touchdowns. For the first time in a long time, we were the team making defensive adjustments.

*As mentioned earlier, Notre Dame's players played with a passion we haven't seen up to this point in the season. The Irish were visibly excited on the field after making a big play. The sidelines were animated when Notre Dame climbed back into the game. And after the loss, the players looked ticked off and upset with failing to complete the comeback. That's an encouraging sign because it showed the players expected to win. When it didn't happen, they were almost surprised. That's the kind of attitude a championship team needs.

*The Irish dominated the second half, minus the lone Purdue touchdown drive. For the first time, Notre Dame outgained an opponent in yardage. They controlled the time of possession. And they converted on a much higher percentage of third and fourth downs then previous games.

In all, it's not unreasonable to believe that the Irish will look back later this season or in 2008 and point to the second half of the Purdue game as the turning point for this young team. Even though Purdue is probably a five-loss team this season, and certainly not top-25 caliber, the opponent is much less important than the fact that the Irish grew up a lot in those final 30 minutes of football.

For the first time, Notre Dame looked like the team most fans expected in August -- a young, talented squad that would make some very good plays and some rookie errors. We were fine with this kind of team, even if it meant losing a bunch of football games. What we couldn't handle were blowout losses coupled with little to no improvement from week-to-week. That's what happened through the first four and a half games.

Now there's hope the Irish can truly begin growing as individual players and as a football team.

Looking for Improvement
By Joe

After three straight atrocious weeks of football, I just wanted to see Notre Dame show some -- any -- improvement against Michigan State Saturday.

The Irish certainly improved. Just not near enough.

They scored offensive touchdowns for the first time this season. They ran the ball much more effectively than in the previous three games. They kept the game close through the entire first half and actually had a chance to win when the third quarter began.

And they still lost by two and a half touchdowns at home. That's how bad this football team is.

What do you say after watching Notre Dame the first four weeks of the season? I have the same complaints from the first three weeks that I do after week 4. I could take my last post and just change the picture and opponent name and it'd still be valid.

It's obvious that Notre Dame has little chance of winning any of the next four games. We have a young football team. We have a bad football team. We are poorly coached so far. For the rest of the season, the new barometer for this team is whether they show improvement from week-to-week. The improvement might be small, as it was in the Michigan State game, but as long as we continue to get better I'll be at peace with the ghastly record.

So this week I was pleased to see James Aldridge carry the ball and do so effectively. I'm still puzzled that it took Charlie Weis three weeks to give Aldridge the bulk of carries. As much as I like Armando Allen, we don't have good enough run blocking to send a 5-foot-10, 18o-lb skimpy back straight up the gut. Aldridge can break tackles and is a nightmare for any defensive back if he gets into the secondary. Against Michigan State, he mustered extra yards despite getting hit in the backfield on numerous occasions and finished the game with 18 carries for 104 yards.

I also liked how freshman Robert Hughes ran. He spelled Aldridge and showed an ability to find the small holes the offensive line opened. I fully expect the Aldridge-Hughes duo to receive most of the carries the rest of the season.

Overall, the offensive line's run blocking was much better than the first three weeks, but not yet even close to where it needs to be. The backs were still hit in the backfield too much, but at least there were some holes to run through. I'm trying to be optimistic here.

The Irish defense really struggled to stop Michigan State's running attack and they were extremely vulnerable to the play-action pass. Quarterback Brian Hoyer only went 11-of-24 passing, but four of his completions went for touchdowns. The Spartans game plan was simple. Run the ball, run the ball, run the ball, throw a deep pass. They executed that plan to perfection, thanks to a hapless Irish defense.

Notre Dame's pass offense was, once again, absolutely horrible. We might as well concede the passing game for the next few weeks. Jimmy Clausen is holding the ball much too long and the offense line literally cannot go two straight plays without allowing a sack or a quarterback pressure. Why Weis hasn't gone to quick slants more often is beyond me. As it stands now, the Irish are a one-dimensional offense that doesn't execute that one thing very well.

More than anything, I just wish Notre Dame played with passion and fire. We never get ticked. We never show emotion. We never play with an aggressive attitude.

A telltale sign that this team lacks passion is the consistent manner in which they lose short yardage confrontations on both sides of the line. We never win a fourth and short conversion on offense or stop a fourth and short on defensive because we play like a bunch of patsies. Blocking is attitude and our lines don't have that "we're-going-to-kick-your-ass" mentality. That's why we get beat all day on both sides of the ball and that's the major reason we are so offensively inept.

The Irish have a chance to win next week against Purdue, but the odds are certainly stacked against us. The Boilermakers can score bunches of points and our defense has allowed more than 30 points in six straight games. That means we'll probably need the offense to score at least four touchdowns to win.

There's probably a better chance of Hell freezing over.

A New Low
By: Joe

I did something on Saturday that I've never done before. I quit watching a Notre Dame football game.

That's saying something, considering I've seen some pretty bad Irish football the past decade and a half. But Saturday was a new low.

The problem wasn't that I expected Notre Dame to win. I picked Michigan because they have a very talented team that has one glaring weakness -- they can't stop a spread offense. I figured Mike Hart would have a big day and we'd fall by 10-14 points. I would have been OK with that for two reasons: 1. Michigan isn't as bad as the media says and 2. At least we would have shown improvement.

No. 1 turned out to be true. And No. 2 happened, except the exact opposite.

The worst part of this game is that I didn't even get to enjoy ONE friggin' play. Not one. I couldn't even think positively for a whole play. We returned the opening kickoff to the 17 and then our senior captain snapped it over Armando Allen's head to put us at 2nd and forever from our own 1. A Notre Dame hater couldn't have scripted a worse scenario for the Irish.

And it went downhill from there.

To be completely honest, I'm shocked right now. I believe in Charlie Weis and I believe we are headed in the right direction. But to show no ability or technique in any facet of the football game has to make Irish fans wonder what the heck is going on during practice each week? This is by far the worst Notre Dame game I have ever watched (or partly watched) and it wasn't because we "don't have the talent" as analysts will say. It's because we lack any concept of fundamentals.

We don't block correctly. We don't protect the passer. We don't get a "push" on the offensive line. We don't cover receivers. We make mental errors. We have too many penalties. We can't tackle. We can't cover a punt return. We can't score. We can't hang on to the football. We can't convert a 3rd down. We can't rush for one yard with our fullback. We can't snap. And we certainly haven't made progress in the first three weeks of the season.

The only thing we can do is punt.

Where's the improvement? This week, Coach Weis said that it's time to "take the gloves off" and "open up the playbook." I don't understand how we expected to "open up the playbook" when we can't block anyone or run for positive yards. Shouldn't we work on executing those facets of the offense before we send Jimmy Clausen into a shotgun with no running backs? Shouldn't Weis go through some type of offensive progression to help this offense improve? For example, first we figure out why we're blocking poorly. Then we work on how to run the ball more effectively. Then, after we correct those two problems, then and only then do we work on opening up the offense.

Michigan killed Clausen all day. Every time he went shotgun with four or five wide, he had two seconds to throw the ball. If you've watched the Irish through two games, does that surprise you at all? We can't block anyone and Weis is going to try to run a spread offense with no extra protection for Clausen? How was this scheme supposed to work in the first place?

I could write a book about all our problems. But it basically comes down to this. Yes, the team is hurting because of two poor recruiting classes by Tyrone Willingham. Yes, the offensive line is comprised of one senior, two very average talented juniors and a couple supposed-promising sophomores. Yes, the brutal schedule and the young team is a perfect storm for a disastrous record this season.

But all those facts don't reprieve Weis, line coach John Latina, and the rest of the staff from putting a team on the field that is this putrid.

Perhaps the most depressing result of this 38-0 loss is that it's bound to hurt recruiting. Weis, to his credit, has done a remarkable job recruiting -- much better than his predecessor who quit recruiting in November before he was fired. But high school recruits who have committed or are thinking of attending Notre Dame are going to start second-guessing themselves with all these embarrassing losses. Opposing coaches are going to have an easy time calling recruits up to remind them how bad Notre Dame has been this year. Their question will be simple: "Do you really want to play for that team?

It doesn't get easier. Michigan State is undefeated. Purdue can put up bunches of points. UCLA and Boston College are top-15 teams and USC is No. 1. And Air Force just upset No. 20 TCU on Thursday.

Anyone who predicts Notre Dame will finish better than 1-11 is an idiot. There is no tangible reason, at this point, to believe Notre Dame can win a football game in 2007, besides beating lowly Duke. We haven't even scored an offensive touchdown, how are we supposed to win two games? That's the truth and it's sad.

At this point, I'm flabbergasted. I don't know how we can be this bad. Weis better turn this season around, and fast, or all the good he's done the past two years will vanish in a hurry.

Back for Football Season
By: Joe

After moving from Alabama to Ohio to Chicago in the past few months, I am finally settled down in my apartment and have time to write in this blog once again. So let's get started...