Notre Dame Football Continues Fumbling Away Once Promising Season
Two weeks ago, the Notre Dame Fighting Irish football team had a perfect opportunity to fully entrench themselves in the College Football Playoff discussion. Oh, how the times have changed for the Irish.
Following Saturday’s 43-40 overtime disaster against Northwestern, Notre Dame is scrambling to pick up the pieces of a season with so much promise entering November. The Irish tried every possible way to give away a football game that they had no business losing.
Four turnovers, including two inside the five-yard line and one with less than 1:30 to go when the opponent has no timeouts left — check.
Two missed field goals, one in overtime, and another botched snap that resulted in a blocked kick returned for two points — check.
Poor coaching decisions, including a pointless two-point conversion attempt that allowed the Wildcats to only have to score a touchdown, two-point conversion and a field goal, rather than needing two touchdowns — check.
There’s plenty of blame to go around on both the players and the coaches. Ultimately, it’s the coaches’ responsibility to prepare the players to execute to their fullest capabilities, and it’s the responsibility of the players to go out and fulfill the gameplan.
In the past two weeks, both have failed miserably. It’s hard to fathom how a team that lost only one fumble and had a +8 turnover margin through the first three games now gives the ball away at will. Following Saturday’s four-turnover effort, Notre Dame has now turned the ball over 19 times in their past seven games. Their turnover margin has gone from +8 to -4 on the season.
On the defensive side of the ball, a similar pattern has emerged from early-season prosperity to late-season struggles. In their first five games, Notre Dame gave up 60 points (good for an average of 12.0 points per game). Astoundingly, the Irish have now given up 211 points over their next five games (an average of 42.2 point per game) with their lowest total being 31 points allowed to No. 3 Florida State. The defense has gone from being compared with the 2012 defense that led the Irish to the national title game to now one of the worst in Irish history.
The last two games of the regular season will display the makeup of this current Irish squad. Louisville is a team with some offensive weapons in running back Michael Dyer and stud receiver DeVante Parker. They will challenge a leaky Irish defense, even without starting quarterback Will Gardner. Also, Louisville brings an aggressive defense to South Bend which will not help those turnover numbers for Notre Dame.
Then, the Irish close the season at USC, who has played much better lately and is a balanced offense with a ton of skill position talent. The Trojans could be especially fired up if they can beat cross-town rival UCLA this weekend.
For Notre Dame, they need to regain the confidence and swagger that was on display until that disputed offensive pass interference flag was thrown in Tallahassee. If they can’t find a way to respond, a season of promise will lead to another offseason of discontent and unfulfilled expectations in South Bend.
Patrick Leiva is a writer for www.RantSports.com. Follow him on Twitter.
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