Wasn’t that special? There they were, two of the biggest lightning rods in a sport that would have invented lightning rods if Ben Franklin hadn’t gotten there first, trying to ring in the New Year by overcoming their quarterback...
Read MoreIt’s not like it’s a surprise. As I told you in Notre Dame Insider last week, “What happens in Palo Alto will determine the perception of how the Irish finished—whether they had one bad night in Miami, or limped through...
Read MoreWhat’s the deal with Notre Dame football? Before the Fighting Irish went from South Bend to South Beach and jettisoned their national-championship hopes, they seemed like a real threat. Excellent running game. Tenacious...
Read MoreWhen we peel away the obvious—that Miami not only was flat-out better, and that Notre Dame was not ready for this big a stage—what did we learn from the Hurricanes’ 41-8 blitz of the Irish? Start with the most important: Speed...
Read MoreMiami-Notre Dame. Well, if this doesn’t bring back a flood of memories. . . I was on the Notre Dame beat in 1988, when the Irish put their national-championship hopes on the line against the Hurricanes. That’s a challenge they...
Read MoreIt’s often dangerous, or at least premature, to start celebrating teams when there are still games to play. And heaven knows, Notre Dame, which debuted at No. 3 in the inaugural College Football Playoff rankings on Tuesday, has...
Read MoreLet’s not underestimate what Notre Dame accomplished in demolishing USC 49-14 on Saturday. It not only put the Fighting Irish, who rose to No. 9 in the AP poll, squarely in the competition for a College Football Playoff berth....
Read MoreDo you think Notre Dame can wake up the echoes and run the gauntlet of a dangerous schedule right into the College Football Playoff? It probably depends on what you think of Brian Kelly. If ND wins out, an 11-1 mark puts it in...
Read MoreFighting Irish and “under the radar’’ aren’t phrases usually seen in the same sentence. And that situation won’t last long for Notre Dame, the team that everyone loves to 1) love or 2) hate. Because after a bye this week,...
Read MoreSo far, so good. Nobody’s seriously putting Notre Dame in the College Football Playoff discussion yet—unless they have little shamrocks adorning their underclothes. But the Fighting Irish are putting themselves in position to...
Read MoreWatching Brian Kelly dancing in the locker room after Notre Dame had taken down Michigan State, I couldn’t help but think that the celebration had all the trappings of a big win over a conference rival. Yeah, I know. That ship...
Read MoreSOUTH BEND, Ind.—There was an interesting parallel between yet another wrenching Notre Dame loss and yet another bristly Brian Kelly post-game press conference. For most of the way in their 20-19 crusher against Georgia and...
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