The Debacle That Is Notre Dame Football: Post-USC Comments

I'm not going to sit here and re-hash all I've said about our football team over the past seven weeks. The USC game was no different than the others minus a rash of penalties. We had poor special teams play, we turned the ball over, we (twice) gave their offense a short field, and we had no semblance of an offense (for more on this check out my comments here). But does all that really add up to the lopsided loss on Saturday? Come on, 38-0? The most lopsided loss to USC in 79 all-time meetings? The first shutout at the hands of the Trojans in Notre Dame Stadium since 1933? The sixth straight loss to the USC? Ten first downs? Three rushing first downs? All of our current problems do not mean that we should be playing like this and ranked last in every meaningful offensive category in college football.

It just doesn’t add up. How can offensive linemen get pushed around like they aren't even there eight games into the season? How can this team, as young, unsure, and lacking in depth as it is, continue to be so bad heading into these final four games? How can fifth-year senior defensive backs get used by young, inexperienced, USC receivers? How can Irish quarterbacks get dropped for more sacks than nearly any other team in our illustrious football history? How can nothing, absolutely nothing, work on offense? How can this be happening at Notre Dame?

It defies logic. It tests even the most patient. And it leaves me feeling not only heartbroken and bewildered, but speechless as well. The only thing I do know is that recruiting alone will not fix what is wrong with our current Irish team. We have talent, inexperienced as it is, and they have not improved at all during the course of this season. Am I to expect that more practice via an off-season and fall camp will help when more than eight weeks of practice has not led to any improvement?

Why is that USC's young players like Joe McKnight and Videl Hazelton are running all over the field making plays, while Armando Allen and Duval Kamara struggle to make one big play? How is Stanford, a team that lost to a mediocre Division II team last year able to put 24 points on the board (and win) against USC in the Coliseum and we can't score a single point against the same team at home? Why is USC's patchwork offensive line full of inexperienced second and third string players able to dominate the line of scrimmage while our offensive line is still unable to block air? Why does USC's inexperienced QB look like a seasoned veteran while ours look completely inept? How is a dramatically less talented Arizona team, a team who's coach is about to get fired, able to hold USC to 17 points at the Coliseum, while we surrender that many points at home in the first half?

It is just completely baffling. I don't know what to say. And I don't think we will win out to preserve what little is left of this season. When Weis was hired he said "You are what you are folks. And right now you're a 6-5 football team. And that's just not good enough. It's not good enough for you, and it certainly isn't going to be good enough for me." How is 5-7 (or maybe worse) looking? The administration, players, head coach, and coaching staff need to take this bye week to critically evaluate the performance of each individual linked to the success of our football program. There is a long term investment in Weis and failure to succeed, or even improve, is not an option. We need an identity on our team and Weis' coaching philosophies and style has hindered this (again, see here). To his credit he has tried many things to fix the problems, starting multiple quarterbacks, changing the depth chart, tweaking practice regimens, deferring to the second half, but nothing has worked leaving me to believe he is grasping in the dark for solutions to a problem he ultimately cannot identify. I applaud his effort to adapt, to try new things, to listen to his players, but all of the changes, week by week, ultimately lead to confusion amongst the players. I've said it before that great coaches are great because they do what they believe in and do it well. They don't go out and adopt other coaching philosophies and try and incorporate them. That doesn't mean he needs to stick to his more "NFL style" of coaching. It means he needs to find what works for him, what is within his coaching philosophy, to solve the problem. First the problem(s) needs to be identified, then the solution to that problem formulated within the bounds of his coaching philosophy, then this solution needs to be executed. This is the only way we can move forward.