Say what want and believe what you want, but to quote Frank Lenti the most successful high school coach in Illinois history. Losers make excuses winners make it happen.

So, the post route was the ONLY route run on that play? How about the two open men running the intermediate routes on the same play that REES FAILED TO RECOGNIZE while he was attempting to play hero? Not only was the reciever double-covered, but it was Goodman. If it was Floyd, then I could see him throwing the pass and putting it where only Floyd could jump for it, but throwing the pass to a double-covered John Goodman? What is Goodman going to do other than look the ball into his hands and hope he makes the catch?

I’m glad somebody gets it.

I totally agree with you about Rees. I told my wife the same thing as we watched the game. You could see fear and discomfort in his eyes. When do you ever see him firing up the team on the sidelines. One of these guys HAS to step up and be a leader.

John, this is the same question I had: why did Diaco (or whoever) call off the blitz?? It was working extremely well in the first half against four true freshmen o-linemen, and then inexplicably, we backed off and only rushed three! In my mind, that changed the game, and gave FSU QB time to set up and find the open holes in our zone D. Holtz was shocked after the game.

The deeper, more concerning question is that of recruiting and overall team talent/depth. The play-by-play guys did point out that the speed of FSU started to catch up with ND in the second half. For those out there that completely write-off the lack of overall talent/recruiting woes issue, please explain why we haven’t had an elite football team since the halycon Holtz era, where from 87′-90′, we had the #1 recruiting hauls in the nation! Also, explain why there are so few ND players in the NFL, whereas in the 90’s, almost every team had 2 ND starters.

My theory, and that of other diehard fans, is that the administration stiffened the academic entrance requirements for Holtz circa 91′, and this a big reason why he left in 96′. Perhaps prior to the administrative move, Holtz was able to recruit more “bubble” recruits- players that did not necessarily line up with the academic standards at ND, but those that Holtz believed could succeed, with hard work, summer school etc. Tony Rice comes to mind.

Holtz was able to build elite football teams and graduate over 95% of his football players, but can ND ever acheive both goals again?

If Kelly is such a good coach, then why would he use a Bowl game as a QB tryout? There was absolutely zero game plan for the offense. It was eclectic play calling and sporadic execution. Of all the games to try the QB shuffle, Kelly uses this one and we are supposed to say that we are moving in the right direction? I am sorry but part of moving in the right direction also includes good coaching decisions and this game shows that we are not moving that way. We suffered from poor coaching under Weis and it seems that we are still suffering. I do agree that we need some continuity with the program, but Kelly needs to show improvement as well as the team on the field. Otherwise, all the talent in the world is not going to get us to where we all want to be.

Amen brother. Kelly sat a talented, rested and ready Crist and put a flat-footed, turnover prone kid in his place. What might have been were it not for this coach’s ego.

From the perspective of depth, your friend is exactly right. Notre Dame, in some years, starts players who would not even play at other top programs. There are two- and three-star recruits who find their way to the starting lineup in South Bend, not because they’ve vastly improved or anything.

That said, compared to the other top programs, Notre Dame is a very small university with rigorous academics. Look at Alabama, Louisiana State, Oregon and Oklahoma State. These are very large universities — 40-50,000 kids — with extremely loyal followers. Academically, Notre Dame is in a different league than these other schools, which allows these other schools to compete for every kid. But this has virtually always been the case.

To return to true relevance — destroying Southern California and winning BCS equivalents — Notre Dame has to get a lot of the right kids. We need a roster filled with guys like Manti Teo and Stephon Tuitt, a very difficult endeavor. And, the guys that come in when a Jonas Gray gets hurt have to be similar guys from a strength-competence level. We haven’t had this in a very long time. And then, of course, we need the game-coaching skills. Kelly hasn’t yet shown this. It’s no to say he won’t get it done but it will take some time.

50 years on – Notre Dame is the wealthy and prestigious university envisioned by Father Hesburgh. It is also expensive beyond the dreams of most kids who could have afforded it (with some difficulty) a few generations ago, and to me and many others, a SMALL percentage of whom are haters, it is in large measure elitist and arrogant, qualities that do not speak well of a university that would be known as Catholic.

Even thought I did not graduate from Notre Dame, I still love the place.