Oh, and when l was listing teams that would dismantle Notre Dame, I forgot to include Navy. My fault.

aov-I believe you are referencing the old D1A and D1AA system. That was replaced by the current FBS (Football Bowl Subdivision) and FCS (Football Championship Subdivision) system a few years ago. ND and Western Michigan are both FBS schools.

No to rain on your parade, but it was Western Michigan ND beat by 24 a D-1A team. Lets see what happens in the next few weeks. Has Michigan adjusted? Will Rich Rodg still be coaching at Michigan in two years? Last time I checked Callahan was fired at Nebraska. Most of the time I read comments on this here I feel like I am at a Cubs game. We are two years away from being a contender. How many times or years can this be said. 1988 was a long time ago.

This is not a Holtz team. Notre Dame (and this entire spread system) will NEVER run an I-formation half back dive for 8 yards at a time. You are not going to see 250lb halfbacks who run 4.8’s in the ND backfield. The days of 320lb offensive lineman who can do no more than run block are G-O-N-E.

The run? While I do agree the run is important, it is no more important than the pass, or catching, or solid QB play. Football has evolved to a stage where teams can – and do – win with a minimal running game. Whereas 20+ years ago the run was heavily featured, it is not anymore. And when it is, it is usually featured by the QB – ala Denard Robinson.

Is this a BCS team? Nope. Is it a 9 win team? It shouldn’t be. But what do you expect from a team laden with under-performing players who were conditioned to fall apart in games?

And to those who expect to see the Bearcats offense in this ND team – wake up. It takes years to develop that. For some reason, you guys think all it takes a magical snap of the fingers and a pro-style offensive system will magically become a spread offense. Look at Michigan and how long it has taken them to adjust. For the major college football fans, remember when Army switched from the option to a passing attack? How about Nebraska from their option to the Callahan passing game? It NEVER happens right away. Ever. Why? Because first their is a philosophical change, sometimes 180 degrees in the opposite direction. Players must unlearn what they have learned. Second, the physical characteristics of the players are different in each system. And three, they have very little time to perfect it, prior to the season starting. And it ends up becoming a crash-course during the season.

To me, year 1 is about establishing passion and work ethic. Year 2 is about significant progress on both sides of the ball (statistically speaking). And Year 3 is its perfection.

This isn’t a bad team when they play together. But, they’re unpolished.

I generally take issue with your suggestion that running the ball is the solution to all of our woes. I remember the Davie years. You should, too. Being able to execute a passing scheme is a sign of strength, given that we have a new quarterback and a relatively new offensive line and an All America TE injured and a few running backs banged up.

I don’t agree that we can only win with a dominant running game. We can win with a balanced attack, too. Sometimes we throw too often but Kelly’s been the coach for like 7 seven games. He shouldn’t be criticized because he likes a spread offense that relies on short passes.

One final point: right now, the offensive line does look like it struggles to develop holes for our backs. That may have something to do with Weis’ five years of coaching. These things don’t get fixed overnight.

I was out on the west coast last weekend, but had time to watch the game. The first half stunk. Disgust does not travel well.

Again, I would be reluctant to make any predictions on the records. For five years, Weis paid little attention to the defense. While he was fairly bright on offense, he was operating with an NFL quarterback for most of that time. Now we have a new Q and a lot of new guys up front. We should beat Navy and Tulsa but it’s not a sure thing.

This is a team that’s a work in progress. We have to get better each week. It seems that this is what is happening.

We ran pretty well in the second half last week. I would say that we’re starting to figure out how to take advantage of a defense’s weakness — and that includes figuring out how to run the ball when it’s needed. It’s not a perfect offense but I’m starting to feel like we’re going in the right direction.

Football is a game of motivation. On offense, coaches need to motivate eleven guys toward one goal — at one time. On defense, same thing. So, Kelly is motivating his kids. And, yes, he storms the sidelines. Lou and Ara did the same thing. He screams at his players. Ara and Lou did the same thing. So do big-time coaches (you’ll note that I did not write “other” big time coaches because I don’t know that Coach Kelly falls in that class yet).

Is he Bobby Knight, physically assaulting players? I haven’t seen that at all. Sure, he gets frustrated and he vents but that emotion — the thrill of a touchdown and the agony of a penalty — is not a bad thing. It’s actually something that’s been missing in this program since the days of Lou. I don’t remember Davie or Willingham or Weis expressing their frustration in a similar manner.