Notre Dame Football: Irish Problems Too Big to Fix This Year

SOUTH BEND, Ind. — As Notre Dame football’s list of problems continues to grow with injuries and “critical errors,” the Irish head into their final two games of the regular season staring at a pair of ranked opponents.

As lost as the season might feel for some Notre Dame fans, the reality is the Irish could still finish the regular season at 9-3, earn a spot in a respectable bowl game and have an opportunity to reach 10 wins this season. While it’s a far cry from Notre Dame’s legitimate flirtation with the College Football Playoff, the season isn’t totally lost.

But to ensure they still do take something away from the 2014 campaign, the Irish must clean up in a variety of areas down the stretch. So which problems are correctable, and which issues might have to wait until next year?

Turnovers

Nam Y. Huh/Associated Press

It seems we’re beating a dead horse by routinely analyzing Notre Dame’s turnover mishaps, but that’s what happens when a team goes on a brutal run of misfortune.

As bad as Notre Dame has been with ball security of late—nine turnovers in two games—it’s tough to envision this horrid stretch continuing. At some point, the Irish must clean things up and protect the football better, right?

“When we turn it over, it's critical,” Irish head coach Brian Kelly said Tuesday. “I mean it's catastrophic turnovers. We're turning it over on the 5-yard line, on the goal line. We're throwing it off our kid's helmet, it's bouncing up in the air and they're returning it. They are absolutely critical turnovers.”

Even just marginal improvement in that area will do a world of difference for Notre Dame. As Kelly mentioned Tuesday, there’s a fine line between wins and losses in college football, and the Irish turnovers have recently placed them on the wrong end of things.

“We've got to hold on to the football,” Kelly said. “Now, when we say 'hold on to the football,' what does that mean? Clearly we've got to make sure that we're giving the ball to the right guy at the right time and doing the things that minimize risk. And so all those things are in the evaluation mode while still knowing at the end of the day, we have to score a lot of points.”

Defense

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While the turnovers seem at least somewhat correctable, the outlook isn’t as optimistic for the Notre Dame defense.

Already without senior middle linebacker Joe Schmidt, the Irish must now proceed without stalwart defensive lineman Sheldon Day, who will miss Saturday’s matchup against Louisville with an MCL sprain. Kelly did say he expects to get Day back at some point this season.

The previously lowly Northwestern offense gashed the Irish and exposed problems at all levels of the defense. Communication, though, has been a common issue throughout the entire defense, a group Kelly said is younger than any he’s had before.

“We've got to play better defense,” Kelly said. “We've got to make some key stops. We've got to get lined up.”

Alignment and communication have been difficult for Notre Dame, especially without Schmidt. While it’s just one fluky example, take this third-down play from Saturday’s game:

It’s reasonable to expect some improvement from the likes of freshman middle linebacker Nyles Morgan, who will be making just his third start Saturday against Louisville. But wholesale improvement could be tough to come by for an Irish defensive unit that might not even start one senior down the stretch.

Graduate student cornerback Cody Riggs should play some with a stress reaction in his foot, and graduate-student defensive lineman Justin Utupo will likely be counted on in some capacity with Day out. Otherwise, the young Irish defense must find its way on its own against Top 25 opponents.

Kicking Game

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The holding malfunctions were one thing, but Kyle Brindza’s hooked field-goal attempts against the Wildcats were another. Brindza has now missed eight field goals this season, but Kelly still supported his senior Tuesday.

“I still think we've got one of the best kickers in the country,” Kelly said. “He had an off day on Saturday. But I expect him to bounce back.”

Kelly has loads of evidence to back that up. Brindza entered the season as a worthy candidate for the Lou Groza Award based on two strong seasons of place-kicking. Another week with holder Malik Zaire should instill more comfort and confidence in Brindza.

A few rough weeks won’t overshadow the rest of Brindza’s season—much less his career. Expect him to bounce back Saturday.

All quotes obtained firsthand unless otherwise noted.

Mike Monaco is a lead Notre Dame writer for Bleacher Report. Follow @MikeMonaco_ on Twitter.