Notre Dame-Navy Thoughts

First Half
I sit here baffled, awed at what I’m forced to witness. It’s like some sort of bizarro world. It is unbelievable to me that a team that snapped your 40+ year winning streak would not be punished to submission. Some observations...

First and foremost, Clausen’s confidence is in the toilet right now. Ever since the North Carolina pickle to start the second half, he has not been the same.

I don’t have the answer, but I do know, whatever the staff is doing with him right now is not working. If this continues, how long before we see a change? What point of liability is enough to sit him down?

The play calling once again is atrocious. I saw three third-down conversion possibilities squashed from poor play calls. Robert Hughes is not an outside runner. He’s not going to turn the corner on anyone; he just doesn’t have the speed.

Third-and-4, and they run a Jimmy Clausen keeper? I’m speechless. And for God’s sake, out of timeouts, they line up in a goofy direct snap play? WTF is that about?

Any other team and this would be a blowout already. There’s not much else to say.

Second Half and My Conclusion...

Well, the second half started off a little better. But it’s what they should have done. I’m not all that impressed when you do what you’re supposed to which is beat a cream puff Navy team. Okay, some observations…

They ran the ball well, but again, I expected them to. It was obvious CW chose to deal with Clausen by taking him off the front burner and have them run the ball all game.

I’m not sure that’s what he needs, and like I said above, I don’t know what the right answer is now, but I do know it ain’t whatever they’re doing.  And I also know, there's a 6-4 230 lb. freshman waiting for his chance too!  

I’m a Golden Tate fan all the way. This guy has all of the intangibles and obviously what it takes to be a superstar…but not on the return team. I don’t know what spurred that decision, but it sucks. Reverse it immediately.

I’m all for good sportsmanship. I hate to see teams like Oklahoma and USC consistently lay up 70 spots on mediocre opponents; it’s a joke. But as a coach, I would like to have more than a three-possession cushion. Especially with dodgy special teams play and 10 friggin’ minutes left.

If you think any team in the nation cannot score three TD’s in 10 minutes…well, you’ve got shit for brains. And that move to play second team players with 10 minutes left and in the red zone is a shit-for-brains move. Pound the score in, go up four scores, then play to run the clock out. It almost cost two games now!

There are just no words that can explain losing two onside kicks in the last minute-30. For the sake of saving my four letter expressions for the USC game, I have nothing to say about it right now.

Either way, they get a win. But I will say this. I hope they get their shit together before going to Cali. While I certainly don’t expect a win, I hope as always, to not see a massacre. F.U.S.C. – GO IRISH!