Notre Dame Football: Turnovers Preventing Irish from Reaching Elite Status

With a 2-2 record, it would be easy for a casual observer to think that the Notre Dame Fighting Irish are little more than average. But the Irish have all the makings of a top 10-caliber team.

On offense, they have an ever-improving sophomore quarterback in Tommy Rees and an excellent running game with Cierre Wood and Jonas Gray. Notre Dame also has one of the best wide receivers in the nation in Michael Floyd.

Defensively, with the exception of one game, the Irish have been excellent as well, ranking 39th in the nation in scoring defense. The one thing that is undoubtedly holding Notre Dame back, however, is its propensity for turning the ball over.

The Irish have lost the turnover battle in each of their four games this season, so they have, in essence, beat the odds by even winning two games. In Notre Dame's two losses to open the season against South Florida and Michigan, the Irish lost the total turnover battle by a 10-3 margin.

Despite turning the ball over seven more times than their opposition in those two games, Notre Dame only lost by a combined seven points. Granted, the defense had something to do with Michigan's miraculous drive to win in Week 2; but it should have never gotten to that point.

In Notre Dame's wins against Michigan State and Pittsburgh, the Irish still lost the turnover battle, but it was much closer at a combined 5-3. This tells me that had the Irish executed a very basic, fundamental concept of the game of football in the season's first two weeks, they would easily be 4-0 and probably be ranked No. 10 or better in the country.

That fact certainly isn't lost on Notre Dame fans. And while it may be painful to know that something that should be preventable has caused the team's downfall to this point, there is still hope for a BCS bowl game moving forward.

Provided the Irish simply cut down on their turnovers and are able to finish games with an even turnover margin, they stand a really good chance to run the table this season. The Irish schedule isn't particularly difficult at all, with the only major tests looking to be unranked USC and No. 5 Stanford.

Notre Dame has moved the ball with ease on offense both through the air and on the ground, and the defense has generally done a nice job of keeping opposing offenses out of the end zone. The main culprits who have to shoulder the load in eliminating turnovers are Rees and head coach Brian Kelly.

Rees has the type of confidence you want out of a young quarterback. However, six interceptions in less than four games is simply too many. Also, Kelly needs to place extra emphasis on ball protection. Yes, there's only so much he can do to prepare the players to execute on the field; but if ball protection isn't priority No. 1, then it needs to be.

Again, this may be oversimplifying things a bit, but as long as the Irish can keep possession of the ball moving forward, they have the tools in every facet of the game to pull off an impressive 10-2 season and receive a BCS bowl bid. Of course, if that does happen, it will be tough to look past what could have been if not for the season's first two games.