Notre Dame Football: Is Notre Dame Football Really Back?

During the preseason, many people thought this year would be the one that Notre Dame becomes relevant on the national stage again.

So far those people have been wrong.

Or have they?

The Boston Globe doesn’t seem to think so. And so does Boston College head coach Frank Spaziani. “Oh, they’re back,’’ he said. “It’s a storied environment in a lot of ways, with their history and tradition. There are great people out there. They know how to run a big-league program…They seem to have rekindled that.’’

But do three losses to Michigan, Southern Cal and South Florida and a signature win over Michigan State really count as being “back”?

In the eyes of most people across the country, no—they have to be in the Top Five nationally in order to be considered back by the standards Notre Dame set for itself in years past. That said, you have to look at how the games were lost.

In those games, the Irish lost the turnover battle by an incredible 13-3.

There is no question that turnovers have defined this season, because they could easily be at least 9-1 heading into a game with 3-7 Boston College with a BCS Bowl bid nearly locked up if they could hold onto the football.

This team is so much closer to being “back” than what most people realize—they are one of the only teams to rank in the top third in the country in total offense and defense and scoring offense and defense—but that does not mean the team is relevant on the national scale just yet. At the end of the day, all that really matters is whether you get a win or a loss, and Notre Dame has too many losses to be considered a major player in college football.

Whether they can get there next year is up for debate because stud linebacker Manti Te’o could declare for the NFL draft and the entire starting secondary will graduate as well as three offensive linemen.

But they will continue to underwhelm if the turnover problems are not fixed. Until that is no longer an issue, Notre Dame should not be considered “back” by anyone. Let this team prove its worth against a quality opponent before putting it up on a pedestal, no matter how good every other aspect of the team may be.