I See an Alabama-like Turnaround for Notre Dame Next Year

On Christmas Eve, I saw a different Notre Dame take the field. They were confident, driven, and executed well on both sides of the ball. They didn't look like the same team that finished the season barely sneaking into a bowl game.

And being an Alabama fan first, I also saw a great similarity to the Tide's season-ending victory last year: a defense that came together and played great, a QB with a shaky history become rock solid, and an offense that looked unstoppable, with the whole team running a precise game with few penalties or mental mistakes.

Will they, like Alabama, use this bowl game as a launching pad for next season? Though I'm usually the one berating the press for always having Notre Dame ranked too high in the preseason polls, they will be in my Top 20 for next year based on what I saw Christmas Eve.

Just like Alabama, all those new recruits are finally showing what made them such a good pick, and Weis, like Nick Saban, should be the beneficiary of a steady influx of talent for years to come.

Notre Dame left the field with a little swagger back in their step, a way to end the season on a high note. Notre Dame, like that Alabama team last year, walked off with hope that the bad days are now behind them.

Now, granted, this was a Hawaii team that was a shell of itself from last year. But that does not take away the 400-plus yards and beautiful in-step throws from Clausen, the crisp tackling by the defense, or the no-nonsense way Notre Dame dismantled the Warriors in a blowout.

If there was a weakness, Notre Dame never got the running game going, but with Clausen throwing the ball the way he was, it was never necessary. However, a yards-per-carry average of less than three could come back to haunt them in a game with better defensive backs.

In the past, Notre Dame would have never accepted a bowl like this. They were very smart to take the bid this time. The additional month of practice combined with the confidence-building victory from this game sets the way for Notre Dame to begin next year without this season's overall bad taste in their mouth.

I wonder if the pollsters, whom I usually accuse of pro-Notre Dame bias, were as sold as me with this win? Time will tell, but the main thing is, I think Notre Dame believes it.