One Loss Leads To Another?

Brian Kelly says his Notre Dame coaching position is a ‘dream job.’

Mandatory Credit: Paul Sakuma

I grew sick to my stomach hearing everyone saying “If Notre Dame is going to have a chance, Everett Golson has to play a near perfect game”…The disturbingly ironic thing about that statement, is that he did. What nobody predicted, was the Irish defense getting shredded from the opening drive.

The missed tackles were surprising, but what threw me off even more was the desperation and lack of communication that was prevalent from the beginning. On Alabama’s first drive they predictably opened with a run, and then went play action on 2nd down with Mccarron hitting Norwood for a big gain and a first down. What worried me immediately about that play is that it was clear, early on, that the Irish were scared of Bama’s ability to run. Practically the entire secondary bit on the play-action, leaving Kenny Norwood wide open. If the Tide had hit the Irish 4 or 5 times in a row, I can see being a little jumpy to stop the run and getting beat, but it was the second play of the game. Alabama has been getting chunk yardage in the passing game off play-action all season, it’s what they do, and it seemed like the Irish weren’t ready for it. Several times Mccarron had receiver’s wide open from biting on play-action or miscommunications in the secondary. While it seemed as though there were guys in place to make plays, they also seemed overwhelmed.

At the end of the day, the Irish just got a good old fashioned beat down.

Besides Brent Musburger fantasizing about AJ Mcarrons girlfriend, what kept me interested was the play of Everett Golson.

The play calling was curious. Golson was poised and in control for the most part throughout the game; making good decisions. The one play in which Clinton-Dix made picked Golson off, Everett was a little hand-cuffed by the situation and was simply trying to make a play. It was great seeing Golson direct traffic while rolling out of the pocket and throwing with accuracy on the run. This should give Irish fans a ton of confidence going into 2013.

What I and many others thought was a solid head coach that would be around for a while has reportedly interviewed with the Philadelphia Eagles, according to Chris Mortensen. In this day and age, I guess we shouldn’t be surprised. It’s disappointing after a season like this when the development of the program to national prominence seems to be taking shape. Why would Kelly be looking to leave after such a great run in 2012? His play calling from the beginning was odd. On 3rd and 2, on the first drive of the game, Kelly calls what was basically a jump ball to Eifert on the sideline against one of the best cover corners in the country. That’s a desperate play call down just 7 in the 1st quarter; was his head elsewhere? Looks like we’re going to find out shortly.