Ya know, I really thought that I was going to be able and have a little fun with this weeks Hangover Post. I thought i would be able to sit down and watch the game one more time like I normally do, so I can break it down for ya’ll. However, this loss was a bit too soul-crushing for me to live through all over again.
To be perfectly honest with you, I really wish I would/could have done what Her Loyal Sons did, and poke fun at crystal meth addict pixie fairies. My hats off to domer.mq (who now goes by his real name Matt).
But no. I have to sit in front of this computer while neglecting all duties as a husband and a father and tell my 8 readers what I think. Nothing is pretty in this world, and perhaps it never will be again- especially after this 35-31 loss to Michigan…
I’m going to save all of you from the minor bullshit, as I can’t remember a lot of the minor bullshit anyways. Here are a few keypoints in their most “obvious” glory:
Turnovers
How many weeks can the Irish average 5 turnovers and lose by 4 points or less? The answer right now is, two. Two games out of two games played. Yeah! Seriously though, we all thought that there was really no way Notre Dame would have a repeat performance in the turnover category. No way would the Irish just hand the ball off to the other team like a a package of Whoppers to Trick-Or-Treaters.
Wrong. we were all so very fucking wrong. Now what? Do we make ourselves believe that there is no way this happens AGAIN versus Michigan State? Are we back to that? Hopeless wishing? Well you can shit in one hand and wish in the other, and see which one gets filled first- but the Irish are shitting in both hands. It ain’t pretty.
If ND had turned the ball over just one time less in both games this year, I have no doubt whatsoever that the record would be 2-0 instead of the joyless 0-2 that stands in the record books. Until this team decides they are actually friends with the ball, the results will be just as disastrous.
Short-Yardage
One of the most depressing things to come out of this game (yes, I know that there are quite a few) was Notre Dame’s inability to execute a short yard run. Keith Arnold pointed out that in the second half, Notre Dame had 3rd and short 3 times, and each time they were stuffed for negative yardage. NEGATIVE YARDAGE! At what point to we put Louis Nix at fullback? At what point do we just go 5 wide? At what point does the offensive line grow a pair and knock some son of a bitch on his ass?
Drive-killers. That’s what these are. They are almost as bad as a turnover with the momentum that the other team feeds off of afterwards. This is something that Kelly must address and make a priority- not just for Michigan State, but for the rest of the season. I know there are personnel issues here, but c’mon, there has to be somebody that can line up at fullback. Steve Filer should negate all duties at OLB this week and work on blocking ALL day. Hit a sled all day fool!
There were a lot of positives out of the running game; Cierre Wood with 130+ yards and a TD and Jonas Gray with 60+ yards on 6 carries, but it is almost like it didn’t even happen because of the horribleness when it mattered. 
The Ball Is In The Air
The most frustrating thing Saturday was watching our pass coverage. Robinson is a HORRIBLE passer. Everything is either off target, or underthrown. I realize we got some INT’s from this guy, but we should have doubled it. Gray is the most obvious person at fault here as we consistently saw him get outplayed by the WR for a jump ball. He made Robinson look more like Andrew Luck than a running back playing QB.
This is another one of those things that can be simulated in practice, but you just have to have natural instincts to play the ball in the air. I thought Gray had those, and perhaps he still does, but Saturday he looked more like a linebacker in coverage than a cornerback. I still think Gray has some nagging issue with his ankle that makes it hard for him to plant and turn the way that is needed, but Brian Kelly said Gray was 100% to play. He was OK to play- but not really. Seriously.
Denard had one of the luckiest night I had ever seen for a QB. I think he is an amazingly talented athlete. Honestly, he is an absolute FREAK. However, he should have never beaten ND with his arm- and that is exactly what he did. Props to him are in order, but a thousand papercuts to our defense for allowing this freak to freak his way through the night.
And The Biggest Loser Is…
Everyone. Kelly stated that everyone, coaches included, were basically to blame. He’s right. The best decision of the night was the uniform choice for the players and for the coaches. That just about says it all. I realize that ND rolled up another 500 yards of offense, but what good does that do us with turnover fever? The defense played fairly well for three quarters, but in the MONEY quarter it all fell apart. What good is the first three if you lose it all in the end?
So many questions, and so many details in need of questioning came out of this game. So many that I am going to split this up. Tomorrow night, I will spill the rest of my bleeding guts out in a special podcast. I realize this is all a bit late, and Sparty is knocking on our door, but those who fail to understand history are doomed to repeat it. We saw a lot of that “doom” Saturday night. Until then…
