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Saturday Vs. Michigan State Do or Die for Notre Dame

playerpress.com Written by playerpress.com, Saturday September 17 2011
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Gameday.ND.edu

By Mitch Coffman
Senior Writer

Notre Dame must win this week or the season is lost. Bold statement? Not really. This was supposed to be the season where Notre Dame would wake up the echoes from its storied past. When it would make a triumphant return not just to a good bowl game, but to a BCS bowl game. Instead, after just two games, it looks more like the disasters that were Gerry Faust and Charlie Weis.

The Irish began a return to glory with an opening week loss to South Florida, which was a lot worse than the final score. The Bulls played their first football game in 1997 and didn’t even have a band until 1999. Then came an absolutely heartbreaking back and forth game with Michigan ending in a loss. At least the Wolverines have some tradition going for them.

The Irish could be, or even should be, 2-0. But, the fact is the Irish are 0-2 and heading into a must-win game against a Michigan State team that is somehow not favored. Michigan State has played lesser competition, but the Spartans are still ranked and bulletin board material is always good motivation. The fact that oddsmakers have an unranked 0-2 Notre Dame team as favorites should motivate the Spartans.

For Notre Dame, last year’s game is still a highlight video clip. A gutsy fake field goal won it for the Spartans. So, the Irish have that as their motivation along with this week being a truly must-win game or Notre Dame slips into the football irrelevance it has become the past several years.

At stake is not only the season for the Irish, but possibly coach Brian Kelly’s job. Think of the odds of this after two losses – Notre Dame must win 10 straight games to fulfill the preseason hype of a possible BCS bid at year’s end. Kelly loses this game and his for-real nightmare will be Urban Meyer shopping for a home in South Bend.

Against two pretty good teams, the Irish have averaged 25.5 points per game, which isn’t bad. Both quarterbacks they have used have put up good numbers. If statistics determined the outcome of a game, the Irish should have won both games. The key against the Spartans this week will be the same as it was the previous two weeks. Turnovers. Notre Dame puts up big offensive numbers and has a defense that bends but hasn’t really been broken yet. Turnovers, however, have killed the Irish. Five against South Florida followed by three against Michigan were too much to overcome.

Time was when the luck of the Irish gave them a timely turnover. Now the Golden Domers are faced with trying not to give up the ball instead of having the swagger that the bounce of the ball will come their way. It is no longer “Win one for the Gipper,” it is now, “Try not to lose one for him.”

The Irish and Kelly can remove a lot of the pressure they are experiencing if they win this game. The Notre Dame bandwagon is just waiting to get started. But going through the next nine games after an 0-3 start will only feed the rumor mill yet again about the next head football coach. That is no way to run a railroad, and certainly no way for a team and its coach to prosper.

Who would have thought the third game of the year for the Irish would be cast as a season-salvaging game for Notre Dame. Such is today’s luck for the Irish.


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More stories featuring Notre Dame football:

Notre Dame Fighting Irish 2011 Preview: The Irish are Back

For more great articles, be sure to visit National Football Authority.


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