I have always loved Notre Dame football. Sometimes I loved it too much I think. It consumed my Saturdays every fall. I worked jobs around Notre Dame football, scheduled dates around the football schedule and missed events because they were held at the same time as an ND football game.
But something funny happened last week. Notre Dame played Florida State in some bowl game and I did not make plans to watch it. In fact, I forgot they were even playing until someone at work asked me if I thought they would win.
I had made plans to go to a birthday party and made no effort to change those plans. I DVR’d the game knowing they would lose after coach Brian Kelly made his starting quarterback decision. Notre Dame has been a failing program for the last 18 years and unless a QB is found that can run this offense they will continue to fail.
This year’s team had far too much talent to go 8-5, but Kelly’s coaching decisions made it worse. His quick hook of Dayne Crist in the first game of the season would have been ok, if he had held Tommy Rees to the same standard. Time after time Rees committed mistake after mistake in crucial situations and continued to play.
He was obviously not the QB to run this offense despite his record as a starter. Earlier in the season Boston College consistently only rushed three daring him to run and ND could not move the ball. Florida St. and Stanford having better talent blitzed relentlessly and made him an easy target.
I am slowly losing my love for Notre Dame football. The product on the field is disappointing and I find myself no longer caring when they play. I also find myself watching other college football games and watching ND on the DVR later.
This team needs to find an exciting QB to go with the rest of the talent on the team and become a consistent national contender. Until then I will continue to try to find good college football on Saturdays, but those teams will not reside in South Bend.