Irish Bring Out Best in Opponents

Watching the first half of the ND-Pitt game brought back ugly memories of quite a number of flat performances by the Irish against underdog opponents at Notre Dame Stadium in recent years.

The Panthers ripped off chunks of yardage, while Notre Dame missed tackles and assignments. On offense, the Irish seemed lost, and settled for – or missed – field goals when it seemed they should have been able to score touchdowns.

“Pitt came prepared to win,” one viewer sagely observed.  The flip side, that Notre Dame seemed unprepared, didn’t need to be said.

And though, hours later, it ended up in the win column, the question remains: why do the Irish seem to struggle so at home?  The question was posed to head coach Brian Kelly, who responded:

Pittsburgh running back Ray Graham breaks off a long run vs. ND last Saturday. 

“We’re really trying to figure that out. It might just be it is what it is. I don’t know. We’ve looked at schedule. We’ve looked at trying to limit distractions. I wish I had a really good answer. I don’t have one. I know this: We’ll battle you at home. We’ll protect our turf. We’ll find a way to win. But it seems as though for some reason we don’t get the points on the board at the opportune time or convert when we need to offensively. It’s just been one of those things where we’ve had to grind everything out. But we know when we’re at home, we’ll battle you even if we’re down 20-6 in the fourth quarter.

“I don’t think there is any question that there’s a lot going on here at Notre Dame. We really think we’ve streamlined our schedule to eliminate a lot of those distractions. But ultimately it comes down to the players, and whether it’s ticket requests or family and friends want a tour of the football building or they want to go to the Basilica. We’ve talked about it ad nauseam with our team about how important it is to really focus the last 48 hours in on the football game.”

Like many other things, it’s a fine line.  Certainly, ND shouldn’t deny its student-athletes priceless moments of hosting family and friends on this spectacular campus. You can’t put them in 48-hour lockdown. The hope is rather that, like all Notre Dame students, juggling a challenging schedule of academics, extra-curricular activities and social events, the Irish can sharpen their focus on game day and perform up to their capabilities.

One more home contest, Nov. 17 vs. Wake Forest, on Senior Day, provides the opportunity.

And a given is this:  The Demon Deacons, like so many underdogs before them, will relish the chance to step on to the hallowed ground of the Stadium, and play like there’s no tomorrow.