November has not been kind to head coach Brian Kelly and the rest of the Notre Dame Fighting Irish.
After an early part of the season that saw the Irish operating as a largely dominant one-loss squad, the team lost back-to-back games as a result of poor turnovers and shoddy defensive play. Their schedule doesn't get any easier, with games against ranked opponents (Louisville currently sits at 24th, and USC has moved from unranked to 19th) to close the season. The Irish face an uphill climb toward achieving the 9 or 10-win season that seemed like an inevitable accomplishment as recently as a fortnight ago.
Golson's Interceptions, Fumble Hurt Irish
Turnovers continue to be the Irish's most pressing Achilles heel. Quarterback Everett Golson alone has 19 on the season.
“When we turn it over, it's critical,” Irish head coach Brian Kelly said Tuesday. “I mean it's catastrophic turnovers. We're turning it over on the 5-yard line, on the goal line. We're throwing it off our kid's helmet, it's bouncing up in the air and they're returning it. They are absolutely critical turnovers.”
Head Coach Brian Kelly: "I Don't Know What To Do"
However, the team's foibles don't end there. The Fighting Irish's defensive effort has also come into question, having given up 98 points over the team's two recent losses. Allowing 55 points to a top-10 Arizona State team at home might be chalked up to the aberration of a bad day, but allowing a sub-.500 Northwestern team to hang 43 in South Bend raises eyebrows.
Unfortunately for Notre Dame, that already weak defense just got weaker. Kelly announced Tuesday that the unit will be without two players against Louisville. Linemen Sheldon Day and Daniel Cage will be sidelined due to knee injuries. Cage is only expected to miss one week, but Day's MCL sprain could mean a prolonged absence.
It's just the latest setback for a team that this month has discovered the true meaning of Murphy's Law.
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