Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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UNDER THE DOME November By Andrew Owens This season, two bye weeks — Sept. 20 and Oct. 25 — break up Notre Dame's schedule into three segments. Following the matchup with Purdue, the Irish now enjoy a bye week prior to playing Syracuse, Stanford, North Carolina and at Florida State before the second bye week. While this bye week comes at a convenient time for an Irish squad that has been embroiled in an academic fraud investigation and is dealing with injuries — most notably to starting fifth-year se- nior safety Austin Collinsworth — it would have been better placed in November. Had Northwestern come to Notre Dame Sta- dium in September instead of November, the early-season slate would not have been that much tougher — the Wildcats have already lost to Cal and Northern Illinois — but it would have provided some time late in the season for the Irish to heal and rest before closing the season with Louisville and USC. In 2013 and 2014, college football teams have benefited from two in-season bye weeks with the seasons starting in August. (Except for Cincinnati, which for some reason placed both bye weeks at the beginning of the season.) Last year, a No- vember bye week was perfectly placed for Notre Dame to reset after the road loss to Pittsburgh and figure out its defensive line configuration after nose guard Louis Nix suffered a setback with his knee injury. It's impossible to tell until the season concludes when the Irish could have best used the bye weeks, but it's likely an open date in November would have been ideal. September By Douglas Farmer A bye week can work in one of two ways. It can allow a team to recover, regroup and ready for its next opponent, or it can disrupt the momentum and rhythm found amid a winning streak. With five players separated from the team and three more injured to varying degrees, Notre Dame needs some time to recover and regroup right now. Early-season winning streaks are less pressure- packed than late-season runs, and therefore are less reliant on momentum and rhythm. The Irish have begun to think big. If Notre Dame intends to fulfill those ambitious thoughts, a late- season surge will prove crucial. A November bye week may allow a sprained ankle or strained ham- string to heal, but those are mere hypotheticals. Injuries to key players — such as fifth-year senior safety Austin Collinsworth, sophomore wide re- ceiver Torii Hunter Jr. and senior linebacker Jarrett Grace — and an academic investigation are reali- ties. Presuming those issues resolve themselves, this September bye will have played its role per- fectly. If Notre Dame wants to take a run at a New Year's Day bowl, it will need to excel during the five- game stretch following its late October bye: Navy (FedEx Field in Landover, Md.), at Arizona State, Northwestern, Louisville and at USC. Breaking that stretch into two with a November bye would rob any chance of building momentum. Remember how the 2012 regular season closed — an eight- game winning streak following a bye week, includ- ing three one-possession victories. In college football especially, momentum can prove the difference between 4-1 and 5-0. Point ✦ Counterpoint: IS IT BETTER TO HAVE A BYE WEEK IN SEPTEMBER OR NOVEMBER THIS YEAR? Listen to the discussion in this digital exclusive