Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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seemed never-ending after greedy owners and equally grabby players faced off like rival gangs. The miserable Detroit Lions, which I hadn't advanced to the National Foot- ball League playoffs since 1999, re- stored the roar in Motown and are guaranteed a 17th game this season after finishing 6-10 in 2010. Pop star Britney Spears went from the career septic tank to the top of the charts once again, putting her head- shaving, hard-partying days behind her. Despite tough economic times, this holiday season Americans spent 2.5 percent more than they did last Christmas. These are just a few of the unlike- liest comeback stories of the past 12 months. Too bad the Notre Dame football team didn't make that list — again. Following an 18-14 loss to No. 25 Flor- ida State on Dec. 29 in the Champs Sports Bowl in Orlando, Fla., the Fighting Irish concluded the year with an 8-5 record — the same as 2010 and only slightly better than the 2009 and 2008 campaigns, which netted just six and seven victories, respectively. Two seasons into the Brian Kelly era and the Irish are still stagnant. And as the Citrus Bowl grounds crew ex- tracted the words "NOTRE DAME" from the south end zone shortly after the fans exited the stadium, it symbol- ized another autumn in South Bend, Ind., that Irish fans already want to forget and players have a hard time explaining. "I think there were a lot of games where we left a lot out there," said se- nior wide receiver Michael Floyd, who played his final game in an Irish uni- form. "There were possibilities where we could have won many games, and some didn't go our way and we lost. We see it as we could have ran the table this year without mistakes, and not being disciplined at certain times we fell short." Next year's schedule, combined with the loss of veteran workhorses like Floyd, doesn't set up well for Notre Dame. This was the season to www.BLUEANDGOLD.com Record Skips On Brian Kelly And The Irish FIGHTING WORDS WES MORGAN n the last year, the National Basket- ball Association pulled off a minor miracle by ending a lockout that The quarterback position — be it with Dayne Crist, Tommy Rees (above) or Andrew Hendrix — was at the epicenter of another Irish football storm in 2011, and it can't afford to be again in 2012. PHOTO BY GREG OYSTER get things right, to get back into the BCS discussion, to finally be Notre Dame football once again. That op- portunity was squandered. "I just feel like a lot of mistakes we had early on messed up our chemis- try in those first two games we lost," senior safety Jamoris Slaughter said. "We kind of got it back against Michi- gan State, and we were on a roll. Then we lost that game to USC, just didn't come out as prepared as we should have been. We've had a lot of ups and downs this season, but we always came committed to working hard. At the same time we've still got to make those small plays that coach always harps on — pay attention to detail — and that's something we have to do a lot better." No disrespect to Mr. Slaughter, but the issues that pulled the plug on a promising season aren't small, they're bigger than Mickey's ears at the Dis- ney World entrance. None is more prominent than the offense's inability to operate efficiently on a weekly basis. "You saw the way our defense was playing. There are flashes of greatness in our offense," said junior tight end Tyler Eifert, who admitted he doesn't yet know if he'll be around next sea- son or be playing on Sundays. "We just need to be more consistent on the offensive side of the ball." That starts with the quarterback — a position the Irish are no closer to solving than they were during spring practices. Sophomore Tommy Rees tossed two interceptions into the end zone, and redshirt sophomore An- drew Hendrix threw a pick in the fourth quarter deep in his territory when Notre Dame was clinging to a 14-9 advantage. Rees doesn't know what to make of the two-quarterback situation. "We'll leave that up to Coach," he said. "We'll see how things progress here in the coming months." Irish fans hoped to see some prog- ress by now … some sign of hope from the last four months. "There's no prize for second place," fifth-year senior safety Harrison Smith said after his final game for the Irish. "There's no prize for losing. It wasn't a win, and that's not good enough. I think if you matched this team up against last year's team, this team is better. But all that matters is the record." "We know what we need to do," Kelly said at the press conference following the game. "We've already talked about it, and players that are going to be back for the 2012 foot- ball season will be committed to get- ting that end done. I'll open it up to questions." If 2012 is anything like the past two seasons, there will be plenty moving forward. ✦ Assitant Editor Wes Morgan has been with Blue & Gold Illustrated since February 2011. He can be reached at wmorgan@blueandgold.com FEBRUARY 2012 5