Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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Trip To Norman Yields New Converts FIGHTING WORDS WES MORGAN The national media may have doubted whether the Irish could get through Oklahoma unscathed, but head coach Brian Kelly and Co. were confident they could go on the road and play with anybody. on the job. The offense isn't explosive enough, and there's too much inexpe- rience at wide receiver. The defense is bound to crack at some point; it can't possibly be nothing short of dominant for 12 straight weeks. The schedule is too tough and im- E PHOTO BY BILL PANZICA verett Golson isn't ready. It's too much pressure for a rookie quar- terback at Notre Dame to learn and at the most inopportune time. These are just some of the excuses possible to get through unscathed. Special teams will never produce a game-changing play when one is needed most. Such a young defensive secondary is going to eventually get shot full of holes. The turnover bug, a nasty infection that crippled the Fight- ing Irish in 2011, will sooner or later plague the squad again, if only briefly a scribe covering this program could have used in recent weeks in order to maintain his or her professional moorings. Fans are allowed to guzzle Kool-Aid by the pitcher full. Those of us paid to remain objective often get sidetracked looking for reasons to doubt instead of accepting what's re- ally happening. Considering Notre Dame has found a variety of ways to trip itself up in recent years, it's not surprising not everyone was convinced the Fighting Irish were the real deal — even after seven con- secutive wins to start the season. My conversion experience hap- pened, fittingly, in dusty Oklahoma,