Notre Dame Looks to End Season on High Note

Johnny McDermott Tuesday 23, December 2008

Notre Dame (6-6) vs. Hawai'i (7-6)

            The Fighting Irish go to the Sheraton Hawaii Bowl in Honolulu in what is essentially a road game as they take on the Hawai'i Warriors on Christmas Eve.  The Irish have struggled mightily in the second half of the season but are looking to snap their 9-game bowl losing streak.  Hawai'i finished the season strong by winning 3 of their last 4 games and pushing Big East champion Cincinnati to the limit before falling 29-24. 

Notre Dame Season Recap

            The Irish season, while an improvement over a dismal 2007, was still a very disappointing campaign against a historically weak schedule.  The Irish fell apart in the second half of the season, going 1-4 in the last 5 games of the season after a 5-2 start.  The season ended with a coaching controversy that ended when it was announced that Head Coach Charlie Weis would be retained for the upcoming season, a decision that was met with disappointment from much of the Irish fan base.  There will certainly be changes on the coaching staff in the off-season, which has already started with Offensive Coordinator Michael Haywood accepting the head coaching position at Miami (OH). 

            The Irish season started off on alarming note with a major struggle against San Diego State in the season opener.  The Irish needed a forced fumble at the goal-line in the 4^th quarter and a late comeback to overcome the Aztecs 21-13, one week after SDSU had lost to D-1AA Cal Poly.  This was a concerning start and the Irish faithful needed to see more the next week with Michigan coming to town.  The Irish took an early lead thanks to a plethora of Michigan fumbles (7 to be exact) and held on through a 2^nd half monsoon for a 35-17 win.  The Irish then went to Michigan State and had turnover trouble and no success trying to stop Javon Ringer in a 23-7 loss.

            The Irish came back to South Bend and recorded 2 straight wins (38-21 over Purdue, and 28-21 over Stanford) to run their record to 4-1.  The turning point of the season came at Chapel Hill the next week as the Irish blew a big early lead to fall 29-24 at North Carolina.  The Irish won 33-7 at Washington the next week but that was against one of the worst teams in the nation.  Then, the Irish suffered a heart-breaking, 36-33 4OT home loss against Pitt which seemed to kill the motivation of the Irish.  The Irish had an embarrassing 17-0 loss at Boston College the week after, and then squeaked by Navy 27-21.  The worst game of the season followed as the Irish lost 24-23 at home to Syracuse, an absolutely horrendous football team.   This was followed by a thorough beating by USC in a 38-3 loss at the LA Coliseum. 

            The Irish finished 6-6 but lost to several teams that they should have beaten including UNC, Pitt, BC, and certainly Syracuse.  The loss to Syracuse and the embarrassing performance against USC were the main reasons why so many Irish fans wanted Weis fired, especially in conjunction with the 3-9 season in 2007.  Bottom line...this season was not nearly as good as it should have been, and while 6-6 is an improvement over 3-9, against the pathetic schedule that the Irish played this season, it is not nearly good enough. 

Bowl Preview

            The Irish have the edge in talent pretty much across the board against the Warriors, except maybe at linebacker.  However, the Irish come into this game struggling, while the Warriors are flying high.  The Irish do welcome back (Fr. WR #3) Michael Floyd and (So. ILB #58) Brian Smith from injury which will provide a boost to both the offense and the defense.

Hawai'i offense against Notre Dame defense

            The Irish should be able to slow down the Warriors offense, but the Warriors' depth at wide receiver is a cause for concern.  The Hawai'i running game should not be able to get anything going against the ND defensive line as the weakest part of the Warriors' team is its offensive line.  The Irish should also be able to generate some pressure against Greg Alexander at quarterback but need to be careful against quick hitters to the Warriors' numerous capable wide receivers.  The Irish secondary is the strength of the defense but they do not have the depth at cornerback behind (Jr. CB #8) Raeshon McNeil and (Fr. CB #12) Robert Blanton to match up against 4 and 5 receiver sets.  The Irish also need to be careful of Alexander's scrambling ability, although he is not a big play threat to run the ball.

Notre Dame offense against Hawai'i defense

            The Irish will likely continue to struggle to generate a consistent running game as Hawai'i has a pretty good rushing defense led by MLB Solomon Elimimian and massive DTs Keala Watson and Joshua Leonard.  The Irish will need to concentrate on the passing game, which struggled down the stretch.  (So. QB #7) Jimmy Clausen threw 2 touchdowns against 8 interceptions in the last four games of the season and has struggled ever since the second half of the North Carolina game.  Getting back Floyd from injury should help significantly but the Irish will need Floyd and (So. WR #23) Golden Tate to find a way to get open against a defense that will be dedicated to shutting them down.  The Irish will need to use play-action and hope that they can break some big plays in the running game, although I would not bet on it.

Prediction

            Hawai'i is playing at home and has much more to play for in this game as they look to knock off the Fighting Irish.  However, the Irish are the more talented team almost across the board and should win this game easily.  That being said, the Irish have underperformed for months now and I see no reason why that will stop.  I think this a hard fought game but the Irish fail once again to close out a game they can win.

Hawai'i 24, Notre Dame 21