The 2020-2021 season (assuming that it still happens) will mark the seventh year of the College Football Playoff. With six years of data under our belts and a national quarantine underway, now is as good a time as ever to draw some sweeping conclusions in an 18S series about what it takes to be a [...]
Ten years ago, Notre Dame football was in crisis. Charlie Weis had just been let go and Brian Kelly was about to start his rebuild of the program. The 2009 season was over without a bowl game and the Irish were once again stepping into the unknown. The finale of this series will discuss the [...]
Ten years ago this week, Jack Swarbrick made one of the most consequential decisions in Notre Dame football history in hiring the 29th head coach of the Fighting Irish. This installment is no longer Charlie Weis' Last Stand, but instead the first glimpse at Brian Kelly. Previous Entries Preseason Nevada Michigan Michigan State Purdue Washington [...]
When this series began, a top-25 Notre Dame under Charlie Weis walloped Nevada to begin a hopeful 2009 season. Three months later, the Irish staggered into Palo Alto after three straight losses hoping to send their doomed coach out with a victory against a growing nemesis in the West. Previous Entries Preseason Nevada Michigan Michigan [...]
Last week, the Irish lost to #12 Pitt at Heinz Field and Charlie Weis' fate was effectively sealed. As this series winds down, we'll take a look at the last home game of the Weis Era against UConn. Previous Entries Preseason Nevada Michigan Michigan State Purdue Washington USC Boston College Washington State Navy Pitt One [...]
In the previous installment of this series, Notre Dame unloaded an automatic rifle into both of its feet in losing to Navy at home. This week, the Irish were faced with a must-win game at #12 Pitt. Previous Entries Preseason Nevada Michigan Michigan State Purdue Washington USC Boston College Washington State Navy Do or Die [...]
When Charlie Weis became Notre Dame head coach in late-2004, he hired David Cutcliffe as his first offensive coordinator. Cutcliffe had just been fired by Ole Miss after his only losing season in Oxford, a mistake the Rebels would come to regret. However, Cutcliffe suffered a heart attack just before fall camp in 2005 and [...]
The title says it all, doesn't it? Ten years ago this week, Notre Dame suffered a catastrophic loss at home to Navy. It marked the true beginning of the end for the Weis era. Previous Entries Preseason Nevada Michigan Michigan State Purdue Washington USC Boston College Washington State It Can't Happen Twice, Can it? On [...]
Last week, the Irish were lucky to escape at home against Boston College in their first victory over the Eagles since 2000. The Irish went on the road to play moribund Washington State the following week, but not in Pullman. Instead, this week marked the first ever Shamrock Series game, and the final victory of [...]
Last week in this series, the Irish fell three yards short of potentially taking down 6th-ranked USC. It was Notre Dame's eighth straight loss to the Trojans, but this week Weis would get a chance to end a six-game skid to Boston College. The Unholy Decade I mentioned in the 2009 Michigan State recap that [...]
Yes, that is a twist on the title of Eric's USC Review from this past weekend. I suppose it's fitting that ten years after the Irish nearly took down a top-10 USC team in South Bend, the Trojans nearly did the same to ND last Saturday. This week's edition of Charlie Weis' Last Stand will [...]
For the past few weeks at 18Stripes, we've been chronicling Charlie Weis's fateful last year in South Bend (Click here for the awesome UW game). The next installment will be the 2009 USC-ND game when the Irish tried to knock off the title-contending Trojans in order to help save Weis' job. At the time, USC [...]
Last week, Notre Dame survived against a scrappy Purdue team despite missing several key players. Ten years ago this week, the Irish played one of the zaniest games of the last 20 years against upstart Washington. A Sark Attack The 2008 Washington Huskies might have been the worst major conference team of the BCS era. [...]
Last week in this series, the famous Tate leap into the Michigan State band was documented as the Irish downed the Spartans. This week, Notre Dame traveled to West Lafayette to take on a team preparing for their Super Bowl. Hope Springs Eternal? 2008 was a horrid season for Purdue, as the team went 4-8 [...]
Last week, the Irish were ambushed by an inferior rival in the Big House and lost their first game of 2009. Ten years ago this week, the Michigan State Spartans came to South Bend to try and extend their recent ascendance over the Irish. Nine of the Last Twelve That was the state of the [...]
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