Daily Domer: Questions to Bowl You Over

FanHouse writer John Walters is living in South Bend, Ind., during one of the most pivotal seasons in Notre Dame history. Check back daily for his dispatches on the Irish.

SOUTH BEND, Ind. -- At 8-4 or 7-5, Notre Dame is bowl-eligible ("Hellllllo, Jacksonville!"). At 6-6, the Fighting Irish are bowl-execrable. The Irish could accept a bowl bid with that record, but would a Notre Dame reeling from four straight defeats and a likely coaching change actually do that?

The feeling here is no.

So, while much of the inquiries to players this week have concerned the seniors' final game at Notre Dame Stadium or the status of their coach, the game with Connecticut is for all intents Notre Dame's bowl-eligible bowl. Win and you'll be wearing pads in December. Lose and you limp in to Palo Alto to face the hottest team in America.
And if the Irish do go bowling, the questions become even more intriguing.

Will Charlie Weis still be the head coach?
Will Jimmy Clausen announce before the bowl whether he will remain in school? One of the supposed advantages of a bowl game is the 15 additional practices a team gets. But if the head coach is headed out the door and the quarterback, too, and with his successor, Dayne Crist, sidelined with a torn ACL, the extra practice will be primarily for the benefit of the defense. Then again, the odds are strong that this year's defensive coordinator, Jon Tenuta, will not be next year's.

In other words, a coaching and/or quarterback change will mean that in many ways the Irish will not be getting a head start on the 2010 season with the extra practices. Last year, it seemed to help. This year? We'll see.

Slow Starts

This idea comes courtesy of my man Pete Sampson at Irish Illustrated. It is no secret that the Irish have failed to respond to the bell in the previous two games, totaling three points in the first half versus Navy and Pittsburgh.
What may have been forgotten -- although I imagine the coaching staff is aware, as is Pete -- is that the Irish offense has been no-shows in the first quarter of the previous four final home games of the Weis era.

In four games against teams with a combined record of 7-32 (1-8 Syracuse in 2005; 3-7 Army in '06; 1-9 Duke in '07; and 2-8 Syracuse in '08), the Irish in the first quarter have scored a total of three points. That's it.

So you have a troubling recent trend dovetailing with a worrisome tradition under the present head coach. The Irish might be better off low-keying the sentimental final home game for the seniors factor. They're facing an opponent that hasn't had a reason to smile since a few hours before its starting cornerback was murdered more than a month ago. That's a dangerous mix.

For the record the Irish won three of those four games. On the other hand, U Conn is the best home finale foe the Irish have faced since 2004, when Pitt came away with a 41-38 win in what would be the final game Ty Willingham coached in Notre Dame Stadium.

Decisions, Decisions

Right tackle Sam Young will start his 49th game on Saturday and if he remains injury-free, his 50th at Stanford a week later. No player in Notre Dame history has ever played in as many, much less started as many, games as Young. The Coral Springs, Fla., native is the only Notre Dame offensive lineman to ever start the season opener as a freshman and he has started every game since.

Earlier this week the personable 6-8, 320-pound redhead, who could have named his college coming out of high school, was asked if he ever wondered if he'd made the right choice. "Yeah," Young admitted. "Especially when one of my good friends plays for Florida. You come home and he's got 15 different rings."

That player, Young also noted, is the offensive lineman whose knee helped facilitate Tim Tebow's concussion, offensive tackle Marcus Gilbert.

Sighting Irish

On Wednesday, I spotted Notre Dame back-up quarterback/ninth-grade geography teacher Evan Sharpley walking to the Gug in street clothes but carrying his helmet. Was it show-and-tell day at Adams High School?...Thursday, my office (i.e., a coffee shop just off campus) was invaded by a marketing class that included safety Harrison Smith. The curious part is that Smith was the only student donning a shirt-and-tie combo.

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Latest College Football Photos

University of Cincinnati Quarterback Zach Collaros appears before Judge Bernie Bouchard in Hamilton County Municipal Court, Thursday, Nov. 19, 2009 in Cincinnati. The judge has warned Collaros that he could spend the bowl season in jail for failing to begin a court-ordered program on underage drinking. (AP Photo/The Enquirer, Malinda Hartong)

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Latest College Football Images

In this photo taken on Dec. 2, 2007, Bo Pelini, left, is is directed to the podium by Nebraska athletic director Tom Osborne, right, as Pelini is introduced as the school's new head football coach during a news conference in Lincoln, Neb. Though Osborne downplays his influence, Pelini welcomes any and all advice from his athletic director, who happens to be a Hall-of-Fame coach. (AP Photo/Nati Harnik)

In this photo taken on Nov. 7, 2009, Notre Dame quarterback Jimmy Clausen waits for the snap from center Eric Olsen (55) during the second quarter of an NCAA college football game in South Bend, Ind. Olsen didn't arrive at Notre Dame with much fanfare, but he has been the steadying force on an offensive line that's had its ups and downs this season. (AP Photo/Darron Cummings)

In this photo taken on Nov. 7, 2009, Notre Dame quarterback Jimmy Clausen, left, talks with center Eric Olsen during the fourth quarter of an NCAA college football game in South Bend, Ind. Olsen didn't arrive at Notre Dame with much fanfare, but he has been the steadying force on an offensive line that's had its ups and downs this season. (AP Photo/Darron Cummings)

Kelly Adams wipes a tear during a Bonfire Remembrance Ceremony Tuesday, Nov. 17, 2009 in College Station, Texas. Adams' sister-in-law, Miranda Adams, was one of twelve A&M students who died when the bonfire, traditionally burned on the eve of their NCAA college football game against Texas, collapsed during construction Nov. 18, 1999. (AP Photo/Dave Einsel)

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Will Hurd, left, and Brent Lanier, right, join the crowd in a standing ovation for Richard West, center, after he addressed a Bonfire Remembrance Ceremony Tuesday, Nov. 17, 2009 in College Station, Texas. West's son, Nathan, was one of twelve A&M students who died when the bonfire, traditionally burned on the eve of their NCAA college football game against Texas, collapsed during construction Nov. 18, 1999. (AP Photo/Dave Einsel)

Texas A&M former student Kenny Williamson, left, and Heather Morris, right, pause at a marker for Timothy Kerlee, Jr. at the Texas A&M Bonfire Memorial Tuesday, Nov. 17, 2009 in College Station. Kerlee, a classmate of Williamson, was one of twelve A&M students who died when the Bonfire, traditionally burned on the eve of their NCAA college football game against Texas, collapsed during construction Nov. 18, 1999. (AP Photo/Dave Einsel)