The Irish were anointed a top 20 team in the preseason polls and there were some whispers that they could make a run to a BCS bowl game in head coach Brian Kelly's second season.
Usually another team lays a smack down on the Irish and exposes them, but that was not the case this time. Instead the Irish themselves were the team that de-railed the season.
If someone wants to see an example of a team beating themselves, yesterday's marathon, twice delayed, 23-20 home loss to South Florida would be a perfect place to start.
The Irish doubled up USF in total yards (508-254) but turned the ball over 5 times while the Bulls were turnover free.
The red zone was better off avoided for Notre Dame. Three of the five turnovers occurred in scoring position and they also added a missed field goal from close range.
The first drive of the game set the tone for the day for the Irish. They moved the ball down the field with relative ease and got inside USF's 5 yard line but saw short yardage back Jonas Grey cough up a fumble trying to get into the end zone and USF returned it 96 yards for a touchdown. The other red zone turnovers were the result of ugly interceptions. Starter Dayne Crist under threw a ball badly into the end zone that was intercepted in the second quarter, followed by 2nd half replacement Tommy Rees getting picked off inside the 5 yard line in the third quarter when the ball ricocheted off a lackadaisical T.J. Jones.
It all contributed to an extremely frustrating day in South Bend, as evidenced by Brian Kelly's red faced and enraged rants at anyone in his path (Notre Dame telecasts on NBC may need to become TV-14 if yesterday is any indication). The loss was almost harder to take than ones like the Michigan beatdown in 2006 because the Irish were clearly the better team but completely beat themselves.
Despite everything there are still positives to be taken out of the loss. Michael Floyd reasserted himself as one of the best receivers in the country and looks like a matchup nightmare for just about any corner in the country. Cierre Wood broke the 100 yard mark and scored a touchdown and showed some good burst and Tommy Rees looked very effective in his 2nd half relief duty.
No one should write off the Irish just yet. The defense looked improved and only gave up 1 offensive touchdown to the Bulls and the offense moved the ball with ease at times. If they can clean up the turnovers they could still attain the goals and expectations that were set for them in the preseason.
The problem is that at Notre Dame the expectations come almost automatically but so does the criticism when they slip up. They have a high profile opportunity Saturday night in Michigan Stadium to redeem themselves.
Another performance like yesterday's would leave them scrambling though and put any hope of a BCS berth on life support.
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