Piratey touched on this in another thread, but I think it deserves its own. Going back to 1972, this is the most dominant ND has been in the 1st four games of the season. Here is a look at every year back to 1988, then you have to take my word it goes to 1972, I got tired of tracking it fully.

 

2014 - 4-0 +96 scoring margin.

2013 - 3-1 +22

2012 - 4-0 +67

2011 - 2-2 +14

2010 - 1-3 +15

2009 - 3-1 +37

2008 - 3-1 +27

2007 - 0-4 -109 YIKES!

2006 - 3-1 +5

2005 - 3-1 +46

2004 - 3-1 +47

2003 - 1-3 -49

2002 - 4-0 +35

2001 - 1-3 -28

2000 - 2-2 +7

1999 - 1-3 +19

1998 - 3-1 +17

1997 - 1-3 -30

1996 - 3-1 +32

1995 - 3-1 +74

1994 - 3-1 +44

1993 - 4-0 +48

1992 - 3-0-1 +104

1991 - 3-1 +79

1990 - 3-1 +28

1989 - 4-0 +69

1988 - 4-0 +92

 

1973 - 4-0 +89

1972 - 4-0 +100

 

The 4-0 starts are highlighted in blue. So this is the best start in 33 years for an Irish football team. 1992 gets noted, but that team had a tie, so they didn't start 4-0.

 

Just something to think about.

I guess I am in a funk or something cause those numbers "should" make me feel a lot better about 2014 as a whole, but what I am seeing on the field is not what I would consider dominating.

 

I know ND is putting up points, and preventing teams from doing the same.....but this team has some frustratingly glaring issues, and I have this feeling ND is going into a stretch on the schedule that is really going to be ugly.

 

Maybe I just need therapy!?!?!?!

 

EDIT: Great work and Thank you for pulling this data together!

So this is the best start in 33 years for an Irish football team. 1992 gets noted, but that team had a tie, so they didn't start 4-0.

 

Make that 42 years, right? Great compilation, Cory, and thanks for the work. I think you were safe skipping the Faust years; good call.

Make that 42 years, right? Great compilation, Cory, and thanks for the work. I think you were safe skipping the Faust years; good call.

 

Well yes, if you want to use traditional mathematical models.

 

Obviously the competition levels weren't the same every year, most seasons had a highly ranked Michigan team in the first 4 games, but it still gives a sense of where this team stands.

I guess I am in a funk or something cause those numbers "should" make me feel a lot better about 2014 as a whole, but what I am seeing on the field is not what I would consider dominating.

 

I know ND is putting up points, and preventing teams from doing the same.....but this team has some frustratingly glaring issues, and I have this feeling ND is going into a stretch on the schedule that is really going to be ugly.

 

Maybe I just need therapy!?!?!?!

 

EDIT: Great work and Thank you for pulling this data together!

 

I'm with you. For whatever reason I seem to be overly cynical, sort of just waiting for the other shoe to drop. I did it all of 2012 too.

 

Also I've noticed, especially when watching other games, but I'm FAR more critical of anything ND does as compared to other teams. I can just casually watch them and appreciate the game.

 

When I watch ND, I nitpick every single play and drive myself crazy.

I guess I am in a funk or something cause those numbers "should" make me feel a lot better about 2014 as a whole, but what I am seeing on the field is not what I would consider dominating.

 

I know ND is putting up points, and preventing teams from doing the same.....but this team has some frustratingly glaring issues, and I have this feeling ND is going into a stretch on the schedule that is really going to be ugly.

Maybe I just need therapy!?!?!?!

 

EDIT: Great work and Thank you for pulling this data together!

 

No team is perfect... I think too often, in this era of 24/7 coverage and forums, we look to everything and anything to nitpick. If you go back to '93, we only mustered 17 points against a crappy 1-10 Purdue. We only beat a 8-4 Michigan team by 4

 

In 88 we only beat a 6-5 Pitt team by 10. We only scored 22 against Navy!

 

It's a long season. We're not going to be crisp every snap or every game. We got out of the swamps of New Jersey with an easy 16 point win, despite -4 turnovers.

 

We focus so much on the issues because, well, they are more fun to talk about. But this team looks good, better than any Irish team in my life. If we beat Stanford by more than 10, I think it's time to start dreaming big. You can forgive a team that can't run if the short passing game is as proficient as ours seems to be

Too early to GLOAT about our domination----

 

Michigan is a freakin basket case--maybe the WORST Michigan team I have seen in recent memory

 

And the other three were set up to be beaten soundly.....

 

Lets hold onto the gloating till we power through the next three TOUGHER games.

 

REMEMBER---we are scoring lots of points----WHY

 

ITS NOT OUR ANEMIC RUNNING GAME

ITS NOT OUR SKETCHY OLINE DOMINATING THE LOS

ITS NOT KELLYs INNOVATIVE OFFENSE

 

THERE IS ONLY ONE SINGLE REASON WE HAVE THOSE 30 PLUS EACH GAME

 

Everett Golson is PLAYING AT THE BEST QB LEVEL we have had maybe EVER!!!!!

 

yes that's right----maybe ever---the guy is unconscious and on his off day, his FLAT DAY. his SLOPPY day he nearly sets the FBS consecutive completion record & throws for nearly 400 and 4 TDS

 

He is just out of his mind back there.....

 

This team is essentially a ONE MAN OFFENSE----lose your best receiver to suspension no problem for EG who makes a star out of AMIR--lose AMIR to injury NO PROBLEM FOR EG he drops them in the bucket for the next wave of guys...

 

GOLSON MAY NOT BE THE BEST QB ND HAS EVER FIELDED---But over the last four games he is playing, and playmaking, better then any QB has even led any ND team through its first 4 games!!!!

 

A one man offense in Golson

And a YOUNG DEFENSE that is playing like the freakin BALTIMORE RAVENS-------

 

Its an awesome mix .....but if the defense comes back to reality against a roster filled with better talent then the teams we have seen so far---and IF---that's GOD FORBID IF, some defense finds a way to contain EG ---we can quickly become a vulnerable team with no back up plan.

 

Stanford has the DEFENSE to slow golson---lets see if they can

 

FSU at HOME has both the atmosphere and the offensive talent to overwhelm our young defense-----a defense that showed vulnerability against a horrible purdue team....and could--that's COULD find itself in over their head down in the panhandle.

 

CONSISENT DEFENSIVE PLAY---and keeping GOLSON UPRIGHT & HEALTHY and we will be hard to beat.....

 

Stanford will set the stage..... a win there and we are on our way

 

FSU IS THE STAGE ---an upset win there and we will be sitting on top of the football world......

 

ITS TIME TO BE EXCITED WITH EG & BVG AND HIS BAND....BUT ITS NOT TIME TO GLOAT !!

 

These next three games will tell the story if we are a GOOD team with a GREAT QB----or a GREAT TEAM with a GREAT QB!!!

 

Hold onto your seat belts cause the next three weeks are going to be heart attack city......

 

ALOHA's go irish!!

Edited September 29, 201410 yr by hawaiiirish

That is a fair point Hawaii. At this point, this is not the best team ND has fielded since 1992. Maybe not even since 2012.

 

However, I was merely pointing out that you'd have to go back 40+ years to find a Notre Dame team that started in this fashion. That says nothing about where they will finish or how they will arrive there.

 

But when you can search for 40 years and not find something, that means something, even if it is just for these four games.

yep it means plenty, I agree---I have been watching this team with a bit of amazement------

 

Its hard to believe the defensive performance with so much youth----I guess SPEED and ENTHUSIASM schemed by a talented DC can do more then NFL guys protecting themselves from injury.

 

And GOLSON is simply an awesome talent....

 

Its a potent mix as I said----if we beat this nemesis of a Stanford team that's not really great but a big step up from the others--I will have a difficult time containing my optimism for whats possible.....

 

this week is huge in my book

 

aloha'

The best part of what you present cory is the reminder that this is the worst Michigan team that any of the better teams on that list would have faced. Add to that the fact that a number of the previously successful ND teams had MSU on their schedule and it does help put things into perspective. However, it's hard to not begin to grow excited about how all other teams in the 4-0 & 60+ crowd have done over the last 40 years.

 

As a response to Hawaii, despite our flaws, we very well might have the best QB in the country. The teams that can say that tend to do pretty well most seasons. Here's hoping that this turns out to be the case, on both counts.

Too early to GLOAT about our domination----

 

Michigan is a freakin basket case--maybe the WORST Michigan team I have seen in recent memory

 

And the other three were set up to be beaten soundly.....

 

Lets hold onto the gloating till we power through the next three TOUGHER games.

 

REMEMBER---we are scoring lots of points----WHY

 

ITS NOT OUR ANEMIC RUNNING GAME

ITS NOT OUR SKETCHY OLINE DOMINATING THE LOS

ITS NOT KELLYs INNOVATIVE OFFENSE

 

THERE IS ONLY ONE SINGLE REASON WE HAVE THOSE 30 PLUS EACH GAME

 

Everett Golson is PLAYING AT THE BEST QB LEVEL we have had maybe EVER!!!!!

 

yes that's right----maybe ever---the guy is unconscious and on his off day, his FLAT DAY. his SLOPPY day he nearly sets the FBS consecutive completion record & throws for nearly 400 and 4 TDS

 

He is just out of his mind back there.....

 

This team is essentially a ONE MAN OFFENSE----lose your best receiver to suspension no problem for EG who makes a star out of AMIR--lose AMIR to injury NO PROBLEM FOR EG he drops them in the bucket for the next wave of guys...

 

GOLSON MAY NOT BE THE BEST QB ND HAS EVER FIELDED---But over the last four games he is playing, and playmaking, better then any QB has even led any ND team through its first 4 games!!!!

 

A one man offense in Golson

And a YOUNG DEFENSE that is playing like the freakin BALTIMORE RAVENS-------

 

Its an awesome mix .....but if the defense comes back to reality against a roster filled with better talent then the teams we have seen so far---and IF---that's GOD FORBID IF, some defense finds a way to contain EG ---we can quickly become a vulnerable team with no back up plan.

 

Stanford has the DEFENSE to slow golson---lets see if they can

 

FSU at HOME has both the atmosphere and the offensive talent to overwhelm our young defense-----a defense that showed vulnerability against a horrible purdue team....and could--that's COULD find itself in over their head down in the panhandle.

 

CONSISENT DEFENSIVE PLAY---and keeping GOLSON UPRIGHT & HEALTHY and we will be hard to beat.....

 

Stanford will set the stage..... a win there and we are on our way

 

FSU IS THE STAGE ---an upset win there and we will be sitting on top of the football world......

 

ITS TIME TO BE EXCITED WITH EG & BVG AND HIS BAND....BUT ITS NOT TIME TO GLOAT !!

 

These next three games will tell the story if we are a GOOD team with a GREAT QB----or a GREAT TEAM with a GREAT QB!!!

 

Hold onto your seat belts cause the next three weeks are going to be heart attack city......

 

ALOHA's go irish!!

 

 

Come back to earth? Four games is an ample sample size. This defense has shown no real flaw. It's fought through adversity and has come up big.

 

And how can Kelly get absolutely no credit for his game plans? Teams haven't had an answer for our game plan in any given week. It's not like Golson is out there playing Sandlot football for god sake. Who dialed up all those short passes on Sunday?

 

Amir has hardly been a "star" that right is solely and completely reserved for William Fuller. Amir has 11 catches in 3 games...

 

Fuller has lead the team in yards in every game but Purdue(Robinson had 1 more yard) he's caught a TD in every game(5 on the season) He has 13 catches of over 10 yards, 5 over 15 and 2 over 25.

 

 

This notion that it's all Golson with no credit to Kelly is vapid analysis. Kelly had a game plan that should have yielded 50+ points against 'Cuse. Kelly had a game plan that should have done the same to Purdon't. This is the offense we wanted. We saw the bubble screens. We saw the jet sweeps. We saw the zone read. We saw everything on Saturday. That offense was more dynamic than anything we've ever seen. The one missing link is the option pitch, we'll see it on Saturday, I guarantee it

 

Come back to earth? Four games is an ample sample size. This defense has shown no real flaw. It's fought through adversity and has come up big.

 

And how can Kelly get absolutely no credit for his game plans? Teams haven't had an answer for our game plan in any given week. It's not like Golson is out there playing Sandlot football for god sake. Who dialed up all those short passes on Sunday?

 

Amir has hardly been a "star" that right is solely and completely reserved for William Fuller. Amir has 11 catches in 3 games...

 

Fuller has lead the team in yards in every game but Purdue(Robinson had 1 more yard) he's caught a TD in every game(5 on the season) He has 13 catches of over 10 yards, 5 over 15 and 2 over 25.

 

 

This notion that it's all Golson with no credit to Kelly is vapid analysis. Kelly had a game plan that should have yielded 50+ points against 'Cuse. Kelly had a game plan that should have done the same to Purdon't. This is the offense we wanted. We saw the bubble screens. We saw the jet sweeps. We saw the zone read. We saw everything on Saturday. That offense was more dynamic than anything we've ever seen. The one missing link is the option pitch, we'll see it on Saturday, I guarantee it

 

:thumb: :thumb:

All those numbers won't mean doodly squat IF the Irish lose on Saturday.

Edited October 1, 201410 yr by ndmike88

4 games is a good enough sample size to make a few points clearly piratey--- Golson is terrific----Kelly's has had the same offense and the same playbook since he arrived Piratey---WITHOUT DOUBT the reason we have been effective is Golson's spectacular play---geez the guy is uncanny accurate, beats blitzes that would stifle other QBs, often burns blitzes---throws TD passes--puts passes right on the mark so we have almost as many DROPS as we have inaccurate passes----

 

Kelly gets credit for coaching & recruiting golson but if you think the reason we have had success is because of OFFENSIVE DESIGN MORE THEN STELLAR QB PLAY--I do not agree with that at all.

 

the won loss record of the 4 teams we have played collectively is NOT GOOD PIRATEY---and although its a sample size that makes the point we SHOULD NOT LOSE to an inferior team like in years past, that I think is well established---

 

But will the success we have had translate against Stanford/UNC and FSU---that sample size of better teams is more what you need to make projections for our OBVIOUSlY BACK LOADED SCHEDULE---

 

Projections on how we play against ASU/Louisville/ & USC will be clearer after the next threes games----

 

First four games tells us good things--good things about EG--good things about our defense--good things about how we will play against the weaker squads---

 

BUT IT DOES NOT TELL US HOW WE WILL HANDLE STANFORD or HOW WE WILL PERFORM UNDER THE AWAY PRESSURE AT FSU and their offense----

 

for those answers we have to wait and see, its simply folly to think you can project from the first four, stellar performances for the next three---

 

I am optimistic---but I am not gloating by any stretch of the imagination--

 

I GUARANTEE the next three will be far more challenging and far more competitive then the first four-----

 

IF We win all those then we may be heading to the playoffs---

 

BUT THATS A BIG IF__

 

aloha's

Edited September 29, 201410 yr by hawaiiirish

4 games is a good enough sample size to make a few points clearly piratey--- Golson is terrific----Kelly's has had the same offense and the same playbook since he arrived Piratey---WITHOUT DOUBT the reason we have been effective is Golson's spectacular play---geez the guy is uncanny accurate, beats blitzes that would stifle other QBs, often burns blitzes---throws TD passes--puts passes right on the mark so we have almost as many DROPS as we have inaccurate passes----

 

Kelly gets credit for coaching & recruiting golson but if you think the reason we have had success is because of OFFENSIVE DESIGN MORE THEN STELLAR QB PLAY--I do not agree with that at all.

 

the won loss record of the 4 teams we have played collectively is NOT GOOD PIRATEY---and although its a sample size that makes the point we SHOULD NOT LOSE to an inferior team like in years past, that I think is well established---

 

But will the success we have had translate against Stanford/UNC and FSU---that sample size of better teams is more what you need to make projections for our OBVIOUSlY BACK LOADED SCHEDULE---

 

How we play against ASU/Louisville/ & USC will clarify many things----

 

First four games tells us good things--good things about EG--good things about our defense--good things about how we will play against the weaker squads---

 

BUT IT DOES NOT TELL US HOW WE WILL HANDLE STANFORD or HOW WE WILL PERFORM UNDER THE AWAY PRESSURE AT FSU and their offense----

 

for those answers we have to wait and see, its simply folly to think you can project from the first four, stellar performances for the next three---

 

I am optimistic---but I am not gloating by any stretch of the imagination--

 

I GUARANTEE the next three will be far more challenging and far more competitive then the first four-----

 

IF We win all those then we may be heading to the playoffs---

 

BUT THATS A BIG IF__

 

aloha's

 

Deep breath hawaii, you're reaching and even contradicting yourself. You yourself in the offseason that the offense would have an expanded playbook

 

This is the same playbook as last year? Really? Same playbook as 2012? As 2011? As 2010? Are you out of your mind? Was Tommy Rees capable of running a 1/3 of the playbook? No. Did Dayne Crist have the touch to throw a bubble screen? No.

 

Kelly was essentially handcuffed for the last four years, he didn't have a QB capable of running his system. He's got one now.

 

Golson has been what you expect an upper tier QB to look like. Go watch some Kenny Hill, watch some Mariota, watch some other teams that run spread offenses. This is how things are suppose to work... Did you watch even watch Zach Collaros run Kelly's offense at Cincy? How about Dan LeFevour at CMU? This is what it looks like. This is why so many of us were pissed because what we ran the last 4 years looked nothing like this, which is what he used to run.

 

I'm sorry but you're just incorrect in saying that this isn't about scheme. That Syracuse game was dictated by scheme. That doesn't diminish Golson's impact, he ran it very well, but Kelly has put him in positions to succeed all season and he has come through. It's a 50/50 split.

Edited September 29, 201410 yr by piratey