my work building's server has been having major problems connecting with the TPG server so I've been accessing the site lately through Google Translate. As such, I can't log in or post, but I've got to tell you guys that most of your stuff really carries over well anyway. Prefiero darle la mano a la polla de un vagabundo, indeed.

Now, with that said, here are a couple of my thoughts:

- We look good but we still have a little bit longer to go. The approximation I'd draw is that it's like we're up by 7 points at halftime of a big game, and we've looked good doing it. All indicators are that we can finish out and establish some "make the world notice" momentum, but there is still the scary possibility that thing could fall apart as well.

- If we can roll into Stanford at 10-1, it will be a huge accomplishment not only because of the sterling record (and playing a NC-meaningful game post-Halloween (hell, post Thanksgiving)), but also because that will mean we didn't drop any medium or medium-easy games for the second time in Kelly,s tenure, and the 2nd time in four years. In a lot of ways it's really kind of an appropriate challenge for us.

- If we can finish this thing out strong 201 is just near enough in the rear view mirror that a lot of program barometers can remain in great shape. We've taken 3 of 4 vs. USC, we could take 3 of 4 from Stanford, Top 5 2 of 4 years, Top 20 3 of 4 years, etc. That's high level achievement with almost two entirely different groups of players. For, say, the high school graduating class of 2017, ND will have been *relevant* (And not just 'ND Relevant™') from the time they were in Junior High all the way through high school. That's a lifetime to high school kids.

- One takeaway from the season so far is that in Year 6 Kelly can still get the team to respond and battle through adversity. Obviously, last year we had our problems with that. That's a big deal -- usually that is a one way street one way or the other.

- Another: special teams has been reversed from a weakness to a strength. It might not be a permanent, but it is a nice example of the leopard changing spots. Hopefully that spreads to stuff like red zone efficiency/turnovers/etc. The red zone and turnovers issues seem like the only things that can derail this team -- or this program -- right now.

- Another: we brought a ton of programmatic resources to bear to solve the triple option in a practical, sustainable way (and, I'll add, one that didn't end up giving us a hangover the following week). That is the definition of "acting like a have" and is a nice and imaginatively thought out piece of program infrastructure. Regardless of what happens with the rest of the season (or Kelly's tenure), the SWAG team should be part of ND Football in perpetuity.

- the RKG idea seems to be an undeniable success at this point. As KGB pointed out, we have a 3* safety recruit and low 3* WR recruit in the Top 3 at their position, nationally, and we've got a low 4* QB recruit who has only really been receiving college reps for 2.5 months playing like a Top 20 QB in the country. I think at this point, so long as we're hitting our numbers (something we haven't always been great at) and retaining guys we should almost wholly stop worrying about recruiting. E.g., we should stop questioning the 'quality' of recruits, but I think straight whiffs ad certain positions have and may continue to hurt us.

- Most of the staff changes from this offseason seem to have been major, major upgrades. Denson looks like a keeper for sure. Sanford seems to be doing great things with the QBs as well as with the offense/playcalling. Gilmore's DL has played pretty well so far. Elliot has obviously excelled in his new role. The jury is still out on Lyght, Elston as LB coach and BVG overall, but we also don't know for sure that we have any weak links on staff right now. That's not everything, but it's not nothing either.

1.)

That was fun.
2.)

Okay, maybe that's a little too extreme but who would have thought that our last 6 games would be tougher than our first? We've got ranked Temple and Pitt, BC with a great D and Stanford who suddenly looks like a playoff team. Could be fun.

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That would be only the 4th double digit win season since 1993, or, in the lives of just about any player on the team. I realize hitting that threshold isn't impressive to many and isn't where ND's ultimate goals should be, but it is still something that has eluded ND more often than not for the past 22 years. Even if 10-2 was the so-called "floor" prediction for people expecting this veteran squad to make a playoff run, getting to that level with the injuries the team has had is a sign of program strength I think.

And yet, I think ND still needs to "get over the hump" sooner rather than later. Maybe it's possible that Kelly is a 9 or 10, maybe 11, win coach at ND until we each tire of each other. But if he's going to be the guy to get ND all the way back (and I have to think he really wants that feather in his cap) he is running out of chances. At some point more and more elite recruits are going to just assume he's going to move on (see: Johnson, Hunter) and the task of getting to the playoffs is going to just get harder.

A strong close to this year, such as beating Stanford and getting to the playoffs (or winning a big bowl game), will give ND a lot more public credibility that I still don't think it has. The last two recruiting classes have been solid, but ND still needs a few more stud players to really put it up to the next level of program where we all want it to be. And landing top recruits gives a program a much higher chance of producing those stud players.

The foundation is set. The walls are up and the roof isn't leaking anymore. Now Kelly needs to put on the finishing touches so the program has some great curb appeal.

We're about to run off a string of double-digit win seasons. We're really healthy at just about every offensive position, and our ability to maintain a high level of play throughout all the injuries this season really speaks to Kelly's talent ID and development process.

The big concerns for maintaining this going forward are, in my mind, threefold: 1) building up depth and identifying contributors for the secondary, 2) amassing talent, particularly some pass rushing talent, on the DL, and 3) finding a way to keep all 3 QBs on the roster and engaged over the next 2 years.

I think this incoming recruiting class will help a great deal with #1. #2 is always going to be a problem for ND and definitely gets an incomplete. #3 is going to be the biggest offseason story for at least this offseason, if not the next as well.

We finally got over the post-Navy blues. Our previous results under BK in the game following Navy were:

2010 - terrible home loss to Tulsa
2011 - one-score road win over lousy Wake team
2012 - terrifying OT win over a bad Purdue team
2013 - disappointing road loss to Pitt-y Pitt team
2014 - ravaged by ASU on the road, thus beginning our late-season implosion

To be blunt, the games above encompass a lot of the worst moments of Kelly's entire tenure. I don't know what the coaches or players did differently to prepare time around, but even in spite of the lapses on Saturday night, the win over SC represents our best post-Navy performance practically by default. So credit to them for making amends, because the scheduling didn't do us any favors with that combo pack.

when we were 6-1 like we are now.

That this year happened early and last year happened late.

Because we have had another year to build depth and leverage strong recruiting classes.

The best thing for the future is how good our offensive line is into the third string. Nelson goes out, Bars comes in and we don't miss a step. Bars goes out, back comes Nelson, but even if he wasn't able to, the word is that McGovern would be more than capable. I feel like we have finally gotten to the "real" Notre Dame where our OL can dominate the line of scrimmage like it did for so many years under Ara/Devine/Holtz.

We also have scary depth at receiver, like I don't think I've ever seen. We have at least four NFL caliber receivers playing regularly right now.

It seems crazy to think that it took 5+ seasons for Kelly to finally get a guy who can run what he wants but as I watched kizer running the zone read on Saturday night I felt as though that might be the case.

Crist/Reese/Golson were all stopgap solutions who reached varying levels of effectiveness. I know Kizer had some rough stretches on Saturday but its important to remember that the kid had second team reps for 1 fall and had played 4.5 games before Saturday. His ability to run was keeping the safeties honest and opening 1 on 1 shots all over the field. It's hard not to be pretty encouraged (at least offensively) thinking about Kizer/Zaire and Wimbush.

Defensively I'm petrified as we are set to lose at least the 2 best players off of a pretty avg defense. Recruiting misses over the past couple of year has left some holes. If he can somehow plug them I think there is a chance for him to run off a succession of double digit win seasons.

Good to see you on Saturday. Great day and night down there.

But if I had been presented in August with our current roster of injuries and told we would be 6-1 with solid wins over Texas, Georgia Tech, USC and Navy (who I always thought was going to be one of our tougher games this season) and just a narrow loss to Clemson in tough weather, I probably wouldn't have believed it.

I've always thought that Brian Kelly could have an entire career at ND that was essentially thankless. He had to rebuild the whole thing from the ground floor up in the Internet age, with tougher restrictions than virtually any other school. It's always been a possibility that his hard work only means that the next guy is the one who reaches the summit.

The lengths that we have come since the Weis and Ty eras are pretty significant, especially in terms of overall depth. There are still concerns, like bad secondary play, lack of DL rotation, dropped passes, and some quizzical game management and roster decisions (which have sometimes verged on the Brey-ian).

But I feel like the days are gone where I watch some other team with explosive players and say, "Why can't ND do that?" It feels like BK finally has a program blueprint in place, that he can recruit to and play to each and every week.

A caveat on the last point: I'm not excusing him for all the problems over the last six seasons and placing it all on "bad luck." Some things have definitely been his fault (Tulsa and Navy 2010, limiting recruiting profiles, etc.) but at least he does things full bore and with confidence.

As a noted defense pessimist, I'm much more bullish on the defense than I was heading into the season both short and long term. The most challenging tests for this defense (Clemson and USC) are behind us, at least from a skill perspective. Assuming no slew of injuries, I have faith that BVG and company will put forward a decent effort against Stanford to conclude the season.

I know we'll lose some very good players in the offseason -- Day, Smith, Schumate, and Russell. Overall though, I'm excited to see where BVG takes this defense moving forward. Even with the loss of Smith, I suspect we'll be able to upgrade overall linebacker play from here on out.

I'm officially glad we have BVG over Diaco at this point.

but this team is extremely mentally tough.

Facing countless injuries throughout the course of the season, the team has remained resilient. We overcame the loss of our quarterback in the second game of the season, fought back against an extremely talented Clemson team in a monsoon, and convincingly beat our archrival by 10 after giving up dumb touchdowns. That's a huge credit to the coaching staff and the culture Brian Kelly has instilled.

As far as where we're going, the exciting thing is that there is room for improvement still on both sides of the ball. And I think we're going to see that happen.

It's loaded. Line is giving Kizer all day, Fuller is a first-team All American, Brown is a Stovall type who does everything well, and Prosise is drawing Reggie Brooks comparisons.

The defense is limited, but they shouldn't face another really tough test until Stanford.

Depending on how the sport as a whole plays out, Stanford could be a playoff play-in game.

Given the injuries, I think this is a better head coaching job so far than 2012.

More specifics:

They have to start better, defensively. Stanford cannot jump out with 21+ in the first half -- they're mentally stronger than SC, and they can be expected to pose a tougher test for the offense. Same for BC. BC is terrible on offense, but scoring on them won't be easy.

I was very happy with CJ's inside run for a TD against Stanford. An incomplete running game, even with great ypc, is a vulnerability.

I am thrilled with the way Chris Brown plays. His blocking is solid. He has excellent hands. And he's one of the better non-captain leaders.

TE play needs to improve. Jones is developing and needs to continue to do so. Would like to see more from Weishar.

I would like to see them increase Adams's and Williams's carries. CJ will be critical late in the season.

I don't think Shumate has been as consistent as we need. He makes some excellent plays and is out of position on others. Redfield draws more criticism, but I think there's enough to go around at Safety.

Glad to see a big game from Russell against SC. He hasn't been his old self this year.

I think it's time to throw Morgan and Coney out there and see what they can handle in a game. It'll be necessary eventually, and we don't have that much to lose. Schmidt and Onwualu simply aren't producing.

We miss Tillery. There's a noticeable drop from him to Cage.

Day is the best player on the team.

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