The Irish must have used up all of their luck and exhausted everyone of their nine lives in those early season comeback wins, because the last couple of potential game-winning or game-tying drives against Navy and Pittsburgh have not done so hot.  Of course, you shouldn't put yourself in a position where you constantly need fourth quarter magic, even if Golden Tate - who should be right at the top of the Heisman conversation with CJ Spiller but isn't because the Heisman is fraudulent joke that means nothing - seems to relish the opportunities.  People are concerned about Clausen leaving early, and for good reason, but can you imagine this team without Golden Tate?  He's an All-American American, who somehow makes every play you want him to and then some more.  Is there a bigger anomaly this season than his dropped passes against Michigan?  How did that even happen?  (Pass interference?....  But even then, odd.)  Amazing to think about.

Do you like how I buried the lede there?  We need to talk about the greatness of Golden, but the Weis Era - for all intents and purposes - is over.  If the Irish don't lose out, I will honestly be surprised.  Can you imagine what the crowd will be like if UConn gets an early lead?  Even before that?  And they're so due, and this is the perfect national stage to honor their fallen teammate.  The next week, the Irish's main concern with Toby Gerhart should not be whether they can stop him, but whether he'll have enough time and space to chokeslam defensive backs on his way to the endzone for touchdowns.  A once promising season has ran into a brick wall, and the only question now is when does Weis go, and how.  A resignation after the season?  A firing before Stanford?  There is no conceivable way Charlie Weis is head coach at Notre Dame next year, and if he is, the entire administration will have a mutiny on their hands.  Personally, I'm all for it, because I'll get to write headlines like "Gug Burns To Ground Following Eighth Day of Rioting," so I'm in a win-win position no matter what the outcome.

I still feel like Weis has gotten a bit of a raw deal in the luck standpoint, at least when it comes to defensive coordinator.  He's made his own bed with the atrocious special teams over the years - don't even look at the punting numbers from last night, you'll want to punt something through a window yourself - but Jon Tenuta has been such a colossal failure it's hard to even fathom it.  The defense might as well not be out there most plays, as they just sort of wait for a pass to fall incomplete or a running back to trip at the line, biding their time between allowing long touchdowns.  The blitzes are laughably ineffective and the next time a defensive back not named Kyle McCarthy makes a play on the ball will be the first this season.  

It's sort of calming that none of that really matters now.  This season is a wash, and there will be a new coach and new schemes and probably some new faces.  We have so much more to talk about, but first, I'm going to direct you to John Walters' great column last night in the aftermath of the loss  I think these are my two favorite points:

25) Do you realize that if Weis is fired, and if he refuses to accept the remainder of his salary, that A.) It would be the ultimate statement in terms of "accountability"? B) He would in effect be donating enough money to, and this is a conservative estimate, fund 50 four-year scholarships?, and C.) you and I would be living in a fantasy world of unicorns and wood nymphs?

18) Notre Dame ran six plays, all passes, on its final drive and only one ball went to Tate. This is why you lose. Unless Tate is being double-teamed by Ed Reed and Darren Sharper, you go to him.