So first off, why are the Fighting Irish so bad at football?  They're really bad, I'm not sure if you noticed.

When people say "The offensive line is the most important thing in football", they're really not kidding, because when the players assigned to play offensive line do not, it tends to cause some trouble with your ability to score touchdowns.  We're putting guys out there who are of at least average talent, with a few studs thrown in, and there is no push and no protection.  If I hear one more "Well, if we had more depth..." comment, I'm going to kill someone, because that really only applies if people start getting hurt.  Yes, competition and blah blah blah, but we have five capable, seemingly healthy offensive linemen who can't block anyone.  This is not a personnel issue.

The defense's woes come from being undersized up front, on the field a lot due to the offense sucking so horribly and the fact certain veteran members of the secondary are still awful in coverage.  These are not excuses, just facts.

Well, this is worse than any season Ty had, and he got fired in his third season for going 6-6 and beating Michigan and Tennessee!  Why isn't there talk of firing Charlie Weis from Notre Dame fans?

After his first two season, Weis had an aura of invincibility around him due to the BCS bowl berths and stellar recruiting that is now most definitely gone.  People are wondering why the offense is so awful if he's some kind of genius.  I go along with the theory that the indecision at quarterback led to split time between the spread and a normal Weis offense, meaning our players never really got acquainted with what they were supposed to be doing.  There's also the chance that Weis simply doesn't know how to develop players.  It's still far too early to tell that, but again, it remains a possibility.

As far as our good friend Tyrone Willingham, don't forget that the 2004 season was his second straight sub-par showing after missing a bowl game in 2003 and ending 2002 on a rather disappointing note down the stretch.  Also, Ty's teams were consistently inconsistent, and most importantly, he was a giant wuss as a coach, as evidenced by this:

(If you weren't aware or had simply forgotten, we lost that game.  Thanks, Ty!)

Notre Dame just doesn't want to fire Charlie because he's white and Ty was black.  Notre Dame hates black people, right?

Ty Willingham was not fired because he was black (although that may have had something to do with his hiring after the little George O' Leary disaster) and Charlie Weis is not being saved from the wolves because he's white.  Most of us knew this season was going to be a down one - we didn't think it would be this down, obviously - and as long as another great recruiting class was brought in and next year turns out better, hope springs eternal.  If you want to point to factors why Weis is still around, the main one would be the University probably can't survive another coaching turnaround this quickly and, to a lesser degree, he is a Domer who lives off the blue and gold.  The Kool-Aid is very delicious in South Bend, and if you're not here, it's hard to describe how important it is for the Powers That Be, students and alumni that the coach is as insanely Irish as the rest of us.

If you Notre Dames doesn't hate black people, why'd Demetrius Jones leave?

Demetrius left because he saw that Jimmy Clausen was going to be the starting quarterback and he was about to waste another year riding the bench, especially with Dayne Crist coming in to add to the drama next year.  I don't blame him for leaving, because he obviously wants to play and that wasn't happening here, although the manner in which he left and the way he threw the program under the bus after is unacceptable.  There's some other stuff floating around, but I have no idea if any of that is true, and neither does anyone else in the media or blogosphere.  Despite the way Jones took off for Northern Illinois, I still think Kevin White should let him out of his scholarship, if only for a PR move at this point.  I understand his want to teach some sort of lesson, but if the norm becomes our former starters not getting on the bus the day of the game and enrolling at other schools, we have some serious issues.  Rob does make the great point, however, that if "How will things be handled by the University if I transfer?" is on the minds of potential Irish recruits, we don't want them anyway.

Perhaps Demetrius just wanted a fancier bus?

The whole thing is turning into an embarrassment for everyone.  Ladies... speaks some wisdom on the subject (down the page a bit).

If everyone at Notre Dame knew this season was going to be a down one.  How come all the blogs had the Irish slated in for nine wins or more?

I wondered this myself, as the predictions started rolling in that we would be winning nine or ten games, even some having us at 11-1.  Pat Forde, the new public enemy number one of Irish fans everywhere, apparently, makes note of it in this week's Dash:

Ouch.  You can't blame Irish fans too badly for thinking that our apparently offensive genius of a coach and new brilliant defensive coordinator coupled with some sweet recruits and a few wily veterans would equal at least some success.  Things had been kind of ugly for a while, so the optimism was there, although I wish it had been a little more cautiously guarded.  Despite everyone getting themselves worked into thinking we'd be BCS-bound for the third straight year, there has been talk for the last few seasons that we'd struggle this year due to nearly comical deficiencies of depth on both lines.  Throw in the fact our "wily veterans" didn't improve at all and show no signs of leadership, and there's your 0-3, unbelievably awful start.  

Is the Student Government at Notre Dame really holding a football team solidarity day?

Sadly, yes.  Instead of just reminding everyone that it's our duty to create an electric, intimidating atmosphere on Saturday, the student government decided that everyone should show support for the football team today and wear a green shirt.  Alas, everyone's actually supposed to be wearing black for an issue slightly more serious and important:

Earlier this evening, Student Government sent an email on behalf of The Shirt
Project to promote the proposed "Solidarity Day" on Thursday, Sep 20th when
students would wear The Shirt in support of the ND Football Team.

On Thursday, Sep 20th, people nationwide are also encouraged to support the Jena
6 by wearing black as a sign of solidarity in support of the students involved.

It was not the intention of Student Government to plan a day in support of ND
Football on the same day as a national movement to support the Jena 6. This was
obviously an oversight on our part, and by no means a political statement or an
attempt to overshadow the importance of this national issue.

We encourage you to support the Jena 6 protest by wearing black, in place of The
Shirt, on Thursday, Sep 20th.

Please wear The Shirt on Friday, Sep 21st, in support of the ND Football Team as
they continue their season against Michigan State on Saturday.

Again, we apologize for our grave oversight and reiterate that it was not our
intention to divert attention from the Jena 6 protest.

Oops.  Minor details.  I'm not sure why we're taking the time to show solidarity for a football team that doesn't seem to care whether they're losing by thirty or not, but hey, it's a nice thought.  They should just be happy we're all still planning on going to the game and cheering our heads off, since some of our friends are having a tailgate at their house that features multiple kegs, a multitude of grilled meats and a freaking Moon Walk.  Superfluous?  A bit.  Necessary to find ways to bring joy into your life when your football team hasn't scored an offensive touchdown yet?  Absolutey.

Where do things go from here?  Can Weis turn it around?

If you know the answer to those questions, please let me know at your earliest convenience.  You probably have a future calling as some sort of oracle or prophet - or at least killing in the stock market or on sports betting - so make the most of it.