Irish still have a lot of work to do.

While I did not drink the Kool-Aid when it came to the hiring of Brian Kelly the way I did when Notre Dame brought in Charlie Weis, but I have to admit I did take a sip.
That sip was enough to make me believe that, while they would not come close to a national title, that the Irish would be much improved over last season. After the three games, that has proven not to be the case.
Notre Dame is that same team that does well enough offensively to be in every ballgame, but gives up big plays defensively and makes enough mistakes on both sides of the ball to make what should be close wins close losses and what should be big wins simply close wins.
Sure, Notre Dame is in the top-25 in the nation in total offense. Ok, they have the eighth-best passing attack in the nation. This team needs to be more than a statistics machine.
The Irish need to start producing, both offensively and defensively. For all those offensive yards, the Irish are 73rd in the country in scoring, behind Washington. Defensively, the Irish are 102nd in total defense, yielding 443.7 yards per game, while ranking 76th in scoring defense.
That's not to say it was all bad. The defense battled for most of the game and fared fairly well. But on several occasions, the Irish suffered breakdowns in coverage or missed tackles that led to big plays. And when the offense isn't scoring, the defense cannot give up too many big plays.
The sky is not falling in South Bend just yet. But if the Irish don't start turning some things around, with the quality of the opponents Notre Dame faces, it could be a long season.
Crist on the run
As a pro-style quarterback, Dayne Crist is used to standing in the pocket and delivering a pass. As a Charlie Weis recruit, that's what he expected to do when he took over as quarterback at Notre Dame. But with the entrance of Brian Kelly came the spread offense and the necessity for the quarterback o be able to run and to throw while on the run. The Michigan State game was further proof that Crist just isn't comfortable with that concept yet. On several occasions while on the run, Crist short hopped throws to his intended receivers, whether it be running backs, wide receivers or his big tight end Kyle Rudolph.
Riddick-ulously good
Last week, I pointed out that Theo Riddick had been a bust as a slot receiver and he needed to be a bigger part of the offense. A bigger part he became on Saturday, catching 10 passes for 128 yards and a touchdown. He showed an ability not only to make the catch, but to make defenders miss when he had the ball in his hands, a benefit of being a former running back. While he doesn't need to have 10 catches a game for the Irish to be effective offensively, he needs to be involved and continue to be a threat.