Bagpipe Monday: Resetting Notre Dame Football Expectations

Welcome to Bagpipe Monday on One Foot Down. Friends, we can't unsee what we have just seen. The Notre Dame Fighting Irish are 4-1 after burying the Miami-Ohio Redhawks 52-17, and continue to win football games by running the ball and keeping teams out of the endzone.

Here are some stats to ponder:

• Irish ranked #14 in scoring offense with 41.4 ppg.
• Irish ranked #22 in scoring defense with 18.2 ppg.
• 4-1

Forgetting everything else that you know about the season, and concentrating on the three numbers that matter most: points scored, points allowed, and record; what are your expectations for the rest of the 2017 season?

@phillykelly

Are they higher than expected? Are they lower than expected? Are they right on target for what you had already predicted?

Notre Dame has 7 games left, and only two of the teams they have to face are ranked higher in the USC Trojans at #14 and the Miami-Florida Hurricanes at #13. Only one other opponent is even ranked with the N.C. State Wolfpack coming in at #24. Of those three, only the Hurricanes are an away game for the Irish.

What are we to make of the Irish as they get set to take on the North Carolina Tar Heels? There are no season-ending injuries, they are outscoring their opponents by over 21 points, and their lone loss is a one point loss to the #5 Georgia Bulldogs - a team that is just steamrolling its opponents?

Is Notre Dame doing better than you thought? Are you hesitant to be optimistic because of other stats such as:

• Irish are ranked #74 in total defense.
• Irish are ranked#108 in passing offense.

This is such an odd season for Notre Dame fans as I can't recall a time when the numbers added up they way they do right now. It's strange and confusing, but if it's getting wins - what the hell do I care?

You weekly pipes finds that we are a piper down.