Every year, Notre Dame schedules at least one fun, early season little cupcake of a home game. In 2015, it was UMass. In 2016 it was Nevada. In 2017, the Miami of Ohio RedHawks fell victim to a good ole fashioned September South Bend blowout.

But, dear reader, there was a time when these games were not blowouts. There was a time when these games weren’t even wins. There was a time when Notre Dame lost a home opener against USF in front of 81,000 fans at Notre Dame Stadium. There was a time not so long ago when the Notre Dame Fighting Irish lost to the Duke Blue Devils inside the hallowed confines of Notre Dame Stadium.

So fellow fans, do not scoff at the Irish’s blowout over a lesser opponent, but instead cherish these precious moments. CHERISH THEM.

The good

Josh Adams

It’s officially “STOP TALKING ABOUT YOUR HEISMAN FAVORITE AND PAY ATTENTION TO THE PLAYER ON MY TEAM” season. The Josh Adams vs. Saquon Barkley debate is HEATING UP.

Don’t get me wrong, Saquon Barkley is good and all, but LOOK AT THIS FKING STIFF ARM.

** ENHANCE **

Trick plays

Me at 5 o’clock: Brian Kelly is playing against his former assistant coach, I don’t think he’s going to run up the score or do anything wild today.

Me at 6 o’clock: nvm

There were countless other highlights to this game, including a Greer Martini interception, a beautiful touchdown to Chase Claypool and a breath-taking Ian Book to Chris Finke reception late in the game, but I don’t feel like writing about all those so just click on the links if you wanna see it.

THE BAD

Injuries????

Did your breath stop when you saw Josh Adams get his leg twisted in the first half? Did you clutch your heart and fall to your knees in agony when you saw trainers run onto the field to help him? Did you cry into your hands until your a loved one whispered those special words into your ears, “He’s walking off the field without help.”

Between that and Wimbush’s hurt foot, the win over Miami did not come without sacrifice.

Foot injuries can be fickle so I will share a personal story. Junior year of college I was walking my dog to Starbucks and thought that I had a wood chip in my shoe so I stopped and took off my shoe, shook it out, but found nothing inside. I kept walking and realized that the pain was actually in my foot. I thought, “hmm this is a painful foot cramp,” ignored it, and kept walking. By the time I returned home with my dog and my Starbucks I was in a full-on limp and could barely put weight on my foot. A few days later I was X-rayed at St. Liam’s and was informed that I had somehow broken my foot!

Maybe my bones are more fragile than bong glass or maybe it was a long-time-coming stress fracture from playing soccer in worn-out cleats, but either way foot injuries are pesky and best wishes to QB1.

Oh, while we’re on the topic of injuries, one other thing:

WTF.

Tony Jones Jr. was hit so hard that the turf looked like it was doused with Goldschlager. Here is a vicious helmet-to-helmet hit, only days after Danny Trevathan was suspended 2 games for a helmet-to-helmet hit during an NFL game. Oh, but head injuries aren’t a big deal in football at all... NBD, really. Don’t flag the tackler. It’s whatever!

The back-up punting needs work

If anyone was still watching this game with 2 minutes left in the 4th quarter, congratulations on being at a bar that didn’t change the channel at halftime!

You probably saw this guy come in and punt for the Irish if you were still tuned in.

The cameras were on Kelly for his reaction... and it was PRICELESS.

Staple this gif to my forehead.

THE IRISH

The Sideline Smooch

It’s only week 4, but this game gave us the best moment of the season. I thought that the Megaphone Dance (TM) was the highlight of the season, but the Sideline Smooch (TM) has surpassed it.

This precious moment came after the aforementioned shank punt in the fourth quarter. If you don’t recognize the dude on the right, it’s special teams coordinator Brian Polian, probably feeling sheepish about the prior play.

We’ve seen a joyful Brian Kelly over the past few weeks, and it’s been a breath of fresh air. Let Drake explain this to you:

Doug Flutie

Watching Notre Dame fans complain about Doug Flutie on Twitter is time-honored tradition, comparable with other such long-standing traditions as Christmas in December and Andy Reid mismanaging a game clock in the fourth quarter. It just happens that way and it’s never going to stop.

I actually saw an online petition and the twitter hashtag #replaceflutie go around during the game this weekend. Don’t fret Doug, Notre Dame fans don’t hate you because they think you’re bad, they hate you because they think you’re bad AND you went to Boston College. That’s just an Irish tradition.

It’s UNC week, everybody! Have a wonderful week and #NeverForget.