Winners know how to finish. They know how to crush any futile hopes left in the opponent. Michael Jordan knew this. Lebron knows it. They can reach into the chest of another team and rip its heart out. Great teams are ice cold killers. They don’t care about the heart and resilience of the other team, only about winning.

Last season, ND displayed real talent on both sides of the ball. During the stretch between the 2nd half against Purdue and the 1st half against UNC, the Irish scored TDs at will, harrassed QBs, and showed flashes of the swagger of a champion. Then, we all realized that they didn’t know how to finish. It’s been widely documented and lamented, but let’s review:

North Carolina - ND let a 2nd string QB look like Joe Montana while completing pass after pass to Hakeem Nicks. Meanwhile, ND turned it over 57 times. Gone: a double-digit lead.

Pittsburgh - Lesean McCoy rushes for 572 yeards in the 2nd half; Pitt converts 3rd and a mile over and over. ND fails to end the game with 1st and goal in overtime. Gone: a double-digit lead.

Stanford - ND leads all the way and still nearly manages to give it away. Harbaugh carries on like he was robbed. (note: on a crucial play, he was)

Navy - Really? Two onside kick recoveries? Really? Long-bomb completions to receivers named Larry, Moe, and Curly? Really? Nearly lost to Navy 2 years in a row?

Michigan State - So ND never led this one, but trailed by a single score in the 4th quarter. Couldn’t score again, though.

USC - ok, they were never in this one.

Not only did ND not know how to finish games, they didn’t know how to finish the season. After starting 4-1, they finished 2-5. Maybe the youngsters tired out. Maybe the lack of depth doomed them in the 2nd half. Maybe they weren’t that good to begin with. What is clear is that this could have been an 8-9 win team if they had known how to hold onto a lead.

This season will test many aspects of the ND football team. Is the talent mature? Can Clausen lead? Will Weis call better plays? Notably, it will also test whether or not ND has learned how to play like a champion.

Look, I’m gonna read the Blue and Gold game updates on Saturday (because my nerdiness for Notre Dame football knows no bounds), but the game is pointless. Silly rules, vanilla offense and defense, a lot of players being held out, no real quarterback pressure, etc. In other words, impossible to get an accurate gauge on this team.

So, if you think this showcase is gonna up your ND football IQ, I got news for you.

The knowledge you get from this game will actually make you dumber.

SUMMING UP THE BLUE AND GOLD GAME

It’s been a long time since Notre Dame could boast of more than one disruptive force in the defensive front 7. A really long time. Maybe early ’90’s. And this is a team that used to make a living pounding offensive lines and backfields. Tough, physical play-with underrated athleticism. Chris Zorich ripped out opponents kidneys with such a frequency that you thought he was selling them on the black market. Bryant Young may be the school’s best d-lineman. Ever. He just gave a cold stare toward an enemy running back, and they would pee their pants. These studs had help in producing terror from players such as Jim Flanigan and Oliver Gibson (both NFLers themselves). Since those days, it’s been sort of a famine, maybe one player at the most that offensive coordinators even took the time to notice.

And you don’t need to look much further as to why Notre Dame has been disappointing for a lifetime, while the SEC schools and USC dominate, and cause talking heads to gush about their superior athleticism. Those schools recruit (defensive) lineman by the ton. They always have 2 or 3 that are legitimate NFL players, and 6 or 7 with the ability to rotate in and make a contribution on the collegiate level. This is where the Irish have not been keeping up.

Notre Dame (since the mid ’90’s) has been the Brylcreem of playmaking defensive lineman-”Just a little dab’ll do ya”. Renaldo (Hercules) Wynn was a stud and first round draft pick. Melvin Dansby had his moments. Justin Tuck left a Tasmanian Devil-like path of destruction in the opponent’s offensive line on his way to being the Irish’s career sack leader. (And he’s doing in big time in the NFL, too.) Victor Abiamari was a good player, but even he didn’t live up to his recruiting hype. Other than that there were a bunch of guys named Cedric Hilliard, Pat Kuntz, Ronald Talley, Chris Frome, etc. The big names were the only ones that scared you.

And I though it was gonna be that way forever. Then last year, I heard a familiar voice say, “Not so fast, my friend.” Lee Corso jumped out of the Samsung (with a shiny white smile, and carrying the picture he took of the scoreboard that one time his Indiana team was leading Joe Pa and Penn State) and told me that the Irish had some young bloods on the d-line and things were gonna be different. Then, I snapped out of it and realized I was hallucinating because I had been watching season 5 of 24 for twenty hours straight. Corso didn’t tell me that, I was beginning to see it with my own eyes.

The thing I saw was a young defensive lineman named Ethan Johnson (6′4″, 280ish) making his presence felt from the beginning. Big and strong enough to clash shields inside, and fast enough to hunt quarterbacks from the outside. A true gladiator. And not just any one, but a Russell Crowe-like once in a generation talent. Plus, he didn’t even know the game of football. He was in training wheels, and wasn’t half the player he could turn into. Now is his time.

But, what about help for the star-in-the-making? Is there anybody else? As a matter of fact, yes. Just look east of Ethan on the defensive line. Kapron Lewis-Moore (6′5″. 260ish). With the reach and athleticism of a power forward, he brings another pass-rushing dimension to the Irish. Quarterbacks aren’t the only ones who need to worry, running backs should be afraid of a defensive lineman that can beat them to the sideline. Word is that Weis has said that Lewis-Moore could become the team’s best lineman (hard to fathom with Johnson).

That’s two d-lineman with game-breaking type talent, and that’s not it. Help is expected from Ian Williams, Hafis Williams, Kerry Neal, and Darius Fleming (in pass rushing situations).

So, what does this mean? This time around, opposing offenses are actually gonna have to worry about a defensive line instead of just one man.