The Brits have it right. Especially the Monty Python boys. “It’s all about the understatement.” They know the truth is this: nothing can bring attention to a situation quite like using the art of the understatement. (Lou Holtz must have bought into this when he poor-mouthed his teams by saying things like-with Reggie Brooks and Jerome Bettis in the backfield, mind you–”how we’ll gain rushing yards against Stanford, I don’t know.” Yeah, a victory and 250 rushing yards later and Lou must have had a slight idea how.) So, when the Black Knight gets both of his arms chopped off in battle and says “it’s only a flesh wound” while he’s still kicking away, the divergence of the words said and the scene you actually see impacts your mind in a much greater way then if the words and scene had been congruent. It “shocks” your mind into realizing the seriousness of what is taking place.

Keeping that in mind, Notre Dame football is in a combustible situation. The team has been lousy (read any Pat Forde article to see the numbers), the coach is in danger of being canned, and the program is far away from its glory days (the Irish have one 6 year stretch of great football since the 70’s.)

But, hope is not lost for 2 reasons:
1.) Weis is a smart coach that knows football.
2.) Notre Dame has talent.

However, that is not enough to go on. Something needs to happen on the field to show that this Notre Dame team has talent that can produce, and that it is a different team from the one that dive-bombed at the end of 2008.

So, in the spirit of Monty Python, here are 5 big understatements surrounding Notre Dame that must be dealt with to have the type of season fans have been waiting for.

Understatement 1: Jimmy Clausen must make less mistakes.

The kid can throw the football on the dime anywhere he wants to, but forcing the ball led to trouble down the stretch (highlighted by the 4int beauty against Boston College). He needs to move better in the pocket, have patience before taking the deep shot, and check down. The “gunslinger” mentality is about as relevant as cigarettes being considered healthy (see early 1900’s) in today’s game. Just take what the defense gives you.

Understatement 2: Notre Dame needs a running game.

The Irish have been averaging 2 and 3 yards a carry for the last two years. They have not been able to run when holding the lead. Defenses have been able to drop 8 in coverage and still stop the running game with 3 up front. Clausen has shouldered an extremely large load in this offense-too much for a young quarterback. Notre Dame needs to average 4.5 per carry and be a threat to run for 200 yards in any given game. No run? No win.

Understatement 3: The defensive line must not wear down.

Lack of overall depth, and lack of frontline players have hurt Notre Dame’s defenses recently. If a team had a decent running game (Javon Ringer and MSU, LeSean McCoy and Pitt)-they got the yards they wanted because the Irish D always wore down. There are more bodies now–Kapron Lewis-Moore, Hafis Williams, Ian Williams, Ethan Johnson, Kerry Neal, Darius Fleming, Steve Filer (pass rushing specialist), and maybe Brandon Newman. That is a lot of names, but we’ll see how many Weis actually plays, and if they can take care of business on the field.

Understatement 4:The defense must be able to attack.

Opposing quarterbacks haven’t had a really rough day against an Irish defense in some time. Even with Tenuta (who sends his first blitz before a bowl of Cheerios in the morning), the Irish had to abandon attack mode early in the season because quarterbacks were still getting the ball off and not getting hit. With guys like Neal, Filer, Fleming, and now Te’o-this aspect has to change as much as any on the defense. The Irish “D” needs to get in the opposing backfield much more often. At least as often as a 13 year old boy tries to break into his old man’s Playboy collection.

Understatement 5 : ND needs to make some field goals.

The images of Brandon Walker burying his head after yet another missed field goal. The images of Weis going for it on yet another Tecmo-style 4th and 99 because his kicker wasn’t gonna make it. The easiest solution? Out with the old, in with the new. Apparently Nick Tausch can make some field goals-and Notre Dame needs that.

Notre Dame football cannot be any more downplayed than those 5 things above. And nothing about Notre Dame football can be truer, either.