Notre Dame fans burned down their 1-3 team on Twitter
By David Rouben
Notre Dame Twitter almost resembled FSU Twitter after their team lost to a basketball school and went 1-3 to start the season.
Even though Notre Dame was a Top 10 team in the preseason, they had a lot of holes. Before they could even play a snap, six different players got arrested on two separate incidents. And they started the season with a quarterback controversy between Malik Zaire and DeShone Kizer. Kizer eventually won out by virtue of a great performance against Texas, but they still lost that game because their defense stinks.
After losing to Michigan State at home, their first loss at South Bend since 2014, they at least had the chance to rebound against Duke. But despite being 21-point underdogs, Duke pulled off the upset to send Brian Kelly’s team to 1-3. As one would expect, Twitter turned into a madhouse:
Touchdown Duke.
— Notre Dame on NBC (@NDonNBC) September 24, 2016
Notre Dame fans everywhere... pic.twitter.com/cvsP2ZqEvI
Notre Dame 🤔🙈 geeeezz. What is going on? 🙈🔫
— Baron Davis (@BaronDavis) September 24, 2016
Duke just beat Notre Dame. In September. In football. On the road. In football.
— Will Brinson (@WillBrinson) September 24, 2016
Notre Dame stinks
— Patrick Schmidt (@PatrickASchmidt) September 24, 2016
When Duke goes on the road and beats Notre Dame. #DukevsND pic.twitter.com/drzP7jdb2t
— The Ledge (@TheLedgeSports) September 24, 2016
.@Duke_FB: 21-pt underdog vs Notre Dame. Blue Devils matched biggest upset victory over Irish in last 20 yrs, acc. Westgate (1996 Air Force)
— ESPN Stats & Info (@ESPNStatsInfo) September 24, 2016
wow. Notre Dame might drop as low as 15
— J.R. Lind (@jrlind) September 24, 2016
#NotreDame falls to Duke, 38-35. Student section is chanting "Fire VanGorder" as the clock hits zero.
— Tom Loy (@TomLoy247) September 24, 2016
Things defense needs to know: tackling, angles, pursuit, awareness. Things I teach: none of those. #NDFootball #NDvsDuke
— Brian VanGorder (@CanVanGorder) September 24, 2016
Brian VanGorder is that co-worker that everybody else looks at and wonders why he's still employed here #NotreDame #NDvsDuke
— John Feerick (@AtmosFeerick) September 24, 2016
I just don't think Brian VanGorder is very good at being Notre Dame's defensive coordinator.
— Gregg Doyel (@GreggDoyelStar) September 24, 2016
And in addition to that, Notre Dame fans already started a petition to have Brian VanGorder fired. He certainly deserves to be, but the way Notre Dame fans are reacting, you would think that they came straight from FSU Twitter.
Not playing in a conference hurts Notre Dame’s playoff chances as is, but losing to Texas really put them behind the eight-ball. While many thought they could rebound and win out on the strength of their offense. But as it turns out, not having a semblance of a defensive identity can really hurt your chances. Go figure.
Next: Heisman Busts: 15 Heisman Trophy Winners Who Flopped
Notre Dame is now 1-3 this season, with their lone win coming against Nevada. Every team they’ve lost to also has at least one loss. At this point, they’d be better off going through a front office overhaul than letting their fans suffer through this season. At least that would give them hope of a better future. And maybe then, Notre Dame fans can talk about a national championship that they’ve won recently.