In one of the worst performances of a Brian Kelly coached team, Notre Dame's season of great promise came to an end last Saturday in South Bend when the Irish lost to the 20-point underdog the Duke Blue Devils.

Of course there are more games to be played, 8 to be exact, but from today on ND, at 1-3, is just another college team playing games. No chance for a major playoff bowl game, and little chance of getting into any type of respectable bowl game. The Irish football program is in trouble and I don't know if Kelly has the ability to back on track.After the Duke loss there were many opinions on what happened and what's wrong with this Irish team, which many, including me, thought had said a good chance of a 10-2 or 9-3 season. After last week a more likely 4-8 season lies ahead. One opinion I think is probably the best and was in the South Bend Tribune. The Irish are playing without emotion, the paper called it passion (so did Kelly), and there is no leadership on the team. Kelly has some serious problems to solve.In an attempt to show that he has a handle on what is wrong, Kelly fired defensive coordinator Brian VanGorder and replaced him with Greg Hudson. Hudson was a defensive analyst for the Irish, which means he had little actual contact with the players per NCAA rules. However, he does have experience as a defensive coordinator, serving at Purdue, East Carolina and Minnesota in his 25-year coaching career. But the problems the Irish have on defense can't be solved in a week. Kelly, in my opinion, should have fired VanGorder after the 2015 season. He waited too long and now the 2016 season is lost.Al Lesar, a columnist for the South Bend Tribune who covers the Irish on a regular basis, said the team has "leadership issues" and added a problem like that starts at the top - Kelly. Lesar said the Irish football program is at a crossroads. He added, "Not just this season, but what happens over the next two weeks could have a profound impact on the direction the Irish go in the future." He is right on target.Kelly blasted the team for its attitude and devotion to the game. He declared all 22 starting positions on the team open. He said all players will be given a chance to earn a starting position, even those who have started the four games so far this season.The week before the Duke game Kelly said he and his staff and team were focused on the Duke game and saying it was a key to turning a 1-2 team around. The result was an upset loss in which the defense gave up 498 yards to a Duke team that had struggled to score points in its first 3 games.More later.Today the Irish play Syracuse at the MetLife Stadium, home of the NFL Giants and Jets, in East Rutherford, New Jersey.The Orange come into the game with a 2-2 record with wins over Colgate, 33-7, and last week Connecticut, 31-24, with losses to Louisville, 62-28, and USF, 45-20.Syracuse is led on offense by running back Dontae Strickland, who has 230 yards rushing on 61 carries and Eric Dungay, the starting quarterback, with 150 yards on 45 carries and 2 touchdowns. Dungey has completed 117 out of 179 passes with 3 interceptions and 9 TDs. Top receivers are Amba Etta-Tawo with 706 yards on 40 catches and 5 TDs and Ervin Philips with 289 on 36 and 2 scores. Dungey is rank seventh nationally in passing offense, averaging 371.8 passing yards per game. The Orange have recorded seven passes of 40 yards or more, which also ranks seventh nationally which well above last year's total for a 4-8 team. Simply put, the Orange like to throw the ball and that is a real problem for ND.ND leads the series 4-3. The last time they met, in 2014, the Irish won, 31-15, at MetLife stadium. The game will be televised nationally by ESPN with a 12:10 p.m. start. By the way, Kelly is 4-0 against Syracuse.IRISH NOTES ... DeShone Kizer had one of his worst games as the starting QB. He had 22 completions in 37 attempts for 381 yards and 2 touchdowns and 1 interception. He rushed for 60 yards on 11 carries. He missed open receivers on several plays and fumbled the ball which led to a Duke score. Despite that, he still managed to lead the Irish down the field for the lead touchdown late in the game only for the defense to fold and let Duke score just a few plays later to tie it. Josh Adams rushed for 60 yards on 14 carries and a score and Dexter Williams, 5-24. Equanimeous St. Brown led the receivers with 116 yards on 6 catches and a score and Torri Hunter Jr. with 6-75 and Kevin Stepherson 3-72. Justin Yoon missed a 42-yarder. It wasn't even close. Defensively Nyles Morgan had 10 solo tackles with Te'von Coney getting 9 ... ND, after 99 pass attempts by opponents this season, got its first sack last week by Morgan with 8:07 left in the third quarter. No wonder the Irish pass defense is so bad ... Kizer's opening quarter 8-yard TD run was his sixth straight game with a rushing touchdown. It was the fifth overall rushing TD this season and 15th in his career ... Kizer remains among the nation's leaders in several statistical categories, including passing efficiency (14th at 167.6) and points responsible for (96). In the running game, his average per carry is up from 3.9 last year to 4.3 this season. And with 5 rushing TDs through 4 games, Kizer is on pace to surpass his single-season school record of 10, set last season ... Notre Dame has already played 20 different players in their first year of eligibility, including 12 true freshmen ... Watching the Irish last week I noticed, yet again, defensive players "arm tackling". You only see that in high school ball ... Kelly is now promising to be more "fiery" on the sideline in an effort to get some life into his team. If I were him I try anything to get his football team to play with some emotion and not go through the motions ... There are many Irish fans from this area attending today's game on bus trips ... Today the Irish are favored by 10, but that doesn't mean anything, remember last week. In my preseason picks I have the Irish winning today. I will stay with that, but frankly, I have serious doubts unless "suddenly" ND's defense comes to life and the team starts playing with a lot of emotion.