When Katie, my dad, and I got tickets for the Notre Dame v. Marshall game, we were fairly certain we were getting tickets for Marcus Freeman's first win at Notre Dame stadium. That didn't happen, and we, like most of Notre Dame country, thought this was going to be a rough season. Truthfully, that game was so bad, I was bracing for a 2-9 season and I didn't think they would beat Cal. We knew they COULD beat Cal, we just didn't know that they would.

Notre Dame didn't blow Cal out; which we would have loved; but they got the all important first win. As long as Notre Dame's football team continues to improve every week, like they improved this past week, the season should still be quite enjoyable.

What really impressed us with this win was that the team didn't give up. In every game since the Oklahoma State game last season, Notre Dame's defense collapsed in the fourth quarter. Despite several emotional setbacks, the defense stood their ground and forced several key stops.

We're also excited that Drew Pyne (who grew up a Notre Dame fan) eventually got comfortable leading the offense in the second half. The more snaps he gets, the better he's going to look. The first half was particularly brutal for Pyne, but the kid was resilient and led Notre Dame to it's first victory.

Hopefully the progress continues because we're all huge Marcus Freeman (and Tommy Rees) fans at the KTracy Manor and KTracy.com HQ. We want to see them succeed; but to get the chance, they have to win.