Not sure where we go after the performance last Saturday, so as you’ll see at the end of the article, I took my question for this week’s Irish Blogger Gathering in a slightly different direction. Check out my fellow bloggers’ answers to that question via the link in their question to me this week, wondering all the while how the Irish will avoid getting another 50 points hung on them by Louisville.

Frank Vitovich, UHND: As Everett Golson’s turnover woes continue, how short would your leash be with him if you were Brian Kelly?

Can you measure the length of a leash with negative numbers?

For all intents and purposes, none of the remaining goals for this season are worthy of tale or song. So it stands to reason the coaches should start putting at least a little thought into next season. If Malik Zaire had been given some opportunities earlier in the year, it wouldn’t be so important to get him a couple series before we wrap up 2014. But those opportunities haven’t been available, so the staff will have to manufacture some. The next pick Everett Golson throws should result in his hiney on the bench for at least two series. I think that will have the two-birds advantage of not only getting Zaire some meaningful time but also showing Golson mistakes have consequences.

Ryan Ritter, Her Loyal Sons: With Joe Schmidt injured, it appears that the piece that tied the defense together is missing. Who is your candidate to pick up that leadership role and serve as the glue to get this thing back together?

I think that person should be Jaylon Smith. He’s had a bit of a sophomore slump, but unlike a lot of the other underclassmen, he’s had the playing experience to give his words gravitas. He’s going to be expected to lead going forward, so no time like the present to get started.

Josh Vowles, Subway Domer: This is the last game of the first year of the ACC games. So… What do you think? Do you like it? Was it underwhelming? Was it odd? Was it awesome? Basically…. “coach, can you talk about the ACC games this year and moving forward?”

It was what it was. I always view the season through the tier lens, so I try not to get hung up on where the teams we play come from.

Having said that, though, I think the ACC really needs to up its game from a quality standpoint if ND’s association with it is going to benefit the Fighting Irish long term. I’d really like to see them make a run at Texas. Sure, they may be geographically undesirable, but they’re another tier-1 program to add to the schedule mix. If that were to occur, and the league created a permanent ND/TX game at the end of the season, I could see Notre Dame joining the ACC for football.

Aaron Horvath, Fighting Irish Athletics: After last week’s loss, many of us didn’t know quite what to say or do. First off, tell me what you did Sunday to get your mind off of the game and second, embed the music video of the song that best signifies how you felt Saturday night.

After tailgating all day in the cold and sitting in two inches of snow watching that game, frankly, I was lucky to have enough energy to drive home, let alone do anything. I considered going over to my buddy’s house to play poker, but again, got overwhelmed by the ennui of it all. And as for my feelings…..

And now for something completely different:

It’s been a little meltdown-ey on the football side, so a question on a potentially happier topic –- have you watched any of the men’s basketball games this season so far? If so, allowing for the quality of opposition faced, what’s your evaluation on what you’ve seen and what are your expectations for the season?