The consensus in South Bend all offseason and coming into Saturday night was that this was the year of the Irish. Notre Dame returned nineteen starters and is led by multiple All-American candidates and has first round draft picks on both sides of the ball. The depth needed to be a legitimate national title contender is there. For Irish fans, all signs pointed towards a playoff berth.
However, when the offense turns the ball over four times and gives one of the best dual threat quarterbacks in the country extra possessions, none of that matters. When the defense is unprepared for the opposing offense, none of that matters. When the head coach doesn’t think his decisions through, none of that matters. There is simply no excuse. The fact is, only one thing stands between Notre Dame and an undefeated record – themselves.
As the heavy rain blown in from Hurricane Joaquin continued to fall, Notre Dame continued to make mistakes. Drop after drop, fumble after fumble, coaching blunder after coaching blunder, the Irish continued to stack the odds against themselves. The mistakes eventually piled so high that Notre Dame couldn’t overcome them.
Notre Dame’s defense was clearly the strength of the team heading into Saturday, and outside of the first five minutes of the game, kept the Irish in a position to win. Perhaps what is most frustrating is that the perceived weakness of the team, freshman quarterback DeShone Kizer, wasn’t even close to being the weakest link. No, Kizer has not been perfect since taking over the starting job; but he has certainly played well enough to give his team a chance to win games, as he did Saturday.
Any freshman quarterback is going to make mistakes. Eventually, they need to be bailed out from time to time. That’s what an experienced offensive line, receiving corps, and head coach are for, right? Notre Dame has all of these things, but they were nowhere to be found on Saturday night when the freshman needed them most.
Will Fuller, who was quiet most of the game, dropped a pass that would’ve picked up the 20+ yards needed for a first down in the second quarter. Corey Robinson dropped a 49-yard touchdown pass and a two-point conversion in the fourth quarter – one that the Irish never should tried. CJ Prosise, Chris Brown, and punt returner C.J. Sanders all lost fumbles. Yes, there was a downpour the entire game; yes, the wind never stopped howling – but that’s no excuse. Clemson dropped just two passes, and did not lose a fumble.
The offensive line, which had ruled the line of scrimmage in previous games, was pushed around all night long, allowing nine tackles for loss and four sacks. On top of that, the O-line committed three penalties, two of which were on the same drive, and only opened enough holes for just 52 rushing yards by running backs. Last and most importantly, they missed blocking assignments on the failed two-point conversion that would have tied the game with seven seconds left. The strength of the offense so far this season was easily the weakest position group on Saturday. However, it wasn’t just the players who failed Kizer and his valiant fourth quarter effort of over 200 yards.
Head coach Brian Kelly lived up to his reputation of struggling in big games as he moved to 2-6 against ranked teams on the road in his career at Notre Dame. Clemson Memorial Stadium is nicknamed Death Valley for a reason, but it wasn’t crowd noise that caused Notre Dame to get two straight delay of games without running a play in the second quarter. Only the players and coaches know the real reason, but there was certainly some type of miscommunication between them. Notre Dame fans are not unfamiliar with this miscue under Kelly. Tommy Rees and Everett Golson both had delay of games before even the first play of a game on multiple occasions. These problems have carried into Kizer’s tenure, leading to one conclusion – its not their fault, but Kelly’s. After factoring in the false start that occurred in between the delay of games, there were over two minutes of dead time before the offense ran a play, and the players still didn’t know the play call – a result of a lack of communication by the coaches.
The delay of games in the second quarter weren’t the only miscommunication between Kelly and his squad. Prosise showed some acrobatic skills along the sideline when he scored Notre Dame’s first touchdown. The play was reviewed, giving Kelly extra time to draw up a two-point conversion attempt that would eventually cost the Irish the game. Even with the extra time, Kelly did not make it clear to his players who was supposed to be on the field, and was forced to use a timeout to get the right personnel.
Robinson would drop the two-point conversion, but that wasn’t what was questionable about the call. Much like in the Northwestern game last year and Virginia game this year, Kelly chose to go for two when there was almost no benefit to doing so. Obviously, Kelly’s thought process was to make it a ten-point game, but why go for two when you still need to score a minimum of two more times?
The call would come back to bite the Irish, just as it did in the Northwestern game. Had the Irish just kicked the PAT instead of spending a timeout just for the receiver to drop the ball, they could have kicked another PAT after scoring with seven seconds left and sent the game into overtime. Instead, Notre Dame’s playoff hopes may have been crushed, and Kelly’s seat has grown ever warmer – and for good reason. If Kelly can’t learn from his mistakes, he must be told to change, and Notre Dame fans on social media have been doing just that.
Notre Dame’s 2015 schedule has similarities to 2014. Notre Dame is coming off of a heartbreaking loss in the featured game of the week, and plays Navy next week, just as they did after Florida State last year. After Navy, Notre Dame plays a ranked team in USC, similar to how they played Arizona State after Navy last year. Notre Dame’s season last year collapsed largely due to injuries, not the schedule; but there is no denying there are some eerie parallels between the two schedules. If the Irish break down in the second half of the season like they did last year, Brian Kelly may be fighting to keep his job.
There is no need to jump to conclusions yet, though. The Irish did manage to make a comeback and almost win the game, justifying their number six ranking. Notre Dame could very well win out, finish 11-1, and find themselves in the playoff picture. Before they do that, however, Kelly and his players must get out of their own way and find a way to win the big game, as the next two loom large.
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