Five most heartbreaking games of the Brian Kelly era

Honorable Mentions

2010 – Notre Dame vs. Michigan

In only the second game of his Notre Dame career it looked like Brian Kelly was going to be able to pull off a victory against Michigan that would make Irish fans love him instantly. It was a nip and tuck game all the way through. The Irish trailed late in the fourth quarter when quarterback Dayne Crist found tight end Kyle Rudolph streaking down the field for a 91 touchdown pass to give the Irish the lead with 3:41 remaining.

3:41 was more than enough time for Michigan quarterback Denard Robinson to march the Wolverines right down the field and thats exactly what he did. Robinson sliced and diced his way through the Irish defense and scored the game winning touchdown with 34 seconds remaining. What Robinson did to the Irish that day was just a precursor for what was to come a year later.

2012 – Notre Dame vs. Alabama

For the first time in my life Notre Dame was playing for a national championship. I have this game on here not because it was close because the only time it was close was at opening kickoff, but for me its on here for a few different reasons.

There was a month long wait for this game. So, naturally there was hype and a build up. It also gave me a bunch of time to talk myself into Notre Dame winning. Personally, going into that game I thought if Notre Dame was going to lose it was going to be a good game, a close game. I might be in the minority here, but I wasn’t expecting a 42-14 thumping. Thats where it was heartbreaking for me, because after the first quarter you knew Alabama had won the game. Thats why this game was heartbreaking, it was just a total letdown.

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