Notre Dame Football: Compliments, criticisms and conclusions vs Michigan

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ANN ARBOR, MICHIGAN – OCTOBER 26: Ian Book #12 of the Notre Dame Fighting Irish looks to throw a first half pass against the Michigan Wolverines at Michigan Stadium on October 26, 2019 in Ann Arbor, Michigan. (Photo by Gregory Shamus/Getty Images) /

Conclusions

It’s time to give Phil Jurkovec a look as the starting quarterback for the Irish

Ian Book was fantastic last year for Notre Dame, following him taking over for Brandon Wimbush as the starting quarterback. That said, he has been a shell of himself this year. His trademark accuracy has disappeared and he seems completely out of sorts in the pocket, even with protection from his offensive line. At this point, the Irish playoff hopes are gone.

Given the struggles of Book all year and the fact that the Irish are playing for the future, it would be prudent to allow Phil Jurkovec to start some games this season to see what he can do. Jurkovec looked much better in his limited action against Michigan. Sure, it was in garbage time, but Book wasn’t able to produce in garbage time against back-up players, so that argument loses some of its clout. Regardless, giving Jurkovec extra snaps as this season progresses can do no harm.

Brian Kelly still can’t figure out how to win big games

Brian Kelly did nothing to dispel the idea that he can’t win big games. It is the major knock against him and the Notre Dame football program. He deserves credit for bringing the Irish program back from being irrelevant during the eras of Charlie Weiss and Bob Davie, but at some point, that stops being enough. With the loss to Michigan, Kelly falls to 0-11 in his last 11 games on the road against top 20 opponents. In addition, Kelly has gone 4-12 against top 25 opponents during his tenure as the head coach at South Bend. He has to win a meaningful game if Notre Dame is going to shake the “perennially overrated” stigma that many have placed on them. Let’s be honest, Irish fans want championships, not just relevancy.

Next. Kelly's job is safe. dark

This loss is going to sting for quite some time

Given that this loss effectively knocks Notre Dame out of playoff contention and puts a major damper on their season, this loss hurts. Couple that with the fact that the Irish will not be able to redeem themselves against hated Michigan until 2033, the pain of this loss increases exponentially.

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