Notre Dame beating Clemson on Saturday night was a signature win for Brian Kelly, but was it the best victory of his career in South Bend?
It has been an undeniable fact that ever since Lou Holtz, Notre Dame has failed to live up to expectations, and can’t win major games. Look no further than the simple fact that Notre Dame hasn’t won a major bowl game since the 1994 Cotton Bowl.
That inability against premier opponents has seeped into the regular season, and become a longstanding monkey on Notre Dame’s back.
There’s always been frustrating directed at head coach Brian Kelly over his big game difficulties. He has either been out-schemed, or out-recruited by the game’s elite coaches, and it shows up on the field. Not Saturday night against Clemson though, as the Notre Dame win put them as the front runner to make the ACC Championship Game and put them in control of their own fate heading towards the College Football Playoff.
Vitally important to this season, where does the win against Clemson stack up against the other top wins of the Brian Kelly era at Notre Dame? Is it the best win at Notre Dame under Brian Kelly? Which games can even compare in terms of importance that Notre Dame won under Kelly?
Was Notre Dame’s win against Clemson the best of the Brian Kelly era?
Playing ranked teams early on?
Over Kelly’s first two seasons at Notre Dame, he beat two ranked teams, Utah and Michigan State. They were both ranked 15th in the country and were the first win of four-game winning streaks for Notre Dame. Neither game was particularly close, either.
Neither of those wins can compete with Saturday against Clemson.
The Fighting Irish exploded behind an elite defense in 2012, going undefeated in the regular season. They had four ranked wins that season, though the wins against Michigan and Michigan State are less impressive considering they ended with average records. The Stanford game, however, was when Notre Dame proved they were a legitimate threat in 2012.
It was a brutal, physical game that ended in a defensive stop in overtime. It made it clear there was something special about that Notre Dame team, but the Oklahoma game proved they could play with almost anyone. In Norman, they met a Sooners team who scored over 50 points in three of its first six games.
Notre Dame shut them down, only giving up 13 points. Finally, the Irish were seen as a legitimate threat.
The 2013 season saw a regression for Notre Dame, essentially losing to every ranked team they played outside of No. 23 Arizona State, who finished the season 20th in the country at 10-4. Then 2014 started with tons of promise and a solid win over a ranked Stanford team, before Notre Dame traveled to Florida State in what could have launched them into the top spot in the country.
They lost that game on a brutal offensive pass interference call late, and the season unraveled from there.
The next year, 2015, the Fighting Irish won a couple of games against ranked Georgia Tech and Temple teams. That was good, but unsatisfying. Those were teams this program should always beat, ranked because of their records and not because they were one of the most talented teams in the country.
Those were games the Irish were expected to win. Georgia Tech finished the season 3-9, having played Notre Dame at 2-0. Temple went 10-4 and won their division of the AAC.
Was Notre Dame’s win against Clemson the best of the Brian Kelly era?
2016 to the Present
Nothing good came out of 2016, but Kelly got the Irish back on track in 2017. They won ten games, including dominating ranked USC and NC State teams. There was also a frustrating home loss to Georgia, where to offense couldn’t get going. Worse was the trip to Miami, which felt more like a beat down where someone rubbed their jewelry in your face than a football game.
That humiliation, coupled with getting beat down by Stanford two weeks later, made it impossible to enjoy the Irish sloppily beating LSU at the Citrus Bowl. Still, Kelly clearly couldn’t get the program over the hump.
The Irish almost got over the hump in 2018, going unbeaten in the regular season and going to the College Football Playoff, where Clemson blew them out. Another reminder of what separated this program and the game’s modern day elite programs. All of the great wins over the course of the season were lost.
Unimportant. Ultimately meaningless.
They were bunny hills, not the hump. That includes beating a tough Michigan team, dominating then ranked Stanford and Virginia Tech, and beating down a Syracuse team whose quarterback got injured early in the game.
2019 as a follow up to that Cotton Bowl loss was the perfect encapsulation of the program under Kelly. Beat the teams you should, lose to the teams that would put you over the top. Yes, you can add ranked wins over Virginia and Navy, but those just don’t have the same importance of a Clemson or Ohio State.
It’s because of that decade of frustration in the biggest moments that Notre Dame’s biggest win in the Brian Kelly era was Saturday night. Ian Book, like his coach, had a signature win, and it was not only an impressive victory, but it was THE victory.
That was the hump. That was the elite team who should beat the Irish. By beating Clemson, the program should be able to change the narrative around them and push for the College Football Playoff.
Top 5 wins in the Brian Kelly era
- Clemson 2020
- Stanford 2012
- Oklahoma 2012
- Michigan 2018
- LSU 2017