Notre Dame football: Would Brian Kelly have won the Fiesta Bowl?
By Andrew Hall
The Notre Dame football team blew a 21-point lead and lost another New Year’s Six Bowl game on Saturday afternoon.
As the clocked ticked down during the Fiesta Bowl and Oklahoma State emerged victorious, fans of the Notre Dame football program immediately wondered whether or not the Irish would have won the contest with Brian Kelly at the helm. The question specifically presented itself because of the manner in which Notre Dame lost. The second half felt mismanaged and poorly coached.
Marcus Freeman’s bowl preparation likely led to Notre Dame jumping out to a 28-7 lead. Freeman emphasized competition among starters after he took over as the new leader of the Notre Dame football program. This type of competition allowed the team to play at game speed from the outset of the contest instead of settling in.
It can be argued that emphasis on these parts of practice may sacrifice other portions like a focus on tackling. In comparison to Kelly, the start against the Cowboys was much faster than the typical start the past eleven seasons.
However, the game plan was flawed and doomed to fail in the long run. The plan concocted by Freeman, Rees and Elston lacked continuity between the units. It was not the complimentary football that Notre Dame fans became accustomed to over the past eleven years.
During the first half, because of their offensive success, the Fighting Irish dominated in time of possession. In the second half, the Cowboys retook control and destroyed the Irish defense with their pace of play.
Would Notre Dame football have won under Brian Kelly?
Simply, Notre Dame unwillingness to try to attempt running to give the defense a reprieve. Freshman quarterback Tyler Buchner sat on the bench not playing. He easily could have given the Oklahoma State defense another player to have to try to defend on the read option and RPO. The imbalance between run and pass was shocking.
Notre Dame was credited with 21 attempts while throwing the ball for 68 times. In reality, 4 of those attempts were Coan’s sacks. Kelly would never intentionally begin a game in that manner.
One of Kelly’s hallmarks was being able to make excellent halftime adjustments. In this case, Marcus Freeman was likely consumed by more of the overall scheme than the defensive adjustments that were need as Oklahoma State’s offense exploded in the second half. Perhaps the biggest impact of not having Kelly was not having Freeman as defensive coordinator.
A full focused Freeman would have been able to slow the Cowboys enough to win the game.
Ultimately, Notre Dame probably does not have a huge lead if Kelly is in charge of the bowl prep. However, Kelly may have been able to make in game adjustments to negate the coaching advantage of Mike Gundy.
The loss of the Fiesta Bowl does not mean that Freeman will not become an excellent coach at Notre Dame. It is limited to this contest but definitely demonstrates that Freeman needs improvement before leading the Fighting Irish to the promised land.