[dropcap]V[/dropcap]ery few, if any, thought it could be done.
Notre Dame entered the 2015 Franklin American Mortgage Music City Bowl after one of the most dismal regular seasons in recent memory, posting a 7-5 record after being routed in the season finale by USC. To make matters worse, they were up against No. 22 LSU and one of the top rated defenses in the country.
While head coach Brian Kelly said after the game that this was a match up that his team wanted, Irish fans weren’t feeling the same way heading into the contest. The SEC has been a thorn in Notre Dame’s side, with the most recent upset coming in the 2012 BCS National Championship Game when Alabama smoked the Irish.
But as luck would have it, the Irish tamed the Tigers and Notre Dame found a bit of redemption.
As time expired, Kyle Brindza put the ball between the uprights from 32 yards out to lift Notre Dame over LSU, 31-28.
The Irish did it! And not only did they do it, they did it in Nashville — or SEC country!
Notre Dame posted 449 yards of offense, 186 through the air and 263 yards on the ground. LSU has only allowed 216 yards offense on average, but this game turned into a shootout.
Malik Zaire hit Will Fuller halfway through the first quarter on a 12-yard TD pass to put the Irish up 7-0. LSU answered with just seconds remaining in the first, with Leonard Fournette scoring on an 8-yard rush.
Things would continue that way through the remainder of the game, with Notre Dame and LSU trading scores until the very end.
But what can Irish fans takeaway from this game? Here’s what we got!
1. Quarterbacks
Despite being an early Heisman candidate, quarterback Everett Golson suffered a steep fall off through the rest of the year. Despite throwing the ball for 29 touchdowns — and rushing for eight more — the redshirt senior also threw 14 interceptions and lost 8 fumbles to turn the ball over 22 times.
And in most cases, those turnovers cost the Irish.
One of the most glaring examples of this was in the November 15 game between Northwestern. That game played out like a video game, with plenty of wonky happenings that would make anyone scratch their head. But an interception by Golson turned into a pick six and would ultimately throw the game to overtime.
The ball was thrown as Golson was being hit, bounced off a lineman’s helmet and into the hands of a defender who returned it for six.
Notre Dame would go on to lose that game in overtime off a botched kick, but we’ll get more into that later.
Golson would be benched in the season finale against USC after completing 7-0f-18 attempts with an interception and being sacked three times. The once-Heisman candidate had only thrown for 75 yards and lost yards on the ground.
Coach Kelly decided to bring in Malik Zaire to change things up a bit. The sophomore out of Kettering, OH would only complete 9-of-20 attempts through the air with no TD’s thrown, but threw a 49-yard bomb to Chris Brown and finished with 170 yards through the air. He also scored one of Notre Dame’s two touchdowns on the ground, though only gained 18 yards.
When the decision was made 24 hours before the game to start Zaire over Golson, many fans didn’t question it. Heading into the game with a loss in sight, fans sided with Kelly’s stance that he needed to see what he had in the kid.
And Zaire did not disappoint.
Zaire completed 12-of-15 attempts for just 96 yards, but connected with Will Fuller on a 17-yard scoring pass. The sophomore would also contribute with 96 rushing yards and a touchdown.
Kelly utilized both of his quarterbacks throughout the game. Golson came in regularly and completed 6-of-11 passes for 90 yards of his own.
While the LSU defense kept the game very much ground-based — the Irish rushed for a total of 263 yards — the duo were able to compete through the air.
Zaire played primarily in the backfield all year, and now that the season is over, Kelly is likely to watch both Golson and Zaire to see where they are come fall.
2. Special Teams
Redemption!
Imagine if Kyle Brindza had missed that last second field goal and the Music City Bowl extended to overtime? He would not be heralded as the season’s savior but seen as it’s doom bringer.
Fans would be calling for him to be benched or, worse yet, cut from the team.
Brindza finished the season completing just 14-of-24 attempts for a 58.3-percentage.
A number of games were lost this year by missed field goals, including the infamous loss to Northwestern. The Wildcats won the game in overtime on a field goal of their own, but that was only after a Kyle Brindza kick went wide to the left.
An extra point attempt in that game was also botched, with Brindza lobbing the ball into a defenders hands to ahve it returned 100 yards for a two-point conversion in Northwestern’s favor.
Brindza faced similar issues in the Stanford contest in early October. While those issues could be attributed more to the holder and the weather, it was still puzzling to see Notre Dame struggle so much with the field goal unit.
Notre Dame would go on to win that game 17-14 on a last-minute drive led by Everett Golson, but had the missed field goals been completed, the Irish may have been able to eat up time instead of rush for the win. It was a wet, windy and cold day in South Bend, so the weather didn’t help none either.
Kelly joked after the game that he decided to put gloves on the holder, saying it was a revolutionary idea. Must not have been an easy solution for the remainder of the season?
3. Bowl history
Before December 30, Notre Dame’s last bowl win over a ranked team came in 1993 when the Irish narrowly defeated Texas A&M, 24-21 in the Cotton Bowl.
The Irish would then go on to lose their next nine bowl games, including two in that time frame to LSU.
In 1997, LSU defeated Notre Dame 27-9 in the Independence Bowl. Their last loss during that streak happened in the 2006 Sugar Bowl, again to the Tigers, 41-14. The Irish have a 1-3 bowl record against LSU following the 31-28 win in the Music City Bowl.
Brian Kelly has fared much better at the helm of the program. Despite the embarrassing loss to Alabama in the 2012 BCS title game and losing by four points to Florida State the year before in the Champs Sports Bowl, Kelly has a 3-2 bowl record with the Irish.
In 2014, Notre Dame was frequently in the playoff picture up until the 55-31 loss to Arizona State. From that point on, the Irish went on a four-game skid to finish the regular season 7-5.
Notre Dame’s first loss this year came at the hands of Florida State, though it was a controversial outcome. With close to no time left, Golson connected with a receiver in the endzone for the go-ahead score. But flags were thrown and the rare offensive pass interference penalty was called. Wide receiver Will Fuller blocked his defender instead of making a play for the ball, resulting in the call.
The call was correct, regardless of what anyone wants to say. But controversial, all the same.
Had Notre Dame beaten Florida State then, the Seminoles wouldn’t have even made it to the playoffs to get blown out by Oregon, and the Irish would have — at least for the time — been in the top four for the playoffs.
Would their season have been much different had the penalty not been called?
The Irish entered the year with what looked like one of the toughest schedules in the nation: Michigan, Stanford, Florida State, USC, Arizona State and even Navy. But as the season went on, all of those teams didn’t live up to the hype, except for Florida State and, surprisingly, Arizona State.
Predictions for 2015
Everett Golson is likely to remain the starter quarterback and should improve through the offseason. If Malik Zaire also impresses Kelly and his staff, it wouldn’t be unthinkable to believe we’d see a two-quarterback system put in place to at least start the year.
If Golson fails to show progress through the early portion of the season and struggles with ball control, expect to see him benched in favor of the younger Zaire.
The 2015 schedule for Notre Dame is favorable, with just USC, Stanford and Georgia Tech looking like possible losses. The Irish are slated to face Navy midway through the year and kick the season off with Texas at home. Both of those games could also be losses.
It’s unlikely that Notre Dame will be in the playoff picture next year unless they win out, but look for the Irish to go 10-2 or 9-3.
