Notre Dame's Implosion vs. Northwestern Is Worst Loss of Brian Kelly Era

With the sun gone and the sky dark over Notre Dame Stadium, the university's No. 1 landmark—the Golden Dome—was nowhere to be seen on the national broadcast.

And while shortly after 6:00 p.m. the main building awoke, perhaps the guy in charge of the electric bill had an idea of how Saturday was going to go for the Irish. 

In falling to Northwestern and dropping to 7-3, Brian Kelly had his worst day on the sidelines as Notre Dame's head coach.

More unexplainable than the loss to Tulsa in 2010. More self-inflicted than the debacle against USF in 2011. And more egg on Kelly's face than any defeat at the hands of Brady Hoke, Nick Saban or Todd Graham. 

Notre Dame's 43-40 overtime defeat will take a long time to digest, especially when you consider the unlikely ways the Irish looked victory in the face, only to turn away and give it back to Pat Fitzgerald's Wildcats.

That explains why, when he met the media, a normally polished head coach struggled to understand how his team managed to lose a game in which it had a double-digit lead with just five minutes remaining. 

"So many things happened in that game that it's hard to put them all in perspective as I'm standing here right now," Kelly said. 

Kelly mentioned some of the key issues. Turnovers (again). A defense that allowed the least explosive offense in power-five football to gain 547 yards. Special teams that missed two field goals and allowed an extra point to be returned for two points—basically a nine-point swing.  

Don't forget coaching. With an 11-point lead and an extra-point attempt pushing the game to a three-score lead, Kelly turned against the advice of his strategy sheet and went for two because he didn't trust his kicking battery.

Between that and some puzzling play-calling near the goal line and down the stretch, all eyes will be on the man in charge of the Irish program. 

And rightfully so.

In Kelly's fifth year at Notre Dame, his program seemed to be well past a loss like this.

But in less than a month, the Irish went from a team that was one offensive pass interference call in Tallahassee away from a Top Four ranking to losing three of its last four, likely falling from the Top 25 and looking at two very difficult games to finish the regular season.

Now, Notre Dame's head coach needs to find a way to stop the bleeding and keep his young football team from imploding.

"It's the critical errors through the game. I mean, we just don't play clean enough, you know, as a football team, and those are the things that prevent us from winning," Kelly explained, his words matching up with the horror show we all witnessed. "You can't start winning until you stop losing." 

Those are comments Kelly has been saying since the beginning of his tenure at Notre Dame. And they are the reason he's in South Bend to begin with, after watching Charlie Weis routinely have his team play at a lower level than its talent suggested

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But while it looked like Kelly and his coaching staff might be able to escape the growing pains that come with youthful football teams, the second half of this season has exposed the fatal flaws of the Irish roster. 

While most of the arrows have been aimed at Everett Golson's recent struggles, on Saturday he was just a complementary part of the disaster.

Sure, there were two more turnovers—an interception that ricocheted off his lineman's helmet and into the arms of another defender and a blown zone read near the goal line with Tarean Folston. But veterans Kyle Brindza, Chris Brown and Cam McDaniel all blew key opportunities down the stretch to seal an ugly but important eighth victory. 

And the young defense certainly didn't help. Even though it a perfect opportunity to stop its current free fall, Brian VanGorder's unit gave up yards and points without much resistance—barring a few forced turnovers.

The defense allowed the Wildcats to score more than 20 points against a ranked team for the first time since Northwestern's tailspin began against Ohio State last October.

"We're obviously playing a lot of young guys that are struggling and they're doing their best but, you know, [we've got] too many young guys on the field," Kelly said.

That's with fifth-year senior Austin Collinsworth playing with his shoulder in a harness and fellow fifth-year player Cody Riggs trying to play through a stress reaction in his foot.

And the defense looks to be getting even younger without junior defensive lineman Sheldon Day moving forward. Day was on the sidelines for most of the second half with a brace on his entire leg after suffering what looked like a knee injury.

An offense that couldn't put the game away late. A defense that gave Northwestern a season high in yardage with over a quarter to go. And a special teams unit that finally gave a game away after threatening to do so for the better part of two seasons. 

Add it all up and it's a Saturday that Brian Kelly will likely not forget. And it's also an implosion that could sink Notre Dame's season. 

*Unless otherwise noted, all quotes obtained firsthand.