Home Loss to 3-TD Underdog Duke a New Low for Notre Dame

The Notre Dame football program has encountered plenty of trying times during its history. But in recent memory, it's hard to think of a stretch worse than September 2016.

Once lauded as national championship contenders, the Fighting Irish dropped to 1-3 following a shocking 38-35 loss to the Duke Blue Devils on Saturday afternoon in South Bend, Indiana. Notre Dame entered the game as a three-touchdown favorite, per Odds Shark.

There hasn't been a more disappointing time in Kelly's tenure. And for a Notre Dame defense, it's arguably the lowest point in school history. 

Duke entered Notre Dame Stadium with a freshman quarterback who had committed a total of five turnovers in losses to Wake Forest and Northwestern. Theoretically, Saturday was a perfect bounce-back opportunity for the Irish after a devastating loss to Michigan State.

However, Daniel Jones completed 24 of 32 passes, threw three touchdowns and led five scoring drives.

The Blue Devils—who had only defeated North Carolina Central of the Football Championship Subdivision—put together easily their best offensive game this year. 

Yes, Notre Dame's defense struggled mightily and surrendered three touchdown passes of 25-plus yards. But unlike in previous losses to Texas and Michigan State, the blame could be evenly shared.

DeShone Kizer and Co. committed three turnovers, and Duke's Shaun Wilson returned a kickoff 96 yards for a score. Justin Yoon also missed a field goal. The Irish also wasted a pair of fourth-down stands and an interception in the end zone by the defense.

Put simply, it was an all-around failure.

A tweet from former defensive lineman Louis Nix III likely depicts the postgame feeling for most Irish fans:

Fair or not, a proud and storied program like Notre Dame will always view a home loss to Duke as embarrassing. And Kelly only added to that attitude in his press conference.

One week after defending his players and criticizing the entire coaching staff, Kelly reversed course dramatically. Pete Sampson of Irish Illustrated notes the seventh-year coach blasted his players:

Kelly also called DeShone Kizer's performance "below standard" and suggested third-string quarterback Brandon Wimbush might play in 2016, per JJ Stankevitz of CSN Chicago.

Meanwhile, Duke coach David Cutcliffe praised Kizer. "He can flat light you up," he said, according to Nick Ironside of 247Sports.

Kizer didn't have a terrific day overall, but he still accounted for 441 yards and three touchdowns in the loss. It's mind-boggling that Kelly, who has relentlessly supported Kizer in previous weeks, is threatening to bench Kizer, who has played well overall this year. 

But while September 2016 is the lowest point of Kelly's tenure, the season is far from over. And there's no guarantee Notre Dame improves.

No. 7 Stanford, No. 15 Miami and rival USC remain on the schedule. Once-probable wins over teams like Syracuse, North Carolina State and Virginia Tech no longer seem like a foregone conclusion.

The Irish had championship dreams, but a 1-3 start to the season ruined their hopes. Notre Dame could've salvaged a meaningful postseason game, but Duke eliminated those thoughts.

Suddenly, a two-loss October would mean the Irish are fighting for bowl eligibility. That was unfathomable in August.

"We're going in the wrong direction," Kelly said, per Stephen M. Brooks of the Goshen News.

After watching Notre Dame drop two games, the college football world knew the Irish's season was effectively lost. But now, we can only wonder how bad it might get.

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All recruiting information via 247Sports. Stats from NCAA.com, cfbstats.com or B/R research. Quotes obtained firsthand unless otherwise noted. Follow Bleacher Report CFB Writer David Kenyon on Twitter @Kenyon19_BR.