Notre Dame Spring Game 2015: Recap, Highlights and Twitter Reaction

The Notre Dame Fighting Irish went from looking like a national title contender to mediocre in the span of one month in 2014. After the team took the field for its spring game, it's still unclear what kind of team Brian Kelly will have in 2015. 

Per Pete Sampson of Irish Illustrated, the Gold won an entertaining back-and-forth affair by a score of 37-34:

Many programs would consider having an 8-5 season with a close loss on the road against Florida State a positive step, but the Irish collapsed in grand fashion with four straight losses in November in which they allowed an average of 44.5 points. 

Notre Dame did salvage the year with a bowl win over LSU, but even that game raised more questions because Malik Zaire played well as the main quarterback. Everett Golson's future with the Irish seemed uncertain after the season, but he is still with the program. 

In the days leading up to the spring game, Kelly said he had confidence in Notre Dame's ability to win in 2015 because of the quarterback depth, via WatchND.tv (h/t Chip Patterson of CBS Sports).

"There are certain areas that I think at the quarterback position, maybe other than Ohio State, I would take our two quarterbacks," Kelly said. "I would take our two over Ohio State's, but in terms of depth I don't know that anybody has a better situation than we do with the two quarterbacks that we have."

There's no denying the raw talent Golson has, as he showed at various points in 2012 and 2014, and Zaire looked impressive in spurts against a strong LSU defense, but consistency will be key for whoever gets the majority of snaps in 2015. 

Based on the returns in the spring game, Golson picked up where he left off at the end of 2014. An interesting aspect of this game, per Stewart Mandel of Sports Illustrated, is how Kelly seemed to want his quarterbacks getting a feel for playing against a live defense:

That strategy allowed the coaching staff to see how Golson reacts under pressure, per Matt Fortuna of ESPN:

It was obvious, at least early, how the coaching staff wanted to use Golson. Sampson provided a breakdown of the play calls on Golson's first drive in which he attempted just one pass:

On the other side, Zaire looked comfortable throwing the ball and displayed nice touch with accuracy on this bomb to Will Fuller that went for 68 yards, per Notre Dame Football:

Because of how both players were used in this game, as well as the splits in the Music City Bowl, it appears Zaire may end up getting the bulk of the snaps as a passer while Golson comes in mostly to run and make an occasional pass to keep defenses honest. 

While quarterback was the focal point of this game, there were other players who seemed to make positive strides as the game went on.

Nick Watkins, who was a highly regarded 4-star recruit in 2014, according to 247 Sports, gave Irish fans something to smile about on that side of the ball with plays such as this, per Notre Dame Football:

Watkins was the one Fuller beat on that long touchdown pass, though Kelly said after the game he was pleased overall with how the young cornerback looked, per Chris Goff of The Journal Gazette:

Kelly highlighted two specific areas and two specific players whose progress he was pleased with, according to Jack Nolan of UND.com: 

This program has been more consistent with Kelly than it was under Charlie Weis, but beside the 12-win season that culminated in an appearance in the national title game three years ago, the Irish have been winning eight or nine games since 2010. 

Notre Dame continues to have well-regarded recruiting classes, including the 11th-ranked class in 2015, according to 247 Sports, but that hasn't been enough to push it back into the elite status among teams around the country. 

Kelly certainly isn't working with a bare cupboard, but there are areas lacking that need to be addressed in the offseason. He's happy with how things played out in the spring game, so that may be a good sign heading into the season in four months.