Notre Dame Football: Odds Fighting Irish Run the Table Rest of the Season
SOUTH BEND, Ind. — In the aftermath of Notre Dame football’s gut-wrenching two-point loss to Clemson on Saturday, Irish head coach Brian Kelly met with his five captains and laid out the team’s new reality.
“You can’t lose another game,” Kelly said. “You’re on the clock now. Every single weekend you’re playing elimination football.”
The ultimate goal—the mission, as Kelly and players have called it—involves a playoff push and a championship chase. And while the week-to-week focus and one-day-at-a-time mentality still permeates from the Irish locker room, Notre Dame now deals with a razor-thin margin for error.
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“We have to pay attention to every detail,” Kelly later said of the meeting with his captains. “It was really about the focus of this group is one week at a time. Each game is the biggest and most important game we play and really focusing on that.”
At 4-1 and with seven regular-season games remaining, just how likely is it for Notre Dame to run the table and finish 11-1?
When asked about the response Kelly needs to see from his team following the 24-22 loss to the Tigers, the head coach pointed to four key components in any game: a fast start, attention to detail, high effort and a strong finish. The Irish staggered out of the gates against Clemson and have struggled with their attention to detail at times this season, whether being beaten defensively by gadget plays or committing penalties, dropping passes and coughing up the football offensively.
Kelly said Tuesday that Notre Dame was down 14-0 before it could even get up “off the canvas.”
“Believe me, we look at everything when it comes to those things,” Kelly said. “We can't have slow starts. Our guys know what the mantra is. They know how important it is to get off to a fast start. If we get off to slow starts, we're going to be in trouble in every game that we play.”
| Opponent | Record |
| Navy | 4-0 |
| USC | 3-1 |
| Temple | 4-0 |
| Pittsburgh | 3-1 |
| Wake Forest | 2-3 |
| Boston College | 3-2 |
| Stanford | 4-1 |
Looking ahead at Notre Dame’s remaining schedule, the Irish host Navy and USC these next two weekends. Following a late October bye week, Notre Dame hits the road for matchups at Temple and Pittsburgh. The Irish return home in mid-November for Senior Day against Wake Forest before squaring off with Boston College at Fenway Park and concluding the regular season at Stanford.
On paper, Notre Dame could be favored in each of those seven games. No. 17 USC most recently thumped Arizona State, 42-14, but previously lost at home to Stanford, 41-31. The Cardinal, meanwhile, have rattled off four consecutive victories following its season-opening 16-6 loss at Northwestern. Stanford topped the Trojans, took down Oregon State on the road and blasted Arizona, 55-17.
Aside from those two remaining matchups, Navy’s triple-option always presents a difficult challenge, and Temple, under third-year head coach Matt Rhule, and Pitt, with standout wide receiver Tyler Boyd and rookie head coach Pat Narduzzi, aren’t to be discounted.
So it comes down to Notre Dame handling its business, admittedly easier said than done, and not succumbing to the sophomoric struggles supposedly beyond a veteran team.
“I'm not disappointed in our guys. I'm disappointed that they didn't take advantage of the opportunity that they had this weekend, and that was to beat a team on the road in a tough place to play and overcome the elements,” Kelly said a day after the loss to Clemson. “You don't want to repeat that, and I hope that they never forget that.”
All quotes were obtained firsthand unless otherwise noted.
Mike Monaco is the lead Notre Dame writer for Bleacher Report. Follow @MikeMonaco_ on Twitter.
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