Notre Dame Football: 5 Key Moments That Turned the Irish's 2015 Season

While Notre Dame football may not have accomplished its mission and reached the College Football Playoff, the 10-2 Irish still turned in an impressive regular season that will be followed by a matchup against Ohio State in the Fiesta Bowl. In reflecting on Notre Dame's season—a campaign marked by the team's ability to overcome the unending slew of year-ending injuries—let's zero in on five key moments that turned it.

Sheldon Day, Ronnie Stanley Bypass the NFL Draft

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Sheldon Day and his mother, Carol Boyd

One of the biggest parts of Notre Dame's 2015 season didn't occur in the fall.

Over a four-day stretch in mid-January, Irish defensive tackle Sheldon Day and left tackle Ronnie Stanley announced their intentions to return for their senior seasons in South Bend, eschewing the NFL draft.

More important than any member of Notre Dame's incoming recruiting class, Day and Stanley were prized re-recruitments for head coach Brian Kelly and his staff.

Day anchored the defensive line and posted 41 tackles, including a team-high 14.5 for loss and four sacks. The Indianapolis native led the team with 13 quarterback hurries.

Stanley, meanwhile, a potential first-round pick, helped anchor an Irish offensive line that paved the way for Notre Dame's ground game to average 5.76 yards per carry, the sixth-highest mark in the country and a modern school record. Per CFB Film Room, Stanley turned in a 97.3 percent pass block success rate as well.

Will Fuller's Game-Winning Touchdown Catch vs. Virginia

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Will Fuller

Though it happened in September, DeShone Kizer's 39-yard touchdown toss to star wide receiver Will Fuller in the final seconds of the Week 2 matchup with Virginia proved paramount.

Not only did the Irish avoid a 1-1 start, but the game-winning touchdown also inspired more confidence Notre Dame could withstand its latest season-ending injury: quarterback Malik Zaire's broken ankle suffered earlier in the game. After the touchdown, there were still questions surrounding Kizer—who of course had yet to make his first career start—and the outlook for Notre Dame's offense and season. But the redshirt freshman signal-caller revealed an impressive moxie that would resurface over the course of the regular season.

Irish Commit 4 2nd-Half Turnovers vs. Clemson

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DeShone Kizer

Then-No. 6 Notre Dame stumbled down the hill before its meeting with No. 12 Clemson in a matchup of a pair of unbeaten teams in early October down in Death Valley.

The Tigers bolted to an early 14-0 lead. Still, the Irish defense tightened and recovered from a 21-3 deficit in the fourth quarter. Following a 56-yard pass from Kizer to C.J. Procise and a short Kizer touchdown run, the Irish were right back in striking distance.

But Notre Dame simply couldn't overcome its four second-half turnovers. The Irish coughed up two fumbles before even one full minute had gone by in the second half. Then after pulling to within eight points of Clemson, Kizer was picked off in Notre Dame's own territory on the first play of its next drive.

The Irish, though, held firm after the sudden change and forced Clemson to attempt a field goal, a 45-yarder tugged wide left. With the ball back, Notre Dame drove down the field thanks to chunk gains by Chris Brown and Fuller. With the Irish in the red zone, however, Brown fumbled near the goal line.

Sure, Notre Dame could've tied the game minutes later on the two-point conversion try after Kizer's scoring fade to Torii Hunter Jr., but the four miscues undid the nonetheless impressive comeback effort.

Will Fuller's Go-Ahead Touchdown Catch vs. Temple

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Will Fuller

In a marquee matchup against then-unbeaten Temple in Philadelphia, Kizer and Co. watched as the Owls drove down the field and snatched a 20-17 lead with less than five minutes remaining in the fourth quarter.

But the Irish went to work and marched 75 yards to reclaim the advantage. With two minutes, nine seconds to play, Kizer zipped a 17-yard beauty to Fuller on the right side for the go-ahead—and eventual game-winning—touchdown.

Coming off the loss to Clemson, Kelly had told his captains that each successive week would be elimination football. The Irish lived to carry their playoff hopes another month.

Conrad Ukropina's Game-Winning Field Goal for Stanford

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Conrad Ukropina

On a grand stage Thanksgiving weekend in the regular-season finale, Notre Dame surged past Stanford with a 15-play, 88-yard drive in more than six minutes and clutched a 36-35 lead on the Cardinal with 30 seconds remaining.

The Irish were a half-minute from an 11-1 record and a possible berth in the College Football Playoff.

But Stanford took over at its own 27-yard line and went to work. The Cardinal gladly covered 15 early yards after Isaac Rochell's facemask penalty. Quarterback Kevin Hogan then connected with Irish killer Devon Cajuste for a 27-yard gain. Christian McCaffrey added two yards, and two timeouts later, Conrad Ukropina prepared for a season-defining kick.

In one swing of his right leg, the Cardinal kicker buried the 45-yard field goal and sank Notre Dame's playoff aspirations.

All quotes were obtained firsthand, and all stats courtesy of CFBStats.com unless otherwise noted.

Mike Monaco is the lead Notre Dame writer for Bleacher Report. Follow @MikeMonaco_ on Twitter.