Notre Dame Football: Are the Irish Already Quitting on Brian Kelly?

After suffering a tough 31-17 loss to the Trojans, are the Notre Dame Fighting Irish officially quitting on head coach Brian Kelly? 

USC's Chris Galippo spoke his mind. Maybe he is referring to the play in which Cierre Wood stopped playing when the pass to him seemed to go forward on a line instead of backward like the officials called it. Still, the Irish were sleepwalking out of the gates in a night game in which they had an opportunity to get back into the Top 20 and beyond and yet they choked a huge game down the drain.

This was a national primetime game in which even the "experts" had the Irish favored by a touchdown. Yet, they came out flat trailing 14-0.

However, they stormed back to cut it to 17-10 at the half. There were several times in the second half where the defense of Notre Dame failed to make a big stop and get off the field on third down.

They had Matt Barkley nailed dead to rights. He miraculously faked their jocks out with a simple pump fake as he ran and picked up the first down with his feet twice. Barkley is not known for his wheels. If he can school you on the ground, you must have some major issues with your defense (on top of the dumb Carlos Calabrese penalty).

Or perhaps the question comes up as if these Golden Domers quit on Kelly? Is the question even relevant?

Notre Dame was expected to win at minimum eight or nine games this season with a realistic chance at 10.

After literally blowing away two games right out of the gates, the hype machine was lowered a tad, but the expectations at the same time stayed at an all-time high. It was BCS or bust in Brian Kelly's second season after they dominated the competition in the second half of last season, including their blowout victory over Miami in the Sun Bowl.

Second years are often known as the magical season for a coach. Even some experts had the Irish as dark horses to reach the game for all the marbles.

How do you lose two games out of the gates and then a third coming off a stinking bye week in which you should have found out more about USC than yourself?

Some point the finger at the players not believing, or quitting even on Kelly, but maybe this team is just not as good as some (myself included) thought it would be?

The quarterback quandary has been abysmal all season with turnovers killing this team more than I have ever seen in recent Notre Dame history. It should not be hard for talented center Braxton Cave to snap the ball to Regis Philbin let alone any of the Irish signal-callers.

Tommy Rees was the guy who was beat out by Dayne Crist for the starting gig, played right away in the second half of a delayed fest opener against South Florida.

Sure, Crist struggled. But last time I checked, making a quick hook like that can sometimes demoralize a football team. The more changes in life you make, the more chances things can go wrong.

Rees got dinged up against USC last night. Crist came in and led what looked to be a game-tying touchdown drive until he lost the snap and kicked the ball ten-fifteen yards backwards as a Trojan defender scooped and scored his way 88 yards down the field for a season back-breaking 24-10 and eventual victory for the Trojans.

That should not possibly happen twice in a lifetime let alone a season. Welcome to Notre Dame football, where the odds are always in your favor seemingly yet things never go as planned. That is how life goes. But when you have the chance to squash the bee you must do so before you get stung.

Hopefully, Notre Dame can ride the ship and run the table heading into Andrew Luck's final home game as a collegiate and finish the season up at 8-4 (Champs Sports Bowl v FSU).

More importantly, they need to bounce back in a hurry and prove that quitting is not a possibility under Brian Kelly and more importantly at Notre Dame.