Notre Dame Football: Which Issues Will Brian Kelly Have to Fix for 2012?

Notre Dame’s 16-14 win over Boston College on Saturday may not have been the prettiest victory the Irish have ever had, but nonetheless, the win moves their record up to 8-3 and it keeps the hope of a double-digit win season alive.

Brian Kelly will now take his team out west for the chance to make a big statement against No. 6 Stanford on Saturday.

The matchup with the Cardinal doesn’t have all that much meaning for this season, since it’s likely that Notre Dame will be headed to the Champs Sports Bowl regardless of the outcome, but it may turn out to be the type of big momentum booster that the team could really feed off of going into next season.

2012 is setting up to be a big make-or-break year for coach Kelly and the Irish, and even though the team is set to lose star receiver Michael Floyd and possibly dominant linebacker Manti Te’o as well, the Irish will bring back enough talent next year to start off the season ranked in the Top 25.

As we saw earlier this season, though, starting off ranked and staying ranked are two different things.

If Notre Dame finally wants to meet preseason expectations and start living up to its brand name, the Irish will have some work to do in the offseason.

There are certainly flaws and weaknesses that Kelly has to fix, but luckily for the coach, he’s done a great job on the recruiting trail, and he’ll have some talented young reinforcements to help him out next season.

Notre Dame’s success next season will center around the development and maturity of starting quarterback Tommy Rees, who made some real strides as a sophomore this year.

Rees dealt with bouts of inconsistency at critical times this season, but overall, his performance has been encouraging, and if he can cut down on the interceptions, he looks like the right guy to lead this team going forward.

Cutting down on mistakes is something that not just Rees has to work on, it’s something the entire team has to be conscious of.

Sloppy is a word that was thrown around a lot this season, as the Irish often made critical mistakes at the worst possible times in their three losses to USC, Michigan and South Florida.

Notre Dame can’t reach its full potential as a team unless the Irish stop beating themselves. Cutting down on turnovers, staying disciplined and giving all-out effort on every play is something that needs to be instilled in the players’ heads all offseason.

If the collective attitude and focus of the team improves before the start of 2012, the Irish should be able to overcome a few of the holes that they'll have to deal with next season.

Losing Michael Floyd, who’s likely going to be a Top 20 pick in next year’s draft, is an obvious blow, and it’s a problem that won’t be easily fixed.

Junior receiver Theo Riddick will have to step it up and become the go-to target in the passing game, but he can’t do it alone. He’ll need tight end Tyler Eifert to play up to his potential and soften up defenses. Plus, there’s also going to be room for highly touted recruit Deontay Greenberry, one of the top receivers in the 2012 class, to make some noise early on in his career.

Receiver won’t be the only place of concern, though, as the real hits will be felt in the defensive backfield, where Harrison Smith, Robert Blanton and Gary Gray are all departing.

Notre Dame’s secondary will be one of the team’s weakest links next season, and it remains to be seen if all of those new faces can step in and consistently maintain a high level of play.

While receiver and secondary will be two areas of major concern for Notre Dame in 2012, the Irish are still going to be expected to have a big season in Kelly’s third year.

Kelly knows that the pressure will be on next season, and that the time for making excuses is over.

Next year, Notre Dame has a chance to finally live up to expectations, but first, the Irish will have to spend the offseason correcting their turnover problem, developing better chemistry and filling in key positions with new faces.

We’re finally going to see what Brian Kelly is really made of next season.

If the coach can figure out a way to correct some of the problems that are currently plaguing his team, he’ll have a great shot to win back most of the Notre Dame fan base with a big 2012 campaign.