Throughout the 2015 football season there were a number of narratives that surrounded the Notre Dame football team; so many in fact that in retrospect it’s hard to figure out exactly what team 127 amounted to. From the dominance against Texas to the heart breaking loss against Stanford, deciphering whether this was a great team that got unlucky or an immensely talented team that missed a golden opportunity at greatness isn’t the easiest task. But, hey, let’s give it a shot.
It began with the dawn of the Malik Zaire era at quarterback, as the previous season’s starter Everett Golson elected to transfer to Florida St. for his final season of eligibility. It’s safe to say Zaire acquitted himself well in his first home start as the face of Notre Dame football. The guy who was literally subbed out last season in passing situations looked like the best passer in the history of modern football as he went 19-22 for 313 yards, three touchdowns and zero interceptions. It’s a performance that seems like it took place five years ago, and the stat line still somehow doesn’t do it justice. It was passionate, it was dominant and it was exciting. It really seemed too good to be true.
Unfortunately that turned out to be the case, as Zaire was lost for the season in the third quarter of the second game against Virginia. The promising 2015 season morphed into the season of injuries as starters Tarean Folston and Jarron Jones also went down for the year in the first six quarters, Jones having never gotten to the first game. Only a miracle heave from backup quarterback DeShone Kizer to Will Fuller saved a total disaster against the hapless Cavaliers, but surely the loss of Zaire, et al, would prove too much for team 127. Au contraire my friends.
As it turned out, Notre Dame had quite the wealth of talent waiting in the wings in CJ Prosise, Josh Adams, and Kizer himself. Prosise and Kizer shined in victories over Virginia, Georgia Tech, and UMass even while more starters went down to injury–Durham Smythe and Drue Tranquill specifically. Prosise was operating at a pace that was going to set Notre Dame records for rushing, yards per carry, touchdowns and number of times fans said “this guy was a receiver last year!”
While this was happening, the season of explosivity began to take form. Prior to the narrative changing game against Clemson, Notre Dame was 18th in the nation in plays of 20 yards or more, and had touchdown plays of 66, 59, 39, 91, 56, 53, 70, 50, and 39. Perhaps most impressively those touchdowns were scored by five different players. For fans of the Irish, it’s hard to remember a time when Notre Dame had so many big play threats. Fortunately for Irish this theme stayed consistent throughout the season. In total, Notre Dame registered 22 touchdowns of over 25 yards from six different players, a stat that goes back to the Holtz days.
After Notre Dame shut down Georgia Tech and what we thought was a vaunted option offense that fans were certain was going to set Notre Dame scoreboard on fire, and put up a 60 burger on UMass, it looked as though Notre Dame was prime for the primetime. It would take an act of God to stop them.
And wouldn’t you know, that’s exactly what happened.
South Carolina saw record rain the week of the Notre Dame-Clemson contest and on the day it was described as “hurricane like conditions”. Great, just great. Four turnovers, a terrible first seven minutes for the defense, and a pair of failed two point conversions later, Notre Dame was 4-1.
They outgained the National Championship finalist Tigers 432-296 and outscored them in the second half 19-10 despite all four of their turnovers coming in the second frame. For his part, Kizer was a revelation. He threw for 321 yards with three total touchdowns, all on a night when his receivers put several catchable passes on the ground. He was poised, he was clutch and just down right excellent. The prevailing theme following the night was Notre Dame let a golden opportunity slip away and head coach Brian Kelly told them team as much following the loss.
It was a precarious time in the Notre Dame season. Following the loss at Clemson, Notre Dame faced a four game stretch against teams that would finish a combined 37-17, including their rivals USC. This stretch featured no marquee team, although many said the Navy team Notre Dame faced the week following Clemson was the best in the school’s history, yet every game featured a realistic scenario for which Notre Dame could lose.
But, lose they did not, as Notre Dame went 4-0 and solidified themselves as a serious team on the national landscape. The offense was on fire, scoring 40 or more points in three of the four games, Kizer continued his clutch play, leading 4th quarter comebacks against USC and Temple, and the defense was making plays to finish games with late interceptions against the Trojans and Owls. With two soft teams on the schedule, the conversation turned to Notre Dame’s position in the College Football Playoff.
After opening one spot out of the playoff in the first poll, Notre Dame saw themselves in the top four for two consecutive weeks following wins over Pittsburgh and Wake Forest, even though the latter contest on Senior Day wasn’t awe inspiring. It seemed as though the Fighting Irish were in control of their playoff fate, should they continue to handle business and win out. However, the stink bomb Notre Dame dropped in Fenway Park against lowly Boston College ended up dropping them two spots out of the playoff and in major need of a big win on Thanksgiving weekend against #9 Stanford. To add injury to insult, Notre Dame continued to drop key players to physical ailments. C.J. Prosise and KeiVarae Russell were both lost for the finale with respective leg injuries, and the question of Notre Dame reaching its tipping point injury wise had to be asked.
What took place against the Cardinal ended up being a microcosm of the Notre Dame season: incredibly explosive offense followed by poor execution in the red zone and a defense that gave up big play after big play. In case you’re unaware, Stanford won 38-36 on a field goal as time expired, the defense unable to hold a one point lead with 30 seconds left. It would have been immensely maddening if it wasn’t so predictable for a defense that could never figure itself out during the 2015 season.
The Fiesta Bowl against #8 Ohio State was essentially Stanford lite, as we found Notre Dame’s injury breaking point when superstar linebacker Jaylon Smith went down with a knee injury in the first quarter. It likely wouldn’t have mattered as Notre Dame just didn’t seem to have the spark they’d had throughout the season and whatever spark there was left on a cart with his knee in a brace. The Irish never slowed down the Buckeyes and 44-28 was the tally when the clock hit triple zeroes.
So, what to make of all that. Notre Dame began the season ranked 11th in the AP poll and 11th is also where they finished, with their 10-3 record. The three losses came against #’s 2, 3, and 4 in the final AP poll by a total of 2, 2, and 16 points. A popular sentiment regarding the Notre Dame program is they have proven they can compete with anyone, which you’d have to say is objectively true. Anyone who watched the National Championship game had to be impressed with the type of team Clemson was, the same could be said of Stanford in the Rose Bowl, and I’d personally love to have seen Notre Dame on a dry field against the Tigers with a hobbled Shaq Lawson and Mackenzie Alexander. But, Notre Dame football wasn’t built on being competitive. It’s built on being the best. Notre Dame had the chance to show they weren’t simply worthy of being on the field with the best. They had the chance to show they were better than the best.
It’s unfortunate that we say goodbye to 2015 without having seen team 127’s best game. There was a feeling that it was still there for them, that there was a performance out there that would fulfill their immense potential, but it never came. The offense brought it out a few times, against Stanford and USC for example, but the defense was unable to do so. This is the great disappointment for the Fighting Irish in 2015. We never saw what they could truly be. Some of it was due to injury, some of it simply not fulfilling potential.
The great contradiction of this team is how likable they were, how close they appeared to be, and yet how they never seemed to completely gel. They were filled with incredibly talented players, multiple first round picks, something like eight players who could be drafted in the upcoming NFL draft, yet the parts seemed to be greater than the whole. I’m afraid we’ll always wonder what could have been with Team 127.
But, ultimately, in an endeavor that is just a game, they were incredibly fun and exciting to watch. And I think whatever your point of view is on the season, I’m sure we can all agree it was one heck of a ride.
Bottom line another under achieving 3 loss season with 18 starters that came back.
I am in agreement with so much of what I’m reading. A team with immense opportunity fell short of the ultimate prize by 3 Touchdowns. With a starting core, that I could document on one hand that originally started the Texas game by the Fiesta Bowl, we won 10 games and ultimately got beat by more experienced talent in the end. Take nothing away from the team that ended our 2015 run as they played with heart and added an excitement that was unexpected do to loses it incurred. I do wish however I could have seen the same team as I watched play Texas line up against Ohio State. I have complete faith that the underclassmen who ended the year on the field will implement the knowledge earned and come back in 2016 with a new found swagger. They must however create a “Nasty” mentality and gel the Defense into a wall of destruction to find success. If BVG can truly put a dominant Defense on the field, then I believe everything can ultimately fall into place. I believe in his system when given the right personnel in position. The offense will not let us down so our defense has to play to their potential come Texas this Fall!!!
A lot of work on defense and root cause analysis on all those season ending injuries (strength & conditioning?) would help for 2016.
The beauty is next year I wouldn’t “expect” any of our new recruits to play anything but special teams. If it turns out Kareem has Lynch like ability or D. Hayes can beat out Coney it would be a pleasant surprise.
Okwara will be gone but Trumbetti looks more than ready for a starting position. I predict we’ll see a rotation of Tillery/J. Hayes to replace Day. Jones will hopefully return to form and be backed by Cage in his third year. We all know how solid Rochelle is. There is depth across the line with Bonner, Taylor, Dew-Treadway, Mokwuah, Tiassum, Matuska, and Blankenship all trying to get some playing time as well. Ogudeji and J. Okwara are gonna need time and a weight room to see the field. Our D-line seems pretty solid for next year and hopefully year two with Gilmore will have us collapsing pockets with regularity.
Although we are a bit thin at the linebacker spot I think the talent is there for us to be really good. With Coney and Barajas trying to replace Smith it will more than likely be a down grade. Oh well superstars don’t grow on trees. Morgan and Martini replacing Schmidt should be an upgrade. A solid 90 to 95 tackles from these two positions would go along way to solidifying our LB corps. I expect Bilal to really push Onawalu for the Sam position.
Safety is where I sort of start to grow leary, Redfield simply must step his game up next year. I think Tranquill (if he can stay healthy) will be an excellent replacement for Shumate. Here’s where it loses focus though. I have no idea if Williams is ready for prime time and I doubt Ferttita ever will be and Baratti hardly counts as depth. We have a new batch of recruits though and some are even physically optimum size wise 9hopefully they are quick learners). Corner should be fine with Luke, Watkins, Butler, Crawford, Coleman, White and a bunch of youngsters all fighting for two slots.
Year three would be the year I would expect our defense to finally take a step forward. From the juniors on down, these will all be VanGorder’s recruits and his starting seniors all seem to be solid to very good (excepting Redfield). There should be no excuse for the defense this year including injuries, as the back ups have a bit of playing time as well. If we don’t show marked improvement this year I will join the chorus for VanGorder’s head.
The sky is falling? I don’t think so. Go Irish
@ Jerry
Not quite the “same old defense”:
Minus Jaylon, Shumate, Day, leading sacker Okwara, and captain Schmidt who, according to minutes/situations played by BVG, was irreplaceable and indispensable, BVG has his work cut out for him to get the D’ to be better. There’s a lot of improvement needed, with a lot to be expected from “next-men-in” replacing those who left, especially on D’. ND depth is better than ever, this century at least, but the staff and players need to translate that into a key win or two. The good news: ND under BK this season didn’t lose to a ‘nobody’ like in years passed (excepting 2012). Depth through recruiting was evident this season. “The sky is (not) falling”; but here’s hoping it will be filled with as many big plays on O’, and fewer big plays vs. the D’.
Greg F. you wrote a descent and fair article about the Irish and their 2015 season. I pretty much agreed with everything you said about the team and their coaching. ND haters will always post negative comments about the team but as far as I am concerned, that just makes ND more relevant.
If ND can get some responsible players in the areas of safeties and corners I believe that, then, they would have a good chance of ringing the bell!
Ex season but same old defense next year with BVG.
BVG needs to go. Defensive secondary play is attrocious, and thank the good Lord that Joe Schmidt is gone. If I have to see a poorly timed delayed blitz, or a QB run right by him one more time I would probably vommit. Heart gets you a long way, but he was a backup at best. Never belonged as a starting linebacker for NOTRE DAME. BVG is probably a great defensive coordinator in the NFL with schemes that only NFL players can execute. Our defensive strategy was not parallel with the talent that we have. Honestly, I think Diacco’s (as much as it pains me to say) philosophy would have kept more points off of the board this year. For the first time in a long time, I go into 2016 not very enthused. Our schedule sucks, and we are losing a lot of guys. I think we may have pissed our chance to get back into national prominence away by atrocious defensive play and poor strength and conditioning (which can only be the culprit of all of those injuries). I don’t believe in luck, as I am a Chrisitian. I believe that hard work and preparation set the table for our Savior to do great things for us, and when you don’t prepare you run into problems. We are not as fast, strong, and aggressive as other teams in national prominence. Maybe that’s due in large part that we expect more from our athletes as citizens than most, but regardless I would love to see less injuries and that starts with strength and conditioning. Hopefully come August, I will be a little more hopeful, but some things have to change in a big way.
A balanced look at the season. A few plays the right way and we could be having a totally different conversation. Injuries do matter and that likely had an effect on the team gelling together. Most reasonable people would say they did extremely well considering the injuries, but except for the loss against OSU, they had opportunities to win at Clemson and Stanford.
I don’t buy into the sky is falling, Notre Dame is over, they should fire BK and look for the elite coach that’s never coming to ND argument. Some people are waiting for the Rockne, Ara, Holtz version of ND football to come blazing back, but those days are over. The college football landscape has undergone seismic changes since those days and you can’t go back in time. There are more games today, scheduling challenges against other teams due to conference tie ins, and playoff games that you have to win to get an NC, all things that didn’t exist 30+ years ago.
At the same time BK is not an elite coach at this point. There are still things ND needs to improve on. They need to win an NC. I still think he’s the right coach for ND at this time. He knows what it takes to win in todays climate—smash mouth offensive lines and a solid, if not dominant defense. Offensively there have been improvements. Defensively we still need work and that should be a key emphasis this off-season.
But I still have hope. I’m not where I was during Weis’ last year, where I couldn’t wait for him to be fired.
Fairy Tale??
“bj & Jill went up the hill, they each went up with a quarter….
Jill came down with 50 cents…. they didn’t go up for water ! “
Great review of the season. Tough luck. Nobody cares….. but I am am very impressed with the team and Coach Kelly for the “next man in” philosophy and truth. Injuries happen… and you have to deal with them. My biased opinion in that ND did better than any team this year even if they finished #11. No matter what Brent Musberger or whatever ESPN commentator (other than Coach Holtz or Kirk H. – this year only Kirk), would admit, ND is a team no one wants to mess with. (Expletive deleted) Coach Kelly is and has built some serious talent in that small town in Indiana we all love. With some luck ( and all I mean is less injuries), the rest of the country (Pac 10 or 11 or 12, ACC, Big 10 or 11 or…. well you get where I am going…., sec (small letters on purpose), or whomever) should be concerned because I have not heard as many Holtz comparisons since 1996. Go Irish…. Go team 128. Cheer, cheer for Old Notre Dame….
Fairy tale? Hickory dickory dock……
What a fairy tale
It was maddening because they played horribly at times. Great at other times. Where was the old Irish pride? It seems they have talent but are poorly coached. Poorly inspired. The defense didn’t exist. They will never ever win a national title with Kelly. So many screw ups, wasted opportunities year after year after year. So many wasted years.