Notre Dame-Duke football: Can Irish bounce back from tough defeat?
Notre Dame football is unique in its independence. While almost the entire rest of FCS college football has gone the conference route, and mega ones at that, Notre Dame has stayed independent.
In doing so their path to getting to the College Football Playoff certainly isn’t easy. Often times it’s one loss for Notre Dame and dreams of the playoff can be forgotten.
This year could be different though based on the perceived closeness of so many of the top 15 or so teams. Could 11-1 Notre Dame get into the playoff this year?
It’s worth keeping an eye on but in order to get to 11-1 you have to get to 5-1 first, and that starts with an upstart Duke team who is unbeaten on the young season and has already knocked off Clemson.
So how does Notre Dame bounce back from their first loss of the year?
Come out with their hair on fire and dominate?
Struggle through but sneak out a victory?
Drop a second in a row and eliminate all hope of the playoff?
Here is how Notre Dame has fared the game after their first loss of a season since Brian Kelly was hired previous to the 2010 season.
2010 - Loss at Michigan State (OT)
A week after falling at home to Michigan in a thriller, Notre Dame hit the road for the first time under Brian Kelly. What happened was more heartbreak as Michigan State connected on a fake field goal in overtime to walk off the Irish 34-31.
2011 - Loss at Michigan
2011 opened with an all-time dumb Notre Dame loss that came at the hands of South Florida. After losing the turnover battle 5-0 in Week 1, Notre Dame hit the road and was in complete control of Michigan for the majority of the night.
At least until Denard Robinson went off, taking advantage of the Notre Dame secondary’s woeful night. Despite leading 24-7 entering the final frame, the Irish coughed up this one by giving up 28 fourth quarter points in a 35-31 defeat.
2012 - No Regular Season Losses
There were close calls, struggles, and frustrations during the 2012 campaign but through it all, Notre Dame managed to survive the regular season a perfect 12-0.
2013: Unimpressive Win at Purdue
Notre Dame’s last trip to West Lafayette came a week after the Irish lost at the Big House in 2013. It wasn’t the prettiest of nights for Notre Dame as a Purdue team that would finish just 1-11 stayed with them all night, but it was a 31-24 win to get things pointed back in the right direction.
2014 - Escaping Navy following heartbreak
A week after losing at unbeaten Florida State in one of the most controversial endings you’ll see, Notre Dame traveled to Maryland to take on Navy. Notre Dame had their struggles and in fact entered the fourth quarter trailing that night, but escaped with a 49-39 victory over the Midshipmen. The wheels would fall off for the Irish shortly after, however.
2015: Navy again the foe
A week after an epic comeback effort fell just short at Clemson, Navy was again on Notre Dame’s schedule. This one took place in South Bend however and the Irish defense played much better throughout the afternoon, helping to a 41-24 victory to move to 5-1.
2016: One of season's few victories
Notre Dame suffered a heartbreaking overtime loss against Texas to start the 2016 season despite being ranked in the preseason top 10. The Irish followed it up with a 39-10 victory over Nevada which wound up being one of just four victories they’d have that fall.
2017: Dominating Win at Boston College
A week after falling in the final seconds to Georgia in Week 2, Notre Dame traveled to Boston College and had a field day running the ball. Josh Adams and Brandon Wimbush both passed the 200-yard rushing mark as the Irish cruised to a 49-20 win.
2018: No Regular Season Losses
For the second time in Brian Kelly’s tenure, Notre Dame went 12-0 in the regular season. The would qualify for their first College Football Playoff appearance where they’d lose to Clemson, 30-3.
2019 - Home win vs. Virginia
2019’s biggest regular season game came at Georgia in Week 3, a game Notre Dame had a chance to win late but couldn’t find the offense to make happen. A week later they benefited from a strong showing by Ian Book and some timely forced turnovers to beat Virginia 35-20 and move to 3-1.
2020 - Perfect Regular Season
The strange year of 2020 saw Notre Dame join the ACC for the season and perhaps save college football for that fall by doing so. The Irish went unbeaten that regular season before falling to Clemson in the ACC Championship game and Alabama in the Rose Bowl – which was played in Texas because of the pandemic.
2021 - Comeback at Virginia Tech
2021’s only regular season loss came at the start of October against a Cincinnati team that would ultimately play in the College Football Playoff. The Irish followed it up with a road game at Virginia Tech where Jack Coan would have to lead a late rally to win in the final seconds.
2022 - Home disaster vs. Marshall
2022 started with a highly anticipated game at Ohio State, one which Notre Dame dropped 21-10. A week later things went entirely off track as Marshall came into Notre Dame Stadium and only got stronger running the ball as the game wore on, beating the Irish 26-21.
Totals
Since Brian Kelly was hired as Notre Dame’s head coach the Irish have gone 7-3 in the game following their first loss of the year. It’s worth noting what you saw above – two of those losses came in Kelly’s first two seasons.
Did the program learn something after that meltdown in Michigan? And can Freeman’s staff apply it to avoid another loss like what happened against Marshall last year?
They’ll need to as what could be a shot at the College Football Playoff certainly relies on it.
