Notre Dame football: Most painful losses in recent memory
If you’ve been a fan of Notre Dame football for the last couple of decades then heartbreak is something you’re used to.
Since winning their last national championship in 1988 there have been some extreme highs but none included hoisting the championship trophy at season’s end (although some could have).
There have been some heartbreaking losses since then. Some have costs chances at national championships, some have simply just ended in anguish and pain.
Which was the worst though?
After losing to Ohio State in truly incredible fashion we thought we’d take a look at some of the candidates and let you decide which one stings the worst.
1991 Orange Bowl vs. Colorado
The clip that wasn’t, but was called anyway.
Notre Dame entered the 1991 Orange Bowl at 9-2 and ranked fifth nationally. They took No. 1 Colorado to the wire and were trailing 10-9 when the Buffaloes decided to punt the ball away to Rocket Ismail.
Ismail returned the punt for a touchdown that would have cost Colorado their split national championship with Georgia Tech. Instead, a controversial clipping call was made and the return called back.
Notre Dame fell 10-9 in the game and instead of finishing the season higher in the polls, finished with a No. 6 ranking.
1991 - Home Collapse vs. Tennessee
Notre Dame was again ranked fifth nationally when No.13 Tennessee came to town late in the 1991 season.
The Irish jumped out to a 31-7 lead and looked to be on cruise control, but someone forgot to inform the Volunteers of that.
Tennessee blocked a field goal late in the first half and returned it for a touchdown, shifting the score from likely being 34-7 and instead making it 31-14. There was life back in them and Tennessee ran with it, ultimately sealing the unlikely win by partially blocking a Notre Dame 27-yard field goal attempt as time expired.
With the loss Notre Dame was eliminated from national championship contention.
1993 - Boston College Dashes Dreams of Title
Fresh off a win over Florida State in the “Game of the Century”, Notre Dame was a win over Boston College away from entering bowl season as the nation’s No. 1 team.
Instead, Glenn Foley, Tom Coughlin, and Boston College stormed into Notre Dame Stadium and took a commanding lead. However, the Irish rallied behind Kevin McDougal late to take a 39-38 lead, but a dropped interception by Pete Bercich on the final drive helped the Eagles to a last second David Gordon field goal that gave Boston College the upset victory and cost the Irish a likely 12th national championship.
2000: Upset of No. 1 Nebraska That Wasn't
Notre Dame had just opened the 2000 season with an impressive win over Texas A&M as the Irish snuck into the rankings for Week 2. That’s when No. 1 Nebraska came to town and the Irish had upset on their minds.
Thanks to a punt return and kick return for touchdowns both, Notre Dame found themselves tied at 21 with the Cornhuskers late and with possession.
Bob Davie however chose to play for overtime where Eric Crouch found the end zone as Nebraska walked out of South Bend avoiding what would have been a huge upset.
2002: Boston College Does it Again
Heard this one before?
A week after Notre Dame upset Florida State the undefeated Irish welcomed Boston College to South Bend.
Quarterback Carlyle Holiday was knocked out of the game early as the Notre Dame offense sputtered all afternoon and fell to Boston College 14-7.
This was the beginning of the end for Tyrone Willingham after the storybook start to his Notre Dame career.
2005: Bush Push
In 2005, ESPN was running a feature all season long about if that year’s USC squad was the best college football team of all-time.
USC was unbeaten when they came to South Bend and had won 27-straight games.
What followed was one of the greatest games in college football history, with USC converting a 4th and 9 late and ultimately the infamous “Bush Push” play when Matt Leinart found the end zone with seconds left to play in order to escape with the narrowest of victories.
USC went on to fall to Texas in the national championship that year, a game Notre Dame very likely would have been in had they held onto this victory.
2010: 'Little Giants' at Michigan State
Notre Dame was new to the Brian Kelly era and fresh off a heartbreaking home loss to Michigan when they went on the road to East Lansing in Week 3.
The hard-fought contest went to overtime and Notre Dame forced Michigan State to a field goal attempt in the extra session in order to extend the game.
The Spartans had other ideas though as their fake field goal named “Little Giants” resulted in a stunning Michigan State victory and a 1-2 start for the Irish.
2011: Big Problems in the Big House
A week after being stunned at home to open the season against South Florida, Notre Dame went on the road to Michigan and dominated the Wolverines for most of the night.
However, finishing the game remained a challenge for the Irish as Denard Robinson guided a Michigan comeback for the ages that to this day defies logic.
It was an epic collapse by a Notre Dame team that wound up going just 8-5 after being ranked in the top-15 at the start of the year.
Michigan would go on to do something that season that Notre Dame never accomplished – win a BCS game.
2014: Brutal Call Costs Irish at Florida State
If you thought the clip that was called against Notre Dame in the Orange Bowl at the start of this list was tough to stomach, wait until you look back at this one.
Notre Dame and Florida State played in a thriller in 2014 as the Seminoles were unbeaten and the defending national champions.
The Irish trailed late but thanks to Everett Golson heroics on a fourth down earlier in the drive, were set up near the goal line to take a late lead.
And take a lead they did, at least until offensive pass interference was called, the likely game-winning touchdown was called back, and the huge win was suddenly not.
Watching back without the emotion of the moment it’s easier to see why it was called, but the fact it was still remains shocking almost a decade later.
2015: Comeback at Clemson for Not
Trailing 21-3 in the third quarter, it looked like it was a blowout at Clemson for the Fighting Irish.
Notre Dame rallied against Deshaun Watson and the Tigers though, getting within 24-16 in the final seconds.
DeShone Kizer found Torii Hunter, Jr. for a touchdown to get within two with just 7 seconds remaining, but Kizer was stopped on the ensuing two-point conversion attempt.
Why Brian Kelly decided to go for two earlier in the quarter (and fail) remains a mystery to this day.
2015: Defensive Blunder at Stanford
Despite the loss earlier in the year at Clemson, Notre Dame found themselves a likely College Football Playoff team if they were able to close the regular season with a win at Stanford.
In the back-and-forth game, DeShone Kizer found the end zone with just 30-seconds to play.
A truly epic defensive breakdown occurred multiple times when Stanford got the ball back however and when Conrad Ukropina’s 45-yard field goal sailed through the uprights as time expired, it brought back memories of Boston College in 1993 for Notre Dame fans.
2023: Blown lead late vs. Ohio State
For most of the second half it seemed that Notre Dame was in control and headed towards perhaps their most important victory in decades.
Instead, mistake after mistake by the Irish on the final drive by Ohio State led to the Buckeyes scoring the go-ahead touchdown with just one second left on the game clock.
It didn’t help that the go-ahead score came with just 10 Notre Dame defenders on the field.
