Notre Dame Loss To Northwestern Is On Head Coach Brian Kelly
By Nick Wilder
@NickCWilder
Brian Spurlock-USA TODAY Sports
After a demoralizing loss to Arizona State two weeks ago that ended Notre Dame’s hopes of making the College Football Playoff, the Fighting Irish desperately needed a win to get back on track against an inferior Northwestern team on Saturday. However, Notre Dame eventually fell to the Wildcats by a score of 43-40 in overtime. It was an inexcusable loss that fell squarely on the shoulders of head coach Brian Kelly, who made a questionable decision late in the game.
The Fighting Irish were able to score a touchdown to extend their lead to 11 points over Northwestern with about 10 and a half minutes left in the fourth quarter. Conventional wisdom would suggest kicking the extra point to extend the lead to 12 points. This way, the Wildcats would not be given the easier opportunity to score a touchdown, execute a two-point conversion, and then tie the game with a field goal.
However, Kelly decided to go for the two-point conversion instead, due to his lack of confidence in Notre Dame’s kicking game, specifically kicker Kyle Brindza’s mental approach with new holder Malik Zaire. The team had also struggled throughout the game with executing field goals, especially holding the ball down after the snap. The two-point conversion ultimately failed and left the door open for Northwestern to tie the game on a field goal kick late in the fourth quarter.
Despite the team’s inconsistency kicking field goals, this situation called for a simple extra point. Brindza had made 105 of his 106 career extra point attempts heading into Saturday’s matchup. Kelly was obviously over-thinking the circumstances and his decision to go for the two-point conversation was extremely costly.
Notre Dame committed several mistakes throughout the game, so it’s hard to put all of the blame on Kelly for the loss. But when the head coach makes such a critical mistake late in the game, it’s difficult for any team to overcome.
Nick Wilder is a writer for www.RantSports.com. Follow him on Twitter @NickCWilder and add him to your network on Google.
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