Under Year Two of the Brian Kelly Era, Notre Dame Football is clearly heading into the right direction. Kelly has put together some great talent on both sides of the football and the future appears bright even though he hasn’t been on campus for quite two years yet.
Despite the upside, the Irish aren’t quite ready for the big show at this stage of the Kelly Era.
For whatever reason, they came out flat on Saturday, which is extremely puzzling considering the circumstances. The Irish players were set to play in the first night game at Notre Dame Stadium since the Lou Holtz Era and the crowd was electric, but that couldn’t get ND off to a fast start.
On their first possession to start the game, the Golden Domers had a quick three and out against a USC defense that had allowed 40+ points in two separate games this season. Then the Trojans would have a 13 play, 75 drive that gave them a 7-0 lead and took 7:50 off the game clock.
The great start from USC was something that ND wouldn’t be able to recover from. They tried their best, but it would prove too costly later on.
Now the question remains is why this team is not ready for primetime yet?
It certainly isn’t because of a lack of talent. If you look at the Michigan game earlier in the season and the USC game from Saturday, neither team is drastically more talented than Notre Dame. In fact, when comparing, they are probably on par skill and talent wise. You couldn’t have said that in years past.
I don’t think it is from a coaching standpoint either. Brady Hoke has a done a nice job in his first season at his alma mater, but does anyone across the country really believe he is a better head coach than Kelly? The same can be said about Lane Kiffin, who is already on his third different head coaching stint at the ripe age of 36.
Notre Dame’s lack of being ready for the primetime comes down to this team’s lack of execution and costly mistakes, whether they be penalties or turnovers, at critical stages of games. They continue to shoot themselves in the foot, which eventually costs them a chance at getting a win. That isn’t on the coaches, that is on the players.
If they can clean up the mistakes and if Kelly’s coaching staff can continue to improve the talent on the roster, Notre Dame should be back to playing with the big boys across the college football landscape in no time. Irish faithful just need to be a bit more patient.
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This article must have been written by coach Kelly. Because I saw the Kiffen’s out coach Kelly badly. And Southern Cal’s players were better at almost every position.