Notre Dame football: 3 takeaways from dominant win over Syracuse

1. Kelly is one win away from proving everybody wrong

It’s no secret that Notre Dame teams under Brian Kelly have been known to choke in high-pressure situations. Kelly’s record in November, especially against top 15 competition, has been unimpressive to say the least. The Irish have seen numerous late season collapses, providing reason for concern regardless of how any Notre Dame team happened to have looked at the time.

Similar doubts shrouded this season as well, long after Book took over the starting job. However, such doubt was more than reasonable after seeing the same story time and time again. But things are different this year. There’s no more “surviving” November. Instead, Notre Dame is taking it to their opponents during a month that has been recently abysmal for the program.

Just as all of the blame fell on Kelly when the team collapsed late, Kelly deserves credit for changing his team’s mentality. Kelly has worked seamlessly alongside offensive coordinator Chip Long while the promotion of Clark Lea to defensive coordinator has paid dividends throughout the season.

Kelly is utilizing every last inch of talent on his roster, and has his Irish sitting pretty at No. 3 in the College Football Playoff rankings. Media and fans alike have been calling for Kelly’s head for quite some time, but he’s finally proving why he deserves to coach such a proud, historic program.