Notre Dame Football: 5 most gut-wrenching losses of Brian Kelly era
By Jacob Wilson
Last season aside, Brian Kelly’s Notre Dame football squad was notorious for collapsing late in the season. Here are some of their most disheartening defeats.
Head coach Brian Kelly took over for the Irish following the team’s .500 campaign under Charlie Weis in 2009. Since then, the Irish have posted a winning record in all but one season while making appearances in the 2012 National Championship Game and the 2018 College Football Playoff.
Nevertheless, Kelly’s overall record with the Irish has been clouded by his team’s inability to come up clutch down the stretch.
With last season being an exception, falling short in November had become a theme for Kelly’s squad year in and year out. As a result, Notre Dame fans have been subjected to numerous gut-wrenching losses over the course of Kelly’s tenure with the team.
While Notre Dame seems to be on the rise, especially after a nearly-perfect 2018 season, that doesn’t make the Irish immune from tough losses, and these won’t be the last gut-wrenching defeats of his career.
In chronological order, here are a few of the worst.