Notre Dame On The Defensive
In an era of college football where a 35-31 outcome might be perceived as a defensive struggle, No. 3-ranked Notre Dame’s 12-7 victory over a now 1-4 Louisville outfit might be classified as an example of “winning ugly.”
However, extremely low scores such as this — 20 points or less by both teams — are to be expected at least once or twice a year, although an anomaly .
Even in the heyday of “Air Weis” when the Notre Dame record books in 2005-06 were being rewritten on offense by quarterback Brady Quinn and Co. under head coach Charlie Weis, the Irish needed to scratch and claw several times to win defensive dominated slugfests.
In 2005, the first Notre Dame top-10 finish in 12 years was propelled with a 17-10 win at then No. 3 Michigan — the last time the Irish defeated a top-five team (hint, hint). Then in 2006, the popular preseason No. 1 pick opened with a 14-10 win at Georgia Tech, which had its own playmaker in wideout Calvin Johnson. Later that same year, a dramatic touchdown by Jeff Samardzija with 27 seconds left resulted in a 20-17 win versus UCLA.
The victory versus Louisville marked the fewest points scored in an Irish win since a 10-6 win at USC in the 1990 regular-season finale. It was the fewest in the 11-year Brian Kelly era in a win since a 13-6 conquest of Michigan on Sept. 22, 2012 en route to a 12-0 regular season and a berth in the BCS National Championship Game.
“I don't even know if it aesthetically looked bad,” Kelly said of the defeat of the Cardinals. “We controlled the line of scrimmage. We controlled the time of possession. I think we had one or two penalties [three]. We didn't turn the football over.
“I've coached a lot of games over 30 years. I don't know that I've been in one quite like this. I've been in a 12-7 game when it was a stinker. You're like, ‘Eew.’ But this game was a little different. It was hard-fought.”
Possibly, Notre Dame might have been expecting more miscues from the Cardinals, who ranked 73rd out of 76 teams in turnover margin and had committed nine in their three previous losses compared to generating only two. But neither team turned it over Saturday.
Possibly one more such game could be on the horizon this year where there will be a strong leaning on the defense to save the day.
Here’s a breakdown of the Kelly era with such encounters — and notable is how the Fighting Irish have had a tendency to come out on top in such low-scoring contests:
2010: In the Los Angeles rain, Notre Dame defeated USC 20-16 in the final regular-season game to snap a school-record eight-game losing streak against the Trojans.
2011: A late touchdown drive and two-pointer against Pitt resulted in a 15-12 win. Then on Senior Day in wet conditions, the Irish mucked their way to a 16-14 victory versus Boston College.
2012: In a dramatic season of close calls and constant reliance on defense to save the day, Notre Dame achieved home wins against Michigan (13-6), Stanford (20-13 in overtime) and BYU (17-14).
Plus it had to rally late from a 20-6 deficit to tie Pitt at 20 before winning in the third overtime.
2013: Two more supreme defensive efforts in Notre Dame Stadium. First was a 17-13 victory versus Michigan State — the Spartans’ lone defeat while finishing 13-1 and No. 3 in the country.
Second, minus quarterback Tommy Rees in the second half, a stellar Irish defensive effort led by Stephon Tuitt resulted in a 14-10 Irish conquest of USC.
2014: While improving to 5-0, first-year defensive coordinator Brian VanGorder was heralded as the program’s salvation following the 11th-hour 17-14 win versus Stanford. The Irish had allowed only 12.0 points per game in those five contests.
2015: At Fenway Park, No. 4-ranked Notre Dame committed five turnovers (three inside the opponent’s 5-yard line) against a 3-9 Boston College team, but still prevailed with the 19-16 win.
2016: Just about everything went wrong during this 4-8 implosion, including back-to-back losses to North Carolina State (10-3) on the road in hurricane conditions, and then Stanford (17-10) at home, the first time Kelly’s troops ended up on the short end of games where both teams scored 20 or fewer points.
2017: No. 15 Georgia, which would play for the national title, squeaked by the No. 24 Irish 20-19 thanks to converting a field goal with 3:34 remaining in the game.
2018: Pitt led Notre Dame the entire game before a 35-yard touchdown pass from Ian Book to Miles Boykin with 5:43 left enabled the Irish to eke out a 19-14 win while marching toward the College Football Playoff.
2019: This was an exception, although the 23-17 loss at Georgia and the 21-20 win over Virginia Tech both saw the defenses have the upper hand.
Thus, to “compensate” for last year, maybe another such game as Louisville could be on the horizon.
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