2010 Notre Dame Fighting Irish Football Preview

2009 Results: 6-6, No Bowl Game

Head Coach: Brian Kelly (1st year @ Notre Dame, 53-22 Overall)

Home Venue: Notre Dame Stadium (80,795 Capacity), South Bend, Indiana

The 2009 season at Notre Dame was fraught with intrigue, public outcry and the desperate push by former coach Charlie Weis to hold onto his job. A strong offensive team jumped out to a 6-2 start, led by QB Jimmy Claussen’s elite performance. Unfortunately, the Irish dropped their last four games thanks to a weak defense and Weis was fired after five seasons in South Bend that culminated in the worst three year stretch in school history (16-21). To cap things off, star juniors Claussen and wide receiver Golden Tate, who were unlikely to stay in school even if Weis hadn’t been fired, left early for the NFL.

Notre Dame quickly settled on Cincinnati Head Coach Brian Kelly, who had just completed leading the Bearcats to a 12-0 record and their 2 nd consecutive Big East title. Kelly was immediately embraced by Irish fans for his name (you can’t get much more Irish than Kelly), background (he is a Massachusetts Catholic) and resume (Kelly has three conference titles in the past five years between Cincinnati and Central Michigan, along with two Division II National Championships in 2002 and 2003). With such a strong resume, Kelly will get every opportunity to be the next coach to return the Irish to glory but does this year’s team have enough talent to immediately push Notre Dame back into the top 25?

OFFENSE

Things will look very different on offense this year. Gone is star QB Jimmy Claussen and Charlie Weis’ pro-style system. Instead, former top prep QB Dayne Crist will be the first to run Kelly’s up-tempo spread attack. While Crist, a sophomore, has a lot of talent, he is coming off of ACL surgery and his mobility will be limited.

The good news is that he is surrounded by a ton of talent. Junior Tight End Kyle Rudolph (33 catches, 364 yards, 3 TDs in 2009) is one of the best in the country at his position and will be the ultimate safety valve for Crist. The other major passing option will be junior Michael Floyd (44 catches, 795 yards, 9 touchdowns), who was dynamite despite playing in only seven games last year due to injury. Crist should also have a solid rushing attack, led by seniors Armando Allen and Robert Hughes, who combined for over 1,100 yards and 8 TDs last year. Along with freshman Cierre Wood, Notre Dame has the talent to have a great running game.

If the offensive line can open holes for them, that is. Notre Dame only returns two starters up front and depth is a big concern. Both of last season’s guards are back but junior Trevor Robinson was moved out to tackle in the spring to try to get the best players on the field this spring. Making matters worse, the tragic death of elite tackle recruit Matt James takes away a potential immediate contributor up front. While the line is the biggest concern on offense, Kelly has a strong history working with new O-Linemen and it wouldn’t be a surprise to see this group exceed expectations this season.

So how will this group perform overall in 2010? While there is some serious talent on hand, especially at the skill positions, the Irish have to adapt to a new system with young linemen and a first time starting quarterback against a front-loaded schedule. That means that Notre Dame could spend the first half of the year trying to get everything worked out before they start to hit on all cylinders down the stretch.

DEFENSE

If the play of the offense was the only barometer for success, Charlie Weis would still be the head football coach at Notre Dame. The Irish defense was consistently average, to be polite, under Weis and the 2009 edition allowed almost 400 yards of offense per game. That means that Kelly, who is well-known for his offensive talents, has a major rebuilding job on hand this season. Can Kelly’s longtime DC, Mike Diaco, work his magic this season?

The one really good piece of news is that nine starters are back from last year’s team, most of whom earned starting time as underclassmen. Notre Dame is also playing a new 3-4 alignment on defense and that should allow them more variety in their defending. Up front, sophomore DE Kapron Lewis-Moore leads a strong front that should occupy plenty of blockers for the linebackers to make plays.

And the Irish have the linebackers to take advantage of it. Sophomore Manti T’eo (63 tackles) had a great freshman season after entering as the nation’s top linebacking prospect and is the best known name from a surprisingly good group of linebackers that also includes senior Brian Smith (71 tackles, 2 interceptions), the team’s top returning tackler.

Where there is major concern is in the secondary. Notre Dame allowed almost 230 yards per game through the air last year and now has to replace graduated safety Kyle McCarthy, who led the team in tackles and interceptions last fall. However, McCarthy was excellent in run support and wasn’t especially known for his athleticism. If a large crop of rising upperclassmen can play well together this season, the Irish should be better against the pass.

So how will this group look as a whole this year? Well, Notre Dame has a decent amount of talent on hand but they’re still a lot less athletic than other ‘major’ schools. However, improved coaching and a new development program should mean that this typically underachieving unit under Weis should finally turn into a decent defense. I expect the Irish to actually start to represent the ‘Fightin’ aspect of their mascot on D this season.

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SCHEDULE

If a Notre Dame fan ever comes up to you and starts bragging about how tough their schedule is, laugh in their face. The Irish play the fewest true road games of any team in the country this year as they only enter hostile territory three times! Now, they have to play at USC, Michigan and Boston College, so they’re at least visiting decent competition, but three road games is historically low. Anyone else wonder why Notre Dame has seemed so set on maintaining their independence instead of joining the Big Ten for the last decade? Well, here’s why: They don’t want to have to travel to Ohio State, Penn State and company every other year!

Furthermore, they have two neutral site games against military schools (Army, Navy) in the northeast that will be dominated by Irish fans. In fact, the only part of that schedule that could allow Notre Dame to ‘brag’ about is the presence of three of the best non-BCS teams in the country (Utah, Tulsa, Navy).

However, with a rebuilding team and a new coach, this is still a fairly tough schedule. All three Big Ten opponents that they face to start the year are improved and their first six games are legitimate toss-up contests (at best) that include visits from likely ranked foes in Pitt and Stanford. While the back half is much easier with five consecutive non-BCS conference foes, Notre Dame ends with a visit to archrival Southern California to close out the season.

OUTLOOK

The Fightin’ Irish will certainly be a more balanced team under Brian Kelly than they were under Weis, who notoriously ignored his defense. However, Kelly has the daunting task of opening up against six straight solid BCS conference opponents, which could easily produce a 2-4 or 3-3 start. However, the five games before USC should be a good time for the Irish to find their stride and start clicking. Expect Notre Dame to open up with a poor first half against tough competition before running off a 5-1 closing kick to earn bowl eligibility at 7-5 or 8-4.