Worst 5 losses in the Kelly Era

[ndomer4 532]

Let's rank them from worst to 5th, the head scratching, mind boggling losses definitely surpass ten so we should have some variation. I was going to start a list of positives Kelly has done here with all the negativity going on and the consensus that he will be fired come seasons end. Only real positives I could think of were ending the losing streak vs a sanctioned USC, one lucky season, and not having a losing record in bowls due to crappy bowl games.

 

I just couldn't bring myself to write a list of positives since I have such disliking for the guy. With another head-scratcher that could top this list after Saturday I thought it's only fitting to compile a list before a new number one enters the picture.

 

1. USF- 3 turnovers inside the 15 I think, we should have clobbered them and had a BCS quality team but blew it to another inferior team/

 

2. Northwestern- Bad clock management, stupid two point play, how many untimely turnovers in that game?

 

3. Tulsa- Had a great kicker in Ruffer but decided to throw deep with a true freshman in his first start. The good thing is he'd do it again and his stupidity has showed.

 

4. Navy(2010)- A 3 possession loss to Navy!?

 

5. Duke- 21 point favorite at home.. should be higher but this team is so bad I value it less than others.

 

Most Underrated loss- Pitt 2013- How does he lose to this team? This was a terrible game.

 

honorable mention- Michigan 2011, NC State 2016, Michigan 2010, MSU 2016, Navy 2016.

 

Let's see em.

[Lord Byron 0]

Great Questions. Regular reader and very infrequent poster chiming in

 

1. Navy 2010. 3 score margin loss. BK had nothing to say other than we were out schemed

2. Duke 2016. BVG last stand. Enough said

3. Northwestern 2014. Although injury depleted, this was bad

4. Fl. State 2011 bowl game. Dominated game first half. Up 14-0 should have been more. For whatever reason we stopped applying pressure and lost 18-14. Headscratcher. Kelly played not to lose instead of to dominate. A common theme to his coaching approach at ND

5. 2015 win at BC (Fenway). Although we won, we lost. It moved us out of playoff consideration. We have never been the same since.

6. All other 2016 losses

 

Honorable mention. 2015 wins against Virginia and GT.

We should have won Virginia easily. Kizer-Fuller Heroics saved us. The play before the pass to Fuller for the TD was awful as they come… predictable screen play call that a biddy team would’ve sniffed out. We should have lost. Against GT that same season we dominated until 3 minutes or so to go and we allowed 2 easily scores. Had to recovery an onside kick (if memory serves me correct a second one) to preserve the win. This does not happen to good teams that are well coached.

 

The Tulsa loss in 2010 was bad, but would not even be on my list. I believe this is the game that changed Kelly’s approach. He went for the kill. The TD pass. Good teams make this play or atleast do not make an egregious error. Rees threw a poorly under thrown ball and the rest is history. From this point forward we have played, under Kelly, with a "not-to-lose" mindset, instead of destroy inferior opponents mindset. Look at what Urban and Harbaugh are doing. They go in with the mindset of crushing opponents.

 

My list speaks to clear poor coaching. I tried to exclude games in which the opponent played well or poor play from our players. For instance, south Florida was bad but Grey's fumble at the one just killed us that game and turned that game around.

[NDNorm 50]

W/out mentioning any specific games, one of my biggest problems with Kelly is saying that he would do whatever he did in those losses all over again, of course implying that all his decisions are absolutely, and ALWAYS, the right ones.

 

I know that people in powerful positions don't like to admit mistakes, and to a certain extent, their stubbornness has contributed to their success, but when your ego gets in the way of knowing when you're wrong, and adjusting things moving forward, that's a problem.

 

Every time he's asked about decisions in games that were pivotal (and didn't work, or seemed obvious that it was the wrong thing to do) he always says it was absolutely the RIGHT thing to do, and he'll do it all over again the same way if in the same situation the next time.

[ColinKSU 18]

Do major BCS-level coaches with Kelly's amount of head coaching experience make as many clear boners as he does? It seems like there are three or four "I have literally no idea what was going through his mind" brain fart decisions every year Kelly has been here. He could run head-first into a brick wall, break his nose and then do it again as soon as his nose heals just to prove that he knows everything.

 

I realize that Saban is the exception to nearly everything in college football, but has he made as many absolutely unquestioned blunders during his entire tenure at Alabama as Kelly does in a typical season at Notre Dame?

[EddieAngel 602]

We should have won Virginia easily. Kizer-Fuller Heroics saved us. The play before the pass to Fuller for the TD was awful as they come… predictable screen play call that a biddy team would’ve sniffed out. We should have lost.

 

While I agree with that, that clip of Kizer to Fuller for the win is freaking ridiculous. One of my all time favorite ND moments. It might not have been great in the bigger scheme of things, but such a great clip.

 

[ame=

]

[/ame]

 

Still gives me goosebumps. Plus the hanging Virginia fan perfectly sums up how I feel just about every Saturday.

[ndomer4 532]

Great Questions. Regular reader and very infrequent poster chiming in

 

1. Navy 2010. 3 score margin loss. BK had nothing to say other than we were out schemed

2. Duke 2016. BVG last stand. Enough said

3. Northwestern 2014. Although injury depleted, this was bad

4. Fl. State 2011 bowl game. Dominated game first half. Up 14-0 should have been more. For whatever reason we stopped applying pressure and lost 18-14. Headscratcher. Kelly played not to lose instead of to dominate. A common theme to his coaching approach at ND

5. 2015 win at BC (Fenway). Although we won, we lost. It moved us out of playoff consideration. We have never been the same since.

6. All other 2016 losses

 

Honorable mention. 2015 wins against Virginia and GT.

We should have won Virginia easily. Kizer-Fuller Heroics saved us. The play before the pass to Fuller for the TD was awful as they come… predictable screen play call that a biddy team would’ve sniffed out. We should have lost. Against GT that same season we dominated until 3 minutes or so to go and we allowed 2 easily scores. Had to recovery an onside kick (if memory serves me correct a second one) to preserve the win. This does not happen to good teams that are well coached.

 

The Tulsa loss in 2010 was bad, but would not even be on my list. I believe this is the game that changed Kelly’s approach. He went for the kill. The TD pass. Good teams make this play or atleast do not make an egregious error. Rees threw a poorly under thrown ball and the rest is history. From this point forward we have played, under Kelly, with a "not-to-lose" mindset, instead of destroy inferior opponents mindset. Look at what Urban and Harbaugh are doing. They go in with the mindset of crushing opponents.

 

My list speaks to clear poor coaching. I tried to exclude games in which the opponent played well or poor play from our players. For instance, south Florida was bad but Grey's fumble at the one just killed us that game and turned that game around.

 

The thread is about losses not close wins, which I'm sure by now you know is a staple of the Kelly era. I get that your assessment that close wins over UV and GT are nit characteristic of well coached team or good coach, hence why it is a list of worst losses.

 

Using this criteria I'd be able to say Clemson and Stanford were some of Kelly's best wins. Although I would have to use these almost wins because of the shortage of high quality wins, not the case with the amount of mind numbing losses.

 

I have to disagree we haven't been the same since BC, we were not making the playoff regardless. This team has been the same since 2010, and I can't truly say we have ever outcoached an opponent. We won close games in 2016 because we recruited top end guys like Fuller, Adams, Stanley, Prosise, Kizer, Smith, Day etc... not because we outcoached anyone.

 

In 2012 it was a whole host of guys namely Manti and a good amount of Weis' guys. All the other 8 win years we are probably coached like a 6 win team that does a little better because of the talent. Thing is we lacked the 5 stars and high end 4 stars which made up for the coaches shortcomings.

 

This year is shocking because it has the talent of a typical 8 win Kelly team, this makes it so much worse than 2007, which had a young Purdue like roster might I add(even they beat us).

[davislove 0]

This is a very sad thread. So many painful and infuriating loses.

[Dardo 19]

The thread is about losses not close wins, which I'm sure by now you know is a staple of the Kelly era. I get that your assessment that close wins over UV and GT are nit characteristic of well coached team or good coach, hence why it is a list of worst losses.

 

Using this criteria I'd be able to say Clemson and Stanford were some of Kelly's best wins. Although I would have to use these almost wins because of the shortage of high quality wins, not the case with the amount of mind numbing losses.

 

I have to disagree we haven't been the same since BC, we were not making the playoff regardless. This team has been the same since 2010, and I can't truly say we have ever outcoached an opponent. We won close games in 2016 because we recruited top end guys like Fuller, Adams, Stanley, Prosise, Kizer, Smith, Day etc... not because we outcoached anyone.

 

In 2012 it was a whole host of guys namely Manti and a good amount of Weis' guys. All the other 8 win years we are probably coached like a 6 win team that does a little better because of the talent. Thing is we lacked the 5 stars and high end 4 stars which made up for the coaches shortcomings.

 

This year is shocking because it has the talent of a typical 8 win Kelly team, this makes it so much worse than 2007, which had a young Purdue like roster might I add(even they beat us).

 

I'd argue Oklahoma and Michigan St in 2012 were both nearly perfectly coached games. I agree 100% with everything else though.

[Lord Byron 0]

The thread is about losses not close wins, which I'm sure by now you know is a staple of the Kelly era. I get that your assessment that close wins over UV and GT are nit characteristic of well coached team or good coach, hence why it is a list of worst losses.

 

Using this criteria I'd be able to say Clemson and Stanford were some of Kelly's best wins. Although I would have to use these almost wins because of the shortage of high quality wins, not the case with the amount of mind numbing losses.

 

I have to disagree we haven't been the same since BC, we were not making the playoff regardless. This team has been the same since 2010, and I can't truly say we have ever outcoached an opponent. We won close games in 2016 because we recruited top end guys like Fuller, Adams, Stanley, Prosise, Kizer, Smith, Day etc... not because we outcoached anyone.

 

In 2012 it was a whole host of guys namely Manti and a good amount of Weis' guys. All the other 8 win years we are probably coached like a 6 win team that does a little better because of the talent. Thing is we lacked the 5 stars and high end 4 stars which made up for the coaches shortcomings.

 

This year is shocking because it has the talent of a typical 8 win Kelly team, this makes it so much worse than 2007, which had a young Purdue like roster might I add(even they beat us).

 

Sorry I guess you caught me dwelling on underwhelming performances. The only thing I disagree with you on, gentle disagreement, is that we would have been still out of playoffs if would have decisively beat BC. You are Probably right, but if we would have put a beat down on BC, and wake forest the week before BC, which we had the talent to do, I love our chances. Look what OSU did to Nebraska this past week. A couple years ago didn't they do the same to Wisconsin in big ten champion game after a disappointing loss in regular season?. This is what is missing IMO From this team's mentality. The argument is alittle mute because we lost to Stanford, almost predictably, the next week.

[jbrown_9999 1,125]

Do major BCS-level coaches with Kelly's amount of head coaching experience make as many clear boners as he does? It seems like there are three or four "I have literally no idea what was going through his mind" brain fart decisions every year Kelly has been here. He could run head-first into a brick wall, break his nose and then do it again as soon as his nose heals just to prove that he knows everything.

 

I realize that Saban is the exception to nearly everything in college football, but has he made as many absolutely unquestioned blunders during his entire tenure at Alabama as Kelly does in a typical season at Notre Dame?

 

Cannot say that I followed LSU closely but Les Miles has the reputation of giving Kelly a run for his money in the blunder area

[JTennant 290]

Getting blown out by USC on the road after Kelly lost his team not in your honorable mention?

 

I think losses like this where the team clearly quit on him are every bit as important of an indicator he is the wrong coach as the ones you've listed.

[ndomer4 532]

I'd argue Oklahoma and Michigan St in 2012 were both nearly perfectly coached games. I agree 100% with everything else though.

 

Yeah the talent has not always bailed his *** out but way more often than not. That's the problem only so few of those well coached, nicely executed games vs top teams. MSU 2013 was probably the best team he has beat albeit an extremely sloppy game.

 

Yeah I left out games like USC in 2014 because he clearly lost the team and they did not show up to the game. Games like Bama and USC because regardless of the Kelly blunders they were much more talented and better coached that we had no chance.

[hawaiiirish 62]

I can't handle an in depth internal review and comparison of all our losses.

 

Not a fun half hour ....so these 5 are just the ones I remember hurting more then others.....

 

South Florida--opening day blues--I hate that

Texas----opening day blues sparked by poor strategy, QB selection, and the HORRID PROOF that BVG should not have had another season.

Navy---the year they ran all over Diacos defense exposed some real weakness in Kelly's ability to deal with a variety of situations--sadly shocking

USC --on the recruiting weekend beating--just tough painful loss with BK giving up in the end which was hard to stomach---lots of red faced screaming and ZERO RESULTS----another bad one there

 

that's only four but I am so sorry I can't go on---

 

aloha

[vangordersmustache 63]

Ugh... I was at the Northwestern game. It was my first and only game. Still have a bad taste from that one.

[vangordersmustache 63]

Can I throw in Alabama? Is getting steam rolled in front of everyone was crushing, and showed the whole country, we still weren't close, and the pundits were right. I know it's not the worst team we lost too.. But man, it wasn't as close as the score said.

 

I'm tired of going into a big bowl like last year, and knowing we won't even compete, let alone a chance to win.

[ndomer4 532]

I can't handle an in depth internal review and comparison of all our losses.

 

Not a fun half hour ....so these 5 are just the ones I remember hurting more then others.....

 

South Florida--opening day blues--I hate that

Texas----opening day blues sparked by poor strategy, QB selection, and the HORRID PROOF that BVG should not have had another season.

Navy---the year they ran all over Diacos defense exposed some real weakness in Kelly's ability to deal with a variety of situations--sadly shocking

USC --on the recruiting weekend beating--just tough painful loss with BK giving up in the end which was hard to stomach---lots of red faced screaming and ZERO RESULTS----another bad one there

 

that's only four but I am so sorry I can't go on---

 

aloha

 

Forgot that 2013 loss, tough to stomach that one. I recall you called us winning out in 2010 as crazy as that seemed. How do you see this playing out? I say we only beat army but it's a toss up and I expect a close game too.

 

And bvgstache I agree both were terrible losses and should have been closer, especially Bama. However Bama fielded one of their better teams that season, we stood no chance with BK. Osu last year would have played Bama imo and might have if in the playoff, that was the worst possible matchup and I don't think anyone even predicted we'd keep it close.

[coltssb 1,121]

Just the name of this thread is an indication of the embarrassment we have endured. Would a thread be like this for Saban? Sad...

[vangordersmustache 63]

We should also start a thread about top 5 worst wins.. How many times have we barely beaten a clearly inferior team. How many times did we come out and lay an egg, instead of being ready to go from the start. That is always on coaching .

[stdntDrvr 12]

We should also start a thread about top 5 worst wins.. How many times have we barely beaten a clearly inferior team. How many times did we come out and lay an egg, instead of being ready to go from the start. That is always on coaching .

 

95% of the games in BK's tenure.