Shepkowski: Senior Day Win Sells Hope for Kelly, Notre Dame
By Nick Shepkowski
The student body storming the field is usually reserved for beating top tier teams and major programs, not mid-majors who are coming off 40 point loses on their home field. Regardless, Notre Dame's 28-3 win over Utah on Saturday brought hope back to a program who hadn't beat a ranked opponent since disposing of Penn State in early September of 2006.
With the upset win over No. 14 Utah, Notre Dame moves to 5-5 on the year and within one win of bowl eligibility. No, a minor bowl game shouldn't be seen as a major accomplishment for the once mighty program but after Saturday's win it proves as a point that things might not actually be quite as awful as they seemed a few short days ago.
During perhaps the eight toughest days in the history of Notre Dame football, the Irish lost games to Navy and Tulsa while also suffering through the death of student Declan Sullivan. As hard as it may be to do after 10 games, perhaps this season wasn't as bad for Notre Dame as some (myself included) have made it out to be.
Notre Dame could be 8-2 just as easily as 5-5 as they've lost games in the final seconds to Michigan, Michigan State, and Tulsa. Granted, good teams find ways to win those kinds of games on a regular basis and its obvious to this point that nobody is going to confuse this version of the Fighting Irish as a good team, but Saturday showed head coach Brian Kelly maturing in his first opportunity since helping cost the Irish a victory against Tulsa.
Kelly chose to run a much less complex offense on Saturday against Utah than we have seen throughout most of 2010. As a result, freshman quarterback Tommy Rees was an effective 13-for-20 with three touchdowns and just as importantly, threw zero interceptions.
Had Kelly done this late against Tulsa two weeks ago, chances are Notre Dame would already be bowl eligible. Luckily for the Irish faithful, he appears to have learned from his mistake and made the Irish a temporarily better football team as a result.
Does Saturday's win mean Notre Dame is destined for long term success under Brian Kelly? There's obviously plenty of work remaining to be done. However, for the first time in his tenure at Notre Dame, Kelly will be able to base his sale of hope to recruits on actual on-the-field success he's achieved in South Bend.
Notre Dame returns to action on Saturday night as they square off against Army at Yankee Stadium in Bronx, New York. It'll be Notre Dame's first trip to the Bronx since a 1969 meeting with Army at old Yankee Stadium; the Irish hold a 37-8-4 edge in the team's all time meetings.
