1988. 1988 is the last time Notre Dame has won a national championship. Over 30 years is a long time. This is a program and fanbase that expects nothing less than a national championship every year, but three decades is a long time. Big time programs like Alabama, Ohio State, Clemson, LSU, Florida, USC, Florida State, Michigan, and Miami have all won since 1988 and Notre Dame has only made the most important game once since that time. It's been a long time and it's felt like three decades of underachievement. However, ever since Brian Kelly took over the head coaching job, things have seemingly turned around. Yes, Kelly presided over the 2012 Irish team that made the Championship game and the 2018 side that made the College Football Playoffs, but this year has seemingly felt different.
It might've taken a while, but Kelly has built a team that has been dominant and has looked like a legit contender. That 2012 team was very good, but with how badly they were defeated in the national championship by Alabama, it showed that the team had a long way to go. In 2018, the Irish were blown out by Clemson in the Cotton Bowl, but there was heated debate as to whether Notre Dame even deserved to be in the playoffs despite going 12-0. Now, the pundits all agree that the Irish are absolutely legit and should be taken seriously for winning the National Championship. There's still the matter of winning the ACC Championship, but even if they lose, they're undoubtedly going to be in the playoffs.
This is not Kelly's most talented side since taking over as head coach whatsoever, however, this is a team that certainly feels like the most complete. They're well balanced and disciplined as it seems like the Irish are playing like how a team should. Ever since playing in the ACC for this year due to COVID-19 pandemic and making their first ever play in a conference in the school's history, Notre Dame has shown that they are for real. Their biggest contests so far this year the team has shown that they're a side not to mess with as they dismantled a strong defensive team in Pittsburgh, handled an up-and-coming powerhouse in North Carolina, and edged out a top ranked Clemson team, despite being without their quarterback Trevor Lawrence. What's even remarkable about their victory against Clemson was that despite Lawrence not able to play in that game, their major playmakers like Travis Etienne and Amari Rodgers were playing and five star recruit D.J. Uiagalelei started at quarterback, so that was going to be a strong team to play regardless. Yet, the Irish have looked like a dominant team this year, plus have looked really good against teams they needed to play well against. There is those debates about whether being in a conference has helped them to be in the spot that they are in now, but regardless, Notre Dame is legit. What has even helped them is that they even have the second strongest schedule in the country and it cannot be denied how good they are with that strength of schedule. Lastly, with a convincing win over UNC who just recently obliterated Miami who was ranked 10 last week might even suggest that the Irish are better than we all might think. Depending what happens in this ACC Championship game on Saturday, Notre Dame is more than likely going to compete in the College Football Playoffs and for a chance at the National Championship.
However, what's more remarkable is the type of talent Kelly has assembled despite losing some key players to the NFL draft. It's not easy to replicate the type of production from players like Cole Kmet, Chase Claypool, Julian Okwara, Troy Pride, and Khalid Kareem as those were some outstanding athletes. Kelly also promoted a young Tommy Rees to be his offensive coordinator. With losses of those players mentioned and having an inexperienced and young Rees as the offensive coordinator, there was a lot of uncertainty. While there was some considerable talent and were likely be a top ten or fifteen team, no one seriously expected the Irish to be this good, but whatever Kelly is doing has been seriously working.
Kelly has a balanced offense that allows his quarterback Ian Book to have plenty of options to succeed. While he has weapons like Tommy Tremble, C'Bo Flemister, Joe Wilkins, Avery Davis, Braden Lenzy, Jafar Armstrong, Chris Tyree, and Brock Wright giving Book as many options as possible, his best playmakers like Kyren Williams, Javon McKinley, Michael Mayer, and Ben Skowronek have been the biggest reason for the team's offensive success. Skowronek has also stepped up big time after the loss of Kevin Austin to injury, which goes to show the depth of the team. Book has stepped up this year and has looked like a possible candidate at the Heisman. Book has been able to stretch out the field with all the weapons he has, plus being able to rely on the running game to balance out the offensive scheme. He even has used his legs when needed to help win games. It also helps that the team has been the offensive line as this unit has been the best in the entirety of College Football. Having the offensive line as good as they are has helped Book and the rest of the offense to succeed like they have been.
However, the biggest reason behind Notre Dame's success this season has been the defense as they have only allowed 17.1 points per game, eight passing touchdowns, and opposing offenses have only converted 26% on Third Down. Defensive Coordinator Clark Lea has done a great job this season and probably has been the biggest reason for some of the big wins this season like against Clemson. Players like Jeremiah Owusu-Koramoah, Kyle Hamilton, Isaiah Pryor, Nick McCloud, Myron Tagovailoa-Amosa, Ade Ogundeji, Shaun Crawford, and Drew White have been a huge reason behind why Notre Dame's defense has been so good, but their depth has been so deep that they didn't need to rely on certain players. The biggest part of the defense that has helped the Irish is the run defense as they have stifled opposing running backs including Clemson's Travis Etienne who only was able gain 28 yards on the ground. Being able to factor out a certain part of an opposing offenses game helps a lot and Notre Dame's defense does it really well.
So, are the Irish really this legit of a team? Yes. Even if they don't win the ACC Championship and/or National Championship this season, Kelly has a team that is built to be this good for a while especially with the incoming recruiting class and future ones. Notre Dame is a legit contender to win it all this year and possibly end that three decade drought. 1988 is too long, hopefully the Irish can bring the trophy home to South Bend.
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