Blue and Gold Illustrated

Nov. 16, 2015 Issue

Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football

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BY LOU SOMOGYI N otre Dame's 24-20 victory against Temple this Halloween marked the 13th time in head coach Brian Kelly's six-year tenure that the Fighting Irish rallied to victory while trailing at the start of or at some point during the fourth quarter. It is the most such wins by any team in the Football Bowl Subdivision since 2010, the year Kelly took over the pro- gram. He had three such victories last season — and now already has three this year. It also tied the Notre Dame record in the category, first achieved in the 11 seasons under Lou Holtz from 1986-96. Holtz's 13 started with a 38-37 win at No. 17 USC to conclude his first season, and ended with the 27-24 triumph at No. 6 Texas in his final campaign. There is a "Is the glass half full?" or "Is the glass half empty?" element to the stat. The half-full audience would view it as a testament to the team's resilience and heart to win so often when placed in a tight spot. Meanwhile, the half-empty viewpoint would be that Notre Dame has a habit of playing up or down to its level of com- petition, and probably should not have been behind in the first place against struggling Virginia or non-Power Five conference member Temple. Supporting that argument is that only two of the 13 fourth-quarter comeback wins were against opponents who were CARDIAC KINGS Since 2010, Notre Dame leads in fourth-quarter comeback wins Lou Holtz won 13 games in which the Irish trailed at some point in the fourth quarter in his 11 sea- sons at Notre Dame, beginning with a 38-37 win at USC in 1986. PHOTO COURTESY NOTRE DAME MEDIA RELATIONS

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