Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/904117
www.BLUEANDGOLD.com NOV. 27, 2017 5 FAN FORUM BIG-GAME MELTDOWNS It seems to happen way more often than it should: Brian Kelly does not have the knowledge on how to prepare his team for a hostile, obnoxious road game en- vironment against a top-20 foe. I'll bet you that if I conducted some research, I'd discover that his Notre Dame won-loss per- centage against top-20 foes on the road is less than 30 percent. I could tell Notre Dame was in trouble when I saw the look on the players' faces as they stood in the tunnel before the game. They all looked anxious and spooked. There was no look of excitement and confidence. Kelly did not get them men- tally ready for that hostile en- vironment, and he sure did not have the offense X's and O's dia- gramed correctly on his staff's play-calling sheet. The blowout in Miami falls entirely on Kelly and his staff. What a disappointment and an em- barrassment. He better be prepared for Stanford in Palo Alto — they have had his number since 2011. I hope Notre Dame can find a Sa- ban-like replacement for Kelly way before his contract expires in 2021. Brian Sontchi '75 Batavia, Ill. Mr. Sontchi, the loss to Miami dropped Notre Dame to 2-9 under Kelly in regular season road games versus AP top-20 ranked teams in the regular season (.250). Both wins came in 2012: at No. 10 Michigan State (20-3) and at No. 8 Oklahoma (30-13). IMPROVING, BUT … This year 's team is much im- proved from last year and has certainly exceeded my expecta- tions. Yet, like some other past Brian Kelly-coached teams, they seemed to be poorly prepared to face a very good Miami team in a must-win game. Coach Kelly knows more foot- ball than I'll ever know, but I thought the war would be Irish strength versus Miami speed. It seemed like the Irish plan was to go around them not through them, which IS RIGHT AROUND THE CORNER FIND THE PERFECT GIFT FOR THE FIGHTING IRISH FAN IN YOUR LIFE bit.ly/NDgifts CHRISTMAS Like most Fighting Irish fans, head coach Brian Kelly did not like what he saw during his team's 41-8 loss at Miami Nov. 11 that might have ended its College Football Playoff hopes. PHOTO BY BILL PANZICA