The Notre Dame football team finished its regular-season play with a 10-2 record after a close loss to Stanford on November 28. Starting out the season as an experienced team with aspirations of making the playoffs, the Irish lost many starters to injuries over the course of the season, including quarterback Malik Zaire, running backs Tarean Folston and C.J. Prosise, cornerback Keivarae Russell, tight end Durham Smythe, and defensive tackle Jarron Jones.

The injury-depleted team put forth an outstanding effort, losing by only two points to both Clemson and Stanford. Notre Dame is most likely out of the running for the College Football Playoff but will probably have the chance to play in a good bowl game in the postseason.

The season started out on September 5 with an exciting win over Texas. The Irish dominated the Longhorns by a score of 38-3. Zaire threw for 313 yards and three touchdowns in his first home start. The Notre Dame defense also held Texas to only 163 yards of total offense the entire night. The team went on the next Saturday to win 34-27 against Virginia, with DeShone Kizer stepping up after Zaire fractured his ankle on a three yard run. Zaire’s injury took him out for the rest of the season, allowing Kizer to step up to the starting role.

During the September 19 game, Kizer led the Fighting Irish to a 30-22 victory over Georgia Tech. C.J. Prosise rushed for 198 yards and brought home a 91-yard touchdown run, the longest in the history of Notre Dame Stadium. The next week, Notre Dame’s offense was on fire in leading a 62-27 victory over the University of Massachusetts and scored over 60 points for the first time since 1996.

On the road, the Irish gave up four turnovers and lost 24-22 to Clemson in an exciting game in Memorial Stadium. Kizer threw for 321 yards and two touchdowns, but the team’s rally in the second half was halted by the Tigers’ defense. Notre Dame turned around to beat Navy 41-24 on October 10. The Irish capitalized on Navy’s turnovers, as the team gained 459 yards of total offense, led by C.J. Prosise with 129 rushing yards and three touchdowns. Prosise became one of three Irish running backs to rush for three touchdowns twice in the same season, along with Frank Lonergan and Reggie Brooks.

Facing long-time rival University of Southern California, the Irish beat the Trojans 41-31. The winning score came on a 10-yard touchdown pass from Kizer to Corey Robinson with 9:06 left in the game. Notre Dame scored back-to-back touchdowns of 90 and 91 yards in the fourth quarter to end the exciting match up. The Irish then went on to clinch a close victory over Temple in Philadelphia. It was another exciting game, with Temple almost escaping with the victory. Kizer and Will Fuller denied Temple the win with a 17-yard touchdown pass with 2:09 left in the game, winning it 24-20 for the Irish.

Notre Dame then travelled to Pittsburgh and won 42-30 against Pitt with an outstanding performance all around. Kizer passed for 262 yards, completing 19 out of 26 passes with no turnovers, Fuller gained 157 yards with three touchdowns, and Josh Adams ran for 147 yards and sealed the deal with the final touchdown pass. In the final home game of the season, the Irish topped Wake Forest 28-7 to complete a 6-0 season at home. Notre Dame went into the Wake Forest game fourth in the playoff rankings behind Clemson, Alabama, and Ohio State.

This year’s Shamrock Series was played in Boston at Fenway Park against Boston College. The Irish gave up five turnovers, with three of them inside the Boston College five yard line, but were able to rally for a close win of 19-16. Notre Dame then went to Stanford and came away with a disappointing loss, falling 38-36 with only 30 seconds left in the game. The Irish put forth a valiant effort, with Kizer throwing for 234 yards and running for 128, and Josh Adams running for 168, but Notre Dame’s big plays were not enough to stop Stanford in the final moments of the game.

The Irish wrapped up the regular-season 10-2, and there is talk of the team heading to the Peach Bowl in Atlanta or the Fiesta Bowl in Arizona for postseason play.

Alicia Czarnecki is a junior Environmental Engineering major and International Development Studies minor. Contact her at aczarnec@nd.edu.