Happy 10th anniversary to Notre Dame’s craziest 2012 win

Where were you for this classic at Notre Dame Stadium?

There are games you remember for being classics because they were great upsets, extremely well-played by two great teams, or for a variety of other reasons.  One of those other reasons would be because they were a great escape that your team pulled off.

That was the case 10 years ago today when Notre Dame played host to Pitt. Any big Notre Dame fan can tell you where they were for this one.  Personally, I was a few years out of college and living in my Chicago apartment where we were set to host a party that night.  My afternoon and early evening would result in me debating calling it off because Notre Dame was about to lose and I knew I’d be in a bad mood.

The Irish were 8-0, fresh off a win at Oklahoma that was supposed to expose them as a fraud, and the talk of the college football world.  Pitt on the other hand was 4-4 and in their final days as a member of the Big East.

What began as a perceived lopsided matchup ended with a game that hasn’t been forgotten a decade later and won’t be in another decade or two by Notre Dame fans.  Let’s quickly look back at just how nuts this comeback victory was.

Brian Kelly and LSU throttled by No. 8 Tennessee: The best Twitter reactions

At least the dining hall is top notch, right coach?

Ask a Notre Dame fan what the Irish did under Brian Kelly in just about any big game and be ready to be greeted with a long sigh or something of the sort.  Yes, he led Notre Dame to a win over No. 1 Clemson in 2020 (as the Tigers played without college football’s best quarterback that year in Trevor Lawrence and three of their regular defensive starters), but beyond that there is the 2012 road win over Oklahoma and that’s pretty much it.

Kelly had his first really big game at LSU on Saturday as the Tigers played host to No. 8 Tennessee.  After a special teams debacle to start the game (another shocker), the boat race on the Bayou was on as the Vols sent the home crowd to their cars early in a 40-13 rout.

As you can imagine, Notre Dame and college football fans alike reacted to a team coached by Kelly failing to show up in a big game.  Here are just a few of the best reactions.

Shocker: LSU special teams struggle again

Color us shocked: LSU special teams a no-show in big game.

Shake me and wake me if you’re a Notre Dame fan and have heard this before:

A Brian Polian led special teams unit is performing at a Pop Warner level at very best.

LSU is playing host to No. 8 Tennessee in a rare 11 a.m. CT kickoff at Tiger Stadium and it’s safe to say the Bayou Bengals special teams unit which is led by former Notre Dame assistant coach Brian Polian, failed to hear their alarm clocks this morning.

It started as LSU fumbled and lost the opening kickoff which resulted in a Vols touchdown five plays later.

After LSU was forced to punt the following drive, a 58-yard punt return set up the Vols for a field goal to go up 10-0.

Credit to LSU’s defense for keeping Tennessee out of the end zone since (as we write this at 12:40 p.m. ET) but the Tigers can’t seem to get out of their own way on offense or special teams.

It’s almost like I’ve seen this from a Brian Kelly coached team against a top ten team a time or two before.

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Where can LSU show the most improvement against Southern?

Here are four areas where LSU can improve sooner rather than later.

Coming off the loss to Florida State, there is a lot LSU needs to work on.

We saw issues in just about every area of the game, even though some were to a lesser degree. Some of these problems improved throughout the game while others persisted all night.

[autotag]Brian Kelly[/autotag] said after the game that he takes responsibility and the coaches need to do a better job of putting their guys in a position to succeed. LSU will have the chance to work out some kinks against Southern, an FCS opponent.

The Tigers were in a similar spot last year after the loss to UCLA, coming back home to face an FCS opponent in Week 2. LSU beat McNeese 34-7. That game was more of a struggle than it should have been, and it would be nice to see LSU put together a more convincing win on Saturday night.

Here are some areas where LSU can show immediate improvement in Week 2.

Four-star tight end commits to LSU

The Tigers landed a pledge from Saint Louis, Missouri, tight end Mac Markway on Thursday.

Mac Markway, a 6-foot-4, 250-pound four-star tight end from Saint Louis, Missouri, announced his commitment to play for the LSU Tigers on Thursday. Markway is the first commitment of the Brian Kelly era at LSU and just the second player to join the Tigers’ 2023 class.

There are a lot of ties on this staff that connects LSU to Markway. Cornerbacks coach Robert Steeples actually coached Markway at De Smet Jesuit High School before he joined the Minnesota Vikings coaching staff.  Special Teams/Recruiting Coordinator Brian Polian recruited Markway while he was working at Notre Dame, and offensive coordinator Mike Denbrock had recruited Markway in the past as well.

Markway and his family were in Baton Rouge for an unofficial visit earlier this month. Denbrock and Kelly both impressed his family on the visit with their plan for him and the program.

“He (Denbrock) is a great guy! We talked about what their goal is and how they are going to achieve it. I’m really excited to see,” Markway told On3. “He (Kelly) was also first class. We talked about everything that he wants to do with the program and how they will use me. The tight end will definitely be the heart and soul of that team.”

Markway was a former commit to play for the Florida Gators before they made their coaching change to Billy Napier. According to On3, Markway is the No. 9 tight end in the country, the No. 4 tight end in Missouri and the No. 117 player overall for the class of 2023.

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LSU adds former Notre Dame punter to the team

LSU adds a punter through the transfer portal.

The LSU Tigers special teams got a boost on Monday when former Notre Dame punter Jay Bramblett committed to the team. He likely will replace Avery Atkins after he announced he would leave following the season.

Bramblett punted for a total of 6,792 yards in three seasons, which breaks down to an average of 41.4 yards per punt. This past season he posted an average of 43.8 yards per punt this past season. He follows special teams coordinator Brian Polian to the Bayou.

Atkins averaged 42.6 yards per punt this past season for LSU. The big question is can Bramblett also throw? We saw Atkins throw on a couple of fake punts this past season. The Tuscaloosa native was the No. 1 punter coming out of the 2019 class. Bramblett entered the transfer portal on Jan. 2, 2022, and just two weeks later announced he would come to LSU.

He becomes the ninth transfer to commit to the Tigers in the 2022 class. Brian Kelly continues to stockpile transfers for his team for the upcoming season.

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Notre Dame snags yet another Cincinnati assistant coach

The drive from Cincinnati to Notre Dame is 4 hours and 16 minutes.

The drive from Cincinnati to South Bend has been made a lot in recent years and not just from Brian Kelly departing the Queen City to take the Notre Dame job back in 2009.  Kelly was simply the first of what have become several coaches to make that move in the last decade.

Marcus Freeman obviously comes to mind after being hired as the defensive coordinator last year before his promotion.  Mike Mickens helped coach Cincinnati’s secondary before making the move to South Bend while Mike Elston was a member of Kelly’s Cincinnati staff before heading to South Bend.

You can now add Brian Mason to that list as reports have him becoming Marcus Freeman’s new special teams coordinator at Notre Dame.  Mason has been on Cincinnati’s staff for five years and headed the unit that tied for the nationally lead in blocked kicks this past year.

The Bearcats, who went 12-0 in the regular season, also had among the best kickoff and punt return units nationally in 2021 while their kickoff and punt coverage teams were both ranked in the nation’s top 30 as well.

Mason replaces Brian Polian who left to join Brian Kelly’s staff at LSU.

Related:

Notre Dame coaching staff tracker

Ohio State legend set to join Notre Dame staff

Notre Dame parts ways with longtime receivers coach

Polian bids farewell to Notre Dame community

So long as he’s off to the Bayou

News broke late Tuesday morning that Notre Dame special teams coordinator and assistant head coach Brian Polian was leaving to join Brian Kelly’s staff at LSU.  If any further confirmation was needed on top of the Bruce Feldman report, Polian provided that late Tuesday night as he bid farewell to the Notre Dame community on Twitter.

Polian is off to be reunited with Kelly at LSU, the coach that hired him back to Notre Dame in 2017 after he was let as Nevada’s head football coach.  Polian also spent from 2005-2009 as a member of Charlie Weis’s staff at Notre Dame is best remembered during that time for his efforts in successfully recruiting Manti Te’o to South Bend.

Polian was one of just two members of the current remaining Notre Dame staff with head coaching experience so it’ll be worth keeping an eye on to see if Freeman and company hire another assistant with such experience to aid the first-time head coach.

Related:

Notre Dame coaching staff tracker

Notre Dame finalizes 2022 football schedule

Manti Te’o through the years

Everything Marcus Freeman said at introductory press conference

Longtime Notre Dame assistant to join Brian Kelly at LSU

How much will be missed: A ton? Some? Not at all?

Brian Polian, Notre Dame’s assistant head coach and special teams coordinator appears to be headed to join Brian Kelly at LSU.  Bruce Feldman of Fox Sports and The Athletic presented the news on Twitter on Tuesday morning.

As Feldman points out, Polian has experience from the time he spent at Texas A&M, albeit for just one season in 2012.  There a few other things about losing Polian that interest me the most from Notre Dame’s perspective.

As has been well-discussed by many, Marcus Freeman brings no head coaching experience to his new role.  That’s not to say it’ll be the Achilles heal to his ultimate success at Notre Dame, but one would think an assistant with head coaching experience would be important for his first staff.

Losing Polian, who was Nevada’s head coach from 2013-2016, certainly doesn’t answer that question.  Offensive line coach Jeff Quinn, who we’re still unsure the future of, is the only other current assistant with such experience as he was Buffalo’s head coach from 2010-2014.

Next:  Polian’s Rainbow (Hawaii) Connection

Report: Notre Dame’s Brian Polian expected to join Brian Kelly’s staff

One Notre Dame staff member is expected to join Brian Kelly in Baton Rouge.

There was a lot made of Brian Kelly leaving Notre Dame for LSU and none of his assistants following him to Baton Rouge. When Nick Saban left Michigan State for LSU, the same thing occurred. It isn’t uncommon for this to transpire, especially given the circumstances. However, it appears that one former Fighting Irish staffer Brian Polian will in fact be joining Kelly on the Bayou.

According to this tweet from Bruce Feldman of The Athletic and Fox Sports, Polian will return to the SEC as a member of the Tigers staff, likely as the special teams’ coordinator. According to his 247Sports recruiting profile, Polian is responsible for landing prospects such as Manti Te’o, Michael Mayer, Kyle Rudolph, and Jimmy Clausen. Perhaps opening up a pipeline to some of the talents in Hawaii.

Polian is the son of former NFL executive Bill Polian. We will wait for an official announcement to know exactly his role but Kelly officially brings a former staff member to LSU. Polian worked as a graduate assistant under Nick Saban at Michigan State. He was at Notre Dame from 2005-09, worked as the special teams’ coordinator and tight ends coach for Texas A&M in 2012. Polian returned to Notre Dame in 2017.

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