CollegeFootballDigestfrom CooperSearch

2010 Notre Dame

8–⁠5, coached by Brian Kelly.

Schedule and results

Notre Dame in 2010, game by game: won vs. Purdue 23–12; lost vs. Michigan 24–28; lost at Michigan State 31–34; lost vs. No. 16 Stanford 14–37; won at Boston College 31–13; won vs. Pittsburgh 23–17; won vs. Western Michigan 44–20; lost vs. Navy 17–35; lost vs. Tulsa 27–28; won vs. No. 15 Utah 28–3; won vs. Army 27–3; won at USC 20–16; won vs. Miami 33–17+25−23Won 23–12 vs. Purdue+11PurdueLost 24–28 vs. Michigan-4MichiganLost 31–34 at Michigan State-3Michigan StateLost 14–37 vs. No. 16 Stanford-23No. 16 StanfordWon 31–13 at Boston College+18Boston CollegeWon 23–17 vs. Pittsburgh+6PittsburghWon 44–20 vs. Western Michigan+24Western MichiganLost 17–35 vs. Navy-18NavyLost 27–28 vs. Tulsa-1TulsaWon 28–3 vs. No. 15 Utah+25No. 15 UtahWon 27–3 vs. Army+24ArmyWon 20–16 at USC+4USCWon 33–17 vs. Miami+16Miami
Each game’s margin, wins above the line and losses below; orange marks an upset win.
DateOpponentResultElo
Sep 4vsPurdueW 23–⁠1263%
Sep 11vsMichiganL 24–⁠2864%
Sep 18atMichigan StateL 31–⁠3436%
Sep 25vs16StanfordL 14–⁠3740%
Oct 2atBoston CollegeW 31–⁠1335%
Oct 9vsPittsburghW 23–⁠1749%
Oct 16vsWestern MichiganW 44–⁠2074%
Oct 23vsNavyL 17–⁠3546%
Oct 30vsTulsaL 27–⁠2859%
Nov 13vs15UtahW 28–⁠334%
Nov 20vsArmyW 27–⁠364%
Nov 27atUSCW 20–⁠1639%
Dec 31Bowls & playoffvsMiamiSun BowlW 33–⁠1750%

Elo: a pregame chance from scores alone.

How it ended: Beat Miami 33–⁠17 in the Sun Bowl; unranked in the final AP poll.

In program history: The 79th-best season in program history by end-of-season Elo (of 131 on file).

Record
8–⁠5
Conference
—
AP final
Unranked
Points
342–⁠263
Coach
Brian Kelly
Elo
1645 +119 this season
SP+ rating
16.5 No. 21 of 120; offense No. 35, defense No. 15, special teams No. 25
SRS
9.9 No. 26 of 120 in FBS
Recruiting class
No. 15
Offensive coordinator
Charley Molnar
Defensive coordinator
Bob Diaco
Captain
By Game
Most valuable player
Michael Floyd
Offense
Spread
Defense
3–⁠4

How good, play by play

  • Offense70th of 120
  • Defense26th of 120
  • Offense, opponent-adjusted84th of 120
  • Defense, opponent-adjusted22nd of 120
EPA per playSuccessExplosivenessFBS rank
Offense0.0342%0.9170th of 120
Defense0.0139%0.8526th of 120
Opponent-adjusted0.03 off
0.01 def		42% off
38% def		—84th off
22nd def
How these are measured

Play-weighted averages over games against FBS opponents; raw numbers, not adjusted for the strength of the opponent. EPA (expected points added) measures how much each play changed the expected score; success rate counts plays that kept the offense on schedule; explosiveness is the average EPA on successful plays. Lower is better on defense. Ranked by EPA per play among teams that were FBS that season. The opponent-adjusted row (offense / defense) is CollegeFootballData.com’s WEPA, which accounts for who each team played.

Drives and havoc

Points per trip inside the 40Average startHavoc
Offense-0.1own 312% allowed
Defense-0.3own 282% caused

A trip inside the 40 is a drive that reaches the opponent’s 40-yard line; points per trip is how many it scored on average (allowed, on defense). Average start is where drives began (the defense’s line is where its opponents started). Havoc is the share of plays ending in a tackle for loss, a forced fumble, an interception or a pass broken up. From CollegeFootballData.com.

Player leaders are hidden for this season: our source’s player stats for Notre Dame are missing players (they add up to less than 85% of the team’s passing or rushing yards).

Top recruits in the 2010 class

Louis Nix III DT★★★★No. 65
T.J. Jones WR★★★★No. 88
Matt James OT★★★★No. 107
Christian Lombard OG★★★★No. 178
Alex Welch TE★★★★No. 219
Andrew Hendrix PRO★★★★No. 282
Cameron Roberson RB★★★★No. 299
Prince Shembo ILB★★★★No. 344

247Sports composite rankings via CollegeFootballData.com; national rank in the class.

The 2010 class by position

SignedStarsRating
Quarterbacks23.50.895
Running backs14.00.900
Receivers33.70.907
Offensive line24.00.938
Defensive line33.00.874
Linebackers23.50.893
Defensive backs33.00.884
Athletes and specialists23.50.870
Whole class183.40.894

High-school signees by position group, with their average stars and 247Sports composite rating (out of 1), via CollegeFootballData.com. Athletes are signees with no set position.

Drafted in 2011

The 2011 draft
Rd 2Kyle Rudolph TEMinnesota Vikings

Roster 103

The 2010 roster

103 players, with numbers, heights, hometowns and each player’s 2010 line; 31 have a stat line. See the roster