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2011 Notre Dame

8–⁠5, coached by Brian Kelly.

Schedule and results

Notre Dame in 2011, game by game: lost vs. South Florida 20–23; lost at Michigan 31–35; won vs. No. 15 Michigan State 31–13; won at Pittsburgh 15–12; won at Purdue 38–10; won vs. Air Force 59–33; lost vs. USC 17–31; won vs. Navy 56–14; won at Wake Forest 24–17; won vs. Maryland 45–21; won vs. Boston College 16–14; lost at No. 4 Stanford 14–28; lost vs. No. 25 Florida State 14–18+42−14Lost 20–23 vs. South Florida-3South FloridaLost 31–35 at Michigan-4MichiganWon 31–13 vs. No. 15 Michigan State+18No. 15 Michigan StateWon 15–12 at Pittsburgh+3PittsburghWon 38–10 at Purdue+28PurdueWon 59–33 vs. Air Force+26Air ForceLost 17–31 vs. USC-14USCWon 56–14 vs. Navy+42NavyWon 24–17 at Wake Forest+7Wake ForestWon 45–21 vs. Maryland+24MarylandWon 16–14 vs. Boston College+2Boston CollegeLost 14–28 at No. 4 Stanford-14No. 4 StanfordLost 14–18 vs. No. 25 Florida State-4No. 25 Florida State
Each game’s margin, wins above the line and losses below; orange marks an upset win.
DateOpponentResultElo
Sep 3vsSouth FloridaL 20–⁠2364%
Sep 10atMichiganL 31–⁠3551%
Sep 17vs15Michigan StateW 31–⁠1350%
Sep 24atPittsburghW 15–⁠1241%
Oct 1atPurdueW 38–⁠1064%
Oct 8vsAir ForceW 59–⁠3363%
Oct 22vsUSCL 17–⁠3162%
Oct 29vsNavyW 56–⁠1472%
Nov 5atWake ForestW 24–⁠1764%
Nov 12vsMarylandW 45–⁠2181%
Nov 19vsBoston CollegeW 16–⁠1480%
Nov 26at4StanfordL 14–⁠2830%
Dec 29Bowls & playoffvs25Florida StateChamps Sports BowlL 14–⁠1844%

Elo: a pregame chance from scores alone.

How it ended: Lost to Florida State 18–⁠14 in the Champs Sports Bowl; unranked in the final AP poll.

In program history: The 81st-best season in program history by end-of-season Elo (of 131 on file).

AP poll, week by week

  1. Wk 1: 16
  2. Wk 12: 24
  3. Wk 13: 22
Record
8–⁠5
Conference
—
AP final
Unranked peak No. 16
Points
380–⁠269
Coach
Brian Kelly
Elo
1640 +44 this season
SP+ rating
17.2 No. 18 of 120; offense No. 25, defense No. 11, special teams No. 69
SRS
11.7 No. 18 of 120 in FBS
Recruiting class
No. 9
Offensive coordinator
Charley Molnar
Defensive coordinator
Bob Diaco
Captain
Harrison Smith
Most valuable player
Michael Floyd
Offense
Spread
Defense
3–⁠4

How good, play by play

  • Offense21st of 120
  • Defense53rd of 120
  • Offense, opponent-adjusted21st of 120
  • Defense, opponent-adjusted44th of 120
EPA per playSuccessExplosivenessFBS rank
Offense0.1048%0.8521st of 120
Defense0.0440%0.9553rd of 120
Opponent-adjusted0.09 off
0.03 def		47% off
39% def		—21st off
44th 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
Offense0.0own 293% allowed
Defense-0.2own 303% 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 2011 class

Aaron Lynch SDE★★★★★No. 9
Ishaq Williams OLB★★★★★No. 26
Stephon Tuitt SDE★★★★No. 32
Ben Koyack TE★★★★No. 43
Matt Hegarty OT★★★★No. 57
DaVaris Daniels WR★★★★No. 95
Troy Niklas SDE★★★★No. 180
Eilar Hardy CB★★★★No. 197

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

The 2011 class by position

SignedStarsRating
Quarterbacks14.00.897
Receivers34.00.946
Offensive line14.00.971
Defensive line34.30.966
Linebackers44.00.919
Defensive backs14.00.917
Athletes and specialists13.00.834
Whole class144.00.931

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 2012

The 2012 draft
Rd 1Michael Floyd WRArizona Cardinals
Rd 1Harrison Smith SMinnesota Vikings
Rd 5Robert Blanton SMinnesota Vikings
Rd 5Darius Fleming OLBSan Francisco 49ers

Roster 108

The 2011 roster

108 players, with numbers, heights, hometowns and each player’s 2011 line; 28 have a stat line. See the roster