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2012 Notre Dame

12–⁠1, coached by Brian Kelly, finished No. 4 in the AP poll. Officially 0–⁠0: the NCAA vacated 12 regular-season wins and the 2013 BCS National Championship Game loss.

From the season’s Wikipedia article: “In November 2016, the NCAA infractions panel vacated all wins from Notre Dame’s 2012 and 2013 seasons based on its finding that ineligible students had played for the 2012 and 2013 teams.”

Schedule and results

Notre Dame in 2012, game by game: won vs. Navy 50–10; won vs. Purdue 20–17; won at No. 10 Michigan State 20–3; won vs. No. 18 Michigan 13–6; won vs. Miami 41–3; won vs. No. 17 Stanford 20–13; won vs. BYU 17–14; won at No. 8 Oklahoma 30–13; won vs. Pittsburgh 29–26; won at Boston College 21–6; won vs. Wake Forest 38–0; won at USC 22–13; lost vs. No. 2 Alabama 14–42+40−28Won 50–10 vs. Navy+40NavyWon 20–17 vs. Purdue+3PurdueWon 20–3 at No. 10 Michigan State+17No. 10 Michigan StateWon 13–6 vs. No. 18 Michigan+7No. 18 MichiganWon 41–3 vs. Miami+38MiamiWon 20–13 vs. No. 17 Stanford+7No. 17 StanfordWon 17–14 vs. BYU+3BYUWon 30–13 at No. 8 Oklahoma+17No. 8 OklahomaWon 29–26 vs. Pittsburgh+3PittsburghWon 21–6 at Boston College+15Boston CollegeWon 38–0 vs. Wake Forest+38Wake ForestWon 22–13 at USC+9USCLost 14–42 vs. No. 2 Alabama-28No. 2 Alabama
Each game’s margin, wins above the line and losses below; orange marks an upset win.
DateOpponentResultElo
Sep 1vsNavyW 50–⁠10vacated60%
Sep 8vsPurdueW 20–⁠17vacated72%
Sep 15at10Michigan StateW 20–⁠3vacated36%
Sep 22vs18MichiganW 13–⁠6vacated64%
Oct 6vsMiamiW 41–⁠3vacated62%
Oct 13vs17StanfordW 20–⁠13vacated60%
Oct 20vsBYUW 17–⁠14vacated77%
Oct 27at8OklahomaW 30–⁠13vacated43%
Nov 3vsPittsburghW 29–⁠26vacated84%
Nov 10atBoston CollegeW 21–⁠6vacated86%
Nov 17vsWake ForestW 38–⁠0vacated91%
Nov 24atUSCW 22–⁠13vacated60%
Jan 7Bowls & playoffvs2AlabamaBCS National ChampionshipL 14–⁠4242%

Elo: a pregame chance from scores alone.

How it ended: Lost to Alabama 42–⁠14 in the BCS National Championship; No. 4 in the final AP poll.

In program history: The 20th-best season in program history by end-of-season Elo (of 131 on file).

AP poll, week by week

  1. Wk 2: 22
  2. Wk 3: 20
  3. Wk 4: 11
  4. Wk 5: 10
  5. Wk 6: 9
  6. Wk 7: 7
  7. Wk 8: 5
  8. Wk 9: 5
  9. Wk 10: 4
  10. Wk 11: 4
  11. Wk 12: 3
  12. Wk 13: 1
  13. Wk 14: 1
  14. Wk 15: 1
  15. Final: 4

Heisman voteManti Te’o, second

Maxwell AwardManti Te’o, LB; also the Walter Camp and Lombardi

John Mackey AwardTyler Eifert, TE

Butkus AwardManti Teʻo, LB; also the Nagurski and Bednarik

Consensus All-AmericanManti Te’o, LB

Eddie Robinson Coach of the YearBrian Kelly, coach; also the Walter Camp Coach

Broyles AwardBob Diaco, coach

Record
12–⁠1
Conference
—
AP final
No. 4 peak No. 1
Points
335–⁠166
Coach
Brian Kelly
Elo
1772 +178 this season
SP+ rating
19.2 No. 15 of 124; offense No. 35, defense No. 6, special teams No. 76
SRS
16.1 No. 8 of 124 in FBS
Recruiting class
No. 17
Offensive coordinator
Chuck Martin
Defensive coordinators
Bob Diaco and Kerry Cooks
Captains
Tyler Eifert, Kapron Lewis-Moore, Zack Martin and Manti Te’o
Offense
Spread
Defense
3–⁠4

How good, play by play

  • Offense21st of 124
  • Defense40th of 124
  • Offense, opponent-adjusted13th of 124
  • Defense, opponent-adjusted39th of 124
EPA per playSuccessExplosivenessFBS rank
Offense0.1247%0.8821st of 124
Defense0.0341%0.9240th of 124
Opponent-adjusted0.11 off
0.04 def		47% off
40% def		—13th off
39th 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 272% allowed
Defense-0.1own 284% 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 2012 class

Gunner Kiel PRO★★★★★No. 26
Tee Shepard CB★★★★No. 50
DaVonte’ Neal ATH★★★★No. 57
Elijah Shumate S★★★★No. 87
Sheldon Day DT★★★★No. 111
Ronnie Stanley OT★★★★No. 125
KeiVarae Russell APB★★★★No. 144
Jarron Jones OT★★★★No. 152

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

The 2012 class by position

SignedStarsRating
Quarterbacks15.00.988
Running backs24.00.927
Receivers14.00.893
Offensive line33.70.921
Defensive line23.50.917
Defensive backs43.80.923
Athletes and specialists43.00.882
Whole class173.60.915

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 2013

The 2013 draft
Rd 1Tyler Eifert TECincinnati Bengals
Rd 2Manti Te’o ILBSan Diego Chargers
Rd 6Jamoris Slaughter SCleveland Browns
Rd 6Theo Riddick RBDetroit Lions
Rd 6Kapron Lewis-Moore DEBaltimore Ravens
Rd 7Zeke Motta SAtlanta Falcons

Roster 101

The 2012 roster

101 players, with numbers, heights, hometowns and each player’s 2012 line; 28 have a stat line. See the roster