The2010 Notre Dame Fighting Irish football team represented theUniversity of Notre Dame in the2010 NCAA Division I FBS football season. The team was coached byBrian Kelly and played its home games atNotre Dame Stadium inSouth Bend, Indiana. This was Kelly's first season as Notre Dame's head coach, after leading theCincinnati Bearcats to a 12–0 regular season andBCS bowl berth. In 2010, Notre Dame's regular season schedule was ranked the most difficult schedule in the nation with a Team Opposition Record Percentage of .6529 (the poll published by the NCAA only includes wins against Division 1 teams). They finished the season 8–5 and were invited to theSun Bowl where they defeated theMiami Hurricanes, 33–17.
Following the2009 season, Notre Dame fired head coachCharlie Weis after the Irish finished 6-6, well below expectations of competing for a BCS bowl berth.[1] Brian Kelly was named as his replacement on Dec 10, 2009.[2] Running Backs coachTony Alford was the lone assistant retained from Weis's staff.[3] BeforeRob Ianello could be considered, he took the head job at theUniversity of Akron[4]Ron Powlus followed Ianello to Akron.
Irish starsJimmy Clausen andGolden Tate chose to forgo their final years of eligibility and declare for the2010 NFL draft.[5][6] The Irish also lost a number of seniors to graduation, including linemenEric Olsen, Paul Duncan and four-year starterSam Young. Other notable losses included running back James Aldridge, wideout Robby Parris, and George West on offense. On defense, ND lost senior captainsKyle McCarthy and Scott Smith, Raeshon McNeil,Sergio Brown, John Ryan and Ray Herring to graduation. Standout special teams player Mike Anello also finished his final year of eligibility. Sophomoredefensive back E.J Banks left the team in August 2010, but will still be enrolled at the school. On August 31, within days of the September 4 season opener againstPurdue, sophomore wide receiverShaquelle Evans was granted his release from the team, and decided to enroll atUCLA.[7] Freshman Derek Roback also left the program in early September, as his desire to play quarterback led to his transfer toOhio[8]
With his first recruiting class,Brian Kelly received 23 signed commitments from high school players across theUnited States. Among them was five early-enrollees: QuarterbackTommy Rees, Wide Receiver Tai-ler Jones, Cornerback Lo Wood, Cornerback Spencer Boyd and Safety Chris Badger. Spencer Boyd transferred toUSF in early July,[9] and Chris Badger left on a two-year Mormon mission toEcuador in August.[10] On April 2, 2010, Notre Dame recruit Matt James, who committed to Notre Dame onNational Signing Day, died when he fell from a three-story hotel balcony inPanama City,Florida.[11]
On a rainy Southern California night, the Trojans' Joe Houston kicked a 45-yard field goal to give USC a first quarter lead. The second quarter, however, belonged to the Irish, as QBTommy Rees completed a pair of 1-yard pass touchdowns toMichael Floyd and Duval Kamara, with Kamara's coming just before the half. David Ruffer missed the extra point on the second touchdown.In the third quarter, the Trojans kicked a field goal andMitch Mustain ran in for a 1-yard touchdown, which was aided by a Notre Dame fumble. Joe Houston's 37-yard field goal gave the Trojans a fourth quarter lead. But Notre Dame came back with a 5-yard rush touchdown byRobert Hughes to give the Irish the lead back and the game. Notre Dame finally ended USC's streak of consecutive victories, which dated back to 2001. USC's attempt to come back was stopped by a Notre Dame interception at the one-yard line.
Tommy Rees passed for 201 yards and two touchdowns toMichael Floyd as Notre Dame beat Miami 33–17. After a 20-year hiatus in the series, it was all Irish in the latest installment of a storied rivalry that became known during the 1980s as "Catholics versus Convicts." The Irish reached the end zone on three of its first four possessions. Rees tossed TD passes of 3 and 34 yards to Floyd andCierre Wood broke free on a 34-yard scoring run. David Ruffer added field goals from 40, 50 and 19 yards. The Irish defense picked off Miami starting quarterbackJacory Harris 3 times and logged 4 total interceptions in the first half to help the team jump out to a 27–0 lead in the first half. The Hurricanes tried to rally in the 4th quarter behind backup quarterbackStephen Morris, who threw a 6-yard touchdown toLeonard Hankerson and a 42-yard scoring play toTommy Streeter, but it was too late by then. Rees was able to make some key first downs to effectively run out the clock late in the 4th quarter.[12]The game sold out in 21 hours, the fastest in the Sun Bowl's 77-year history, and the crowd of 54,021 set a bowl attendance record. Floyd's two touchdowns pushed him pastJeff Samardzija andGolden Tate to claim 28 career touchdowns, the most in Irish history. Senior safetyHarrison Smith logged three interceptions in the first half, tying the Sun Bowl record. The Irish victory also madeBrian Kelly the first Fighting Irish coach to win a bowl game in his first season (Notre Dame did not play in bowl-games from the 1925 through 1968 seasons due to a self-imposed ban on post-season play).[12]
