I’m not saying I am updating the list. But if I were to do that…
Things have changed and yet in a way they do stay the same. Back at our old home I once undertook the internet’s castigated challenge of chronicling the worst losses in the proud history of Fighting Irish football. Some people left mouth agape, many others booed, but it still stands as a beacon of pain for Notre Dame fans to witness:
The Top 75 Losses in Notre Dame History: #5-1
*That’s the last of the 15-part series and I wouldn’t recommend re-reading the whole thing unless you’re really bored.
It’s now been 6 full seasons since this was published coming off the Camping World Bowl win over Iowa State. A lot has happened over the years including 22 more losses to debate.
If you recall, my special formula for ranking losses broke down like this:
Champion: 10 points max (Basically how much did the loss contribute directly to losing a national championship, major bowl game, or otherwise argue it denied either opportunity).
Bad Loss: 8 points max (Basically your really poor performances especially blowouts to good teams and definitely losses to really poor teams).
Big Stage: 5 points max (These losses could be close but with a lot on the line, if not always a championship or trophy).
Pain: 3 points max (Special consideration for the way in which the team lost and the context around why it hurt more than other games).
Rivalry: 2 points max (Because losing to Michigan always sucks).
Here is the original list sorted by season:
Top 75 Losses by Year (1887-2013)
1915- Nebraska (29)
1916- Army (23)
1921- Iowa (13)
1923- Nebraska (7)
1926- Carnegie Tech (3)
1928- Carnegie Tech (47)
1931- USC (20)
1935- Northwestern (12)
1938- USC (5)
1944- Army (21)
1945- Army (28)
1950- Purdue (53)
1951- SMU (43), Michigan State (58)
1954- Purdue (8)
1955- USC (22)
1956- Oklahoma (31)
1960- Purdue (60)
1963- Stanford (67)
1964- USC (1)
1970- USC (2)
1972- USC (37), Nebraska (18)
1974- Purdue (17), USC (10)
1976- Pitt (69), Georgia Tech (59)
1978- Missouri (50)
1979- Tennessee (61)
1980- USC (14)
1981- Purdue (72)
1982- Arizona (62), Air Force (54)
1984- Air Force (75)
1985- Purdue (73), Miami (42)
1986- Michigan (46)
1987- Penn State (38), Texas A&M (36)
1989- Miami (6)
1990- Stanford (19), Colorado (34)
1991- Tennessee (30)
1992- Stanford (11)
1993- BC (4)
1994- BC (26)
1995- Northwestern (65)
1996- Air Force (55), USC (66)
1997- Stanford (74)
1998- Michigan State (39)
2000- Nebraska (44), Oregon State (40)
2002- Boston College (16), USC (15)
2003- Michigan (32), Florida State (63), Syracuse (70)
2004- Purdue (64), USC (35)
2005- USC (24)
2006- Michigan (25), LSU (49)
2007- Michigan (45), USC (41), Navy (52)
2008- Syracuse (48), USC (57)
2009- Michigan (51), UConn (71)
2010- Navy (33), Tulsa (68)
2011- USF (56), Michigan (27)
2012- Alabama (9)
Modern Times Have Been Rough
17 losses combined from Willingham and Weis over 8 years!
28% of the losses came in the last 9 years, up to 2014!
37.3% of the 75 losses came in the 18 years between 1996-2014!
Number of Losses by Coach
Holtz- 13
Weis- 10
Willingham- 7
Faust- 6
Parseghian- 6
Kelly- 5
Devine- 5
Davie- 4
Rockne- 4
Brennan- 3
Leahy- 3
Devore- 2
Layden- 2
Harper- 2
Anderson- 1
McKeever- 1
Kuharich- 1
Brian Kelly just finished up his 10th season and will tie the school-record with his 11th campaign next year. Since 2014 has he added enough qualifying losses to top Holtz for the most ever among the Top 75? It would be close but I think Kelly could do it. The lowest rated losses for Holtz are the #66 loss to USC in 1996 and #65 loss to Northwestern in 1995. Both of those could stay depending on what we hash out below.
New Kelly Worst Losses (2014-19)
I have 12 games that were worthy of consideration.
FSU 2014
Northwestern 2014
Clemson 2015
Stanford 2015
Ohio State 2015
Michigan State 2016
Duke 2016
NC State 2016
Georgia 2017
Miami 2017
Clemson 2018
Michigan 2019
2016 is a lot like 2007 in that you could include many games but at the same time the stakes were low once a bunch of losses piled up. The NC State hurricane certainly will always be infamous but I don’t think it makes the cut. It was the 4th loss in the first 6 games–and if you can put the game plan aside–there isn’t much to distinguish it from dozens of other losses from the past.
The bad loss factor for Michigan State and Duke from 2016 (teams who finished a combined 7-17) I would think puts them somewhere in the bottom third of the new list.
I cannot include 2015 Stanford. You could argue the Irish make the playoffs without that defeat but ultimately they finished with 3 total losses. Additionally, the other two ’15 losses have to be on there. The loss in the rain at Clemson was an epic game while the Ohio State loss scored big points for missing out on a major bowl trophy.
I’m going to rebel and refuse to accept that Notre Dame lost at Florida State in 2014, so that can’t be on the list.
Losing to 5-7 Northwestern by giving up 43 points–a week after they scored 9 points against Michigan–definitely makes the list.
Three out of the last 5 losses to date–all blowout defeats–would certainly make the cut. Am I missing anything? Would anyone argue something else needs to be included?
It’s really interesting to look at this list. Trying to figure out how to handle something like Georgia 2017 is a tough call. If you’re making this list week 9 of the 2017 season (before we face Miami), I would think that Georgia game has to be on the list. Then, the Miami blowout happens, and all of a sudden that Georgia loss doesn’t hurt nearly as badly. I suppose same thing with Georgia 2019. Right after the USC win, we were all sort of really disappointed by that Georgia result. Then Michigan happened, and nobody gives a damn about the Georgia game anymore.
I guess that’s a long-winded way of saying I think you’ve definitely made the right calls on the last 3 or 4 years.
I’d add bonus points to how wet Notre Dame fans were during the loss, which would give 2015 Clemson and 2019 Michigan both a big boost and might get 2016 NC State some consideration at least toward the bottom of the list. I also appreciate your stance on 2014 FSU.
I realize that given your scoring system this would not be the case, but I consider the 2014 Northwestern loss the most painful of the Kelly era as an ND fan, because that was entirely self-imposed. The Clemson games and Bama were more bearable to me because they were more sensible.
Yeah, to me the NC State loss is still one of the most painful because it showed a huge Kelly weakness (failing to address and compensate for the conditions) and cost a loss that probably wouldn’t have happened with a better and/or more adaptive game plan. Losing to a top 1 or top 5 team is at least bearable in the sense that the competition is really really good. Losing when they could have won leaves more frustration.
And losing because the head coach doesn’t realize going up 12 halfway through the 4th quarter is way, way more valuable than being up 11 and there is little benefit to going up 13 is *extremely* frustrating. Not that I’m still bitter.
That said, I went to the NC State game, and that was, by far, the worst in-game experience of my life (and I was at Syracuse ’08 and Michigan ’19).
2018 Clemson was probably the most disappointing of those games, but 2014 Northwestern gave me the most horrible hollow feeling of any of those losses for sure. The whole “not losing to worse teams” thing that we do now has definite advantages, which are especially obvious when compared to 2014 or 2016.
And it’s the off season again :'(
It seems that all I remember reading in the last few years during the offseason (either here or on another site) are articles about the worst losses. It is brutal to revisit these traumas, and I’m long past the point of learning from them.
I want to wake up happy!!! If I must endure one of these, can we have a “greatest wins” article?
Lou Somogyi just wrote a best 5 wins of the decade article, over on Blue and Gold $$. Seems you have to pay for good news, if you want it.
I wrote this in the 2019 Prediction thread revisit a few days ago:
Thinking about a “Top 10 Games” of the decade, since it’s a la mode right now. I’m grading on a “fun to watch” standard, not “program altering” Including losses, I’ve come up with the following:
’12 – Stanford, Pitt, OK
’13 – MSU (this one is just retrospective – I don’t remember it being that great in real time)
’14 – Michigan, FSU
’15 – Clemson
’17 – UGA, USC – there was like a 4 game stretch that was an absolute joy to watch
’18 – Stanford
What did I miss/over-rate?
It’s not an entire article, but you can definitely Venmo me $40 if you feel so inclined.
Doesn’t ’18 Michigan trump ’18 Stanford, both in the moment and in retrospect?
Not for me, no. Stanford was a top-10 matchup (at the time) and was a 3 score win. It went into the 4th as a 7 point game before ND actually outperformed Stanford for once in the 4th Q – a nice change of pace. Dex’s 1st carry back from suspension was a long TD. Bryce Love was held (relatively) in check. Terry Jillery had 4 sacks. Book had 4 TDs to 4 different receivers. But yes, beating Michigan is always fun.
Northwestern 2014 was the worst game I have seen in person. Miserable weather and (really) a team that was not any good beating us through (un)lucky breaks and poor coaching decisions. I still feel ill thinking about how terribly demoralized that one left me.
Hard to believe it’s been 6 years since the original series…that’s got to be close to 60 in blog-years. Thanks again, Murtaugh, for being the best site since bluegraysky went down…despite this specific series leaving me in a dark, dark place when it finished.
It’s the least I can do, cheers.