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Brian Kelly breaks Notre Dame's coaching wins record, shows brilliant touch in rout of Wisconsin
This wasn't an easy win for Notre Dame.
Fighting Irish head coach Brian Kelly would certainly agree with that, though the 41-13 scoreline might suggest otherwise.
Kelly, who's called plays for the Irish since 2010, just cemented his name atop the school's all-time coaching wins list with Saturday's victory over Wisconsin, passing legend Knute Rockne with No. 106.
"It's about consistency, what you saw today, resiliency," Kelly told Jenny Taft following the monumental victory.
Consistency and resilience are themes of Kelly's storied career at Notre Dame.
The Fighting Irish, ranked No. 12 in the country, faced their toughest test of the season as they took on the No. 18 Badgers at Chicago's Soldier Field.
The Badgers opened the scoring, converting on a 37-yard field goal in the first quarter. Things got rolling a bit more in the second, as Irish quarterback Jack Coan guided his team on a well-executed expedition downfield, connecting with Kevin Austin Jr. on a fly route down the left side for six.
The pitch-and-catch put Notre Dame up 10-3, and they'd take that lead into the halftime break.
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Wisconsin rallied fervently in the third, knotting things at 10 on a short slant.
On the ensuing ND drive, things appeared to take a bad turn for the Irish. After taking the brunt force of a booming hit in the backfield, Coan was seen walking back to the locker room for treatment. He would not return to the game.
All momentum at this point swayed to Wisconsin's side. Their raucous fans were at their loudest, their offense had just found life and their defense was invading the backfield like a bullish band of crooks.
Rodas Johnson came up huge for the Badgers' defensive platoon with a crunching sack and forced fumble, allowing Badgers kicker Collin Larsh to knock in a field goal to put the squad up 13-10.
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But the fourth quarter was all ND's.
Chris Tyree took the resultant kickoff at his own 4-yard line and weaved his way through a maze of white and red jerseys for six on a 96-yard TD return.
Then the floodgates burst.
On Wisconsin's next possession, the Irish D-line poked a fumble loose:
Before backup QB Drew Pyne tossed his first TD.
Notre Dame's defense continued to account for points as they busted any Badger hopes for a resurgence.
From 10-13 to 41-13 in one quarter. It's the stuff of legend, and Kelly is a legendary coach.
Just the second Irish coach to stretch his tenure into 12 years, Kelly sports a career record of 106-39 as Notre Dame's head coach.
He's the only Fighting Irish frontman to amass six seasons of double-digit wins and is one of two coaches to have a top 10 ranking at least once in every season during the CFB playoff era.
Kelly's 159 wins since 2004 are third-most behind only Urban Meyer (160) and Nick Saban (182).
Through 18 seasons as a Division-1 coach, his overall record is 159-61.
"Having good coaches and good players," Kelly said about what the win means to him. "It was 10-10. They [Wisconsin] played the "Jump Around" song and I thought it was [our] fight song," he said about his players in the fourth. "They just played with resilience and toughness and I'm just blessed to have the opportunity to coach these guys."
On his backup quarterback, Kelly said: "It was very impressive. He [Pyne] was vying for the starting position, and we bring in a transfer and he wins the job, but he never put his head down. He works every day, and now he gets this opportunity. It's really fun."
Fun indeed for Kelly, who's just getting started on his celebration for the night.
"I think I'm gonna go with my favorite Italian wine [tonight]."
A toast is worthy for the entire Notre Dame team, and they're hoping the festivities continue all the way through to the CFP.
Check out the highlights from the game below!
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