The media thought that Notre Dame would return to glory in 2009. Instead, it was a return to mediocrity. Despite a favorable schedule and upperclassmen who had tons of experience, Notre Dame was no better in 2009 than they were in 2008. As a result, head coach Charlie Weis was fired and Notre Dame declined any bowl bid after a 6-6 season. Things don't look much better for the future, either. Jimmy Clausen and Golden Tate depleted the offense by announcing they were entering the NFL Draft. That leaves new coach Brian Kelly to break in several new players on offense.
That offensive production will be very hard to replace as well. Clausen threw for 3,722 yards and 28 touchdowns against a meager four interceptions. Purdue, Washington, navy, and Pittsburgh were the only teams to pick him off. He'll be replaced by Dayne Crist who played extensively for the then-injured Clausen against Purdue, but otherwise has no experience. Tate was one of the nation's best receivers with 1,496 yards and 15 touchdowns while Michael Floyd added 795 yards and nine scores. Floyd even missed five games in the middle of the season with a broken collarbone. He will be a big help for Crist in 2010.
All six wins for Notre Dame were of the hard fought variety except for the season opening 35-0 win over Nevada. Floyd had 189 yards receiving and three touchdowns against the Wolfpack as it looked like Notre Dame would roll early in the season. That roll came to an end the following week when Michigan squeezed out a last minute 38-34 win in Ann Arbor. Notre Dame found itself in another tight contest the following wee against Michigan State. Kirk Cousins overthrew a wide open receiver that would have resulted in a winning Spartan touchdown with less than a minute to go. He was then intercepted on the next play and Notre Dame held on for a 33-30 win.
A tough trip to Purdue was next, where the Boilermakers took a lat 21-17 lead. Clausen, who was battling turf tow, came off the bench to direct a dramatic 12 play, 72 yard drive for a 24-21 win. Clausen found Kyle Rudolph from two yards out on fourth down with 25 seconds left for the win. Notre Dame followed that with another close call, this time beating Washington 37-30. That set up Notre Dame's annual grudge match with USC. Once again, the Ttojans continued their mastery of the Irish with a 34-27 win as Clausen missed on a last second pass that would have forced overtime.
The season just went downhill from there. The Irish did beat Boston College (20-16) and Washington State (4-14), but lost for the second straight time at home to Navy, a team they owned for nearly five decades. The Midshipmen's 23-21 victory was the start of a four game losing streak to end the season. Notre Dame lost to Pittsburgh (27-22), UConn (33-30 OT), and Stanford (45-38) to cap a disappointing year.
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