Notre Dame·FBS Independents

2014 — The Winning Chapter

Notre Dame's 2014 season (8-5) is a middle chapter: table-stakes progress, no crown in the ledger, the program still writing the book.

Record 8-5
Final result Bowl season Won the Music City Bowl
AP final #15 post-bowls
SP+ +3.5 last-week
Era The Kelly Reconstruction
The shape of the season · week by week, cumulative W-L below
W vs Rice 48-17 W vs Michigan 31-0 W vs Purdue 30-14 W @ Syracuse 31-15 W vs Stanford 17-14 W vs UNC 50-43 L @ FSU 27-31 W @ Navy 49-39 L @ Ariz Sta 31-55 L vs Northw 40-43 L vs Louisv 28-31 L @ USC 14-49 W @ LSU 31-28 Bowl

Who carried it

Season leaders, 2014.

Defining moments
The statement

The 2014 season's largest margin: Notre Dame 48, Rice 17. A 31-point win — the year's high-water mark.

The setback

The season's deepest loss: Notre Dame 14, USC 49. A 35-point margin the season is remembered by.

The postseason

The season's last act: Notre Dame beat LSU 31-28 in the postseason.

"The Irish don't wait to be invited to the conversation — they walk in."
— Notre Dame fanbase voice · 2014· synthesized
What it meant

2014 is a middle chapter for Notre Dame — neither a crown year nor a crisis. It is the kind of season that fills the ledger between the named ones and gives the arc its shape.