Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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54 AUGUST 2018 BLUE & GOLD ILLUSTRATED Dame overcame yielding 50 points in the first half alone to Villanova, then in the Sweet 16 it rallied from a 13-point deficit to get by Texas A&M, and it advanced to the Final Four after coming back from nine points down versus explosive Oregon. In the Final Four, it was on the cusp of getting blown out by the Connecti- cut dynasty (which had won seven straight versus the Irish) after falling behind 41-30 — and then rallied to victory in overtime on Ogunbowale's jumper with one second left in the 91-89 triumph over the 36-0 Huskies. Two days later, the resurrection was completed fittingly on Easter Sunday despite trailing No. 2 and 37-1 Mississippi State 40-25 in the second half — and 58-53 with just less than two minutes left. Notre Dame tallied the final eight points, the last on Ogunbowale's running three-pointer at the horn. Talent was never lacking, but this amazing journey was about far more than basketball skills and acumen. It epitomized the "what tho' the odds" spirit of The Victory March. 2. NOVEMBER SWOON & COMEBACK CONCLUSION The football team desperately needed to erase the memory of the 4-8 debacle from 2016 and did so with an 8-1 start and No. 3 placement in the College Football Playoff rankings. Unfortunately, another late-season swoon, notably 41-8 and 38-20 de- feats at Miami and Stanford, respec- tively, dropped the Irish record to 9-12 in the last five Novembers. Salvaging the 10-3 campaign was a 21-17 victory in the Citrus Bowl versus LSU to finish No. 11 in the Associated Press poll for the second time in three years. A dramatic 55- yard touchdown pass from sopho- more backup quarterback Ian Book to junior wideout Miles Boykin, who made a leaping one-handed scoring grab with 1:28 remaining, was the dif- ference between a 9-4 meltdown that would have created more negative energy and a 10-3 outcome that re- sulted in the second-best turnaround in one season at Notre Dame, plus-six from 4-8 to 10-3 (behind only the plus- seven from 2-7 in 1963 to 9-1 in 1964). With victories against teams that fin- ished No. 12 (USC), No. 15 (Michigan State), No. 18 (LSU) and No. 23 (North Carolina State), this was only the ninth Notre Dame unit to record at least four wins against teams in the final AP top 25 since the poll's inception in 1936. 3. CAMPUS CROSSROADS DEBUT SEASON Other than the "Sea of Red" inva- sion by Georgia faithful — estimated at 25,000 to 30,000 — in the 20-19 vic- tory by the Bulldogs Sept. 9, the nearly half-billion-dollar investment into making Notre Dame Stadium more than just a six- or seven-game venue per year for football games provided a whole different ambiance, highlighted by the new video scoreboard. Spotlighted by consecutive wins over top-15 foes USC (49-14) and North Carolina State (35-14), the Irish aver- aged 39.4 points in seven home games. The best days should be ahead for Campus Crossroads, provided ardent fans bases such as Georgia's don't overshadow the football games. 4. COACHING CHANGES This year was not quite as dramatic as the overhaul in the winter of 2017 with the hiring of six new football assistants plus a new strength and conditioning staff. Nevertheless, the sudden January departure of first-year defensive co- ordinator Mike Elko for a more lucra- tive deal at Texas A&M and sixth-year Notre Dame Finishes Tied For 22nd In 2017‑18 Learfield Sports Directors' Cup After elevating all the way up to No. 6 at the end of the Learfield Sports Directors' Cup winter sports competition, Notre Dame finished the 2017‑18 academic year tied with Wisconsin at No. 22 while garnering far fewer points in the spring. The competition is divided into three segments: fall sports, winter sports and spring sports. A total of 291 different schools tallied points in the Division I competition, with 100 the highest pos‑ sible score for winning a national title in a team event. Point totals range on how far a team advances in the NCAA Championships in their respective sports, or final ranking in football. • At the end of the fall sports season, Notre Dame finished 20th with 205 points: 66 in football (final Associated Press ranking of No. 11), and then 64 in women's soccer (Sweet 16), 50 in men's soccer (first‑round win) and 25 in women's volleyball, all of which earned NCAA Tournament bids. • The winter sports season provided a tremendous boost with national titles in fencing (100 points) and women's basketball (100 points), and a runner‑up finish to Minnesota Duluth in men's hockey adding 90 more points. Meanwhile, the indoor track and field season results contributed 43.5 points from the women and 16.5 from the men, while the swimming teams produced 49.5 points from the men and 24 from the women in the NCAA results. That gave Notre Dame a 423.5‑point total for the winter and 628.5 overall when including the fall. • In the spring, the Irish managed only 175.50 points, with five different sports unable to score: baseball, women's lacrosse, rowing, men's track and field, and women's tennis. The points came from softball (50), men's tennis (50), women's golf (27), men's lacrosse (25), and women's track and field (23.50). Among "cold‑weather schools," Notre Dame had four place ahead of it: Michigan (No. 6), Ohio State (No. 7), Penn State (No. 12) and Minnesota (No. 19). In the 15‑team ACC of which the Irish are a member, five schools tallied more points than Notre Dame's 804.00: No. 9 Florida State (1,038.75), No. 11 Duke (1,004.25), No. 13 North Carolina (917.50), No. 15 North Carolina State (894.75) and No. 21 Virginia (830.00). Each school can count its top‑scoring 19 sports towards the final point total, but four have to be base‑ ball, men's and women's basketball and volleyball. The competition began in 1994, and the Stanford Cardinal has captured the Cup every school year since 1995. Stanford finished out the year atop the final 2017‑18 Division I Learfield Directors' Cup standings with 1,442.00 total points. The Cardinal recorded four national championships — men's soccer, women's soc‑ cer, women's swimming and diving, and women's tennis. In addition, Stanford tallied 12 top‑10 finishes. For the eighth time, UCLA finished second overall with 1,326.00 total points. The Bruins recorded three national championships — women's beach volleyball, women's gymnastics and men's water polo. The Pac‑12 and SEC led all conferences with three institutions each finishing in the top 10, which was: The Fighting Irish finished 23rd last year, but had a school‑record three consecutive top‑10 place‑ ments in 2013 (No. 9), 2014 (No. 3, the school's best showing ever) and 2015 (No. 10). — Lou Somogyi 1. Stanford — 1,442.00 2. UCLA — 1,326.00 3. Florida — 1,216.00 4. USC — 1,147.00 5. Texas — 1,143.25 6. Michigan — 1,131.00 7. Ohio State — 1,118.00 8. Georgia — 1,046.35 9. Florida State — 1,038.75 10. Texas A&M — 1,005.50 22t. Notre Dame — 804.00