Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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www.BLUEANDGOLD.com PRESEASON 2018 61 Coincidentally, Wimbush also lost his job temporarily against LSU in the Citrus Bowl last year during the first half before reserve Ian Book pumped life into the offense and pro- duced a 21-17 comeback win. Still, in 2018 Wimbush is one of only 50 players in America — offense or defense — on the preseason watch list for the Walter Camp Award, while Patterson joins him on the pre- season watch list for the Maxwell Award. Both honors are given to the national player of the year. Again, it comes back to potential. Wimbush is a playmaking athlete who also rushed for 803 yards and 14 touchdowns (a school record for quarterbacks) last season, while Pat- terson was a rare five-star quarter- back from Florida's esteemed IMG Academy. Patterson transferred to Michigan last winter, was able to participate in spring drills and was given a waiver by the NCAA that would not sideline him in 2018 despite the transfer, simi- lar to Notre Dame women's basket- ball forward Jessica Shepard. In much the same way Shepard's eligibility was a godsend during a national title campaign, Patterson is perceived as the final piece that was missing for head coach Jim Har- baugh in a quest for a national title. Much potential and ballyhoo at quarterback on both sides — but when the lights turn on and victory or defeat is for keeps, who will help his team more and not falter the way both did at the end of 2017? DOUBLE DOSE … AND MAYBE EVEN TRIPLE Only five head coaches in college football history have defeated Notre Dame while in charge at two differ- ent schools. Michigan's Jim Harbaugh will at- tempt to become the sixth in this year 's opener after having led the Stanford Cardinal to victories over the Fighting Irish in 2009 (45-38) and 2010 (37-14), the latter at Notre Dame Stadium, before accepting the po- sition as San Francisco 49ers head coach from 2011-14 that was high- lighted by a Super Bowl trip, where he lost to brother John Harbaugh's Baltimore Ravens. What would make Harbaugh unique, however, is that he also quarterbacked his alma mater, Mich- igan, to back-to-back conquests of Notre Dame in 1985 (20-12) and 1986 (24-23), the latter in Lou Holtz's de- but as the Fighting Irish head coach. Chronologically, the five other coaches who toppled Notre Dame at different schools are: • Howard Jones, Iowa/USC In 1921, Jones' Hawkeyes handed Knute Rockne's 10-1 Irish their lone setback (10-7). At USC from 1925-40, Jones' Trojans would post six wins over the Irish, the first in 1928 and the last in 1939. • Johnny Majors, Pitt/Tennessee The 1956 Heisman Trophy runner- up to Notre Dame's Paul Hornung defeated the Irish at Pitt in 1975 (34-20) and with the national title- winning Panthers in 1976 (31-10), and did the same at alma mater Tennessee in 1979 (40-18) and 1991 (35-34). • Dennis Erickson, Miami/Ore- gon State His Hurricanes ended Notre Dame's school-record 23-game win- ning streak in 1989 (27-10), and then his Beavers snapped a seven-game Irish winning streak in the 2001 Fi- esta Bowl (41-9). • Nick Saban, Michigan State/ Alabama His Spartans defeated Notre Dame three straight seasons in 1997-99, and then he led the way as the Crimson Tide rolled to a 42-14 in the BCS Na- tional Championship Game on Jan. 7, 2013. Saban and Northwestern's Ara Parseghian (1959-62) — who later would lead the Irish to two consen- sus national titles and a shared one — are the only two to post a 4-0 led- ger versus Notre Dame since the turn of the 20th century. • Todd Graham, Tulsa/Arizona State Both came against Brian Kelly, the first in 2010 with Tulsa (28-27) and then at Arizona State in 2014 (55-31). He nearly became the first to achieve it with three teams, but Notre Dame rallied to a 15-12 win against his 2011 Pitt squad. ✦ GAME PREVIEW: MICHIGAN Predictions Corey Bodden: Notre Dame 27, Michigan 24 Expect a defensive tussle, and whichever quarterback plays better — Brandon Wimbush or Shea Pat- terson — will lead his team to victory. Given it is at Notre Dame, I'm going with the Irish. Bryan Driskell: Notre Dame 24, Michigan 16 In what will be mostly a defensive battle, the Notre Dame offense makes enough plays to prevail. David McKinney: Notre Dame 23, Michigan 21 Slight edge to Notre Dame only because of home field. Could go either way with the right bounce. Lou Somogyi: Michigan 22, Notre Dame 20 Similar to the Georgia game last year — but this time a Notre Dame win would have it in College Football Playoff contention when it travels to USC for the regular-season finale Nov. 24. Jim Harbaugh, who picked up a pair of win versus Notre Dame while at Stanford in 2009-10, will attempt to become the sixth head coach ever to guide two different schools to victories over Notre Dame. PHOTO BY PER KJELDSEN