Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/1017623
www.BLUEANDGOLD.com PRESEASON 2018 9 UNDER THE DOME Since 2010, or Brian Kelly's first season as the Irish head coach, 10 victories are usually achieved by about 20 teams per year. Twenty of the Associated Press final top 25 achieved it back in 2010, and all of the first 22 teams in the last AP poll did so the following year. In 2012, while the Irish made their run toward the 12-0 regular season, 20 other teams posted at least 10 wins, including No. 25 Nebraska at 10-4. The 10-3 Irish in 2015 were one of 22 teams in the final AP poll to reach double-digit victories with the top wins coming versus 11-2 Navy and 10-4 Temple — and the Owls did not place in the final rankings despite the 10 wins. On the heels of last year's 10-3 finish (20 teams won a minimum of 10), Notre Dame in 2018 will attempt to reach a double-digit victory total two consecutive years for only the fifth time in its his- tory. Here were the others: 1. 1973 (11-0) & 1974 (10-2) In his final two seasons, Parseghian produced 21 wins, highlighted by conquests of 11-0 Ala- bama teams in the 1973 Sugar Bowl (24-23) to capture the national title, and the 1975 Orange Bowl (13-11) to reach the coveted 10 wins. 2. 1988 (12-0) & 1989 (12-1) The 24 victories over two seasons, highlighted by a school-record 23 straight, are the Notre Dame standard and held by head coach Lou Holtz's juggernaut from these back-to-back cam- paigns. For the Fighting Irish to tie that win total, they would have to go 14-0 this season — which would be a national title. Eleven of those victories in 1988-89 occurred against teams that finished in the final AP top 18 — and seven of them in the top 10. 3. 1991 (10-3) & 1992 (10-1-1) Reaching that 10th victory had to occur by first defeating head coach Steve Spurrier's 10-1 and No. 3 Florida Gators in the 1992 Sugar Bowl (39-28), and then vanquishing R.C. Slocum's 12-0 Texas A&M Aggies in the 1993 Cotton Bowl (28-3). Yet both of those seasons were "letdowns" in the eyes of many Irish faithful. That's what happens once the monster gets fed. It becomes insatiable. 4. 1992 (10-1-1) & 1993 (11-1) The 1993 campaign expanded the streak of 10- win seasons to a school-record three in a row. The following year, Notre Dame dropped to 6-5-1, and it was the beginning of the end of the Holtz era, which would finish after the 1996 season. — Lou Somogyi IR I SH WEAR GREEN GEAR UP FOR SEPTEMBER 1 ST NOTRE DAME MICHIGAN vs SHOP GREEN GEAR bit.ly/NDgreenout During head coach Lou Holtz's 11 seasons in South Bend, the Irish achieved double-digit victories in consecutive seasons three times — including 12-win campaigns in 1988 and '89. PHOTO COURTESY FIGHTING IRISH DIGITAL MEDIA Hanging 10 On The Football Field