Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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10 PRESEASON 2018 BLUE & GOLD ILLUSTRATED UNDER THE DOME The Opener Against Michigan Will Set The Tone By Lou Somogyi Prior to the 2017 football season, popular opinion held that Notre Dame's result in game two at home versus Georgia (after a romp over Temple in the opener) would chart the season's course following the disheartening 4‑8 finish the year prior. My contention was that after the 2016 fiasco, finishing strong would be more imperative to cultivate better vibes — and it was more pivotal to end the season with a win at Stanford for the first time in five tries. Indeed, despite losing a heartbreaker to Geor‑ gia (20‑19), Notre Dame was still 8‑1 and No. 3 in the College Football Playoff rankings before getting shellacked at Miami (41‑8) and falling apart in the fourth quarter at Stanford (38‑20). The Fighting Irish made positive strides to finish 10‑3, but for that momen‑ tum to build they need to register a win against the Wolverines. There is no greater buzzkill to a new Fighting Irish football season than an early loss to Michigan. Vanquishing the Wolverines doesn't necessarily guarantee a pros‑ perous season, but losing to them virtually assures a disappointing one (see "Charting The Irish" on page 18). A win there provides a powerful impetus to enter November in the CFP hunt again — and especially the fire to avoid a fourth straight loss, at home no less, to Stanford Sept. 29. I believe that could even become a 2017 USC repeat (a 49‑14 Irish win). From there, it's up to the Irish to improve in November (9‑12 in that month since 2013), which has been the offseason emphasis. The Stanford Matchup Has Huge Implications By Bryan Driskell Notre Dame has a number of marquee games on the docket in 2018, but the biggest one on the schedule is the Sept. 29 matchup against the Stanford Cardinal. Since head coach Brian Kelly was hired, the Fighting Irish have gone 5‑3 against rival USC but just 2‑6 against the Cardinal. With Stanford's emergence in the Pac‑12 and with its dominance over Notre Dame the last decade, a strong case could be made that the Cardinal is now the nation's top academic football power. That is something Notre Dame must change — im‑ mediately. A Notre Dame win over Stanford wouldn't change things overnight, but it would serve as an important first step towards regaining its prominence as the nation's premier academic football power. There are more immediate dividends that a win over Stanford would give the Irish program. We saw last season when Notre Dame lost its week two matchup against Georgia that an early season loss can certainly be overcome. A win over Stanford would either build on a strong résumé that includes a win over Michigan, or provide a nice bounce back should the Irish lose to the Wolverines. A win over Stanford, the one program that has dominated Notre Dame under Kelly, would also provide the program with a major confidence boost. We saw that in 2012, when the Irish were again going into this matchup with a three‑game losing streak to the Cardinal. That 20‑13 overtime win served as a springboard to a 12‑0 regular season. Point ✦ Counterpoint: WHICH VICTORY WOULD BEST PROPEL NOTRE DAME IN 2018? Following the retirement of Jim McLaughlin, Notre Dame promoted assistant coach Mike Johnson to take over the volleyball program. Before spending the past three years in South Bend, Johnson had a five‑year run as the head coach at Xavier (2010‑14) plus a one‑year stint at Austin Peay (2009). Johnson recorded a 124‑64 record (.659 winning percentage) during that six‑year stretch. The native of Kahaluu, Hawai'i also served four seasons as an assistant before taking over at Aus‑ tin Peay, including one year under McLaughlin at Washington in 2004. BGI: What did you learn in your three years as an assistant at Notre Dame? Johnson: "I was really fortunate to have a great mentor. I still am fortunate to have a great men‑ tor. Having been under Jim McLaughlin a long time ago when I was young, I had a lot of the foundation [put in place] … "Coming back here for the last three years was really an emergence in not just how to play the game, but how to teach, how to demand in a good way and how to run a program. There were so many lessons beyond the subject matter of the game." BGI: What do you hope to bring to the pro‑ gram that is maybe a little different from previ‑ ous years? Johnson: "Here's what I told the team when the transition happened: We're going to run the program the way we have run the program. Everything we did before — the prin‑ ciples, the methods, the me‑ chanics, systems and all that — is the same. I would be foolish to reinvent the wheel. " T h e o n l y t h i n g t h a t changes relative to that is the standards have to go up. We just can't be status quo. We have to keep improving. I be‑ lieve this is a place we should be in the national title hunt. Everyone else is. That's where we have to go." BGI: What's changed for you since the last time you were a head coach at Xavier? Johnson: "I'm thankful to have gone the route that I did. When I was an assistant the first time, I really just wasn't aware of what I didn't know. Early on when I was a head coach and things weren't going well, you're thinking maybe it's recruiting or other elements of the game. "You start realizing the flaws in the team are your flaws. They're my flaws. … Coming back and working under Jim, I'm already keenly aware of my weaknesses. … You have to fix your problems. … It's just keep getting better and improving." BGI: What do you want Irish fans to see from the team this year? Johnson: "We ask our team this all the time: What is our identity? Who are we? We are answering that right now. We're shaping our identity every day. "What I hope they see is a team that plays the game really hard. I hope they see a team that loves to play." BGI: What are your areas of focus when you are recruiting a prospective student‑athlete? Johnson: "Of course, there is a physical ele‑ ment. Beyond that, we're looking for people that care. We're looking for people with a big heart and does it matter? Are they determined? Do they deal with adversity? … Then are you willing to change? "… You're looking for a fit of the University of Notre Dame. That's not for everyone." — Corey Bodden Five Questions With … VOLLEYBALL HEAD COACH MIKE JOHNSON Johnson became the sixth head coach in program history this summer after taking over for the recently retired Jim McLaughlin. PHOTO COURTESY FIGHTING IRISH DIGITAL MEDIA