Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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Under the Dome Point ✦ Counterpoint: Will 2013 Be A Disappointment If Notre Dame Doesn't Return To The National Championship Game? Yes By Dan Murphy No By Wes Morgan Once you've reached the top of the mountain, There are more than 100 different Football Bowl nothing else will do. There was a healthy faction Subdivision teams disappointed every single year of Notre Dame fans who were disappointed when after not reaching the national championship the Irish didn't make it to the title game in 2011 — game (though, realistically, a good portion of them 23 years separated from their never had a shot to begin with). last national crown. Those folks It's unfathomably difficult to were a bit delusional. Similar be one of the last two teams complaints if Notre Dame steps standing in the college game. backward in 2013 will be at least Just look at how the 2012 seaslightly less so. son played out for the Fighting Irish head coach Brian Kelly Irish, which needed some good has built a winning culture in fortune on top of a dominant South Bend, and his players defense to reach Miami. That's now understand what it takes not unique to Notre Dame this to keep winning. Yes, there are year; every program that makes major questions on next year's it to the final stage must get a roster. Will Manti Te'o's incalcu- Head coach Brian Kelly and the few breaks along the way. lable contribution of leadership Irish raised the bar with the suc- Of course, luck favors the prelinger in the locker room when cess they had this season, and pared. The bar, obviously, has he's gone? Will Tyler Eifert, Theo now the challenge is to remain been raised to the top notch Riddick and Cierre Wood be eas- among the nation's elite. now that head coach Brian photo by bill panzica Kelly has successfully resurily replaced? Kelly has proven himself pretty capable at providing answers. rected Notre Dame, which had won more 10 or Notre Dame athletics director Jack Swarbrick more games only two times since an 11-1 record said in Los Angeles that he expected 2013 would in 1993. be the year a real breakthrough came. That would What should be Notre Dame's focus moving make sense with a more seasoned quarterback forward is being in position to play for the crown and a dominant defensive line group that will have on a yearly basis. That's the conversation Alafully outgrown its youthful tag. Zeke Motta will be bama head coach Nick Saban has in recruits' living missed in the secondary, but the back end of a de- rooms, and it's no empty promise. Now comes fense that was a dangerous soft spot in 2012 will the hard part for Notre Dame, which is to keep its be crowded with athletes worthy of playing time. recently regained seat at the elite table. No team can ever expect to land in a championAnything short of a national championship will ship game. Too much has to go right in a given always be a disappointment, but if the Fighting year. But would it be a letdown to play in a con- Irish can now simply be in the mix every single solation game after a title shot the year before? year, that's success considering the long drought Absolutely. from which Notre Dame has finally emerged.