Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/1061429
36 JANUARY 2019 BLUE & GOLD ILLUSTRATED BY LOU SOMOGYI THE 'MAJOR' ISSUE While Notre Dame faithful often lament the lack of a football national title since 1988, perhaps even more stunning is the Fighting Irish have failed to win a major postseason bowl (defined today as Cotton, Fiesta, Peach, Orange, Rose and Sugar) since the end of the 1993 football season. Not doing so this year in the Cotton would make it a full quarter century. This from a football program that in the previous 24 years from 1970‑93 led the nation in major bowl triumphs with 10 — seven of them occurring against unbeaten and/or No. 1‑ranked teams. That was part of the aura/mystique of the overall op‑ eration, the ability to shine the most when the stage was its grandest. Unfortunately, in the 24 years hence from 1994‑2017, the Fighting Irish football team has developed a reputation for soiling the bed in such settings. Notre Dame is 0‑7 during that time in major bowls — with a 20‑point average margin of defeat in that septet adding salt to the wound. It has had two such appearances under ninth‑year head coach Brian Kelly: a 42‑14 defeat to Alabama in the 2013 BCS National Champion‑ ship Game and a 44‑28 setback to Ohio State in the 2016 Fiesta Bowl. Multiple national title winners Nick Saban at Alabama and Urban Meyer at Ohio State were the pre‑ eminent coaches in the game dur‑ ing those setbacks, and since that time Clemson's Dabo Swinney has joined them with now a fourth con‑ secutive appearance in the College Football Playoff, highlighted by the 2016 national title in which his Tigers vanquished the juggernauts of both Meyer (31‑0) and Saban (35‑31). Just like in 2012, when 12‑0 and No. 1 Notre Dame was a nine‑point underdog to a one‑loss team, this year's 12‑0 Irish edition also is deemed more pretender than contender as an 11.5‑point underdog to Clemson. "The best thing about it is the 2012 Alabama team is not in this playoff bracket because people forget how physical of a football team that was, offensively and defensively," Kelly said. "The second part of that is [Notre Dame] is a better‑prepared football team — coaching the head coach, everybody associated with it, our staff, support staff. Everybody has been through it. And I can pre‑ pare our players better for it, as well." Interestingly, that 2012 Irish team also had the worst scoring average per game (25.8, 78th nationally) in Kelly's nine seasons at Notre Dame. This year's unit is a more respectable 34th with a 33.8 average, although it still pales in comparison to Okla‑ homa (49.5), Alabama (47.9) and Clemson (45.4), which rank Nos. 1, 2 and 5, respectively, in that category. "Our football team is much more balanced," Kelly said in comparison to 2012. "We were going into that game on the backs of our defense. We can hold our own on offense in this run, as well, so I just think better prepared all around. "… It doesn't change the competi‑ tion level. There are still great football teams, but let's not forget that 2012 Alabama team was pretty special." While Notre Dame players one through about 30 in 2012 could match up with pretty much anyone in the country, in 2018 the overall depth from 31 through 85 is more pro‑ nounced, aiding the opportunity for more competitive practices as well. In addition, 2012 was unchartered territory for the operation, whereas last year Notre Dame was in the Col‑ lege Football Playoff hunt in Novem‑ ber again and finished the season defeating four teams that finished in the top 25. It has built on the lessons from 2017, the team that bounced back from the 4‑8 debacle in 2016. "I thought our preparation was fine," Kelly said of the 2012 postsea‑ son work. "It's just that the moment was really big, and so we'll prepare for the playoffs and the moment and flipping to that competitive mindset, which we've done a much better job over the last year and a half in pre‑ paring our guys for that. "I just think we're further along. I'm better at it in terms of being able to help our kids with it and I think just being in that moment. Hence you prepare your football team for it." Doubt from the outside remains, though, which brings us to … GAME PREVIEW: CLEMSON Top STorylineS Head coach Dabo Swinney's Clemson program is making its fourth consecutive appearance in the College Football Playoff and is gunning for its second national crown in that stretch. PHOTO BY CARL ACKERMAN/COURTESY CLEMSON