Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/1081575
www.BLUEANDGOLD.com MARCH 2019 85 89), while Ara Parseghian in the same amount of time (1964-74) did it four times. Believe it or not, the current 11- game winning streak at home (the last five games in 2017 and all six in 2018) is the third longest since the open- ing of Notre Dame Stadium in 1930. In that 89-year history, only the 28 straight from 1942-50 and 19 consecu- tive from 1987-89 are longer. Team objectives are outlined each preseason, and one that never changes is protecting home turf. The "home remedy" in recent years has taken bet- ter hold and could well continue in 2019. USC, which is coming off a 5-7 season and has had much internal tu- mult, is the main threat to end Notre Dame's streak in a seven-game home schedule that also includes New Mex- ico (3-9), Virginia (8-5), Bowling Green (3-9), Virginia Tech (6-7), Navy (3-10) and Boston College (7-5). Seldom has Notre Dame had a less appealing or lack of marquee foes on its home schedule. Sweep the home slate for the first- time in back-to-back years since 1987- 89, and Notre Dame will be one game short of tying the second-longest home winning streak. If Notre Dame is to be a viable CFP contender for the third year in a row, it will need to pull off some victories in its five road outings that, when the schedule was released two years ago, appeared to be the most challenging in the Kelly era — at Louisville, at Georgia, at Michigan, at Duke and at Stanford. "That's one more tough road game than I'd like," Notre Dame director of athletics Jack Swarbrick told Blue & Gold Illustrated shortly after the 2019 schedule was released. "It's not ideal, but when you're trying to put this together, it's not like you get to choose every game or where it goes. "I understand the reaction to '19 … but it's how it fell and we've got to take that on. We've got to build the résumé and we have to be good enough to navigate it. "Independence means playing the best schedule you can. If you're not going to do that, don't be an inde- pendent. We've chosen to be inde- pendent." Two or three years ago, the Labor Day opener at Louisville appeared to be the classic hornet's nest game, but the Cardinals were a grease fire last year (see page 86), resulting in the ouster of head coach Bobby Petrino. In years past, the preseason atti- tude among many of the Irish fan base might have been, "I hope we can come out with a winning 3-2 re- cord in those five road games." However, the bar has been raised the past two seasons with a No. 11 finish in 2017 (10-3) and a CFP bid in 2018 (12-1). If there is an aspiration to "close the gap" with superpowers Alabama and Clemson, then the road show cannot be daunting. Sept. 21 at Georgia — If you thought the "Sea of Red" Georgia ar- rived with at Notre Dame was some- thing when the Bulldogs won 20-19 in 2017, multiply that by three-fold this time. This will be perceived as another one of those "Notre Dame is not in that league" hurdle games it has had the past 20-plus years. Oct. 26: at Michigan — While the four-year Jim Harbaugh era has been unfulfilling in Ann Arbor, "The Big House" has not been kind to Notre Dame. Since 1997, the Irish are 1-7 at Michigan, and have lost four in a row, most recently in 2013. Nov. 9: at Duke — Speaking of bye weeks, the Blue Devils are one of four ACC teams the Irish face this year who will not have a game the week before the Notre Dame contest. Nov 30: at Stanford — Notre Dame has lost five straight on Stanford's home turf dating back to 2009. That is the fourth-longest losing streak on an opponent's home field, with USC (1970-82) and Michigan State (1951- 63) tied at No. 1 with seven apiece, and Miami at six (1981-2017). ✦ Encore Performance The last time Notre Dame produced back-to-back unblemished regular seasons, Knute Rockne was in his final two seasons of coaching the Fighting Irish to consensus national titles in 1929 (9-0) and 1930 (10-0). It is true that Notre Dame also was unbeaten in 1946 (8-0-1) and 1947 (9-0), plus 1948 (9-0-1) and 1949 (10-0). However, the 0-0 tie versus Army in 1946 and 14-14 deadlock at USC in 1948 prevented an unstained campaign. Overtime sessions implemented by the NCAA in 1996 no longer make ties possible. Consequently, the odds of repeating a 12-0 regular season outcome and another College Football Playoff bid in 2019 are enormous for Notre Dame. What should no longer be a pipe dream is achieving 10 wins as a minimum base standard of success after having done so in three of the last four seasons: 10-3 in 2015 and 2017, and 12-1 in 2018. This spate of success, though tarnished some by a 4-8 outcome in 2016 that resulted in major changes within the infrastructure, has enabled Notre Dame to reach top-10 program level, or a level below what has been the most consistent top-five tier over the past five years: Alabama, Clemson, Ohio State and Oklahoma. With 12-game regular seasons now (as opposed to 11, which began in 1974) and bowl games, achieving 10 wins in a season has become the floor, not the ceiling. Still to be accomplished is ending a 25-year drought (1994-2018) of not winning a major bowl — now known as the Big Six — after producing an NCAA-high 10 in the previous 25 seasons from 1969-93. To do so in 2019, the Irish likely would need to finish at least 10-2 to earn a Big Six invitation. — Lou Somogyi Since 1997, the Irish are 1-7 at Michigan Stadium and have lost four in a row. PHOTO BY LON HORWEDEL