Blue & Gold Illustrated: 2019 Notre Dame Football Preview
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/1133608
6 ✦ BLUE & GOLD ILLUSTRATED 2019 FOOTBALL PREVIEW UNDER THE DOME For the second time in three years, Notre Dame will pick up its "900th" all-time football win during some point of the 2019 campaign. Ideally, it would be in game three Sept. 21 at Geor- gia, which then would put the Fighting Irish in strong contention for a second consecutive bid to the four- team College Football Playoff. That conquest would come following anticipated victories in the season opener at Louisville Sept. 2 and then hosting New Mexico Sept. 14. By NCAA regulations, Notre Dame officially stands at 897 victories. That's because on Feb. 13, 2018, the NCAA denied the university's appeal to not have to vacate the 21 total victories from the 2012 (12) and 2013 (nine) seasons due to academic misconduct from the inadvertent (and self-reported) use of ineligible players during those two seasons. When Notre Dame defeated Miami (Ohio) on Sept. 30, 2017, it was at the time the program's 900th all-time victory, joining it with the University of Michigan as the first two Football Bowl Subdivision schools to achieve that milestone. However, when the NCAA made its ruling five months later in February 2018, that put Notre Dame back to 885 wins at the conclusion of the 2017 football season. At the end of the 2017 campaign that saw Notre Dame finish 10-3 and Michigan 8-5, the Fighting Irish were barely behind the Wolverines on the all-time win- ning percentage chart — and would have passed them after the 24-17 victory in last year's season opener. In fact, in 2018 Notre Dame picked up two more games in winning percentage against Michigan by finishing 12-1 while the Maize and Blue were 10-3. Minus the NCAA-imposed vacancy of the 21 wins from the 2012-13 seasons, the Fighting Irish record would be 918-324-42 for a .73131 winning percent- age, ahead of Michigan's current No. 1 pace of .72952. As it stands now, there is merely .00542 separation between No. 1 Michigan and No. 6 Oklahoma. In NCAA parlance, "vacating" a victory is not the same as "forfeiting" one. It affects only the victor of the game, not the loser. For example, USC had to va- cate its last two wins in 2004 (and thereby the national title) and all 12 wins from the 2005 season. However, that did not mean that the 34-31 win at Notre Dame in 2005 was now a "victory" for the Irish. Notre Dame's final record remained 9-3 that year even with the loss to the Trojans. It counted neither as a win nor a "non- loss." The losing team retains the defeat. Likewise, when USC was stripped of the 2004 na- tional title, unbeaten Auburn was not named the na- tional champion. Neither was Oklahoma, which lost 55-19 to the Trojans in the title game. Hence, the word "vacated." A vacated win affects only the penalized team's season records, all-time records and the head coach's record. This means that even though head coach Brian Kelly is 81-35 (.698 winning percentage) in actual games played on the field, the NCAA and Notre Dame have to recognize it as 60-35 (.632) with the 21 vacated wins. NOTRE DAME IN TOP FIVE OF ALL-TIME WINNING PERCENTAGE AND WINS Notre Dame ranks third and fifth, respectively, in winning percentage and total number of wins among Division I Football Bowl Subdivision schools. Put back the school's 21 victories vacated by the NCAA from 2012 and 2013, and the Irish would be the winningest program by percentage and second by total victories. PHOTO BY ANGELA DRISKELL Division I Football Bowl Subdivision All-Time Won-Lost Records By Percentage Rk. School Games Pct. W L T Change 1. Michigan 1,331 .72952 953 342 36 — 2. Ohio State 1,289 .72731 911 325 53 Up 1 3. Notre Dame 1,263 .72684 897 324 42 Down 2 4. Boise State 618 .72654 448 168 2 Up 1 5. Alabama 1,277 .72552 905 329 43 Up 1 6. Oklahoma 1,274 .72410 896 325 53 Down 1 7. Texas 1,311 .70519 908 370 33 — 8. USC 1,239 .69895 839 346 54 — 9. Nebraska 1,325 .69207 897 388 40 — 10. Penn State 1,320 .68788 887 391 42 — Notes: Florida State (.67928) and Tennessee (.67730) are not far apart for the next two spots … Ohio State had 12 victories vacated by the NCAA during the 2010 season … Alabama had eight victories and one tie forfeited by the NCAA during the 1993 season, plus 21 victories vacated by the NCAA for the 2005-07 seasons … USC had 14 victories vacated by the NCAA during the 2004 and 2005 seasons. Division I Football Bowl Subdivision All-Time Won-Lost Records By Victories School Years W L T Change 1. Michigan 138 953 342 36 — 2. Ohio State 128 911 325 53 Up 1 3. Texas 125 908 370 33 Down 1 4. Alabama 123 905 329 43 Up 1 5. Notre Dame 129 897 324 42 Up 1 Nebraska 128 897 388 40 Down 1 7. Oklahoma 123 896 325 53 — 8. Penn State 131 887 391 42 — 9. USC 124 839 346 54 Up 1 10. Tennessee 121 838 390 53 Down 1 Note: Georgia is the only other team with more than 800 victories (819), with LSU (797) next in line for the milestone.