Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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82 PRESEASON 2019 BLUE & GOLD ILLUSTRATED T he 2019 football season brings a unique challenge to the Notre Dame football program. The Fighting Irish will be seeking a second straight unscathed record — meaning unbeaten and untied — in the regular season for the first time since the Associated Press poll era began in 1936. The last time it occurred was in head coach Knute Rockne's final two years in 1929 (9-0) and 1930 (10-0). The Irish came close in 1988 and 1989 while posting a school-record 23 consecutive wins, but a defeat in the 1989 regular-season finale at Miami, which eventually won the national title, prevented it. The legendary 1946-49 units under head coach Frank Leahy never lost a game, but they did have a tie versus Army in 1946 and USC in 1948. It dem- onstrated that no matter how great a dynasty one has, going unblemished during the regular season, never mind the bowl game and now the four-team College Football Playoff, is extremely unlikely. The degree of difficulty especially is expanded when a team starts going into 14- and even 15-game campaigns. Last year, Clemson became the first Football Bowl Subdivision team ever to finish 15-0. (The teams from 1946-49 had nine- and 10-game seasons.) Even the Alabama juggernaut that has captured five of the last 10 national titles has finished a whole year (post- season games included) with a perfect record only once — and that was in 2009, the year Brian Kelly went 12-0 at Cincinnati. Kelly had his third 12-0 regular sea- son in 10 years last year before falling to Clemson (30-3) in the CFP semifinal held at the Cotton Bowl. Another 12-0 finish in the regular season by the Irish this year would put them in exclusive company over the last 50 seasons of college football, dating back to the 1969 campaign. Es- pecially notable is in almost every such streak since then, there was a Notre Dame presence. TEXAS (1969-70) In 1970, the Longhorns were un- beaten a second straight regular sea- son and extended their overall win- ning streak to 30 games — until Notre Dame snapped the string with a 24-11 Cotton Bowl victory. TOLEDO (1969-71) The Rockets, who are part of the Mid-American Conference, went 10-0, 11-0 and 11-0 during these three regu- lar seasons. Add in three bowl victo- ries, and the 35-game winning streak overall is the longest since Oklahoma's NCAA-record 47 straight was snapped by Notre Dame in 1957. ALABAMA (1973-74) Head coach Bear Bryant directed the Crimson Tide to back-to-back 11-0 regular seasons — but both times lost to Notre Dame in the bowl game, first the Sugar (24-23) and then the Orange (13-11), the latter in head coach Ara Parseghian's final game. MIAMI (1986-87) Under Jimmy Johnson, the Hurri- canes finished 11-0 both regular sea- sons, but lost the national title to Penn State the first time in the Fiesta Bowl before winning it all against Oklahoma in the Orange Bowl the next year. Miami's 36-game regular season winning streak then was snapped at Notre Dame in 1988 (31-30), a conquest that propelled the Fighting Irish to their most recent national title. MIAMI (1991-92) The Hurricanes did it again, this time under Dennis Erickson, going 11-0 both regular seasons, aided by Wide Right and Wide Right II, 17-16 and 19-16 victories versus rival Florida State. In 1992, though, Miami lost 34-13 to Alabama in the Sugar Bowl — and by the end of the year there was probably not a more talented team than Notre Dame, which finished No. 4. NEBRASKA (1994-95) The Cornhuskers became the first team to win three national titles in four years (also in 1997) since Notre Dame in 1946-49. MIAMI (2001-02) For the third time over 17 years, the Hurricanes achieved this feat, this time under Larry Coker. But just like with Johnson and Erickson, it won the title the first time but could not repeat it the second. USC (2004-05) Pete Carroll's juggernaut went 12-0 both regular seasons — with the clos- est call a 34-31 squeaker at Notre Dame in 2005. It crushed Oklahoma 55-19 in the Orange Bowl to win the 2004 na- tional title that would later be vacated. FLORIDA STATE (2013-14) FSU was quite comparable to USC 2004-05 in that the Seminoles won it all the first year, and then had a con- troversial 31-27 last-second decision over the No. 5-ranked Fighting Irish in the second year, when it was unable to repeat in the first CFP. UNIVERSITY OF CENTRAL FLORIDA (2017-18) The Knights (who have played foot- ball only 24 years) strung together two straight 12-0 regular seasons the past two campaigns before losing to LSU in this past year's Fiesta Bowl — and now have Notre Dame graduate trans- fer Brandon Wimbush at quarterback. Clemson and Alabama will attempt to join this group in 2019 — and it's uplifting to see Notre Dame at least have such an opportunity again. ✦ Repeating Will Be A Formidable Task THE FIFTH QUARTER LOU SOMOGYI Senior Editor Lou Somogyi has been at Blue & Gold Illustrated since July 1985. He can be reached at lsomogyi@blueandgold.com Clemson and Notre Dame are blessed with a rare opportunity in 2019. PHOTO BY BILL PANZICA